Reversible Cavitation-Induced Junctional Opening in an Artificial Endothelial Layer.

Targeting pharmaceuticals through the endothelial barrier is crucial for drug delivery. In this context, cavitation-assisted permeation shows promise for effective and reversible opening of intercellular junctions. A vessel-on-a-chip is exploited to investigate and quantify the effect of ultrasound-excited microbubbles-stable cavitation-on endothelial integrity. In the vessel-on-a-chip, the endothelial cells form a complete lumen under physiological shear stress, resulting in intercellular junctions that exhibit barrier functionality. Immunofluorescence microscopy is exploited to monitor vascular integrity following vascular endothelial cadherin staining. It is shown that microbubbles amplify the ultrasound effect, leading to the formation of interendothelial gaps that cause barrier permeabilization. The total gap area significantly increases with pressure amplitude compared to the control. Gap opening is fully reversible with gap area distribution returning to the control levels 45 min after insonication. The proposed integrated platform allows for precise and repeatable in vitro measurements of cavitation-enhanced endothelium permeability and shows potential for validating irradiation protocols for in vivo applications

Standardized voluntary force measurement in a lower extremity rehabilitation robot

BACKGROUND: Isometric force measurements in the lower extremity are widely used in rehabilitation of subjects with neurological movement disorders (NMD) because walking ability has been shown to be related to muscle strength. Therefore muscle strength measurements can be used to monitor and control the effects of training programs. A new method to assess isometric muscle force was implemented in the driven gait orthosis (DGO) Lokomat. To evaluate the capabilities of this new measurement method, inter- and intra-rater reliability were assessed. METHODS: Reliability was assessed in subjects with and without NMD. Subjects were tested twice on the same day by two different therapists to test inter-rater reliability and on two separate days by the same therapist to test intra-rater reliability. RESULTS: Results showed fair to good reliability for the new measurement method to assess isometric muscle force of lower extremities. In subjects without NMD, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.72 to 0.97 and intra-rater reliability from 0.71 to 0.90. In subjects with NMD, ICC ranged from 0.66 to 0.97 for inter-rater and from 0.50 to 0.96 for intra-rater reliability. CONCLUSION: Inter- and intra- rater reliability of an assessment method for measuring maximal voluntary isometric muscle force of lower extremities was demonstrated. We suggest that this method is a valuable tool for documentation and controlling of the rehabilitation process in patients using a DGO

A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE ANATOMICAL DISSECTION OF THE STOMACH

The purpose of this article is to write a short guide on the macroscopic anatomy of the stomach, describing its structures, its relationships within the abdominal cavity and the dissection methods used during the internship performed by a group of students from the University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, at the University of Malta, Msida, Malta, during the summer of 2018. Indeed,, they had the opportunity to spend a period of two weeks at the department of Anatomy in the Maltese University for studying and practining on some corpses, with the aim of improving their anatomical knowledge

Debris Disks: Probing Planet Formation

Debris disks are the dust disks found around ~20% of nearby main sequence stars in far-IR surveys. They can be considered as descendants of protoplanetary disks or components of planetary systems, providing valuable information on circumstellar disk evolution and the outcome of planet formation. The debris disk population can be explained by the steady collisional erosion of planetesimal belts; population models constrain where (10-100au) and in what quantity (>1Mearth) planetesimals (>10km in size) typically form in protoplanetary disks. Gas is now seen long into the debris disk phase. Some of this is secondary implying planetesimals have a Solar System comet-like composition, but some systems may retain primordial gas. Ongoing planet formation processes are invoked for some debris disks, such as the continued growth of dwarf planets in an unstirred disk, or the growth of terrestrial planets through giant impacts. Planets imprint structure on debris disks in many ways; images of gaps, clumps, warps, eccentricities and other disk asymmetries, are readily explained by planets at >>5au. Hot dust in the region planets are commonly found (<5au) is seen for a growing number of stars. This dust usually originates in an outer belt (e.g., from exocomets), although an asteroid belt or recent collision is sometimes inferred.Comment: Invited review, accepted for publication in the 'Handbook of Exoplanets', eds. H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer (2018

Adult-onset Leigh syndrome linked to the novel stop codon mutation m.6579G>A in MT-CO1

