Adipose Stem Cell-Based Treatments for Wound Healing

Wound healing is one of the most complex physiological regulation mechanisms of the human body. Stem cell technology has had a significant impact on regenerative medicine. Adipose stem cells (ASCs) have many advantages, including their ease of harvesting and high yield, rich content of cell components and cytokines, and strong practicability. They have rapidly become a favored tool in regenerative medicine. Here, we summarize the mechanism and clinical therapeutic potential of ASCs in wound repair.

The Oxidative Balance Orchestrates the Main Keystones of the Functional Activity of Cardiomyocytes

This review is aimed at providing an overview of the key hallmarks of cardiomyocytes in physiological and pathological conditions. The main feature of cardiac tissue is the force generation through contraction. This process requires a conspicuous energy demand and therefore an active metabolism. The cardiac tissue is rich of mitochondria, the powerhouses in cells. These organelles, producing ATP, are also the main sources of ROS whose altered handling can cause their accumulation and therefore triggers detrimental effects on mitochondria themselves and other cell components thus leading to apoptosis and cardiac diseases. This review highlights the metabolic aspects of cardiomyocytes and wanders through the main systems of these cells: (a) the unique structural organization (such as different protein complexes represented by contractile, regulatory, and structural proteins); (b) the homeostasis of intracellular Ca2+ that represents a crucial ion for cardiac functions and E-C coupling; and (c) the balance of Zn2+, an ion with a crucial impact on the cardiovascular system. Although each system seems to be independent and finely controlled, the contractile proteins, intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis, and intracellular Zn2+ signals are strongly linked to each other by the intracellular ROS management in a fascinating way to form a “functional tetrad” which ensures the proper functioning of the myocardium. Nevertheless, if ROS balance is not properly handled, one or more of these components could be altered resulting in deleterious effects leading to an unbalance of this “tetrad” and promoting cardiovascular diseases. In conclusion, this “functional tetrad” is proposed as a complex network that communicates continuously in the cardiomyocytes and can drive the switch from physiological to pathological conditions in the heart.

Improving Separation Efficiency in End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Batteries Flotation Using Attrition Pre-Treatment

The comminution of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) produces a powder containing the active cell components, commonly referred to as “black mass.” Recently, froth flotation has been proposed to treat the fine fraction of black mass (<100 µm) as a method to separate anodic graphite particles from cathodic lithium metal oxides (LMOs). So far, pyrolysis has been considered as an effective treatment to remove organic binders in the black mass in preparation for flotation separation. In this work, the flotation performance of a pyrolyzed black mass obtained from an industrial recycling plant was improved by adding a pre-treatment step consisting of mechanical attrition with and without kerosene addition. The LMO recovery in the underflow product increased from 70% to 85% and the graphite recovery remained similar, around 86% recovery in the overflow product. To understand the flotation behavior, the spent black mass from pyrolyzed LIBs was compared to a model black mass, comprising fully liberated LMOs and graphite particles. In addition, ultrafine hydrophilic particles were added to the flotation feed as an entrainment tracer, showing that the LMO recovery in overflow products is a combination of entrainment and true flotation mechanisms. This study highlights that adding kerosene during attrition enhances the emulsification of kerosene, simultaneously increasing its (partial) spread on the LMOs, graphite, and residual binder, with a subsequent reduction in selectivity.

The characteristics of mesenteric adipose tissue attached to different intestinal segments and their roles in immune regulation

