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Apricot trees, serving as critical agricultural resources, hold a significant role within the agricultural domain. Conventional methods for detecting pests and diseases in these trees are notably labor-intensive. Many conditions affecting apricot trees manifest distinct visual symptoms that are ideally suited for precise identification and classification via deep learning techniques. Despite this, the academic realm currently lacks extensive, realistic datasets and deep learning strategies specifically crafted for apricot trees. This study introduces ATZD01, a publicly accessible dataset encompassing 11 categories of apricot tree pests and diseases, meticulously compiled under genuine field conditions. Furthermore, we introduce an innovative detection algorithm founded on convolutional neural networks, specifically devised for the management of apricot tree pests and diseases. To enhance the accuracy of detection, we have developed a novel object detection framework, APNet, alongside a dedicated module, the Adaptive Thresholding Algorithm (ATA), tailored for the detection of apricot tree afflictions. Experimental evaluations reveal that our proposed algorithm attains an accuracy rate of 87.1% on ATZD01, surpassing the performance of all other leading algorithms tested, thereby affirming the effectiveness of our dataset and model. The code and dataset will be made available at https://github.com/meanlang/ATZD01 ., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no Competing of interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Purpose: White matter (WM) abnormalities are associated with various central nervous system (CNS) disorders, and the optic nerve provides a unique opportunity to study WM pathology. Large animal models offer a more suitable platform for preclinical testing of novel therapeutic strategies for optic neuropathy due to their similarities to humans in size and relevant anatomy. Transcriptomic analyses of optic nerve tissue are essential for understanding the underlying pathological mechanisms. However, extracting high-quality RNA from the optic nerve in large animals remains challenging., Methods: We utilized in situ hybridization and single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to examine mRNA expression in WM cells and gray matter (GM) cells., Results: We discovered that mRNA expression levels in WM cells were only 15% to 66% of those in GM neurons. To overcome the low mRNA yield, we developed a specialized RNA extraction protocol for the intra-canalicular optic nerve in large animal models, achieving an RNA integrity number (RIN) of 6.8 ± 0.06. For single-cell transcriptomics (scRNA-seq), we obtained a cell density of 1.0 × 105 cells/µL, cell viability of 93% ± 1.84%, and an agglomeration rate of 5.37% ± 0.75%. This approach is also applicable for postmortem human optic nerve with a RIN of 8.3 ± 0.3 using snRNA-seq., Conclusions: We first discovered that the mRNA expression in the WM was significantly lower than that in the GM. Our RNA extraction protocol from large animal models enhances transparency and reproducibility in transcriptomic studies of optic nerve and other WM tissues.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the application value of three-dimensional (3D) visualization technology in the early surgical repair of bile duct injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC)., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 15 patients who underwent early surgical repair of bile duct injury during LC with the assistance of 3D visualization technology at the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region People's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022. Postoperative efficacy and long-term follow-up outcomes were summarized., Results: Before the repair surgery, 15 cases of bile duct injury during LC were evaluated using 3D visualization technology according to the Strasberg-Bismuth classification: 2 cases of type C, 4 of type E1, 3 of type E2, 3 of type E3, and 3 of type E4. Intraoperative findings were consistent with the 3D visualization reconstruction results, and all patients successfully underwent hepaticojejunostomy using Roux-en-Y anastomosis guided by the 3D visualization navigation. The time interval between LC and bile duct repair surgery ranged from 5 to 28 (14.2 ± 9.7) days. The surgical time was between 120 and 190 (156.40 ± 23.92) min, and estimated blood loss ranged from 80 to 250 (119.66 ± 47.60) mL. The length of hospital stay ranged from 12 to 25 days (median: 16 days). One patient experienced mild bile leakage after the operation, which healed with conservative treatment. All patients were followed up for 12-56 months (median: 34 months) without any loss to follow-up. During the follow-up period, no complications, such as anastomotic stricture or stone formation, were observed., Conclusion: The application of 3D visualization technology for preoperative evaluation and intraoperative navigation can accurately and effectively facilitate early surgical repair of bile duct injury during LC and has clinical value for promotion and application., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: This study aimed to analyze ocular characteristics in patients diagnosed with spherophakia, establish effective diagnostic criteria, and aid clinicians in prompt identification and management., Methods: A retrospective case series identified spherophakia cases through medical records and literature searches. The case group included spherophakia patients, and the control group comprised individuals with similar eye conditions. Intraocular lens calculations used the SRK-T formula, and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. Diagnostic efficacy was assessed through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis., Results: The study included 12 cases (23 eyes) from medical records and 86 patients (142 eyes) from literature sources. Characteristics of spherophakia included bilateral involvement, younger age, shallow anterior chamber depth, lens dislocation, and secondary glaucoma. A diagnostic criterion based on lens power demonstrated high sensitivity (94.3 %) and specificity (91.9 %). ROC analysis yielded area under the ROC curve (AUROC) values of 0.974 for lens power, outperforming refractive error (0.119), corneal curvature (0.465) and axial length (0.496). The lens power cutoff for diagnosing spherophakia was 31.25D., Conclusion: The study offers crucial insights into spherophakia's clinical characteristics and presents a practical diagnostic criterion using lens power, enhancing early detection and management. Further research is needed to validate and refine these findings, establishing standardized diagnostic criteria for spherophakia., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Wentao Yan reports financial support was provided by National Key R&D Program of China. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The safety of energy storage devices is increasingly crucial due to the growing requirements for application under harsh conditions. Effective methods for enhancing robustness without compromising functionality are necessary. Here we present an impact-resistant, ready-to-use supercapacitor constructed from self-healable hydrogel electrolyte-infused lattice electrodes. Three-dimensional-printed carbon-coated silicon oxycarbide current collectors provide mechanical protection, with compressive stress, Young's modulus, and energy absorption up to 70.61 MPa, 2.75 GPa, and 92.15 kJ/m 3 , respectively. Commercially viable polyaniline and self-healable polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel are used as active coatings and electrolytes. I-wrapped package structured supercapacitor electrode exhibits a static specific capacitance of 585.51 mF/cm 3 at 3 mA/cm 3 , with an energy density of 97.63 μWh/cm 3 at a power density of 0.5 mW/cm 3 . It maintains operational integrity under extreme conditions, including post-impact with energy of 0.3 J/cm 3 , dynamic loading ranging from 0 to 18.83 MPa, and self-healing after electrolyte damage, demonstrating its promise for applications in extreme environments., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Conventional implantable electronics based on von Neumann architectures encounter significant limitations in computing and processing vast biological information due to computational bottlenecks. The memristor with integrated memory-computing and low power consumption offer a promising solution to overcome the computational bottleneck and Moore's law limitations of traditional silicon-based implantable devices, making them the most promising candidates for next-generation implantable devices. In this work, a highly stable memristor with an Ag/BaTiO 3 /MnO 2 /FTO structure was fabricated, demonstrating retention characteristics exceeding 1200 cycles and endurance above 1000 s. The device successfully exhibited three-stage responses to biological signals after implantation in SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats. Importantly, the memristor perform remarkable reversibility, maintaining over 100 cycles of stable repetition even after extraction from the rat. This study provides a new perspective on the biomedical application of memristors, expanding the potential of implantable memristive devices in intelligent medical fields such as health monitoring and auxiliary diagnostics., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Isoporous block copolymer membranes are viewed as the next-generation separation membranes for their unique structures and urgent application in precise separation. However, an obvious weakness for such membranes is their poor solvent-resistance which limits their applications to aqueous solution, and isoporous membranes with superior solvent-resistance and tunable pore size have been rarely prepared before. Herein, self-supporting isoporous membranes with excellent solvent resistance are prepared by the facile yet robust hyper-crosslinking approach which is able to create a rigid network in whole membranes. The hyper-crosslinking is found to be a novel and non-destructive approach that does not change pore size and isoporous structure during the reaction, and the resulting hyper-crosslinked isoporous membranes display superior structural and separation stability to a broad range of solvents with varied polarities for months to years. More importantly, hyper-crosslinking has proved to be a universal strategy that is applicable to isoporous membranes with varied pore size and pore chemistry, offering an important opportunity to prepare solvent-resistant isoporous membranes with customizable pore size and pore functionality that are important to realize their accurate separations in organic solvents. This concept is demonstrated finally by precise and on-demand separation of nanoparticles with the prepared membranes., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

