Rationalizing the Influence of Small-Molecule Dopants on Guanine Crystal Morphology.

Many spectacular optical phenomena in animals are produced by reflective assemblies of guanine crystals. The crystals comprise planar H-bonded layers of π-stacked molecules with a high in-plane refractive index. By preferentially expressing the highly reflective π-stacked (100) crystal face and controlling its cross-sectional shape, organisms generate a diverse array of photonic superstructures.

Curricular Reform in Serious Illness Communication and Palliative Care: Using Medical Students' Voices to Guide Change.

Purpose: To gather and leverage the voices of students to drive creation of required, integrated palliative care curricula within undergraduate medical education in Massachusetts, which is lacking in a majority of U.S. medical schools.

A Call to Action: Using Curriculum Mapping at Four Medical Schools in Massachusetts to Advance Serious Illness Communication Training in Undergraduate Medical Education.

Practicing physicians require serious illness communication (SIC) skills to ensure high-quality, humanistic care for patients and families as they face life-changing medical decisions. However, a majority of U.S.

Sniffing the human body volatile hexadecanal blocks aggression in men but triggers aggression in women.

In terrestrial mammals, body volatiles can effectively trigger or block conspecific aggression. Here, we tested whether hexadecanal (HEX), a human body volatile implicated as a mammalian-wide social chemosignal, affects human aggression. Using validated behavioral paradigms, we observed a marked dissociation: Sniffing HEX blocked aggression in men but triggered aggression in women.

Hodgkin lymphoma survivor perspectives on their engagement in treatment decision-making and discussion of late effects.

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma has a bimodal age distribution with the first peak occurring within young adulthood and the second, among older adults. Although current therapy provides excellent disease control, survivors are at risk of developing treatment-related late effects (LEs). We sought to understand how survivors in active survivorship care perceived their role in treatment decision-making and when they acquired an understanding of LEs.

Odor Canopy: A Method for Comfortable Odorant Delivery in MRI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become the leading method for measuring the human brain response to sensory stimuli. However, olfaction fMRI lags behind vision and audition fMRI for 2 primary reasons: First, the olfactory brain areas are particularly susceptible to imaging artifacts, and second, the olfactory stimulus is particularly difficult to control in the fMRI environment. A component of the latter is related to the odorant delivery human-machine interface, namely the point where odorants exit the dispensing apparatus to reach at the nose.

Local Targeted Memory Reactivation in Human Sleep.

Memory consolidation can be promoted via targeted memory reactivation (TMR) that re-presents training cues or context during sleep. Whether TMR acts locally or globally on cortical sleep oscillations remains unknown. Here, we exploit the unique functional neuroanatomy of olfaction with its ipsilateral stimulus processing to perform local TMR in one brain hemisphere.

Large fluctuations of a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang interface on a half line: The height statistics at a shifted point.

We consider a stochastic interface h(x,t), described by the 1+1 Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation on the half line x≥0 with the reflecting boundary at x=0. The interface is initially flat, h(x,t=0)=0. We focus on the short-time probability distribution P(H,L,t) of the height H of the interface at point x=L.

Smelling Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections using a whole-cell biosensor - An alternative for the gold-standard culturing assay.

Improved easy-to-use diagnostic tools for infections are in strong demand worldwide. Yet, despite dramatic advances in diagnostic technologies, the gold-standard remains culturing. Here we offer an alternative tool demonstrating that a bacterial biosensor can efficiently detect Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in patients suffering from otitis externa.

The generation of hybrid electrospun nanofiber layer with extracellular matrix derived from human pluripotent stem cells, for regenerative medicine applications.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) has been utilized as a biological scaffold for tissue engineering applications in a variety of body systems, due to its bioactivity and biocompatibility. In the current study we developed a modified protocol for the efficient and reproducible derivation of mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) from human embryonic stem cells as well as human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) originating from hair follicle keratinocytes (HFKTs). ECM was produced from these MPCs and characterized in comparison to adipose mesenchymal stem cell ECM, demonstrating robust ECM generation by the excised HFKT-iPSC-MPCs.

Low dose BMP-2 treatment for bone repair using a PEGylated fibrinogen hydrogel matrix.

Bone repair strategies utilizing resorbable biomaterial implants aim to stimulate endogenous cells in order to gradually replace the implant with functional repair tissue. These biomaterials should therefore be biodegradable, osteoconductive, osteoinductive, and maintain their integrity until the newly formed host tissue can contribute proper function. In recent years there has been impressive clinical outcomes for this strategy when using osteoconductive hydrogel biomaterials in combination with osteoinductive growth factors such as human recombinant bone morphogenic protein (hrBMP-2).

Understanding the independent influence of duty and achievement striving when predicting the relationship between conscientiousness and organizational cultural profiles and helping behaviors.

The theory that 2 facets of the factor conscientiousness, duty and achievement striving, are related to self- or other-centered motives, is supported in 2 studies. In Study 1 (N = 204 undergraduates), the self-centered facet of achievement striving was found to be the most important predictor of attraction toward organizational cultures that were outcome-based, aggressive, and emphasized rewards. Achievement strivers were less attracted to supportive and decisive organizations.

Controlled release of BMP-2 from a sintered polymer scaffold enhances bone repair in a mouse calvarial defect model.

Sustained and controlled delivery of growth factors, such as bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), from polymer scaffolds has excellent potential for enhancing bone regeneration. The present study investigated the use of novel sintered polymer scaffolds prepared using temperature-sensitive PLGA/PEG particles. Growth factors can be incorporated into these scaffolds by mixing the reconstituted growth factor with the particles prior to sintering.

The involvement of oxidants and NF-κB in cytokine-induced MMP-9 synthesis by bone marrow-derived osteoprogenitor cells.

