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To obtain fundamental information for designing micro-fiber kitchen wiping cloth with a superior liquid wiping performance, the authors studied the liquid wiping performance of three different prototypes of micro-fiber kitchen wiping cloth. Each cloth was tested against the liquid samples of water, soy sauce and Worcester sauce. Each cloth differed in fiber diameter, yarn density and thickness, etc. A cotton kitchen cloth on the market in Japan was used as a control sample. A vertical wiping method and a horizontal wiping method were used to test the cloth against the liquid samples. The results showed that each micro-fiber cloth easily absorbed water and soy sauce, especially along the yarn axes and when both the vertical and horizontal wiping methods were used. However, when each type of micro-fiber cloth' was tested against Worcester sauce sample, the sauce was not easily absorbed and most of sauce was left smeared on the surface. The horizontal wiping method was particularly unsuitable for wiping Worcester sauce. The authors suggested that design of micro-fiber kitchen wiping cloth should be guided by an adequate parameters of thickness and surface roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how changes in the manufacture of paper affected its ageing behavior. By the 15th century paper consisted primarily of beaten, soaked and macerated linen fibers. Cotton fibers were also becoming an important component. Other materials have been used but in general the best paper was made from linen and cotton rag fibers. Paper was often produced near mountain streams that provided the clean water needed for the process. By the 19th century the demand for paper was such that other sources of cellulose fibers, such as straw and grasses, were being explored.

Regeneration by chronically injured supraspinal neurons is enhanced by treatment of a spinal cord lesion site with a variety of neurotrophic and growth factors. The removal of scar tissue, with subsequent reinjury of the spinal cord, is necessary for injured axons to access tissue transplants placed into the lesion to support axon regrowth. The present study examined chronically injured and reinjured rubrospinal tract (RST) neurons to determine if changes in gene expression could explain the failure of these neurons to regenerate without exogenous trophic factor support. Adult female rats were subjected to a right full hemisection lesion via aspiration of the cervical level 3 spinal cord. Using radioactive cDNA probes and in situ hybridization, RST neurons in the contralateral red nucleus were examined for changes in mRNA levels of βII-tubulin and GAP 43 in an acute injury period (6 h–3 days), a chronic injury period (28 days after spinal cord injury (SCI)) and following a second lesion of the chronic injury site (6 h–7 days). Based upon the analysis of gene expression in single cells, GAP-43 mRNA levels were increased as early as 1 day following the initial SCI, but were no different than uninjured control levels at 28 days postoperative (dpo). The response to relesion was more rapid and higher than that detected after the initial injury with a significant increase in GAP 43 mRNA at 6 h that was maintained for at least 7 days. βII-tubulin mRNA levels remained unchanged until 3 days after an acute injury followed by a decrease in expression to 30% below uninjured control values at 28 dpo. The expression of βII-tubulin mRNA was significantly higher within 6 h after a second injury, where it remained stable for 5 days before a second increase occurred at 7 days after reinjury of the spinal cord. Thus, neurons in a chronic injury state retain the ability to respond to a traumatic injury and, in fact, neurons subjected to a second injury exhibit a significantly heightened expression of regeneration-associated genes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A key component in the regulation of V(D)J recombination is control of the accessibility of RAG proteins to recombination signal sequences (RSS). Nucleosomes are known to inhibit this accessibility. We show here that the signal sequence itself represses accessibility by causing nucleosome positioning over the RSS. This positioning is mediated, in vitro and in vivo, by the conserved nonamer of the RSS. Consistent with this strong positioning, nucleosomes at RSSs are resistant to remodelling by nucleosome sliding. In vivo we find that consensus RSSs are preferentially protected, whereas those that lack a consensus nonamer, including some cryptic RSSs, fail to position nucleosomes. Decreased protection of these non-consensus RSSs correlates with their increased use in recombination assays. We therefore suggest that nucleosome positioning by RSSs provides a previously unanticipated level of protection and regulation of V(D)J recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that surveyed reasons for tying rags on sacred trees. Transfer of an illness to the tree; Pacification of the tree spirit; Removal of rags from the tree for curing purposes;

The realization of sound lengths, short lengths, seconds, etc., in the cutting and packing of fabrics in the warehouse depends on several factors, such as the incidence of unpassable defects, the method of cutting, the specification of sound pieces, and the length doffed at the loom. Formulae derived to determine the percentage realization of sound lengths, short lengths, seconds, fents, and rags under different sets of conditions are presented. The formulae were found to be sufficiently accurate for use in practice by verification on a few samples. A case study involving the application of the formulae is given as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating lesion to the spinal cord, which determines the interruption of ascending/descending axonal tracts, the loss of supraspinal control of sensory-motor functions below the injured site, and severe autonomic dysfunctions, dramatically impacting the quality of life of the patients. After the acute inflammatory phase, the progressive formation of the astrocytic glial scar characterizes the acute-chronic phase: such scar represents one of the main obstacles to the axonal regeneration that, as known, is very limited in the central nervous system (CNS). Unfortunately, a cure for SCI is still lacking: the current clinical approaches are mainly based on early vertebral column stabilization, anti-inflammatory drug administration, and rehabilitation programs. However, new experimental therapeutic strategies are under investigation, one of which is to stimulate axonal regrowth and bypass the glial scar. One major issue in axonal regrowth consists of the different genetic programs, which characterize axonal development and maturation. Here, we will review the main hurdles that in adulthood limit axonal regeneration after SCI, describing the key genes, transcription factors, and miRNAs involved in these processes (seen their reciprocal influencing action), with particular attention to corticospinal motor neurons located in the sensory-motor cortex and subjected to axotomy in case of SCI. We will highlight the functional complexity of the neural regeneration programs. We will also discuss if specific axon growth programs, that undergo a physiological downregulation during CNS development, could be reactivated after a spinal cord trauma to sustain regrowth, representing a new potential therapeutic approach., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Boido and Vercelli.)

