Osteoclast-mediated resorption primes the skeleton for successful integration during axolotl limb regeneration

Early events during axolotl limb regeneration include an immune response and the formation of a wound epithelium. These events are linked to a clearance of damaged tissue prior to blastema formation and regeneration of the missing structures. Here, we report the resorption of calcified skeletal tissue as an active, cell-driven, and highly regulated event. This process, carried out by osteoclasts, is essential for a successful integration of the newly formed skeleton. Indeed, the extent of resorption is directly correlated with the integration efficiency, and treatment with zoledronic acid resulted in osteoclast function inhibition and failed tissue integration. Moreover, we identified the wound epithelium as a regulator of skeletal resorption, likely releasing signals involved in recruitment/differentiation of osteoclasts. Finally, we reported a correlation between resorption and blastema formation, particularly, a coordination of resorption with cartilage condensation. In sum, our results identify resorption as a major event upon amputation, playing a critical role in the overall process of skeletal regeneration

Comparative Analysis of Saturated and Under-saturated oil Viscosity Correlations using Statistical Tools, Niger Delta Case Study

Crude oil viscosity is one of the most important fluid properties that affects fluid flow behavior; either in pipeline hydraulics or in the porous media (reservoir). Viscosity is a vital physical property that plays a major role in the petroleum industry, the production processing and transportation of oil due to influence on the flow through porous rock, oil wells, multiphase flow through tubing and piping system. Therefore, the need for accurate determination of viscosity for oil and gas applications cannot be overemphasized. Numerous empirical correlations exist in literature for predicting crude oil viscosity but their accuracy is limited based on range of conditions of application, composition of the crude used in developing the correlation, specific range of data and experimental conditions. In the present work, experimental data of oil viscosity from different samples of Nigerian oil reservoirs were statistically compared with correlation predicted viscosity using the most common viscosity empirical correlations. Validity and accuracy of these empirical models has been confirmed for both saturated and under-saturated Niger Delta oil samples. It was observed that for undersaturated oil viscosities, Elshawarky & Alikhan’s correlation gave a better prediction based on the Absolute average percentage error and standard deviation while for the case of saturated oil viscosities Chew and Connally proved to be the closest to the experimental results

Steroids and fatty acid esters from Cyperus sexangularis leaf and their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-elastase properties

SAMPLE AVAILABILITY : Sample of the compounds 1–6 are available from author G.M.M.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS : The observed spectra of compounds 1–6 are available as Figures S1–S6.Cyperus sexangularis (CS) is a plant in the sedges family (Cyperaceae) that grows abundantly in swampy areas. The leaf sheath of plants in the Cyperus genus are mostly used domestically for mat making, while they are implicated for skin treatment in traditional medicine. The plant was investigated for its phytochemical contents as well as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-elastase properties. The n-hexane and dichloromethane leaf extracts were chromatographed on a silica gel column to afford compounds 1–6. The compounds were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The inhibitory effect of each compound against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO) and ferric ion radicals were determined by standard in vitro antioxidant methods. The in vitro anti-inflammatory response was measured using egg albumin denaturation (EAD) assay, while the anti-elastase activity of each compound in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells was also monitored. The compounds were characterized as three steroidal derivatives, stigmasterol (1), 17-(1-methyl-allyl)-hexadecahydro-cyclopenta[a]phenanthrene (2) and -sitosterol (3), dodecanoic acid (4) and two fatty acid esters, ethyl nonadecanoate (5) and ethyl stearate (6). Stigmasterol (1) exhibited the best biological properties, with IC50 of 38.18 2.30 g/mL against DPPH, 68.56 4.03 g/mL against NO and 303.58 10.33 AAE/mg against Fe3+. At 6.25 g/mL, stigmasterol inhibited EAD by 50%. This activity was lower when compared to diclofenac (standard), which demonstrated 75% inhibition of the protein at the same concentration. Compounds 1, 3, 4 and 5 showed comparable anti-elastase activity with an IC50 50 g/mL, whereas the activity of ursolic acid (standard) was double fold with an IC50 of 24.80 2.60 g/mL when compared to each of the compounds. In conclusion, this study has identified three steroids (1–3), one fatty acid (4), and two fatty acid esters (5 and 6) in C. sexangularis leaf for the first time. The compounds showed considerable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-elastase properties. Thus, the findings may serve as a justification for the folkloric use of the plant as a local skin ingredient. It may also serve to validate the biological role of steroids and fatty acid compounds in cosmeceutical formulations.Water Research Commission (WRC), South Africa.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/moleculesam2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Damage function for historic paper. Part II: Wear and tear

