Innovative formulations for the ocular delivery of coenzyme Q10.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a lipophilic antioxidant agent that plays a crucial role in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The neuroprotective role of CoQ10, countering mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, suggests its potential as an adjuvant for ocular neurodegenerative diseases linked to retinal cell loss. However, despite its promising properties, ocular barriers pose challenges for effective delivery.

Development, optimization and ex-vivo evaluation of a transdermal formulation containing trazodone.

Trazodone is a triazolpyridine derivative approved for the treatment of depression, and currently marketed as oral formulations. The transdermal administration of this drug could reduce side effects, related to peak plasma concentration, and improve patient adherence due to a reduced administration frequency. The aims of this work were: (a) the evaluation of the effect of pH vehicle and permeation enhancers on trazodone permeability across porcine skin ex-vivo; (b) the development and optimization of a transdermal drug delivery system containing trazodone hydrochloride.

A sterilizable platform based on crosslinked xanthan gum for controlled-release of polymeric micelles: Ocular application for the delivery of neuroprotective compounds to the posterior eye segment.

TPGS (D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate) polymeric micelles show interesting properties for ocular administration thanks to their solubilization capability, nanometric size and tissue penetration ability. However, micelles formulations are generally characterized by low viscosity, poor adhesion and very short retention time at the administration site. Therefore, the idea behind this work is the preparation and characterization of a crosslinked film based on xanthan gum that contains TPGS micelles and is capable of controlling their release.

The 15-minute city quantified using human mobility data.

Amid rising congestion and transport emissions, policymakers are embracing the '15-minute city' model, which envisions neighbourhoods where basic needs can be met within a short walk from home. Prior research has primarily examined amenity access without exploring its relationship to behaviour. We introduce a measure of local trip behaviour using GPS data from 40 million US mobile devices, defining '15-minute usage' as the proportion of consumption-related trips made within a 15-minute walk from home.

Critical assessment of resource waste in staging and follow-up of breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is a public health problem with both high incidence and cure rates. After treatment, patients are monitored for long periods of time due to the risk of recurrence. Thus, staging and follow-up strategies should consider not only the best results for the patient but also its costs for the public health system.

Travel distance, frequency of return, and the spread of disease.

Human mobility is a key driver of infectious disease spread. Recent literature has uncovered a clear pattern underlying the complexity of human mobility in cities: [Formula: see text], the product of distance traveled r and frequency of return f per user to a given location, is invariant across space. This paper asks whether the invariant [Formula: see text] also serves as a driver for epidemic spread, so that the risk associated with human movement can be modeled by a unifying variable [Formula: see text].

Phase-wise evaluation and optimization of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

Given that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and other therapies is greatly limited by the continuously emerging variants, non-pharmaceutical interventions have been adopted as primary control strategies in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, implementing strict interventions over extended periods of time is inevitably hurting the economy. Many countries are faced with the dilemma of how to take appropriate policy actions for socio-economic recovery while curbing the further spread of COVID-19.

Tracing the human movements of three thousand years ago by volcanic grinding tools in the Final Bronze Age settlement of Monte Croce Guardia (Arcevia-Marche Region, central Italy).

Volcanic rocks were among the most sought-after materials to produce grinding tools in antiquity because lavas lithologies, either mafic or felsic, ensured good wear resistance and grinding capacity with respect to many other kinds of rocks. The interest in findings made of vesciculated lavas, referable to parts of querns, mortars, and/or pestles of the Final Bronze Age site of Monte Croce Guardia (Arcevia) lies in the fact that this settlement was built upon limestones belonging to the sedimentary sequence of the Marche-Umbria Apennines (central Italy) and far away from potential raw materials of volcanic rocks. A petrologic study of 23 grinding tool fragments clearly indicates a provenance from the volcanic provinces of central Italy: Latium and Tuscany Regions.

Carbon mitigation potential afforded by rooftop photovoltaic in China.

Rooftop photovoltaics (RPVs) are crucial in achieving energy transition and climate goals, especially in cities with high building density and substantial energy consumption. Estimating RPV carbon mitigation potential at the city level of an entire large country is challenging given difficulties in assessing rooftop area. Here, using multi-source heterogeneous geospatial data and machine learning regression, we identify a total of 65,962 km rooftop area in 2020 for 354 Chinese cities, which represents 4 billion tons of carbon mitigation under ideal assumptions.

Hyaluronic acid - PVA films for the simultaneous delivery of dexamethasone and levofloxacin to ocular tissues.

Ocular drug delivery is challenging due to the poor drug penetration across ocular barriers and short retention time of the formulation at the application site. Films, applied as inserts or implants, can be used to increase residence time while controlling drug release. In this work, hydrophilic films made of hyaluronic acid and two kinds of PVA were loaded with dexamethasone (included as hydroxypropylcyclodextrin complex) and levofloxacin.

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Enhanced Transscleral Delivery of Dexamethasone Acetate: Development, Ex Vivo Characterization and Multiphoton Microscopy Studies.

Corticosteroids, although highly effective for the treatment of both anterior and posterior ocular segment inflammation, still nowadays struggle for effective drug delivery due to their poor solubilization capabilities in water. This research work aims to develop nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) intended for periocular administration of dexamethasone acetate to the posterior segment of the eye. Pre-formulation studies were initially performed to find solid and liquid lipid mixtures for dexamethasone acetate solubilization.

Buccal Permeation of Polysaccharide High Molecular Weight Compounds: Effect of Chemical Permeation Enhancers.