In the era of information, characterized by an exponential growth in data volume and an escalating level of data abstraction, there has been a substantial focus on brain-like chips, which are known for their robust processing power and energy-efficient operation. Memristors are widely acknowledged as the optimal electronic devices for the realization of neuromorphic computing, due to their innate ability to emulate the interconnection and information transfer processes witnessed among neurons. This review paper focuses on memristor-based neuromorphic chips, which provide an extensive description of the working principle and characteristic features of memristors, along with their applications in the realm of neuromorphic chips. Subsequently, a thorough discussion of the memristor array, which serves as the pivotal component of the neuromorphic chip, as well as an examination of the present mainstream neural networks, is delved. Furthermore, the design of the neuromorphic chip is categorized into three crucial sections, including synapse-neuron cores, networks on chip (NoC), and neural network design. Finally, the key performance metrics of the chip is highlighted, as well as the key metrics related to the memristor devices are employed to realize both the synaptic and neuronal components., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The rapid advancement of intelligent manufacturing technology has enabled electronic equipment to achieve synergistic design and programmable optimization through computer-aided engineering. Three-dimensional (3D) printing, with the unique characteristics of near-net-shape forming and mold-free fabrication, serves as an effective medium for the materialization of digital designs into usable devices. This methodology is particularly applicable to gas sensors, where performance can be collaboratively optimized by the tailored design of each internal module including composition, microstructure, and architecture. Meanwhile, diverse 3D printing technologies can realize modularized fabrication according to the application requirements. The integration of artificial intelligence software systems further facilitates the output of precise and dependable signals. Simultaneously, the self-learning capabilities of the system also promote programmable optimization for the hardware, fostering continuous improvement of gas sensors for dynamic environments. This review investigates the latest studies on 3D-printed gas sensor devices and relevant components, elucidating the technical features and advantages of different 3D printing processes. A general testing framework for the performance evaluation of customized gas sensors is proposed. Additionally, it highlights the superiority and challenges of programmable and modularized gas sensors, providing a comprehensive reference for material adjustments, structure design, and process modifications for advanced gas sensor devices.

A meta-analysis was performed to assess the benefits and safety profile of approved immune checkpoint inhibitors in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Eligible studies were searched from Cochrane, Embase, and PubMed databases based on a well-established strategy. Following the exclusion of ineligible studies, 12 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with control group, immune checkpoint inhibitors were associated with improved ORR (OR 3.03, 95% CI 2.26-4.05, P < 0.00001), SD (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.62-0.95, P = 0.02), OS (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.68-0.83, P < 0.00001), and PFS (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63-0.87, P < 0.0003). However, no significant differences were observed in DCR (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.97-1.81, P = 0.07), PD (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.67-1.21, P = 0.48), and all caused any-grade adverse events (OR 1.22, 95% CI 0.62-2.39, P = 0. 57), all caused ≥ grade 3 adverse events (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.97-1.25, P = 0.14), treatment-related any-grade adverse events (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.55-2.32, P = 0.73), and treatment-related ≥ grade 3 events (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.34-1.97, P = 0.65) between the two groups. After subgroup analysis conducted, patients in the immune checkpoint inhibitor group compared with targeted drug group showed significant improvements in OS (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.66-0.84, P < 0.00001) and PFS (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.61-0.91, P = 0.004). Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated peculiar benefits in the treatment of HCC with an acceptable safety profile. Compared to targeted drugs, immune checkpoint inhibitors still offer advantages in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, there is still considerable room for further improvement., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Visceral adipose tissue-derived serine protease inhibitor (vaspin) is an adipokine. It has been reported that decreased serum vaspin levels are significantly associated with stroke severity and prognosis., Objective: This article aims to explore the theoretical feasibility of vaspin supplementation for cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury., Methods: The I/R mouse models were constructed by the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) method, and the effects of vaspin on cerebral infarction, neurological function, angiogenesis and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress were explored. To verify the mediation of ER stress in the regulation of vaspin, human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) were subjected to ER stress agonist tunicamycin in vitro. The impacts of vaspin and tunicamycin on oxygen glucose deprivation/ recovery (OGD/R)-induced cell viability, apoptosis, and angiogenesis were examined., Results: Vaspin inhibited blood-brain barrier breakdown and infarction occurred in the brain tissue of the I/R mice. Vaspin also enhanced cerebral neovascularization and reduced the apoptosis. Additional tunicamycin increased the apoptosis of HBMECs and inhibited angiogenesis, reversing the protective effect of vaspin on cells., Conclusion: Together, this study reveals that vaspin supplementation reduces cerebral infarction and works against neurological dysfunction. It maintains the survival and angiogenesis capacity of HBMECs by inhibiting ER stress.

