Full Micromagnetic Numerical Simulations of Thermal Fluctuations

Thermal fluctuations for fine ferromagnetic particles are studied with the full micromagnetic analysis based on numerical integration of the spatially discretized Langevin-Landau-Lifshitz equation. These results can be used as a basis for the formulation of a standard problem to test the implementation of thermal fluctuations in numerical micromagnetic codes. To this end an example of micromagnetic analysis of thermal fluctuations in an ellipsoidal magnetic nanoparticle is presented

O império das medidas provisórias e a proteção do mercado no Brasil em tempos de pandemia

Durante a pandemia de Covid-19 e diante da crise por ela gerada, nada mais natural que um governo atue na tentativa de conter não só o alastramen-to do vírus na sociedade, mas igualmente para mitigar as consequências dire-tas e indiretas por ele causadas nas mais diversas áreas, com especial atenção àquelas mais vulneráveis. O caso do Brasil não seria diferente se as medidas arquitetadas no âmbito do Poder Executivo não fossem largamente voltadas para setores e pessoas f ísicas e jurídicas que não necessariamente deveriam ser “socorridas” da forma como restou estipulado. Em vista disso, esse texto tem como objetivo discutir quatro Medidas Provisórias - MPs 925, 948, 958 e 966 - publicadas pelo Executivo brasileiro voltadas a proteção do mercado em de-trimento da defesa do consumidor durante a pandemia, a fim de expor, a partir do método indutivo-dedutivo e de uma análise analítico-descritiva, o seu teor e verificar as suas incongruências, em especial, frente ao texto constitucional. Ao cabo, atento à Constituição de 1988 e à condição por ela reconhecida para a proteção da dignidade humana daquele que consome, conclui-se que o Poder Executivo deveria pugnar pela sua defesa em primeiro lugar mesmo em meio à crise múltipla corrente, o que não é o caso das MPs comentadas, cuja incons-titucionalidade demanda que as mesmas não sejam transformadas em Lei pelo Congresso Brasileiro.Durante la pandemia del Covid-19 y ante la crisis que generó, nada más natural que un gobierno actúe en un intento por contener no solo la pro-pagación del virus en la sociedad, sino también para mitigar las consecuencias directas e indirectas que provoca en las áreas diversas, con especial atención a los más vulnerables. El caso de Brasil no sería diferente si las medidas diseña-das en el ámbito del Poder Ejecutivo no estuvieran dirigidas en gran medida a sectores y personas naturales y jurídicas que no necesariamente deberían ser “rescatadas” en la forma estipulada. Ante esto, este texto tiene como objetivo discutir cuatro Medidas Provisionales – MPs 925, 948, 958 y 966 – publicadas por el Ejecutivo brasileño con el objetivo de proteger el mercado a expensas de la protección al consumidor durante la pandemia, con el fin de exponer, desde el método inductivo-deductivo y análisis analítico-descriptivo, su contenido y verificación de sus inconsistencias, especialmente en relación con el texto constitucional. Al fin y al cabo, atenta a la Constitución de 1988 y la condición que reconoce para la protección de la dignidad humana de quienes consumen, se concluye que el Poder Ejecutivo debe esforzarse por su defensa en primer lugar incluso en medio de la actual crisis múltiple, que este es el caso de los diputados comentados, cuya inconstitucionalidad exige que no sean transfor-mados en ley por el Congreso brasileño

The management and outcome for patients with chronic subdural hematoma: a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study in the United Kingdom

Symptomatic chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) will become an increasingly common presentation in neurosurgical practice as the population ages, but quality evidence is still lacking to guide the optimal management for these patients. The British Neurosurgical Trainee Research Collaborative (BNTRC) was established by neurosurgical trainees in 2012 to improve research by combining the efforts of trainees in each of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland's neurosurgical units (NSUs). The authors present the first study by the BNTRC that describes current management and outcomes for patients with CSDH throughout the UK and Ireland. This provides a resource both for current clinical practice and future clinical research on CSDH

