Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is a technique to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver therapeutic agents into the brain. However, animal studies and preliminary clinical trials have reported reduced efficacy to transport drugs in specific regions, attributed mainly to backflow, in which an annular zone is formed outside the catheter and the fluid preferentially flows toward the surface o

Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is associated with cartilage degradation, ultimately leading to disability and decrease of quality of life. Two key mechanisms have been suggested to occur in PTOA: Tissue inflammation and abnormal biomechanical loading. Both mechanisms have been suggested to result in loss of cartilage proteoglycans, the source of tissue fixed charge density (FCD). In order to

Convection-enhanced delivery is a technique to bypass the blood–brain barrier and deliver therapeutic drugs into the brain tissue. However, animal investigations and preliminary clinical trials have reported reduced efficacy to transport the infused drug in specific zones, attributed mainly to backflow, in which an annular gap is formed outside the catheter and the fluid preferentially flows towar

The mechanisms of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)–related myocardial injury comprise both direct viral invasion and indirect (hypercoagulability and immune-mediated) cellular injuries. Some patients with COVID-19 cardiac involvement have poor clinical outcomes, with preliminary data suggesting long-term structural and functional changes. These include persistent myocardial fibrosis, edema, and

Cartilage provides low-friction properties and plays an essential role in diarthrodial joints. A hydrated ground substance composed mainly of proteoglycans (PGs) and a fibrillar collagen network are the main constituents of cartilage. Unfortunately, traumatic joint loading can destroy this complex structure and produce lesions in tissue, leading later to changes in tissue composition and, ultimate

Ligaments provide stability to the human knee joint and play an essential role in restraining motion during daily activities. Compression-tension nonlinearity is a well-known characteristic of ligaments. Moreover, simpler material representations without this feature might give reasonable results because ligaments are primarily in tension during loading. However, the biomechanical role of differen

Objective. The intervertebral disc supports axial and shear forces generated during tasks such as lifting and carrying weights. The objective of this study was to determine the forces in the lumbar spine of workers carrying a bag on the head, on the shoulder and on the anterior part of the trunk. Methods. Kinematic measurements were recorded for 10 subjects carrying bags of 10, 20 and 25 kg on eac

Agarose hydrogels have been extensively used as a phantom material to mimic the mechanical behavior of soft biological tissues, e.g. in studies aimed to analyze needle insertions into the organs producing tissue damage. To better predict the radial stress and damage during needle insertions, this study was aimed to determine the friction coefficient between the material of commercial catheters and

Most patients with ovarian cancer experience recurrence and develop resistance to platinum-based agents. The diagnosis of platinum resistance based on the platinum-free interval is not always accurate and timely in clinical settings. Herein, we used laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to visualize the platinum distribution in the ovarian cancer tissues at the time of interv

A previously proposed finite element model that considers geometric and material nonlinearities and the free boundary problems that occur at the catheter tip and in the annular zone around the lateral surface of the catheter was revised and was used to fit a power-law formula to predict backflow length during infusions into brain tissue. Compared to a closed-form solution based on linear elasticit

Transfer RNA-derived fragments (tRFs) are emerging small noncoding RNAs that, although commonly altered in cancer, have poorly defined roles in tumorigenesis1. Here we show that pseudouridylation (Ψ) of a stem cell-enriched tRF subtype2, mini tRFs containing a 5′ terminal oligoguanine (mTOG), selectively inhibits aberrant protein synthesis programmes, thereby promoting engraftment and differentiat

The bamboo species Guadua angustifolia is a natural functionally graded material with a high potential to help solving the housing deficit in Latin American countries. Bamboo plantations also play an important role to help reducing the devastation of tropical forests. Many studies have demonstrated the excellent mechanical properties of bamboo along the length of the culm. However, other propertie

Background: Outcome of patients operated for anorectal malformation (ARM) type rectovestibular fistula (RVF) is generally considered to be good. However, large multi-center studies are scarce, mostly describing pooled outcome of different ARM-types, in adult patients. Therefore, counseling parents concerning the bowel function at early age is challenging. Aim of this study was to evaluate bowel fu

Stem cell transplantation is a cornerstone in the treatment of blood malignancies. The most common method to harvest stem cells for transplantation is by leukapheresis, requiring mobilization of CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from the bone marrow into the blood. Identifying the genetic factors that control blood CD34+ cell levels could reveal new drug targets for HSPC mobili

Introduction Breathlessness is debilitating and increases in prevalence with age, with people progressively reducing their everyday activities to ‘self-manage’ it. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of breathlessness on function in terms of activities that have been reduced or ceased (‘compromised’) in older men.Methods A cross-sectional postal survey of Swedish 73-year-old man in the VAScula

BackgroundThe Dyspnoea-12 (D12) and Multidimensional dyspnea profile (MDP) are commonly used instruments for assessing multiple dimensions of breathlessness but have not been validated in older people in the population. The aim of this study was to validate the D12 and MDP in 73-years old men in terms of the instruments’ underlying factor structures, internal consistency, and validity.MethodsA pos

The resistance and resilience provided by functional redundancy, a common feature of microbial communities, is not always advantageous. An example is nitrite oxidation in partial nitritation-anammox (PNA) reactors designed for nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment, where suppression of nitrite oxidizers like Nitrospira is sought. In these ecosystems, biofilms provide microhabitats with oxygen g

Essä om tidigmodern så kallad hordiktning och användningen av obscen terminologi.

In this article, I draw on the experiences of Iraqi diasporas in the UK and Sweden after the 2003 US-led intervention to demonstrate how ethno-sectarianism in Iraq has affected their political transnationalism. Using the concepts of intersectionality and positionality, I show how the reconfiguration of the social positions of individuals and groups in the diaspora affects their types of political