A Filipino Correspondent in Beijing: Up Close and Personal with CNN’s Jaime Florcruz

CNN's Jaime FlorCruz generously shared his life and the life in China, from the time of Marxist equality amid poverty, to when China first opened its doors to its neighbors, and to the present. He discussed media's changing role. He concluded by noting the price of China's prosperity: the issues of central control and Chinese values. He posed the question: Can China be porous and at the same time retain its distinct quality as Chinese

Medical interventions for fungal keratitis.

BACKGROUND: Fungal keratitis is a fungal infection of the cornea. It is common in lower income countries, particularly in agricultural areas but relatively uncommon in higher income countries. Although there are medications available, their effectiveness is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of different antifungal drugs in the management of fungal keratitis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2015, Issue 2), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to March 2015), EMBASE (January 1980 to March 2015), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to March 2015), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 16 March 2015. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials of medical therapy for fungal keratitis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors selected studies for inclusion in the review, assessed trials for risk of bias and extracted data. The primary outcome was clinical cure at two to three months. Secondary outcomes included best-corrected visual acuity, time to clinical cure, compliance with treatment, adverse outcomes and quality of life. MAIN RESULTS: We included 12 trials in this review; 10 trials were conducted in India, one in Bangladesh and one in Egypt. Seven of these trials were at high risk of bias in one or more domains, two of these studies were at low risk of bias in all domains. Participants were randomised to the following comparisons: topical 5% natamycin compared to topical 1% voriconazole; topical 5% natamycin compared to topical 2% econazole; topical 5% natamycin compared to topical chlorhexidine gluconate (0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2%); topical 1% voriconazole compared to intrastromal voriconazole 50 g/0.1 mL (both treatments combined with topical 5% natamycin); topical 1% voriconazole combined with oral voriconazole compared to both oral voriconazole and oral itraconazole (both combined with topical 5% natamycin); topical 1% itraconazole compared to topical 1% itraconazole combined with oral itraconazole; topical amphotericin B compared to topical amphotericin B combined with subconjunctival injection of fluconazole; intracameral injection of amphotericin B with conventional treatment compared to conventional treatment alone (severe fungal ulcers); topical 0.5% and 1% silver sulphadiazine compared to topical 1% miconazole. Overall the results were inconclusive because for most comparisons only one small trial was available. The exception was the comparison of topical natamycin and topical voriconazole for which three trials were available. In one of these trials clinical cure (healed ulcer) was reported in all 15 people allocated to natamycin and in 14/15 people allocated to voriconazole (risk ratio (RR) 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89 to 1.28, low quality evidence). In one trial people randomised to natamycin were more likely to have a microbiological cure at six days (RR 1.64; 95% CI 1.38 to 1.94, 299 participants). On average, people randomised to natamycin had better spectacle-corrected visual acuity at two to three months compared to people randomised to voriconazole but the estimate was uncertain and the 95% confidence intervals included 0 (no difference) (mean difference -0.12 logMAR, 95% CI -0.31 to 0.06, 434 participants; 3 studies, low quality evidence) and a decreased risk of corneal perforation or therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty, or both (RR 0.61; 95% CI 0.40 to 0.94, 434 participants, high quality evidence). There was inconclusive evidence on time to clinical cure. Compliance with treatment and quality of life were not reported. One trial comparing natamycin and voriconazole found the effect of treatment greater in Fusarium species, but this subgroup analysis was not prespecified by this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The trials included in this review were of variable quality and were generally underpowered. There is evidence that natamycin is more effective than voriconazole in the treatment of fungal ulcers. Future research should evaluate treatment effects according to fungus species

Flagellin‐induced expression of CXCL10 mediates direct fungal killing and recruitment of NK cells to the cornea in response to Candida albicans infection

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108697/1/eji3053-sup-0001-SupMat.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108697/2/eji3053.pd

Studies of pubertal development in boars : relationships between reproductive organ development and peripheral plasma levels of luteinizing hormone and testosterone : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy at Massey University

