Damage Protection Research Articles

Laboratory exploration of a novel method to protect silicate relics against salt efflorescence by directional induction of water

Salt efflorescence is one of the critical problems for the preservation of immovable silicate relics. Salt efflorescence mainly comes from continuous cycles of crystallization/dissolution or hydration/dehydration of salts in confined pores in silicate relics. Many protocols have been developed in attempts to alleviate possible salt damages with minor success because of endless water and salt feed from underground. In this study, we propose and design a novel technique for salt damage prevention and protection of immovable relics. Materials with higher water-absorbing ability than matrix are applied to control the water and salt migration direction in simulated sand samples. The distribution of moisture content on the surface of sand is followed by hyperspectral imaging. It appears that water and salt molecules will preferentially transport towards positions containing higher water-absorbing material. Both organic and inorganic high water-absorbing materials show effective in controlling the water and salt migration direction, which provides a new approach for the prevention and protection of salt efflorescence in silicate cultural relics.

Study on fretting friction properties based on GCr15 alloy and liquid epoxy resin protective coatings on GCr15 alloy

GCr15 alloy steel is a representative alloy steel of high carbon chromium bearing steel, with good comprehensive performance. However, the fretting wear and fatigue at the interface of the GCr15 friction pair greatly reduce its service life. In this study, the friction pair of GCr15 alloy was prepared by the surface treatment of epoxy resin coating. The tangential fretting wear experiments were conducted on the samples with the point contact mode in an SRV-IV multifunctional tester to investigate the evolution law of coefficient of fretting wear, dissipation energy and damage varying with the normal load and displacement amplitude. The results showed that the coefficients of the friction pairs treated with epoxy resin composite materials are lower than those of GCr15-GCr15 friction pairs under the same normal load and displacement amplitude, and the friction coefficients of both types of friction pairs gradually decreased with the increase of normal load and the decrease of displacement amplitude. At the same time, epoxy resin coating treatment reduced the dissipation energy of fretting wear. From the perspective of damage protection, GCr15-GCr15 exhibits severe scratch damage, micropores, and microcracks after friction experiments, while the epoxy resin coating mainly showed furrow. In addition, the decrease in hardness of polymer composite coating increased the wear rate of the samples to a certain extent.

Diacerein reduces sensorimotor deficits after spinal cord injury by clip-compression in female rats by protection of cellular damage in long time

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a cause of long-term disability, and one of the main problems is sensorimotor response impairment. Thus, become important treatments that reduce the progressive secondary damage that causes the loss of spared neurons. Due to the oxidative stress and inflammation interaction after damage, we tested if diacerein, a classic pharmacologic anti-inflammatory, could reduce the cell damage in the long term and recover sensorimotor responses after SCI in rats. Clip-compression SCI model in female Wistar rats caused severe locomotory loss performance showed through assessment by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale and induced thermal hyperalgesia observed by Plantar Test Apparatus. When diacerein was administered twice a day for thirty-five days, the data presented a significant recovery of locomotion and an attenuation of thermal hyperalgesia. The increased adrenal glands’ weight and reduced soleus muscle mass were attenuated by diacerein. The immunoblotting showed that diacerein prevented progressive damage at the site of injury demonstrated by the recovery of nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) levels, reduction of protein nitration by 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) expression and inflammation decreased showed by a less expression in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immune content induced by injury. Therefore, the present data suggest that blockage of secondary damage by diacerein can inhibit the oxidative/inflammatory process by increasing Nrf2 and improving sensorimotor recovery in rats.