Retinal tears (RTs) are usually detected by B-scan ultrasound images, particularly for individuals with complex eye conditions. However, traditional manual techniques for reading ultrasound images have the potential to overlook or inaccurately diagnose conditions. Thus, the development of rapid and accurate approaches for the diagnosis of an RT is highly important and urgent. The present study introduces a novel hybrid deep-learning model called DCT-Net to enable the automatic and precise diagnosis of RTs. The implemented model utilizes a vision transformer as the backbone and feature extractor. Additionally, in order to accommodate the edge characteristics of the lesion areas, a novel module called the residual deformable convolution has been incorporated. Furthermore, normalization is employed to mitigate the issue of overfitting and, a Softmax layer has been included to achieve the final classification following the acquisition of the global and local representations. The study was conducted by using both our proprietary dataset and a publicly available dataset. In addition, interpretability of the trained model was assessed by generating attention maps using the attention rollout approach. On the private dataset, the model demonstrated a high level of performance, with an accuracy of 97.78%, precision of 97.34%, recall rate of 97.13%, and an F1 score of 0.9682. On the other hand, the model developed by using the public funds image dataset demonstrated an accuracy of 83.82%, a sensitivity of 82.69% and a specificity of 82.40%. The findings, therefore present a novel framework for the diagnosis of RTs that is characterized by a high degree of efficiency, accuracy and interpretability. Accordingly, the technology exhibits considerable promise and has the potential to serve as a reliable tool for ophthalmologists.

Balloon dilation is a commonly used assistant method in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and plays an important role during valve implantation procedure. The balloon dilation steps need to be fully considered in TAVR numerical simulations. This study aims to establish a TAVR simulation procedure with two different balloon dilation steps to analyze the impact of balloon dilation on the results of TAVR implantation. Two cases of aortic stenosis were constructed based on medical images. An implantation simulation procedure with self-expandable valve was established, and multiple models including different simulation steps such as balloon pre-dilation and balloon post-dilation were constructed to compare the different effects on vascular stress, stent morphology and paravalvular leakage. Results show that balloon pre-dilation of TAVR makes less impact on post-operative outcomes, while post-dilation can effectively improve the implantation morphology of the stent, which is beneficial to the function and durability of the valve. It can effectively improve the adhesion of the stent and reduce the paravalvular leakage volume more than 30% after implantation. However, balloon post-dilation may also lead to about 20% or more increased stress on the aorta and increase the risk of damage. The balloon dilation makes an important impact on the TAVR outcomes. Balloon dilation needs to be fully considered during pre-operative analysis to obtain a better clinical result., 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 © 2023 Li, Meng, Yan, Wang, Wei and Wang.)

The patient-specific aortic silicone model was established based on CTA data. The digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) test method in the modified ViVitro pulsatile flow system was used to investigate the aortic hemodynamic performance and flow field characteristics before and after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The results showed that the hemodynamic parameters were consistent with the clinical data, which verified the accuracy of the model. From the comparative study of preoperative and postoperative effective orifice area (0.33 cm 2 and 1.78 cm 2 ), mean pressure difference (58 mmHg and 9 mmHg), percentage of regurgitation (52% and 8%), peak flow velocity (4.60 m/s and 1.81 m/s) and flow field distribution (eccentric jet and uniform jet), the immediate efficacy after TAVR is good. From the perspective of viscous shear stress and Reynolds shear stress, the risk of hemolysis and thrombotic problems was low in preoperative and postoperative patient-specific models. This study provides a set of reliable DPIV testing methods for aortic flow field, and provides biomechanical basis for the immediate and long-term effectiveness of TAVR from the perspective of hemodynamics and flow field characteristics. It has important application value in clinical diagnosis, surgical treatment and long-term evaluation.

With the increasing awareness of ecological and environmental protection, the research on eco-friendly materials has experienced a considerable increase. The objective of our study was to explore a novel soy protein isolate (SPI) film functionalized with antioxidants extracted from Xanthoceras sorbifolia husk (XSHE) as bio-based active packaging films. The films were evaluated in light of their structure, physical machinery, and antioxidant performance using advanced characterization techniques. The FTIR and microscopy results revealed the hydrogen-bond interaction between the SPI and XSHE and their good compatibility, which contributed to the improvement in various properties of the composite films, such as tensile strength (TS), UV blocking, and the water barrier property. As the XSHE content increased to 5%, the TS of the films dramatically increased up to 7.37 MPa with 47.7% and the water vapor permeability decreased to 1.13 × 10 -10 g m m -2 s -1 Pa -1 with 22.1%. Meanwhile, the introduction of XSHE caused further improvement in the antioxidant capacity of films, and the release of active agents from films was faster and higher in 10% ethanol than it was in a 50% ethanol food simulant. Overall, SPI-based films functionalized with XSHE demonstrated promising potential applications in food packaging.

Cooking is a daily activity in every household, which consumes energy and produces pollution. Using clean gas fuels instead of traditional solid fuels will significantly reduce household air pollution. Although the use of clean-burning burners can reduce emissions, early domestic gas cookers had poor thermal performance. Currently, even small improvements in efficiency can result in significant energy savings due to the large number of domestic gas stoves in use. There has been a long history of research into the development of domestic gas stoves to improve performance and reduce energy consumption. Meanwhile, research into the use of hydrogen-enriched natural gas as a promising environmentally friendly fuel is increasing. In this paper, we perform a descriptive statistics and graphical visualization of network analysis by combining common databases with Bibliometrix. We also analyze the energy balance of domestic gas stoves and the influence of a single factor and multiple factors on stove performance. Then we provide a detailed overview of some research technologies in enhancing the thermal performance of gas stoves. We also discuss the research progress and application prospects for the use of hydrogen-enriched natural gas as a fuel in domestic gas stoves and identify areas for future research and issues that need attention., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes have a wide range of applications in forward osmosis, but tuning the water flux remains a significant challenge due to concentration polarization. The generation of nano-sized voids within the polyamide rejection layer can change the roughness of the membrane. In this experiment, the micro-nano structure of the PA rejection layer was adjusted by adding sodium bicarbonate to the aqueous phase to generate nano-bubbles, and the changes of its roughness with the addition of sodium bicarbonate were systematically demonstrated. With the enhanced nano-bubbles, more and more blade-like and band-like features appeared on the PA layer, which could effectively reduce the reverse solute flux of the PA layer and improve the salt rejection of the FO membrane. The increase in roughness raised the area of the membrane surface, which led to a larger area for concentration polarization and reduced the water flux. This experiment demonstrated the variation of roughness and water flux, providing an effective idea for the preparation of high-performance FO membranes.

