Hydrogel Elastic Energy: A Stressor Triggering an Adaptive Stress-Mediated Cell Response.

The crosstalk between the cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) is bidirectional and consists of a pushing/pulling stretch exerted by the cells and a mechanical resistance counteracted by the surrounding microenvironment. It is widely recognized that the stiffness of the ECM, its viscoelasticity, and its overall deformation are the most important traits influencing the response of the cells. Here these three parameters are combined into a concept of elastic energy, which in biological terms represents the mechanical feedback that cells perceive when the ECM is deformed.

Silk Fibroin-Enriched Bioink Promotes Cell Proliferation in 3D-Bioprinted Constructs.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology enables the controlled deposition of cells and biomaterials (i.e., bioink) to easily create complex 3D biological microenvironments.

A North Atlantic synthetic tropical cyclone track, intensity, and rainfall dataset.

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) cause significant socio-economic damages to the US and Caribbean coastal regions annually, making it important to understand TC risk at the local-to-regional scales. However, the short length of the observed record and the substantial computational expense associated with high-resolution climate models make it difficult to assess TC risk using either approach. To overcome these challenges, we developed a database of synthetic TCs using the Risk Analysis Framework for Tropical Cyclones (RAFT).

Immediate stress dissipation in dual cross-link hydrogels controls osteogenic commitment of mesenchymal stem cells.

In vitro studies of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiation have been predominantly performed with non-physiologically elastic materials. Here we report the effect of different viscoplastic ECM mimics on the osteogenic engagement of MSCs in 2D. We have developed soft hydrogels, composed of a lactose-modified chitosan, using a combination of permanent and temporary cross-links.

Inhibition of Mitochondrial Redox Signaling with MitoQ Prevents Metastasis of Human Pancreatic Cancer in Mice.

At diagnosis, about 35% of pancreatic cancers are at the locally invasive yet premetastatic stage. Surgical resection is not a treatment option, leaving patients with a largely incurable disease that often evolves to the polymetastatic stage despite chemotherapeutic interventions. In this preclinical study, we hypothesized that pancreatic cancer metastasis can be prevented by inhibiting mitochondrial redox signaling with MitoQ, a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant.

Mid-term MRI evaluation reveals microstructural white matter alterations in COVID-19 fully recovered subjects with anosmia presentation.

Background: Little is still known about the mid/long-term effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the brain, especially in subjects who have never been hospitalized due to the infection. In this neuroimaging exploratory study, we analyzed the medium-term effect of COVID-19 on the brain of people who recovered from COVID-19, experienced anosmia during the acute phase of the disease, and have never been hospitalized due to SARS-Co-V-2 infection.

Methods: Forty-three individuals who had (COV+,  = 22) or had not (COV-,  = 21) been infected with SARS-Co-V-2 were included in the study; the two groups were age- and sex-matched and were investigated using 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Insights into Mechanical Behavior and Biological Properties of Chia Seed Mucilage Hydrogels.

In this contribution we report insights on the rheological properties of chia () seed mucilage hydrogels. Creep experiments performed in steady state conditions allowed calculation of Newtonian viscosities for chia hydrogels with different polymer concentration, pointing at inter-chain interactions as the main responsible for the different behavior toward network slipping under constant stress. A combination of oscillatory frequency and stress sweep tests highlighted a moderate effect of temperature in influencing hydrogel mechanics.

Dissociative identity as a continuum from healthy mind to psychiatric disorders: Epistemological and neurophenomenological implications approached through hypnosis.

The topic of multiple personality, redefined as Dissociative Identity Disorders (DIDs) in the DSM-5, is an intriguing and still debated disorder with a long history and deep cultural and epistemological implications, extending up to the idea of possession. Hypnosis is an appealing and valuable model to manipulate subjective experience and get an insight on both the physiology and the pathophysiology of the mind-brain functioning; it and has been closely connected with DIDs and possession since its origin in 18th century and as recently proved the capacity to yield a loss of sense of agency, mimicking delusions of alien control and spirit possession. In this study we report on five very uncommon "hypnotic virtuosos" (HVs) free from any psychiatric disorder, spontaneously undergoing the emergence of multiple identities during neutral hypnosis; this allowed us to check the relationship between their experience and fMRI data.

Hypnotism as a Function of Trance State Effects, Expectancy, and Suggestibility: An Italian Replication.

Previous research using stepwise regression analyses found self-reported hypnotic depth (srHD) to be a function of suggestibility, trance state effects, and expectancy. This study sought to replicate and expand that research using a general state measure of hypnotic responsivity, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). Ninety-five participants completed an Italian translation of the PCI-HAP, with srHD scores predicted from the PCI-HAP assessment items.

