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Abstract Sessile drops are ubiquitous and important in technological applications. While dynamics of liquid drops have been studied under confinement, the possibility of creating sessile drops with reduced dimensionality has not been explored. Here, we demonstrate a quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) analogy for axisymmetric sessile three-dimensional (3D) drops. The Q2D drops are created by confining liquids between parallel vertical walls, forming low aspect ratio capillary bridges deformed by gravity. Stationary Q2D drops adopt projected shapes analogous to 3D sessile drops, ranging from circular drops to puddles. When moving, the Q2D drops exhibit capillary and fluid mechanical behaviours conceptually analogous to 3D drops, including impacts and sliding. The Q2D drops also exhibit more complex phenomena such as levitation, various instabilities and pattern formation when subjected to external electric, magnetic and flow fields. The 3D-Q2D analogy suggests that the diverse and often complicated phenomena observed in 3D drops can be studied in the simplified Q2D geometry. Additionally, the Q2D confinement analogy allows exploring phenomena arising from the reduced dimensionality and the altered boundary conditions.

Lutein, a plant-derived xanthophyl-carotenoid, is an exceptional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory constituent found in food. High dietary intake of lutein is beneficial against eye disease, improves cardiometabolic health, protects from neurodegenerative diseases, and is beneficial for liver, kidney, and respiratory health. Lutein protects against oxidative and nitrosative stress, both of which play a major role in long COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Lutein is an important natural agent for therapeutic use against oxidative and nitrosative stress in chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. It can also potentially inhibit spike protein-induced inflammation. Rich dietary supplementation of lutein, naturally derived in non-biodegradable Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), can most optimally be used against oxidative and nitrosative stress during post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Due to its high oleic acid (OA) content, EVOO supports optimal absorption of dietary lutein. The main molecular pathways by which the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces pathology, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer activated B cells (NF-κB) and activated protein (AP)-1, can be suppressed by lutein. Synergy with other natural compounds for spike protein detoxification is likely.

Background There is limited data on the reasons for escalation or de-escalation of COPD inhaled therapies in routine clinical practice, especially after the follow-up pharmacological treatment guidance on the 2019 GOLD report and the 2020 ERS guideline on ICS withdrawal.Methods The STEPINCOPD study was a 12-week, two-visit, prospective observational study that aimed to describe the reasons for change of inhaled therapies, in accordance with GOLD recommendations 2021. Only patients that had a recent change in their inhaled medication were enrolled. Moreover, we investigated associations between physicians’ and patients’ characteristics and adherence to GOLD recommendations.Results 1429 patients were enrolled from 146 centers (138 private practice and 8 hospitals) throughout Greece. At enrollment, the most frequent reasons for treatment change were lack of clinical (78.9%) or spirometric (49.5%) response to previous treatment, change in CAT score (45.1%), and mMRC score (28.2%). At the follow-up visit, most common reasons were lack of clinical response to previous treatment (71.4%), COPD exacerbations (59.5%), changes in CAT score (52.4%), lack of spirometric response (42.9%) and lower respiratory tract infections (31%). We observed high adherence to the GOLD 2021 recommendations (81.6% at enrollment and 92.9% at follow-up). Physicians’ age and consideration of GOLD recommendations for prescription choice, as well as patients’ CAT score were significant predictors of adherence to GOLD.Conclusion The STEPINCOPD study highlights the reasons for inhaled treatment change in Greek physicians with high adherence to GOLD recommendations and provides insights for future research that may inform the development of decision support tools.

Lutein, a plant-derived xanthophyl-carotenoid, is an exceptional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory constituent found in food. High dietary intake of lutein is beneficial against eye disease, improves cardiometabolic health, protects from neurodegenerative diseases, and is beneficial for liver, kidney, and respiratory health. Lutein protects against oxidative and nitrosative stress, both of which play a major role in long COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Lutein is an important natural agent for therapeutic use against oxidative and nitrosative stress in chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. It can also potentially inhibit spike protein-induced inflammation. Rich dietary supplementation of lutein, naturally derived in non-biodegradable Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), can most optimally be used against oxidative and nitrosative stress during post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Due to its high oleic acid (OA) content, EVOO supports optimal absorption of dietary lutein. The main molecular pathways by which the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces pathology, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer activated B cells (NF-κB) and activated protein (AP)-1, can be suppressed by lutein. Synergy with other natural compounds for spike protein detoxification is likely.