Superplastic metals that exhibit exceptional ductility (>300%) are appealing for use in high-quality engineering components with complex shapes. However, the wide application of most superplastic alloys has been constrained due to their poor strength, the relatively long superplastic deformation period, and the complex and high-cost grain refinement processes. Here these issues are addressed by the coarse-grained superplasticity of high-strength lightweight medium entropy alloy (Ti 43.3 V 28 Zr 14 Nb 14 Mo 0.7 , at.%) with a microstructure of ultrafine particles embedded in the body-centered-cubic matrix. The results demonstrate that the alloy reached a high coarse-grained superplasticity greater than ≈440% at a high strain rate of 10 -2 s -1 at 1173 K and with a gigapascal residual strength. A consecutively triggered deformation mechanism that sequences of dislocation slip, dynamic recrystallization, and grain boundary sliding in such alloy differs from conventional grain-boundary sliding in fine-grained materials. The present results open a pathway for highly efficient superplastic forming, broaden superplastic materials to the high-strength field, and guide the development of new alloys., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Purposes: The purpose of this study is to quantify the alteration of retinal peripapillary microvasculature and structure in unilateral indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (ITON) and figure out predicted factors of visual improvement for ITON patients with endoscopic trans-ethmosphenoid optic canal decompression (ETOCD) after one month., Methods: Twenty healthy controls and 72 unilateral ITON patients were included. Optical coherence tomography angiography was used to analyse radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) density, peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL) thickness, superficial retinal capillary plexus (SRCP) and deep retinal capillary plexus (DRCP) density. Associations between preoperative parameters and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were determined. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to figure out predicted factors of visual improvement for ITON after ETOCD one month., Results: In ITON eyes, the preoperative global RPC density, pRNFL thickness and SRCP density were reduced compared with unaffected eyes (p ≤ 0.001). Multivariate linear regression showed that preoperative global RPC density (Standardized β = -0.273), SRCP density (Standardized β = -0.183), DRCP density (Standardized β = -0.098) and preoperative BCVA (Standardized β = 0.795) were associated with the postoperative BCVA (All p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) of preoperative global RPC density to predict visual improvement after ETOCD was 0.816, while the AUCs of preoperative BCVA, global pRNFL thickness, SRCP and DRCP density were 0.575, 0.756, 0.516 and 0.615, respectively., Conclusions: The alteration of peripapillary area, especially the reduced RPC density, occurred in ITON eyes. The preoperative RPC density was associated with postoperative BCVA and was shown to be highly predictive for visual improvement after ETOCD one month., (© 2022 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Medical artificial intelligence (AI) has been moving from the research phase to clinical implementation. However, most AI-based models are mainly built using high-quality images preprocessed in the laboratory, which is not representative of real-world settings. This dataset bias proves a major driver of AI system dysfunction. Inspired by the design of flow cytometry, DeepFundus, a deep-learning-based fundus image classifier, is developed to provide automated and multidimensional image sorting to address this data quality gap. DeepFundus achieves areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) over 0.9 in image classification concerning overall quality, clinical quality factors, and structural quality analysis on both the internal test and national validation datasets. Additionally, DeepFundus can be integrated into both model development and clinical application of AI diagnostics to significantly enhance model performance for detecting multiple retinopathies. DeepFundus can be used to construct a data-driven paradigm for improving the entire life cycle of medical AI practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study was to evaluate the impact of leaflet trimming strategy on the hemodynamic behaviors of the aortic valve after reconstructive surgery, and give recommendations based on design of experiment (DOE) and in vitro studies. An in vitro hemodynamic test was performed on the simulated surgical model to quantify the efficacy of conventional reconstructive surgery. The very same computational model was built and verified, on which the full factorial DOE was carried out to summarize the correlations between leaflet trimming parameters and valve hemodynamic characteristics. Hemodynamic characteristics of the valve substitute were significantly associated with leaflet trimming parameters. The total regurgitant and transvalvular regurgitant of the valve substitute were reduced by 27.44% and 13.61% after optimization of the leaflet design. Synthetic use of in vitro tests and DOE study based on computational models helped improve outcomes of the reconstruction of aortic valve by reducing free edge length and increasing commissure height and leaflet height., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A thin-film strain micro-sensor is a cutting force sensor that can be integrated with tools. Its elastic substrate is an important intermediate to transfer the strain generated by the tools during cutting to the resistance-grid-sensitive layer. In this paper, 1060 aluminum is selected as the elastic substrate material and aluminum oxide thin film is selected as the transition layer between the aluminum substrate and the silicon nitride insulating layer. The Stoney correction formula applicable to the residual stress of the aluminum oxide film is derived, and the residual stress of the aluminum oxide film on the aluminum substrate is obtained. The influence of Sputtering pressure, argon flow and negative substrate bias process parameters on the surface quality and sputtering power of the aluminum oxide thin film is discussed. The relationship model between process parameters, surface roughness, and sputtering rate of thin films is established. The sputtering process parameters for preparing an aluminum oxide thin film are optimized. The micro-surface quality of the aluminum oxide thin film obtained before and after the optimization of the process parameters and the surface quality of Si 3 N 4 thin film sputtered on alumina thin film before and after the optimization are compared. It is verified that the optimized process parameters of aluminum oxide film as a transition layer can improve the adhesion between the insulating-layer silicon nitride film and the aluminum substrate.

Polyamic acid (PAA) is a flexible polymer and has abundant valuable hydrophilic groups. Herein, we developed an ultra-low pressure ultrafiltration (UF) membrane by integrating PAA into the polyethersulfone (PES) matrix via the "in-situ polycondensation" method. PAA was well compatible with PES and distributed uniformly in the membrane. The introduction of PAA improved membrane hydrophilicity. Meanwhile, the membrane pore structures were also refined. The membrane exhibited an excellent permeability under ultra-low pressure due to its improvement of hydrophilicity and pore structures. Under 0.3 bar, compare with the water flux of PES membrane, PES/PAA membrane improved nearly 2 times (571.05 L/(m 2 ·h)), with a high BSA rejection (≥90%). Even under a lower pressure, 0.1 bar, >300 L/(m 2 ·h) still can be achieved. Interestingly, the membrane we developed could maintain a high performance after drying, and then is very suitable for dry preservation. PES/PAA membrane showed a high oil removal (≥92%) and could remove oil from water effectively. Besides, the membrane exhibited excellent anti-oil-fouling properties. The flux recovery rate of PES/PAA (70.0%) far exceeds that of PES (37.9%) after three filtration and cleaning cycles. The membrane we developed is very valuable in oily wastewater treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive strategy for the treatment of aortic stenosis. The complex postoperative complications of TAVR were related to the type of implanted prosthetic valve, and the deep mechanism of this relationship may guide the clinical pre-operative planning. This technical brief developed a numerical method of TAVR to compare the outcome difference between balloon-expandable valve and self-expandable valve and predict the postoperative results. A complete patient-specific aortic model was reconstructed. Two prosthetic valves (balloon-expandable valve and self-expandable valve) were introduced to simulate the implantation procedure, and postprocedural function was studied with fluid-structure interaction method, respectively. Results showed similar stress distribution for two valves, but higher peak stress for balloon-expandable valve model. The balloon-expandable valve was associated with a better circular cross section and smaller paravalvular gaps area. Hemodynamic parameters like cardiac output, mean transvalvular pressure difference, and effective orifice area (EOA) of the balloon-expandable valve model were better than those of the self-expandable valve model. Significant outcome difference was found for two prosthetic valves. Balloon-expandable valve may effectively decrease the risk and degree of postoperative paravalvular leak, while self-expandable valve was conducive to lower stroke risk due to lower aortic stress. The numerical TAVR simulation process may become an assistant tool for prosthesis selection in pre-operative planning and postoperative prediction., (Copyright © 2022 by ASME.)

