Opportunities in utilization of agricultural residues in bio-composite production: Corn stalk (Zea mays indurata Sturt) and oak wood (Quercus Robur L.) fiber in medium density fiberboard

In this paper, corn stalk as an agricultural residue was mixed with oak wood fiber to produce medium density fiberboards (MDF). Urea formaldehyde resin was used as binder. Hygroscopic and mechanical properties were evaluated according to the commercial standards in MDF production. Partial substitution of wood fiber with corn stalks fiber negatively affected all board properties. However, the mechanical properties fulfill the minimum requirements of the relevant standards such as TS-EN 310, 1999 and TS-EN 319, 1999. In some cases, they exceeded the standards, even with partial blending of corn stalk fibers.Key words: Corn stalks, Quercus robur, medium density fiberboard, physical and mechanical properties

Multi-aspect analysis of ureteral access sheath usage in retrograde intrarenal surgery: A RIRSearch group study

Objective: To evaluate the effect of ureteral access sheath (UAS) use and calibration change on stone-free rate and complications of retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS). Methods: Data from 568 patients undergoing RIRS for kidney or upper ureteral stones were retrospectively included. Firstly, patients were compared after 1:1 propensity score matching, according to UAS usage during RIRS (UAS used [+] 87 and UAS non-used [?] 87 patients). Then all UAS+ patients (n=481) were subdivided according to UAS calibration: 9.5–11.5 Fr, 10–12 Fr, 11–13 Fr, and 13–15 Fr. Primary outcomes of the study were the success and complications of RIRS. Results: Stone-free rate of UAS+ patients (86.2%) was significantly higher than UAS? patients (70.1%) after propensity score matching (p=0.01). Stone-free rate increased with higher caliber UAS (9.5–11.5 Fr: 66.7%; 10–12 Fr: 87.3%; 11–13 Fr: 91.3%; 13–15 Fr: 100%; p<0.0001). Postoperative complications of UAS+ patients (11.5%) were significantly lower than UAS? patients (27.6%) (p=0.01). Complications (8.7%) with 9.5–11.5 Fr UAS was lower than thicker UAS (17.3%) but was not statistically significant (p=0.08). UAS usage was an independent factor predicting stone-free status or peri- and post-operative complications (odds ratio [OR] 3.654, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.314–10.162; OR 4.443, 95% CI 1.350–14.552; OR 4.107, 95% CI 1.366–12.344, respectively). Conclusion: Use of UAS in RIRS may increase stone-free rates, which also increase with higher caliber UAS. UAS usage may reduce complications; however, complications seemingly increase with higher UAS calibration. © 2022 Editorial Office of Asian Journal of Urolog

Afferent specific role of NMDA receptors for the circuit integration of hippocampal neurogliaform cells.

This is the final version of the article. Available from Nature Publishing Group via the DOI in this record.Appropriate integration of GABAergic interneurons into nascent cortical circuits is critical for ensuring normal information processing within the brain. Network and cognitive deficits associated with neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, that result from NMDA receptor-hypofunction have been mainly attributed to dysfunction of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons that paradoxically express low levels of synaptic NMDA receptors. Here, we reveal that throughout postnatal development, thalamic, and entorhinal cortical inputs onto hippocampal neurogliaform cells are characterized by a large NMDA receptor-mediated component. This NMDA receptor-signaling is prerequisite for developmental programs ultimately responsible for the appropriate long-range AMPAR-mediated recruitment of neurogliaform cells. In contrast, AMPAR-mediated input at local Schaffer-collateral synapses on neurogliaform cells remains normal following NMDA receptor-ablation. These afferent specific deficits potentially impact neurogliaform cell mediated inhibition within the hippocampus and our findings reveal circuit loci implicating this relatively understudied interneuron subtype in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by NMDA receptor-hypofunction.Proper brain function depends on the correct assembly of excitatory and inhibitory neurons into neural circuits. Here the authors show that during early postnatal development in mice, NMDAR signaling via activity of long-range synaptic inputs onto neurogliaform cells is required for their appropriate integration into the hippocampal circuitry.We thank Daniel Abebe for mouse colony maintenance and Kurt Auville for additional assistance with confocal imaging. We thank UNC Vector Core and Ed Boyden, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA for generously providing AAV9-syn-Chrimson-TdTomato and AAV9-syn-Chronos-GFP. This work was supported by an intramural award to C.J.M. from the Eunice Kennedy–Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and a Competitive Fellowship Award to J.C.W. from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strok

2D-Based 3D Volume Retrieval Using Singular Value Decomposition of Detected Regions

In this paper, a novel 3D retrieval model to retrieve medical volumes using 2D images as input is proposed. The main idea consists of applying a multi–scale detection of saliency of image regions. Then, the 3D volumes with the regions for each of the scales are associated with a set of projections onto the three canonical planes. The 3D shape is indirectly represented by a 2D–shape descriptor so that the 3D–shape matching is transformed into measuring similarity between 2D–shapes. The shape descriptor is defined by the set of the k largest singular values of the 2D images and Euclidean distance between the vector descriptors is used as a similarity measure. The preliminary results obtained on a simple database show promising performance with a mean average precision (MAP) of 0.82 and could allow using the approach as part of a retrieval system in clinical routine

HPV16 Oncoproteins Induce MMPs/RECK-TIMP-2 Imbalance in Primary Keratinocytes: Possible Implications in Cervical Carcinogenesis

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. Persistent infection with high-risk HPV types, principally HPV16 and 18 is the main risk factor for the development of this malignancy. However, the onset of invasive tumor occurs many years after initial exposure in a minority of infected women. This suggests that other factors beyond viral infection are necessary for tumor establishment and progression. Tumor progression is characterized by an increase in secretion and activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) produced by either the tumor cells themselves or tumor-associated fibroblasts or macrophages. Increased MMPs expression, including MMP-2, MMP-9 and MT1-MMP, has been observed during cervical carcinoma progression. These proteins have been associated with degradation of ECM components, tumor invasion, metastasis and recurrence. However, few studies have evaluated the interplay between HPV infection and the expression and activity of MMPs and their regulators in cervical cancer. We analyzed the effect of HPV16 oncoproteins on the expression and activity of MMP-2, MMP-9, MT1-MMP, and their inhibitors TIMP-2 and RECK in cultures of human keratinocytes. We observed that E7 expression is associated with increased pro-MMP-9 activity in the epithelial component of organotypic cultures, while E6 and E7 oncoproteins co-expression down-regulates RECK and TIMP-2 levels in organotypic and monolayers cultures. Finally, a study conducted in human cervical tissues showed a decrease in RECK expression levels in precancer and cancer lesions. Our results indicate that HPV oncoproteins promote MMPs/RECK-TIMP-2 imbalance which may be involved in HPV-associated lesions outcome