Planck pre-launch status : The Planck mission

Peer reviewe

Differentiation potential of STRO-1+ dental pulp stem cells changes during cell passaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) can be driven into odontoblast, osteoblast, and chondrocyte lineages in different inductive media. However, the differentiation potential of naive DPSCs after serial passaging in the routine culture system has not been fully elucidated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>DPSCs were isolated from human/rat dental pulps by the magnetic activated cell sorting based on STRO-1 expression, cultured and passaged in the conventional culture media. The biological features of STRO-1⁺DPSCs at the 1^stand 9^thpassages were investigated. During the long-term passage, the proliferation ability of human STRO-1⁺DPSCs was downregulated as indicated by the growth kinetics. When compared with STRO-1⁺DPSCs at the 1^stpassage (DPSC-P1), the expression of mature osteoblast-specific genes/proteins (alkaline phosphatase, bone sialoprotein, osterix, and osteopontin), odontoblast-specific gene/protein (dentin sialophosphoprotein and dentin sialoprotein), and chondrocyte-specific gene/protein (type II collagen) was significantly upregulated in human STRO-1⁺DPSCs at the 9^thpassage (DPSC-P9). Furthermore, human DPSC-P9 cells in the mineralization-inducing media presented higher levels of alkaline phosphatase at day 3 and day 7 respectively, and produced more mineralized matrix than DPSC-P9 cells at day 14. <it>In vivo </it>transplantation results showed that rat DPSC-P1 cell pellets developed into dentin, bone and cartilage structures respectively, while DPSC-P9 cells can only generate bone tissues.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that STRO-1⁺DPSCs consist of several interrelated subpopulations which can spontaneously differentiate into odontoblasts, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes. The differentiation capacity of these DPSCs changes during cell passaging, and DPSCs at the 9^thpassage restrict their differentiation potential to the osteoblast lineage <it>in vivo</it>.</p

Concave Pit-Containing Scaffold Surfaces Improve Stem Cell-Derived Osteoblast Performance and Lead to Significant Bone Tissue Formation

Scaffold surface features are thought to be important regulators of stem cell performance and endurance in tissue engineering applications, but details about these fundamental aspects of stem cell biology remain largely unclear.In the present study, smooth clinical-grade lactide-coglyolic acid 85:15 (PLGA) scaffolds were carved as membranes and treated with NMP (N-metil-pyrrolidone) to create controlled subtractive pits or microcavities. Scanning electron and confocal microscopy revealed that the NMP-treated membranes contained: (i) large microcavities of 80-120 microm in diameter and 40-100 microm in depth, which we termed primary; and (ii) smaller microcavities of 10-20 microm in diameter and 3-10 microm in depth located within the primary cavities, which we termed secondary. We asked whether a microcavity-rich scaffold had distinct bone-forming capabilities compared to a smooth one. To do so, mesenchymal stem cells derived from human dental pulp were seeded onto the two types of scaffold and monitored over time for cytoarchitectural characteristics, differentiation status and production of important factors, including bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We found that the microcavity-rich scaffold enhanced cell adhesion: the cells created intimate contact with secondary microcavities and were polarized. These cytological responses were not seen with the smooth-surface scaffold. Moreover, cells on the microcavity-rich scaffold released larger amounts of BMP-2 and VEGF into the culture medium and expressed higher alkaline phosphatase activity. When this type of scaffold was transplanted into rats, superior bone formation was elicited compared to cells seeded on the smooth scaffold.In conclusion, surface microcavities appear to support a more vigorous osteogenic response of stem cells and should be used in the design of therapeutic substrates to improve bone repair and bioengineering applications in the future

Cdc7p-Dbf4p Regulates Mitotic Exit by Inhibiting Polo Kinase

Cdc7p-Dbf4p is a conserved protein kinase required for the initiation of DNA replication. The Dbf4p regulatory subunit binds Cdc7p and is essential for Cdc7p kinase activation, however, the N-terminal third of Dbf4p is dispensable for its essential replication activities. Here, we define a short N-terminal Dbf4p region that targets Cdc7p-Dbf4p kinase to Cdc5p, the single Polo kinase in budding yeast that regulates mitotic progression and cytokinesis. Dbf4p mediates an interaction with the Polo substrate-binding domain to inhibit its essential role during mitosis. Although Dbf4p does not inhibit Polo kinase activity, it nonetheless inhibits Polo-mediated activation of the mitotic exit network (MEN), presumably by altering Polo substrate targeting. In addition, although dbf4 mutants defective for interaction with Polo transit S-phase normally, they aberrantly segregate chromosomes following nuclear misorientation. Therefore, Cdc7p-Dbf4p prevents inappropriate exit from mitosis by inhibiting Polo kinase and functions in the spindle position checkpoint