One-dimensional (1D) fibers have been widely used in composites reinforcement for microwave attenuation due to their outstanding mechanical and electromagnetic properties, especially in the axial direction. However, the precise control of fiber alignment in a polymer matrix remains a challenge. In this work, we successfully demonstrated the well-controlled alignment of silicon carbide nanowires (SiCNW) in a silicone matrix by using direct ink writing (DIW)-based 3D printing. It is proven that the printed multilayer material with fiber alignment could show a dramatic improvement in both reflection loss (RL) and effective attenuation bandwidth (EAB, RL < -10 dB). In particular, a uniaxial in-plane orientation is found to be the optimal alignment among other planar and also out-of-plane orientations. Benefiting from the optimized alignment, the 3D-printed SiC composite could show an EAB (∼6.4 GHz)1.6 times broader than that of the randomly mixed composite at the same thickness without alignment, associated with a minimum RL of -48 dB at 14.3 GHz. In addition, it is demonstrated that DIW could print different materials, such as SiCNW and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), in alternating layers for multiple-frequency-band attenuation benefiting from the distinct property of each material. Considering the one-step control of fiber alignment and material selectivity, DIW could play an important role in materials design for high-efficiency microwave attenuation.

In many important industries, such as the textile printing industry, a large amount of dye/salt wastewater is often discharged, which can destroy the ecological environment of the water body. Membrane technology has a great potential in the treatment of environmental problems caused by dye/salt wastewater. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiltration (NF) membrane has a bright future in dye/salt wastewater treatment, however, works on this are rare. Herein, antibacterial PVA NF membrane incorporated with Cu(OH) 2 nanowires for the dye/salt wastewater treatment is reported. The membrane was prepared via coating the solutions containing PVA, glutaraldehyde and Cu(OH) 2 nanowires on the polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane. Cu(OH) 2 nanowires has a diameter of 60 nm and was successfully introduced into the membrane. The introduction of nanowires improved the membrane hydrophilicity and roughness, which is conducive to the improvement of membrane flux. Membrane separation performance for one component solution and dye/salt solution were investigated. The introduction of Cu(OH) 2 increases the flux of the membrane obviously (the highest increase is 178.78% (from 21.49 to 38.42 L·m -2 ·h -1 ·bar -1 , for NaCl solution as the feed). Besides, the membrane doped with nanowires also possessed a high dye/salt selectivity. For one component solution, the dye removal rate was over 97.00% while the salt rejection was low (the lowest was 13.18% (NaCl)). For the dye/salt solution, the dye (Congo Red) rejection kept at a high level (98.91%) and the salt (NaCl) rejection was still low (13.71%), while the flux was also high (37.56 L·m -2 ·h -1 ·bar -1 ). The performance is superior to that of many membranes reported in previous works. Moreover, the Cu(OH) 2 nanowires endowed the membrane with an improved and high antibacterial property. The sterilization rate of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus reached more than 99.99%., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The radial force of the degradable esophageal stent before and after degradation is one of the important indicators for effective treatment of esophageal stricture. Based on a combination of in vitro experiments and finite element analysis, this paper studies and verifies the biomechanical properties of a new type of degradable esophageal stent under different esophageal stricture conditions. Under radial extrusion conditions, the maximum stress at the port of the stent is 65.25 MPa, and the maximum strain is 1.98%; The peak values of stress and strain under local extrusion and plane extrusion conditions both appear in the extrusion area and the compression expansion area at both ends, which are respectively 48.68 MPa, 46.40 MPa, 0.49%, 1.13%. The maximum radial force of the undegraded stent was 11.22 N, and 97% and 51% of the maximum radial force were maintained after 3 months and 6 months of degradation, respectively. The research results verify the safety and effectiveness of the radial force of the new degradable esophageal stent, and provide a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of esophageal stricture.

Microstructural refinement of metallic alloys via ultrasonic melt processing (USMP) is an environmentally friendly and promising method. However, so far there has been no report in open literature on how to predict the solidified microstructures and grain size based on the ultrasound processing parameters.In this paper, an analytical model is developed to calculate the cavitation enhanced undercooling and the USMP refined solidification microstructure and grain size for Al-Cu alloys. Ultrafast synchrotron X-ray imaging and tomography techniques were used to collect the real-time experimental data for validating the model and the calculated results. The comparison between modeling and experiments reveal that there exists an effective ultrasound input power intensity for maximizing the grain refinement effects for the Al-Cu alloys, which is in the range of 20-45 MW/m 2 . In addition, a monotonous increase in temperature during USMP has negative effect on producing new nuclei, deteriorating the benefit of microstructure refinement due to the application of ultrasound., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

By using novel oxonium salts in "Sandwich" mode, an improved approach of targeted enrichment through a pressurized solvent-free extraction coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet detection (UPLC-UV) analysis was developed for main bioactive flavonoids in bamboo leaves. As solid extractants, these salts have the same structural nucleus with analytes. By comparison, the yield of this new method was higher than that of reported ways, and the highest enrichment factor reached 394.22. The whole process was more consistent with pseudo-second order model (R 2 =0.9994) with the rate constant of 0.0537 (g/mg·min). Moreover, ideal selectivity, linearity, repeatability, limit of detection, limit of quantification, and recovery were all achieved., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We declare that we have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a congenital malformation of the aortic valve with a variety of structural features. The current research on BAV mainly focuses on the systolic phase, while ignoring the diastolic hemodynamic characteristics and valve mechanics. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in hemodynamics and mechanical properties of BAV with different phenotypes throughout the cardiac cycle by means of numerical simulation. Based on physiological anatomy, we established an idealized tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) model and six phenotypes of BAV models (including Type 0 a-p, Type 0 lat, Type 1 L-R, Type 1 N-L, Type 1 R-N, and Type 2), and simulated the dynamic changes of the aortic valve during the cardiac cycle using the fluid-structure interaction method. The morphology of the leaflets, hemodynamic parameters, flow patterns, and strain were analyzed. Compared with TAV, the cardiac output and effective orifice area of different BAV phenotypes decreased certain degree, along with the peak velocity and mean pressure difference increased both. Among all BAV models, Type 2 exhibited the worst hemodynamic performance. During the systole, obvious asymmetric flow field was observed in BAV aorta, which was related to the orientation of BAV. Higher strain was generated in diastole for BAV models. The findings of this study suggests specific differences in the hemodynamic characteristics and valve mechanics of different BAV phenotypes, including different severity of stenosis, flow patterns, and leaflet strain, which may be critical for prediction of other subsequent aortic diseases and differential treatment strategy for certain BAV phenotype., 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 Yan, Li, Wang, Wei and Wang.)