Objective And Design: The activity of immune cells affects the balance between bone mineralization and resorption carried out by the opposing actions of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, respectively. This study was aimed at determining the possible interaction between inflammatory conditions and collagen type I degrading MMP (mainly MMP-2 and MMP-9) synthesis and secretion in rat osteoprogenitors.

Materials And Methods: The study was performed using primary rat bone marrow-derived osteoprogenitors during their advanced osteogenesis.

Lentiviral-mediated integrin α5 expression in human adult mesenchymal stromal cells promotes bone repair in mouse cranial and long-bone defects.

Abstract Adult human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) are an important source for tissue repair in regenerative medicine. Notably, targeted gene therapy in hMSCs to promote osteogenic differentiation may help in the development of novel therapeutic approaches for bone repair. We recently showed that α5 integrin (ITGA5) promotes osteoblast differentiation in bone marrow-derived hMSCs.

Engineering the growth factor microenvironment with fibronectin domains to promote wound and bone tissue healing.

Although growth factors naturally exert their morphogenetic influences within the context of the extracellular matrix microenvironment, the interactions among growth factors, their receptors, and other extracellular matrix components are typically ignored in clinical delivery of growth factors. We present an approach for engineering the cellular microenvironment to greatly accentuate the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) for skin repair, and of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and PDGF-BB for bone repair. A multifunctional recombinant fragment of fibronectin (FN) was engineered to comprise (i) a factor XIIIa substrate fibrin-binding sequence, (ii) the 9th to 10th type III FN repeat (FN III9-10) containing the major integrin-binding domain, and (iii) the 12th to 14th type III FN repeat (FN III12-14), which binds growth factors promiscuously, including VEGF-A165, PDGF-BB, and BMP-2.

Effects of FGF2 and FGF9 on osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived progenitors.

Bone repair is a major concern in reconstructive surgery. Transplants containing osteogenically committed mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide an alternative source to the currently used autologous bone transplants which have limited supply and require additional surgery to the patient. A major drawback, however is the lack of a critical mass of cells needed for successful transplantation.

Chitosan-poly(butylene succinate) scaffolds and human bone marrow stromal cells induce bone repair in a mouse calvaria model.

Tissue engineering sustains the need of a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold to promote the regeneration of tissues in volume. Usually, scaffolds are seeded with an adequate cell population, allowing their growth and maturation upon implantation in vivo. Previous studies obtained by our group evidenced significant growth patterns and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) when seeded and cultured on melt-based porous chitosan fibre mesh scaffolds (cell constructs).

A model for tissue engineering applications: femoral critical size defect in immunodeficient mice.

Animal models for preclinical functionality assays lie midway between in vitro systems such as cell culture and actual clinical trials. We have developed a novel external fixation device for femoral critical size defect (CSD) in the femurs of immunodeficient mice as an experimental model for studying bone regeneration and bone tissue engineering. The external fixation device comprises four pointed rods and dental acrylic paste.

Cell-scaffold transplant of hydrogel seeded with rat bone marrow progenitors for bone regeneration.

Bone is the second most frequently transplanted tissue in humans and efforts are focused on developing cell-scaffold constructs which can be employed for autologous implantation in place of allogenic transplants. The objective of the present study was to examine the efficacy of a gelatin-based hydrogel scaffold to support osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and its application in a cranial defect model. MSCs which were cultured on hydrogel under osteogenic conditions demonstrated typical osteogenic differentiation which included cluster formation with positive Alizarin Red S staining, sedimentation of calcium phosphate as defined by SEM and EDS spectroscopy and expression of mRNA osteogenic markers.

Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics of thermal collapse in a freely cooling granular gas.

We show that, in dimension higher than one, heat diffusion and viscosity cannot arrest thermal collapse in a freely evolving dilute granular gas, even in the absence of gravity. Thermal collapse involves a finite-time blowup of the gas density. It was predicted earlier in ideal, Euler hydrodynamics of dilute granular gases in the absence of gravity, and in nonideal, Navier-Stokes granular hydrodynamics in the presence of gravity.

Slow-release human recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2 embedded within electrospun scaffolds for regeneration of bone defect: in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

The design of mat-like scaffolds slow-releasing bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) retaining bone regeneration functions has been a major challenge in tissue engineering. This study aimed to develop core-shell fiber scaffolds releasing BMP-2 to support bone regeneration. BMP-2 was incorporated in an aqueous core solution of poly(ethylene oxide), whereas the shell solution was made of polycaprolactone blended with poly(ethylene glycol).

The effects of native and synthetic estrogenic compounds as well as vitamin D less-calcemic analogs on adipocytes content in rat bone marrow.

Background: We demonstrated previously that phytoestrogens and vitamin D analogs like estradiol-17β (E2) modulate bone morphology in rat female model.

Aim: We now analyze the effects of phytoestrogens, E2, selective E2 re ceptor modulators, and the less-calcemic analogs of vitamin D: JKF1624F2-2 (JKF) or QW1624F2-2 (QW) on fat content in bone marrow (BM) from long bones in ovariectomized female rats (OVX).

Materials And Methods: OVX rats were injected with treatments known to affect bone formation, 5 days per week for 2.

Repair of full-thickness tendon injury using connective tissue progenitors efficiently derived from human embryonic stem cells and fetal tissues.

The use of stem cells for tissue engineering (TE) encourages scientists to design new platforms in the field of regenerative and reconstructive medicine. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have been proposed to be an important cell source for cell-based TE applications as well as an exciting tool for investigating the fundamentals of human development. Here, we describe the efficient derivation of connective tissue progenitors (CTPs) from hESC lines and fetal tissues.