Neural network analysis identifies scaffold properties necessary for in vitro chondrogenesis in elastin-like polypeptide biopolymer scaffolds.

The successful design of biomaterial scaffolds for articular cartilage tissue engineering requires an understanding of the impact of combinations of material formulation parameters on diverse and competing functional outcomes of biomaterial performance. This study sought to explore the use of a type of unsupervised artificial network, a self-organizing map, to identify relationships between scaffold formulation parameters (crosslink density, molecular weight, and concentration) and 11 such outcomes (including mechanical properties, matrix accumulation, metabolite usage and production, and histological appearance) for scaffolds formed from crosslinked elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) hydrogels. The artificial neural network recognized patterns in functional outcomes and provided a set of relationships between ELP formulation parameters and measured outcomes. Mapping resulted in the best mean separation amongst neurons for mechanical properties and pointed to crosslink density as the strongest predictor of most outcomes, followed by ELP concentration. The map also grouped formulations together that simultaneously resulted in the highest values for matrix production, greatest changes in metabolite consumption or production, and highest histological scores, indicating that the network was able to recognize patterns amongst diverse measurement outcomes. These results demonstrated the utility of artificial neural network tools for recognizing relationships in systems with competing parameters, toward the goal of optimizing and accelerating the design of biomaterial scaffolds for articular cartilage tissue engineering.

Progress in intra-articular therapy.

Diarthrodial joints are well suited to intra-articular injection, and the local delivery of therapeutics in this fashion brings several potential advantages to the treatment of a wide range of arthropathies. Possible benefits over systemic delivery include increased bioavailability, reduced systemic exposure, fewer adverse events, and lower total drug costs. Nevertheless, intra-articular therapy is challenging because of the rapid egress of injected materials from the joint space; this elimination is true of both small molecules, which exit via synovial capillaries, and of macromolecules, which are cleared by the lymphatic system. In general, soluble materials have an intra-articular dwell time measured only in hours. Corticosteroids and hyaluronate preparations constitute the mainstay of FDA-approved intra-articular therapeutics. Recombinant proteins, autologous blood products and analgesics have also found clinical use via intra-articular delivery. Several alternative approaches, such as local delivery of cell and gene therapy, as well as the use of microparticles, liposomes, and modified drugs, are in various stages of preclinical development.

Participant, rater, and computer measures of coherence in posttraumatic stress disorder.

We examined the coherence of trauma memories in a trauma-exposed community sample of 30 adults with and 30 without posttraumatic stress disorder. The groups had similar categories of traumas and were matched on multiple factors that could affect the coherence of memories. We compared the transcribed oral trauma memories of participants with their most important and most positive memories. A comprehensive set of 28 measures of coherence including 3 ratings by the participants, 7 ratings by outside raters, and 18 computer-scored measures, provided a variety of approaches to defining and measuring coherence. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated differences in coherence among the trauma, important, and positive memories, but not between the diagnostic groups or their interaction with these memory types. Most differences were small in magnitude; in some cases, the trauma memories were more, rather than less, coherent than the control memories. Where differences existed, the results agreed with the existing literature, suggesting that factors other than the incoherence of trauma memories are most likely to be central to the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder and thus its treatment.