Adult-onset Leigh syndrome is a rare but important manifestation of mitochondrial disease. We report a 17 year old female who presented with subacute encephalopathy, brainstem and extrapyramidal signs, raised CSF lactate, and symmetrical hyperintensities in the basal ganglia on T2-weighted cerebral MRI. The presence of cytochrome c oxidase deficient fibres in muscle tissue prompted sequencing of the entire mitochondrial genome which revealed the novel stop codon mutation m.6579G>A; p.Gly226X in MT-CO1. Here we present the case and review the clinicopathological and molecular spectrum of previously reported MT-CO1 truncating mutations

From real to virtual prism adaptation therapy: a systematic review on benefits and challenges of a new potential rehabilitation approach

Prism adaptation (PA) is a sensorimotor technique that has been shown to alleviate neglect symptoms. Due to its demonstrated functional effectiveness, PA has recently been implemented in virtual reality environments. However, research on virtual prism adaptation (VPA) is limited and it lacks a standardized methodological approach. It is crucial to investigate whether VPA can be effective in inducing traditional effect of PA and to have potential utility in a rehabilitation context. Clarifying this aspect would allow the use of VPA in a wider range of contexts and neurological disorders, with the additional opportunity to overcome PA traditional limits. The aim of the present study is to revise current literature on VPA in both healthy individuals and patients highlighting also its advantages and limitations. Studies performed between 2013 and 2023 and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were searched on three electronic databases, by combining the terms “Virtual prism adaptation” and “Virtual prism adaptation therapy. Out of 123 articles, only 16 met the inclusion criteria. The current literature review suggests that VPA may serve as a potentially useful tool for inducing visuomotor adaptation, with most studies conducted in healthy individuals. The high variability in the methodologies observed among studies suggests that more standardized approaches are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying adaptation and aftereffects when PA is administered in a virtual environment. Future studies should also address practical applications and clinical efficacy of VPA, particularly in patients with spatial neglect

Legal framework for small autonomous agricultural robots

Legal structures may form barriers to, or enablers of, adoption of precision agriculture management with small autonomous agricultural robots. This article develops a conceptual regulatory framework for small autonomous agricultural robots, from a practical, self-contained engineering guide perspective, sufficient to get working research and commercial agricultural roboticists quickly and easily up and running within the law. The article examines the liability framework, or rather lack of it, for agricultural robotics in EU, and their transpositions to UK law, as a case study illustrating general international legal concepts and issues. It examines how the law may provide mitigating effects on the liability regime, and how contracts can be developed between agents within it to enable smooth operation. It covers other legal aspects of operation such as the use of shared communications resources and privacy in the reuse of robot-collected data. Where there are some grey areas in current law, it argues that new proposals could be developed to reform these to promote further innovation and investment in agricultural robots

Retinal glycoprotein enrichment by concanavalin a enabled identification of novel membrane autoantigen synaptotagmin-1 in equine recurrent uveitis.

Complete knowledge of autoantigen spectra is crucial for understanding pathomechanisms of autoimmune diseases like equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), a spontaneous model for human autoimmune uveitis. While several ERU autoantigens were identified previously, no membrane protein was found so far. As there is a great overlap between glycoproteins and membrane proteins, the aim of this study was to test whether pre-enrichment of retinal glycoproteins by ConA affinity is an effective tool to detect autoantigen candidates among membrane proteins. In 1D Western blots, the glycoprotein preparation allowed detection of IgG reactions to low abundant proteins in sera of ERU patients. Synaptotagmin-1, a Ca2+-sensing protein in synaptic vesicles, was identified as autoantigen candidate from the pre-enriched glycoprotein fraction by mass spectrometry and was validated as a highly prevalent autoantigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Analysis of Syt1 expression in retinas of ERU cases showed a downregulation in the majority of ERU affected retinas to 24%. Results pointed to a dysregulation of retinal neurotransmitter release in ERU. Identification of synaptotagmin-1, the first cell membrane associated autoantigen in this spontaneous autoimmune disease, demonstrated that examination of tissue fractions can lead to the discovery of previously undetected novel autoantigens. Further experiments will address its role in ERU pathology