The Implication of Substance P in the Development of Tendinopathy: A Case Control Study.

It was reported that substance P had beneficial effects in the healing of acute tendon injury. However, the relationship between substance P and degenerative tendinopathy development remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of substance P in the pathogenesis of tendinopathy. Healthy and tendinopathy tendon were harvested from human and tenocytes were cultured individually. The expression levels of genes associated with tendinopathy were compared. Next, substance P was exogenously administered to the healthy tenocyte and the effect was evaluated. The results showed that tendinopathy tenocytes had higher levels of COL3A1, MMP1, COX2, SCX, ACTA2, and substance P gene expression compared to healthy tenocytes. Next, substance P treatment on the healthy tenocyte displayed similar changes to that of the tendinopathy tenocytes. These differences between the two groups were also determined by Western blot. Additionally, cells with substance P had the tendinopathy change morphologically although cellular proliferation was significantly higher compared to that of the control group. In conclusion, substance P enhanced cellular proliferation, but concomitantly increased immature collagen (type 3 collagen). Substance P plays a crucial role in tendinopathy development and could be a future therapeutic target for treatment

Bleeding complications associated with the molecular adsorbent recirculating system: a retrospective study

Background The molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) is a hepatic replacement system that supports excretory liver function in patients with liver failure. However, since MARS has been employed in our hospital, bleeding complications have occurred in many patients during or after MARS. The objective of this study was to determine how MARS affects coagulopathy and identify specific factors associated with bleeding complications. Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from 17 patients undergoing a total of 41 MARS sessions. Complete blood count, coagulation profiles, and blood chemistry values were compared before and after MARS. To identify pre-MARS factors associated with increased bleeding after MARS, we divided patients into bleeder and non-bleeder groups and compared their pre-MARS laboratory values. Results MARS significantly reduced bilirubin and creatinine levels. MARS also increased prothrombin time and reduced platelet and fibrinogen, thus negatively impacting coagulation. Pre-MARS hemoglobin was significantly lower in the bleeder group than in the non-bleeder group (P=0.015). When comparing the upper and lower 33% of MARS sessions based on the hemoglobin reduction rate, hemoglobin reduction was significantly greater in MARS sessions involving patients with low pre-MARS international normalized ratio of prothrombin time (PT-INR) and factor V (P=0.038 and P=0.023, respectively). Conclusions MARS could appears to alter coagulation-related factors such as factor V and increase the risk of bleeding complications particularly in patient with low hemoglobin. However, individual differences among patients were large, and various factors, such as low hemoglobin, PT-INR, and factor V levels, appear to be involved

Full-Field Subwavelength Imaging Using a Scattering Superlens

Light-matter interaction gives optical microscopes tremendous versatility compared with other imaging methods such as electron microscopes, scanning probe microscopes, or x-ray scattering where there are various limitations on sample preparation and where the methods are inapplicable to bioimaging with live cells. However, this comes at the expense of a limited resolution due to the diffraction limit. Here, we demonstrate a novel method utilizing elastic scattering from disordered nanoparticles to achieve subdiffraction limited imaging. The measured far-field speckle fields can be used to reconstruct the subwavelength details of the target by time reversal, which allows full-field dynamic super-resolution imaging. The fabrication of the scattering superlens is extremely simple and the method has no restrictions on the wavelength of light that is usedclos

Deprivation or Discrimination? Comparing Theories of the Reverse Income-Obesity Gradient in the U.S. and South Korea

In high-income countries, poverty is often associated with higher average body mass index (BMI). To account for this reverse gradient, deprivation theories posit that declining economic resources make it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. By contrast, discrimination theories argue that anti-fat discrimination in hiring and marriage sorts heavier individuals into lower-income households. We assess competing predictions of these theories by examining how household income in representative samples from South Korea (2007–2014, N=20,823) and the U.S. (1999–2014, N=6,395) is related to BMI in two key contrasting groups: (1) currently married and (2) never married individuals. Naïve analyses that aggregate these two groups reveal the well-established reverse gradient. Stratified analyses, on the other hand, reveal that the gradient only appears among currently married women, but not never-married women or men. Further analyses indicated that these differences in the gradient by marital status cannot be accounted for a number of alternative hypothesis based on differential employment or motivation to lose weight. Though consistent with predictions of anti-fat discrimination in marriage, these findings raise important challenges to deprivation theories of the reverse gradient

One-Step Fabrication of Copper Electrode by Laser-Induced Direct Local Reduction and Agglomeration of Copper Oxide Nanoparticle

Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticle-based organic solutions are highly stable in air as well as cheaper compared to copper (Cu) nanoparticle solutions due to the absence of particle oxidation problems. Laser direct patterning via photo-thermochemical reaction of the CuO nanoparticles is suggested to efficiently fabricate Cu electrodes. CuO nanoparticles dispersed in ethylene glycol were instantaneously reduced to Cu nanopartides by intense laser irradiation, and the Cu nanoparticles were simultaneously agglomerated and sintered to form conductors without additional processes. Finally, Cu electrodes with about 10 mu m thickness and a specific electrical resistance of 31 mu Omega.cm were successfully fabricated on a glass and flexible substrate. Furthermore, the maximum possible patterning rate was discussed in terms of the reduction rate of CuO. This conductor structuring method enables an environmentally friendly and cost-effective process as well as a low-temperature manufacturing sequence to realize large-area, flexible electronics on polymer substrates.N

Graphene- and Carbon-Nanotube-Based Transparent Electrodes for Semitransparent Solar Cells

A substantial amount of attention has been paid to the development of transparent electrodes based on graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), owing to their exceptional characteristics, such as mechanical and chemical stability, high carrier mobility, high optical transmittance, and high conductivity. This review highlights the latest works on semitransparent solar cells (SSCs) that exploit graphene- and CNT-based electrodes. Their prominent optoelectronic properties and various fabrication methods, which rely on laminated graphene/CNT, doped graphene/CNT, a hybrid graphene/metal grid, and a solution-processed graphene mesh, with applications in SSCs are described in detail. The current difficulties and prospects for future research are also discussed

Design of Polarization-Independent and Wide-Angle Broadband Absorbers for Highly Efficient Reflective Structural Color Filters

We propose a design of angle-insensitive and polarization-independent reflective color filters with high efficiency (>80%) based on broad resonance in a Fabry–Pérot cavity where asymmetric metal-dielectric-metal planar structures are employed. Broadband absorption properties allow the resonance in the visible range to remain nearly constant over a broad range of incident angles of up to 40° for both s- and p-polarizations. Effects of the angles of incidence and polarization state of incident light on the purity of the resulting colors are examined on the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram. In addition, higher-order resonances of the proposed color filters and their electric field distributions are investigated for improved color purity. Lastly, the spectral properties of the proposed structures with different metallic layers are studied. The simple strategy described in this work could be adopted in a variety of research areas, such as color decoration devices, microscopy, and colorimetric sensors