Efficacy and safety of Latanoprost/Timolol fixed combinations in treatment of refractory glaucoma following vitrectomy in short period

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Latanoprost/Timolol fixed combinations(LTFC)in treatment of refractory glaucoma following vitrectomy in short period.<p>METHODS: In the present study, 42 eyes of 38 refractory glaucoma patients who had received vitrectomy were carried out. The patients were randomly divided into two groups after a 2-week washout period for previous antiglaucoma medication. Patients in group 1 underwent a 6-week treatment with LTFC and those in group 2 were treated with Latanoprost/Timolol unfixed combinations(LTuFC)for 6 weeks. The IOP, visual field, and mRNFL were measured after the washout period as the baseline, and after 6 weeks of therapy. Eye condition and adverse reactions were observed. <p>RESULTS: The mean baseline IOPs of groups 1 and 2 were respectively 37.90±3.74mmHg and 37.57±3.23mmHg. After 6 weeks, the mean IOPs were respectively 30.10±4.90mmHg and 30.62±4.62mmHg, indicating a significant reduction from the baseline(<i>t</i>=12.16, <i>t</i>=13.78, <i>P</i><0.01). No difference was observed in the IOP reduction between LTFC and LTuFC(20.54%±7.88%, 18.23%±7.03%, <i>t</i>=0.75, <i>P</i>>0.05). IOP reduction was 24.87%(20 eyes), 17.46%(15 eyes), and 9.65%(7 eyes)respectively among those with open-angle glaucoma, with partially open-angle glaucoma, and with closed-angle glaucoma. The eye drops didn't have effects on the vision field and mRNFL(all <i>P</i>>0.05), and their main adverse reactions were eye irritation and mild hyperemia.<p>CONCLUSION: In refractory glaucoma, especially in open-angle or partially-open-angle glaucoma, LTFC, administered after vitrectomy, helps to reduce IOP with desirable safetly and tolerance

Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Correlation of Cefquinome Against Experimental Catheter-Associated Biofilm Infection Due to Staphylococcus aureus.

Biofilm formations play an important role in Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis and contribute to antibiotic treatment failures in biofilm-associated infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profiles of cefquinome against an experimental catheter-related biofilm model due to S. aureus, including three clinical isolates and one non-clinical isolate. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimal biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC), biofilm bactericidal concentration (BBC), minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) and biofilm prevention concentration (BPC) and in vitro time-kill curves of cefquinome were studied in both planktonic and biofilm cells of study S. aureus strains. The in vivo post-antibiotic effects (PAEs), PK profiles and efficacy of cefquinome were performed in the catheter-related biofilm infection model in murine. A sigmoid E max model was utilized to determine the PK/PD index that best described the dose-response profiles in the model. The MICs and MBICs of cefquinome for the four S. aureus strains were 0.5 and 16 μg/mL, respectively. The BBCs (32-64 μg/mL) and MBECs (64-256 μg/mL) of these study strains were much higher than their corresponding BPC values (1-2 μg/mL). Cefquinome showed time-dependent killing both on planktonic and biofilm cells, but produced much shorter PAEs in biofilm infections. The best-correlated PK/PD parameters of cefquinome for planktonic and biofilm cells were the duration of time that the free drug level exceeded the MIC (fT &gt; MIC, R (2) = 96.2%) and the MBIC (fT &gt; MBIC, R (2) = 94.7%), respectively. In addition, the AUC24h/MBIC of cefquinome also significantly correlated with the anti-biofilm outcome in this model (R (2) = 93.1%). The values of AUC24h/MBIC for biofilm-static and 1-log10-unit biofilm-cidal activity were 22.8 and 35.6 h; respectively. These results indicate that the PK/PD profiles of cefquinome could be used as valuable guidance for effective dosing regimens treating S. aureus biofilm-related infections

Knockdown of PsbO leads to induction of HydA and production of photobiological H2 in the green alga Chlorella sp. DT

Green algae are able to convert solar energy to H2 via the photosynthetic electron transport pathway under certain conditions. Algal hydrogenase (HydA, encoded by HYDA) is in charge of catalyzing the reaction: 2H+ + 2e− ↔ H2 but usually inhibited by O2, a byproduct of photosynthesis. The aim of this study was to knockdown PsbO (encoded by psbO), a subunit concerned with O2 evolution, so that it would lead to HydA induction. The alga, Chlorella sp. DT, was then transformed with short interference RNA antisense-psbO (siRNA-psbO) fragments. The algal mutants were selected by checking for the existence of siRNA-psbO fragments in their genomes and the low amount of PsbO proteins. The HYDA transcription and the HydA expression were observed in the PsbO-knockdown mutants. Under semi-aerobic condition, PsbO-knockdown mutants could photobiologically produce H2 which increased by as much as 10-fold in comparison to the wild type

