Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

Intense pulsed light (IPL) is one of the most effective nonablative approaches to treat skin photoaging. The broad range of wavelengths (500–1200 nm) emitted from IPL devices effectively target both melanin and hemoglobin in the skin. Numerous trials show the effectiveness and compatibility of IPL devices in a variety of skin conditions, especially in cosmetic indications such as hypertrichosis and telangiectasias. Compared with the wide clinical use of IPL, the biochemical and molecular mechanism is not clear. Both in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate that IPL could increase the production of extracellular matrix, promote the proliferation of fibroblasts, and increase the secretion of TGF-β and matrix metalloproteinases, which play important roles in the photorejuvenation effects of IPL. However, investigations regarding the detailed underlying mechanism are necessary

Specimen Orientation for the Calibration of Direct Scanning X-Ray Wood Densitometers

It was found that specimen orientation has considerable effect on the calibration of direct scanning X-ray wood densitometers. A comparison between various orientations was made and verified by a test. Optimum calibration is accomplished when the specimens are made in such a way that the radiation beam is passed through the wood in the tangential direction and scans it in the radial direction

Bargaining Power Choices with Moral Hazard in a Supply Chain

A supply chain contract is established using a dynamic, Nash bargaining game which determines the optimal bargaining power allocation for the manufacturer, retailer, and society in an environment affected by moral hazard and irreversible investment. The results found that the manufacturer’s choice was to hold all bargaining power; however, due to the remaining information problem, the retailer still had a profit; in contrast, the retailer was only willing to give up bargaining power if the manufacturer’s profit was reserved. The optimal bargaining power allocation was found to be strongly related to the ability to convert and monitor technology, with the bargaining power gradually shifting to the manufacturer as the technology improved. A numerical simulation is given to examine the theoretical results

Potential Mechanisms Underlying TGF-β-mediated Complement Activation in Lung Fibrosis

While our previous studies suggest that limiting bleomycin-induced complement activation suppresses TGF-β signaling, the specific hierarchical interactions between TGF-β and complement in lung fibrosis are unclear. Herein, we investigated the mechanisms underlying TGF-β-induced complement activation in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis. C57-BL6 mice were given intratracheal instillations of adenoviral vectors overexpressing TGF-β (Ad-TGFβ) or the firefly gene-luciferase (Ad-Luc; control). Two weeks later, mice with fibrotic lungs were instilled RNAi specific to receptors for C3a or C5a-C3ar or C5ar, and sacrificed at day 28. Histopathological analyses revealed that genetic silencing of C3ar or C5ar arrested the progression of TGF-β-induced lung fibrosis, collagen deposition and content (hydroxyproline, col1a1/2); and significantly suppressed local complement activation. With genetic silencing of either C3ar or C5ar, in Ad-TGFβ-injured lungs: we detected the recovery of Smad7 (TGF-β inhibitor) and diminished local release of DAF (membrane-bound complement inhibitor); in vitro: TGF-β-mediated loss of DAF was prevented. Conversely, blockade of the TGF-β receptor prevented C3a-mediated loss of DAF in both normal primary human alveolar and small airway epithelial cells. Of the 52 miRNAs analyzed as part of the Affymetrix array, normal primary human SAECs exposed to C3a, C5a or TGF-β caused discrete and overlapping miRNA regulation related to epithelial proliferation or apoptosis (miR-891A, miR-4442, miR-548, miR-4633), cellular contractility (miR-1197) and lung fibrosis (miR-21, miR-200C, miR-31HG, miR-503). Our studies present potential mechanisms by which TGF-β activates complement and promotes lung fibrosis

Sca-1+ Cardiac Stem Cells Mediate Acute Cardioprotection via Paracrine Factor SDF-1 following Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion

