Hoffa fractures are rare fractures of the femoral condyle that occur in the coronal plane. In most cases, high-energy trauma leads to isolated coronal fractures of one of the femoral condyles, medial or lateral. The fracture was approached from both the medial and lateral sides of the distal femur

While both the incidence and general awareness of food allergies is increasing, the variety and clinical availability of therapeutics remain limited. Therefore, investigations into the potential factors contributing to the development of food allergy and the mechanisms of natural tolerance or induced desensitization are required. In addition, a detailed understanding of the pathophysiology of food allergies is needed to generate compelling, enduring, and safe treatment options. New findings regarding the contribution of barrier function, the effect of emollient interventions, mechanisms of allergen recognition, and the contributions of specific immune cell subsets through rodent models and human clinical studies provide novel insights. With the first approved treatment for peanut allergy, the clinical management of food allergy is evolving towards less intensive, alternative approaches involving fixed doses, lower maintenance dose targets, co-administration of biologicals, adjuvants, and tolerance-inducing formulations. The ultimate goal is to improve immunotherapy and develop precision-based medicine via risk phenotyping allowing optimal treatment for each food-allergic patient.

Developing analytical systems imposes several challenges related not only to the amount and heterogeneity of the involved data but also to the constant need to readapt and evolve to overcome new business challenges. Data is a determinant factor in the success of analytical and decision-making applications, being its nature, availability, and quality, crucial aspects for planning and structuring populating analytical systems. Today’s users are more demanding, requiring adaptable and flexible analytical applications, which impose serious challenges on ETL systems design and development for ensuring flexible and robust data populating services, operating 24/7, and managing and processing large volumes of data. Thus, we should design and implement ETL processes using innovative and up-to-date approaches, having real application evidence. In this paper, we present a service-oriented implementation for ETL design and development. We mapped and implemented some of the most conventional ETL processes in a service-oriented architecture, for demonstrating the application and benefits that this kind of approach will provide to ETL systems project development.

Adaptation enables natural populations to survive in a changing environment. Understanding the mechanics of adaptation is therefore crucial for learning about the evolution and ecology of natural populations, and for better conservation and management of natural resources such as fish stocks. In this review we focus on the impact of random sweepstakes on selection in highly fecund populations. In random sweepstakes the distribution of individual recruitment success is highly skewed, resulting in a huge variance in the number of offspring contributed by the individuals present in any given generation. We also describe selective sweepstakes which are well approximated by recurrent selective sweeps of strongly beneficial allelic types arising by mutation. We demonstrate that both types of sweepstakes reproduction may facilitate rapid adaptation. Finally, we review an important case study in which a model of recurrent selective sweeps is shown to essentially explain population genomic data of the highly fecund Atlantic cod, with broad implications for studying the evolution and ecology of highly fecund populations across domains of life.

Bicuspid aortic valve is the most common congenital cause for the development of aortic valve calcification and stenosis. Calcification cause valvular stenosis or valvular insufficiency due to coaptation failure. We report a unique case of calcification of bicuspid valve was extending to left ventricular outflow tract and attached to interventricular septum which caused subvalvular stenosis.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a familial or sporadic severe neurodegenerative disorder that leads to short-term memory impairment followed by progressive cognitive deterioration of executive functions. AD frequency is increasing with a consequent socio-economic burden and there is an urgent need to understand its aetiological complexity, find reliable animal models and identify effective therapeutic treatments. AD diagnosis relies on a series of neuropsychiatric criteria and the detection of two pathognomonic protein aggregates in the brain parenchyma: amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The concurrence of these aggregates seems to be mostly present in humans. In this issue, Vacher and colleagues demonstrate the notable coexistence of AP deposition and hyperphosphorylated tau in the brains of dolphins. Here we discuss the relevance of this finding and how they could help understanding AD

Differentiating autoimmune hepatitis from liver dysfunction due to adult-onset Still's disease is important in deciding whether to terminate or continue corticosteroid therapy, and also in terms of management of cirrhosis and surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver biopsy is thought to be the most important determinant for differential diagnosis.

