Open Access

Recent comparative evaluation of various therapeutic methods has shown that the application of carbonized adsorbing materials to the necrosis zones is efficient: it lowers intoxication, adsorbs inflammation factors and products of necrosis, and improves indices of immunological reactivity. Due to their remarkable properties, nanostructured carbonized rice husks (CRH) can be used as sorbents for extraction of microorganisms and their toxins from chronic wounds. Our studies have demonstrated that the use of CRH indeed can develop into an outstanding method for stimulation of wound healing. We produced in rats infected injuries, which healing typically occurs in 12.2 ± 0.2 days. In the case, the CRH may offer multiple specific advantages in topical wound management through their high adsorption ability in respect of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as bacterial toxins. Impregnation of carbonized materials by various essential oils can also enhance the wound healing significantly compared with the conventional carbonized materials. In our study, the combination of CRH with essential oils reduced healing time from 8.3 ± 0.7 days in the CRH-treated group to 7.1 ± 0.3 days in the heterogeneous composite-treated group. This work also demonstrated that the CRH exposure has no significant cytotoxicity in respect of normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF).

Bacterial endotoxin (LPS) removal from aqueous solutions is a challenging bioengineering task because of its ubiquity and high physical and chemical stability. Nowadays, adsorption methods of LPS removal are regarded as most advantageous with many different adsorbent materials being developed. In this work, low-cost nanostructured carbonized material (rice husks-CRH) designed by us in accordance for LPS-adsorption. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the susceptibility of chicken embryos to an injection of endotoxin and CRH-treated endotoxin in vivo during the period of development. Endotoxin extracted from cell walls of E. coli by LPS extraction kid was injected intravenously into fertile eggs, of varying ages. It has been observed that the susceptibility (the development of provisional organs, pyrogenicity, blood analysis and lethal dose (LD50)) of chicken embryos to endotoxin decreased daily as the embryo matured from day 10 to hatching, while CRH-treated LPS had showed weak effect. These data show that the toxin effects of LPS solution was eliminated by CRH, according to the increased resistance of embryos. We consider the obtained results on the basis of novel advanced and economically efficient material CRH are very promising as the increasing number of biotechnological and biomedical applications supposed to be endotoxin-free, as well as still persisting problems with purification of complex mixtures.

Microbial bioaugmentation of coal is considered as a viable and ecologically sustainable approach for the utilization of low-rank coals (LRC). The search for novel techniques to derive high-value products from LRC is currently of great importance. In response to this demand, endeavors have been undertaken to develop microbially based coal solubilization and degradation techniques. The impact of supplementing activated sludge (AS) as a microbial augmentation to enhance LRC biodegradation was investigated in this study. The LRC and their biodegradation products were characterized using the following methods: excitation-emission Matrices detected fluorophores at specific wavelength positions (O, E, and K peaks), revealing the presence of organic complexes with humic properties. FTIR indicated the increased amount of carboxyl groups in the bioaugmented coals, likely due to aerobic oxidation of peripheral non-aromatic structural components of coal. The bacterial communities of LRC samples are primarily composed of Actinobacteria (up to 36.2%) and Proteobacteria (up to 25.8%), whereas the Firmicutes (63.04%) was the most abundant phylum for AS. The community-level physiological profile analysis showed that the microbial community AS had high metabolic activity of compared to those of coal. Overall, the results demonstrated successful stimulation of LRC transformation through supplementation of exogenous microflora in the form of AS.

Cardiovascular diseases require fast and precise treatment, often involving angiography for diagnosis and intervention. However, training in angiographic procedures often entails exposure to ionizing radiation, which carries inherent risks. To reduce this exposure and enhance training realism, we developed AngioSim—a novel augmented-reality angiography simulation system combined with a vascular silicone simulator. This study evaluates the realism, effectiveness, and potential benefits of AngioSim for neurointerventional training. AngioSim was tested during neurointerventional training sessions with 24 physicians at RWTH Aachen University Hospital. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing realism, usefulness, and preferences compared to other simulators using a Likert scale. Responses were converted to binary categories and McNemar tests were applied for paired comparisons. A total of 92% of physicians rated guidewire and catheter visibility during fluoroscopy as sufficient, while 86% found RM and DSA simulations realistic. AngioSim was preferred over camera-based silicone simulators by 93%, and 96% of physicians rated it necessary for training—significantly more than other simulators (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate the high acceptance and perceived realism of the system and suggest that AngioSim offers advantages over existing training methods. AngioSim offers a realistic, cost-effective, and radiation-free training solution while maintaining the benefits of silicone models. It showed high utility for training purposes, making it a promising addition to neurointerventional programs.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between different analysis protocols for the determination of retinal vessel dilation response to flicker light (FL) and its relation to static and metabolic parameters of retinal vessels in healthy subjects. Methods: In total, 24 right eyes of 24 healthy controls (mean age: 36.04 ± SD 14.4 years) who underwent dynamic and static retinal diameter and oxygen saturation measurements on a Retinal Vessel Analyzer (RVA, Imedos, Jena, Germany) were included. Using repeated video analyses, responses to FL were measured with RVA. These measurements were conducted at three specific retinal locations: within the superotemporal area—within a distance of less than one optic disk (OD) diameter to optic nerve head (ONH) (group 1); greater than one OD diameter to ONH (group 2); and areas near the ONH within the VesselMap region (group 3). For comparability, the static and oxygen saturation parameters were also calculated in the superotemporal peripapillary area using the VesselMap tool of the RVA and were evaluated in relation to the corresponding dynamic area (group 3). Results: In all groups, the vascular FL response of arteries was less pronounced compared to venules (p = 0.0014). Even though FL responses (mean ± SD: FL-A; FL-V) in group 1 were more pronounced (3.36 ± 2.31; 4.42 ± 1.69) compared to those in group 2 (2.97 ± 2.40; 4.08 ± 1.55) and group 3 (2.84 ± 2.29; 4.21 ± 2.03), they did not reach statistically significant values. The mean flicker response of venules (VDil) in all groups showed negative correlations to the corresponding static parameter: central retinal venous equivalent (CRV) (r = −0.0437; p = 0.015). The mean flicker response of arteries (ADil) in all groups showed negative correlations to the corresponding metabolic parameter: arterio-venous oxygen extraction fraction (r = −0.101; p = 0.041). Conclusions: Our study confirms that the flicker light response, despite slight variations in its duration and location, allows for reliable measurements, proving the Retinal Vessel Analyzer to be a valuable diagnostic tool. Furthermore, we were able to highlight the relationship between the dynamic and metabolic components of retinal supply, which enables early diagnosis concerning the development of diseases within this spectrum.