Background: As a result of use of library and archival documents, defined as reading with handling in the context of general access, mechanical degradation (wear and tear) accumulates. In contrast to chemical degradation of paper, the accumulation of wear and tear is less well studied. Previous work explored the threshold of mechanical degradation at which a paper document is no longer considered to be fit for the purpose of use by a reader, while in this paper we explore the rate of accumulation of such damage in the context of object handling. Results: The degree of polymerisation (DP) of historic paper of European origin from mid-19th–mid-20th Century was shown to affect the rate of accumulation of wear and tear. While at DP > 800, this accumulation no longer depends on the number of handlings (the process is random), a wear-out function could be developed for documents with DP between 300 and 800. For objects with DP < 300, one large missing piece (i.e. such that contains text) developed on average with each instance of handling, which is why we propose this DP value as a threshold value for safe handling. Conclusions: The developed model of accumulation of large missing pieces per number of handlings of a document depending on DP, enables us to calculate the time required for an object to become unfit for use by readers in the context of general access. In the context of the average frequency of document use at The UK National Archives (Kew), this period is 60 years for the category of papers with DP 300, and 450 years for papers with DP 500. At higher DP values, this period of time increases beyond the long-term planning horizon of 500 years, leading to the conclusion that for such papers, accumulation of wear and tear is not a significant collection management concern

Active wetting of epithelial tissues

Development, regeneration and cancer involve drastic transitions in tissue morphology. In analogy with the behavior of inert fluids, some of these transitions have been interpreted as wetting transitions. The validity and scope of this analogy are unclear, however, because the active cellular forces that drive tissue wetting have been neither measured nor theoretically accounted for. Here we show that the transition between 2D epithelial monolayers and 3D spheroidal aggregates can be understood as an active wetting transition whose physics differs fundamentally from that of passive wetting phenomena. By combining an active polar fluid model with measurements of physical forces as a function of tissue size, contractility, cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesion, and substrate stiffness, we show that the wetting transition results from the competition between traction forces and contractile intercellular stresses. This competition defines a new intrinsic lengthscale that gives rise to a critical size for the wetting transition in tissues, a striking feature that has no counterpart in classical wetting. Finally, we show that active shape fluctuations are dynamically amplified during tissue dewetting. Overall, we conclude that tissue spreading constitutes a prominent example of active wetting --- a novel physical scenario that may explain morphological transitions during tissue morphogenesis and tumor progression

Interactivity Improves Usability of Geographic Maps for Visually Impaired People

International audienceTactile relief maps are used by visually impaired people to acquire mental representation of space, but they retain important limitations (limited amount of information, braille text, etc.). Interactive maps may overcome these limitations. However, usability of these two types of maps had never been compared. It is then unknown whether interactive maps are equivalent or even better solutions than traditional raised-line maps. This study presents a comparison of usability of a classical raised-line map vs. an interactive map composed by a multi-touch screen, a raised-line overlay and audio output. Both maps were tested by 24 blind participants. We measured usability as efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Our results show that replacing braille with simple audio-tactile interaction significantly improved efficiency and user satisfaction. Effectiveness was not related to the map type but depended on users' characteristics as well as the category of assessed spatial knowledge. Long-term evaluation of acquired spatial information revealed that maps, whether interactive or not, are useful to build robust survey-type mental representations in blind users. Altogether, these results are encouraging as they show that interactive maps are a good solution for improving map exploration and cognitive mapping in visually impaired people

