Fascial Innervation: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Currently, myofascial pain has become one of the main problems in healthcare systems. Research into its causes and the structures related to it may help to improve its management. Until some years ago, all the studies were focused on muscle alterations, as trigger points, but recently, fasciae are starting to be considered a new, possible source of pain. This systematic review has been conducted for the purpose of analyze the current evidence of the muscular/deep fasciae innervation from a histological and/or immunohistochemical point of view. A literature search published between 2000 and 2021 was made in PubMed and Google Scholar. Search terms included a combination of fascia, innervation, immunohistochemical, and different immunohistochemical markers. Of the 23 total studies included in the review, five studies were performed in rats, four in mice, two in horses, ten in humans, and two in both humans and rats. There were a great variety of immunohistochemical markers used to detect the innervation of the fasciae; the most used were Protein Gene Marker 9.5 (used in twelve studies), Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (ten studies), S100 (ten studies), substance P (seven studies), and tyrosine hydroxylase (six studies). Various areas have been studied, with the thoracolumbar fascia being the most observed. Besides, the papers highlighted diversity in the density and type of innervation in the various fasciae, going from free nerve endings to Pacini and Ruffini corpuscles. Finally, it has been observed that the innervation is increased in the pathological fasciae. From this review, it is evident that fasciae are well innerved, their innervation have a particular distribution and precise localization and is composed especially by proprioceptors and nociceptors, the latter being more numerous in pathological situations. This could contribute to a better comprehension and management of pain.     

First-Void Urine Microbiome in Women with Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the agent of the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Until now, little information is available about the microbial composition of urine samples during CT urethritis. Therefore, in this study, we characterized the microbiome and metabolome profiles of first-void urines in a cohort of women with CT urethral infection attending an STI clinic. Methods: Based on CT positivity by nucleic acid amplification techniques on urine samples, the enrolled women were divided into two groups, i.e., “CT-negative” (n = 21) and “CT-positive” (n = 11). Urine samples were employed for (i) the microbiome profile analysis by means of 16s rRNA gene sequencing and (ii) the metabolome analysis by ¹H-NMR. Results: Irrespective of CT infection, the microbiome of first-void urines was mainly dominated by Lactobacillus, L. iners and L. crispatus being the most represented species. CT-positive samples were characterized by reduced microbial biodiversity compared to the controls. Moreover, a significant reduction of the Mycoplasmataceae family—in particular, of the Ureaplasma parvum species—was observed during CT infection. The Chlamydia genus was positively correlated with urine hippurate and lactulose. Conclusions: These data can help elucidate the pathogenesis of chlamydial urogenital infections, as well as to set up innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.     

Line creep in paper peeling

The dynamics of a “peeling front” or an elastic line is studied under creep (constant load) conditions. Our experiments show in most cases an exponential dependence of the creep velocity on the inverse force (mass) applied. In particular, the dynamical correlations of the avalanche activity are discussed here. We compare various avalanche statistics to those of a line with non-local elasticity, and study various measures of the experimental avalanche-avalanche and temporal correlations such as the autocorrelation function of the released energy and aftershock activity. From all these we conclude, that internal avalanche dynamics seems to follow “line depinning”-like behavior, in rough agreement with the depinning model. Meanwhile, the correlations reveal subtle complications not implied by depinning theory. Moreover, we also show how these results can be understood from a geophysical point of view.     

钛基Ru-La-Ti涂层阳极的电催化性能

利用热分解法制备了不同La含量的钛基Ru-La-Ti涂层阳极，并研究了所制备涂层的电催化性能。结果表明，在Ru-Ti涂层阳极中掺杂稀土元素La可以提高涂层阳极的电催化活性，且La的掺杂量存在一个最佳范围(La的摩尔分数O．2)。涂层阳极电催化活性提高的原因在于La的引入可以提高涂层的有效活性表面积。     

Evaluation of damage in composites by using thermoelastic stress analysis: A promising technique to assess the stiffness degradation

The stiffness degradation represents one of the most interesting damage phenomena used for describing the fatigue behaviour of composites. A critical aspect of modelling the damage is represented by the simulation of the whole behaviour of the composite and by the assessment of the actual stiffness for the models validation. In this work, the stiffness degradation of quasi‐isotropic carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) obtained by automated fibre placement has been assessed by means of thermoelastic stress analysis. The amplitude of temperature signal at the mechanical frequency (thermoelastic signal) was considered as an indicator of material degradation and compared with the data provided by an extensometer. The correlation between thermoelastic and mechanical data allowed to build a new experimental model for evaluating and predicting material stiffness degradation by just using thermoelastic data. The proposed approach seems to be very promising for stiffness degradation assessment of real and complex mechanical components subjected to actual loading conditions.     

