Tuning of Morphology by Chirality in Self-Assembled Structures of Bis(Urea) Amphiphiles in Water

We present the synthesis and self‐assembly of a chiral bis(urea) amphiphile and show that chirality offers a remarkable level of control towards different morphologies. Upon self‐assembly in water, the molecular‐scale chiral information is translated to the mesoscopic level. Both enantiomers of the amphiphile self‐assemble into chiral twisted ribbons with opposite handedness, as supported by Cryo‐TEM and circular dichroism (CD) measurements. The system presents thermo‐responsive aggregation behavior and combined transmittance measurements, temperature‐dependent UV, CD, TEM, and micro‐differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) show that a ribbon‐to‐vesicles transition occurs upon heating. Remarkably, chirality allows easy control of morphology as the self‐assembly into distinct aggregates can be tuned by varying the enantiomeric excess of the amphiphile, giving access to flat sheets, helical ribbons, and twisted ribbons.Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Endophthalmitis after pars plana vitrectomy: Results of the pan American collaborative retina study group

Purpose: To determine the incidence of endophthalmitis after 20-, 23-, and 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomies (PPVs). Methods: Retrospective comparative case series of consecutive patients who underwent 20-, 23-, or 25-gauge PPV at 11 centers from Latin America between 2005 to 2009. Pars plana vitrectomy cases were identified through a search of the billing records of each institution. Cases of PPV performed in the management of trauma, endophthalmitis, and combined PPV phacoemulsification cases were excluded. Endophthalmitis was diagnosed by clinical criteria regardless of the microbiologic results. The incidence of post-PPV endophthalmitis was compared between 20-, 23-, and 25-gauge PPVs. Results: A total of 35,427 cases of PPV were identified during the study period (n = 19,865 for 20 gauge, n = 10,845 for 23 gauge, and n = 4,717 for 25 gauge). The 5-year post-PPV endophthalmitis incidence rates were 0.020% (4 of 19,865), 0.028% (3 of 10,845), and 0.021% (1 of 4,717) for 20 gauge, 23 gauge, and 25 gauge, respectively (P = 0.9685). Conclusion: Small-gauge transconjunctival PPV does not appear to increase the rates of post-PPV endophthalmitis. © The Ophthalmic Communications Society, Inc

Intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®) for diabetic retinopathy at 24-months: The 2008 Juan Verdaguer-planas lecture

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains the major threat to sight in the working age population. Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a manifestation of DR that produces loss of central vision. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a major cause of visual loss in diabetic patients. In PDR, the growth of new vessels is thought to occur as a result of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release into the vitreous cavity as a response to ischemia. Furthermore, VEGF increases vessel permeability leading to deposition of proteins in the interstitium that facilitate the process of angiogenesis and macular edema. This review demonstrates multiple benefits of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) on DR including DME and PDR at 24 months of follow up. The results indicate that IVB injections may have a beneficial effect on macular thickness and visual acuity (VA) in diffuse diabetic macular edema. Therefore, in the future this new therapy could replace or complement focal/grid laser photocoagulation in DME. In PDR, this new option could be an adjuvant agent to pan-retina photocoagulation so that more selective therapy may be applied. In addition, we report a series of patients in which tractional retinal detachment developed or progressed after adjuvant preoperative IVB in severe PDR. © 2010 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd

Intravitreal bevacizumab in diabetic retinopathy. Recommendations from the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group (PACORES): The 2016 knobloch lecture

The advent of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) medications has revolutionized the treatment of diabetic eye diseases. Herein, we report the outcomes of clinical studies carried out by the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group (PACORES), with a specific focus on the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab in the management of diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We will also discuss the use of intravitreal bevaci-zumab as a preoperative, adjuvant therapy before vitrectomy for prolif-erative diabetic retinopathy. Copyright © 2017 by Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology

Seguimiento de las guías españolas para el manejo del asma por el médico de atención primaria: un estudio observacional ambispectivo

