Publications by authors named "Merle G"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the role of periostin (POSTN) in osteoarthritis (OA), finding it is increased in patients and linked to inflammation and cartilage breakdown, suggesting it could be a target for therapy.
  • - Link N (LN), a peptide from link protein, is shown to have anabolic properties and can reduce inflammation and degradation in cartilage, leading the researchers to explore its effects on POSTN expression.
  • - Experimental results reveal that LN can decrease POSTN expression and disrupt its signaling in chondrocytes, indicating it has potential as a therapeutic agent in treating OA by targeting POSTN.
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  • Intervertebral disc degeneration and pain are linked to the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the processing of IL-1β, which involves Toll-like receptor stimulation and the CD14 receptor.
  • The peptide Short Link N (sLN) has shown promise in reducing inflammation and pain in disc cells, but its exact mechanisms of action are not fully understood.
  • This study found that sLN inhibited the activation of NFκB and Caspase-1, leading to lower levels of IL-1β, and demonstrated a direct interaction between sLN and CD14, suggesting sLN could be a potential treatment for disc-related pain.
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  • Osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCAT) is a promising treatment for joint defects but has high failure rates due to poor osteochondral allograft (OCA) osseointegration.
  • This study tests the local delivery of deferoxamine (DFO), an iron chelator that promotes bone healing, to enhance OCA osseointegration in canine models of OCAT in the knee and hip.
  • Results showed that DFO-treated sites had better joint function, increased bone volume, and improved new bone growth compared to control sites, suggesting it may help reduce failure rates in joint restoration.
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Applying cold to a bone injury can aid healing, though its mechanisms are complex. This study investigates how cold therapy impacts bone repair to optimize healing. Cold was applied to a rodent bone model, with the physiological responses analyzed.

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Fracture healing, a critical and complex biological process, often presents challenges in clinical practice with the current standards failing to fully address the medical needs for rapid and effective recovery. In this work, a localized cold therapy is investigated as an alternative approach to expedite bone healing. We hypothesized that optimized cold application can enhance bone healing within a fracture model by inducing hypoxia, leading to accelerated angiogenesis along with improved osteogenesis.

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Article Synopsis
  • * This catalyst achieves a low overpotential of 230 mV for oxygen evolution at 10 mA cm² and maintains stability for over 10 hours without changing its surface structure.
  • * The advancement in this oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst addresses key challenges in hydrogen production technology, potentially lowering costs and enhancing the adoption of electrolyser systems.
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Engineering cardiac implants for treating myocardial infarction (MI) has advanced, but challenges persist in mimicking the structural properties and variability of cardiac tissues using traditional bioconstructs and conventional engineering methods. This study introduces a synthetic patch with a bioactive surface designed to swiftly restore functionality to the damaged myocardium. The patch combines a composite, soft, and conductive hydrogel-based on (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene-sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

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Background: Opinions differ on the optimal treatment for stable talar osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) with intact cartilage. Some recommend conservative management, while others prefer surgical care, which includes debridement and micro-fractures, transarticular drilling through a direct or medial malleolus approach and retroarticular drilling. The rationale behind retroarticular drilling is to induce bone marrow healing without touching the intact cartilage.

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Inadequate tissue blood supply as may be found in a wound or a poorly vascularised graft, can result in tissue ischemia and necrosis. As revascularization is a slow process relative to the proliferation of bacteria and the onset of tissue necrosis, extensive tissue damage and loss can occur before healing is underway. Necrosis can develop rapidly, and treatment options are limited such that loss of tissue following necrosis onset is considered unavoidable and irreversible.

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Treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer depends heavily on the cancer stage, and immunotherapy can play a major role at any stage. For locally advanced stages, the addition of an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves pathological response and event-free survival. In the adjuvant setting, adding ICI, after adjuvant chemotherapy for resectable cancer, increases the disease-free survival.

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Recently, the abnormal level of zinc emerged as a powerful indicator or risk factor for metabolic, endocrine, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, including cancer. Electrochemical detection has been explored to quantify zinc in a precise, rapid, and non-expensive way; however, most of the current electrochemical systems lack in specificity. In this work we studied a highly selective and sensitive electrochemical method to detect quickly and reliably free zinc ions (Zn).

