Coverage and Lifetime Optimization by Self-Optimizing Sensor Networks.

We propose an approach to self-optimizing wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which are able to find, in a fully distributed way, a solution to a coverage and lifetime optimization problem. The proposed approach is based on three components: (a) a multi-agent, social-like interpreted system, where the modeling of agents, discrete space, and time is provided by a 2-dimensional second-order cellular automata, (b) the interaction between agents is described in terms of the spatial prisoner's dilemma game, and (c) a local evolutionary mechanism of competition between agents exists. Nodes of a WSN graph created for a given deployment of WSN in the monitored area are considered agents of a multi-agent system that collectively make decisions to turn on or turn off their batteries.

Early mobilization after total hip or knee arthroplasty: a substudy of the POWER.2 study.

Background: Early mobilization after surgery is a cornerstone of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs in total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Our goal was to determine the time to mobilization after this surgery and the factors associated with early mobilization.

Methods: This was a predefined substudy of the POWER.

Autologous Cell Therapy for Aged Human Skin: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase-I Study.

Introduction: Skin ageing involves senescent fibroblast accumulation, disturbance in extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis, and decreased collagen synthesis.

Objective: to assess a cell therapy product for aged skin (RCS-01; verum) consisting of ~25 × 106 cultured, autologous cells derived from anagen hair follicle non-bulbar dermal sheath (NBDS).

Methods: For each subject in the verum group, 4 areas of buttock skin were injected intradermally 1 or 3 times at monthly intervals with RCS-01, cryomedium, or needle penetration without injection; in the placebo group RCS-01 was replaced by cryomedium.

Efficacy and safety of a new 5% minoxidil formulation in male androgenetic alopecia: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, noninferiority study.

Background: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common cause of hair loss in men. Topical minoxidil solutions can help to treat AGA but have to be applied continuously to be effective.

Objectives: A new minoxidil formulation with improved cosmetic characteristics (DC0120, Pierre-Fabre Dermatologie) was tested for noninferiority vs a comparator minoxidil product (ALOSTIL , Johnson & Johnson) in stimulating hair growth in men with AGA.

Low-concentration distal nerve blocks with 0.125% levobupivacaine versus systemic analgesia for ambulatory trapeziectomy performed under axillary block: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Trapeziectomy is one of the most painful procedures in ambulatory surgery. This prospective randomized trial aimed to compare postoperative pain control using distal peripheral nerve blocks (dPNB) with a low concentration of a long-acting local anesthetic versus conventional systemic analgesia.

Methods: Fifty-two patients undergoing trapeziectomy were randomized to receive levobupivacaine 0.

European Consensus on the evaluation of women presenting with excessive hair growth.

Our objective was to develop clinical practice guidance for the evaluation of hirsutism in premenopausal women. The Skin Academy is led by an international interdisciplinary team of experts, and aims to use the latest scientific and clinical data in selected dermatological diseases, to promote awareness, education and best clinical practice, thus improving patient care. The Skin Academy is an international platform designed to drive and develop education and awareness programmes, and to transfer scientific knowledge in dermatology across Europe and wider geographical areas.

A 4-month, open-label study evaluating the efficacy of eflornithine 11.5% cream in the treatment of unwanted facial hair in women using TrichoScan.

Eflornithine 11.5% cream is an effective treatment for unwanted facial hair (UFH) in women with the effect on facial hair growth starting to be seen from 1 month after treatment initiation. TrichoScan is a validated method of assessing hair length, thickness, density, and growth rate using contact skin microscopy.

Interleukin-6 cytokine family member oncostatin M is a hair-follicle-expressed factor with hair growth inhibitory properties.

The activation of receptor complexes containing glycoprotein 130 (gp130) identifies the interleukin (IL)-6 cytokine family. We examined members of this family for their expression and activity in hair follicles. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction using mRNA derived from microdissected, anagen-stage human hair follicles and comparison to non-follicular skin epithelium revealed higher levels of IL-6 (15.

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of topical minoxidil and topical alfatradiol in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in women.

Background: Two drugs which are approved for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in women in Germany were compared with regard to their influence on hair growth.

Patients And Methods: Patients were randomized to group I (n = 52) who used 2% minoxidil solution twice daily for a period of 12 months or to group II (n = 51) who used 0.025% alfatradiol solution once daily for 6 months and were then switched to 2% minoxidil solution for months 7-12.

Genital Paget's disease in a man.

Pagetoid cells are large intraepidermal cells which spread intraepidermally. We report a 67-year old Caucasian male, who presented for the first time in 1993 with a long-standing pruritic lesion at the scrotum. He was treated for several years by antiinflammatory ointments.

Recent findings with computerized methods for scalp hair growth measurements.

Sensitive tools have been developed in order to monitor hair loss and treatment responses. Recently the Tricho-Scan was presented (by RH) as such a method which combines epiluminescence microscopy (ELM) with automatic digital image analysis. Herewith new TrichoScan data obtained from 10 women and 21 men with androgenetic hair loss after 6 mo of treatment with 5%-minoxidil are presented.

