Hydroxyapatite bone substitutes developed via replication of natural marine sponges

The application of synthetic cancellous bone has been shown to be highly successful when its architecture mimics that of the naturally interconnected trabeculae bone it aims to replace. The following investigation demonstrates the potential use of marine sponges as precursors in the production of ceramic based tissue engineered bone scaffolds. Three species of natural sponge, Dalmata Fina (Spongia officinalis Linnaeus, Adriatic Sea), Fina Silk (Spongia zimocca, Mediterranean) and Elephant Ear (Spongia agaricina, Caribbean) were selected for replication. A high solid content (80 %wt), low viscosity (126 mPas) hydroxyapatite slurry was developed, infiltrated into each sponge species and subsequently sintered, producing a scaffold structure that replicated pore architecture and interconnectivity of the precursor sponge. The most promising of the ceramic tissue engineered bone scaffolds developed, Spongia agaricina replicas, demonstrated an overall porosity of 56–61% with 83% of the pores ranging between 100 and 500 μm (average pore size 349 μm) and an interconnectivity of 99.92%.     

Shelf-life time test of p- and n-channel organic thin film transistors using copper phthalocyanines

P- and n-type channel thin film transistors (OTFTs) were fabricated by using hexadecahydrogen copper phthalocyanine (H₁₆CuPc) and hexadecafluoro copper phthalocyanine (F₁₆CuPc) molecules, respectively. Top-contact and bottom-contact source-drain configurations were used for both semiconductors. Furthermore, the temperature and film thickness dependences on the mobility values were measured in the saturation regime of source-drain current. Unipolar mobilities in such single-layer OTFTs were correlated to thin film morphology by X-ray diffraction analysis and atomic force microscopy measurements. Shelf-life time tests of p-type and n-type OTFTs are detailed as OTFT configuration and substrate temperature dependence over a time period of 100 days.     

A large-scale investigation of lateralization in cortical anatomy and word reading: Are there sex differences?

The authors report findings of a large-scale, multitask investigation of sex differences in both structural asymmetries and lateralization of word reading. Two hundred participants were tested in eight divided visual field lexical tasks, and each received a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan. The authors examined whether there was evidence for sex differences in overall measures of neuroanatomical and behavioral lateralization, in specific language tasks and brain regions, and in variation in asymmetry within and across tasks and brain regions. There was very little evidence for sex differences on any behavioral measure. The few indications of sex differences in the current report accounted for 2% or less of the individual variation in asymmetry and could not be replicated in independent subsamples. No sex differences were observed in the asymmetry of structures in Broca's and Wernicke's areas such as pars triangularis, pars opercularis, the planum temporale, planum parietale, or Heschl's gyrus. There were also no sex differences in the variability of neuroanatomical asymmetries within or between brain regions. However, a significant relationship between planum temporale and behavioral asymmetry was restricted to men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benefit evaluation for off‐site production in construction

Evaluating to what extent a component or building system should be produced off‐site is inadequate within the industry. The potential benefits of off‐site production (OSP) are commonly cited when justifying an OSP approach, yet holistic and methodical assessments of the applicability and overall benefit of these solutions, to a particular project, have been found to be deficient. Common methods of evaluation simply take material, labour and transportation costs into account when comparing various options, often disregarding other cost‐related items such as site facilities, crane use and rectification of works. These cost factors are usually buried within the nebulous preliminaries figure, with little reference to the building approach taken. Further, softer issues such as health and safety, effects on management and process benefits are either implicit or disregarded within these comparison exercises. Yet it is demonstrated that these issues are some of the most significant benefits of OSP. A series of case studies demonstrated that evaluation focus is almost solely on direct material and labour costs of components, without explicit regard for the wider cost or soft issue implications of OSP on a project. The paper argues that until evaluation is more holistic and value‐based rather than cost‐based, OSP uptake in construction will be slow.     

Neurotropic RNA Virus Modulation of Immune Responses within the Central Nervous System

The central nervous system (CNS) necessitates intricately coordinated immune responses to prevent neurological disease. However, the emergence of viruses capable of entering the CNS and infecting neurons threatens this delicate balance. Our CNS is protected from foreign invaders and excess solutes by a semipermeable barrier of endothelial cells called the blood–brain barrier. Thereby, viruses have implemented several strategies to bypass this protective layer and modulate immune responses within the CNS. In this review, we outline these immune regulatory mechanisms and provide perspectives on future questions in this rapidly expanding field.     

APOB CRISPR-Cas9 Engineering in Hypobetalipoproteinemia: A Promising Tool for Functional Studies of Novel Variants

Hypobetalipoproteinemia is characterized by LDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (apoB) plasma levels below the fifth percentile for age and sex. Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) is mostly caused by premature termination codons in the APOB gene, a condition associated with fatty liver and steatohepatitis. Nevertheless, many families with a FHBL phenotype carry APOB missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS). We here aimed to develop a proof-of-principle experiment to assess the pathogenicity of VUS using the genome editing of human liver cells. We identified a novel heterozygous APOB-VUS (p.Leu351Arg), in a FHBL family. We generated APOB knock-out (KO) and APOB-p.Leu351Arg knock-in Huh7 cells using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and studied the APOB expression, synthesis and secretion by digital droplet PCR and ELISA quantification. The APOB expression was decreased by 70% in the heterozygous APOB-KO cells and almost abolished in the homozygous-KO cells, with a consistent decrease in apoB production and secretion. The APOB-p.Leu351Arg homozygous cells presented with a 40% decreased APOB expression and undetectable apoB levels in cellular extracts and supernatant. Thus, the p.Leu351Arg affected the apoB secretion, which led us to classify this new variant as likely pathogenic and to set up a hepatic follow-up in this family. Therefore, the functional assessment of APOB-missense variants, using gene-editing technologies, will lead to improvements in the molecular diagnosis of FHBL and the personalized follow-up of these patients.