Primary human mesenchymal stem cell culture under xeno-free conditions using surface-modified cellulose nanofiber scaffolds.

Stem cell culture often requires various animal-derived components such as serum and collagen. This limits its practical use. Therefore, xeno-free (xenogeneic component-free) culture systems are receiving increased attention.

Incidence and Risk Factors of Immediate Hypersensitivity Reactions and Immunization Stress-Related Responses With COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine.

Background: With the implementation of mass vaccination campaigns against COVID-19, the safety of vaccine needs to be evaluated.

Objective: We aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors for immediate hypersensitivity reactions (IHSR) and immunization stress-related responses (ISRR) with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods: This nested case-control study included recipients who received the Moderna vaccine at a mass vaccination center, Japan.

Suppressing aggregation of quinacridone pigment and improving its color strength by using chitosan nanofibers.

Quinacridone, a red pigment, is prone to aggregation, which results in undesirable color changes. Cellulose nanofibers (NFs) have been reported to adsorb quinacridone and suppress its aggregation. In this study, we investigated the potential of chitin and chitosan NFs which possess acetoamide and amino groups, as a quinacridone dispersant.

Properties of natural rubber reinforced with cellulose nanofibers based on fiber diameter distribution as estimated by differential centrifugal sedimentation.

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) with different degrees of fibrillation are prepared by the mechanical fibrillation of kraft pulp using wet disk milling, and dispersions of the prepared CNFs were subjected to differential centrifugal sedimentation (DCS) in order to estimate the diameter distributions of the CNFs. The low-fibrillated CNFs (fiber diameter (d): >10 μm) had a weak reinforcing effect on natural rubber (NR), while the medium-fibrillated CNFs (d: 0.1-10 μm) dramatically improve the initial modulus and decrease the elongation at break.

Fast and Robust Nanocellulose Width Estimation Using Turbidimetry.

The dimensions of nanocelluloses are important factors in controlling their material properties. The present study reports a fast and robust method for estimating the widths of individual nanocellulose particles based on the turbidities of their water dispersions. Seven types of nanocellulose, including short and rigid cellulose nanocrystals and long and flexible cellulose nanofibers, are prepared via different processes.

3 nm Thick Lignocellulose Nanofibers Obtained from Esterified Wood with Maleic Anhydride.

Esterification with maleic anhydride before mechanical treatments enabled wood to fibrillate into thin and uniform thick lignocellulose nanofibers. The esterification did not affect the crystal structure of the cellulose, and carboxyl groups introduced by the esterification facilitated the fibrillation of the wood. Moisture in the reaction system caused hydrolysis of some of the lignin and hemicellulose, thereby assisting the fibrillation.

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polypropylene Composites Reinforced with Lignocellulose Nanofibers Dried in Melted Ethylene-Butene Copolymer.

Lignocellulose nanofibers were prepared by the wet disk milling of wood flour. First, an ethylene-butene copolymer was pre-compounded with wood flour or lignocellulose nanofibers to prepare master batches. This process involved evaporating the water of the lignocellulose nanofiber suspension during compounding with ethylene-butene copolymer by heating at 105 °C.

Atomic Force Microscopy Observation of Polylactide Stereocomplex Edge-On Crystals in Thin Films: Effects of Molecular Weight on Lamellar Curvature.

The shapes of the edge-on lamellar crystals of equiweight poly(l-lactide) (PLLA)/poly(d-lactide) (PDLA) stereocomplexes with various combinations of molecular weights were investigated by using atomic force microscopy. In the cases of the PLLA/PDLA blends with equivalent molecular weights, the straight-shaped edge-on lamellae were observed. On the other hand, the curved edge-on crystals were able to be seen for the PLLA/PDLA stereocomplexes with nonequivalent molecular weights.

Pore size determination of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibril films by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.

Wood cellulose nanofibril films with sodium carboxylate groups prepared from a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized pulp exhibited an extremely low oxygen permeability of 0.0008 mL μm m(-2) day(-1) kPa(-1) at 0% relative humidity (RH). Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used to determine the pore sizes in wood and tunicate TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibril (TOCN-COONa) films in a vacuum (i.

Structure and mechanical properties of wet-spun fibers made from natural cellulose nanofibers.

Cellulose nanofibers were prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation of wood pulp and tunicate cellulose. The cellulose nanofiber suspension in water was spun into an acetone coagulation bath. The spinning rate was varied from 0.

Therapeutic mild hypothermia: effects on coagulopathy and survival in a rat hemorrhagic shock model.

Objective: : To determine the effects of therapeutic hypothermia on coagulation parameters during hemorrhagic shock (HS) and fluid resuscitation and on survival, in a rat HS model.

Methods: : Under light anesthesia and spontaneous breathing, 24 rats underwent HS (phase I) for 90 minutes, during which 2.5 mL/100 g blood was withdrawn over 15 minutes; fluid resuscitation (phase II) for 60 minutes, during which no blood was reinfused but 5.

Elastic modulus of single cellulose microfibrils from tunicate measured by atomic force microscopy.

The elastic modulus of single microfibrils from tunicate ( Halocynthia papillosa ) cellulose was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Microfibrils with cross-sectional dimensions 8 x 20 nm and several micrometers in length were obtained by oxidation of cellulose with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) as a catalyst and subsequent mechanical disintegration in water and by sulfuric acid hydrolysis. The nanocellulosic materials were deposited on a specially designed silicon wafer with grooves 227 nm in width, and a three-point bending test was applied to determine the elastic modulus using an AFM cantilever.

Effects of various concentrations of inhaled oxygen on tissue dysoxia, oxidative stress, and survival in a rat hemorrhagic shock model.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a fractional inspired oxygen (F(I)O(2)) of 1.0 compared to 0.4 during hemorrhagic shock (HS) and fluid resuscitation (FR): mitigates tissue dysoxia; however, enhances the oxidative stress; therefore, offsets the benefit on survival.

Usefulness of transcatheter arterial embolization for intercostal arterial bleeding in a patient with burst fractures of the thoracic vertebrae.

A 25-year-old man was injured in a motorcycle accident and hemodynamically unstable on admission. Right hemothorax and fractures of the ninth, tenth, and 11th thoracic vertebrae were confirmed in chest X-ray. Tube thoracostomy in the right chest was performed and about 400 mL of blood was drained.

Pontine infarction induced by injury of the perforating branch of the basilar artery after blunt head impact: case report.

A 77-year-old male pedestrian was hit by a car. On admission, he had disturbance of consciousness and left hemiplegia. Computed tomography (CT) indicated only left frontal subcutaneous hematoma and minor hemorrhage in the left frontal lobe, suggesting axonal injury.

Evaluation of the accuracy of CT numbers in statistical correction of nonlinearity for polychromatic X-ray CT projection data.

The CT number is theoretically independent of the number of incident photons and the thickness of a subject. However, when noise is added, the CT number becomes dependent on the number of incident photons because of the nonlinearity of the logarithm operation, and so the accuracy of the CT number is degraded, especially in a photon-starved state. The inconsistency of the CT number due to nonlinearity generates an intense streak artifact in a reconstructed image.

The effect of hemicelluloses on wood pulp nanofibrillation and nanofiber network characteristics.

Hemicelluloses as matrix substances showed an important role in nanofibrillation of wood pulp. Never-dried and once-dried pulps with different amounts of hemicelluloses were fibrillated using a grinding treatment. The degree of fibrillation was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy observation of the fibrillated pulps and light transmittance measurements of the fibrillated pulp/acrylic resin composites.