Polyphenols of brown (Brassica juncea) and white (Sinapis alba) mustard seeds: Extraction optimization, compositional analysis, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory activities

Mustard seeds is a traditional Chinese natural product of pharmaceutical and dietary origin, rich in polyphenols, flavonoids, and other active ingredients, exhibiting multiple bioactivities. In order to improve the yield, polyphenols from brown and white mustard seeds were extracted under better circumstances using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Subsequently, components were assessed using LC-MS/MS. A total of 8 phenolic compounds and 3 flavonoid compounds were identified in brown mustard seeds extracts (BMSE), and 14 phenolic compounds and 4 flavonoid compounds were identified in white mustard seeds extracts (WMSE). Meanwhile, the biological activities of BMSE and WMSE were compared via in vitro free radical scavenging, hepatocyte oxidative injury protection, and macrophage immunoregulation models. The results showed that both BMSE and WMSE exhibited antioxidant activity and oxidative damage protection activity on HL-7702 cells, and BMSE was more effective. The viability of HL-7702 cells induced oxidative damage by hydrogen peroxide treated with BMSE and WMSE was increased by 36.7% and 32.8%, respectively. WMSE exhibited better in vitro immunomodulatory activities than BMSE, including proliferation promoting, phagocytosis, and NO release abilities on RAW264.7 cells. This study can contribute to the application of mustard seeds polyphenols in the field of functional foods, as well as provide a direction for the high-value utilization of mustard seeds.

Insights and mechanics-driven modeling of human cutaneous impact injuries

Cutaneous damage mechanisms related to dynamic fragment impacts are dependent on the impact angle, impact energy, and fragment characteristics including shape, volume, contact friction, and orientation. Understanding the cutaneous injury mechanism and its relationship to the fragment parameters is lacking compromising damage classification, treatment, and protection. Here we develop a high-fidelity dynamic mechanics-driven model for partial-thickness skin injuries and demonstrate the influence of fragment parameters on the injury mechanism and damage sequence. The model quantitatively predicts the wound shape, area, and depth into the skin layers for selected impact angles, kinetic energy density, and the fragment projectile type including shape and material. The detailed sequence of impact damage including epidermal tearing that occurs ahead of the fragments initial contact location, subsequent stripping of the epidermal/dermal junction, and crushing of the underlying dermis are revealed. We demonstrate that the fragment contact friction with skin plays a key role in redistributing impact energy affecting the extent of epidermal tearing and dermal crushing. Furthermore, projectile edges markedly affect injury severity dependent on the orientation of the edge during initial impact. The model provides a quantitative framework for understanding the detailed mechanisms of cutaneous damage and a basis for the design of protective equipment.

Research Progress on Surface Damage and Protection Strategies of Armature-Rail Friction Pair Materials for Electromagnetic Rail Launch.

Electromagnetic rail launch technology has attracted increasing attention owing to its advantages in terms of range, firepower, and speed. However, due to electricity-magnetism-heat-force coupling, the surface of the armature-rail friction pair becomes severely damaged, which restricts the development of this technology. A series of studies have been conducted to reduce the damage of the armature-rail friction pair, including an analysis of the damage mechanism and protection strategies. In this study, various types of surface damage were classified into mechanical, electrical, and coupling damages according to their causes. This damage is caused by factors such as mechanical friction, mechanical impact, and electric erosion, either individually or in combination. Then, a detailed investigation of protection strategies for reducing damage is introduced, including material improvement through the use of novel combined deformation and heat treatment processes to achieve high strength and high conductivity, as well as surface treatment technologies such as structural coatings for wear resistance and functional coatings for ablation and melting resistance. Finally, future development prospects of armature-rail friction pair materials are discussed. This study provides a theoretical basis and directions for the development of high-performance materials for the armature-rail friction pair.

Exploring the excellence of commercial Brahmi products from Thai online markets: Unraveling phytochemical contents, antioxidant properties and DNA damage protection

Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst.) is extensively used as a nutritional supplement in various commercial products as the plant contains abundant phytochemicals and has antioxidant properties. This study assessed the phytochemical contents, antioxidant properties, and DNA damage protection among seven Brahmi products sold through Thai online markets. Results showed that the P6 sample exhibited 3.5–7.5 fold higher bacoside contents than values observed in the other six product samples. The P6 sample also demonstrated the highest TTC, TFC, and TPC compared to the other brands. For antioxidant activity, the samples (P1–P7) displayed high capacity to scavenge DPPH free radicals with slightly significant differences ranging from 78.37 ± 0.25 to 87.21 ± 0.05 at p-value ≤0.01. The P6 sample showed strong protection against H2O2-induced oxidation of DNA strand breakage, indicating highly potent phytochemical compounds with effective free radical scavenging activity, and the ability to prevent DNA damage. The P6 sample showed promise as a valuable ingredient for the development of functional food products. However, further in vivo animal and clinical studies are required to explore the neuroprotective enhancement effects of Brahmi extracts.

