Variability Studies as Inferred from Leaf Morpho-Stomatal Features in Moringa oleifera Lam. from Northern Nigeria

The increasing demand for the Moringa oleifera product needs to be complimented with new improved cultivars with high performance to meet the supply chain of the country. To achieve this, the present study was aimed at studying the variability among 21 ecotype of M. oleifera based on morphology and leaf anatomy to detect promising cultivars for mapping out of future breeding schemes of this important crop. The generated data were analysed with the NTSYS pc software, and the 33 plant accessions were clustered into five groups irrespective of area of collection. Significant variations were observed in the leaf morphological and anatomical parameters of the accessions such that on clustering, region unspecific were observed in clusters I, II and III indicating a high possibility of exchange of genetic information between samples from far and closer geographical locations since they are not completely isolated. From the analysed accessions, 26BDMKT from north-west part of Nigeria forms a single cluster (IV) and gave the highest leaf length measurement of 61.2cm.Keywords: Leaf, Morphology, Stomata, Variation and Moringa oleifer

AI as a Medical Device for Ophthalmic Imaging in Europe, Australia, and the United States: Protocol for a Systematic Scoping Review of Regulated Devices

\ua9 2024 JMIR Publications Inc.. All rights reserved.Background: Artificial intelligence as a medical device (AIaMD) has the potential to transform many aspects of ophthalmic care, such as improving accuracy and speed of diagnosis, addressing capacity issues in high-volume areas such as screening, and detecting novel biomarkers of systemic disease in the eye (oculomics). In order to ensure that such tools are safe for the target population and achieve their intended purpose, it is important that these AIaMD have adequate clinical evaluation to support any regulatory decision. Currently, the evidential requirements for regulatory approval are less clear for AIaMD compared to more established interventions such as drugs or medical devices. There is therefore value in understanding the level of evidence that underpins AIaMD currently on the market, as a step toward identifying what the best practices might be in this area. In this systematic scoping review, we will focus on AIaMD that contributes to clinical decision-making (relating to screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment) in the context of ophthalmic imaging.Objective: This study aims to identify regulator-approved AIaMD for ophthalmic imaging in Europe, Australia, and the United States; report the characteristics of these devices and their regulatory approvals; and report the available evidence underpinning these AIaMD.Methods: The Food and Drug Administration (United States), the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (Australia), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom), and the European Database on Medical Devices (European Union) regulatory databases will be searched for ophthalmic imaging AIaMD through a snowballing approach. PubMed and clinical trial registries will be systematically searched, and manufacturers will be directly contacted for studies investigating the effectiveness of eligible AIaMD. Preliminary regulatory database searches, evidence searches, screening, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment will be undertaken by 2 independent review authors and arbitrated by a third at each stage of the process.Results: Preliminary searches were conducted in February 2023. Data extraction, data synthesis, and assessment of methodological quality commenced in October 2023. The review is on track to be completed and submitted for peer review by April 2024.Conclusions: This systematic review will provide greater clarity on ophthalmic imaging AIaMD that have achieved regulatory approval as well as the evidence that underpins them. This should help adopters understand the range of tools available and whether they can be safely incorporated into their clinical workflow, and it should also support developers in navigating regulatory approval more efficiently

OCT Assisted Quantification of Vitreous Inflammation in Uveitis

Purpose: Vitreous haze (VH) is a key marker of inflammation in uveitis but limited by its subjectivity. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has potential as an objective, noninvasive method for quantifying VH. We test the hypotheses that OCT can reliably quantify VH and the measurement is associated with slit-lamp based grading of VH. Methods: In this prospective study, participants underwent three repeated OCT macular scans to evaluate the within-eye reliability of the OCT vitreous intensity (VI). Association between OCT VI and clinical findings (including VH grade, phakic status, visual acuity [VA], anterior chamber cells, and macular thickness) were assessed. Results: One hundred nineteen participants were included (41 healthy participants, 32 patients with uveitis without VH, and 46 patients with uveitis with VH). Within-eye test reliability of OCT VI was high in healthy eyes and in all grades of VH (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0.79). Average OCT VI was significantly different between healthy eyes and uveitic eyes without and uveitic eyes with VH, and was associated with increasing clinical VH grade (P < 0.05). OCT VI was significantly associated with VA, whereas clinical VH grading was not. Cataract was also associated with higher OCT VI (P = 0.03). Conclusions: OCT VI is a fast, noninvasive, objective, and automated method for measuring vitreous inflammation. It is associated with clinician grading of vitreous inflammation and VA, however, it can be affected by media opacities. Translational Relevance: OCT imaging for quantifying vitreous inflammation shows high within-eye repeatability and is associated with clinical grading of vitreous haze. OCT measurements are also associated with visual acuity but may be affected by structures anterior to the acquisition window, such as lens opacity and other anterior segment changes

Computational Validation of Injection Molding Tooling by Additive Layer Manufacture to Produce EPDM Exterior Automotive Seals

During the design and development of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) exterior automotive seals, prototype components can only manufactured through production tooling platforms by either injection molding or extrusion. Consequently, tooling is expensive and has long lead times. This paper investigates whether additive layer manufacture is a viable method for producing tooling used in injection molding of exterior automotive seals in EPDM. Specifically, a novel rapid tooling is a method that combines additive layer manufacture (ALM) with epoxy reinforcement. Computational validation is performed whereby the mechanical properties of the tool are evaluated. The research has concluded that the novel tooling configuration would be suitable for prototyping purposes which would drastically reduce both costly and environmentally detrimental pre-manufacturing processes. This work has laid the foundations to implement rapid tooling technology to the injection molding of prototype EPDM parts