Prospective randomized trial of iliohypogastric-ilioinguinal nerve block on post-operative morphine use after inpatient surgery of the female reproductive tract

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To determine the impact of pre-operative and intra-operative ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block on post-operative analgesic utilization and length of stay (LOS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a prospective randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial to assess effectiveness of ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block (IINB) on post-operative morphine consumption in female study patients (<it>n </it>= 60). Patients undergoing laparotomy via Pfannenstiel incision received injection of either 0.5% bupivacaine + 5 mcg/ml epinephrine for IINB (Group I, <it>n </it>= 28) or saline of equivalent volume given to the same site (Group II, <it>n </it>= 32). All injections were placed before the skin incision and after closure of rectus fascia via direct infiltration. Measured outcomes were post-operative morphine consumption (and associated side-effects), visual analogue pain scores, and hospital length of stay (LOS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No difference in morphine use was observed between the two groups (47.3 mg in Group I vs. 45.9 mg in Group II; <it>p </it>= 0.85). There was a trend toward lower pain scores after surgery in Group I, but this was not statistically significant. The mean time to initiate oral narcotics was also similar, 23.3 h in Group I and 22.8 h in Group II (<it>p </it>= 0.7). LOS was somewhat shorter in Group I compared to Group II, but this difference was not statistically significant (<it>p </it>= 0.8). Side-effects occurred with similar frequency in both study groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this population of patients undergoing inpatient surgery of the female reproductive tract, utilization of post-operative narcotics was not significantly influenced by IINB. Pain scores and LOS were also apparently unaffected by IINB, indicating a need for additional properly controlled prospective studies to identify alternative methods to optimize post-surgical pain management and reduce LOS.</p

Significant benefits of AIP testing and clinical screening in familial isolated and young-onset pituitary tumors

Context Germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) gene are responsible for a subset of familial isolated pituitary adenoma (FIPA) cases and sporadic pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs). Objective To compare prospectively diagnosed AIP mutation-positive (AIPmut) PitNET patients with clinically presenting patients and to compare the clinical characteristics of AIPmut and AIPneg PitNET patients. Design 12-year prospective, observational study. Participants & Setting We studied probands and family members of FIPA kindreds and sporadic patients with disease onset ≤18 years or macroadenomas with onset ≤30 years (n = 1477). This was a collaborative study conducted at referral centers for pituitary diseases. Interventions & Outcome AIP testing and clinical screening for pituitary disease. Comparison of characteristics of prospectively diagnosed (n = 22) vs clinically presenting AIPmut PitNET patients (n = 145), and AIPmut (n = 167) vs AIPneg PitNET patients (n = 1310). Results Prospectively diagnosed AIPmut PitNET patients had smaller lesions with less suprasellar extension or cavernous sinus invasion and required fewer treatments with fewer operations and no radiotherapy compared with clinically presenting cases; there were fewer cases with active disease and hypopituitarism at last follow-up. When comparing AIPmut and AIPneg cases, AIPmut patients were more often males, younger, more often had GH excess, pituitary apoplexy, suprasellar extension, and more patients required multimodal therapy, including radiotherapy. AIPmut patients (n = 136) with GH excess were taller than AIPneg counterparts (n = 650). Conclusions Prospectively diagnosed AIPmut patients show better outcomes than clinically presenting cases, demonstrating the benefits of genetic and clinical screening. AIP-related pituitary disease has a wide spectrum ranging from aggressively growing lesions to stable or indolent disease course

Dataset of dynein inhibitor titrations in Xenopus egg extract spindles

Shape quantification of Xenopus egg extract spindles under dynein inhibition using p150-cc1 at different concentrations. The complete dataset contains 14 titrations from 9 different extract days (362 spindles)