Donor and Recipient Sex Matching and Corneal Graft Failure in High-Risk and Non-High-Risk Patients

Purpose. It is controversial whether donor-recipient sex mismatch is a risk factor associated with corneal graft failure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex mismatch on corneal graft failure in high-risk and non-high-risk patients. Design. A retrospective study. Methods. The medical charts of patients who underwent corneal transplantations by one surgeon between 2012 and 2017 were reviewed. Patients were defined as high-risk for failure if they had glaucoma, ocular surface disease, or corneal vascularization. Graft failure rates were compared using the Kaplan-Meier survival curves between sex matched and mismatched subjects and between male-to-female grafting and other patients. Results. One hundred and thirteen patients with a minimum follow-up of 18 months were included. In 62 non-high-risk patients, graft failure rates were similar between the sex mismatched and the sex matched recipients (p=0.645, log-rank) and in male donor to female recipient transplantations and in the other transplantations (p=0.496, log-rank). Analysis of fifty-one eyes of 51 high-risk graft recipients (mean age of 73.4 +/- 12.7 years, N = 26 females) showed that graft failure rates were significantly higher in the sex mismatched than sex matched recipients (p=0.022, log-rank) and in male donor to female recipient transplantations than in the other transplantations (p=0.002, log-rank). Conclusions. Sex matching for every patient bares logistic difficulties; however, in patients who are at high-risk for graft failure, it may be a simple way to improve outcomes and better utilize corneal grafts.Peer reviewe

Recent Advances in Printed Capacitive Sensors

In this review paper, we summarize the latest advances in the field of capacitive sensors fabricated by printing techniques. We first explain the main technologies used in printed electronics, pointing out their features and uses, and discuss their advantages and drawbacks. Then, we review the main types of capacitive sensors manufactured with different materials and techniques from physical to chemical detection, detailing the main substrates and additives utilized, as well as the measured ranges. The paper concludes with a short notice on status and perspectives in the field.H2020-MSCA-IF-2017-794885-SELFSEN

Exploring protein space: From hydrolase to ligase by substitution

International audienc

A simplified model to test the hypothesis that strain rate triggers cellular directional response.

<p>(<b>A</b>) A qualitative description by a simple model of the relations between velocity, acceleration, strain rate, and directionality. Simulated particle velocity in the direction of the wound <i>V₊</i>(<i>t</i>) (solid purple line), acceleration (dashed line), and linker attachment probability in the direction of the wound <i>ρ</i>(<i>t</i>) (solid yellow line). (<b>B</b>) Strain rate triggers a directional response (model calculation). Calculated ratio of the directional velocity parallel (<i>V_∥</i>) to the directional velocity toward The wound (<i>V₊</i>) as the acceleration wave propagates, for increasing sharpness of the wave (decreasing σ in Supporting <a href="http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003747#pcbi.1003747.s001" target="_blank">Text S1</a>), corresponding to a wave that is either sharper or with same σ but with larger overall peak acceleration leading to higher final velocity. Both give higher strain-rate and higher directionality according to our proposed relation of directionality on linker occupation (purple curve versus yellow curve as control). (<b>C–D</b>) Experimental results: scatter plot comparison of directionality: <i>V₊ vs</i>. <i>V_∥</i>. Each dot in the scatter plot represents an element (<i>t</i>,<i>d</i>) in the two Corresponding spatiotemporal maps. The results presented here were accumulated over all available experiments (N = 5 for HGF/SF treated cells, N = 6 for control cells). HGF/SF-treated DA3 cells migrate in an enhanced directional manner (<b>D</b>), compared to control cells (<b>C</b>), similarly to the corresponding theoretical purple and yellow plot in (<b>B</b>). (<b>E</b>) Morphology of single DA3 cells as function of time and distance from the wound. Average cell area (left panel) and eccentricity (elongation, right panel) as function of time. Cells stretch to become larger and more elongated as the acceleration and strain-rate wave traverses the monolayer. When the wave passes to deeper cells, enhanced directionality is lost (<b>B</b>) theoretically, (<b>C</b>) and (<b>D</b>) experimentally), but the cells keep maintaining their elongated morphology. (<b>F</b>) Subjective single cells observations served as another indication for the validity of the experimental and theoretic results. Visualization of manual cell tracking (each cell marker with a different color) show that cells elongate to the direction of the wound edge followed by migration in a directional manner upon arrival of the waves. Time is in the format hh:mm. The corresponding video is freely available at “The Cell: an Image Library”, <a href="http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/46351" target="_blank">http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/46351</a>.</p