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An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) comprises a monoclonal antibody that is specific to a tumor cell protein, bound to a cytotoxic agent, known as the payload. The use of ADCs is already common practice in several cancers, thanks to their efficacy and potentially more manageable toxicity profile, resulting from the release of the cytostatic payload directly in the tumors. Currently, early-phase trials of ADCs in non-small cell lung cancer are rapidly gaining ground, with promising results targeting HER2 (human epidermal growth factor 2), HER3, TROP2 (trophoblast cell surface antigen 2), MET, CEACAM5 (carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5), and PTK7 (tyrosine protein kinase-like 7).

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Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is increasingly prevalent in North American society. The significant societal burden it represents makes it essential to promote and target new treatments in earlier phases of the disease. Among others, subchondroplasty is a newly documented technique using calcium phosphate injection targeting the osteochondral lesions preceding KOA, also known as Bone Marrow Lesions (BMLs).

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Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are essential proteins acting directly in the breakdown of the extra cellular matrix and so in cancer invasion and metastasis. Given its impact on tumor angiogenesis, monitoring MMP-14 provides strategic insights on cancer severity and treatment. In this work, we report a new approach to improve the electrochemical interaction of the MMP-14 with the electrode surface while preserving high specificity.

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Objectives: Acute compartment syndrome is a devastating condition associated with lasting consequences or even death if not treated in a timely fashion. Current preclinical modeling is inadequate. Ideally a model should mimic human disease.

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Medicine in general is quickly transitioning to a digital presence. Orthopaedic surgery is also being impacted by the tenets of digital health but there are also direct efforts with trauma surgery. Sensors are the pen and paper of the next wave of data acquisition.

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Case: A 34-year-old man had an injury which resulted in pilon fracture and acute compartment syndrome of his forefoot. The case report describes the use of a novel minimally invasive dorsal approach for decompression of the lateral, central, medial, and interosseous compartments. The release was performed through multiple small incisions on the dorsal foot.

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Digital health principles are starting to be evident in medicine. Orthopaedic trauma surgery is also being impacted -indirectly by all other improvements in the health ecosystem but also in particular efforts aimed at trauma surgery. Data acquisition is changing how evidence is gathered and utilized.

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This study examines the atomic confinement of commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts. While a high electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction is important for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance, the high stability of the electrocatalyst is essential for real applications under harsh operating conditions. The demands necessitate the development of advanced electrocatalysts that are resistant to corrosion.

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Background: Clinical case series have indicated that 1 or 2-compartment decompression of the anterior or lateral leg may be sufficient for release, but, currently, no cadaveric model has verified that approach. The objective of this study was to investigate the functional relationship between compartments by alternating sequences of infusion and fasciotomy release.

Methods: This study utilized multicompartment sequential pressurization with simultaneous monitoring by continuous pressure sensors to model compartment syndrome in a human cadaver leg.

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Article Synopsis
  • Surgical site infections (SSIs) present significant challenges for patients and healthcare providers, largely due to sutures that can harbor bacteria and contribute to these infections.
  • Traditional antibiotic-coated sutures are becoming less effective due to rising antibiotic resistance; however, metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) show promise in tackling this issue by effectively killing bacteria without triggering resistance.
  • The study developed a new method to coat sutures with MNPs, leading to strong antibacterial effects and maintaining the sutures' strength and safety for cells, marking a potential advancement in SSI prevention.
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Background: Acute compartment syndrome of the foot is a controversial topic. Release of the foot has been seen as complicated because of large incisions and postoperative morbidity, and there has been debate over whether this procedure is actually effective for releasing all areas of increased pressure. New sensor technology affords the opportunity to advance our understanding of acute compartment syndrome of the foot and its treatment.

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Access to hospitals has been dramatically restricted during the COVID 19 pandemic. Indeed, due to the high risk of contamination by patients and by visitors, only essential visits and medical appointments have been authorized. Restricting hospital access to authorized visitors was an important logistic challenge.

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Objectives: To evaluate if local delivery of boron can accelerate bone healing and examine if the bioactive salt impacts the osteogenic response of bone-derived osteoclasts and osteoblasts by the regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Methods: Bilateral femoral cortical defects were created in 32 skeletally mature C57 mice. On the experimental side, boric acid (8 mg/kg concentration) was injected locally, whereas on the control side, saline was used.

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Cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR) belongs to the paraneoplastic retinopathy syndromes and manifests itself by rapidly progressive vision loss, scotoma and photopsia. We herein reported the case of a 77-year-old woman without a cancer history who presents typical CAR symptoms. A complete workup followed by lung biopsy enabled the detection of a pulmonary carcinoid tumour.

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