Prostate cancer is a major health concern in males worldwide, owing to its high incidence. Sparstolonin B (SsnB), a component of the Chinese herbal medicine Sparganium stoloniferum, is used to treat many diseases. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of SsnB in prostate cancer have not yet been reported. In this study, we evaluated the effects of SsnB on cellular processes and tumour growth. In particular, we verified that SsnB could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells and induce apoptosis by activating G2/M phase arrest in vitro based on a series of cytological experiments. In vivo, we found that SsnB could inhibit tumour growth in nude mouse xenograft models. We further confirmed that SsnB could repress the PI3K/AKT pathway by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative stress. Collectively, SsnB inhibits tumour growth and induces apoptosis in prostate cancer via the suppression of the ROS-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway and may be a new alternative to adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Today, membrane technologies play a big role in chemical industry, especially in separation engineering. Tannic acid, one of the most famous polyphenols, has attracted widespread interest in membrane society. In the past several years, researches on the applications of tannic acid in membrane technologies have grown rapidly. However, there has been lack of a comprehensive review for now. Here, we summarize the recent developments in this field for the first time. We comb the history of tannic acid and introduce the properties of tannic acid firstly, and then we turn our focus onto the applications of membrane surface modification, interlayers and selective layers construction and mixed matrix membrane development. In those previous works, tannic acid has been demonstrated to be capable of making a great contribution to the membrane science and technology. Especially in membrane surface/interface engineering (such as the construction of superhydrophilic and antifouling surfaces and polymer/nanoparticle interfaces with high compatibility) and development of thin film composite membranes with high permselectivity (such as developing thin film composite membranes with ultrahigh flux and high rejection), tannic acid can play a positive and great role. Despite this, there are still many critical challenges lying ahead. We believe that more exciting progress will be made in addressing these challenges in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Computational modeling for additive manufacturing has proven to be a powerful tool to understand physical mechanisms, predict fabrication quality, and guide design and optimization. Varieties of models have been developed with different assumptions and purposes, and these models are sometimes difficult to choose from, especially for end-users, due to the lack of quantitative comparison and standardization. Thus, this study is focused on quantifying model uncertainty due to the modeling assumptions, and evaluating differences based on whether or not selected physical factors are incorporated. Multiple models with different assumptions, including a high-fidelity thermal-fluid flow model resolving individual powder particles, a low-fidelity heat transfer model simplifying the powder bed as a continuum material, and a semi-analytical thermal model using a point heat source model, were run with a variety of manufacturing process parameters. Experiments were performed on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT) to validate the models. A data analytics-based methodology was utilized to characterize the models to estimate the error distribution. The cross comparison of the simulation results reveals the remarkable influence of fluid flow, while the significance of the powder layer varies across different models. This study aims to provide guidance on model selection and corresponding accuracy, and more importantly facilitate the development of AM models.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a 3D printing technology that can print metal parts with complex geometries without the design constraints of traditional manufacturing routes. However, the parts printed by LPBF normally contain many more pores than those made by conventional methods, which severely deteriorates their properties. Here, by combining in-situ high-speed high-resolution synchrotron x-ray imaging experiments and multi-physics modeling, we unveil the dynamics and mechanisms of pore motion and elimination in the LPBF process. We find that the high thermocapillary force, induced by the high temperature gradient in the laser interaction region, can rapidly eliminate pores from the melt pool during the LPBF process. The thermocapillary force driven pore elimination mechanism revealed here may guide the development of 3D printing approaches to achieve pore-free 3D printing of metals.

The method presented is helpful for assessing effects of land use policy and unfolding the action mechanism and implementation effect of policies on land use changes. The backcasting method is based on the re-simulation of the historical real changes of land use. By observing the error between the real and simulated states, adjust the parameters for many times, and a variety of land use scenarios are obtained, and the scenario with the minimum and acceptable error is selected to assess the effects of land use policy represented by its parameters. The method is structured in four sequential stages, including expressing the policy action mechanism as the parameter combinations to control land use changes, and then translating the parameter combination that can reflect the effect of land use policies into the policy effectiveness. This process is realized by ArcGIS and GeoSOS-FLUS software developed based on Cellular Automata (CA) model. The method was successfully tested in the peri-urban region near Shanghai metropolitan area. The raw material is Land-Use/Cover (LULC) data of study area in 2000 and 2015. This method assessed the effects of land use policies during fifteen years, and analyzed the mechanism of effective policies, as well as the types and reasons of failure policies. This presented method is useful in land governance and the formulation and implementation of land use policy. •This article developed a backcasting approach to evaluate the effectiveness of land use policies on land use changes in a certain period of time.•The policy action mechanism was transformed into controllable, visible, and adjustable parameter combinations.•The method built an analytical framework for the assessment of land use policy effectiveness in any regions.

Background: The peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae), is one of the most destructive pests of pome and stone fruits, while few studies of their molecular biology and physiology have been conducted. Research into CsasPBPs (Carposina sasakii pheromone binding proteins) and CsasGOBPs (Carposina sasakii general odorant binding proteins) may provide insights in to the mechanisms of olfaction in Carposina sasakii., Results: In our study, results of real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays demonstrated that CsasPBP1-3 and CsasGOBP1-2 transcripts were abundantly expressed in the antennae of both sexes, suggesting they play a vital role in olfaction. In addition, to examine specific functional differences between pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) and general odorant binding proteins (GOBPs), fluorescence competitive binding assays were used to measured the binding affinities for the two sex pheromones and 18 apple plant volatiles. As a result, both PBPs and GOBPs showed stronger binding affinities to Z-7-eicosene-11-one than Z-7-nonadecene-11-one in two sex pheromones, whereas only PBP3 exhibited specific affinity towards both these two sex pheromone components, and PBP1 showed a high binding affinity to the sex pheromone components, and to other plant volatiles. In addition, GOBP1-2 displayed high binding affinity to general components of plant volatiles., Conclusion: Our study suggested CsasPBPs and CsasGOBPs play distinct physiological roles in the perception of sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: The peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae), poses a serious threat to a variety of fruits and causes significant economic loss owing to difficulties in its prevention and control. The olfactory sense is generally acknowledged to be a novel target for pest control. However, a systematic study of the olfactory genes expressed in C. sasakii has not been reported yet. Here, we reported the antennal transcriptome of C. sasakii using high-throughput sequencing and annotated the main chemosensory multi-gene families., Results: In the chemosensory gene families, 29 odorant-binding proteins, 13 chemosensory proteins, 1 sensory neuron membrane protein, 52 odorant receptors, 8 ionotropic receptors and 11 gustatory receptors were annotated in the C. sasakii antennal transcriptome. The number of olfactory genes obtained in our transcriptome was consistent with that identified in other lepidopteran insects, confirming that we basically accomplished the annotation of the chemosensory genes of C. sasakii in the adult antennal transcriptome. All sequences were annotated and analyzed by BLAST (basic local alignment search tool), and some chemosensory genes with specific functions were named according to the BLAST results and phylogenetic trees. Based on the expression profile in the transcriptome and phylogenetic analysis, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed in both male and female adults. Finally, fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR was used to identify the male-specific or female-specific chemosensory genes that were putatively related to odor detection and recognition. Moreover, expression levels of OR33 and PBP2 were significantly higher in males than in females, indicating that these genes may interact with sex pheromones. We found some conserved antennal IRs and GRs involved in detecting sugar compounds (GR2, GR5, GR6, GR8) and carbon dioxide (GR1), which were also identified based on phylogenetic analysis., Conclusions: There are 114 putative chemosensory proteins expressed in C. sasakii identified in this study. The identification of these proteins will make the molecular mechanism of odor recognition accessible.