Propagating Waves of Directionality and Coordination Orchestrate Collective Cell Migration

<div><p>The ability of cells to coordinately migrate in groups is crucial to enable them to travel long distances during embryonic development, wound healing and tumorigenesis, but the fundamental mechanisms underlying intercellular coordination during collective cell migration remain elusive despite considerable research efforts. A novel analytical framework is introduced here to explicitly detect and quantify cell clusters that move coordinately in a monolayer. The analysis combines and associates vast amount of spatiotemporal data across multiple experiments into transparent quantitative measures to report the emergence of new modes of organized behavior during collective migration of tumor and epithelial cells in wound healing assays. First, we discovered the emergence of a wave of coordinated migration propagating backward from the wound front, which reflects formation of clusters of coordinately migrating cells that are generated further away from the wound edge and disintegrate close to the advancing front. This wave emerges in both normal and tumor cells, and is amplified by Met activation with hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor. Second, Met activation was found to induce coinciding waves of cellular acceleration and stretching, which in turn trigger the emergence of a backward propagating wave of directional migration with about an hour phase lag. Assessments of the relations between the waves revealed that amplified coordinated migration is associated with the emergence of directional migration. Taken together, our data and simplified modeling-based assessments suggest that increased velocity leads to enhanced coordination: higher motility arises due to acceleration and stretching that seems to increase directionality by temporarily diminishing the velocity components orthogonal to the direction defined by the monolayer geometry. Spatial and temporal accumulation of directionality thus defines coordination. The findings offer new insight and suggest a basic cellular mechanism for long-term cell guidance and intercellular communication during collective cell migration.</p></div

A simplified model to test the hypothesis that strain rate triggers cellular directional response.

<p>(<b>A</b>) A qualitative description by a simple model of the relations between velocity, acceleration, strain rate, and directionality. Simulated particle velocity in the direction of the wound <i>V₊</i>(<i>t</i>) (solid purple line), acceleration (dashed line), and linker attachment probability in the direction of the wound <i>ρ</i>(<i>t</i>) (solid yellow line). (<b>B</b>) Strain rate triggers a directional response (model calculation). Calculated ratio of the directional velocity parallel (<i>V_∥</i>) to the directional velocity toward The wound (<i>V₊</i>) as the acceleration wave propagates, for increasing sharpness of the wave (decreasing σ in Supporting <a href="http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003747#pcbi.1003747.s001" target="_blank">Text S1</a>), corresponding to a wave that is either sharper or with same σ but with larger overall peak acceleration leading to higher final velocity. Both give higher strain-rate and higher directionality according to our proposed relation of directionality on linker occupation (purple curve versus yellow curve as control). (<b>C–D</b>) Experimental results: scatter plot comparison of directionality: <i>V₊ vs</i>. <i>V_∥</i>. Each dot in the scatter plot represents an element (<i>t</i>,<i>d</i>) in the two Corresponding spatiotemporal maps. The results presented here were accumulated over all available experiments (N = 5 for HGF/SF treated cells, N = 6 for control cells). HGF/SF-treated DA3 cells migrate in an enhanced directional manner (<b>D</b>), compared to control cells (<b>C</b>), similarly to the corresponding theoretical purple and yellow plot in (<b>B</b>). (<b>E</b>) Morphology of single DA3 cells as function of time and distance from the wound. Average cell area (left panel) and eccentricity (elongation, right panel) as function of time. Cells stretch to become larger and more elongated as the acceleration and strain-rate wave traverses the monolayer. When the wave passes to deeper cells, enhanced directionality is lost (<b>B</b>) theoretically, (<b>C</b>) and (<b>D</b>) experimentally), but the cells keep maintaining their elongated morphology. (<b>F</b>) Subjective single cells observations served as another indication for the validity of the experimental and theoretic results. Visualization of manual cell tracking (each cell marker with a different color) show that cells elongate to the direction of the wound edge followed by migration in a directional manner upon arrival of the waves. Time is in the format hh:mm. The corresponding video is freely available at “The Cell: an Image Library”, <a href="http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/46351" target="_blank">http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/images/46351</a>.</p