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The generic term “melanin“ describes a black pigment of biological origin, although some melanins can be brown or even yellow. The pigment is characterized as a heterogenic polymer of phenolic or indolic nature, and the classification of eu-, pheo- and allo- melanin is broadly accepted. This classification is based on the chemical composition of the monomer subunit structure of the pigment. Due to the high heterogeneity of melanins, their analytical characterization can be a challenging task. In the present work, we synthesized the current information about the analytical methods which can be applied in melanin analysis workflow, from extraction and purification to high-throughput methods, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass-spectrometry or pyrolysis gas chromatography. Our thorough comparative evaluation of analytical data published so far on melanin analysis has proven to be a difficult task in terms of finding equivalent results, even when the same matrix was used. Moreover, we emphasize the importance of prior knowledge of melanin types and properties in order to select a valid experimental design using analytical methods that are able to deliver reliable results and draw consistent conclusions.

Background: There is ongoing interest in limiting the extent of treatment for patients with low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and in redesigning individualised follow-up strategies. This study assessed long-term outcomes in patients with excellent response to surgical treatment demonstrated by reaching unmeasurable stimulated thyroglobulin (sTG) levels before proceeding with radioactive iodine ablation. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients treated for DTC in a tertiary referral centre. Radioactive iodine ablation (RIA) was done after hormone withdrawal (before 2015) or after Thyrogen stimulation (in recent years). The biochemical assay for TG changed from a lower limit of detectability of 5 ng/mL to 0.2 ng/mL in 2012. Results: Of 331 patients operated on between 2001 and 2019, unmeasurable sTG was measured in 70 of 138 patients (51%) when using an assay with threshold of 5 ng/mL and in 38 of 193 patients (20%) based on the threshold of 0.2 ng/mL. Compared with patients whose sTG was >5 ng/mL, those with sTG <5 ng/mL (187 of 331 patients) were less likely to have T3–T4 tumours or positive lymph node disease (N1a–N1b) and had a lower MACIS score (5.73 ± 1.26 vs. 6.45 ± 1.69, p < 0.001) and much lower mortality with metastatic disease during follow-up for 100 ± 48 months (3/187 vs. 23/144 patients, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with unmeasurable sTG have excellent prognosis, with very low incidence of adverse events. With the wide use of TG assay with a threshold of 0.2 ng/mL (or lower), this subgroup could have patient-initiated follow-up rather than embark on regular assessments.

The 8b/10b IBM encoding scheme is used in a plethora of communication technologies, including USB, Gigabit Ethernet, and Serial ATA. We propose two primitive-based structural designs of an 8b/10b encoder and two of an 8b/10b decoder, all targeted at modern AMD FPGA architectures. Our aim is to reduce the amount of resources used for the implementations. We compare our designs with implementations resulting from behavioral models as well as with state-of-the-art solutions from the literature. The implementation results show that our solutions provide the lowest resource utilization with comparable maximum operating frequency and power consumption. The proposed structural designs are suitable for resource-constrained data communication protocol implementations that employ the IBM 8b/10b encoding scheme. This paper is an extended version of our paper published at the 2022 International Symposium on Electronics and Telecommunications (ISETC), Timisoara, Romania, 10–11 November 2022.

The inflammatory protease caspase-1 is associated with the release of cytokines. An excessive number of cytokines (a “cytokine storm”) is a dangerous consequence of COVID-19 infection and has been indicated as being among the causes of death by COVID-19. The anti-inflammatory drug colchicine (which is reported in the literature to be a caspase-1 inhibitor) and the corticosteroid drugs, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone, are among the most effective active compounds for COVID-19 treatment. The SERM raloxifene has also been used as a repurposed drug in COVID-19 therapy. In this study, inhibition of caspase-1 by these four compounds was analyzed using computational methods. Our aim was to see if the inhibition of caspase-1, an important biomolecule in the inflammatory response that triggers cytokine release, could shed light on how these drugs help to alleviate excessive cytokine production. We also measured the antioxidant activities of dexamethasone and colchicine when scavenging the superoxide radical using cyclic voltammetry methods. The experimental findings are associated with caspase-1 active site affinity towards these compounds. In evaluating our computational and experimental results, we here formulate a mechanism for caspase-1 inhibition by these drugs, which involves the active site amino acid Cys285 residue and is mediated by a transfer of protons, involving His237 and Ser339. It is proposed that the molecular moiety targeted by all of these drugs is a carbonyl group which establishes a S(Cys285)–C(carbonyl) covalent bond.

The visualization of hyperspectral images still constitutes an open question and may have an important impact on the consequent analysis tasks. The existing techniques fall mainly in the following categories: band selection, PCA-based approaches, linear approaches, approaches based on digital image processing techniques and machine/deep learning methods. In this article, we propose the usage of a linear model for color formation, to emulate the image acquisition process by a digital color camera. We show how the choice of spectral sensitivity curves has an impact on the visualization of hyperspectral images as RGB color images. In addition, we propose a non-linear model based on an artificial neural network. We objectively assess the impact and the intrinsic quality of the hyperspectral image visualization from the point of view of the amount of information and complexity: (i) in order to objectively quantify the amount of information present in the image, we use the color entropy as a metric; (ii) for the evaluation of the complexity of the scene we employ the color fractal dimension, as an indication of detail and texture characteristics of the image. For comparison, we use several state-of-the-art visualization techniques. We present experimental results on visualization using both the linear and non-linear color formation models, in comparison with four other methods and report on the superiority of the proposed non-linear model.

