Mechanobiological Strategies to Enhance Ovine () Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Tendon Plasticity for Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Applications.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) hold promise for tendon repair, even if their tenogenic plasticity and underlying mechanisms remain only partially understood, particularly in cells derived from the ovine animal model. This study aimed to characterize oADSCs during in vitro expansion to validate their phenotypic properties pre-transplantation. Moreover, their tenogenic potential was assessed using two in vitro-validated approaches: (1) teno-inductive conditioned media (CM) derived from a co-culture between ovine amniotic stem cells and fetal tendon explants, and (2) short- (48 h) and long-term (14 days) seeding on highly aligned PLGA (ha-PLGA) electrospun scaffold.

Pneumomediastinum as a postinfectious complication of COVID-19 in paediatric patient.

An adolescent boy presented to the clinic with upper chest pain, anterior neck pain and difficulty swallowing 3 weeks following a COVID-19 infection. The pain started a few days before while participating in football practice. He reported no significant trauma or specific incidence when the pain began.

Electrocardiogram Belt guidance for left ventricular lead placement and biventricular pacing optimization.

Background: Patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, non-left bundle branch block, or QRS duration <150 ms have a lower response rate to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) than did other indicated patients. The ECG Belt system (EBS) is a novel surface mapping system designed to measure electrical dyssynchrony via the standard deviation of the activation times of the left ventricle.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of the EBS in patients less likely to respond to CRT and to determine whether EBS use in lead placement guidance and device programming was superior to standard CRT care.

Novel Extravascular Defibrillation Configuration With a Coil in the Substernal Space: The ASD Clinical Study.

Objectives: This study assessed the defibrillation efficacy of the substernal-lateral electrode configuration.

Background: Subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are regarded as alternatives to transvenous ICDs in certain subjects. However, substantially higher shock energy of up to 80 J may be required.

Increase of ventricular interval during atrial fibrillation by atrioventricular node vagal stimulation: chronic clinical atrioventricular-nodal stimulation download study.

Background: Patients with a high ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation (AF) are at increased risk of receiving inappropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks. The objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of high frequency atrioventricular-nodal stimulation (AVNS) to reduce the ventricular rate during AF to prevent inappropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks.

Methods And Results: Patients with a new atrial lead placement as part of a cardiac resynchronization therapy and defibrillator implant and a history of paroxysmal or persistent AF were eligible.

No correlation between remifentanil blood, cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral extracellular fluid levels and TCI prediction: a pharmacokinetic study.

Background: The aims of this paper were to elucidate the difference in concentration among remifentanil blood, cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral extracellular fluid levels, and to verify the presumable existence of a correlation between arterial and cerebral remifentanil. We used brain microdialysis to shed light on this aspect of the pharmacokinetic and to correlate these findings with Minto's model.

Methods: The study population was formed by 9 patients scheduled for elective intracranial surgery for cerebral supratentorial neoplasia.

Cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells amplified ex vivo from cord blood CD34+ cells.

Background: Our ex vivo expansion procedure starting from cord blood (CB) CD34+ cells enabled expansion of committed progenitors (CPs) without a negative impact on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) exhibiting both short- and long-term repopulating capacity. Upgraded to clinical scale (Macopharma HP01 in the presence of stem cell factor, FLT3-L [100 ng/mL each], granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor [10 ng/mL], and thrombopoietin [20 ng/mL]), it is being used for an ongoing clinical trial (adult allogeneic context) yielding promising preliminary results. Transplantation of ex vivo expanded CB cells is becoming a reality, while the issue of expanded cells' cryopreservation emerges as an option that allows the conservation of the product for transportation and future use.

Biological and physicochemical characterization of a serum- and xeno-free chemically defined cryopreservation procedure for adult human progenitor cells.

While therapeutic cell transplantations using progenitor cells are increasingly evolving towards phase I and II clinical trials and chemically defined cell culture is established, standardization in biobanking is still in the stage of infancy. In this study, the EU FP6-funded CRYSTAL (CRYo-banking of Stem cells for human Therapeutic AppLication) consortium aimed to validate novel Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to perform and validate xeno-free and chemically defined cryopreservation of human progenitor cells and to reduce the amount of the potentially toxic cryoprotectant additive (CPA) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). To achieve this goal, three human adult progenitor and stem cell populations-umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived erythroid cells (UCB-ECs), UCB-derived endothelial colony forming cells (UCB-ECFCs), and adipose tissue (AT)-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AT-MSCs)-were cryopreserved in chemically defined medium supplemented with 10% or 5% DMSO.

IIEF-15: unsuitable for assessing erectile function of young men?

