Filippo Simini is a postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Complex Network Research, led by Distinguished Univeristy Professor AlbertLászló Barabási. Photo by Mary Knox Merrill. Sup !pose you held in your hands a bunch of indi !vid !uals from dif !ferent species, sort of like a minia!ture Jumanji set. You have some cows, some bac !teria, some plants, some bugs, and a whole bunch of o...

Cat-scratch disease warrants extensive investigation, from an epidemiological, a diagnostic, but especially a therapeutic point of view. Two suggestive episodes of Bartonella henselae-caused cat-scratch disease are reported, and discussed in the light of the most recent literature evidence. The first case occurred in a 60-year-old man, thus suggesting that it is important to maintain an elevate...

In vitro cell studies might be a useful tool for studying tendon pathology, but no suitable in vitro models exist for tendon disorders. The purpose of this study was to confirm whether cell scratch culture using tendon-derived fibroblasts can provide a suitable in vitro tendon disorder model. Extracellular matrix components were examined immunohistochemically in tendon tissue, and then their re...

OBJECTIVE Endothelial cell (EC) migration is a key event for repair process after vascular injury and angiogenesis. EC migration is regulated by reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton at the leading edge and localized production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the site of injury. However, underlying mechanisms are unclear. We reported that IQGAP1, an actin binding scaffold protein, mediat...

Concentrated platelets and their products are currently being used as a clinical tool to accelerate endosseous wound healing. However, there is little understanding regarding the actions of platelets and platelet-released products on osteogenic cells. We show, herein, that releasate from thrombin-activated platelets increases the migration and proliferation of osteogenic cultures of bone marrow...

Velvet antler (VA) is a precious traditional Chinese medicine that is capable of repeated regeneration. Based on the Chinese medicine theory of coordination the heart and kidneys, VA has been employed to treat heart diseases, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and arrhythmia. We examined the effects of VA proteins on primary cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) that wer...

Gambling disorder is a common, clinically relevant condition that impacts significantly one's life. Given that approved pharmacological interventions are lacking, it is crucial to readily identify these cases to provide available interventions in psychiatric care services. Here, we present two uncommon cases of unique scratch-card gambling disorder, a specific type of pathological gambling that...