40 research outputs found
Self-Healing Collagen-Based Hydrogel for Brain Injury Therapy
Hydrogels derived from biopolymers, also called biohydrogels, have
shown potential for brain injury therapy due to their tunable physical, chemical,
and biological properties. Among different biohydrogels, those made from collagen
type I are very promising candidates for the reparation of nervous tissues due to its
biocompatibility, noncytotoxic properties, injectability, and self-healing ability.
Moreover, although collagen does not naturally occur in the brain, it has been
demonstrated that collagen type I, which resides in the basal lamina of the
subventricular zone in adults, supports neural cell attachment, axonal growth, and
cell proliferation due to its intrinsic content of specific cell-signaling domains. This
chapter summarizes the most relevant results obtained from both in vitro and in vivo
studies using self-healing biohydrogels based on collagen type I as key component
in the field of neuroregeneration.University of RegensburgUniversidad de La LagunaMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidade
A sedimentary record of the rise and fall of the metal industry in Bergslagen, south central Sweden
Detailed stratigraphic analyses of sediments deposited in Lake Botjärnen, a small boreal forest lake in the shield terrain of central Sweden, clearly reflect progressively increasing human impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems following settlement and establishment of an iron industry in the 17th century. Rising frequencies of pollen and spores from light-demanding plants provide evidence of extensive forest clearance for charcoal and timber production, which peaked in the early 20th century. An associated increase in catchment erosion is reflected by changing carbon and nitrogen elemental content and carbon–isotope composition of sediment organic matter and by increased magnetic susceptibility of the sediments. Records of air-borne pollutants (lead, zinc and sulphur) can be correlated to the development of local and regional mining and metal industry as inferred from historical accounts. Rapid recession of the iron industry led to re-forestation and recovery of the aquatic nutrient status to pre-industrial conditions over the past 100 years. The chronology of the sediment succession, which is based on 210Pb and 137Cs radionuclide data in combination with radiocarbon dating, is confirmed by historical lead pollution trends established for the region