Search Results (9)

Since its introduction, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has significantly progressed in addressing its limitations. By integrating artificial intelligence and multimodal imaging, OCT enhances both speed and image quality while reducing its size. OCT continues to advance, offering new possibilities beyond the in-office setting, including intraoperative applications. This review will explore the different types of home OCT and intraoperative OCT, as well as the uses of each device and their future potential in ophthalmology. Full article

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging plays a major role in the field of diagnosing, monitoring, and treating ophthalmological diseases. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, OCT technology has continued to advance both in the direction of acquisition quality and technique. In this manuscript, we concentrate on actual and future applications of OCT in the ophthalmology field, reviewing multiple types of OCT techniques and systems, such as visible-light OCT, adaptative optics OCT, intraoperative OCT, wide-field OCT, and more. All of them allow better monitoring of ocular diseases, earlier and broader diagnosis, and a more suitable treatment. Furthermore, overviewing all these technologies could play a pivotal role in research, leading to an advance in understanding the pathophysiology of targeted diseases. Finally, the aim of the present review was to evaluate the technical advances in OCT and their actual and potential clinical applications. Full article

Worldwide, synthetic compounds are used for both in-office and at-home dental care. They are a valuable resource for both prophylactic and curative treatments for various dental problems, such as tooth decay, periodontal diseases, and many more. They are typically preferred due to their broad range of actions and ability to produce targeted, rapid, and long-lasting effects. Using a 0.12% chlorhexidine mouthwash is capable of reducing the plaque index from 47.69% to 2.37% and the bleeding index from 32.93% to 6.28% after just 2 weeks. Mouthwash with 0.1% OCT is also highly effective, as it significantly lowered the median plaque index and salivary bacterial counts in 152 patients in 5 days compared to a control group (p < 0.0001), while also reducing the gingival index (p < 0.001). When povidone-iodine was used as an irrigant during the surgical removal of mandibular third molars in 105 patients, it resulted in notably lower pain scores after 2 days compared to a control group (4.57 ± 0.60 vs. 5.71 ± 0.45). Sodium hypochlorite is excellent for root canal disinfection, as irrigating with 1% NaOCl completely eliminated the bacteria from canals in 65% patients. A 0.05% CPC mouthwash proved effective for perioperative patient care, significantly decreasing gingival bleeding (p < 0.001) and suppressing Streptococcus levels even one week post-surgery. Lastly, a 6% H2O2 paint-on varnish and 6% H2O2 tray formulations successfully bleached the teeth of 40 patients, maintaining a noticeably whiter appearance up to the 6-month follow-up, with significant color differences from the baseline (p < 0.005). Synthetic compounds have a large research base, which also provides a greater awareness of their mechanism of action and potential adverse effects. For a better understanding of how they work, several methods and assays are performed. These are protocolary techniques through which a compound’s efficacy and toxicity are established. Full article

Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara), the largest reef fish in the Western Atlantic, exhibit high site fidelity to home reefs but also undertake annual migrations to distant spawning sites. Once relatively common throughout Florida and the Caribbean, the species; is now considered vulnerable (i.e., threatened with extinction) due to overfishing and loss of juvenile mangrove habitat. Goliath grouper in the southeastern US form annual spawning aggregations on high-relief reefs located offshore of both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida, US. To determine spawning site fidelity and describe migration patterns to aggregations, we implanted 50 adult goliath grouper with acoustic transmitter tags from 2010 to 2013. Fish were tagged at known spawning sites off the Florida Atlantic coast and tracked as they moved through the FACT Network array of acoustic receivers. From 2010 to 2020, we collected ~7 million detections from tagged goliath grouper at 153 sites along the southeastern US Atlantic coast. Results of this long-term tracking indicate that adult goliath grouper are relatively sedentary during non-spawning months (Nov to June) but move significantly more prior to, during, and immediately after spawning (July to Oct). Inter-annual spawning site fidelity was high: between 80–93% of tagged fish returned to the same spawning sites each year. Arrival timing at spawning sites coincided with the August new moon, with males arriving earlier than females. Some individuals migrated distances greater than 400-km per year, with observed migration rates of up to 44-km per day prior to spawning. Long-term tagging data are critical for understanding movement patterns and developing management strategies for this species of special conservation concern. Full article

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging has played a pivotal role in the field of retina. This light-based, non-invasive imaging modality provides high-quality, cross-sectional analysis of the retina and has revolutionized the diagnosis and management of retinal and choroidal diseases. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, OCT technology has continued to advance to provide quicker acquisition times and higher resolution. In this manuscript, we discuss some of the most recent advances in OCT technology and techniques for choroidal and retinal diseases. The emerging innovations discussed include wide-field OCT, adaptive optics OCT, polarization sensitive OCT, full-field OCT, hand-held OCT, intraoperative OCT, at-home OCT, and more. The applications of these rising OCT systems and techniques will allow for a closer monitoring of chorioretinal diseases and treatment response, more robust analysis in basic science research, and further insights into surgical management. In addition, these innovations to optimize visualization of the choroid and retina offer a promising future for advancing our understanding of the pathophysiology of chorioretinal diseases. Full article

