Impact of nucleation temperature and hydroxyethyl starch on ice crystal growth: Implications for cell viability during extreme temperature fluctuations.

Extreme temperature fluctuations during routine handling and shipping of cryopreserved cell products significantly compromise product quality in ways that extend beyond the duration and peak temperature of the fluctuation. The type of cryoprotectant used and the initial ice nucleation temperature influence ice crystal growth during rewarming events, in turn impacting cell survival. Using a cryomicroscope together with temperature profiles recorded in cord-blood units, ice crystal growth was tracked through five transient-warming events (TWEs) that peaked at -30 °C, -20 °C, or -10 °C.

Understanding cervical cancer awareness in hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study involving women and household decisionmakers.

Introduction: In Bangladesh, the uptake of cervical cancer screening is low. Lack of knowledge and understanding of symptoms and risk factors contributes to low screening uptake. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms and to measure the association with socio-demographic characteristics among women and household decisionmakers living in hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh.

Sub-inhibitory antibiotic treatment selects for enhanced metabolic efficiency.

Bacterial growth and metabolic rates are often closely related. However, under antibiotic selection, a paradox in this relationship arises: antibiotic efficacy decreases when bacteria are metabolically dormant, yet antibiotics select for resistant cells that grow fastest during treatment. That is, antibiotic selection counterintuitively favors bacteria with fast growth but slow metabolism.

Evaluation of Ice Recrystallization Inhibition of Ice-Binding Proteins by Monitoring Specific Ice Crystals.

Ice recrystallization is a phenomenon in which large ice crystals are formed at the expense of smaller ones. The resultant large ice crystals degrade the quality of frozen foods and cryopreserved biomaterials. To minimize freeze damage by controlling the ice recrystallization process, various compounds have been developed, including biological antifreezes, synthetic peptides, glycopeptides, polymers, and small molecules.

Ice recrystallization is strongly inhibited when antifreeze proteins bind to multiple ice planes.

Ice recrystallization is a phenomenon observed as the increase in ice crystal size within an already frozen material. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs), a class of proteins capable of arresting ice crystal growth, are known to inhibit this phenomenon even at sub milli-molar concentrations. A tremendous range in the possible applications of AFPs is hence expected in both medical and industrial fields, while a key determinant of the ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) is hardly understood.