Biodegradable vascular stent, also known as the third generation stent, has recently been widely studied. Finite element models of three stents with the same structure and different specifications were developed. The mechanical behavior under crimping, expanding and fatigue testing were assessed by von Mises yield and Goodman convergence. The maximum stress during crimping, expanding and fatigue testing were all observed in the stent with the largest size. The results indicated that the largest stent had the highest risk of failure and also provided theoretical evidence for the worst case scenario in the fatigue testing.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent type of malignant thyroid tumor. Several lncRNA signatures have been established for prognosis prediction in some cancers. However, the prognostic value of lncRNAs has not been investigated in PTC yet. In this study, we performed genome-wide analysis of lncRNA expression profiles in a large cohort of PTC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas and identified 111 differentially expressed lncRNAs between tumor and non-tumor samples and between recurrent and recurrence-free samples. From the 111 differentially expressed lncRNAs, four independent lncRNA biomarkers associated with prognosis were identified and were integrated into a four-lncRNA signature which classified the patients of training dataset into the high-risk group and low-risk group with significantly different overall survival (p=0.016, log-rank test). The prognostic value of the four-lncRNA signature was validated in the independent testing dataset. Multivariate analysis indicated that the four-lncRNA signature was an independent prognostic predictor. Moreover, identified four lncRNA biomarkers demonstrates good performance in predicting disease recurrence with AUC of 0.833 using leave one out cross-validation. Our study not only highlighted the potential role for lncRNAs to improve clinical prognosis prediction in patients with PTC and but also provided alternative biomarkers and therapeutic targets for PTC patients.

Orbital schwannomas are rare and despite a variety of external surgical approaches previously utilized, removal of tumors located in the deep orbital apex remains challenging. The endoscopic endonasal approach has been used increasingly for various apical tumours, but few describe this technique for orbital schwannomas. The authors describe 2 cases of orbital schwannoma removed via an endoscopic endonasal assisted approach. The first patient was a 31-year-old Cantonese female who was found to have an 11 × 8 × 8 mm right orbital apical schwannoma which was removed using an endoscopic endonasal sphenoethmoidal approach. The second patient was a 78-year-old white male who had a 28 × 17 × 18 mm orbital schwannoma removed via a transcaruncular and endoscopic endonasal-assisted approach. These findings suggest that the use of an endonasal approach may facilitate the safe removal of selected medially located orbital schwannomas whose posterior margins involve the orbital apex.

Objective: To correlate the intraoperative endoscopic findings with high-resolution CT (HRCT) for the diagnosis of optic canal fractures (OCF). To compare the visual outcome of patients with different types of OCF and without., Design: A retrospective, comparative case series., Participants: 1275 consecutive patients (1275 eyes) with indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (TON)., Methods: Altogether, 1275 patients who underwent endoscopic transethmoid optic canal decompression (ETOCD) for unilateral indirect TON were reviewed from 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2014. HRCT performed prior to surgery were compared with findings during surgery. The visual outcomes before and after surgery were also compared., Main Outcome Measures: The presence and type of OCF detected by HRCT and during surgery; visual acuity prior to surgery and at 3 months after surgery., Results: A total of 1275 patients (1275 eyes) were included, with 708 patients that had OCF visible on HRCT image. During surgery, an additional 187 (20.9%) patients with OCF were noticed. Among these, 136 had undisplaced fractures, most of which were linear intracanalicular fractures. The initial visual acuity of patients with OCF was worse than that of patients without OCF (p<0.01). However, no statistical difference existed in the final visual acuity at 3 months after surgery (>0.05). Significant statistical difference of surgical efficacy existed between all the patients with OCF and without OCF (p<0.001)., Conclusions: Among patients with OCF, 20.9% were not detected by HRCT. Patients with OCF had a worse initial visual acuity than those without OCF. There was no significant difference in final visual acuity after ETOCD., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe a modified lacrimal bypass with a porous polyethylene-coated Jones tube., Methods: A total of 180 patients (180 eyes) with a nonreconstructable lacrimal obstruction underwent lacrimal bypass with a porous polyethylene-coated Jones tube through a retrocaruncular-middle meatus tract approach with endoscopic assistance. All patients were followed up at least for 24 months. Success rate of lacrimal bypass was analyzed and complications were recorded., Results: A total of 174 patients were finally included. Duration of surgery ranged from 28 to 47 minutes (mean 37.2 ± 4.2 minutes). The mean duration of follow-up was 30.0 ± 6.4 months (range 24-48 months). The mean tube length was 23.2 ± 1.9 mm (range 20-28 mm). At the final review, complete success was achieved in 138 (79.3%) patients. Moderate success was achieved in 23 (13.2%) patients, and 13 (7.5%) patients failed. Of the 161 patients successfully treated, 24 patients underwent revision surgery to excise granulomas (15 patients) or adjust tube position (9 patients). The complications included granuloma proliferation around the openings of the tube (28 eyes), downward displacement of the tube (17 eyes), and ocular discomfort (15 eyes). The majority of downward tube migration occurred in patients who had a prior history of dacryocystorhinostomy. The treatment failed for 5 patients because of repeated granulomas covering the nasal tube openings, and the treatment failed for 8 patients because of downward displacement of the tube., Conclusions: Our procedure appears to be an effective method for closed insertion of a porous polyethylene-coated Jones.

A novel drug delivery device simulating the cardiovascular bloodfl ow pattern was introduced. The device was used to simulate the in vivo drug release in the drug-eluting stents. The results regarding the drug release rate were subject to the pattern from in vivo measurement. Therefore, the device was validated as a measurement method for in vivo drug release rate.

