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The underlying mechanism of ASIC mechanosensation is the tether-gate model, which uses a gating-spring mechanism to activate ASIC responses. Further understanding of the mechanism of ASICs will help in treatments for ASIC-related pathologies. Along with the well-known chemosensitive functions of ASICs, emerging evidence has revealed that mechanosensitive functions of ASICs are important for maintaining homeostasis and contribute to various disease conditions.Due to the limited regenerative capabilities of cardiomyocytes, incidents of myocardial infarction can cause permanent damage to native myocardium through the formation of acellular, non-conductive scar tissue during wound repair. The generation of scar tissue in the myocardium compromises the biomechanical and electrical properties of the heart which can lead to further cardiac problems including heart failure. Currently, patients suffering from cardiac failure due to scarring undergo transplantation but limited donor availability and complications (i.e., rejection or infectious pathogens) exclude many individuals from successful transplant. Polymeric tissue engineering scaffolds provide an alternative approach to restore normal myocardium structure and function after damage by acting as a provisional matrix to support cell attachment, infiltration and stem cell delivery. However, issues associated with mechanical property mismatch and the limited electrical conductivity of these constructs when compared to native myocardium reduces their clinical applicability. Therefore, composite polymeric scaffolds with conductive reinforcement components (i.e., metal, carbon, or conductive polymers) provide tunable mechanical and electroactive properties to mimic the structure and function of natural myocardium in force transmission and electrical stimulation. This review summarizes recent advancements in the design, synthesis, and implementation of electroactive polymeric composites to better match the biomechanical and electrical properties of myocardial tissue.JUUL, a discrete pod-style e-cigarette, popular among adolescents, delivers high levels of nicotine. Limited research has assessed social and environmental influences that contribute to use of JUUL and other pod-style devices. We examined how these factors, as well as individual characteristics, shape adolescent use. Twenty-nine middle and high school students participated in six focus groups in June 2019 (58.6% female, 65.5% White, 27.6% Hispanic). Groups were stratified by e-cigarette use status and grade to understand perceptions and experiences among groups. Transcripts were coded using thematic analysis for individual, social, and environmental factors contributing to use. Users (n = 13) described their first experience with JUUL as mostly negative, mentioning reactions such as burning in the throat, coughing, wheezing, and headaches. Despite a negative first experience, stress relief and addiction were mentioned as reasons for continued use. Users and non-users identified vaping as a source of disruption to their daily life. Social factors included peer and parental influences, lack of support for quitting, and accessibility. Environmental factors included contrasting messages about long- and short-term health effects of e-cigarettes, as well as a lack of school vaping policy enforcement, health education, medical screenings, and cessation resources. Findings highlight the complex social system that influences adolescent e-cigarette use and have important implications for school and community responses. Strategies to prevent or reduce use may include reviewing existing school tobacco policies, providing counseling and cessation resources, training staff, and increasing knowledge through public education campaigns.Dr [...].The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of vertical subsurface flow treatment wetlands (VSSF TWs) for treating rural domestic wastewater when strategies such as bed depth reduction and media change are used in combination with bottom saturation. Two treatment wetland systems were implemented normal (VF-N), with a bed depth of 1.0 m, and modified (VF-M), with a bed depth of 0.5 m and a bottom layer of natural zeolite. Schoenoplectus californicus was used as experimental plant. These two treatment systems were operated at a hydraulic loading rate of 120 mm/d in two phases. Phase I did not use bottom saturation, while Phase II involved a bottom saturation of the zeolite layer of the VF-M system. The results show that bed depth reduction did not have a significant effect (p > 0.05) in terms of organic matter, solids, and ammonium removal. Conversely, it had a significant influence (p less then 0.05) on phosphate as well as a negative effect on pathogen removal. This influence could be explained by initial media capacity for phosphorus removal and filtration importance in the case of pathogens. Partial saturation only had a positive influence on total nitrogen removal. The addition of a bottom layer of natural zeolite showed no positive effect on nutrient removal. The plant showed adaptation and positive development in both VF-N and VF-M. The water balance showed that water loss was not influenced by bed depth reduction. Therefore, according to the previous results, a combination of the proposal modifications to VSSF TWs can be introduced for treating rural domestic wastewater.SARS CoV-2 pandemic is still considered a global health disaster, and newly emerged variants keep growing. selleck A number of promising vaccines have been recently developed as a protective measure; however, cost-effective treatments are also of great importance to support this critical situation. Previously, betulinic acid has shown promising antiviral activity against SARS CoV via targeting its main protease. Herein, we investigated the inhibitory potential of this compound together with three other triterpene congeners (i.e., ursolic acid, maslinic acid, and betulin) derived from olive leaves against the viral main protease (Mpro) of the currently widespread SARS CoV-2. Interestingly, betulinic, ursolic, and maslinic acids showed significant inhibitory activity (IC50 = 3.22-14.55 µM), while betulin was far less active (IC50 = 89.67 µM). A comprehensive in-silico analysis (i.e., ensemble docking, molecular dynamic simulation, and binding-free energy calculation) was then performed to describe the binding mode of these compounds with the enzyme catalytic active site and determine the main essential structural features required for their inhibitory activity.