Search results for " MATRIX"

Umbilical cord revisited: From Wharton's jelly myofibroblasts to mesenchymal stem cells

2013

The umbilical cord (UC) is an essential part of the placenta, contributing to foetal development by ensuring the blood flow between mother and foetus. The UC is formed within the first weeks of gestation by the enclosure of the vessels (one vein and two arteries) into a bulk of mucous connective tissue, named Wharton's jelly (WJ) and lined by the umbilical epithelium. Since their first identification, cells populating WJ were described as unusual fibroblasts (or myofibroblasts). Recent literature data further highlighted the functional interconnection between UC and the resident cells. The UC represents a reservoir of progenitor populations which are collectively grouped into MSCs (mesenchy…

Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Support the Expansion of Cord Blood–derived CD34+Cells Mimicking a Hematopoietic Niche in a Direct Cell–cel…

2018

Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stromal cells (WJ-MSCs) have been recently exploited as a feeder layer in coculture systems to expand umbilical cord blood–hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (UCB-HSPCs). Here, we investigated the role of WJ-MSCs in supporting ex vivo UCB-HSPC expansion either when cultured in direct contact (DC) with WJ-MSCs or separated by a transwell system or in the presence of WJ-MSC–conditioned medium. We found, in short-term culture, a greater degree of expansion of UCB-CD34+cells in a DC system (15.7 ± 4.1-fold increase) with respect to the other conditions. Moreover, in DC, we evidenced two different CD34+cell populations (one floating and one adherent to WJ-MSCs) with …

Immunohistochemical and transcriptional expression of matrix metalloproteinases in full-term human umbilical cord and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelia…

2010

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are extracellular zinc-dependent endopeptidases involved in the degradation and remodelling of extracellular matrix in physiological and pathological processes. MMPs also have a role on cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, angiogenesis and apoptosis. Umbilical cord is a special organ subjected to many changes during pre-natal life and whose cells can maintain a certain degree of plasticity also in post-natal period; for example recently they have been used as a source of stem cells. In this work we investigated the expression of MMPs in human umbilical cord and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) though immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and …

Two-qubit entanglement generation through non-Hermitian Hamiltonians induced by repeated measurements on an ancilla

2020

In contrast to classical systems, actual implementation of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian dynamics for quantum systems is a challenge because the processes of energy gain and dissipation are based on the underlying Hermitian system&ndash

Efficiency of Wave Energy Converters off the Sicilian Channel

2019

This paper presents a preliminary analysis on efficiency of wave energy converters off the Sicilian Channel (Italy) carried out using the SNL-SWAN spectral model (”Sandia National Laboratories – Simulating WAves Nearshore”). This open source numerical code makes possible to calculate the power extracted from wave energy converter (WEC) devices, arranged in arrays. The WEC arrays were located parallel to the coastline, near the 20 m bathymetric isoline. Three devices were tested: Pelamis, Wave Dragon and Oyster 2; one of the input data of the numerical model is the WEC power matrix, expressed as a function of the wave height and period. This matrix was determined experimentally by the protot…

Cyclic axial testing of columns confined with Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix

2012

Effectiveness of Flax-TRM composites under traction

2023

The scientific research in the field of masonry structures is increasingly welcoming the adoption of innovative and sustainable rehabilitation techniques aimed at the safeguarding of the Built Cultural Heritage. Textile Reinforced Matrix (TRM) composites are the most widely investigated strengthening systems for ancient masonry structures, thanks to their high compatibility level with the material substrates in terms of fire resistance, chemical/physical aspects, reversibility property, little impact on dimensions, stiffness and weight. Nevertheless, in the last years, the growing concern on sustainability increased the interest in products with low environmental impact, for promoting circu…

Improving Harris corner selection strategy

2011

This study describes a corner selection strategy based on the Harris approach. Corners are usually defined as interest points for which intensity variation in the principal directions is locally maximised, as response from a filter given by the linear combination of the determinant and the trace of the autocorrelation matrix. The Harris corner detector, in its original definition, is only rotationally invariant, but scale-invariant and affine-covariant extensions have been developed. As one of the main drawbacks, corner detector performances are influenced by two user-given parameters: the linear combination coefficient and the response filter threshold. The main idea of the authors' approa…

Speeding up the Consensus Clustering methodology for microarray data analysis

2010

Abstract Background The inference of the number of clusters in a dataset, a fundamental problem in Statistics, Data Analysis and Classification, is usually addressed via internal validation measures. The stated problem is quite difficult, in particular for microarrays, since the inferred prediction must be sensible enough to capture the inherent biological structure in a dataset, e.g., functionally related genes. Despite the rich literature present in that area, the identification of an internal validation measure that is both fast and precise has proved to be elusive. In order to partially fill this gap, we propose a speed-up of Consensus (Consensus Clustering), a methodology whose purpose…

Environmentally Friendly Composites and Surface Treatments for Metal-to-Composite Hybrid Joints for Marine Application

2022

In this study, the use of natural fibres (flax and basalt) in combination with a recyclable epoxy matrix based on cleavable amines is suggested for improving the sustainability of marine industry. In addition, a new and eco-friendly anodizing process based on tartaric sulfuric acid solution (TSA) and a pore widening step in a NaOH aqueous solution was carried out on aluminium alloy (AA5083) to evaluate its effect on the adhesion strength and damage tolerance after low velocity impact of co-cured adhesive joints with a basalt fibre reinforced and recyclable laminate. The durability in marine environment was simulated by exposing samples to salt-fog spray conditions over a period of 90 days. …