On‐Chip Magnetic Platform for Single‐Particle Manipulation with Integrated Electrical Feedback

Methods for the manipulation of single magnetic particles have become very interesting, in particular for in vitro biological studies. Most of these studies require an external microscope to provide the operator with feedback for controlling the particle motion, thus preventing the use of magnetic particles in high‐throughput experiments. In this paper, a simple and compact system with integrated electrical feedback is presented, implementing in the very same device both the manipulation and detection of the transit of single particles. The proposed platform is based on zig‐zag shaped magnetic nanostructures, where transverse magnetic domain walls are pinned at the corners and attract magnetic particles in suspension. By applying suitable external magnetic fields, the domain walls move to the nearest corner, thus causing the step by step displacement of the particles along the nanostructure. The very same structure is also employed for detecting the bead transit. Indeed, the presence of the magnetic particle in suspension over the domain wall affects the depinning field required for its displacement. This characteristic field can be monitored through anisotropic magnetoresistance measurements, thus implementing an integrated electrical feedback of the bead transit. In particular, the individual manipulation and detection of single 1‐μm sized beads is demonstrated.     

Microcavity-integrated graphene photodetector

There is an increasing interest in using graphene (1, 2) for optoelectronic applications. (3-19) However, because graphene is an inherently weak optical absorber (only ≈2.3% absorption), novel concepts need to be developed to increase the absorption and take full advantage of its unique optical properties. We demonstrate that by monolithically integrating graphene with a Fabry-Pérot microcavity, the optical absorption is 26-fold enhanced, reaching values >60%. We present a graphene-based microcavity photodetector with responsivity of 21 mA/W. Our approach can be applied to a variety of other graphene devices, such as electro-absorption modulators, variable optical attenuators, or light emitters, and provides a new route to graphene photonics with the potential for applications in communications, security, sensing and spectroscopy.     

Studied on a novel human keratinocyte membrane delivery system in vitro

The culture of keratinocytes on flexible membranes has been proposed as a means to simplify, accelerate and improve the efficiency with which proliferating cells are delivered to full thickness or non-healing skin defects. The purpose of this article was to study the ability of chitosan-gelatin manbranes to facilitate the growth of human keratinocytes. The membranes with different chitosan contents were studied. The surface properties of chitosan-gelatin membranes were investigate by SEM, and water contact angle test. The mechanical property of the membranes was tested. Data implied that gelatin could make the membranes more flexible and hydrophilic than chitosan membranes, which may regulate the seeded cells behavior. Loading human keratinocytes on chitosan-gelatin membranes, cells attachment, spread, and growth were investigated by light microscopy, SEM, and MTT test. The results suggested that the adhesion and proliferation of keratinocytes seeded on chitosan-gelatin membranes were same as on tissue culture plate, in which gelatin could modify the interaction between keratinocytes and chitosan membranes. Therefore, chitosan-gelatin membrane is a good candidate for keratinocytes delivery system.     

Hot acid hydrolysis as a potential treatment of thickened sewage sludge

Municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants produce large amounts of sludge, containing organic and mineral components and being mechanically dewatered to e.g. 20-25% DS in centrifuges. Both the reduction of the amount of sludge produced and improving its dewaterability are hence of paramount importance. Hot acid hydrolysis can meet these objectives. The current paper describes the results of detailed investigations with respect to acid hydrolysis of thickened sludge (5-6% DS content). A comparison with traditional thermal hydrolysis is also included. As a result of the experimental investigations, it can be concluded that hot acid hydrolysis is efficient in both reducing the residual sludge amounts and improving the dewaterability. Under the proposed optimum conditions it is found that (i) the amount of hydrolysed DS is approximately 70% lower than the initial untreated amount, (ii) the DS-solid content of the dewatered cake is increased from 22.5% (initial untreated) to at least twice this value, (iii) the rate of mechanical dewatering is not significantly affected. The preferential release of ODS into the water phase, and the increased BOD/COD-ratio through hydrolysis, turn this recycle water phase into a possible carbon-source for nitrification/denitrification. Heavy metals and phosphates are also released in the water phase, and can be subsequently precipitated.