Kooten, T. v. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Importance of tribo-pairs to mimic blinking in vitro for dry eye disease research

Selecting suitable tribo-pairs is crucial for measuring the tribological properties of the blinking process, especially for dry eye disease research. The tribo-pairs, lubricants, loads, and sliding speeds used in the friction models reported so far vary greatly, which limits the development of artificial tear fomulations, that could be effective in treating the effects of dry eye disease. This study compares tribo-pairs under the same experimental conditions and provides a test model closer to the real physiological blinking environment. This study proposes a to use the porcine eyeball-eyelid tribo-pair as an ex vitro tissue friction model to explore the tribological behavior during blinking. Additionally, the presence of mucin on the eyelids and cornea was detected. The tribo-pair was compared with the eyeball-glass and eyeball-mucin coated glass tribo-pairs in terms of friction coefficient, relief time, and wear. Artificial tribo-pairs such as contact lens-glass or contact lens-mucin coated glass were not included because of their irrelevance to dry eye disease. The results showed that the static friction coefficient of the eyelid/eyeball tribo-pairs was significantly lower than that of the bare glass/eyeball group. In addition, its dynamic friction coefficient was higher than that of the glass/eyeball tribo-pairs, but the friction damage caused was lower than that of the glass/eyeball group. The relief period (RP) of the eyelid/eyeball tribo-pair was significantly higher than that of bare glass and mucin-coated glass, showing stronger hydrophilicity within this system. To conduct relevant dry eye disease (DED) research, it is critical to simulate the natural eyelid-eyeball friction system as realistically as possible. Despite its limitations, the use of the porcine eye as an in vitro model provides a structurally and biomechanically realistic platform to capture the key interactions between the eyelid and the ocular surface. This approach allows for a more accurate assessment of friction, tear film dynamics, and therapeutic interventions in dry eye.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2020

Mitigating ecosystem impacts of bottom trawl fisheries for North Sea sole Solea solea by replacing mechanical by electrical stimulation

Ecosystem effects of bottom trawl fisheries are a major concern. We analysed whether the replacement of mechanical stimulation by electrical stimulation may reduce the adverse impacts on the benthic ecosystem in the beam trawl fishery for sole. Although the use of electricity is not allowed to catch fish in European Union waters, a number of beam trawlers got derogation and switched to pulse trawling to explore the potential to reduce impacts. We extended a recently developed assessment framework and showed that the switch to pulse trawling substantially reduced benthic impacts when exploiting the Total Allowable Catch of sole in the North Sea. We applied the framework to Dutch beam trawl logbook data from 2009 to 2017 and estimated that the trawling footprint decreased by 23%; the precautionary impact indicator of the benthic community decreased by 39%; the impact on median longevity decreased by 20%; the impact on benthic biomass decreased by 61%; the amount of sediment mobilised decreased by 39%. The decrease is due to the replacement of tickler chains by electrode arrays, a lower towing speed and higher catch efficiency for sole. The effort and benthic impact of the beam trawl fishery targeting plaice Pleuronectes platessa in the central North Sea increased with the recovery of the plaice stock. This study illustrates the usefulness of a standardized methodological framework to assess the differences in time trends and trawling impact between gears.

ecology↗