Trail erosion is a global issue, particularly in mountainous regions, that is largely driven by increased tourist flows and uncontrolled trampling. Our study was conducted in the Bucegi Mountains, Southern Carpathians, Romania, along three of the most frequented hiking trails, each with varying levels of difficulty. Two of these trails cross both the forest and alpine zones, and the other crosses only the alpine zone: Jepii Mici, connecting the Bușteni resort (960 m a.s.l.) to Babele Chalet (2200 m a.s.l.); Jepii Mari, linking Bușteni resort to the National Sports Complex Piatra Arsă (1960 m a.s.l.); and the trail between Babele Chalet and Omu Peak (2505 m a.s.l.). Our analysis focused on morphometric parameters, the volume of displaced soil, and associated geohazards, serving as indicators for assessing the degradation state of hiking trails and their suitability for mountain biking and tourist traffic. The findings reveal a high degree of trail degradation, highlighted by increased trail width, the development of parallel trail sections due to dispersed tourist traffic, areas with abrupt gradient changes, and sections severely affected by erosion, resulting in significant volumes of displaced soil. These factors hinder effective tourist traffic, including hiking and mountain biking, and degrade the mountainous landscape. Conversely, the results can be useful for both monitoring annual trail erosion rates and facilitating tourist access, tailored to individual and group interests, as well as the physical readiness of each tourist, to offer a more pleasurable and sustainable experience.

Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and organ-on-a-chip (OOC) devices are highly versatile platforms that enable miniaturization and advanced controlled laboratory functions (i.e., microfluidics, advanced optical or electrical recordings, high-throughput screening). The manufacturing advancements of LOCs/OOCs for biomedical applications and their current limitations are briefly discussed. Multiple studies have exploited the advantages of mimicking organs or tissues on a chip. Among these, we focused our attention on the brain-on-a-chip, blood–brain barrier (BBB)-on-a-chip, and neurovascular unit (NVU)-on-a-chip applications. Mainly, we review the latest developments of brain-on-a-chip, BBB-on-a-chip, and NVU-on-a-chip devices and their use as testing platforms for high-throughput pharmacological screening. In particular, we analyze the most important contributions of these studies in the field of neurodegenerative diseases and their relevance in translational personalized medicine.

Aim Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare disease with a poor outcome, and robust prognostic factors remain unclear. High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as markers of host inflammation have been found to be associated with decreased long-term outcomes in several tumour types, but have been scarcely analysed in ACC. Methods Patients who underwent resection of their ACC between 2000 and 2020 were identified; therapeutic, operative and outcome data were analysed. Pre-operative NLR and PLR were calculated by division of neutrophils and platelets by lymphocytes measured in peripheral blood. Results Fifty-seven patients (30F:27 M) with an overall median age of 53 years [range: 18–86] presented with tumours of median size 11.5 cm [range: 3.0–22.0], of whom 26 (46%) were hormonally active. Majority of patients underwent an open resection ( n  = 48; 84%); more than half ( n  = 30; 53%) underwent multi-organ excision. Median NLR was 4.63 and median PLR was 186.21; these values were used for median split analyses (low vs. high). There were no differences with regard to age, sex or tumour characteristics and peri-operative data between the two groups (all p  > 0.05). Overall, median recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 26 months (3-year: 45%) on Kaplan–Meier analysis. On univariate analyses, a high NLR did not influence RFS [HR = 1.57 (95%-CI: 0.73–2.38); p  = 0.25], but patients with a high PLR had an increased risk of developing recurrence [HR = 2.39 (95%-CI: 1.08–5.31); p  = 0.03]. The median overall survival (OS) was 33 months (3 years: 79%) on Kaplan–Meier analysis. Both a high NLR [HR = 2.24 (95%-CI: 1.07–4.70); p  = 0.03] and a high PLR [HR = 4.02 (95%-CI: 1.80–8.98); p  = 0.001] were strongly associated with a shorter OS on unadjusted analyses. Conclusion Elevated pre-operative NLR and PLR are associated with shorter OS, while higher PLR was also associated with a shorter RFS for patients undergoing curative intent resection of ACC.

In the latter part of the 20th century, remarkable developments in new dental materials and technologies were achieved. However, regarding the impact of dental resin-based materials 3D-printed on cellular responses, there have been a limited number of published studies recently. The biocompatibility of dental restorative materials is a controversial topic, especially when discussing modern manufacturing technologies. Three-dimensional printing generates the release of residual monomers due to incomplete polymerization of materials and involves the use of potentially toxic substances in post-printing processes that cannot be completely eliminated. Considering the issue of biocompatibility, this article aims to establish an overview of this aspect, summarizing the different types of biocompatibility tests performed on materials used in 3D printing in dentistry. In order to create this comprehensive review, articles dealing with the issue of 3D printing in dentistry were analysed by accessing the main specialized search engines using specific keywords. Relevant data referring to types of materials used in 3DP to manufacture various dental devices, polymerization methods, factors affecting monomer release, cytotoxicity of unreacted products or post-curing treatments, and methods for assessing biocompatibility were analysed. Although the introduction of new restorative materials used in dental treatments is subject to national and international regulations and standards, it is necessary to investigate them regarding biocompatibility in order to support or deny the manufacturers’ statements regarding this aspect.