Given that radium-223 is a radiopharmaceutical that induces DNA damage, and olaparib is a PARP inhibitor that interferes with DNA repair mechanisms, we hypothesized their synergy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We sought to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of olaparib + radium-223. We conducted a multicenter phase I 3+3 dose escalation study of olaparib with fixed dose radium-223 in patients with mCRPC with bone metastases. The primary objective was to establish the RP2D of olaparib, with secondary objectives of safety, PSA response, alkaline phosphatase response, radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS), overall survival, and efficacy by homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene status. Twelve patients were enrolled; all patients received a prior androgen receptor signaling inhibitor (ARSI; 100%) and 3 patients (25%) prior docetaxel. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) included cytopenias, fatigue, and nausea. No DLTs were seen in the observation period however delayed toxicities guided the RP2D. The RP2D of olaparib was 200 mg orally twice daily with radium-223. The most common treatment-related adverse events were fatigue (92%) and anemia (58%). The rPFS at 6 months was 58% (95% confidence interval, 27%-80%). Nine patients were evaluable for HRR gene status; 1 had a BRCA2 alteration (rPFS 11.8 months) and 1 had a CDK12 alteration (rPFS 3.1 months). Olaparib can be safely combined with radium-223 at the RP2D 200 mg orally twice daily with fixed dose radium-223. Early clinical benefit was observed and will be investigated in a phase II study.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects more women than men. Although women live longer than men, it is not longevity alone, but other factors, including metabolic changes, that contribute to the higher risk of AD in women. Metabolic pathways have been implicated in AD progression, but studies to date examined targeted pathways, leaving many metabolites unmeasured. Sex is often a neglected biological variable, and most metabolomic studies were not designed to investigate sex differences in metabolomic profiles. Here, we performed untargeted metabolomic profiling of sera from male and female patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a common precursor to AD, and matched controls. We discovered significant metabolic changes in individuals with MCI, and found several pathways that were strongly associated with sex. Peptide energy metabolism demonstrated sexual dimorphism. Lipid pathways exhibited the strongest differences between female and male MCI patients, including specific phosphatidylcholine lipids, lysophospholipids, long-chain fatty acids, and monoacylglycerols. 1-palmitoleoyl glycerol and 1-arachidonoyl glycerol were higher in female MCI subjects than in male MCI subjects with no differences between control males and females. Conversely, specific dicarboxylic fatty acids were lower in female MCI subjects than male MCI subjects. In cultured astrocytes, 1-arachidonoyl glycerol promoted phosphorylation of the transcriptional regulator sphingosine kinase 2, which was inhibited by the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 receptor antagonists, as well as chromatin remodelling. Overall, we identified novel sex-specific metabolites in MCI patients that could serve as biomarkers of MCI in both sexes, help further define AD etiology, and reveal new potential prevention strategies for AD.

Lutein, a plant-derived xanthophyl-carotenoid, is an exceptional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory constituent found in food. High dietary intake of lutein is beneficial against eye disease, improves cardiometabolic health, protects from neurodegenerative diseases, and is beneficial for liver, kidney, and respiratory health. Lutein protects against oxidative and nitrosative stress, both of which play a major role in post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Lutein is an important natural agent for therapeutic use against oxidative and nitrosative stress in chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. It can also potentially inhibit spike protein-induced inflammation. Rich dietary supplementation of lutein, naturally derived in non-biodegradable Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), can most optimally be used against oxidative and nitrosative stress during post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes. Due to its high oleic acid (OA) content, EVOO supports optimal absorption of dietary lutein. The main molecular pathways by which the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces pathology, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer activated B cells (NF-κB) and activated protein (AP)-1, can be suppressed by lutein. Synergy with other natural compounds for spike protein detoxification is likely.