Objetivo Evaluar el grado de seguimiento de las recomendaciones de las versiones de la Guía española para el manejo del asma (GEMA 2009 y 2015) y su repercusión en el control de la enfermedad. Material y métodos Estudio observacional y ambispectivo realizado entre septiembre del 2015 y abril del 2016, en el que participaron 314 médicos de atención primaria y 2.864 pacientes. Resultados Utilizando datos retrospectivos, 81 de los 314 médicos (25, 8% [IC del 95%, 21, 3 a 30, 9]) comunicaron seguir las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2009. Al inicio del estudio, 88 de los 314 médicos (28, 0% [IC del 95%, 23, 4 a 33, 2]) seguían las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2015. El tener un asma mal controlada (OR 0, 19, IC del 95%, 0, 13 a 0, 28) y presentar un asma persistente grave al inicio del estudio (OR 0, 20, IC del 95%, 0, 12 a 0, 34) se asociaron negativamente con tener un asma bien controlada al final del seguimiento. Por el contrario, el seguimiento de las recomendaciones de la GEMA 2015 se asoció de manera positiva con una mayor posibilidad de que el paciente tuviera un asma bien controlada al final del periodo de seguimiento (OR 1, 70, IC del 95%, 1, 40 a 2, 06). Conclusiones El escaso seguimiento de las guías clínicas para el manejo del asma constituye un problema común entre los médicos de atención primaria. Un seguimiento de estas guías se asocia con un control mejor del asma. Existe la necesidad de actuaciones que puedan mejorar el seguimiento por parte de los médicos de atención primaria de las guías para el manejo del asma. Objective: To assess the degree of compliance with the recommendations of the 2009 and 2015 versions of the Spanish guidelines for managing asthma (Guía Española para el Manejo del Asma [GEMA]) and the effect of this compliance on controlling the disease. Material and methods: We conducted an observational ambispective study between September 2015 and April 2016 in which 314 primary care physicians and 2864 patients participated. Results: Using retrospective data, we found that 81 of the 314 physicians (25.8%; 95% CI 21.3–30.9) stated that they complied with the GEMA2009 recommendations. At the start of the study, 88 of the 314 physicians (28.0%; 95% CI 23.4–33.2) complied with the GEMA2015 recommendations. Poorly controlled asthma (OR, 0.19; 95% CI 0.13–0.28) and persistent severe asthma at the start of the study (OR, 0.20; 95% CI 0.12–0.34) were negatively associated with having well-controlled asthma by the end of the follow-up. In contrast, compliance with the GEMA2015 recommendations was positively associated with a greater likelihood that the patient would have well-controlled asthma by the end of the follow-up (OR, 1.70; 95% CI 1.40–2.06). Conclusions: Low compliance with the clinical guidelines for managing asthma is a common problem among primary care physicians. Compliance with these guidelines is associated with better asthma control. Actions need to be taken to improve primary care physician compliance with the asthma management guidelines

The ATLAS trigger system for LHC Run 3 and trigger performance in 2022

The ATLAS trigger system is a crucial component of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. It is responsible for selecting events in line with the ATLAS physics programme. This paper presents an overview of the changes to the trigger and data acquisition system during the second long shutdown of the LHC, and shows the performance of the trigger system and its components in the proton-proton collisions during the 2022 commissioning period as well as its expected performance in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions for the remainder of the third LHC data-taking period (2022–2025)

Measurement of the Bs0→ μμ effective lifetime with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports the first ATLAS measurement of the B0s → μμ effective lifetime. The measurement is based on the data collected in 2015–2016, amounting to 26.3 fb−1 of 13 TeV LHC proton-proton collisions. The proper decay-time distribution of 58 ± 13 background-subtracted signal candidates is fit with simulated signal templates parameterised as a function of the B0s effective lifetime, with statistical uncertainties extracted through a Neyman construction. The resulting effective measurement of the B0s → μμ lifetime is 0.99+0.42−0.07 (stat.) ± 0.17 (syst.) ps and it is found to be consistent with the Standard Model

Evidence of pair production of longitudinally polarised vector bosons and study of CP properties in ZZ → 4ℓ events with the ATLAS detector at √s = 13 TeV

A study of the polarisation and CP properties in ZZ production is presented. The used data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The ZZ candidate events are reconstructed using two same-flavour opposite-charge electron or muon pairs. The production of two longitudinally polarised Z bosons is measured with a significance of 4.3 standard deviations, and its cross-section is measured in a fiducial phase space to be 2.45 ± 0.60 fb, consistent with the next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction. The inclusive differential cross-section as a function of a CP-sensitive angular observable is also measured. The results are used to constrain anomalous CP-odd neutral triple gauge couplings