Background: The aim of this observational cohort study was to explore the severity of liver disease in patients with suspected obstructive sleep apnea in Germany. Methods: Patients undergoing polysomnography or home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) as an evaluation for the presence of OSA were screened using vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) and continuous attenuation parameter (CAP) with a Fibroscan ® Mini 430. Clinical and laboratory data were collected following the overnight exam. Results: In total, 78 patients (28 female (35.9%), mean age 54.2 years) with OSA defined by an apnea-hypopnea-index >5 events/hour were included between OCT 2020 and APR 2021. Patients exhibited a high metabolic risk profile with 17% known diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2D), 62% arterial hypertension, 14% hyperlipidemia and 36% BMI > 30 kg/m². The prevalence of steatosis defined by a CAP > 280 dB/m was 54%. The prevalence of at least significant fibrosis was 16% (E > 9.0 kPa). Interestingly, patients with a snoring index above the median of 278/h showed significantly higher CAP-values (p = 0.0002). In addition, the proportion of oxygen saturations below 90% (t90) correlated with CAP-values (p = 0.02), as well as metabolic risk factors including increased waist circumference (p = 0.005) and body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.035). On the other hand, the apnea-hypopnea-index (AHI) as a marker of OSA severity did not correlate with VCTE, CAP or laboratory parameters. Conclusion: Patients with moderate to severe OSA have a high prevalence of hepatic steatosis. The snoring index is an easy-to-use clinical tool to identify patients at risk for relevant liver disease within the larger group of patients with OSA. Full article

Survival motor neuron (SMN) is ubiquitously expressed in many cell types and its encoding gene, survival motor neuron 1 gene (SMN1), is highly conserved in various species. SMN is involved in the assembly of RNA spliceosomes, which are important for pre-mRNA splicing. A severe neurogenic disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is caused by the loss or mutation of SMN1 that specifically occurred in humans. We previously reported that SMN plays roles in stem cell biology in addition to its roles in neuron development. In this study, we investigated whether SMN can improve the propagation of spermatogonia stem cells (SSCs) and facilitate the spermatogenesis process. In in vitro culture, SSCs obtained from SMA model mice showed decreased growth rate accompanied by significantly reduced expression of spermatogonia marker promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) compared to those from heterozygous and wild-type littermates; whereas SMN overexpressed SSCs showed enhanced cell proliferation and improved potency. In vivo, the superior ability of homing and complete performance in differentiating progeny was shown in SMN overexpressed SSCs in host seminiferous tubule of transplant experiments compared to control groups. To gain insights into the roles of SMN in clinical infertility, we derived human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from azoospermia patients (AZ-hiPSCs) and from healthy control (ct-hiPSCs). Despite the otherwise comparable levels of hallmark iPCS markers, lower expression level of SMN1 was found in AZ-hiPSCs compared with control hiPSCs during in vitro primordial germ cell like cells (PGCLCs) differentiation. On the other hand, overexpressing hSMN1 in AZ-hiPSCs led to increased level of pluripotent markers such as OCT4 and KLF4 during PGCLC differentiation. Our work reveal novel roles of SMN in mammalian spermatogenesis and suggest new therapeutic targets for azoospermia treatment. Full article

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have considerable therapeutic abilities in various disorders, including hepatic fibrosis. They may be affected with different culture conditions. This study investigated, on molecular basics, the effect of pretreatment with eugenol on the characteristics of adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ASCs) in vitro and the implication of eugenol preconditioning on the in vivo therapeutic abilities of ASCs against CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. The effect of eugenol on ASCs was assessed using viability, scratch migration and sphere formation assays. Expressions of genes and proteins were estimated by immunofluorescence or qRT-PCR. For the in vivo investigations, rats were divided into four groups: the normal control group, fibrotic (CCl₄) group, CCl₄+ASCs group and CCl₄ + eugenol-preconditioned ASCs (CCl₄+E-ASCs) group. Eugenol affected the viability of ASCs in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Eugenol improved their self-renewal, proliferation and migration abilities and significantly increased their expression of c-Met, reduced expression 1 (Rex1), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) and nanog genes. Furthermore, E-ASCs showed more of a homing ability than ASCs and improved the serum levels of ALT, AST, albumin, total bilirubin and hyaluronic acid more efficient than ASCs in treating CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis, which was confirmed with histopathology. More interestingly, compared to the CCl₄+ASCs group, CCl₄+E-ASCs group showed a lower expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) genes and higher expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-13 genes. This study, for the first time, revealed that eugenol significantly improved the self-renewal, migration and proliferation characteristics of ASCs, in vitro. In addition, we demonstrated that eugenol-preconditioning significantly enhanced the therapeutic abilities of the injected ASCs against CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis. Full article

This paper presents a new mathematical model along with a measurement platform for accurate detection and monitoring of various visual distortions (VD) caused by macular disorders such as central serous chorioretinopathy (CSR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This platform projects a series of graphical patterns on the patient’s retina and calculates the severity of VDs accordingly. The accuracy of this technique relies on the accurate detection of distorted lines by the patient. We also propose a simple mathematical model to evaluate the VD created by CSR. The model is used as a control for the test results achieved from the proposed platform. The proposed platform consists of the required hardware and software for the generation and projection of patterns along with the collection and processing of patients against their standard optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Based on these results, the OCT images agree with the VD test results, and the proposed platform can be used as an alternative home monitoring method for various macular disorders. Full article