A pre-failure narrow concrete cracks dataset for engineering structures damage classification and segmentation

Monitoring of structures’ condition plays a fundamental role in providing safety for users and extending the structures’ lifespan. The monitoring is conducted through on-site inspections by engineers thus this process is time-consuming, labor-intensive and prone to subjective engineering opinions. Detecting damage using machine learning algorithms on images can support engineers’ work, especially for early damages which are difficult to see with the human eye. This article is focused on the concrete crack detection problem in engineering structural elements. Despite the availability of several concrete crack detection datasets, no dataset allows semantic segmentation of cracks narrower than 0.3 mm (the crack width limit for typical engineering structures elements and environmental conditions according to EC 1992-1-1) and the ability for crack classification is limited. The provided open dataset represents only cracks below the crack width limit of 0.3mm, which do not yet indicate concrete elements failure. It is dedicated for early crack classification and segmentation, so that damage protection can be taken at an early stage to prevent structural element damages.

In vitro ischemic preconditioning mediates the Ca2+/CaN/NFAT pathway to protect against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced cellular damage and inflammatory responses

Oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) is a critical model for studying hypoxic-ischemic cerebrovascular disease in vitro. This paper is to investigate the protection of OGD-induced cellular damage and inflammatory responses by OGD preconditioning in vitro, to provide a theoretical basis for OGD preconditioning to improve the prevention and prognosis of ischemic stroke. OGD or OGD preconditioning model was established by culturing the PC12 cell line in vitro, followed by further adding A23187 (calcium ion carrier) or CsA (calcium ion antagonist). Cell viability was detected by MTT, apoptosis by Hoechst 33,258 staining, the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNA by RT-qPCR and ELISA, and the levels of CaN, NFAT, COX-2 by RT-qPCR and Western blot. Cell viability was decreased, and apoptosis, inflammatory cytokines, and CaN, NFAT, and COX-2 levels were notably increased upon OGD, while OGD pretreatment significantly increased cell viability and decreased apoptosis, inflammation, and the Ca2+/CaN/NFAT pathway. Treatment with A23187 decreased cell viability, promoted apoptosis, and significantly increased TNF-α, IL-1β, CaN, NFAT, and COX-2 levels, while CsA treatment reduced the opposite results. In vitro OGD preconditioning mediates the Ca2+/CaN/NFAT pathway to protect against OGD-induced cellular damage and inflammatory responses.

Investigation of the Effects of Resveratrol on Paracetamol Toxicity Established in Hep3B Cells

Aim: We therefore wanted to investigate acetaminophen hepatotoxicity by using Hep3B human hepatoma cells exposed to acetaminophen and resveratrol, used as a protective agent. Specifically, we studied the role of some proinflammatory markers and oxidative damage as possible mechanisms of acetaminophen-associated cytotoxicity.
 Materials and Method: The Hep3B human hepatoma cell line was used for this study. In vitro studies (GSH, SOD, CAT, AST, ALT, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and cell viability) were performed by using different methods such as Biochemical analyzer, RT-PCR, ELISA and MTT. Acetaminophen and resveratrol were applied to cells in a different time and doses.
 Results: Only acetaminophen treatment decreased SOD, CAT and GSH levels in Hep3B cells whereas acetaminophen and resveratrol co-treatment increased these enzymes levels. On the other hand, acetaminophen and resveratrol co-treatment (especially 160 µM dose of resveratrol) lead a severe increase in TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels.
 Conclusion: It is shown that acetaminophen has caused hepatotoxicity but interestingly but resveratrol treatment effects the related parameters mentioned above. Only, acetaminophen administration may cause abnormal decreases and/or increases in antioxidant enzymes and proinflammatory cytokines levels. Additionally, acetaminophen and high dose resveratrol co-treatment triggered the inflammation and oxidative stress. These results showed that resveratrol have a potential to be an effective agent on the treatment and protection of hepatic damage.

