Olive mill wastewater: From by-product to smart antioxidant material.

Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) is a byproduct of olive oil extraction that represents a critical environmental concern due to its potential adverse effects on ecosystems. Given these premises, spray-dried microparticles were designed and developed using maltodextrins as carriers to encapsulate OMWW bioactive compounds. The microparticles were manufactured using an easily scalable and sustainable spray-drying process.

Smart copper-doped clays in biomimetic microparticles for wound healing and infection control.

Chronic wounds are non-healing lesions characterized by a high degree of inflammation, posing significant challenges in clinical management due to the increased risk of severe infection. This study focuses on developing a powder for cutaneous application to enhance the healing and prevent infections in chronic wounds. The smart nanocomposites-based biomimetic microparticles here developed combine the properties of chitosan and of clays and represent a significant innovation in the field of biomaterials for skin regeneration since they possess enhanced antimicrobial properties, are multi-functional scaffolds and promote cell proliferation, support tissue reconstruction by mimicking the natural extracellular matrix, and provide hemostatic properties to control bleeding during wound closure.

Synthesis of Carbon Nitride Polymorphs by Sacrificial Template Method: Correlation between Physicochemical Properties and Photocatalytic Performance.

Carbon nitride compounds (CNCs) in the form of graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) and poly(heptazine imide) were synthesized using different metal chloride salts (MCl), i. e., NaCl, KCl and CaCl, as sacrificial templates and by varying the MCl to melamine molar ratios.

Hydroxyapatite-Coated Ti6Al4V ELI Alloy: In Vitro Cell Adhesion.

The high rate of rejection and failure of orthopedic implants is primarily attributed to incomplete osseointegration and stress at the implant-to-bone interface due to significant differences in the mechanical properties of the implant and the surrounding bone. Various surface treatments have been developed to enhance the osteoconductive properties of implants. The aim of this work was the in vitro characterization of titanium alloy modified with a nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite surface layer in relative comparison to unmodified controls.

Pushing the envelope: the feasibility of using a mailed contrast sensitivity test to prioritise cataract waiting lists.

Background: Cataract waiting lists are growing globally. Pragmatic, cost-effective methods are required to prioritise the most urgent cases. Here we investigate the feasibility of using a third-party pen-and-paper contrast sensitivity, CS, test (SpotChecks), delivered by mail, and performed by patients at home unsupervised, to flag eyes requiring surgery.

Chondroitin sulfate and caseinophosphopeptides doped polyurethane-based highly porous 3D scaffolds for tendon-to-bone regeneration.

Tendon disorders are common injuries, which can be greatly debilitating as they are often accompanied by great pain and inflammation. Moreover, several problems are also related to the laceration of the tendon-to-bone interface (TBI), a specific region subjected to great mechanical stresses. The techniques used nowadays for the treatment of tendon and TBI injuries often involve surgery.

Robotics and Aseptic Processing in View of Regulatory Requirements.

Several nanomedicine based medicinal products recently reached the market thanks to the drive of the COVID-19 pandemic. These products are characterized by criticality in scalability and reproducibility of the batches, and the manufacturing processes are now being pushed towards continuous production to face these challenges. Although the pharmaceutical industry, because of its deep regulation, is characterized by slow adoption of new technologies, recently, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) took the lead in pushing for process improvements using technologies already established in other manufacturing sectors.

Streamers feeding the SVS13-A protobinary system: astrochemistry reveals accretion shocks?

We report Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high-angular resolution (∼50 au) observations of the binary system SVS13-A. More specifically, we analyse deuterated water (HDO) and sulfur dioxide (SO) emission. The molecular emission is associated with both the components of the binary system, VLA4A and VLA4B.

Natural and Synthetic Clay Minerals in the Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Fields.

Clay minerals are historically among the most used materials with a wide variety of applications. In pharmaceutical and biomedical fields, their healing properties have always been known and used in pelotherapy and therefore attractive for their potential. In recent decades, the research has therefore focused on the systematic investigation of these properties.

Cerium Oxide and Chondroitin Sulfate Doped Polyurethane Scaffold to Bridge Tendons.

Tendon disorders are common medical conditions, which can be greatly debilitating as they are often accompanied by great pain and inflammation. The techniques used nowadays for the treatment of chronic tendon injuries often involve surgery. However, one critical aspect of this procedure involves the scar tissue, characterized by mechanical properties that vary from healthy tissue, rendering the tendons inclined to reinjury or rupture.

Electrospun Scaffolds Based on Poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) for Tendon Tissue Engineering.

Tendon disorders are common medical conditions that could lead to significant disability, pain, healthcare costs, and a loss of productivity. Traditional approaches require long periods of treatment, and they largely fail due to the tissues weakening and the postoperative alterations of the normal joint mechanics. To overcome these limitations, innovative strategies for the treatment of these injuries need to be explored.

Caruncular lesions: A 16-year single centre review in the United Kingdom.

Background/aims: To review the clinicopathological features of caruncle biopsies carried out at a district general hospital in the United Kingdom (UK), and compare with other centres where data has been published.

Methods: Retrospective, single-centre, observational case series between 2004-2020.

Results: A total of 31 lesions from 31 patients were analysed.