Two studies were conducted to obtain fundamental data on the process of puberty in Large White x Landrace boars. The first was a longitudinal study designed to evaluate the course of gonadal and epididymal development and the concurrent endocrine changes during the period of sexual maturation. Twenty-four animals were castrated sequentially at ages ranging from 43 to 241 days. Increases in testicular weight were more highly correlated with body weight (r= 0.953, P< 0.001) and age (r= 0.919, P< 0.001) than were similar increases in epididymal weight (r= O.558 and 0.593, P< 0.01, respectively). The age at onset of spermatogenesis varied between boars in the range 90 to 127 days. First observations of spermatozoa in seminiferous and epididymal tubules were made at 127 and 146 days of age, respectively. Longitudinal profiles of LH and testosterone secretion were investigated by assaying plasma samples collected at fortnightly intervals from each of ten boars aged 41 to 236 days. Until 82 days of age mean LH levels were low (0.20 - 1.25 ng/ml), then rose to a peak of 2.19 ng/ml at 110 days. Later LH levels declined gradually and after 166 days fluctuated between 0.5 and 1.0 ng/ml. Mean testosterone levels also were low in the prepubertal period (0.10 - 0.27 ng/ml), then between 110 and 138 days increased from 0.60 to 8.00 ng/ml. Subsequently testosterone concentrations fell slowly, then except for an isolated peak of 7.73 ng/ml at 194 days, fluctuated between 1.40 and 3.80 ng/ml. These results indicated that the major changes in LH and testosterone secretion during puberty in boars were similar to those which have been reported to occur in males of other species. Two short term studies of LH and testosterone secretory profiles were carried out to evaluate the effects of stage of sexual maturity on the patterns of secretion of these hormones. Four pubertal and three post-pubertal boars were subjected to plasma sampling every twenty minutes for 24 hours. During puberty, plasma profiles of LH varied in a manner indicative of a highly pulsatile mode of secretion. Likewise, large fluctuations in plasma testosterone levels were noted at this age but they were not as frequent as those of LH. In contrast, plasma LH and testosterone profiles of post-pubertal boars showed fewer and smaller fluctuations in hormone concentrations. The respective overall mean levels of LH and testosterone were 0.82 and 1.04 ng/ml in pubertal boars, and 0.39 and 0.81 ng/ml in post-pubertal boars. These values were consistent with those obtained in the longitudinal study and confirmed the greater output of both hormones during puberty and their decline thereafter. At both pubertal and post-pubertal ages, associations between LH and testosterone pulses were not always consistent, nor was there any evidence of diurnal variations in plasma hormone concentrations. The results reported in this thesis indicated that puberty in boars occurred between the ages of 90 and 146 days, at which ages, mean body weights were 35.3 and 58.6 kg, respectively. This period was characterized by a rapid growth of the testes and epididymides and was accompanied by concurrent elevations of plasma LH and testosterone concentrations. The less pulsatile nature of LH and testosterone secretion recorded from the post-pubertal boars probably reflected the maturation (increased sensitivity) of hypothalamic negative feedback mechanisms which normally regulate hormone secretion. The existence of such a mechanism was confirmed by an elevation of plasma LH levels following castration of 5 boars at 215 days of age

Medical interventions for fungal keratitis.

BACKGROUND: Fungal keratitis is a fungal infection of the cornea. It is common in agricultural tropical countries but relatively uncommon in developed countries. Although there are medications available, their effectiveness is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of different antifungal drugs in the management of fungal keratitis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 8), MEDLINE (January 1950 to August 2011), EMBASE (January 1980 to August 2011), Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS) (January 1982 to August 2011), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) and ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov). There were no date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. The electronic databases were last searched on 29 August 2011. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on medical therapy for fungal keratitis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors selected studies for inclusion into the review, assessed trials for risk of bias and extracted data. Interventions were compared by the proportions of participants that did not heal after a specific time of therapy. No meta-analysis was performed because the trials studied different medications with different concentrations. MAIN RESULTS: We included nine trials in this review; seven conducted in India, one in Bangladesh and one in Egypt. A total of 568 participants were randomised to the following comparisons: 1% topical itraconazole versus 1% topical itraconazole and oral itraconazole, different concentrations of silver sulphadiazine versus 1% miconazole, 1% silver sulphadiazine ointment versus 1% miconazole ointment, 2% econazole versus 5% natamycin, different concentrations of topical chlorhexidine gluconate versus 5% natamycin, 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate versus 2.5% natamycin and voriconazole 1% versus natamycin 5%. The included trials were small and of variable quality. Differences between different regimens were not statistically different, which may reflect the low sample sizes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on the trials included in this review, there is no evidence to date that any particular drug, or combination of drugs, is more effective in the management of fungal keratitis. The trials included in this review were of variable quality and were generally underpowered