A Novel In Silico-Ex Vivo Model for Correlating Coating Transfer to Tissue with Local Drug-Coated Balloon-Vessel Contact Pressures.

Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) aim to deliver drug-loaded surface coating upon inflation at specific vascular sites, yet the role of inflation pressure remains to be defined. We implement a new approach combining ex vivo stamping experiments with in silico simulations to study acute coating transfer by commercial DCBs. This methodology comprises 3 essential pillars: (I) DCB resin inflation and slicing into cylindrical segments for subsequent stamping onto porcine-excised tissue, (II) Numerical inflation of a full DCB replica in an idealized porcine vessel to predict in vivo interfacial contact pressures (CPs) and subsequent interfacial-level numerical stamping to calculate appropriate benchtop forces that recreate these in vivo CP values, and (III) ex vivo stamping experiments and optical analysis of the stamped surfaces (DCB segment and arterial tissue), using a standard high-resolution camera to visualize coating.

A Virtual Response Surface Strategy to Predict the Effects of Contouring on the Static and Fatigue Mechanical Behavior of Spinal Rods.

Spinal fixation techniques based on contoured spinal rods are well established to restore an adequate sagittal alignment; however, they often break due to fatigue loading because residual stresses arise while deforming the material and they significantly reduce rod fatigue strength. The present paper aims at developing a novel strategy based on Response Surfaces (RS) as surrogate reduced order models to accurately predict the key biomechanical parameters involved both during static spinal rod contouring and subsequent fatigue loading. Finite element (FE) models of different contouring methods are performed on a wide range of spinal rods to reproduce typical clinical scenarios.

The role of transforming growth factor β in cervical carcinogenesis.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is involved in virtually all cases of cervical cancer. However, HPV alone is not sufficient to cause malignant development. The effects of chronic inflammation and the interaction of immune components with the microenvironment infected with the high-risk HPV type (HR) may contribute to cancer development.

Non-coding RNAs as modulators of radioresponse in triple-negative breast cancer: a systematic review.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by high invasiveness, is associated with poor prognosis and elevated mortality rates. Despite the development of effective therapeutic targets for TNBC, systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RdT) remain prevalent treatment modalities. One notable challenge of RdT is the acquisition of radioresistance, which poses a significant obstacle in achieving optimal treatment response.