Regenerating Vascularized Craniofacial Bone from 3D-Printed Scaffolds and Stromal-Vascular Fraction Cells: An Animation and Interactive Presentation for Lay Audience and Scientists

Present day surgical reconstruction of large craniofacial defects relies on bone grafts to restore the patient’s facial structure and function. However, this procedure is limited in success due to the complex orbital, maxillary, zygomatic, and mandibular structure of the craniofacial area. The most effective post-surgical patient social reintegration correlates not only to the anatomical and physiological outcomes of the surgery, but also its cosmetic results. To this end, biomaterials and medical research proposes a 3D printed scaffold customized to fit the patient. However, there are currently no existing visualizations to explain the complex science of this procedure, hindering progress both in how the research is communicated, as well as opportunities for funding and research. To fulfill the lack of biovisualization material pertaining to 3D printed scaffolds, a presentation animation was created using a combination of 2D and 3D assets, as well as 3D models extracted from CT scans. The resulting MPG4 animation files were created using a combination of Osirix reconstruction software and edited using Zbrush digital sculpting software. Assets were then imported into Cinema 4D modeling/animation software and AfterEffects compositing and animation software. In addition, a browser-based interactive presentation was made with the purpose of elucidating the cellular process of angiogenesis. An interactive presentation of angiogenesis was also made with 3D models, and implemented through HTML and Javascript. The presentation was created to be viewed using standard browser applications for ease of access, without the need for plugins or file distribution. The creation of these visualizations addresses the advantages of 3D printed scaffolds compared to current surgical bone graft methods, as well as the visualization and rate at which the bone would become vascularized, in order to communicate the current state of craniofacial reconstruction research. The animation and interactive presentation produced as a result of this project not only allows both the layman and scientist to understand and learn about 3D printed bony scaffolds, but also brings attention to the rapidly progressing field of medical biomaterials. This research further highlights the potential and need for biovisualizations to burgeon alongside this exciting frontier of medical research

Sequential Checkpoints Govern Substrate Selection During Cotranslational Protein Targeting

Proper protein localization is essential for all cells. However, the precise mechanism by which high fidelity is achieved is not well understood for any protein-targeting pathway. To address this fundamental question, we investigated the signal recognition particle (SRP) pathway in Escherichia coli, which delivers proteins to the bacterial inner membrane through recognition of signal sequences on cargo proteins. Fidelity was thought to arise from the inability of SRP to bind strongly to incorrect cargos. Using biophysical assays, we found that incorrect cargos were also rejected through a series of checkpoints during subsequent steps of targeting. Thus, high fidelity of substrate selection is achieved through the cumulative effect of multiple checkpoints; this principle may be generally applicable to other pathways involving selective signal recognition

2-(Hy­droxy­meth­yl)pyridin-3-ol

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C6H7NO2, the mol­ecules are are linked by inter­molecular O—H⋯N and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds; π–π stacking is observed between parallel pyridine rings of adjacent mol­ecules [centroid-to-centroid distance = 3.7649 (12) Å]

The Effect of Task Choice and Task Assignment on the Gender Earnings Gap: An Experimental Study

Previous studies explain the gender earnings gap by gender differences in choosing competitive and higher-paying jobs. However, little is known about whether and how women’s earnings are affected when they choose more challenging jobs. In this study, we use a novel identification strategy to investigate 1) how the gender earnings gap arises from individuals’ self-selecting into different tasks and 2) whether mobilizing women to work on the tasks typically preferred by men increases women’s earnings and decreases the earnings gap. Our results show that men who prefer the hard and higher-paid task are more likely to obtain higher earnings regardless of the task they are assigned. In contrast, we find that women obtain higher earnings when they work on a hard and higher-paid task even if their initial take choice is the easy and lower-paid one. Our findings are consistent and robust across task stereotypes. Our results imply that mobilizing women to work on more challenging and rewarding tasks is likely to reduce the gender earnings gap

4-(1H-Tetra­zol-5-yl)-1H-indole

There are two mol­ecules with similar configurations in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C9H7N5, which are linked by inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds into chains with graph-set motif C 2 2(8) along the b axis. The indole core has the expected planar geometry in the two mol­ecules, with a maximum deviation of 0.008 (8) Å from the least-squares plane defined by the nine constituent atoms, and the dihedral angles between the indole and tetra­zole rings are similar [42.4 (2) and 42.7 (2)°]

1-Benzoyl-3-chloro­azepan-2-one

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C13H14ClNO2, inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions link the mol­ecules into a two-dimensional network