18 research outputs found
Progressive optic neuropathy in congenital glaucoma associated with the Sirsasana yoga posture
The authors describe a case of progressive optic neuropathy in a patient with congenital glaucoma who had routinely practiced the Sirsasana (headstand) yoga posture for several years. Ophthalmic examination included best-corrected visual acuity, anterior segment examination, indirect oplithalmoscopy, ultrasound pachymetry for central corneal thickness, and intraocular pressure before, during, and after maintaining the Sirsasana posture for 5 minutes. Intraocular pressure increased significantly during the Sirsasana posture. Transient elevation in intraocular pressure during yoga exercises may lead to progressive glaucomatous optic neuropathy, especially in susceptible patients with congenital glaucoma
Unique prokaryotic consortia in geochemically distinct sediments from Red Sea Atlantis II and Discovery Deep brine pools
© The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 7 (2012): e42872, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042872.The seafloor is a unique environment, which allows insights into how geochemical processes affect the diversity of
biological life. Among its diverse ecosystems are deep-sea brine pools - water bodies characterized by a unique
combination of extreme conditions. The ‘polyextremophiles’ that constitute the microbial assemblage of these deep hot
brines have not been comprehensively studied. We report a comparative taxonomic analysis of the prokaryotic
communities of the sediments directly below the Red Sea brine pools, namely, Atlantis II, Discovery, Chain Deep, and an
adjacent brine-influenced site. Analyses of sediment samples and high-throughput pyrosequencing of PCR-amplified
environmental 16S ribosomal RNA genes (16S rDNA) revealed that one sulfur (S)-rich Atlantis II and one nitrogen (N)-rich
Discovery Deep section contained distinct microbial populations that differed from those found in the other sediment
samples examined. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Deferribacteres, and Euryarchaeota were the most
abundant bacterial and archaeal phyla in both the S- and N-rich sections. Relative abundance-based hierarchical clustering
of the 16S rDNA pyrotags assigned to major taxonomic groups allowed us to categorize the archaeal and bacterial
communities into three major and distinct groups; group I was unique to the S-rich Atlantis II section (ATII-1), group II was
characteristic for the N-rich Discovery sample (DD-1), and group III reflected the composition of the remaining sediments.
Many of the groups detected in the S-rich Atlantis II section are likely to play a dominant role in the cycling of methane and
sulfur due to their phylogenetic affiliations with bacteria and archaea involved in anaerobic methane oxidation and sulfate
reduction.This work was supported by King Abdullah University for Science and Technology Global Collaborative Partners (GCR) program
The Egyptian Red Sea coastal microbiome: A study revealing differential microbial responses to diverse anthropogenic pollutants
In situ polymerization of polyurethane-silver nanocomposite foams with intact thermal stability, improved mechanical performance, and induced antimicrobial properties
Managing refractory glaucoma with a fixed combination of bimatoprost (0.03%) and timolol (0.5%)
Moataz E Gheith, Jason R Mayer, Ghada A Siam, Daniela S Monteiro de Barros,  Tricia L Thomas, L Jay KatzFrom the Glaucoma Service Department of Wills Eye Institute, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, USAAbstract: Glaucoma is a chronic progressive optic neuropathy characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells, which manifests clinically with loss of optic disc neuroretinal rim tissue, defects in the retinal nerve fiber layer, and deficits on functional visual field testing. The goal of glaucoma treatment is to reduce the intraocular pressure to a level that prevents or minimizes the progressive loss of vision. The current standard of management for the newly diagnosed primary open angle glaucoma (PAOG) patient is to start topical medication. Available topical medications include: beta-adrenergic antagonists, alpha-adrenergic agonists, carbonic anhydraze inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues and miotics. In some patients, IOP is not adequately controlled by monotherapy. In those refractory patients, where more efficacy is required, shifting to another medication or adding a second medication is indicated. The complimentary action between two drugs serves as the basis for combination medications. One avenue of delivering a second medication is through a fixed combination medication that has the advantage of providing two medicines within one drop. Bimatoprost/timolol represents a new fixed combination which is clinically and statistically more effective than either of its active constituents for patients with refractory glaucoma. As regard the safety of the combination, there were no signs or symptoms of intolerance and the incidence of conjunctival hyperemia was clinically and statistically significantly less than each of the two components separately. Bimatoprost/timolol fixed combination offers cost and time savings, which may enhance compliance; also reducing the amount of preservative applied to the eye, will improve tolerability and may also favorably improve eventual surgical outcomes in patients who might require filtering procedures.Keywords: fixed combination, refractory glaucoma, timolol/bimatopros