Background Type 2 diabetes is prevalent in cardiovascular disease and contributes to excess morbidity and mortality. We sought to investigate the effect of glycemia on functional cardiac improvement, morbidity, and mortality in durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients. Methods and Results Consecutive patients with an LVAD were prospectively evaluated (n=531). After excluding patients missing pre‐LVAD glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measurements or having inadequate post‐LVAD follow‐up, 375 patients were studied. To assess functional cardiac improvement, we used absolute left ventricular ejection fraction change (ΔLVEF: LVEF post‐LVAD−LVEF pre‐LVAD). We quantified the association of pre‐LVAD HbA1c with ΔLVEF as the primary outcome, and all‐cause mortality and LVAD‐related adverse event rates (ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack, intracerebral hemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, LVAD‐related infection, device thrombosis) as secondary outcomes. Last, we assessed HbA1c differences pre‐ and post‐LVAD. Patients with type 2 diabetes were older, more likely men suffering ischemic cardiomyopathy, and had longer heart failure duration. Pre‐LVAD HbA1c was inversely associated with ΔLVEF in patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy but not in those with ischemic cardiomyopathy, after adjusting for age, sex, heart failure duration, and left ventricular end‐diastolic diameter. Pre‐LVAD HbA1c was not associated with all‐cause mortality, but higher pre‐LVAD HbA1c was shown to increase the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, LVAD‐related infection, and device thrombosis by 3 years on LVAD support (P

An innovative solution to the optimal motion planning problem is presented in this work. A novel parametrized actor structure is proposed, which guarantees safe and convergent navigation by construction. Concurrently, an efficient scheme for optimizing a mixed state and energy cost function is formulated. The proposed method inherits the positive traits of continuous methods, while at the same time providing sub-optimal –but close to optimal– results significantly faster and in more complex workspaces than previous ones. The scheme is demonstrated to outperform established relevant methods, while at the same time being competitive w.r.t. execution time. Extensive simulations to validate the effectiveness of the method are presented, along with relevant technical proofs for safety and convergence.

Recently, governmental subsidies have led to increased renewable energy adoption and household CO2 emissions reduction. However, energy efficiency improvement and greenhouse gas emission reduction potential in households’ sector are not yet fully realized. Decision-making by individuals is also a crucial factor in adopting energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies, which is why this study analyses some important behavioral change-linked issues. This study also focuses on various policies and measures to achieve energy efficiency improvements in households, such as use of renewable energy sources, renovation of residential buildings, use of energy efficient appliances etc. The methodology of the study contains a bibliometric analysis in the field of energy efficiency at households, covering the years of publication 2010-2023 and organizing all documents into 9 classifications. Among them 6 classifications have been further considered: Citation analysis; Authors’ networks; High impact journals of publishing; Knowledge mapping of co-authorship collaboration among institutions; Co-authorship among countries; Keywords concurrence analysis. Following a systematic literature review the bibliometric findings reveal the steady increase of literature production in the field of energy efficiency at households, showing also the pivotal role of institutions among developed and industrialized economies. Moreover, there is a densely and steadily growing network of keywords reported, implying the thematic expansion of this topic from the modelling-pilot scales towards the real world and in field applications. Finally, identified research constraints of energy efficiency improvement are that of: high costs, lack of information and knowledge, low priority to environmental and climate change mitigation concerns, and resistance to behavioral change.

Inflammation is a key process in the pathophysiology of various diseases, with macrophages playing a central role in the inflammatory response. This study investigates the anti-inflammatory potential of a newly synthesized analog of oleuropein (OP), the major olive tree (Olea europaea) metabolite. This derivative of OP, named Ole-Oxy, was designed by introducing an oxygen atom between the aromatic ring and the aliphatic chain of OP, to enhance interaction with proteins and improve bioactivity. Ole-Oxy demonstrated notable anti-inflammatory effects in vitro, particularly in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-differentiated THP-1 macrophages, where it markedly reduced interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, surpassing the effects of OP. In vivo, Ole-Oxy was evaluated in mouse models of acute skin and colon inflammation, showing significant efficacy in C57BL/6J mice, likely due to their Th1-biased immune response. Our results suggest that Ole-Oxy modulates inflammation through ROS scavenging and differential macrophage activation, underscoring the need for further research to fully elucidate its mechanism of action and optimize its pharmacokinetic properties for future therapeutic applications.