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Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to disruption of the blood--spinal cord barrier, hemorrhage, and tissue edema, which impair blood circulation and induce ischemia. Angiogenesis after SCI is an important step in the repair of damaged tissues, and the extent of angiogenesis strongly correlates with the neural regeneration. Various biomaterials have been developed to promote angiogenesis signaling pathways, and angiogenic self-assembling peptides are useful for producing diverse supramolecular structures with tunable functionality. RADA16 (Ac-RARADADARARADADA-NH2), which forms nanofiber networks under physiological conditions, is a self-assembling peptide that can provide mechanical support for tissue regeneration and reportedly has diverse roles in wound healing. In this study, we applied an injectable form of RADA16 with or without the neuropeptide substance P to the contused spinal cords of rats and examined angiogenesis within the damaged spinal cord and subsequent functional improvement. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the inflammatory cell population in the lesion cavity was decreased, the vessel number and density around the damaged spinal cord were increased, and the levels of neurofilaments within the lesion cavity were increased in SCI rats that received RADA16 and RADA16 with substance P (rats in the RADA16/SP group). Moreover, real-time PCR analysis of damaged spinal cord tissues showed that IL-10 expression was increased and that locomotor function (as assessed by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scale and the horizontal ladder test) was significantly improved in the RADA16/SP group compared to the control group. Our findings indicate that RADA16 modified with substance P effectively stimulates angiogenesis within the damaged spinal cord and is a candidate agent for promoting functional recovery post-SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the causes and characteristics of golf-related shoulder injuries in Korean amateur golfers. Methods Golf-related surveys were administered to, and ultrasonography were conducted on, 77 Korean amateur golfers with golf-related shoulder pain. The correlation between the golf-related surveys and ultrasonographic findings were investigated. Results The non-dominant shoulder is more likely to have golf-related pain and abnormal findings on ultrasonography than is the dominant shoulder. Supraspinatus muscle tear was the most frequent type of injury on ultrasonography, followed by subscapularis muscle tear. Investigation of the participants' golf-related habits revealed that only the amount of time spent practicing golf was correlated with supraspinatus muscle tear. No correlation was observed between the most painful swing phases and abnormal ultrasonographic findings. Participants who had not previously visited clinics were more likely to present with abnormal ultrasonographic findings, and many of the participants complained of additional upper limb pain. Conclusion Golf-related shoulder injuries and pain are most likely to be observed in the non-dominant shoulder. The supraspinatus muscle was the most susceptible muscle to damage. A correlation was observed between time spent practicing golf and supraspinatus muscle tear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spinal cord does not spontaneously regenerate, and treatment that ensures functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) is still not available. Recently, fibroblasts have been directly converted into induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) by the forced expression defined transcription factors. Although directly converted iNSCs have been considered to be a cell source for clinical applications, their therapeutic potential has not yet been investigated. Here we show that iNSCs directly converted from mouse fibroblasts enhance the functional recovery of SCI animals. Engrafted iNSCs could differentiate into all neuronal lineages, including different subtypes of mature neurons. Furthermore, iNSC-derived neurons could form synapses with host neurons, thus enhancing the locomotor function recovery. A time course analysis of iNSC-treated SCI animals revealed that engrafted iNSCs effectively reduced the inflammatory response and apoptosis in the injured area. iNSC transplantation also promoted the active regeneration of the endogenous recipient environment in the absence of tumor formation. Therefore, our data suggest that directly converted iNSCs hold therapeutic potential for treatment of SCI and may thus represent a promising cell source for transplantation therapy in patients with SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cladosporium cladosporioides H1 was found to be the most abundant microbe in Janggyeong Panjeon. C. cladosporioides H1 produced a 20 kDa xylanase, which was generally stable below 60°C and had specialized activity in an acidic condition. Our results may lead to the development of a strategy for preservation of organic cultural heritage environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root mean square (rms) height s and autocorrelation length l are commonly used as the surface roughness input parameters to surface scattering models. Whereas it is well known that the surface roughness parameters of a natural soil surface are underestimated with a short surface profile, it is not clear how much the underestimated surface parameters affect the backscattering coefficients of the surface for various incidence angles and polarizations. In this paper, the backscattering coefficients of simulated and measured surface profiles are computed using the integral equation method and analyzed to answer this question. A 4000...