Nature Communications
An open access, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, health, physical, chemical and Earth sciences.
Magical hydrogel for rapid hemostasis
Despite the improvement in trauma management and operative procedures, traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta and cardiovascular penetrating injuries continue to be a source of significant mortality1. Currently, surgical suture is the only clinical method for aortic rupture and heart wound sealing but this is not feasible outside surgical units and not attempted in most emergency situations2. Though many experimental chemical agents have been tested for rapid wound sealing, such as fibrin glue, gelatin and collagen3-4. However, none of these materials are suitable for aortic and heart trauma hemostasis and sealing because of their slow hemostatic performance, poor wet tissue surface adhesion and weak or inflexible bonding mechanics.
Unconventional transmission mode of the delta virus
The origin of hepatitis D virus (HDV) is currently unknown. HDV is described as an infectious agent that depends on hepatitis B virus (HBV) for envelopment and transmission of its ribonucleoprotein (RNP); yet, as shown in this study, HBV-unrelated viruses, including hepacivirus and flaviviruses, are also able to propagate HDV in vitro and in humanized mice.
