OBJECTIVE One of the strategies to improve cochlear implant technology is to increase the number of electrodes in the neuro-electronic interface. The objective was to characterize in vitro cultures of spiral ganglion neurons (SGN) cultured on surfaces of novel silicon micro-pillar substrates (MPS). APPROACH SGN from P5 rat pups were cultured on MPS with different micro-pillar widths (1-5.6 μm...

BACKGROUND Information regarding the long-term outcome of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant human N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase (rhASB, galsulfase, Naglazyme®, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.) for Taiwanese patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) VI is limited. METHODS Nine Taiwanese patients with MPS VI (4 males and 5 females; age range, 1.4 to 21.1 years) treated with wee...

Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type-IH is a lysosomal storage disease that results from mutations in the IDUA gene causing the accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Historically, children with the severe phenotype, MPS-IH (Hurler syndrome) develop progressive neurodegeneration with death in the first decade due to cardio-pulmonary complications. New data suggest that inflammation may play a r...

Adverse changes in rangeland vegetation can be considered as one of the criteria for land degradation. Some of these changes can be evaluated through monitoring the spatial changes of landscape parameters. This study aimed to investigate the landscape changes in Kezab rangelands of Yazd province, central Iran. Landsat satellite images of 1990, 2002, and 2013, and landscape metrics including Tot...

Porous materials, especially microparticles (MP), are utilized in almost every field of engineering and science, ranging from healthcare materials (drug delivery to tissue engineering) to environmental engineering (biosensing to catalysis). Here, we utilize the single needle electrospraying technique (as opposed to complex systems currently in development) to prepare a variety of poly(ε-caprola...

BACKGROUND Myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) is one of the frequently used methods for quantification of perfusion defects in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. This article describes open access software for automated quantification in MPS of stress-induced ischemia and infarction and provides phantom and in vivo validation. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 492 patients w...

Inert gases diffuse into tissues in proportion to ambient pressure, and when pressure is reduced, gas efflux forms bubbles due to the presence of gas cavitation nuclei that are predicted based on theory but have never been characterized. Decompression stress triggers elevations in number and diameter of circulating annexin V-coated microparticles (MPs) derived from vascular cells. Here we show ...

Microparticles (MPs) are a heterogeneous population of small cell-derived vesicles, ranging in size from 0.1 to 1  μ m. They contain a variety of bioactive molecules, including proteins, biolipids, and nucleic acids, which can be transferred between cells without direct cell-to-cell contact. Consequently, MPs represent a novel form of intercellular communication, which could play a role in both...

Platelets from patients with Montreal platelet syndrome (MPS) consistently display a defect in the mechanisms that regulate platelet size during shape change and undergo spontaneous aggregation and stir-induced microaggregate formation. We now provide data that the surface glycoprotein composition of MPS platelets is indistinguishable from that of normal platelets. However, a defect in calcium-...

PURPOSE Of the antioxidants found in the human retina, only the macular carotenoid quantities can be estimated noninvasively (albeit in a collective fashion), thus facilitating study of their role in that tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate concordance between macular pigment optical density (MPOD) values recorded on a commercially available instrument, the MPS 9000, with those of an ...