Experimental Studies of The Multi-cylinders Compound Profile Meshing Pair

In order to improve the wear resistance of the meshing pair in Single Screw Compressor, our team developed the multi-cylinders compound profile which could be used in the meshing pair instead of the traditional profile. In this paper, the reliability and utility of the new profile was verified by an experiment. In this experiment, a designed multi-cylinders compound profile meshing pair was applied in an oil-flooded single screw air compressor as the experimental prototype, then the prototype ran 2000 hours continuously in the experimental platform. and the displacement was detected with changing discharge pressure and rotating speed. It is shown that the prototype has a steady displacement, and the energy efficiency grade is very close to the best grade. The displacement is slightly reduced with the discharge pressure arising, but the reduction is far less than the original single line profile meshing pair machine. These prove that the new pair has good sealing performance. A comparative observation on the star wheel profile is conducted at the end of test, and the results demonstrate that the nodular cast iron star wheel new designed has high wear resistant property and good hydrodynamic lubrication characteristic. Thus, the nodular cast iron can be used to make star wheel to reduce the cost of the single screw instead of the expensive PEEK material

Research on Exploring the Formation Factors of Youth Entrepreneurship Satisfaction and Behavior Intention

This research established the youth entrepreneur satisfaction forming path and behavior intention model on the base of classical customer satisfaction index model, and took the 172 youth entrepreneurs as research object, who have been supported by China Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YBC) Mianyang Office since 2007. This study applies factor analysis and structural equation model to reveal the satisfaction formation mechanism which affects by the youth entrepreneurs expectations, guidance quality and guidance value perception, as well as the entrepreneurs’ subsequent behavior affected by the satisfaction. The results show that the mentor image has significantly positive effect on the youth entrepreneur expectation. The latter affects the satisfaction through the guidance quality perception to exert influence on the youth’s guidance value perception; youth entrepreneur expectation, guidance value perception and guidance quality perception have positive effects on satisfaction. As for the youth entrepreneurs’ behavioral intention, the youth’s satisfaction had significantly negative effects on their complaint and significantly positive effects on their loyalty. In addition, there were significantly negative effects between the youth entrepreneurs’ complaint and loyalty

Linezolid and Rifampicin Combination to Combat cfr-Positive Multidrug-Resistant MRSA in Murine Models of Bacteremia and Skin and Skin Structure Infection.

Linezolid resistance mediated by the cfr gene in MRSA represents a global concern. We investigated relevant phenotype differences between cfr-positive and -negative MRSA that contribute to pathogenesis, and the efficacy of linezolid-based combination therapies in murine models of bacteremia and skin and skin structure infection (SSSI). As a group, cfr-positive MRSA exhibited significantly reduced susceptibilities to the host defense peptides tPMPs, human neutrophil peptide-1 (hNP-1), and cathelicidin LL-37 (P &lt; 0.01). In addition, increased binding to fibronectin (FN) and endothelial cells paralleled robust biofilm formation in cfr-positive vs. -negative MRSA. In vitro phenotypes of cfr-positive MRSA translated into poor outcomes of linezolid monotherapy in vivo in murine bacteremia and SSSI models. Importantly, rifampicin showed synergistic activity as a combinatorial partner with linezolid, and the EC50 of linezolid decreased 6-fold in the presence of rifampicin. Furthermore, this combination therapy displayed efficacy against cfr-positive MRSA at clinically relevant doses. Altogether, these data suggest that the use of linezolid in combination with rifampicin poses a viable therapeutic alternative for bacteremia and SSSI caused by cfr-positive multidrug resistant MRSA

A Lattice Study of (Dˉ1D∗)±(\bar{D}_1 D^{*})^\pm Near-threshold Scattering

In this exploratory lattice study, low-energy near threshold scattering of the $(\bar{D}_1 D^{*})^\pm$ meson system is analyzed using lattice QCD with $N_f=2$ twisted mass fermion configurations. Both s-wave ($J^P=0^-$) and p-wave ($J^P=1^+$) channels are investigated. It is found that the interaction between the two charmed mesons is attractive near the threshold in both channels. This calculation provides some hints in the searching of resonances or bound states around the threshold of $(\bar{D}_1 D^{*})^\pm$ system.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, matches the version on PR