Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Outcomes of Ahmed Glaucoma Valve Surgery in a Scottish Cohort of Patients With Refractory Glaucoma

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety profile of the Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation in cases of refractory glaucoma. Methods We conducted a retrospective audit of patients that underwent AGV implantation between 2006 and 2017 by two glaucoma surgeons in a tertiary glaucoma centre (Glasgow, UK). Primary outcome measures included the post-operative intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications, best-corrected visual acuity, complications, re-operation rates, and failure (defined as IOP > 21 mmHg or not reduced by 20% from baseline, IOP ≤ 5 mmHg, reoperation for glaucoma, removal of implant, or loss of light perception) at pre-defined time points (years 1 to 8). Results A total of 111 eyes of 94 patients were identified with a mean follow-up of 48.5 months (SD: 31.5); 60.3% of eyes had undergone at least one previous glaucoma surgery. Mean presenting IOP was 31.7 mmHg (SD: 11.4), and it reduced to 13.9 mmHg (SD: 4.2) in year 5 and 16.3 mmHg in year 8 (p<0.05). The number of glaucoma medications reduced from 3.8 (SD: 1.4) to 2.4 (SD: 1.4) and 2.6 (SD: 1.4) in the above time points (p<0.05 except year 8). The five-year success rate was 65.2%, and the five-year reoperation rate was 37% excluding cataract surgery. The most common early complications were hyphaema (12.6%) and transient hypotony (8.1%), whereas the most common late complication was an encapsulated bleb (15.1%). Conclusions AGV implantation is an effective procedure for controlling IOP in the long term in cases of refractory glaucoma.
The Colonization of Rumen Microbiota and Intervention in Pre-Weaned Ruminants

Simple Summary In pre-weaned ruminants, the colonization of rumen microbiota is crucial for rumen development and host metabolism. Hence, understanding the colonization process of the rumen microbiota in neonatal ruminants and the factors that affect it may have a positive impact on host health and growth. Rumen microbiota colonizes, and are rapidly established, after birth and constantly interacts with the host. The developing microbial community is more malleable and this may provide an opportunity for nutritional interventions to improve rumen fermentation and increase animal productivity. This paper reviews the latest advances in the colonization of rumen microbiota while providing insights into the most suitable time for manipulating rumen microbial colonization in early life. Furthermore, this manuscript also presents a number of potential factors that influence the establishment of rumen microbiota in early life to optimally enhance rumen development. Abstract In pre-weaned ruminants, the microbiota colonizes rapidly in the rumen after birth and constantly interacts with the host to sustain health and metabolism. The developing microbial community is more malleable, so its manipulation may improve ruminant health and productivity as well as may have long-term effects on ruminants. Hence, understanding the process of rumen microbiota establishment is helpful for nutritional interventions of rumen microbiota in pre-weaned ruminants. This paper reviews the latest advances in the colonization of rumen microbiota while providing insights into the most suitable time for manipulating rumen microbial colonization in early life. In addition, different factors that affect rumen microbiota establishment during the pre-weaned ruminants are discussed in the current manuscript. The purpose of this review is to aid in the development of guidelines for manipulating rumen microbiota to improve animal productivity and health.
Enhancing the Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Wound Healing Effects of Melaleuca alternifolia Oil by Microencapsulating It in Chitosan-Sodium Alginate Microspheres

In this study, antibacterial and antioxidant molecules-rich Melaleuca alternifolia oil (tea tree oil (TTO)) loaded chitosan (CS) based nanoemulsions (NEMs) were prepared and encapsulated by sodium alginate (SA) microsphere for antibacterial wound dressing. CS-TTO NEMs were prepared by oil-in-water emulsion technique, and the nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) confirmed that the CS-TTO NEMs had an average particle size of 89.5 nm. Further, the SA-CS-TTO microsphere was confirmed through SEM analysis with an average particle size of 0.76 ± 0.10 µm. The existence of TTO in CS NEMs and SA encapsulation was evidenced through FTIR analysis. The XRD spectrum proved the load of TTO and SA encapsulation with CS significantly decreased the crystalline properties of the CS-TTO and SA-CS-TTO microsphere. The stability of TTO was increased by the copolymer complex, as confirmed through thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Furthermore, TTO was released from the CS–SA complex in a sustained manner and significantly inhibited the bacterial pathogens observed under confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In addition, CS-TTO (100 µg/mL) showed antioxidant potential (>80%), thereby increasing the DPPH and ABTS free radicals scavenging ability of SA-CS-TTO microspheres. Moreover, CS and SA-CS-TTO microsphere exhibited negligible cytotoxicity and augmented the NIH3T3 cell proliferation confirmed in the in vitro scratch assay. This study concluded that the SA-CS-TTO microsphere could be an antibacterial and antioxidant wound dressing.
An immersed boundary method for unstructured meshes in depth averaged shallow water models

