A Soft Skin Adhesive (SSA) Patch for Extended Release of Pirfenidone in Burn Wounds.

As much as half or more of deep partial-thickness burn wounds develop hypertrophic scarring and contracture. Once formed, treatments are only minimally effective. Pirfenidone (Pf), indicated for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, is an anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic small molecule that potentially can be repurposed as a preventative against scarring in burn wounds.

Targeting Ocular Drug Delivery: An Examination of Local Anatomy and Current Approaches.

Ocular drug delivery remains the focus of much modern research. Primary routes of administration include the surface, the intravitreal space, the subretinal space, and the subconjunctival space, each with its own series of unique challenges, limitations, and advantages. Each of these approaches requires careful consideration of the local anatomy, physical barriers, and key cells as well as the interface between the anatomy and the drug or drug system being delivered.

Tallgrass prairie wildlife exposure to spray drift from commonly used soybean insecticides in Midwestern USA.

Insecticides are widely used in the Midwestern USA to combat soybean aphids (Aphis glycines), a globally important crop pest. Broad-spectrum foliar insecticides such as chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin, and bifenthrin (hereafter, "target insecticides") are toxic to wildlife in laboratory settings; however, little information exists regarding drift and deposition of these insecticides in fragmented tallgrass prairie grasslands such as those in Minnesota, USA. To address this information gap, target insecticide spray drift and deposition were measured on passive samplers and arthropods in grasslands adjacent to crop fields in Minnesota.

Bioluminescent Optogenetics: A Novel Experimental Therapy to Promote Axon Regeneration after Peripheral Nerve Injury.

Functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is poor, mainly due to the slow and incomplete regeneration of injured axons. Experimental therapies that increase the excitability of the injured axons have proven remarkably successful in promoting regeneration, but their clinical applicability has been limited. Bioluminescent optogenetics (BL-OG) uses luminopsins, fusion proteins of light-generating luciferase and light-sensing ion channels that could be used to increase neuronal excitability if exposed to a suitable substrate.

Network Reconfiguration for Increasing Transportation System Resilience Under Extreme Events.

Evacuating residents out of affected areas is an important strategy for mitigating the impact of natural disasters. However, the resulting abrupt increase in the travel demand during evacuation causes severe congestions across the transportation system, which thereby interrupts other commuters' regular activities. In this article, a bilevel mathematical optimization model is formulated to address this issue, and our research objective is to maximize the transportation system resilience and restore its performance through two network reconfiguration schemes: contraflow (also referred to as lane reversal) and crossing elimination at intersections.