Advantages of additive manufacturing for biomedical applications of polyhydroxyalkanoates

In recent years, biopolymers have been attracting the attention of researchers and special-ists from different fields, including biotechnology, material science, engineering, and medicine. The reason is the possibility of combining sustainability with scientific and technological progress. This is an extremely broad research topic, and a distinction has to be made among different classes and types of biopolymers. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a particular family of polyesters, synthetized by microorganisms under unbalanced growth conditions, making them both bio-based and biodegradable polymers with a thermoplastic behavior. Recently, PHAs were used more intensively in biomedical applications because of their tunable mechanical properties, cytocompatibility, adhesion for cells, and controllable biodegradability. Similarly, the 3D-printing technologies show increasing potential in this particular field of application, due to their advantages in tailor-made design, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing of complex structures. In this review, first, the synthesis and the production of PHAs are described, and different production techniques of medical implants are compared. Then, an overview is given on the most recent and relevant medical applications of PHA for drug delivery, vessel stenting, and tissue engineering. A special focus is reserved for the inno-vations brought by the introduction of additive manufacturing in this field, as compared to the traditional techniques. All of these advances are expected to have important scientific and commer-cial applications in the near future

A Space Weather and Terrestrial Hazards Experiment for the MSTI Program

This paper discusses the instrumentation being built under BMDO auspices to construct a small, lightweight, low-cost satellite that provides measurements of local hazards affecting satellites in low-Earth orbit. In the following, we describe the objectives of the mission, the instrumentation being built and the mission profile for acquisition and utilization of the data products

Effect of a new antenatal care programme on the attitudes of pregnant women and midwives towards antenatal care in Harare

A clinical study on the importance of women participation and co-operation,them being a key stakeholder of any Antenatal Care (ANC) programme that may be introduced in Zimbabwe's health delivery system.Health providers have 'only recently been paying attention to the attitudes of women towards antenatal care programmes. Previously, the benefits of antenatal care (ANC) were considered so self evident that the consumers could not question how the services were delivered. However, the success of any ANC programme depends to a greater or lesser degree on the co-operation of the women. One of the aims of increased satisfaction with ANC is to achieve better compliance with the advice given, which may lead to improved pregnancy outcome. Satisfaction with the services, rather than the mere improvement of pregnancy outcome is also: now considered a goal in its own right

The Stroke-Induced Increase of Somatostatin-Expressing Neurons is Inhibited by Diabetes: A Potential Mechanism at the Basis of Impaired Stroke Recovery

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) hampers recovery after stroke, but the underling mechanisms are mostly unknown. In a recently published study (Pintana et al. in Clin Sci (Lond) 133(13):1367\u20131386, 2019), we showed that impaired recovery in T2D was associated with persistent atrophy of parvalbumin+ interneurons in the damaged striatum. In the current work, which is an extension of the abovementioned study, we investigated whether somatostatin (SOM)+ interneurons are also affected by T2D during the stroke recovery phase. C57Bl/6j mice were fed with high-fat diet or standard diet (SD) for 12\ua0months and subjected to 30-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). SOM+ cell number/density in the striatum was assessed by immunohistochemistry 2 and 6\ua0weeks after tMCAO in peri-infarct and infarct areas. This was possible by establishing a computer-based quantification method that compensates the post-stroke tissue deformation and the irregular cell distribution. SOM+ interneurons largely survived the stroke as seen at 2\ua0weeks. Remarkably, 6\ua0weeks after stroke, the number of SOM+ interneurons increased (vs. contralateral striatum) in SD-fed mice in both peri-infarct and infarct areas. However, this increase did not result from neurogenesis. T2D completely abolished this effect specifically in the in the infarct area. The results suggest that the up-regulation of SOM expression in the post-stroke phase could be related to neurological recovery and T2D could inhibit this process. We also present a new and precise method for cell counting in the stroke-damaged striatum that allows to reveal accurate, area-related effects of stroke on cell number

Functional Imaging of Decision Conflict

Decision conflict occurs when people feel uncertain as to which option to choose from a set of similarly attractive (or unattractive) options, with many studies demonstrating that this conflict can lead to suboptimal decision making. In this article, we investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of decision conflict, in particular, the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Previous studies have implicated the ACC in conflict monitoring during perceptual tasks, but there is considerable controversy as to whether the ACC actually indexes conflict related to choice, or merely conflict related to selection of competing motor responses. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we dissociate the decision and response phases of a decision task, and show that the ACC does indeed index conflict at the decision stage. Furthermore, we sho that it does so for a complex decision task, one that requires the integration of beliefs and preferences and not just perceptual judgments

Self-sensing cellulose structures with design-controlled stiffness

Robots are often used for sensing and sampling in natural environments. Within this area, soft robots have become increasingly popular for these tasks because their mechanical compliance makes them safer to interact with. Unfortunately, if these robots break while working in vulnerable environments, they create potentially hazardous waste. Consequently, the development of compliant, biodegradable structures for soft, eco-robots is a relevant research area that we explore here. Cellulose is one of the most abundant biodegradable materials on earth, but it is naturally very stiff, which makes it difficult to use in soft robots. Here, we look at both biologically and kirigami inspired structures that can be used to reduce the stiffness of cellulose based parts for soft robots up to a factor of 19 000. To demonstrate this, we build a compliant force and displacement sensing structure from microfibrillated cellulose. We also describe a novel manufacturing technique for these structures, provide mechanical models that allow designers to specify their stiffness, and conclude with a description of our structure's performance

Earthquake hazards of the South Carolina Coastal Plain 1996

This map has been designed as a tool for use by emergency managers in planning for the response to and recovery from a major earthquake disaster. It also may be useful to land use planners and regulators as a generalized guide to regional earthquake hazard mitigation actions. Using a color guide it shows: Low or no potential for earthquake hazards, Potential for liquefaction, Potential for landslide and Potential for collapse

Analysis of the functional consequences of targeted exon deletion in COL7A1 reveals prospects for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa therapy

Genetically evoked deficiency of collagen VII causes dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB)-a debilitating disease characterized by chronic skin fragility and progressive fibrosis. Removal of exons carrying frame-disrupting mutations can reinstate protein expression in genetic diseases. The therapeutic potential of this approach is critically dependent on gene, protein, and disease intrinsic factors. Naturally occurring exon skipping in COL7A1, translating collagen VII, suggests that skipping of exons containing disease-causing mutations may be feasible for the treatment of DEB. However, despite a primarily in-frame arrangement of exons in the COL7A1 gene, no general conclusion of the aptitude of exon skipping for DEB can be drawn, since regulation of collagen VII functionality is complex involving folding, intra-and intermolecular interactions. To directly address this, we deleted two conceptually important exons located at both ends of COL7A1, exon 13, containing recurrent mutations, and exon 105, predicted to impact folding. The resulting recombinantly expressed proteins showed conserved functionality in biochemical and in vitro assays. Injected into DEB mice, the proteins promoted skin stability. By demonstrating functionality of internally deleted collagen VII variants, our study provides support of targeted exon deletion or skipping as a potential therapy to treat a large number of individuals with DEB

Long Polar Fimbriae Contribute to Colonization by \u3ci\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e O157:H7 In Vivo

The contribution of long polar fimbriae to intestinal colonization by Escherichia coli O157:H7 was evaluated in sheep, conventional pigs, and gnotobiotic piglets. E. coli O157:H7 strains with lpfA1 and lpfA2 mutated were recovered in significantly lower numbers and caused fewer attachment and effacement lesions than the parent strain