The representation of geometries as buildings, flood barriers or dikes in free surface flow models implies tedious and time‐consuming operations in order to define accurately the shape of these objects when using a body fitted numerical mesh. The immersed boundary method is an alternative way to define solid bodies inside the computational domain without the need of fitting the mesh boundaries to the shape of the object. In the direct forcing immersed boundary method, a solid body is represented by a grid of Lagrangian markers, which define its shape and which are independent from the fluid Eulerian mesh. This paper presents a new implementation of the immersed boundary method in an unstructured finite volume solver for the 2D shallow water equations. Moving least‐squares is used to transmit information between the grid of Lagrangian markers and the fluid Eulerian mesh. The performance of the proposed implementation is analysed in three test cases involving different flow conditions: the flow around a spur dike, a dam break flow with an isolated obstacle and the flow around an array of obstacles. A very good agreement between the classic body fitted approach and the immersed boundary method was found. The differences between the results obtained with both methods are less relevant than the errors because of the intrinsic shallow water assumptions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Narrative review of current neuromodulation modalities for spinal cord injury

Neuromodulation is a developing field of medicine that includes a vast array of minimally invasive and non-invasive therapies including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), peripheral nerve stimulation, and spinal cord stimulation (SCS). Although the current literature surrounding the use of neuromodulation in managing chronic pain is abundant, there is an insufficient amount of evidence specifically regarding neuromodulation in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Given the pain and functional deficits that these patients face, that are not amenable to other forms conservative therapy, the purpose of this narrative review is to examine and assess the use of various neuromodulation modalities to manage pain and restore function in the SCI population. Currently, high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (HF-SCS) and burst spinal cord stimulation (B-SCS) have been shown to have the most promising effect in improving pain intensity and frequency. Additionally, dorsal root ganglion stimulation (DRG-S) and TMS have been shown to effectively increase motor responses and improve limb strength. Although these modalities carry the potential to enhance overall functionality and improve a patient's degree of disability, there is a lack of long-term, randomized-controlled trials in the current space. Additional research is warranted to further support the clinical use of these emerging modalities to provide improved pain management, increased level of function, and ultimately an overall better quality of life in the SCI population.
Proton flow in the Martian magnetosheath

The Automatic Space Plasma Experiment with a Rotating Analyzer (ASPERA) measurements on board the Phobos 2 spacecraft gave, for the first time, a three-dimensional (3-D) picture of the proton flow around Mars. The measurements from the circular orbits of Phobos 2 are well suited to study the bow shock at the terminator region, the nightside magnetosheath, and the tail region. Moreover, measurements from the elliptical orbits offer dayside magnetosheath data. In this work, all circular orbits (11) where there was enough information for 3-D velocity calculations are analysed. The solar wind deflection at the bow shock and the disappearance of the flow near the optical shadow of Mars are found to be typical features on all circular orbits. A dawn-dusk asymmetry is detected in many cases as well. When the results are compared to a gasdynamic model, the locations of the observed boundaries and the general behavior of the flow are found to be quite consistent with the model. The region where proton particle flux decreases significantly, referred to as a magnetopause near the optical shadow of Mars, was typically found near the magnetic field maximum. The magnetopause was thus inside the so-called magnetic tail boundary, which is defined to be at the broad magnetic minimum between the bow shock and the central current sheet. The magnetic tail boundary may be related to the O+ pick-up ions because the mass loading boundary also lies between the shock and the magnetopause. Because the proton flow may behave differently in the dayside than in the nightside magnetosheath, the 3-D velocities are calculated on two elliptical orbits as well. However, in these cases the nature of the flow is not possible to determine as reliably as near the terminator.
Nodal bubble-tower solutions to radial elliptic problems near criticality

We describe as $\varepsilon \to 0$ radially symmetric sign-changing solutions to the problem $ -\Delta u =|u|^{\frac 4{N-2} -\varepsilon} u \quad \text{in } B $ where $B$ is the unit ball in $\R^N$, $N\ge 3$, under zero Dirichlet boundary conditions. We construct radial solutions with $k$ nodal regions which resemble a superposition of "bubbles'' of different signs and blow-up orders, concentrating around the origin. A dual phenomenon is described for the slightly supercritical problem $ -\Delta u =|u|^{\frac 4{N-2} +\varepsilon} u \quad \text{in } \R^N \setminus B $ under Dirichlet and fast vanishing-at-infinity conditions.
Novel ACE2 fusion protein with adapting activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants in vitro