Experimental validation and mathematical simulation for laser protection performance of light field imaging

Photoelectric imaging systems typically employ a focal plane detector structure, rendering them vulnerable to laser damage. Laser damage can severely impair or even completely deprive the information acquisition capability of photoelectric imaging systems. A laser damage protection method based on a microlens array light field imaging system is proposed to prevent photoelectric imaging systems from laser damage. The technique utilizes the light field modulation effect of the microlens array to homogenize the spot energy, thereby reducing the maximum single-pixel receiving power at the image sensor. The method’s effectiveness has been verified through numerical simulations and experimental validation. First, the laser transmission theoretical model of light field imaging is proposed. Then an experimental setup is established, and measurements are conducted to capture the spot profiles and intensity distributions on the imaging plane across various defocus distances. Finally, the impact of the propagation distance on the maximum single-pixel receiving power and suppression ratio of the light field imaging system is experimentally measured. The simulation and experimental results indicate that, with the proposed method, the energy suppression ratio can easily reach two orders of magnitude, significantly reducing the probability of laser damage in photoelectric imaging systems.

Study on the relationship of design parameters and damage modes for RC slabs subjected to large-scale hard missile impacts base on task-driven approach

This study proposes a novel hybrid ensemble learning (EL) model that integrates CatBoost and SMOTE-NC algorithms to evaluate the damage modes of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs under large-scale hard missile impacts, overcoming the limitations of conventional approaches. To develop the optimization model, a database was constructed using publicly published experimental data from 304 large-scale missile impact tests conducted on RC plates. Furthermore, the SMOTE-NC oversampling algorithm is employed to optimize the database and address the issue of class imbalance. Subsequently, four ensemble machine learning models and empirical formulas are assessed. The findings indicate that the hybrid ensemble learning model combining CatBoost and SMOTE-NC exhibits superior performance, showcasing robustness and efficacy. Furthermore, through the application of SHAP analysis, it was revealed that velocity, thickness, concrete compressive strength, missile mass, reinforcement ratio, and missile diameter are the most influential variables, and they interact with each other in significant ways. Notably, the analysis indicated that once the concrete compressive strength reaches a certain value, further improvements may have a detrimental effect on penetration resistance. Additionally, the impact of yield strength on slab performance becomes more pronounced as the slab thickness decreases. Drawing upon these findings, a proposed approach for damage assessment and protection design utilizing an interpretable hybrid EL model was introduced. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the applicability of this model is confined to RC targets with finite thickness, specifically engineered to withstand large-scale hard missile impacts.

Pediatric Burkitt Leukemia with Underlying MSH2, MUTYH and POT1 Germline Variants: The Complexities and Relevance of Understanding Cancer Predisposition

