Influence of insulin injection on skin

Aims/Introduction: The influence of repeated insulin injection on subcutaneous tissue is known, but its impact on the skin is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the impact of repeated insulin injections on the skin. Material and Methods: The properties of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue were evaluated in 52 insulin-treated adult patients with diabetes with abnormal findings at the site of self-injection (36 with subcutaneous nodules, 16 with suspected subcutaneous tissue induration) by ultrasonography. In all subjects, both normal and abnormal areas were examined. In addition, skin biopsies were performed in four subjects. Results: The skin thickness of the normal and abnormal skin sites was 1.95 (1.60, 2.50) and 2.80 (2.27, 3.30) mm, respectively (median (first quartile, third quartile)), (P < 0.001). The biopsy specimens revealed slightly thickened and tight bundles of collagen in the dermis. Three patients had amyloid deposits in the subcutaneous tissue, and one also showed these in the dermis. These were positively stained for insulin antibody. Conclusions: Repeated insulin injection procedures result in skin thickening. Increased collagen fibers and possibly amyloid deposition in the dermis may be involved. The results reaffirmed the importance of appropriate site rotation in insulin injection and revealed the usefulness of ultrasonographic skin examination in evaluating the self-injection procedure

Cell Type-Specific Transcriptome of Brassicaceae Stigmatic Papilla Cells From a Combination of Laser Microdissection and RNA Sequencing

Pollination is an early and critical step in plant reproduction, leading to successful fertilization. It consists of many sequential processes, including adhesion of pollen grains onto the surface of stigmatic papilla cells, foot formation to strengthen pollen-stigma interaction, pollen hydration and germination, and pollen tube elongation and penetration. We have focused on an examination of the expressed genes in papilla cells, to increase understanding of the molecular systems of pollination. From three representative species of Brassicaceae (Arabidopsis thaliana, A. halleri and Brassica rapa), stigmatic papilla cells were isolated precisely by laser microdissection, and cell type-specific gene expression in papilla cells was determined by RNA sequencing. As a result, 17,240, 19,260 and 21,026 unigenes were defined in papilla cells of A. thaliana, A. halleri and B. rapa, respectively, and, among these, 12,311 genes were common to all three species. Among the17,240 genes predicted in A. thaliana, one-third were papilla specific while approximately half of the genes were detected in all tissues examined. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that genes related to a wide range of reproduction and development functions are expressed in papilla cells, particularly metabolism, transcription and membrane-mediated information exchange. These results reflect the conserved features of general cellular function and also the specific reproductive role of papilla cells, highlighting a complex cellular system regulated by a diverse range of molecules in these cells. This study provides fundamental biological knowledge to dissect the molecular mechanisms of pollination in papilla cells and will shed light on our understanding of plant reproduction mechanism

In situ drag coefficient measurements for rooftop trees

To evaluate the drag coefficients for roof-top tree crowns, previously-developed field test methods for monitoring wind speed, wind direction, and stem deflection were improved using solar cells as a source of power. A field test was conducted for a Norway spruce and a shirakanba located on a rooftop. The drag coefficients showed large variations during low wind speeds, which were caused by the flexural vibration of the tree trunk due to the fluctuating wind speed. To compensate for this effect, the upper percentage of drag coefficients obtained for the 0.5 m/s wind speed classes were used for the exponential regression for drag coefficient as a function of wind speed. As a result, a conservative evaluation of drag coefficients for a greater range of wind speeds could be established instead of using all data. The drag coefficients at 30 m/s wind speed were estimated to be 0.594 for the Norway spruce, and 0.154 for the shirakanba using the upper 50% of the data. The exponential function convergence was more gradual for the spruce than for the shirakanba, which may be affected by a difference in the streamlining behavior

Chitosan Derivatives/Calcium Carbonate Composite Capsules Prepared by the Layer-by-Layer Deposition Method

Core/shell capsules composed of calcium carbonate whisker core (rod-like shape) and chitosan/chitosansulfate shell were prepared by the layer-by-layer deposition technique. Two chitosan samples of different molecular weights (Mw=9.7×104 and 1.09×106g·mol-1) were used as original materials. Hollow capsules were also obtained by dissolution of the core in hydrochloric acid. Electron microscopy revealed that the surface of the shell is rather ragged associated with some agglomerates. The shell thickness l obeys a linear relation with respect to the number of deposited layers m as l=md+a(a>0). The values of d (thickness per layer) were 4.0 and 1.0 nm for the higher and lower Mw chitosan materials, respectively, both of which are greater than the thickness of the monolayer. The results suggest that the feature of the deposition does not obey an ideal homogeneous monolayer-by-monolayer deposition mechanism. Shell crosslinked capsules were also prepared via photodimerization reaction of cinnamoyl groups after a deposition of cinnamoyl chitosan to the calcium carbonate whisker core. The degree of crosslink was not enough to stabilize the shell structure, and hollow capsule was not obtained