Despite the successful development of vaccines and neutralizing antibodies to limit the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerging variants prolong the pandemic and emphasize the persistent need to develop effective antiviral treatment regimens. Recombinant antibodies directed to the original SARS-CoV-2 have been successfully used to treat established viral disease. However, emerging viral variants escape the recognition by those antibodies. Here we report the engineering of an optimized ACE2 fusion protein, designated ACE2-M, which comprises a human IgG1 Fc domain with abrogated Fc-receptor binding linked to a catalytically-inactive ACE2 extracellular domain that displays increased apparent affinity to the B.1 spike protein. The affinity and neutralization capacity of ACE2-M is unaffected or even enhanced by mutations present in the spike protein of viral variants. In contrast, a recombinant neutralizing reference antibody, as well as antibodies present in the sera of vaccinated individuals, lose activity against such variants. With its potential to resist viral immune escape ACE2-M appears to be particularly valuable in the context of pandemic preparedness towards newly emerging coronaviruses.
The Influence of Bacteria-Inoculated Mineral Fertilizer on the Productivity and Profitability of Spring Barley Cultivation

The heavy use of mineral fertilizers causes imbalances in the biological processes that take place in soil. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more effective fertilizers or fertilizer complexes that ensure agricultural productivity and soil conservation. There is currently a lack of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of biologically enriched, complex mineral fertilizers for spring barley fertilization. The hypothesis of this study was that bacteria-enriched (Paenibacillus azotofixans, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus mucilaginosus, and Bacillus mycoides), complex mineral fertilizers (N5P20.5K36) have significant impacts on the yield and potential for economic use of spring barley. Experimental studies were carried out for three years (2020–2022) with sandy loam soil in southern Lithuania. Four different spring barley fertilization scenarios (SCs) were investigated. In SC-1 (control), complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36) was not applied. In the other SCs, spring barley was sown with a drill and fertilizers were incorporated locally during the sowing operation: fertilization scenario SC-2 used 300 kg ha−1, SC-3 used 150 kg ha−1 preceded by a bacteria-inoculated complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36), and SC-4 used 300 kg ha−1 with the same bacterial complex. The results showed that the bacterial inoculant increased the efficiency of the mineral fertilizer and had an effect on plant growth in barley. For three consecutive years in the same plots, the bacterial inoculant showed significant positive effects on grain yield (changes of 8.1% in 2020, 6.8% in 2021, and 17.3% in 2022 between SC-2 and SC-4). Comparing the several different fertilizer scenarios from an economic point of view, it was observed that the highest profit per hectare was obtained with SC-4 in all three years of the study. Comparing SC-4 and SC-2, an increase of 13.7% was observed in 2020, followed by 9.1% and 41.9% in 2021 and in 2022, respectively. This study will be useful for farmers, biological inoculant manufacturers, and scientists researching the effectiveness of biological inoculants for growing agricultural crops. We found that it is possible to increase the yield of barley (7–17%) using the same rate of mineral fertilization by enriching it with bacterial inoculants. Further studies should be conducted to determine the effects of the bacterial inoculant on crop yield and soil over a period longer than 3 years.
Facile Preparation of Samarium Carbonate-Polymethacrylate Microspheres as a Neutron-Activatable Radioembolic Agent for Hepatic Radioembolization

Radioembolization shows great potential as a treatment for intermediate- and advanced-stage liver cancer. However, the choices of radioembolic agents are currently limited, and hence the treatment is relatively costly compared to other approaches. In this study, a facile preparation method was developed to produce samarium carbonate-polymethacrylate [152Sm2(CO3)3-PMA] microspheres as neutron activatable radioembolic microspheres for hepatic radioembolization. The developed microspheres emits both therapeutic beta and diagnostic gamma radiations for post-procedural imaging. The 152Sm2(CO3)3-PMA microspheres were produced from commercially available PMA microspheres through the in situ formation of 152Sm2(CO3)3 within the pores of the PMA microspheres. Physicochemical characterization, gamma spectrometry and radionuclide retention assay were performed to evaluate the performance and stability of the developed microspheres. The mean diameter of the developed microspheres was determined as 29.30 ± 0.18 µm. The scanning electron microscopic images show that the spherical and smooth morphology of the microspheres remained after neutron activation. The 153Sm was successful incorporated into the microspheres with no elemental and radionuclide impurities produced after neutron activation, as indicated by the energy dispersive X-ray analysis and gamma spectrometry. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that there was no alteration to the chemical groups of the microspheres after neutron activation. After 18 h of neutron activation, the microspheres produced an activity of 4.40 ± 0.08 GBq.g−1. The retention of 153Sm on the microspheres was greatly improved to greater than 98% over 120 h when compared to conventionally radiolabeling method at ~85%. The 153Sm2(CO3)3-PMA microspheres achieved suitable physicochemical properties as theragnostic agent for hepatic radioembolization and demonstrated high radionuclide purity and 153Sm retention efficiency in human blood plasma.
A novel conditioning regimen of chidamide, cladribine, gemcitabine, and busulfan in the autologous stem cell transplantation of aggressive T-cell lymphoma