Monoallelic germline variants in POT1 can lead to POT1-tumor predisposition (POT1-TPD), an autosomal dominant disorder leading to a spectrum of neoplasia, predominantly, melanoma, glioma, angiosarcoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Recently, germline POT1 variants have been described to be associated with familial clonal hematopoiesis syndrome.The POT1 protein forms a part of shelterin complex, which has been implicated in DNA damage protection, telomere length regulation and chromosomal stability. The proposed mechanism of oncogenesis by POT1 variants is presumed to be secondary to increased telomere length causing genomic instability and cellular immortality. While POT1-TPD can cause CLL in adulthood, childhood leukemias have not been commonly observed. Here, we present a case of a previously healthy 12-year-old male diagnosed with Burkitt leukemia. He presented with leukocytosis and tumor lysis syndrome. Bone marrow evaluation revealed hypercellular marrow involved by Burkitt lymphoma, comprising over 90% marrow cellularity. Flow cytometry showed an abnormal lambda monotypic B-lymphoid population positive for CD10, CD19, CD20, CD22 and CD45. FISH studies demonstrated low-level MYC rearrangement (9%); negative for BCL2 and BCL6 rearrangement. EBV staining was negative. Acute leukemia NGS panel (63 genes) revealed a Tier 1 somatic variant in PHF6. RNA sequencing did not detect additional fusions. His chemotherapy course was complicated by significant toxicities including prolonged count recovery, severe peripheral neuropathy, neurotoxicity, kidney injury and several infectious complications. Given extensive family history of cancers on the maternal side including colorectal, duodenal, brain and skin cancers, a germline cancer predisposition NGS panel was sent from cultured skin fibroblast and identified two heterozygous pathogenic variants in MSH2 (c.942+3A>T) and MUTYH (c.1187G>A) and a heterozygous likely pathogenic variant in POT1 (c.233T>C). To delineate potential roles of these germline variants in oncogenesis, additional testing was performed. Immunohistochemical staining of bone marrow revealed intact nuclear expression of MLH1, PMS2, MSH2,and MSH6,suggesting microsatellite stability. Extended tumor profiling through whole exome sequencing did not identify additional somatic variants or copy loss of heterozygosity in MSH2, MUTYH and POT1 but additional somatic loss of function variants were seen in CCND3, CASP8, ARID1, and PTPRD.To assess potential functional consequences of the POT1 germline variant on DNA double-strand break (DSB) damage repair, the patient lymphocytes were exposed to 2 Gy ionizing radiation and mobilization and kinetics of DNA DSB repair was assessed at 1h and 24h post-irradiation (IR) using phosphorylation (p) of ATM, SMC1 and H2AX (gamma), and cell death and apoptosis was also assessed at 24h post-irradiation by flow cytometry. There was normal mobilization and repair of DNA DSBs in T, B and NK cells although there was a subset of CD19dim B cells that showed constitutive DNA DSBs at1h with partial repair at 24h. It is not evident that this defect can be attributed to the germline defects as they are also observed in several other clinical contexts, including post-chemotherapy. Telomere length assay from peripheral blood demonstrated telomere length at 50 th percentile in both lymphocytes and granulocytes. Children in families with adult-onset cancer predisposition syndromes may present with cancers but the potential contribution of these germline variants to these childhood cancers is unknown. Our molecular and functional studies on both germline and tumor tissues did not suggest direct contribution of these germline variants on lymphomagenesis, however there might be other mechanism of inactivation not identified from this study. This case highlights the complexities of understanding genetic susceptibility in childhood cancers. We propose a multifactorial oligogenic inheritance of cancer susceptibility in this patient through several mechanisms of genomic instability.

The Dsup coordinates grain development and abiotic stress in rice

DNA damage is a serious threat to all living organisms and may be induced by environmental stressors. Previous studies have revealed that the tardigrade (Ramazzotius varieornatus) DNA damage suppressor protein Dsup has protective effects in human cells and tobacco. However, whether Dsup provides radiation damage protection more widely in crops is unclear. To explore the effects of Dsup in other crops, stable Dsup overexpression lines through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation were generated and their agronomic traits were deeply investigated. In this study, the overexpression of Dsup not only enhanced the DNA damage resistance at the seeds and seedlings stages, they also exhibited grain size enlargement and starch granule structure and cell size alteration by the scanning electron microscopy observation. Notably, the RNA-seq revealed that the Dsup plants increased radiation-related and abiotic stress-related gene expression in comparison to wild types, suggesting that Dsup is capable to coordinate normal growth and abiotic stress resistance in rice. Immunoprecipitation enrichment with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (IP-LC-MS) assays uncovered 21 proteins preferably interacting with Dsup in plants, suggesting that Dsup binds to transcription and translation related proteins to regulate the homeostasis between DNA protection and plant development. In conclusion, our data provide a detailed agronomic analysis of Dsup plants and potential mechanisms of Dsup function in crops. Our findings provide novel insights for the breeding of crop radiation resistance.

