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Recently, the interest of the scientific community is focused on the application of tissue engineering approach for the fertility restoration. In this paper innovative patterned electrospun fibrous scaffolds were fabricated and used as 3D system for porcine follicles culture. The obtained scaffolds demonstrated to be a suitable support which did not alter or interfere with the typical spherical follicles morphology. The fibrillar structure of the scaffolds mimics the morphology of the healthy native tissue. The use of porcine follicles implied many advantages respect to the use of mouse model. Relevant results showed that more than the scaffold pattern and struts dimension, the selection of proper biomaterials improve the follicles adhesion and development.

Background Surgical techniques in two-stage revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) include the use of articulating spacers and static spacers. Shortening of the patellar tendon could be a reason for inferior functional outcomes in two-stage septic rTKA . The aim of this study was to determine if articulating spacers also have negative effects on the extensor mechanism in rTKA. Methods This retrospective study includes 65 consecutive patients (23 women, 42 men, age 71.3 ± 1.2; range, 51.2–88.6 years) undergoing septic two-stage rTKA using an articulating spacer between 2014 and 2021 in a single orthopedic center. For all patients, calibrated true lateral radiographs before total knee arthroplasty (TKA) explantation (T0), directly after TKA explantation (T1), shortly before TKA reimplantation (T2) and 6–8 days after TKA reimplantation (T3) were used to calculate the modified Insall Salvati ratio (mISR). Results Overall, the mISR decreased significantly immediately after explantation (T0 vs. T1, p  = 0.002) from 1.43 ± 0.03 to 1.36 ± 0.03 and remained stable until T2 (1.37 ± 0.02, p = 0.74). Following TKA reimplantation, the mISR increased again to 1.43 ± 0.03 (T3). There were no significant differences between T0 and T3 ( p  = 0.88). Six out of 65 patients (9%) experienced patellar tendon shortening > 10% at T3. Conclusions Septic two-stage revision TKA using an articulating spacer does not lead to patellar tendon shortening in the majority of cases. This study suggests that one reason for the improved range of motion after reimplantation may be the use of articulating spacers compared to static spacers. Keywords: revision total knee arthroplasty , articulating spacer , infection , PJI , two-stage revision , revision arthroplasty , patellar tendon ,

Background There is a scarcity of scientific data regarding the correlation between alignment techniques during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and blood loss as well as transfusion rates. This study's hypothesis posited that intramedullary-aligned (IM) TKA exhibits higher blood loss and transfusion rates when contrasted with extramedullary-aligned (EM) TKA. Methods We conducted a retrospective examination of 883 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in 2021 at a solitary orthopedic center in Germany. These patients were divided into two groups based on their tibial alignment technique: extramedullary alignment and intramedullary tibial alignment. Results In the intramedullary tibial alignment (IM) group, we observed a blood loss of 0.91 L, while in the extramedullary tibial alignment (EM) group, the blood loss was 0.89 L. These values did not demonstrate a significant difference (p = 0.69). Transfusion rates were 0.99% in the IM group and 0.21% in the EM group, and there was no significant distinction between them (Chi-squared test: p > 0.05). Conclusion We observed no statistically significant variance in blood loss between the IM and EM groups. Likewise, there was no substantial disparity in transfusion rates between these groups. It can be concluded that the selection of a knee arthroplasty system incorporating either intramedullary tibial alignment or extramedullary alignment does not significantly impact blood loss.

A bstract Motivated by a semi-holographic approach to the dynamics of quark-gluon plasma which combines holographic and perturbative descriptions of a strongly coupled infrared and a more weakly coupled ultraviolet sector, we construct a hybrid two-fluid model where interactions between its two sectors are encoded by their effective metric backgrounds, which are determined mutually by their energy-momentum tensors. We derive the most general consistent ultralocal interactions such that the full system has a total conserved energy-momentum tensor in flat Minkowski space and study its consequences in and near thermal equilibrium by working out its phase structure and its hydrodynamic modes.

A bstract We extend our previous study of a toy model for coupling classical Yang-Mills equations for describing overoccupied gluons at the saturation scale with a strongly coupled infrared sector modeled by AdS/CFT. Including propagating modes in the bulk we find that the Yang-Mills sector loses its initial energy to a growing black hole in the gravity dual such that there is a conserved energy-momentum tensor for the total system while entropy grows monotonically. This involves a numerical AdS simulation with a backreacted boundary source far from equilibrium.