Background: Mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT) plays a critical role in the intestinal physiological ecosystems. Small and large intestines have evidently intrinsic and distinct characteristics. However, whether there exist any mesenteric differences adjacent to the small and large intestines (SMAT and LMAT) has not been properly characterized. We studied the important facets of these differences, such as morphology, gene expression, cell components and immune regulation of MATs, to characterize the mesenteric differences. Methods: The SMAT and LMAT of mice were utilized for comparison of tissue morphology. Paired mesenteric samples were analyzed by RNA-seq to clarify gene expression profiles. MAT partial excision models were constructed to illustrate the immune regulation roles of MATs, and 16S-seq was applied to detect the subsequent effect on microbiota. Results: Our data show that different segments of mesenteries have different morphological structures. SMAT not only has smaller adipocytes but also contains more fat-associated lymphoid clusters than LMAT. The gene expression profile is also discrepant between these two MATs in mice. B-cell markers were abundantly expressed in SMAT, while development-related genes were highly expressed in LMAT. Adipose-derived stem cells of LMAT exhibited higher adipogenic potential and lower proliferation rates than those of SMAT. In addition, SMAT and LMAT play different roles in immune regulation and subsequently affect microbiota components. Finally, our data clarified the described differences between SMAT and LMAT in humans. Conclusions: There were significant differences in cell morphology, gene expression profiles, cell components, biological characteristics, and immune and microbiota regulation roles between regional MATs.

Optimized High Precision Stacking of Fuel Cell Components for Medium to Large Production Volumes

PEM fuel cells are well established in a number of niche markets. However, due to low production volume and manufacturer-specific designs, the assembly has been carried out manually most of the time. With new fields of application being exploited there is a rising demand for production systems. As there is no standardized design or material, production systems are often custom-made, thus being inflexible to design changes or different products. In combination with a volatile demand the need for flexible and scalable systems arises. In this paper special attention is paid onto pick and place operations of the catalyst coated membrane (CCM). Design criteria of a vacuum gripper are derived from the material properties. To meet the further requirements for a high position accuracy in an automated assembly the impact of process parameters onto the repeatability is investigated to identify optimization trends. The requirements and investigations lead to a conceptual assembly system that is able to cover several steps in fuel cell production.

Malignant Transformation of Metaplastic Thymoma into High-Grade Sarcomatoid Carcinoma: A Case Report

The correlation of histogenesis between metaplastic thymoma and thymic sarcomatoid carcinoma is unclear. We report a case of metaplastic thymoma transformed into high-grade sarcomatoid carcinoma. A 64 × 54 × 32 mm anterior mediastinal mass in a 61-year-old woman microscopically consisted mainly of classic metaplastic thymoma, with the center dominated by high-grade sarcomatoid carcinoma. In some areas, both epithelial and spindle cell components of the metaplastic thymoma showed increased cellular atypia, mitotic activity, and focal necrosis and gradually transformed into the polygonal/pleomorphic and spindle cell components of sarcomatoid carcinoma. Immunohistochemically, the characteristics of the polygonal/pleomorphic sarcomatoid cells were similar to those of the epithelial component of metaplastic thymoma, while the spindle sarcomatoid cells were more similar to the spindle cells component of metaplastic thymoma. The Ki-67 index was less than 5% in the metaplastic thymoma areas but up to 70% in the sarcomatoid carcinoma area. Radical operation and postoperative radiotherapy were performed. Multifocal relapses at the pleura occurred 13 months after surgery.

Synchrotron FTIR Microspectroscopy Investigations on Biochemical Changes Occurring in Human Cells Exposed to Proton Beams

Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy using a synchrotron radiation source (SR-μFTIR) has great potential in the study of the ionizing radiation effects of human cells by analyzing the biochemical changes occurring in cell components. SR-μFTIR spectroscopy has been usefully employed in recent years in some seminal work devoted to shedding light on processes occurring in cells treated by hadron therapy, that is, radiotherapy with charged heavy particles (mainly protons and carbon ions), which is gaining popularity as a cancer treatment modality. These studies are particularly useful for increasing the effectiveness of radiotherapy cancer treatments with charged particles that can offer significant progress in the treatment of deep-seated and/or radioresistant tumors. In this paper, we present a concise revision of these studies together with the basic principles of μFTIR spectroscopy and a brief presentation of the main characteristics of infrared SR sources. From the analysis of the literature regarding the SR-μFTIR spectroscopy investigation on human cells exposed to proton beams, it is clearly shown that changes in DNA, protein, and lipid cell components are evident. In addition, this review points out that the potential offered by SR-μFTIR in investigating the effects induced by charged particle irradiation have not been completely explored. This is a crucial point for the continued improvement of hadron therapy strategies.