Topographical and Compositional Gradient Tubular Scaffold for Bone to Tendon Interface Regeneration.

The enthesis is an extremely specific region, localized at the tendon-bone interface (TBI) and made of a hybrid connection of fibrocartilage with minerals. The direct type of enthesis tissue is commonly subjected to full laceration, due to the stiffness gradient between the soft tissues and hard bone, and this often reoccurs after surgical reconstruction. For this purpose, the present work aimed to design and develop a tubular scaffold based on pullulan (PU) and chitosan (CH) and intended to enhance enthesis repair.

Inorganic Nanomaterials in Tissue Engineering.

In recent decades, the demand for replacement of damaged or broken tissues has increased; this poses the attention on problems related to low donor availability. For this reason, researchers focused their attention on the field of tissue engineering, which allows the development of scaffolds able to mimic the tissues' extracellular matrix. However, tissue replacement and regeneration are complex since scaffolds need to guarantee an adequate hierarchical structured morphology as well as adequate mechanical, chemical, and physical properties to stand the stresses and enhance the new tissue formation.

Maltodextrin-amino acids electrospun scaffolds cross-linked with Maillard-type reaction for skin tissue engineering.

The goal of this work is the design and the development of scaffolds based on maltodextrin (MD) to recover chronic lesions. MD was mixed with arginine/lysine/polylysine and the electrospinning was successfully used to prepare scaffolds with uniform and continuous nanofibers having regular shape and smooth surface. A thermal treatment was applied to obtain insoluble scaffolds in aqueous environment, taking the advantage of amino acids-polysaccharide conjugates formed via Maillard-type reaction.

Smart Device for Biologically Enhanced Functional Regeneration of Osteo-Tendon Interface.

The spontaneous healing of a tendon laceration results in the formation of scar tissue, which has lower functionality than the original tissue. Moreover, chronic non-healing tendon injuries frequently require surgical treatment. Several types of scaffolds have been developed using the tissue engineering approach, to complement surgical procedures and to enhance the healing process at the injured site.

Macular vessel density, branching complexity and foveal avascular zone size in normal tension glaucoma.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between glaucoma severity and perifoveal vessel density (pfVD), branching complexity, and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) size in normal tension glaucoma (NTG). 31 patients with NTG washed out of glaucoma medications were subjected to tests including; intraocular pressure measurement; standard automated perimetry; optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurement of macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC), inner macular thickness (IMT) and circumpapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (cpRNFL); and OCT angiography measurement of pfVD, FAZ perimeter and multispectral fractal dimensions (MSFD). Eyes with more severe glaucoma had significantly thinner mGCC and cpRNFL and lower pfVD.

Innovative Strategies in Tendon Tissue Engineering.

The tendon is a highly aligned connective tissue that transmits force from muscle to bone. Each year, more than 32 million tendon injuries have been reported, in fact, tendinopathies represent at least 50% of all sports injuries, and their incidence rates have increased in recent decades due to the aging population. Current clinical grafts used in tendon treatment are subject to several restrictions and there is a significant demand for alternative engineered tissue.

Fluctuation in Blood Pressure and Intraocular Pressure in Normal Tension Glaucoma Using Ambulatory Monitoring.

Prcis: Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and intraocular pressure (IOP) monitoring of patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) revealed features of vascular dysregulation including hypertension, blunted nocturnal BP dipping, and morning BP surge.

Purpose: The aim was to examine ambulatory fluctuations in IOP and BP in patients with NTG.

Methods: A prospective study of 45 participants with NTG and 10 controls.

Automated Segmentation of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Images: Benchmark Data and Clinically Relevant Metrics.

Purpose: To generate the first open dataset of retinal parafoveal optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images with associated ground truth manual segmentations, and to establish a standard for OCTA image segmentation by surveying a broad range of state-of-the-art vessel enhancement and binarization procedures.

Methods: Handcrafted filters and neural network architectures were used to perform vessel enhancement. Thresholding methods and machine learning approaches were applied to obtain the final binarization.

Nanotechnology-Based Medical Devices for the Treatment of Chronic Skin Lesions: From Research to the Clinic.

Chronic wounds, such as pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers and arterial insufficiency ulcers, are lesions that fail to proceed through the normal healing process within a period of 12 weeks. The treatment of skin chronic wounds still represents a great challenge. Wound medical devices (MDs) range from conventional and advanced dressings, up to skin grafts, but none of these are generally recognized as a gold standard.

What is the best way to measure intraocular pressure (IOP) in a virtual clinic?

Background: Patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) and glaucoma are increasingly reviewed in virtual clinics. As the clinician is not present during the patient's visit it is important that measurements obtained are reliable. The aim of this study was to examine agreement between Goldmann Applanation Tonometry (GAT) intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements (obtained by ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses) and a newer automated tonometer-the Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA).

Exploring senior doctors' beliefs and attitudes regarding mental illness within the medical profession: a qualitative study.

Objective: To explore the views of senior doctors on mental illness within the medical profession.

Background: There has been increasing interest on the issue of doctors' mental health. However, there have been few qualitative studies on senior doctors' general attitude towards mental illness within the medical profession.