The greatest achievement in the advanced drug delivery field should be the optimization of non-invasive formulations for the delivery of high molecular weight compounds. Peptides, proteins, and other macromolecules can have poor membrane permeation, principally due to their large molecular weight. The aim of this work was to explore the possibility of administering fluorescently labeled dextrans (molecular weight 4-150 kDa) across the buccal mucosa.

An Alternative Device for the Topical Treatment of Oral Cancer: Development and Ex-Vivo Evaluation of Imiquimod-Loaded Polysaccharides Formulations.

The topical use of imiquimod (IMQ), a non-specific immune response modifier, showed to be a promising therapeutic option for the early-stage treatment of some type of oral cancer, even when performed with a formulation (Aldara®) developed and approved for skin application. The aim of this work was the development of buccal formulations for the topical administration of IMQ with improved mucosal retention and reduced trans-mucosal permeation when compared to the reference formulation. Three different hydrogels based on carboxymethyl chitosan (CMChit), sodium alginate (A), and xanthan gum (X) in different combinations were prepared, and the loading of imiquimod was successfully performed by using a micellar formulation based on d-α-tocopheril polyethylene glycol 100 succinate (TPGS).

Cochlear implant imaging in the mouse and guinea pig using light-sheet microscopy.

Postmortem examination of the cochlea with a cochlear implant in the scala tympani presents several challenges. It is technologically difficult to section a cochlea with an implant due to the presence of its wires and metal components that are adjacent to the membranous and bony tissues of the cochlea. These metal components damage traditional steel blades of a microtome in celloidin, paraffin or frozen embedded tissues.

Imaging the Aging Cochlea with Light-Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy.

Deafness is the most common sensory impairment, affecting approximately 5% or 430 million people worldwide as per the World Health Organization. Aging or presbycusis is a primary cause of sensorineural hearing loss and is characterized by damage to hair cells, spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), and the stria vascularis. These structures reside within the cochlea, which has a complex, spiral-shaped anatomy of membranous tissues suspended in fluid and surrounded by bone.

The effect of co-location on human communication networks.

The ability to rewire ties in communication networks is vital for large-scale human cooperation and the spread of new ideas. We show that lack of researcher co-location during the COVID-19 lockdown caused the loss of more than 4,800 weak ties-ties between distant parts of the social system that enable the flow of novel information-over 18 months in the email network of a large North American university. Furthermore, we find that the reintroduction of partial co-location through a hybrid work mode led to a partial regeneration of weak ties.

Cyclosporine-loaded micelles for ocular delivery: Investigating the penetration mechanisms.

Cyclosporine is an immunomodulatory drug commonly used for the treatment of mild-to-severe dry eye syndrome as well as intermediate and posterior segment diseases as uveitis. The ocular administration is however hampered by its relatively high molecular weight and poor permeability across biological barriers. The aim of this work was to identify a micellar formulation with the ability to solubilize a considerable amount of cyclosporine and promote its transport across ocular barriers.

Petrological footprints of the millstones of Megara Hyblaea (Sicily Island, Italy) highlight the human interactions with Mediterranean volcanoes.

A petrographic and geochemical study of several volcanic millstones, representative of 119 artifacts found in the ancient Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea (Sicily Island) and recording the grinding device evolution from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, unravelled the volcanoes involved as quarrying and production areas. This was possible also through the comparison with available petrographic and geochemical literature data of ancient volcanic millstones found in the whole Mediterranean. Saddle querns, hopper-rubber, rotary Morgantina- and Delian-type millstones of Megara Hyblaea consist of lithotypes belonging to five magmatic series: Tholeiitic, Na-Alkaline, Tholeiitic Transitional, Calcalkaline and High-K Alkaline.

The Cultural Heritage of "Black Stones" (/) of Leopardi's Child Home (Recanati, Italy).

A macroscopic lithological study and physical (hardness, size, weight) investigations, coupled with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) chemical analyses of three egg- and one pear-shaped polished black stones, exposed in the library of the child home of the famous poet Giacomo Leopardi, at Recanati (Italy), were carried out. They are characterized by different sizes: two with the same weight of 16.9 kg and the two smaller ones of 5.

The cost of non-coordination in urban on-demand mobility.

Over the last 10 years, ride-hailing companies (such as Uber and Grab) have proliferated in cities around the world. While generally beneficial from an economic viewpoint, having a plurality of operators that serve a given demand for point-to-point trips might induce traffic inefficiencies due to the lack of coordination between operators when serving trips. In fact, the efficiency of vehicle fleet management depends, among other things, density of the demand in the city, and in this sense having multiple operators in the market can be seen as a disadvantage.

Development and validation of a HPLC-UV based method for the extraction and quantification of methotrexate in the skin.

An innovative and sensitive HPLC-UV method for the extraction and quantification of methotrexate (MTX) in skin layers was developed and validated. Owing to the physico-chemical characteristics of the drug and the nature of the tissue, it was necessary to use folic acid (FA) as an internal standard for MTX quantification in the dermis. MTX (and FA) analysis was performed on a Phenomenex Jupiter C column, using a 50 mm sodium acetate buffer (pH 3.

Abstracting mobility flows from bike-sharing systems.

Bicycling has grown significantly in the past ten years. In some regions, the implementation of large-scale bike-sharing systems and improved cycling infrastructure are two of the factors enabling this growth. An increase in non-motorized modes of transportation makes our cities more human, decreases pollution, traffic, and improves quality of life.