Purpose: This study determined (1) how many vessels (i.e., the vessel sampling) are needed to reliably characterize the bulbar conjunctival microvasculature and (2) if characteristic information can be obtained from the distribution histogram of the blood flow velocity and vessel diameter., Methods: Functional slitlamp biomicroscope was used to image hundreds of venules per subject. The bulbar conjunctiva in five healthy human subjects was imaged on six different locations in the temporal bulbar conjunctiva. The histograms of the diameter and velocity were plotted to examine whether the distribution was normal. Standard errors were calculated from the standard deviation and vessel sample size. The ratio of the standard error of the mean over the population mean was used to determine the sample size cutoff. The velocity was plotted as a function of the vessel diameter to display the distribution of the diameter and velocity., Results: The results showed that the sampling size was approximately 15 vessels, which generated a standard error equivalent to 15% of the population mean from the total vessel population. The distributions of the diameter and velocity were not only unimodal, but also somewhat positively skewed and not normal. The blood flow velocity was related to the vessel diameter (r=0.23, P<0.05)., Conclusions: This was the first study to determine the sampling size of the vessels and the distribution histogram of the blood flow velocity and vessel diameter, which may lead to a better understanding of the human microvascular system of the bulbar conjunctiva.

Objective: To describe a novel approach to orbital decompression for dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON)., Methods: An augmented endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression (ETMOWD) was performed on 43 consecutive patients (72 eyes) with DON in order to access the orbital apex adequately. Concurrently, endoscopic transethmoid fat decompression (ETFD) using a novel aspiration/cutting instrument to remove orbital fat was performed for further reduction of proptosis. All patients were followed up periodically for at least 6 months. Outcomes such as improvement of visual acuity (VA), color vision, degree of proptosis reduction as well as the incidence of surgical induced diplopia were analyzed at the final review., Results: Sixty-nine out of 72 eyes (95.8%) had a statistically significant improvement in VA from -0.65 ± 0.30 to -0.25 ± 0.22 postoperatively, with a mean improvement of 0.55 ± 0.17 (p < 0.001). Thirty-four out of 45 eyes had an improvement in color vision (p < 0.001). The range of proptosis reduction was 4 to 9 mm (mean 6.2 ± 1.2 mm). Postoperative symmetry was achieved to within 2 mm using an exophthalmometer in 39 of 43 patients (90.7%). Five patients developed diplopia in the postoperative phase, but had complete resolution within 3 months. Two patients had further deterioration in their diplopia following surgery., Conclusion: Our technique of a combined ETFD with ETMOWD appears to be effective in managing patients with DON, with minimal morbidities and a low incidence of postoperative diplopia.

Purpose: To demonstrate the use of the slitlamp photography and videography with extremely high magnifications for visualizing structures of the anterior segment of the eye., Methods: A Canon 60D digital camera with Movie Crop Function was adapted into a Nikon FS-2 slitlamp to capture still images and video clips of the structures of the anterior segment of the eye. Images obtained using the slitlamp were tested for spatial resolution. The cornea of human eyes was imaged with the slitlamp, and the structures were compared with the pictures captured using the ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). The central thickness of the corneal epithelium and total cornea was obtained using the slitlamp, and the results were compared with the thickness obtained using UHR-OCT., Results: High-quality ocular images and higher spatial resolutions were obtained using the slitlamp with extremely high magnifications and Movie Crop Function, rather than the traditional slitlamp. The structures and characteristics of the cornea, such as the normal epithelium, abnormal epithelium of corneal intraepithelial neoplasia, laser in situ keratomileusis interface, and contact lenses, were clearly visualized using this device. These features were confirmed by comparing the obtained images with those acquired using UHR-OCT. Moreover, the tear film debris on the ocular surface and the corneal nerve in the anterior corneal stroma were also visualized. The thicknesses of the corneal epithelium and total cornea were similar to that measured using UHR-OCT (P<0.05)., Conclusions: We demonstrated that the slitlamp photography and videography with extremely high magnifications allow better visualization of the anterior segment structures of the eye, especially of the epithelium, when compared with the traditional slitlamp.

The goal was to determine the variability of the quantitative measurement of the bulbar conjunctival microvascular morphology and hemodynamics by testing the repeatability and variation during office hours. Functional slit-lamp biomicroscopy (FSLB) was used to image the bulbar conjunctival microvasculature, including the vessel diameter, blood flow velocity/rate and fractal dimensions of the microvascular network. The temporal side of the bulbar conjunctiva in 20 healthy subjects was imaged. The subject was imaged at 9 AM to test the measurement repeatability by two independent graders. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of repeatability (CoR) were calculated. These same subjects were then imaged every two hours from 9 AM to 5 PM to test the variation during office hours. Custom software was used to semi-automatically process all measurements. The CoR% and ICC values between two graders for measuring the vessel diameter were 4.87% and 0.989, respectively. For the axial blood flow velocity, the CoR% and ICC were 11.49% and 0.997, respectively. From 9 AM to 5 PM, there were no significant variations in the vessel diameter and hemodynamics (P>0.05), whereas the fractal dimensions of the non-invasive microvascular perfusion maps (nMPMs) were significantly increased at 3 PM and 5 PM compared with the baseline obtained at 9 AM (P<0.05). FSLB appears to be capable of measuring vessel diameter, blood flow velocity and fractal dimension of the microvascular network in the bulbar conjunctiva. Slight variations over office hours were observed in the microvascular network, while the blood flow velocity remained stable., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To describe the surgical technique for endoscopic medial orbital fat decompression in type 1 (lipogenic) Graves orbitopathy and report outcomes., Design: Retrospective interventional case review., Methods: We reviewed 108 patients (206 orbits) with inactive, type 1 Graves orbitopathy without diplopia, who underwent endoscopic medial orbital fat decompression solely for proptosis reduction. Following endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression, extraconal and intraconal orbital fat was removed with a low-suction cutting instrument. All patients were followed up for at least 12 months. Surgical time, preoperative and postoperative Hertel exophthalmometry, incidence of postoperative diplopia within 30-degree visual field in the primary gaze, and other complications were analyzed., Results: The mean surgical time was 97.7 ± 16.7 minutes (67-136 minutes). The mean follow-up was 16.0 ± 4.2 months (12-24 months). Preoperative and postoperative proptosis values at final review were 21.1 ± 2.3 mm (17-26 mm) and 13.0 ± 0.9 mm (12-15 mm), respectively (P < .001). Median reduction in proptosis was 8.0 mm with mean of 8.2 ± 1.8 mm (4-11 mm). Symmetry to within 2 mm was achieved in 106 of 108 patients (98.1%). Twenty-five of 108 patients (23.1%) had diplopia within 30-degree visual field of the gaze, and 23 of these had complete resolution within 3 months, while the remaining 2 patients required squint surgery., Conclusions: Endoscopic medial orbital fat decompression may be an effective technique for proptosis in selected patients with type 1 Graves orbitopathy and is associated with a low rate of surgically induced diplopia., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)