PROSE treatment of corneal ectasia

PurposeProsthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem (PROSE) uses custom designed and fabricated prosthetic devices in a treatment that restores vision, supports healing, reduces symptoms and improves quality of life in patients with complex corneal disease. We report the success rate for PROSE treatment of corneal ectasia.MethodsRecords of 59 patients with corneal ectasia seen in consultation over 6 months were reviewed. Candidacy for treatment, topographic indices, change in visual acuity, achievement of satisfactory fit, device wear status and change in visual function at 6 months were recorded.ResultsSixteen eyes were non-candidates because conventional correction was adequate. Trial devices were inserted but not dispensed for 13 eyes. No eyes were excluded for severity of ectasia. In the remaining 89 eyes, satisfactory fit was achieved and a device was dispensed. Twenty-one eyes (15 patients) had undergone penetrating keratoplasty. Device wear at 6 months was documented in 78/89 eyes (88%). NEI VFQ-25 score improved 27.6 points (p < 0.001) on a 100 point scale in patients wearing a device at 6 months.ConclusionAll candidate eyes with corneal ectasia could be fitted with a PROSE device. PROSE treatment has a high success rate when measured by ability to achieve satisfactory fit, impact on visual acuity and 6 month data on both rate of continued wear and impact on visual function. PROSE treatment is an alternative to penetrating keratoplasty for patients with corneal ectasia who are contact lens intolerant.     

Selective enumeration of probiotic microorganisms in cheese

Cheese is a dairy product which has a good potential for delivery of probiotic microorganisms into the human intestine. To be considered to offer probiotic health benefits, probiotics must remain viable in food products above a threshold level (e.g., 10⁶ cfu g⁻¹) until the time of consumption. In order to ensure that a minimal number of probiotic bacteria is present in the cheese, reliable methods for enumeration are required. The choice of culture medium for selective enumeration of probiotic strains in combination with starters depends on the product matrix, the target group and the taxonomic diversity of the bacterial background flora in the product. Enumeration protocol should be designed as a function of the target microorganism(s) to be quantified in the cheese. An overview of some series of culture media for selective enumeration of commercial probiotic cultures is presented in this review.     

Effects of Al–5Ti–1B on the structure and hardness of a super high strength aluminum alloy produced by strain-induced melt activation process

In this study the effect of Al–5Ti–1B grain refiner on the structural characteristics and hardness of Al–12Zn–3Mg–2.5Cu aluminum alloy has been investigated. The alloy was produced by modified strain-induced melt activation (SIMA) process. Reheating condition to obtain a fine globular microstructure was optimized. The specimens subjected to deformation ratio of 40% (at 300 °C) and various heat treatment times (5–40 min) and temperature (550–620 °C) regimes were characterized in this study. Microstructural study was carried out on the alloy by the use of optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in both unrefined and Ti-refined conditions. The results showed that for the desired microstructures of the alloy during SIMA process, the optimum temperature and time are 575 °C and 20 min respectively. The hardness test results of the alloy also revealed that T6 heat treatment is more effective in hardness enhancement of all specimens in comparison with SIMA processing.     

MOS structure fabrication by thermal oxidation of multilayer metal thin films

A novel approach for the fabrication of a metal oxide semiconductor(MOS) structure was reported.The process comprises electrochemical deposition of aluminum and zinc layers on a base of nickel-chromium alloy. This two-layer structure was thermally oxidized at 400℃for 40 min to produce thin layers of aluminum oxide as an insulator and zinc oxide as a semiconductor on a metallic substrate.Using deposition parameters,device dimensions and SEM micrographs of the layers,the device parameters were calculated.The resultant MOS structure was characterized by a C-V curve method.From this curve,the device maximum capacitance and threshold voltage were estimated to be about 0.74 nF and -2.9 V,respectively,which are in the order of model-based calculations.     

Enhanced Anti-Tumoral Activity of Methotrexate-Human Serum Albumin Conjugated Nanoparticles by Targeting with Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone (LHRH) Peptide

Active targeting could increase the efficacy of anticancer drugs. Methotrexate-human serum albumin (MTX-HSA) conjugates, functionalized by luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) as targeting moieties, with the aim of specifically targeting the cancer cells, were prepared. Owing to the high expression of LHRH receptors in many cancer cells as compared to normal cells, LHRH was used as the targeting ligand in this study. LHRH was conjugated to MTX-HSA nanoparticles via a cross-linker. Three types of LHRH targeted nanoparticles with a mean particle size between 120-138 nm were prepared. The cytotoxicity of LHRH targeted and non-targeted nanoparticles were determined on the LHRH positive and negative cell lines. The internalization of the targeted and non-targeted nanoparticles in LHRH receptor positive and negative cells was investigated using flow cytometry analysis and fluorescence microscopy. The cytotoxicity of the LHRH targeted nanoparticles on the LHRH receptor positive cells were significantly more than non-targeted nanoparticles. LHRH targeted nanoparticles were also internalized by LHRH receptor positive cells significantly more than non-targeted nanoparticles. There were no significant differences between the uptake of targeted and non-targeted nanoparticles to the LHRH receptor negative cells. The active targeting procedure using LHRH targeted MTX-HSA nanoparticles could increase the anti-tumoral activity of MTX.     

Novel approach for forecasting the blast-induced AOp using a hybrid fuzzy system and firefly algorithm

Air overpressure (AOp) produced by blasting is one of the environmental hazards of mining operations. Accordingly, the accurate prediction of AOp is very important, and this issue requires the application of appropriate prediction models. With this in view, this paper aims to propose a new data-driven model in the prediction of AOp using a hybrid model of fuzzy system (FS) and firefly algorithm (FA). This combination is abbreviated as FS-FA model. The used data-sets in the proposed FS-FA model were arranged in a format of three input parameters. In total, 86 sets of the mentioned parameters were prepared. To avoid over-fitting, the data-sets were divided into two parts of training (80%) and test sets (20%). Three quantitative standard statistical performance evaluation measures, variance account for (VAF), coefficient correlation (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE), were used to check the accuracy of the FS-FA model. According to the results, the R2 and RMSE values obtained from the proposed FS-FA model were equal to 0.977 and 1.241 (for testing phase), respectively, which clearly demonstrate the merits of the proposed FS-FA model. In other words, the obtained R2 and RMSE show that FS-FA model has high prediction level in the modeling of blast-induced AOp.