Cardiac stem cells (CSCs) promote myocardial recovery following ischemia through their regenerative properties. However, little is known regarding the implication of paracrine action by CSCs in the setting of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury although it is well documented that non-cardiac stem cells mediate cardioprotection via the production of paracrine protective factors. Here, we studied whether CSCs could initiate acute protection following global myocardial I/R via paracrine effect and what component from CSCs is critical to this protection.A murine model of global myocardial I/R was utilized to investigate paracrine effect of Sca-1+ CSCs on cardiac function. Intracoronary delivery of CSCs or CSC conditioned medium (CSC CM) prior to ischemia significantly improved myocardial function following I/R. siRNA targeting of VEGF in CSCs did not affect CSC-preserved myocardial function in response to I/R injury. However, differentiation of CSCs to cardiomyocytes (DCSCs) abolished this protection. Through direct comparison of the protein expression profiles of CSCs and DCSCs, SDF-1 was identified as one of the dominant paracrine factors secreted by CSCs. Blockade of the SDF-1 receptor by AMD3100 or downregulated SDF-1 expression in CSCs by specific SDF-1 siRNA dramatically impaired CSC-induced improvement in cardiac function and increased myocardial damage following I/R. Of note, CSC treatment increased myocardial STAT3 activation after I/R, whereas downregulation of SDF-1 action by blockade of the SDF-1 receptor or SDF-1 siRNA transfection abolished CSC-induced STAT3 activation. In addition, inhibition of STAT3 activation attenuated CSC-mediated cardioprotection following I/R. Finally, post-ischemic infusion of CSC CM was shown to significantly protect I/R-caused myocardial dysfunction.This study suggests that CSCs acutely improve post-ischemic myocardial function through paracrine factor SDF-1 and up-regulated myocardial STAT3 activation

Highly Efficient Polarized GeS/MoSe2 van der Waals Heterostructure for Water Splitting from Ultraviolet to Near‐Infrared Light

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152744/1/pssr201900582.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152744/2/pssr201900582_am.pd

Strain Enhanced Visible–Ultraviolet Absorption of Blue Phosphorene/MoX2 (X = S,Se) Heterolayers

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149231/1/pssr201800659.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149231/2/pssr201800659_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149231/3/pssr201800659-sup-0001-SuppFig-S1.pd

Carbon Impacts of Engineered Wood Products in Construction

Buildings and the construction sector together account for about 39% of the global energy-related CO2 emissions. Recent building designs are introducing promising new mass timber products that have the capacity to partially replace concrete and steel in traditional buildings. The inherently lower environmental impacts of engineered wood products for construction are seen as one of the key strategies to mitigate climate change through their increased use in the construction sector. This chapter synthesizes the estimated carbon benefits of using engineered wood products and mass timber in the construction sector based on insights obtained from recent Life Cycle Assessment studies in the topic area of reduced carbon emissions and carbon sequestration/storage

Robust and Convergent Distributed Cooperative Localization with Labelled Bernoulli Random Finite Set

Cooperative localization (CL) is critical for multirobot systems to accurately ascertain their positions in the environment. This article presents a robust and convergent distributed CL algorithm to effectively address localization inaccuracies and inconsistency caused by intermittent or limited absolute observation capabilities. The algorithm integrates three key modules: propagation, observation, and communication, enabling each robot to estimate its states and measure noise covariance simultaneously. To enhance the estimation consistency, intervehicle relative observations and landmark absolute observations are modeled as multi-Bernoulli random finite sets (RFSs), with robot states updated using a coupled correlation scheme. By combining extended particle filtering and covariance intersection (CI) techniques, the algorithm efficiently handles intermittent observations, leading to substantial improvements in localization accuracy and estimation consistency. Furthermore, the proofs of convergent consistency are provided in this article, validating the algorithm's robustness and convergence

Influences of Hillslope Biogeochemistry on Anaerobic Soil Organic Matter Decomposition in a Tundra Watershed

We investigated rates and controls on greenhouse gas (CO2 and CH4) production in two contrasting water‐saturated tundra soils within a permafrost‐affected watershed near Nome, Alaska, United States. Three years of field sample analysis have shown that soil from a fen‐like area in the toeslope of the watershed had higher pH and higher porewater ion concentrations than soil collected from a bog‐like peat plateau at the top of the hillslope. The influence of these contrasting geochemical and topographic environments on CO2 and CH4 production was tested in soil microcosms by incubating both the organic‐ and mineral‐layer soils anaerobically for 55 days. Nitrogen (as NH4Cl) was added to half of the microcosms to test potential effects of N limitation on microbial greenhouse gas production. We found that the organic toeslope soils produced more CO2 and CH4, fueled by higher pH and higher concentrations of water‐extractable organic C (WEOC). Our results also indicate N limitation on CO2 production in the peat plateau soils but not the toeslope soils. Together these results suggest that the weathering and leaching of ions and nutrients from tundra hillslopes can increase the rate of anaerobic soil organic matter decomposition in downslope soils by (1) increasing the pH of soil porewater; (2) providing bioavailable WEOC and fermentation products such as acetate; and (3) relieving microbial N limitation through nutrient runoff. We conclude that the soil geochemistry as mediated by landscape position is an important factor influencing the rate and magnitude of greenhouse gas production in tundra soils