Background The prognosis of patients with peripheral T-cell (PTCL) or lymphoblastic T-cell lymphoma (T-LBL) remains poor under current conditioning regimens before receiving autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Methods Patients with PTCL or T-LBL were enrolled to receive ASCT using the conditioning regimen of chidamide, cladribine, gemcitabine, and busulfan (ChiCGB). Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) was used to evaluate the response to ASCT. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were employed to assess the patient outcome, and adverse events were used to assess the regimen’s safety. The survival curve was estimated via the Kaplan-Meier method. Results Twenty-five PTCL and 11 T-LBL patients were recruited. The median time to neutrophile and platelet engraftments was 10 days (8–13 days) and 13 days (9–31 days), respectively. The 3-year PFS and OS were 81.3 ± 7.2% and 88.5 ± 5.4% for all patients; 92.0 ± 5.4% and 81.2 ± 8.8% for PTCL patients; and both 81.8 ± 11.6% for T-LBL patients, respectively. The 3-year PFS and OS were both 92.9 ± 4.9% for patients with complete response (CR) but 50.0 ± 17.7% and 75.0 ± 15.3% for patients with non-CR, respectively. Infection was the most common non-hematological toxicity, and all toxicities were mild and controllable. Conclusions ChiCGB was a potentially effective and well-tolerated conditioning regimen to improve the prognosis of patients with aggressive T-cell lymphoma. Future randomized controlled trials are needed to assess ChiCGB as a conditioning regimen for ASCT.
Recent Preclinical and Clinical Progress in Liposomal Doxorubicin

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent anti-cancer agent that has garnered great interest in research due to its high efficacy despite dose-limiting toxicities. Several strategies have been exploited to enhance the efficacy and safety profile of DOX. Liposomes are the most established approach. Despite the improvement in safety properties of liposomal encapsulated DOX (in Doxil and Myocet), the efficacy is not superior to conventional DOX. Functionalized (targeted) liposomes present a more effective system to deliver DOX to the tumor. Moreover, encapsulation of DOX in pH-sensitive liposomes (PSLs) or thermo-sensitive liposomes (TSLs) combined with local heating has improved DOX accumulation in the tumor. Lyso-thermosensitive liposomal DOX (LTLD), MM-302, and C225-immunoliposomal(IL)-DOX have reached clinical trials. Further functionalized PEGylated liposomal DOX (PLD), TSLs, and PSLs have been developed and evaluated in preclinical models. Most of these formulations improved the anti-tumor activity compared to the currently available liposomal DOX. However, the fast clearance, the optimization of ligand density, stability, and release rate need more investigations. Therefore, we reviewed the latest approaches applied to deliver DOX more efficiently to the tumor, preserving the benefits obtained from FDA-approved liposomes.
Privacy Threat MOdeling Language

Online Social Networks (OSNs) are becoming pervasive in today’s world. Millions of people worldwide are involved in different forms of online networking. However, this ease of use of OSNs comes with a cost in terms of privacy. Users of OSNs become victims of identity theft, cyberstalking, and information leakage, which are real threats to privacy. Consequently, new solutions need to be developed for addressing the threat scenarios to which a user is potentially exposed. In this sense, this paper presents PTMOL (Privacy Threat MOdeling Language) as an approach for modeling privacy threats in an OSN domain. The proposed language is related to the attempt to mitigate privacy threats at the design level, thus promoting concern about threats in the stages preceding the development of OSNs. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the use of PTMOL at the design stages, which provided insights into the correctness, completeness, ease of use, usefulness, user satisfaction, and feasibility of the proposal. The results indicated that PTMOL can be incorporated into software development during the design phase. Via the language, we expect to support designers in making more pre-emptive decisions about user privacy risk, and help them to introduce privacy early in the development cycle of OSNs.