A Datasheet for the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Dataset

Purpose: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication associated with diabetes mellitus (DM), affecting approximately 40% of this patient population. Early detection of DR is vital to ensure monitoring of disease progression and prompt sight saving treatments as required. This article describes the data contained within the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Diabetic Retinopathy Dataset. / Design: Dataset descriptor for routinely collected eye screening data. / Participants: All diabetic patients aged 12 years and older, attending annual digital retinal photography-based screening within the Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Eye Screening Programme. / Methods: The INSIGHT Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health is a National Health Service (NHS)–led ophthalmic bioresource that provides researchers with safe access to anonymized, routinely collected data from contributing NHS hospitals to advance research for patient benefit. This report describes the INSIGHT Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country DR Screening Dataset, a dataset of anonymized images and linked screening data derived from the United Kingdom's largest regional DR screening program. / Main Outcome Measures: This dataset consists of routinely collected data from the eye screening program. The data primarily include retinal photographs with the associated DR grading data. Additional data such as corresponding demographic details, information regarding patients’ diabetic status, and visual acuity data are also available. Further details regarding available data points are available in the supplementary information, in addition to the INSIGHT webpage included below. / Results: At the time point of this analysis (December 31, 2019), the dataset comprised 6 202 161 images from 246 180 patients, with a dataset inception date of January 1, 2007. The dataset includes 1 360 547 grading episodes between R0M0 and R3M1. / Conclusions: This dataset descriptor article summarizes the content of the dataset, how it has been curated, and what its potential uses are. Data are available through a structured application process for research studies that support discovery, clinical evidence analyses, and innovation in artificial intelligence technologies for patient benefit. Further information regarding the data repository and contact details can be found at https://www.insight.hdrhub.org/

Altered thymic differentiation and modulation of arthritis by invariant NKT cells expressing mutant ZAP70

Various subsets of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells with different cytokine productions develop in the mouse thymus, but the factors driving their differentiation remain unclear. Here we show that hypomorphic alleles of Zap70 or chemical inhibition of Zap70 catalysis leads to an increase of IFN-gamma-producing iNKT cells (NKT1 cells), suggesting that NKT1 cells may require a lower TCR signal threshold. Zap70 mutant mice develop IL-17-dependent arthritis. In a mouse experimental arthritis model, NKT17 cells are increased as the disease progresses, while NKT1 numbers negatively correlates with disease severity, with this protective effect of NKT1 linked to their IFN-gamma expression. NKT1 cells are also present in the synovial fluid of arthritis patients. Our data therefore suggest that TCR signal strength during thymic differentiation may influence not only IFN-gamma production, but also the protective function of iNKT cells in arthritis

Age-Corrected Beta Cell Mass Following Onset of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Correlates with Plasma C-Peptide in Humans

The inability to produce insulin endogenously precipitates the clinical symptoms of type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, the dynamic trajectory of beta cell destruction following onset remains unclear. Using model-based inference, the severity of beta cell destruction at onset decreases with age where, on average, a 40% reduction in beta cell mass was sufficient to precipitate clinical symptoms at 20 years of age. While plasma C-peptide provides a surrogate measure of endogenous insulin production post-onset, it is unclear as to whether plasma C-peptide represents changes in beta cell mass or beta cell function. The objective of this paper was to determine the relationship between beta cell mass and endogenous insulin production post-onset.Model-based inference was used to compare direct measures of beta cell mass in 102 patients against contemporary measures of plasma C-peptide obtained from three studies that collectively followed 834 patients post-onset of clinical symptoms. An empirical Bayesian approach was used to establish the level of confidence associated with the model prediction. Age-corrected estimates of beta cell mass that were inferred from a series of landmark pancreatic autopsy studies significantly correlate (p>0.9995) with contemporary measures of plasma C-peptide levels following onset.Given the correlation between beta cell mass and plasma C-peptide following onset, plasma C-peptide may provide a surrogate measure of beta cell mass in humans. The clinical relevance of this study is that therapeutic strategies that provide an increase in plasma C-peptide over the predicted value for an individual may actually improve beta cell mass. The model predictions may establish a standard historical "control" group - a prior in a Bayesian context - for clinical trials

Distances and ages of globular clusters using Hipparcos parallaxes of local subdwarfs

We discuss the impact of Population II and Globular Cluster (GCs) stars on the derivation of the age of the Universe, and on the study of the formation and early evolution of galaxies, our own in particular. The long-standing problem of the actual distance scale to Population II stars and GCs is addressed, and a variety of different methods commonly used to derive distances to Population II stars are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is given to the discussion of distances and ages for GCs derived using Hipparcos parallaxes of local subdwarfs. Results obtained by different authors are slightly different, depending on different assumptions about metallicity scale, reddenings, and corrections for undetected binaries. These and other uncertainties present in the method are discussed. Finally, we outline progress expected in the near future.Comment: Invited review article to appear in: `Post-Hipparcos Cosmic Candles', A. Heck & F. Caputo (Eds), Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, in press. 22 pages including 3 tables and 2 postscript figures, uses Kluwer's crckapb.sty LaTeX style file, enclose