This paper presents a Youla-Kucera based interpolation between a set of Linear Parameter-Varying (LPV) controllers, each one being a gain-scheduled of Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) controllers designed separately for different operating points. The gain-scheduling is achieved based on Youla-Kucera (YK) parameterization. A generalized LPV-YK control structure is designed to interpolate between various LPV controllers. The closed-loop system is proved to guarantee the quadratic stability for any continuous/discontinuous interpolating signals in terms of a set of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). The proposed method can help multi-variable and multi-objective systems to achieve high performances at different operating conditions and different critical situations regardless of the interpolation rate. A numerical example is simulated to show the importance of the proposed method to achieve different objectives for lateral control of autonomous vehicles. In addition, the approach has been tested on a real Renault ZOE vehicle to validate its real performance, and compare it with a standard polytopic LPV controller.

Anode-free Li-metal batteries (AFLBs) are of significant interest to energy storage industries due to their intrinsically high energy. However, the accumulative Li dendrites and dead Li continuously consume active Li during cycling. That results in a short lifetime and low Coulombic efficiency (CE) of AFLBs. Introducing effective electrolyte additives can improve the Li deposition homogeneity and solid-state interphase (SEI) stability for AFLBs. Herein, we reveal that introducing dual additives, composed of LiAsF6 and FEC, into a commercial carbonate electrolyte will boost the cycle life and average CE of NCM||Cu AFLBs. The NCM||Cu AFLBs with the dual additives exhibit a capacity retention of about 75% after 50 cycles, much higher than those with bare electrolytes (35%). The average CE of the NCM||Cu AFLBs with additives can maintain 98.3% over 100 cycles. In contrast, the average CE without additives rapidly decline to 97% after only 50 cycles. In situ Raman measurements reveal that the prepared dual additives facilitate denser and smoother Li morphology during Li deposition. The dual additives significantly suppress the Li dendrite growth, enabling stable SEI formation on anode and cathode surfaces. Our results provide a broad view of developing low-cost and high-effective functional electrolytes for high-energy and long-life AFLBs.

A document by Miaomiao Wang. Click on the document to view its contents.

A suitable interface between the electrode and electrolyte is crucial in achieving highly stable electrochemical performance for Li-ion batteries, as facile ionic transport is required. Recently, intriguing research and development have been carried out to form a stable interface between the electrode and electrolyte. Therefore, it is essential to investigate emerging knowledge and contextualize it. The nanoengineering of the electrode-electrolyte interface has been actively researched both at the electrode/electrolyte and interphase levels, which calls for significant attention. This review presents and summarizes some recent advances aimed at nanoengineering approaches to build a more stable electrode-electrolyte interface and assess the impact of each approach adopted. Furthermore, future perspectives on the feasibility and practicality of each approach will also be reviewed in detail. Finally, this review aids in projecting a more sustainable research pathway for a nanoengineered interphase design between electrode and electrolyte, which is pivotal for high-performance, thermally stable Li-ion batteries.

Multiomics approaches to studying systems biology are very powerful tools that can elucidate changes in the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic levels within a particular cell type in response to an infection. These approaches are valuable for understanding the mechanisms behind disease pathogenesis, and specifically how the immune system responds to being challenged. With the emergence of the COVID-019 pandemic, now more than ever, the importance and utility of these tools has become evident in garnering a better understanding of the systems biology within the innate and adaptive immune response and for developing treatments and preventative measures for new and emerging pathogens that pose a threat to human health. In this review we focus on the various state of the art “omics” technologies used within the scope of innate immunity.

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as ADP-ribosylation and phosphorylation, regulate multiple fundamental biological processes in cells. During bacterial infection, effector proteins are delivered into host cells through dedicated bacterial secretion systems and can modulate important cellular pathways by covalently modifying their host targets. These strategies enable intruding bacteria to subvert various host processes, thereby promoting their own survival and proliferation. Despite rapid expansion of our understanding of effector-mediated PTMs in host cells, analytical measurements of these molecular events still pose significant challenges in the study of host-pathogen interactions. Nevertheless, with major technical breakthroughs in the last two decades, mass spectrometry (MS) has evolved to be a valuable tool for detecting protein PTMs and mapping modification sites. Additionally, large-scale PTM profiling, facilitated by different enrichment strategies prior to MS analysis, allows high-throughput screening of host enzymatic substrates of bacterial effectors. In this review, we summarize the advances in the studies of two representative PTMs (i.e., ADP-ribosylation and phosphorylation) catalyzed by bacterial effectors during infection. Importantly, we will discuss the ever increasing role of MS in understanding these molecular events and how the latest MS-based tools can aid in future studies of this booming area of pathogenic bacteria-host interactions.

