Salient features of the Maasai foot: analysis of 1,096 Maasai subjects.

Background: The Maasai are the most widely known African ethnic group located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Most spend their days either barefoot or in their traditional shoes made of car tires. Although they walk long distances of up to sixty kilometers a day, they do not suffer from any foot ailments.

Creating perfused functional vascular channels using 3D bio-printing technology.

We developed a methodology using 3D bio-printing technology to create a functional in vitro vascular channel with perfused open lumen using only cells and biological matrices. The fabricated vasculature has a tight, confluent endothelium lining, presenting barrier function for both plasma protein and high-molecular weight dextran molecule. The fluidic vascular channel is capable of supporting the viability of tissue up to 5 mm in distance at 5 million cells/mL density under the physiological flow condition.

Functional replacement of fission yeast γ-tubulin small complex proteins Alp4 and Alp6 by human GCP2 and GCP3.

Microtubule-organizing centers such as the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) act as a template for polarized growth and regulation of microtubules that are essential for diverse cellular structures and processes in eukaryotes. New structural models of the budding yeast γ-tubulin small complex (γ-TuSC) of the γ-TuRC combined with functional studies done in multiple eukaryotes are revealing the first mechanistic clues into control of microtubule nucleation and organization. Cross-species studies of human and budding yeast γ-TuSC proteins in fission yeast revealed conserved and divergent structural and functional features of the γ-TuSC.

Distinct Kinesin-14 mitotic mechanisms in spindle bipolarity.

Kinesin-like proteins are integral to formation and function of a conserved mitotic spindle apparatus that directs chromosome segregation and precedes cell division. Ubiquitous to the mechanism of spindle assembly and stability are balanced Kinesin-5 promoting and Kinesin-14 opposing forces. Distinct Kinesin-14 roles in bipolarity in eukaryotes have not been shown, but are suggested by gamma-tubulin-based pole interactions that affect establishment and by microtubule cross-linking and sliding that maintain bipolarity and spindle length.

A steerable guiding device: the new method in ultrasound guidance.

Rationale And Objectives: A working model (WM) of a newly designed device for ultrasound-guided puncture was tested.

Materials And Methods: WM featured a wheel-shaped metallic guide that passively rotated within the plane of view as the operator tried to redirect the needle. Four operators performed US-guided intercostal puncture of 24 targets in phantoms using a commercially available preset needle guide (PG).