Autologous conditioned serum applications in the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases: a narrative review

Aim: Autologous conditioned serum has been studied as a treatment option in musculoskeletal disorders and resulted in varying outcomes. This study aims to pool the current data on this matter. Materials & methods: Major databases were searched for the topics, and after screening the results, the final 21 papers (level of evidence I or II) were included. Results & conclusion: This study showed a major focus of the literature on the effectiveness of autologous conditioned serum in osteoarthritis, in which there is much high-quality evidence suggesting its safety and efficacy. Also, some of the available experiments are assessing its application in tendinopathies and radiculopathies which, despite positive results, recommend further evaluations on this topic.

Biodegradable Composites with Functional Properties Containing Biopolymers

There is a major focus on natural biopolymers of bacterial, animal, or plant origin as ecological materials, replacing petrochemical products. Biologically derived polylactide (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) possess interesting properties, but they are currently too expensive for most applications. Therefore, researchers try to find other biopolymers that are both durable and cheap enough to replace plastics in some applications. One possible candidate is gelatin, which can be transformed into a thin, translucent film that is flexible and has stable and high mechanical properties. Here, we present a method of synthesizing a composite material from gelatin. For preparation of such material, we used gelatin of animal origin (pig skin) with the addition of casein, food gelatin, glycerin, and enzymes as biocatalysts of chemical modification and further extraction of gelatin from collagen. Compositions forming films with homogeneous shapes and good mechanical properties were selected (Tensile strength reaches 3.11 MPa, while the highest value of elongation at break is 97.96%). After administering the samples to microbial scaring, the composites completely decomposed under the action of microorganisms within 30 days, which proves their biodegradation.

Understanding and suppressing non-radiative losses in methylammonium-free wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells

With power conversion efficiencies of perovskite-on-silicon and all-perovskite tandem solar cells increasing at rapid pace, wide bandgap (> 1.7 eV) metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) are becoming a major focus of academic...

Debtor spaces: Austerity, space, and dispossession in Michigan’s emergency management system

In recent years, debt has become a major focus of geographic research as debt relations have become increasingly central to today’s financialized capitalist economy. This paper bridges two aspects of the debt literature: (1) the emergent literature on debt spatiality, which argues that space plays an active role in the creation and maintenance of debt relations, and (2) the broader literature examining processes of debt-driven dispossession (e.g., foreclosure, eviction, austerity, etc.). Recent literature in geography, led by Harker’s work on debt spaces, has argued that debt should not only be understood as a temporal relation (a promise of future labor) but a spatial relation as well. This literature has examined the active role of space in creating debt relations but has been less attentive to the ways in which debt is a key mechanism of dispossessive economies. Analyzing Michigan’s emergency management laws, a system of forced, localized austerity, I chronicle how the social production of space is central to dispossessive debt projects. I conclude by offering a new concept, debtor spaces, to characterize the socio-spatial formations which enable practices of debt-based dispossession.

Constructional Aspects for Safe Operation of 120 × 570 mm Ammunition

This paper provides a characteristic of the design of 120 × 570 mm tank ammunition with particular reference to the cartridges in service in the Polish Army. The presentation of the design and technological details was primarily focused on emphasising their influence on the phenomena occurring or likely to occur during the process of ammunition operation, and to a much lesser extent related with the reference of the characteristics of the performance of the ammunition. Due to the sheer bulk of this subject matter, this paper narrowed the issues of ammunition primarily to the aspects of entry into service, transport, storage, and operation of the specified ammunition cartridges. During these operational stages, there was major focus on the issues of ammunition safety and reliable performance. Note that these aspects are not exhaustive for the topic; this paper also serves as an introduction to a future paper which will deal with safety issues during combat operation using the 120 × 570 mm tank ammunition cartridges.

COVID-19–Induced Global Food Insecurity: A Hidden Syndemic

After being declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020, COVID-19 became the nucleus of our world. News outlets relentlessly produce daily reminders of the rise in cases and mortality worldwide, littering headlines with the word “death.” Even in the past months, death continues to be a major focus concerning the pandemic.

Roosting patterns of House Sparrow Passer domesticus Linn., 1758 (Aves: Passeridae) in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India

The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is widely distributed across the world, and local alarming declines in sparrow populations have prompted studies focused on this species. An understanding of fundamental life history aspects such as roosting patterns is necessary for the development of efficient conservation strategies. This study examined House Sparrow roosting patterns in urban, suburban and rural areas of Bhavnagar during 2017–2018. Potential roosting sites were identified, and peak arrival/ departure times and roosting duration of sparrows were recorded. We found that peak arrival and departure times were correlated with solar timings, indicating a strong influence of photoperiod on sparrow behaviour. Little variation was observed in sparrow arrival and departure times across the urban, suburban and rural gradient. However, arrival duration was significantly larger in urban and suburban areas. This may be due to the restricted availability of suitable patches within these habitats, requiring birds to spend more time foraging. House Sparrows mostly preferred thick vegetation for pre-roosting activities and roosting, and the loss of thick vegetation poses a threat to sparrow populations worldwide. In addition to increasing nesting opportunities by providing artificial nest sites, the importance of retaining appropriate habitats should be a major focus of conservation strategies.

The Critical Break

With this chapter, the book’s major focus shifts from the whole world to Europe, where sustainable capitalist economic development first takes off. After Rome’s disintegration, due to Western Europe’s geography and level of military technology, no European state could gain a hegemony on power. The resulting intense and ever-present state competition fueled an arms race and technological innovation while keeping rulers in need of revenue. They found additional resources in the expanding commerce, manufacturing, and capitalist institutions that accompanied an emerging bourgeoisie. Consequently, uniquely in Europe a bourgeoisie sustainably managed to survive its own self-destructiveness and the hostility of a hereditary landed aristocracy. The growing muscle of the bourgeoisie expressed itself in increasingly successful demands for greater freedoms, privileges, status, and political power commensurable to their wealth. The unique sustainable success of the European bourgeoisie and capitalist institutions constitutes a historical singularity, paving the way for today’s riches and freedoms.

Austronesians in the Northern Waters?

The following lines are inspired by John Kupchik’s seminal article ‘Austronesian Lights the Way’ that appears in this volume of JEAL. It demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt for the first time that there are reliable Austronesian loanwords in Japonic that reveal quite ancient and profound contacts, because without these profound contacts the borrowing of the names of the most basic celestial bodies, such as the sun and the moon, would not be possible. In my opinion, his article opened a new and an exciting direction in the Japonic historical linguistics. There are, however, two important differences between Kupchik’s article and the present one. First, while Kupchik mostly concentrated on the Amis language from Taiwan, and to a less extent on the languages of Philippines and other Western Malayo- Polynesian, my major focus is on the Philippines languages as potential donors, and much less on other Austronesian languages of the region. Second, while Kupchik looked mostly on mysterious words in the Omoro Sōshi, a collection of Old Okinawan and Amami sacred and folk poems (1531–1623 AD), this article focuses more on Old Japanese in particular and Japonic in general.