Investigating the Possibility of Intervertebral Disc Regeneration Induced by Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor-Stimulated Stem Cells in Rats

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a multifactorial process that is influenced by contributions from genetic predisposition, the aging phenomenon, lifestyle conditions, biomechanical loading and activities, and other health factors (such as diabetes). Attempts to decelerate disc degeneration using various techniques have been reported. However, to date, there has been no proven technique effective for broad clinical application. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) is a growth factor cytokine that has been shown to enhance the availability of circulating hematopoietic stem cells to the brain and heart as well as their capacity for mobilization of mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells. GCSF also exerts significant increases in circulating neutrophils as well as potent anti-inflammatory effects. In our study, we hypothesize that GCSF can induce bone marrow stem cells differentiation and mobilization to regenerate the degenerated IVD. We found that GCSF had no contribution in disc regeneration or maintenance; however, there were cell proliferation within end plates. The effects of GCSF treatment on end plates might deserve further investigation

Air passenger demand forecasting and passenger terminal capacity expansion: A system dynamics framework

This paper deals with how to develop a model to forecast air passenger demand and to evaluate some policy scenarios related with runway and passenger terminal capacity expansion to meet the future demand. System dynamics frameworks can be used to model, to analyze and to generate scenario to increase the system performance because of its capability of representing physical and information flows, based on information feedback control that are continuously converted into decisions and actions. We found that airfare impact, level of service impact, GDP, population, number of flights per day and dwell time play an important roles in determining the air passenger volume, runway utilization and total additional area needed for passenger terminal capacity expansion

Dynamic Simulation Of Air Cargo

This paper establishes an approach to forecast air cargo demand related to terminal capacity expansion. To balance capacity and demand, it is required to forecast the future demand based on optimistic and pessimistic projections to decide when and how much, the airport should expand the capacity. System dynamics simulation model can provide reliable forecast and generate scenarios to test alternative assumptions and decisions. It was found that GDP and FDI play an important role in fostering the demand. Terminal expansion would be required in 2014 and 2021 at the optimistic projection; meanwhile, based on pessimistic projection, capacity should be expanded in 2025

Coronary Artery Ectasia Presenting With Recurrent Inferior Wall Myocardial Infarction

AbstractCoronary ectasia presenting as a recurrent inferior myocardial infarction has rarely been reported in the literature. Herein, we report a 61-year-old man who presented with persistent chest pain accompanied by ST segment elevation in the inferior ECG leads. Coronary angiography showed ectasia of the right coronary artery (RCA) and total occlusion from the middle RCA. Two stents were implanted separately in the middle and distal RCA. The patient was readmitted due to recurrent inferior wall infarction 15 months after discharge. He underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention again, and coronary angiography showed massive thrombosis and in-stent re-stenosis. The thrombosis and re-stenosis were successfully treated using balloon angioplasty. The patient was discharged under medical therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel. There were no anginal symptoms during the 3 years of follow up

THE EFFECT OF EIGHT WEEKS TRAINING WITH EXTRA WEIGHT ON STANDING LONG JUMP PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks training with extra weight in the hands on standing long jump performance. Fifteen junior high school male students participated in the study. Vicon motion system (10 cameras, 200Hz) and two Kistler force plates (1000 Hz) were used to collect the kinematics and kinetic data of pretraining and post-training tests. The results found the jumping distance increased 18 % after extra weight training. The horizontal velocity of center of mass (CM) at takeoff, flight distance, landing distance, the CM difference at takeoff, the horizontal positive impulse and the peak horizontal ground reaction force were all significantly enhanced. It was concluded that eight weeks of extra weight in the hands jump training increased the high school male standing long jump performance

Demand scenario analysis and planned capacity expansion: A system dynamics framework

This paper establishes an approach to develop models for forecasting demand and evaluating policy scenarios related to planned capacity expansion for meeting optimistic and pessimistic future demand projections. A system dynamics framework is used to model and to generate scenarios because of their capability of representing physical and information flows, which will enable us to understand the nonlinear dynamics behavior in uncertain conditions. These models can provide important inputs such as construction growth, GDP growth, and investment growth to specific business decisions such as planned capacity expansion policies that will improve the system performance