Progress of clinical therapies for dry age-related macular degeneration

Dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive blinding disease that currently affects millions of people worldwide with no successful treatment available. Significant research efforts are currently underway to develop therapies aimed at slowing the progression of this disease or, more notably, reversing it. Here the therapies which have reached clinical trial for treatment of dry AMD were reviewed. A thorough search of PubMed, Embase, and Clinicaltrials.gov has led to a comprehensive collection of the most recent strategies being evaluated. This review also endeavors to assess the status and future directions of therapeutics for this debilitating condition.

Megaripple mechanics: bimodal transport ingrained in bimodal sands

Aeolian sand transport is a major process shaping landscapes on Earth and on diverse celestial bodies. Conditions favoring bimodal sand transport, with fine-grain saltation driving coarse-grain reptation, give rise to the evolution of megaripples with a characteristic bimodal sand composition. Here, we derive a unified phase diagram for this special aeolian process and the ensuing nonequilibrium megaripple morphodynamics by means of a conceptually simple quantitative model, grounded in the grain-scale physics. We establish a well-preserved quantitative signature of bimodal aeolian transport in the otherwise highly variable grain size distributions, namely, the log-scale width (Krumbein phi scale) of their coarse-grain peaks. A comprehensive collection of terrestrial and extraterrestrial data, covering a wide range of geographical sources and environmental conditions, supports the accuracy and robustness of this unexpected theoretical finding. It could help to resolve ambiguities in the classification of terrestrial and extraterrestrial sedimentary bedforms.

Illumination Space: A Feature Space for Radiance Maps

<p>From red sunsets to blue skies, the natural world contains breathtaking scenery with complex lighting which many computer graphics applications strive to emulate. Achieving such realism is a computationally challenging task and requires proficiency with rendering software. To aid in this process, radiance maps (RM) are a convenient storage structure for representing the real-world. In this form, it can be used to realistically illuminate synthetic objects or for backdrop replacement in chroma key compositing. An artist can also freely change a RM to another that better matches their desired lighting or background conditions. This motivates the need for a large collection of RMs such that an artist has a range of environmental conditions to choose from. Due to the practicality of RMs, databases of RMs have continually grown since its inception. However, a comprehensive collection of RMs is not useful without a method for searching through the collection. This thesis defines a semantic feature space that allows an artist to interactively browse through databases of RMs, with applications for both lighting and backdrop replacement in mind. The set of features are automatically extracted from the RMs in an offline pre-processing step, and are queried in real-time for browsing. Illumination features are defined to concisely describe lighting properties of a RM, allowing an artist to find a RM to illuminate their target scene. Texture features are used to describe visual elements of a RM, allowing an artist to search the database for reflective or backdrop properties for their target scene. A combination of the two sets of features allows an artist to search for RMs with desirable illumination effects which match the background environment.</p>

Illumination Space: A Feature Space for Radiance Maps

<p>From red sunsets to blue skies, the natural world contains breathtaking scenery with complex lighting which many computer graphics applications strive to emulate. Achieving such realism is a computationally challenging task and requires proficiency with rendering software. To aid in this process, radiance maps (RM) are a convenient storage structure for representing the real-world. In this form, it can be used to realistically illuminate synthetic objects or for backdrop replacement in chroma key compositing. An artist can also freely change a RM to another that better matches their desired lighting or background conditions. This motivates the need for a large collection of RMs such that an artist has a range of environmental conditions to choose from. Due to the practicality of RMs, databases of RMs have continually grown since its inception. However, a comprehensive collection of RMs is not useful without a method for searching through the collection. This thesis defines a semantic feature space that allows an artist to interactively browse through databases of RMs, with applications for both lighting and backdrop replacement in mind. The set of features are automatically extracted from the RMs in an offline pre-processing step, and are queried in real-time for browsing. Illumination features are defined to concisely describe lighting properties of a RM, allowing an artist to find a RM to illuminate their target scene. Texture features are used to describe visual elements of a RM, allowing an artist to search the database for reflective or backdrop properties for their target scene. A combination of the two sets of features allows an artist to search for RMs with desirable illumination effects which match the background environment.</p>

Progress and Current Limitations of Materials for Artificial Bile Duct Engineering

Bile duct injury (BDI) and bile tract diseases are regarded as prominent challenges in hepatobiliary surgery due to the risk of severe complications. Hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal surgery can inadvertently cause iatrogenic BDI. The commonly utilized clinical treatment of BDI is biliary-enteric anastomosis. However, removal of the Oddi sphincter, which serves as a valve control over the unidirectional flow of bile to the intestine, can result in complications such as reflux cholangitis, restenosis of the bile duct, and cholangiocarcinoma. Tissue engineering and biomaterials offer alternative approaches for BDI treatment. Reconstruction of mechanically functional and biomimetic structures to replace bile ducts aims to promote the ingrowth of bile duct cells and realize tissue regeneration of bile ducts. Current research on artificial bile ducts has remained within preclinical animal model experiments. As more research shows artificial bile duct replacements achieving effective mechanical and functional prevention of biliary peritonitis caused by bile leakage or obstructive jaundice after bile duct reconstruction, clinical translation of tissue-engineered bile ducts has become a theoretical possibility. This literature review provides a comprehensive collection of published works in relation to three tissue engineering approaches for biomimetic bile duct construction: mechanical support from scaffold materials, cell seeding methods, and the incorporation of biologically active factors to identify the advancements and current limitations of materials and methods for the development of effective artificial bile ducts that promote tissue regeneration.

