Polycystic ovaries (PCO) contain antral follicles that arrest growing around 3–11 mm in diameter, perturbing the dominant follicle’s selection and the subsequent ovulatory process. Proteomic alterations of PCO follicular fluid (FF) (i.e., microenvironment in which the oocyte develops until ovulation) have been studied from large follicles in connection with oocyte pickup during ovarian stimulation

Background: Not being able to work has negative health, social and financial consequences. Persisting breathlessness is prevalent in working-aged people. Is it associated with lower workforce participation? This study, using the South Australian Health Omnibus, aimed to explore associations between paid workforce participation and persisting breathlessness intensity, and economic impacts on income

Kidney failure and associated uraemia have implications for the cardiovascular system, brain, and blood-brain barrier (BBB). We aim to examine BBB disruption, by assessing brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels, and gut-blood barrier (GBB) disruption by trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Additionally, endothelial tight-ju

A lab-made, multilayered Li-ion battery pouch cell is investigated using in-operando neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and spatially resolved powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXRD) with the aim of investigating how to compare the information obtained from the two complementary techniques on a cell type with a complicated geometry for diffraction. The work focusses on the anode and cathode lithiation as

Background: Optimisation of dopaminergic therapy may alleviate fluctuation-related pain in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Opicapone (OPC) is a third-generation, once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor shown to be generally well tolerated and efficacious in reducing OFF-time in two pivotal trials in patients with PD and end-of-dose motor fluctuations. The OpiCapone Effect on motor fluctuations

During the interwar period, there was a surge in cultural diplomacy efforts in Europe. This article investigates the role of cultural diplomacy within the Swedish film society movement, focusing particularly on Lund Film Society’s travels abroad during the 1930s: to Nazi-Germany in 1935 and in 1938 respectively, as well as to the Soviet Union in 1936. Through international exchange, Lund Film Soci

Abnormal loading of the knee due to injuries or obesity is thought to contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Small animal models have been used for studying OA progression mechanisms. However, numerical models to study cartilage responses under dynamic loading in preclinical animal models have not been developed. Here we present a musculoskeletal finite element model of a rat knee j

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