Endogenous biological factors modulated by substrate stiffness regulate endothelial differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

During the process of tissue regeneration facilitated by stem cells, physical properties of a scaffold affect behavior and activities of the cell. To enhance differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into endothelial-like cells (ELCs), we used electrospun fibrous substrates with different stiffness to enhance the differentiation. A simple method of annealing with different lengths of treatment time was employed to modulate stiffness of electrospun fibrous substrates without changing their chemistry.

Tuberculous ankle versus pyogenic septic ankle arthritis: a retrospective comparison.

Ankle tuberculosis (TB) manifests with varying symptoms and is easily confused with pyogenic septic ankle arthritis. In this study, all patients with either ankle TB or pyogenic septic ankle arthritis who were admitted to a medical center in southern Taiwan between May 1986 and October 2006 were reviewed retrospectively to identify risk factors for ankle TB. Compared with the 42 patients with culture-confirmed pyogenic septic ankle arthritis, the 26 patients with ankle TB (12 definitive, 5 probable, and 9 possible) were significantly more likely to have evidence of TB on chest radiographs (50 versus 10%; P<0.