A 3D Bioprinter Specifically Designed for the High-Throughput Production of Matrix-Embedded Multicellular Spheroids

Biotechnology; Cell Biology; Biomaterial

A high-throughput 3D bioprinted cancer cell migration and invasion model with versatile and broad biological applicability

Understanding the underlying mechanisms of migration and metastasis is a key focus of cancer research. There is an urgent need to develop in vitro 3D tumor models that can mimic physiological cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, with high reproducibility and that are suitable for high throughput (HTP) drug screening. Here, we developed a HTP 3D bioprinted migration model using a bespoke drop-on-demand bioprinting platform. This HTP platform coupled with tunable hydrogel systems enables (i) the rapid encapsulation of cancer cells within in vivo tumor mimicking matrices, (ii) in situ and real-time measurement of cell movement, (iii) detailed molecular analysis for the study of mechanisms underlying cell migration and invasion, and (iv) the identification of novel therapeutic options. This work demonstrates that this HTP 3D bioprinted cell migration platform has broad applications across quantitative cell and cancer biology as well as drug screening

Kinesio taping: application and results on pain: systematic review

Kinesio taping is being increasingly used under several conditions; however, its hypoalgesic effect and mechanism of action do not show scientific results. Therefore, the aims of this study were to describe the principles of the method and mainly to analyze the results of clinical trials with control groups, related to pain with Kinesio taping. The PubMed, SciELO, Lilacs, Scirus and Academic Google databases were consulted, using the keywords: Kinesio Taping and Kinesio Tape, either associated or not to pain. Ten clinical trials related to pain and Kinesio taping were selected, assessed by using the PEDro scale, and its results were analyzed. Kinesio taping provided higher, similar or lower pain reduction than in other groups (control, placebo or technique). The application continues to use the principles of Kenzo Kase, the gate control theory being the most described so far to justify the hypoalgesic effect; and the effects were only found in short-term (24 hours to 1 week). Pain relief provided by Kinesio taping was similar or slightly superior to other interventions, not representing a reason for it to be the main treatment of choice. However, it can be considered an adjunct or complementary technique

Abrogation of the radiation-induced G2 checkpoint by the staurosporine derivative UCN-01 is associated with radiosensitisation in a subset of colorectal tumour cell lines

Ionising radiation is commonly used in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Tumour cells with mutant p53 undergo cell cycle arrest at G2/M after ionising radiation and evidence suggests that abrogation of this G2 arrest can lead to a premature, aberrant mitosis, thus enhancing ionising radiation-induced cell killing. The G2 checkpoint inhibitor UCN-01 was thus investigated to determine whether it would abrogate the G2 checkpoint induced by 5 Gy ionising radiation in a range of colorectal tumour cell lines. Data presented show that, at doses that are alone non-toxic to the cells, UCN-01 inhibits the ionising radiation-induced G2 checkpoint in five colorectal tumour cell lines with mutant p53. The ability of UCN-01 to sensitise cells to ionising radiation-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis was also investigated and UCN-01 was found to radiosensitise two out of five cell lines. These results were confirmed by long-term colony forming efficiency studies. These results demonstrate that abrogation of the ionising radiation-induced G2 checkpoint is not necessarily associated with sensitisation to ionising radiation, however, some colorectal tumour cell lines can be radiosensitised by UCN-01. Although the mechanism of radiosensitisation is not clear, this may still be an important treatment strategy

Five insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a rules-based synthesis of the available evidence on levels and trends in health outcomes, a diverse set of risk factors, and health system responses. GBD 2019 covered 204 countries and territories, as well as first administrative level disaggregations for 22 countries, from 1990 to 2019. Because GBD is highly standardised and comprehensive, spanning both fatal and non-fatal outcomes, and uses a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of hierarchical disease and injury causes, the study provides a powerful basis for detailed and broad insights on global health trends and emerging challenges. GBD 2019 incorporates data from 281 586 sources and provides more than 3.5 billion estimates of health outcome and health system measures of interest for global, national, and subnational policy dialogue. All GBD estimates are publicly available and adhere to the Guidelines on Accurate and Transparent Health Estimate Reporting. From this vast amount of information, five key insights that are important for health, social, and economic development strategies have been distilled. These insights are subject to the many limitations outlined in each of the component GBD capstone papers.Peer reviewe

The optimisation of soybean oil degumming on a pilot plant scale using a ceramic membrane

In the present study, soybean oil degumming in an oil/hexane miscella by ultrafiltration was investigated as a substitute for the conventional degumming process. A multi-channel ceramic membrane was used with 0.2 m(2) permeation area and a pore diameter of 0.01 mu m. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used with a complete 2(2) factorial design, considering the tangential velocity and transmembrane pressure as the independent variables. The phosphorous concentration in the permeate (degummed oil) and the permeate flux represented the dependent variables. The tangential velocity varied from 2.9 to 3.9 m s(-1) and the transmembrane pressure (TMP) from 1 to 2 bar. Up to 99.7% of the phospholipids were retained, resulting in a phosphorous concentration of 2.2 mg kg(-1). The permeate flux varied from 21.5 to 40.5 L m(-2) h(-1), with a mass reduction factor (MRF) of 3.2. The only variable shown to influence the process was the TMP. The lowest phosphorous content (2.2 mg kg(-1)) in the degummed oil and the highest permeate flux (40.5 kg m(2) h(-1)) were observed at 2 bar. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.87451452

Solvent recovery from soybean oil/hexane miscella by polymeric membranes

In this work, solvent recovery from soybean oil/hexane miscellas (1:3, w/w) was studied. Flat sheet polymeric membranes, polysulfone and polysulfone/polyamide based, used in reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and ultrafiltration, were tested. The effects of pressure (13-27 bar) and temperature (21-49 degrees C) on permeate flux, oil retention and separation of free fatty acids (FFA) were evaluated by a 2(2) complete factorial design, with three central points and four axial points. Increased pressure resulted in a higher permeate flux though the retention of oil and free fatty acids by the membranes has decreased. However, higher temperatures showed positive effects on the permeate flux, retention of oil and free fatty acids permeation. The highest oil retention (67.12%) was observed for low pressure (15 bar) and high temperature (45 degrees C). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.2824167132833