A de novo missense variant in Rag GTPase protein C (RagCS75Y) was recently identified in a syndromic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patient. However, its pathogenicity and the related therapeutic strategy remain unclear. We generated a zebrafish RragcS56Y (corresponding to human RagCS75Y) knock-in (KI) line via TALEN technology. The KI fish manifested cardiomyopathy-like phenotypes and poor survival. Overexpression of RagCS75Y via adenovirus infection also led to increased cell size and fetal gene reprogramming in neonatal rat ventricle cardiomyocytes (NRVCMs), indicating a conserved mechanism. Further characterization identified aberrant mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and transcription factor EB (TFEB) signaling, as well as metabolic abnormalities including dysregulated autophagy. However, mTOR inhibition failed to ameliorate cardiac phenotypes in the RagCS75Y cardiomyopathy models, concomitant with a failure to promote TFEB nuclear translocation. This observation was at least partially explained by increased and mTOR-independent physical interaction between RagCS75Y and TFEB in the cytosol. Importantly, TFEB overexpression resulted in more nuclear TFEB and rescued cardiomyopathy phenotypes. These findings suggest that S75Y is a pathogenic gain-of-function mutation in RagC that leads to cardiomyopathy. A primary pathological step of RagCS75Y cardiomyopathy is defective mTOR–TFEB signaling, which can be corrected by TFEB overexpression, but not mTOR inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1870 17 women who were engaged with shredding and sorting rags in a Lower-Austrian papermill fell ill with a highly febrile lung affection; nine of them died. Hitherto this illness was not recognised as a separate disease, the "Ragsorters' Disease". The rags were used garments and household textiles collected mostly in eastern countries as well as used contaminated bandages of hospitals. The manipulation with the rags produced much dust which was inhaled by the women, provoking some different illnesses, including the Ragsorters' Disease. Mostly without prodromes a heavy lobar or lobular pneumonia with atelectasis and oedematous softenings of the lung tissue. Histologically impressive were masses of bacteria on and between the epithelia cells and inside the walls of the alveoli. The bacteria were diagnosed as Bac. anthracis.The Ragsorters' Disease could be restrained by technical improvements and disinfection. Finally, it was extinguished by the replacement of rags by woodpulp.

In medieval and early modern Europe, paper for writing and printing was made from recycled linen rags. Before they could be made into paper, rags first had to be acquired by individuals. Ragmen, rag‐women, ragpickers, rag‐rakers, rag‐gatherers, and rag‐collectors collected rags from door‐to‐door and picked them out of refuse piles, and eventually conveyed them to papermakers. This article begins with a short description of early modern papermaking in Europe and then shifts to its main subject: ragpickers and their rags in early modern England as understudied historical subjects and as figures of metaphor in the period's discourse. As an underclass, then as now, ragpickers have not been the subject of sustained historical attention. Although ragpickers' work went unnoticed or unacknowledged by some early modern writers, other writers invoked ragpickers and their rags to express ideas about literary production, class, filth, disease, and the relationship between London and the provinces. Studies of ragpickers and rags therefore intersect with recent research on labor in rural and urban England in the early modern period; on waste objects; and on women in the early modern book trade. Because Western papermaking relied on rags for over five hundred years, and because rags and paper continually traversed geographical boundaries over that period, studies of the rag‐trade transcend traditional scholarly boundaries of nation and periodization. Therefore, while this article focuses on early modern England, it also offers possible directions for transnational, transhistorical, and comparative approaches to rags and ragpickers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for novel anticancer small molecules and strategies remains a challenge. Our previous studies have identified TXA1 (1-{[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]amino}-4-propoxy-9H- thioxanthen-9-one) as a hit compound, with in vitro antitumor potential by modulating autophagy and apoptosis in human tumor cell lines. In the present study, the mechanism of action and antitumor potential of the soluble salt of this molecule (TXA1.HCl) was further investigated using in vitro and mouse xenograft tumor models of NSCLC. Our results showed that TXA1.HCl affected steroid biosynthesis, increased RagD expression, and caused abnormal cellular cholesterol localization. In addition, TXA1.HCl treatment presented no toxicity to nude mice and significantly reduced the growth of human NSCLC cells xenografts in mice. Overall, this work provides new insights into the mechanism of action of TXA1, which may be relevant for the development of anticancer therapeutic strategies, which target cholesterol transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thames Water needed to improve efficiency and reduce the downtime at one of its sewage treatment works which was experiencing blocked pumps caused by the high rag content in the primary sludge tanks. The specification of a ‘Muncher’ from Mono Pumps helped achieve these goals and ensured a safe and easy installation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]