Reduced expression of interleukin-2 decreases the frequency of alopecia areata onset in C3H/HeJ mice.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune hair loss disease, that can be transferred between C3H/HeJ mice by skin grafting. We explored whether AA susceptibility is influenced by the availability of interleukin (IL)-2, a cytokine with leukocyte activating and regulatory properties. Mice heterozygous for a targeted deletion of IL-2 from the histocompatible C3.

Trichoscan: what is new?

The treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is usually long lasting, and the effects of treatment attempts are difficult to measure. Consequently, there was a need for a sensitive tool to monitor hair loss and treatment response. Therefore, we developed the Trichoscan as a method which combines epiluminescence microscopy with automatic digital image analysis for the measurement of human hair.

Restrictive dermopathy associated with transposition of the great arteries and microcolon: a rare neonatal entity with new symptoms.

Background: Restrictive dermopathy is a very rare autosomal recessive skin disorder. The typical pathologic findings are striking: microstomia, micrognathia, thin but very tight translucent skin that tears spontaneously, and arthrogryposis multiplex. The mechanisms behind this disease are unknown.

Transfer of CD8(+) cells induces localized hair loss whereas CD4(+)/CD25(-) cells promote systemic alopecia areata and CD4(+)/CD25(+) cells blockade disease onset in the C3H/HeJ mouse model.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a suspected hair follicle specific autoimmune disease. The potential for cell transfer of AA using the C3H/HeJ mouse model was examined. Cells isolated from lymph nodes and spleens of AA-affected mice using magnetic bead conjugated monoclonal antibodies were subcutaneously injected into normal C3H/HeJ recipients.

Apoptosis resistance in peripheral blood lymphocytes of alopecia areata patients.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a putative, cell-mediated autoimmune disease of anagen stage hair follicles. Inter- and intra-follicular lymphocytic infiltrates are associated with alopecia that may progress from an initially patchy presentation to extensive, even universal, hair loss. We previously noted in a mouse model of AA that regulatory T cells (Treg) are absent from draining lymph nodes and that expression of CD44v7 is transiently upregulated.

The progressive state, in contrast to the stable or regressive state of alopecia areata, is reflected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a putative autoimmune disease of the skin with an inflammatory component that can be treated by the local application of contact sensitizers. Here, we explored whether responsiveness toward diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP) is reflected by the composition and the activation state of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs of 43 AA patients, 26 treated and 17 untreated, and of 31 healthy volunteers were tested.

Macrophage-stimulating protein promotes hair growth ex vivo and induces anagen from telogen stage hair follicles in vivo.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a promoter of hair follicle growth. We examined another HGF family member, macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP), for its hair follicle-modulating properties. Western blotting revealed presence of mature MSP in cultured human dermal papilla (DP) cells and bulbar dermal sheath (DS) cells, but not non-bulbar DS cells.

Cultured peribulbar dermal sheath cells can induce hair follicle development and contribute to the dermal sheath and dermal papilla.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing wild-type, and nontransgenic mouse vibrissa follicle cells were cultured and implanted to mouse ears and footpads. Dermal papiller (DP)-derived cells and cells from the peribulbar dermal sheath "cup" (DSC) induced new hair follicles in both implanted ears and footpads, while nonbulbar dermal sheath cells did not. Confocal microscopy revealed that GFP-expressing DP and DSC cells induced hair growth associated with the formation of DP exclusively comprised of fluorescent cells.

Alopecia areata susceptibility in rodent models.

With our current view of alopecia areata as an autoimmune disease, it is probable that disease development in an individual is dependent on multiple genetic and environmental factors interacting in a complex system. Rodent models afford the opportunity to investigate alopecia areata development and to define the significance of the different factors involved. Recently, rodent model characterization has been conducted using flow cytometry, microarray analysis, and functional studies.

TrichoScan: a novel tool for the analysis of hair growth in vivo.

Hair loss or hair thinning is a common complaint in clinical dermatology, and patients seeking advice for hair loss are not necessarily bald. Because the effects of treatment attempts are hard to measure, there is need for a sensitive tool to monitor hair loss and treatment responses. Such a method must be able to analyze the biologic parameters of hair growth, which are: (i) hair density (n per cm2); (ii) hair diameter (microm); (iii) hair growth rate (mm per day); and (iv) anagen/telogen ratio.

Fas-deficient C3.MRL-Tnfrsf6(lpr) mice and Fas ligand-deficient C3H/HeJ-Tnfsf6(gld) mice are relatively resistant to the induction of alopecia areata by grafting of alopecia areata-affected skin from C3H/HeJ mice.

Alopecia areata is suspected to be a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease of the hair follicle, where Fas is expressed on hair follicles and Fas ligand on perifollicular infiltrates. To elucidate whether the Fas/Fas ligand pathway is of pathogenetic significance in alopecia areata, we investigated whether alopecia areata can be induced in Fas-deficient and Fas ligand-deficient mice and whether alopecia areata develops in Fas-deficient and Fas ligand-deficient skin. Therefore, we induced alopecia areata by grafting alopecia areata-affected C3H/HeJ mouse skin on to C3H/HeJ mice (control), on to Fas ligand-deficient C3H/HeJ-Tnfsf6(gld) mice or Fas-deficient C3.