Public health, surveillance policies and actions to prevent community spread of COVID-19 in Denmark, Serbia and Sweden

Aim: This study investigates the non-medical public health and surveillance policies and actions for tackling the community spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark, Serbia and Sweden during the first five months of the pandemic in 2020. Method: The study is inspired by a process-tracing design for case study with a focus on the non-medical measures and surveillance strategies implemented by the three countries. The comprehensive collection and study of national documents formed the basis of the document analysis. Results: The Danish strategy was to prolong the transmission period, preventing high numbers of infected cases from impacting their healthcare capacity. The government’s strategy was characterized by strict governance elements, health guidelines and behavioural recommendations. In Serbia, the main strategy was to prevent the spread and control of the infectious disease by shifting all human and material resources towards the function of controlling the spread. Serbia applied the strictest measures in the fight against coronavirus in relation to other countries in the region and in Europe. The Swedish strategy focused more on recommendations than requirements to motivate the public to modify their behaviours voluntarily. Sweden’s loose pandemic strategy implementation focused on voluntary and stepwise action rather than legislation and compulsory measures. Conclusions: The public health policies and actions implemented to prevent community spread of COVID-19 in Denmark, Serbia and Sweden varied during the first five months of the pandemic. The differences in their response were due to delays in implementation, inconsistencies in perspectives towards the outbreak and the capacity of each country in terms of their pandemic preparedness and response.

Achieving the 4IR University Library in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges

Aim: The paper examined the university library in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the preconditions for achieving and sustaining the same in Nigeria. 4IR is characterized by a level of automation, deployment of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, internet connectivity and accessibility to the global information network, subscription to reputable online databases, quality and comprehensive collection in diverse formats, preponderance of digital natives among patrons, increased demand for seamless access to online resources and virtual operations, new library spaces (learning commons, research commons and makerspace), open scholarly communication, research data management, social mediation applications, digital curation and preservation. The challenges militating against effective crystallization of 4IR university libraries include: financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure, resistance to change, inadequate skills and competencies, security and intrusion issues, lack of exposure to international standards. Conclusions: The paper recommended the following as requisite panacea: leadership, demonstrating and justifying returns on investment, benchmarking practices, anti-intrusion and back-up systems, adequate power supply and bandwidth, endowment and corporate social responsibility, indigenous library management software, and capacity building initiatives.

Factors influencing book selection decisions by academic librarians in an Arabic Islamic context

<p>There are many factors to be taken into account when making selection decisions in an academic library including curriculum need, suitability of content, user interest, and academic input. Academic librarians in the Muslim Arabic country of the United Arab Emirates face the added challenge of making judgements about the suitability of the content in view of the community in which they work. In the absence of comprehensive collection development policies librarians are at times required to make decisions based on the sometimes conflicting demands of traditional Muslim values and their own beliefs about intellectual freedom. In this study nine academic librarians were asked to consider the suitability of twelve books and to offer criteria for their decision. A range of variables was also explored to identify possible relationships between the variables and selection decisions. The variables appearing to have an effect on decisions include the gender and nationality of the student population, and the nationality and religion of the librarian.</p>

Factors influencing book selection decisions by academic librarians in an Arabic Islamic context

<p>There are many factors to be taken into account when making selection decisions in an academic library including curriculum need, suitability of content, user interest, and academic input. Academic librarians in the Muslim Arabic country of the United Arab Emirates face the added challenge of making judgements about the suitability of the content in view of the community in which they work. In the absence of comprehensive collection development policies librarians are at times required to make decisions based on the sometimes conflicting demands of traditional Muslim values and their own beliefs about intellectual freedom. In this study nine academic librarians were asked to consider the suitability of twelve books and to offer criteria for their decision. A range of variables was also explored to identify possible relationships between the variables and selection decisions. The variables appearing to have an effect on decisions include the gender and nationality of the student population, and the nationality and religion of the librarian.</p>

Survey of residential indoor Particulate Matter measurements 1990-2019

We surveyed literature on measurements of indoor particulate matter in all size fractions, in residential environments free of solid fuel combustion. Data from worldwide studies from 1990-2019 were assembled into the most comprehensive collection to date. Out of 2,752 publications retrieved, 538 articles from 433 research projects met inclusion criteria and reported unique data, from which more than 2,000 unique sets of indoor PM measurements were collected. Distributions of mean concentrations were compiled, weighted by study size. Long-term trends, the impact of non-smoking, air cleaners, and the influence of outdoor PM were also evaluated. Similar patterns of indoor PM distributions for North America and Europe could reflect similarities in the indoor environments of these regions. Greater observed variability for all regions of Asia may reflect greater heterogeneity in indoor conditions, but also low numbers of studies for some regions. Indoor PM concentrations of all size fractions were mostly stable over the survey period, with the exception of observed declines in PM2.5 in European and North American studies, and in PM10 in North America. While outdoor concentrations were correlated with indoor concentrations across studies, indoor concentrations had higher variability, illustrating a limitation of using outdoor measurements to approximate indoor PM exposures.