Antioxidant activity of Flemingia praecox and Mucuna pruriens and their implications for male fertility improvement

Globally, 15–24% couples are unable to conceive naturally and 50% of cases of this problem are due to infertility in males. Of this, about 50% of male infertility problems are developed due to unknown reasons called as idiopathic infertility. It is well established that, reactive oxygen species (ROS) have negative impact on male fertility and are involved in 80% of total idiopathic male infertility cases. Medicinal plants are considered as an alternative approach for mitigating the health problems. The plants with good antioxidant capacity can improve the male infertility symptoms generated by ROS. Such medicinal plants can be used to alleviate the symptoms of male infertility with their diverse phytoconstituents. Mucuna pruriens is a well-accepted herb, with its seeds being used to improve the male fertility in various ways and one of the ways is by eliminating the ROS. In our field survey, another plant, Flemingia praecox, although less known, its roots are used in all problems related to the male fertility by tribal people of the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. The study was conducted to determine in vitro antioxidant potential of F. praecox and compared the results with the well-established male fertility improving plant M. pruriens with special emphasis on medicinally important roots of F. praecox and seeds of M. pruriens. The objective of the study was investigated by studying their total phenol (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) content, antioxidant parameters (DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, DMPD, β-carotene bleaching and TAA) and finally DNA damage protection capacity of the plant extracts was studied. The plant parts used for the medicinal purposes have been investigated along with other major parts (leaves, stem and roots of both the plants) and compared with synthetic antioxidants, BHA, BHT and ascorbic acid. Moreover, the inhibition of two male infertility enzyme markers, PDE5 and arginase by F. praecox root and M. pruriens seed extract was also studied in vitro. The results showed that F. praecox possesses higher antioxidant activity than M. pruriens in the majority of studies as observed in TFC, DPPH, TAA, ABTS and DMPD assays. However, M. pruriens seeds showed best results in TPC, FRAP and DNA damage protection assay. F. praecox root extract also gave better PDE5 inhibition value than M. pruriens seeds. This study will help to establish the authenticity of F. praecox used by tribal people and will encourage its further use in managing the male infertility problems.

Mitigation ofHearing Damage With Liraglutide Treatment inChinchillas After Repeated Blast Exposures at Mild-TBI.

Although hearing protection devices (HPDs) have been widely used during training and combat, over one million veterans experience service-connected hearing loss. Hearing damage has been reported to be associated with blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and there is a lack of understanding and treatment. Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist and a potential treatment for TBI-induced memory deficits. This study aims to investigate the function of the liraglutide to prevent damage and facilitate hearing restoration in chinchillas exposed to multiple high-intensity, mTBI-level blasts. Chinchillas were divided into three treatment groups: blast control, pre-blast drug treatment, and post-blast drug treatment. On day 1, the chinchilla ears were protected by HPDs and exposed to three blasts with peak pressure levels of 15-25 psi. The auditory brainstem response (ABR), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), and middle latency response (MLR) were recorded pre- and post-blast on day 1 and on days 4, 7, 14, and 28. Substantial acute damage was observed and progressively recovered in chinchillas after the blast exposures. The pre-blast treatment group exhibited the lowest elevation of the ABR threshold and reduction of the wave I amplitude on day 1 after blasts. The liraglutide treatment insignificantly facilitated the recovery of the DPOAE levels and ABR thresholds on days 14 and 28. The pre-blast treatment chinchillas showed reduced MLR amplitudes on days 4 and 7. This study indicated that the pre-blast liraglutide administration provided damage protection against blasts in addition to the HPDs. Current evidence suggests that the effect of liraglutide is more prominent in the early phase of the experiment.

Damage Compensation and Protection of Rights in Environmental Health Torts -- Based on the Principle of Priority of Health Right in Environmental Law

The analysis of the correlation between human beings and the natural environment shows that the natural environment is the foundation of the right to health, and from the perspective of environmental law, the latter leads to the notion of Priority of Health Right, which must be institutionalized in order to truly implant it into the teleological dimension of environmental law, so that it can become a working principle that unifies the legislative notion and judicial practice, thus realizing the protection of public health rights. In order to apply and implement the principle of priority of health right, this paper focuses on the litigation system of eco-environmental damage compensation, and proposes an optimal path to strengthen the protection of public health rights from two perspectives: the standardization of the appraisal system and the elaboration of moral damage.

