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Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) sugars are largely responsible for the bioactivity of the proteoglycan proteins they decorate, and are particularly important for mediating the processes of cell attachment and growth factor signaling. Here, we show that chlorate-induced de-sulfation of GAGs expressed by MG-63 osteosarcoma cells results in delayed cell proliferation when the cells are exposed to chlorate for short or medium periods, but a disrupted mineralization without altered cell proliferation in response to long-term chlorate exposure. Analysis of GAG-binding growth factor activity indicated that chlorate disrupted BMP2/noggin signaling, but not FGF2 activity. Microarray analyses, which were confirmed by subsequent cell-based assays, indicated that chlorate predominantly disrupted the cell cycle and actin cytoskeleton and upregulated cholesterol synthesis, without affecting cell migration or attachment. Furthermore, we observed that disruption of the functions of the proteoglycan syndecan-4 replicated phenotypes induced by chlorate, implicating a primary role for this proteoglycan in providing bioactivity for these cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 219: 572–583, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteogenic differentiation is coordinated by the exposure of cells to temporal changes in a combination of growth factors and elements within the extracellular matrix (ECM). Many of the key proteins that drive these changes share the property of being dependent on ECM glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) for their activity. Here, we examined whether GAGs isolated from proliferating, differentiating and mineralizing MG-63 osteosarcoma cells differed in their physical properties, and thus in their capacities to coordinate the osteogenic cascade both in human MG-63 osteosarcoma cells and primary human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Our results show that the size distribution of GAGs, the expression of GAG-carrying proteoglycan cores and the expression of enzymes involved in their modification systematically change as MG-63 cells mature in culture. When dosed back onto cells exogenously in soluble form, GAGs regulated MG-63 survival and growth in a dose-dependent manner, but not differentiation in either cell type. In contrast, hMSCs aggregated into distinct colonies when grown on GAG-coated substrates, while MG-63 cells did not. Heparin-coated substrates improved hMSC viability without inducing aggregation. These results suggest a complex role for GAGs in coordinating the emergence of the osteoblast phenotype, and provide further evidence for the use of heparans in bone tissue repair applications. J. Cell. Physiol. 218: 501–511, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste presents a considerable challenge to many residential facilities for the elderly. This issue is highly relevant to food costs and sustainability concerns as well as residents' nutritional needs. In the present study, food waste was determined in 13 wards of eight residential facilities for elderly people in Flanders. Plate and preparation waste at lunchtime (including soup and dessert) was accurately measured for 247 residents during five days. Plate waste for breakfast and dinner was monitored using a standardized visual estimation protocol. The mean plate waste per person was 112.3 ± 35.2 g/day, corresponding to 10.9 % of the total meal served on the plate. Bread, toppings, meat/fish and starch components were the main meal items left over. At breakfast and lunch, the meal item, amount served, gender, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score and age category significantly influenced the amount of plate waste. For dessert served at lunchtime, only the type of ward (open vs. closed) and gender (male vs. female) significantly influenced the percentage of waste. For plate waste at dinner, the meal item, amount served and gender had a significant impact. The preparation waste at lunch averaged 37.8 ± 24.3 % of the quantity prepared, or per person 192.6 ± 82.6 g/day. This preparation waste appeared to be significantly influenced by the meal consistency, meal item, and care center. The results of this study underline the need for improved food service strategies in care institutions to better match residents' nutritional requirements while reducing food waste., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Nathalie Bernaert reports financial support was provided by Flemish Government. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Protons from the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center have been used for pulsed radiography in dynamic experiments for the past 25 years. Pulses of protons are imaged on a scintillator, and the light from these images is captured by fast gated cameras. The need for fast, bright scintillators has led to some compromises in image quality due to tiling the scintillators and backgrounds with totally internally reflected light. We show how large-grain scintillator screens, made using a thin plastic binder, solve these problems., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

Background: Marital status has been shown to have protective effects for married patients with various cancers. We sought to determine effects of marital status on perioperative outcomes after robotic-assisted pulmonary lobectomy (RAPL)., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 709 consecutive patients who underwent RAPL between 2010 and 2022 by one surgeon. Patients were stratified by marital status at time of surgery. The Married group included married, domestically partnered, and co-habitating patients ( N = 473). The Unmarried group included never married, divorced, and widowed individuals ( N = 236). Demographics, preoperative comorbidities, intraoperative and postoperative complications, estimated blood loss (EBL), chest tube duration, hospital length of stay (LOS), tumor characteristics, and survival data were analyzed utilizing Student's t -test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Chi-square, or Fisher's exact test as appropriate, with significance at p ≤ 0.05 . , Results: Unmarried patients were more likely to be female, while married patients were more likely to experience robotic-associated intraoperative complications and greater intraoperative estimated blood loss. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed no difference in 5-year overall survival based on marital status. Other perioperative outcomes, intraoperative complications (except robotic-associated), postoperative complications, demographic history (except gender), and preoperative comorbidities did not significantly differ between the two groups., Conclusion: This study challenges the existing reports in the literature that marriage confers cancer treatment outcomes advantage and prolonged survival among cancer patients. Social support, in terms of a spouse or domestic partner, may be less protective in early-stage lung cancer and after minimally invasive pulmonary lobectomy compared to other cancer populations., Competing Interests: Funding: This research was supported in part by a 2022 Summer Scholarly Award presented to W.J.W.III and individual 2021 Summer Scholarly Awards presented to J.C., S.C. G.F., C.B.C., and H.E.S. from the Scholarly Concentrations Program of the Office of Research, Innovation & Scholarly Endeavors (RISE) at the University of South Florida (USF) Health Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, FL, USA, and by a Summer Immersion Award to A.V. from the Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, Collaborative Training (SELECT) Program of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and the Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA, USA. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Conflict-of-Interest (COI) Disclosure: JPF and EMT have had financial relationships with Intuitive Surgical, Inc., in the form of honoraria received as robotic thoracic surgery observation sites and proctors. The other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)