Abnormal development of sensory-motor, visual temporal and parahippocampal cortex in children with learning disabilities and borderline intellectual functioning.

Borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) is a condition characterized by an intelligence quotient (IQ) between 70 and 85. BIF children present with cognitive, motor, social, and adaptive limitations that result in learning disabilities and are more likely to develop psychiatric disorders later in life. The aim of this study was to investigate brain morphometry and its relation to IQ level in BIF children.

Altered and asymmetric default mode network activity in a "hypnotic virtuoso": an fMRI and EEG study.

Very highly hypnotizable subjects are rare, easily induced, and able to manifest the whole spectrum of hypnotic phenomena, including post-hypnotic amnesia. The aim of this study was to detect and localize by means of quantitative functional MRI and EEG changes in cortical activity during hypnosis induction and deep "pure hypnosis" in a hypnotic "virtuoso" subject. We focused on areas forming the default mode network (DMN), since previous studies found that very highly suggestible subjects in hypnosis showed decreased activity in anterior DMN.

Benign versus secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis: the potential role of proton MR spectroscopy in defining the nature of disability.

Purpose: We determined the clinical utility of proton MR spectroscopy in defining the extent of disability in benign versus secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Thirty patients with clinically definite MS, including 16 patients with benign MS and 14 with secondary-progressive MS, and a group of 13 healthy volunteers were studied with combined stimulated-echo acquisition mode proton MR spectroscopy and MR imaging (all patients received contrast material).

Results: Acute enhancing lesions of benign and secondary-progressive MS were characterized by a reduction in N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/choline and NAA/creatine and an increase in inositol compounds/creatine as compared with normal white matter.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA in cerebrospinal fluid of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: VZV disease of the central nervous system or subclinical reactivation of VZV infection?

To identify varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infections of the nervous system in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 514 consecutive HIV-infected patients with neurological disease was performed to detect VZV DNA. VZV DNA was detected in CSF of 13 (2.5%) of 514 patients.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and intracranial tumours: clinical perspectives.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was applied to characterize intracranial tumours of different hystological types. Seventy patients with intracranial neoplasms were studied before receiving surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. All tumours were characterized by reduced or absent N-acetylasparate and increased signal from choline-containing compounds.

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting of symbiotic fungi cultured by the fungus-growing ant Cyphomyrmex minutus.

A PCR-based fingerprinting technique based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) is used to screen symbiotic fungi of the fungus-growing ant Cyphomyrmex minutus for genetic differences. AFLP fingerprints reveal several fungal 'types' that (a) represent distinct clones propagated vegetatively by the ant, or (b) correspond to free-living fungi that may be acquired by the ant. Fungal types identified by AFLP fingerprints correspond to vegetative-compatibility groups established previously, suggesting that vegetative compatibility can be used as a crude indicator of genetic differences between fungi of C.

Spatial analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial RFLP genotypes in populations of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica.

Spatial structure of both nuclear and mitochondrial RFLPs were studied in several populations of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, using a variety of spatial autocorrelation tests designed to detect nonrandom patterns. Fungal individuals were sampled from cankers on infected chestnut trees, and the location of each tree was mapped. Single-locus nuclear RFLPs, nuclear fingerprints, and mitochondrial DNA haplotypes were determined for each individual.

Pathogenetic and prognostic features of lacunar transient ischaemic attack syndromes.

Lacunar ischaemic stroke syndromes are a well defined subgroup of ischaemic strokes. To determine whether a similar subgroup can be identified among patients with transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) we studied prospectively 102 consecutive patients within 24 hours of their first TIA. Based on their history they were classified as lacunar TIA syndromes (LTIAS; n = 45) if isolated motor or sensory symptoms or their combination had involved at least two of three body parts (face, arm, leg), whereas all other subjects were grouped as non-lacunar TIA syndromes (NLTIAS; n = 57).

Modern imaging techniques in GH secretory disorders.

Magnetic resonance images of the pituitary-hypothalamic area in patients with GH secretory disorders, divided into two groups (hypersecretory and hyposecretory), were studied. In the first group there were 42 patients with pituitary adenoma; size, signal characteristics, direction of growth, and type of enhancement were analyzed and compared with similar studies in 40 age and sex matched control patients with non-GH secreting pituitary adenomas. No significant differences were found except for a higher frequency of chiasm involvement and a more pronounced contrast enhancement in the control group.