-long rough surface is generated numerically, where ... is the true correlation length of the surface, and the backscattering coefficients of the surface are computed and analyzed for various conditions. The rms error of the backscattering coefficient at a medium range of incidence angles is less than 1.5 dB for vv-polarization and 0.5 dB for hh-polarization if the profile length is larger than 5... for a surface with ks = 1.0, kl = 10.0, and (10.0, 2.0). Similar results are obtained from numerous simulations with various roughness conditions and various wavelengths. It is also shown that the rms error of the backscattering coefficients between 5- and 1-m-long measured surface profiles is 1.7 dB for vv-polarization and 0.5 dB for hh-polarization at a medium range of incidence angle (15° ≤ θ ≤ 70°), whereas the surface roughness parameters are significantly reduced from 2.4 to 1.5 cm for the rms height s and from 35.1 to 10.0 cm for the autocorrelation length l. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a kinetic study for the nucleophilic substitution reactions of 2,4-dinitrophenyl X-substituted benzensulfonates (X = 4-MeO, 1a, and X = 4-NO2, 1c) with a series of primary amines in 80 mol % H2O/20 mol % DMSO at 25.0 °C. The reactions proceed through S-O and C-O bond fission pathways competitively. The fraction of the S-O bond fission increases as the attaching amine becomes more basic and the substituent X changes from 4-MeO to 4-NO2, indicating that the regioselectivity is governed by the electronic nature of the substituent X as well as the basicity of amines. The S-O bond fission has been suggested to proceed through an addition intermediate with a change in the rate-determining step (RDS) at pKa° = 8.9 ± 0.1. The electronic nature of the substituent X influences kNS-O and k1 values, but not the k2/k-1 ratios and the pKa° value significantly. Stabilization of the ground state (GS) through resonance interaction between the electron-donating substituent and the electrophilic center has been suggested to be responsible for the decreased reactivity of la compared to 1c. The second-order rate constants for the C-O bond fission exhibit no correlation with the electronic nature of the substituent X. The distance effect and the nature of the reaction mechanism have been suggested to be responsible for the absence of the correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second-order rate constants have been measured for the reaction of 2,4-dinitrophenyl X-substituted benzenesulfonates with a series of primary amines. The nucleophilic substitution reaction proceeds through competitive S-O and C-O bond fission pathways. The S-O bond fission occurs dominantly for reactions with highly basic amines or with substrates having a strong electron-withdrawing group in the sulfonyl moiety. On the other hand, the C-O bond fission occurs considerably for the reactions with low basic amines or with substrates having a strong electron-donating group in the sulfonyl moiety, emphasizing that the regioselectivity is governed by both the amine basicity and the electronic effect of the sulfonyl substituent X. The apparent second-order rate constants for the S-O bond fission have resulted in a nonlinear Brønsted-type plot for the reaction of 2,4-dinitrophenyl benzenesulfonate with 10 different primary amines, suggesting that a change in the rate-determining step occurs upon changing the amine basicity. The microscopic rate constants (k[sub 1] and k[sub 2]]k[sub -1] ratio) associated with the S-O bond fission pathway support the proposed mechanism. The second-order rate constants for the S-O bond fission result in good linear Yukawa-Tsuno plots for the aminolyses of 2,4-dinitrophenyl X-substituted benzenesulfonates. However, the second-order rate constants for the C-O bond fission show no correlation with the electronic nature of the sulfonyl substituent X, indicating that the C-O bond fission proceeds through an S[sub N]Ar mechanism in which the leaving group departure occurs rapidly after the rate-determining step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polarimetric backscattering coefficients (vv-, hh-, hv-, and vh-polarizations) of a flooded rice field are measured using L- and C-band ground-based polarimetric scatterometers. These measurements were made during the rice growth cycle, i.e., from the transplanting period to the harvest period (May to October 2006), to understand the feasibility of modeling and estimating rice growth. We also collected ground truth data that include fresh and dry biomasses, plant height, leaf area index, and leaf size. To study the incidence angle effect, the scatterometer data were collected at four different incidence angles, i.e., 30°, 40°, 50°, and 60°. In this paper, we show that the backscattering coefficients of a rice field can accurately be modeled using the radiative transfer theory. We also demonstrate that a polarimetric scatterometer is an effective tool for estimating rice growth. The hh-polarized backscattering coefficient is more sensitive to rice growth than its vv-polarization counterpart. The polarimetric ratio can be used to estimate rice growth accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]