The global energy industry works towards an increased use of carbon-neutral biomass. Nutshell represents a regional bio-waste, i.e., a bio-energy resource. Pyrolysis is a common method for processing biomass into valuable energy products. The heat demand, however, limits pyrolysis applications. Yet, such demand may be addressed via exothermic pyrolysis reactions under selected operation conditions. Making the pyrolysis of Siberian pine nutshell autothermic comprised the objective of the study. The study involved analytical methods together with a pyrolysis experiment. The analytical methods included a thermogravimetric analysis combined with differential scanning calorimetry and an integrated gas analyzer. Thermophysical characterization was executed using a thermal diffusivity analyzer with the laser flash method. At 650 °C, pyrolytic heat was released in the amount of 1224.6 kJ/kg, exceeding the heat demand of 1179.5 kJ/kg. Pyrolysis at a lower temperature of 550 °C remained endothermic, although the combusted gas product provided 847.7 kJ/kg of heat, which, together with exothermic release, covered the required heat demand for the pyrolysis process.

Plant volatiles not only have multiple defense functions against herbivores, fungi, and bacteria, but also have been implicated in signaling within the plant and toward other organisms. Elucidating the function of individual plant volatiles will require more knowledge of their biosynthesis and regulation in response to external stimuli. By exploiting the variation of herbivore-induced volatiles among 26 maize (Zea mays) inbred lines, we conducted a nested association mapping and genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify a set of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for investigating the pathways of volatile terpene production. The most significant identified QTL affects the emission of (E)-nerolidol, linalool, and the two homoterpenes (E)-3,8-dimethyl-1,4,7-nonatriene (DMNT) and (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT). GWAS associated a single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter of the gene encoding the terpene synthase TPS2 with this QTL. Biochemical characterization of TPS2 verified that this plastid-localized enzyme forms linalool, (E)-nerolidol, and (E,E)-geranyllinalool. The subsequent conversion of (E)-nerolidol into DMNT maps to a P450 monooxygenase, CYP92C5, which is capable of converting nerolidol into DMNT by oxidative degradation. A QTL influencing TMTT accumulation corresponds to a similar monooxygenase, CYP92C6, which is specific for the conversion of (E,E)-geranyllinalool to TMTT. The DMNT biosynthetic pathway and both monooxygenases are distinct from those previously characterized for DMNT and TMTT synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting independent evolution of these enzymatic activities.

•Sarcopenia is prevalent in patients with systemic sclerosis.•Sarcopenia is more prevalent in systemic sclerosis than otherwise found in a comparable age group.•Sarcopenic patients with systemic sclerosis suffer from impaired functional status. We analyzed the prevalence of sarcopenia among systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with respect to quality of life, disability, organ involvement, and muscle function. A total of 129 patients who met the ACR/EULAR 2013 classification criteria were included. Body composition was measured using bioelectric impedance analysis. Sarcopenia was defined according to the criteria of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Handgrip and knee extension strength and pulmonary peak flow were measured. Physical function was assessed with the Short Form-36 Health Survey and Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire. Sarcopenia was prevalent in 22.5% of patients. There were significant differences between patients with and without sarcopenia regarding handgrip strength (11.5 [2.0–30.0] versus 18.0 [1.0–41.0] kilogram force [kgf]; P < 0.001) and knee extension strength (11.0 [3.5–32.5] versus 17.5 [3.5–88.0] kgf; P = 0.006), physical function (38.8 [9.9–85.0] versus 48.8 [0–88.0]; P = 0.032) and number of immunosuppressants (2 [0–4] versus 1 [0–5]; P = 0.009). There were no differences regarding age (57.0 [32.0–83.0] versus 60.5 [28.0–82.0] years; P = 0.350) and disease duration (8 [1–27] versus 7 [0–34] years; P = 0.350). Sarcopenia is common in patients with SSc and is associated with physical impairment that affects everyday life and participation in work. Interestingly, although age is the main risk factor for sarcopenia in the general population, it did not differ between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic SSc patients in our study. Instead, the number of immunosuppressive drugs was significantly higher among sarcopenic patients.