Background and Purpose: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown is one of the most crucial pathological changes of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Trilobatin (TLB), a naturally occurring food additive, exerts neuroprotective effect against cerebral I/R injury as demonstrated in our previous study. This study was designed to investigate the effect of TLB on disruption of BBB after cerebral I/R injury. Experimental Approach: Rats with focal cerebral ischemia caused by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and brain microvascular endothelial cells along with human astrocytes to mimic blood brain barrier (BBB) injury caused by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by reoxygenation (OGD/R). Key results: The results showed that TLB effectively maintained the integrity of BBB and inhibited neuronal loss following cerebral I/R challenge. Furthermore, TLB dramatically increased tight junction proteins including ZO-1, occludin and claudin 5, as well as decreased the levels of apolipoprotein E (APOE) 4, cyclophilin A (CypA), and phosphorylated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), thereby reduced proinflammatory cytokines. In addition, TLB also decreased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and cleaved-caspase 3 level along with reduced the number of apoptotic neurons. Intriguingly, molecular docking and transcriptomics predicted MMP9 was a prominent gene evoked by TLB treatment. Furthermore, the protective effect of TLB on OGD/R-induced the loss of BBB integrity in human brain microvascular endothelial cell and astrocyte co-cultures in vitro was markedly reinforced by knockdown of MMP9. Conclusions and implications: Our findings reveal a novel property of TLB: saving BBB disruption following cerebral I/R via targeting MMP9 and inhibiting APOE4/CypA/NF-κB axis.

We describe a case of a 2-month-old female displaying clinical phenotype of HIES related disease with severe eczematous dermatitis recalcitrant to corticosteroids. Genetic panel showed a variant of unknown significance in key immune regulator of PGM3. Patient achieved nearly complete response from off-label use of dupilumab.

By integrating the Four Switch Buck-Boost (FSBB) PFC and full-bridge LLC resonant converter, a novel single-stage FSBB-LLC AC-DC converter is proposed. Moreover, a dual-loop feedback control strategy based on PFM/PWM hybrid modulation is proposed for obtaining the desired bus voltage and stable output voltage. The bus voltage feedback loop is utilized to regulate the bus voltage by selecting the boost or buck-boost mode; the output voltage feedback loop is employed to stabilize the output voltage by adjusting the switching frequency or phase shifting angle. Furthermore, an optimal parameter design based on power balance principle is also derived. The experimental results of an 85~300V input, 12V/25A output prototype demonstrate that: (1) low and narrow bus voltage of 240~340V is achieved under the entire input and output condition; (2) the LLC cell operates as a DCX converter over the whole load range as the input voltage exceeds 120V; (3) the output voltage is well regulated even under the no-load condition; (4) ZVS feature for the shared main switches is still maintained; (5) a peak efficiency of 90.9% and PF values above 0.987 are achieved.

We present a method to use a birefringent crystal for generating two illumination beams in a digital scanned laser light-sheet microscopy (DSLM) system. Upon this, a conventional confocal DSLM can be easily upgraded to a dual-slit confocal DSLM with two-fold imaging speed. We have implemented this method to our bidirectional DSLM system, locating two identical calcite crystals on both illumination paths from both sides of the sample. The neurons of in vivo larval zebrafish have been fast imaged with sterling image quality, especially ~2.5 times higher contrast, compared to the conventional DSLM.

Dopamine, a catecholamine neurotransmitter, has historically been associated with the encoding of reward, whereas its role in aversion has received less attention. Here, we systematically gathered the vast evidence of the role of dopamine in the simplest forms of aversive learning: classical fear conditioning and extinction. In the past, crude methods were used to augment or inhibit dopamine to study its relationship with fear conditioning and extinction. More advanced techniques such as conditional genetic, chemogenic, and optogenetic approaches now provide causal evidence for dopamine's role in these learning processes. Dopamine neurons encode conditioned stimuli during fear conditioning and extinction, and convey the signal via activation of D1-4 receptor sites particularly in the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and striatum. The coordinated activation of dopamine receptors allows for the continuous formation, consolidation, retrieval, and updating of fear and extinction memory in a dynamic and reciprocal manner. Based on the reviewed literature, we conclude that dopamine is crucial for the encoding of classical fear conditioning and extinction and contributes in a way that is comparable to its role in encoding reward.