Introduction: The prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) is mainly studied in older males, whereas we measured prevalence of ED in young healthy males using a validated questionnaire.

Aim: Assessing the prevalence of ED in young adult men using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15) and creating a benchmark for ED in this young age group for further research.

Methods: Male students were randomly asked to participate.

Long-term followup of hypospadias: functional and cosmetic results.

Purpose: We assessed long-term results after hypospadias surgery with respect to urinary and sexual function, cosmetic appearance and intimate relationships.

Materials And Methods: We contacted 116 patients who are now adults and who underwent surgery between 1987 and 1992. Participation included mailed questionnaires containing the International Prostate Symptom Score, International Index of Erectile Function and the Dutch Survey of Intimate Relations (Nederlandse Relatie Vragenlijst) as well as uroflowmetry and cosmesis assessment using the Pediatric Penile Perception Score.

Ultra-wideband SAW correlator.

A surface acoustic wave (SAW) correlator that satisfies FCC bandwidth requirements for ultra-wideband (UWB) operation has been built and tested. The correlator operates within the 3.1 to 10.

Oral valganciclovir in children: single dose pharmacokinetics in a six-year-old girl.

We report a pharmacokinetic study in a 6-year-old girl with congenital human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and cytomegalovirus coinfection maintained on iv ganciclovir for 6 years. Increasing infection and thrombosis caused by her iv device necessitated alternative therapy. Single dose pharmacokinetics of ganciclovir 4.

Rapid identification of Mycobacteria to the species level using INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria, a reverse hybridization assay.

INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria (LiPA; Innogenetics, Zwijnaarde, Belgium) is a kit for the simultaneous detection and identification of Mycobacterium species in culture and identifies the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, the M. avium complex (MAC), and the following Mycobacterium species: M. kansasii, M.

Cooperative changes in GABA, glutamate and activity levels: the missing link in cortical plasticity.

Different intracortical mechanisms have been reported to contribute to the substantial topographic reorganization of the mammalian primary visual cortex in response to matching lesions in the two retinas: an immediate expansion of receptive fields followed by a gradual shift of excitability into the deprived area and finally axonal sprouting of laterally projecting neurons months after the lesion. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of this adult plasticity, we used immunocytochemical and bioanalytical methods to measure the glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter levels in the visual cortex of adult cats with binocular central retinal lesions. Two to four weeks after the lesions, glutamate immunoreactivity was decreased in sensory-deprived cortex as confirmed by HPLC analysis of the glutamate concentration.

Epidemiological study of lathyrism in northwestern districts of Bangladesh.

Two northwestern districts of Bangladesh with a population of 629,752 were surveyed from June 1991 to March 1993 to detect and follow up lathyrism patients. Out of 2,567 neurological patients, 882 were diagnosed as having lathyrism, giving a prevalence rate of 14.0/10,000.

Study of HTLV-I antibodies in CSF and serum of neurolathyrism patients in Bangladesh.

Neurolathyrism is a form of human spastic paraparesis related to the overconsumption of the legume Lathyrus sativus or grass pea (Khesari in Bangladesh) containing the neurotoxin 3-N-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (beta-ODAP). The clinical symptoms of neurolathyrism are similar to those of Tropical Spastic Paraparesis. In order to eliminate the proposed causative agent of TSP (HTLV-I) as a potential cause of the symptoms ascribed to neurolathyrism, a total of 444 diagnosed lathyrism patients were screened for HTLV-I antibodies.

Species identification of Rhipicephalus duttoni in relation to the Rhipicephalus appendiculatus group (Acarina: Ixodidae).

Rhipicephalus duttoni Neumann is a common tick species in Angola, where its distribution is sympatric with that of R. zambeziensis Walker. Evidence is presented supporting R.

A hybridization model for Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R. zambeziensis (Acarina: Ixodidae) using glucose-6-phosphate-isomerase isoenzymes.

In the Eastern Province of Zambia, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (Neumann) and R. zambeziensis (Walker) are sympatric. Intermediate forms as well as typical specimens are found.

Hybridization model for Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R. zambeziensis by glucose-P-isomerase isoenzymes.

Hybrids between Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R. zambeziensis were reared and glucose-phosphate-isomerase isoenzymes were resolved by agarose electrophoresis. By phenotyping hybrids in F1 and F2 generations autosomal transmission of 2 GPI genes was demonstrated.

Genetic variation in the body weight of ticks of the Rhipicephalus appendiculatus/zambeziensis complex.

Sixteen strains of ticks of the Rhipicephalus appendiculatus/zambeziensis complex were created by cross-breeding for one to three generations. The body-weights of adult male ticks of these consanguineous lines were compared. A significant genetic variation was distinguished between the groups.