Deformation and Trapping of Cell Nucleus Using Micropillar Substrates Possibly Affect UV Radiation Resistance of DNA

DNA damage induced by the ultraviolet (UV) light, which affects adversely on genome stability, causes many kinds of diseases. Thus, a biochemical or biomechanical method in DNA damage protection is well required. In the present study, we investigated the effects of mechanical factors, such as deformation of cell nucleus using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfabricated array of micropillars, on UV radiation resistance of DNA in cultured cells. The epithelial-like cells spread normally in the spaces between micropillars and their nuclei showed remarkable deformation and appeared to be “trapped” mechanically on the array of pillars. We found that the UV radiation-induced DNA damage estimated by the fluorescent intensity of the phospho-histone γ-H2AX, was significantly inhibited with the nucleus deformation on the pillars. The result indicates that the inhibition of UV radiation-induced DNA damages might be resulted from structural change of DNA caused by the mechanical stress of the cell nucleus on the micropillars.

Technological advancements in surgical laparoscopy considering artificial intelligence: a survey among surgeons in Germany

PurposeThe integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into surgical laparoscopy has shown promising results in recent years. This survey aims to investigate the inconveniences of current conventional laparoscopy and to evaluate the attitudes and desires of surgeons in Germany towards new AI-based laparoscopic systems.MethodsA 12-item web-based questionnaire was distributed to 38 German university hospitals as well as to a Germany-wide voluntary hospital association (CLINOTEL) consisting of 66 hospitals between July and November 2022.ResultsA total of 202 questionnaires were completed. The majority of respondents (88.1%) stated that they needed one assistant during laparoscopy and rated the assistants’ skillfulness as “very important” (39.6%) or “important” (49.5%). The most uncomfortable aspects of conventional laparoscopy were inappropriate camera movement (73.8%) and lens condensation (73.3%). Selected features that should be included in a new laparoscopic system were simple and intuitive maneuverability (81.2%), automatic de-fogging (80.7%), and self-cleaning of camera (77.2%). Furthermore, AI-based features were improvement of camera positioning (71.3%), visualization of anatomical landmarks (67.3%), image stabilization (66.8%), and tissue damage protection (59.4%). The reason for purchasing an AI-based system was to improve patient safety (86.1%); the reasonable price was €50.000–100.000 (34.2%), and it was expected to replace the existing assistants’ workflow up to 25% (41.6%).ConclusionSimple and intuitive maneuverability with improved and image-stabilized camera guidance in combination with a lens cleaning system as well as AI-based augmentation of anatomical landmarks and tissue damage protection seem to be significant requirements for the further development of laparoscopic systems.

Sensitive, rapid detection of NCOA4-m6A towards precisely quantifying radiation dosage on a Cas13a-Microdroplet platform

Precise quantification of low-dose ionizing radiation is of great significance in protecting people from damage caused by clinical radiotherapy or environmental radiation. Traditional techniques for detecting radiation, however, remain extreme challenges to achieve high sensitivity and speed in quantifying radiation dosage. In this work, we report a Cas13a-Microdroplet platform that enables sensitive detection of ultra-low doses of radiation (0.5 Gy vs. 1 Gy traditional) within 1 h. The micro-platform adopts an ideal, specific radiation-sensitive marker, m6A on NCOA4 gene (NCOA4-m6A) that was first reported in our recent work. Microfluidics of the platform generate uniform microdroplets that encapsulate a CRISPR/Cas13a detection system and NCOA4-m6A target from the whole RNA extraction, achieving 10-fold enhancement in sensitivity and significantly reduced limit of detection (LOD). Systematic mouse models and clinical patient samples demonstrated its superior sensitivity and LOD (0.5 Gy) than traditional qPCR, which show wide potentials in radiation tracking and damage protection.