Providers should be aware of the signs and symptoms of ICP and provide accurate diagnosis and management of affected women. Women with a diagnosis of ICP should be treated with ursodeoxycholic acid to improve maternal symptoms. Given the increased risk of stillbirth in the setting of ICP, delivery may be considered at 37 weeks' gestation.
In this article, we outline the current state of knowledge about the balance between collagen production and degradation in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The dysregulated action of metalloproteinases implicated in IPF may play a central role in IPF pathogenesis. Inhibiting metalloproteinases in IPF may, therefore, have therapeutic potential, but our knowledge of their pathophysiological role is held back by limited animal models and the lack of specific inhibitors.
Capillary rheometers have been widely used in the study of the rheological behavior of thermoplastics but their application to rubber has so far been limited. An investigation was therefore carried out to determine the effect of mastication and temperature on the rheological properties of natural rubber using a capillary rheometer. The flow of the rubber in the barrel of the capillary rheometer was observed at various test conditions such as die geometry, piston speed, and test temperature using layers of pigmented rubber compound, this involving the use of a split barrel system. It was found that the flow patterns in the barrel of the capillary rheometer used were very complex and were a function of piston displacement.
The circadian clock is an autonomous molecular feedback loop inside almost every cell in the body. We have shown that the mammary epithelial circadian clock is regulated by the cellular microenvironment. Moreover, a stiff extracellular matrix dampens the oscillations of the epithelial molecular clock. Here, we extend this analysis to other tissues and cell types, and identify an inverse relationship between circadian clocks in epithelia and fibroblasts. Epithelial cells from mammary gland, lung and skin have significantly stronger oscillations of clock genes in soft 3D microenvironments, compared to stiff 2D environments. Fibroblasts isolated from the same tissues show the opposite response, exhibiting stronger oscillations and more prolonged rhythmicity in stiff microenvironments. RNA analysis identified that a subset of mammary epithelial clock genes, and their regulators, are upregulated in 3D microenvironments in soft compared to stiff gels. Furthermore, the same genes are inversely regulated in fibroblasts isolated from the same tissues. Thus, our data reveal for the first time an intrinsic difference in the regulation of circadian genes in epithelia and fibroblasts.
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