Clinical study of retinal detachment associated with choroidal detachment

AIM: To analyze the clinical characteristics of retinal detachment associated with choroidal detachment and to evaluate the surgical techniques, the efficacy and operation time for treatment.<p>METHODS: We reviewed and analyzed the operative effects of vitreoretinal surgeries in 45 patients(45 eyes)with retinal and choroidal detachment in our hospital from January, 2010 to January, 2012. In these 45 patients, there were 38 patients of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated with choroidal detachment, 7 patients of retinal redetachment associated with choroidal detachment. The surgical techniques include scleral encircling operation, epichoroidal space drainage by sclerocentesis intraocular photocoagulation, gas-fluid exchange, perfluoropropane(C₃F₈)or silicone oil intraocular tamponade and vitreoretinal surgery.<p>RESULTS: The drainage of the suprachoroidal space liquid and blood was successful in 45 eyes. Silicone oil tamponade was performed for 39 eyes and C₃F₈ tamponade for 6 eyes. Retinas and choroids were all reattached and retinal holes were closed. Visual acuities were improved, ≥0.1 in 23 eyes.<p>CONCLUSION: The vitreoretinal surgery and external drainage by sclerocentesis and scleral encircling operation is an effective operating method for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated with choroidal detachment

Neuroprotective effects of bis(7)-tacrine against glutamate-induced retinal ganglion cells damage

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity, primarily through N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, may be an important cause of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) death in glaucoma and several other retinal diseases. Bis(7)-tacrine is a noncompetitive NMDA receptors antagonist that can prevent glutamate-induced hippocampal neurons damage. We tested the effects of bis(7)-tacrine against glutamate-induced rat RGCs damage in vitro and in vivo.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In cultured neonatal rats RGCs, the MTT assay showed that glutamate induced a concentration- and time-dependent toxicity. Bis(7)-tacrine and memantine prevented glutamate-induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner with IC50 values of 0.028 μM and 0.834 μM, respectively. The anti-apoptosis effects of bis(7)-tacrine were confirmed by annexin V-FITC/PI staining. In vivo, TUNEL analysis and retrograde labeling analysis found that pretreatment with bis(7)-tacrine(0.2 mg/kg) induced a significant neuroprotective effect against glutamate-induced RGCs damage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results showed that bis(7)-tacrine had neuroprotective effects against glutamate-induced RGCs damage in vitro and in vivo, possibly through the drug's anti-NMDA receptor effects. These findings make bis(7)-tacrine potentially useful for treating a variety of ischemic or traumatic retinopathies inclusive of glaucoma.</p

Discovery of Furanoquinone Derivatives as a Novel Class of DNA Polymerase and Gyrase Inhibitors for MRSA Eradication in Cutaneous Infection

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the primary microbe responsible for skin infections that are particularly difficult to eradicate. This study sought to inhibit planktonic and biofilm MRSA using furanoquinone-derived compounds containing imine moiety. A total of 19 furanoquinone analogs were designed, synthesized, and assessed for anti-MRSA potency. Among 19 compounds, (Z)-4-(hydroxyimino)naphtho[1,2-b]furan-5(4H)-one (HNF) and (Z)-4-(acetoxyimino)naphtho[1,2-b]furan-5(4H)-one (ANF) showed antibacterial activity superior to the others based on an agar diffusion assay. HNF and ANF exerted a bactericidal effect with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 9.7 ∼ 19.5 and 2.4 ∼ 9.7 μg/ml, respectively. Both compounds were able to reduce the MRSA count by 1,000-fold in biofilm as compared to the control. In vivo efficacy was evaluated using a mouse model of skin infection. Topical application of lead compounds significantly suppressed abscess occurrence and the MRSA burden, and also ameliorated the skin-barrier function. The biochemical assay indicated the compounds’ inhibition of DNA polymerase and gyrase. In silico docking revealed a favorable interaction of the compounds with DNA polymerase and gyrase although the binding was not very strong. The total DNA analysis and proteomic data suggested a greater impairment of some proteins by HNF than ANF. In general, HNF and ANF were similarly potent in MRSA inhibition in vitro and in vivo. The findings demonstrated that there was room for structural modification of furanoquinone compounds that could be used to identify anti-MRSA agent candidates

Clinical study on the optic nerve protection of calcium dobesilate in treating glaucoma

AIM:To observe the protective effect of calcium dobesilate on optic nerve of glaucoma patients whose intraocular pressure has been under control through operation.<p>METHODS: A total of 78 inpatients(89 eyes)with glaucoma in this hospital from January, 2011 to February, 2012 were enrolled. All patients were randomly divided into treatment group and control group with 6 months in a course. The visual acuity, visual field(mean sensibility, MS), and intraocular pressure were measured at the experiment onset and 6 months later to evaluate the clinical effect.<p>RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the visual acuity, intraocular pressure between the two groups neither at the experiment onset nor after 6 months(<i>P</i>>0.05). The mean sensibility(MS)of the treatment group was obviously improved(14.56±5.03 <i>vs </i>18.9±5.77, <i>P</i><0.05)with statistically significant differences before and after the treatment, while the MS remained unchanged in the control group(14.75±5.17 <i>vs </i>13.48±4.69). There are statistically significant difference between the treatment group and the control group. Compared to the ratio of improvement, stability, and deterioration in the control group(10.3%, 48.7%, 41.0%), the indexes were changed obviously in the treatment group(64.1%, 28.2%, 7.7%,<i>P</i><0.05)with statistically significant difference between the two groups.<p>CONCLUSION:Calcium dobesilate can improve mean retinal sensitivity and protect the optic nerve in glaucoma patients whose intraocular pressure has been controlled

An Analogue Front-End System with a Low-Power On-Chip Filter and ADC for Portable ECG Detection Devices

Medical diagnostic instruments can be made into portable devices for the purpose of home care, such as the diagnosis of heart disease. These assisting devices are not only used to monitor patients but are also beneficial as handy and convenient medical instruments. Hence, for reasons of both portability and durability, designers should reduce the power consumption of assistant devices as much as possible to extend their battery lifetime. However, achieving the low power requirement of the ECG sensing and the processing board for the ECG with commercial discrete components (A21-0003) is difficult because the low power consumer electronics for ECG acquisition systems are not yet available. With the help of the integrated circuit technology, the power-saving requirement of portable and durable equipment gives circuit designers the impetus to reduce the power consumption of analogue front-end circuits in ECG acquisition systems. In addition, the analogue front-end circuits, which are the interface between physical signals and the digital processor, must be operated at a low-supply voltage to be integrated into the low-voltage system-on-a-chip (SOC) system (Eshraghian, 2006). Therefore, the chapter will present two design examples of low-voltage (1 V) and low-power (&lt;1 W) on-chip circuits including a low-pass filter (LPF) and an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) to demonstrate the possibility of developing the low-voltage low-power ECG acquisition SO

1,1′-(4-Oxoheptane-1,7-di­yl)bis­(2-methyl-1H-benzimidazole) penta­hydrate

The title compound, C23H26N4O·5H2O, has noncrystallographic twofold rotation symmetry in the solid state. It crystallizes with five solvent water mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit. Four of these water mol­ecules are connected with each other via hydrogen-bonding inter­actions to form two types of centrosymmetric hexa­meric (H2O)6 rings. Via edge sharing of the hexa­mers, the water clusters thus build infinite chains that stretch parallel to the a axis. The fifth water mol­ecule provides an additional connection between the two hexa­meric (H2O)6 units via hydrogen bonds to both rings. The water mol­ecules in the channels along the a axis are also bonded via O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds to the organic units, and face-to-face π–π inter­actions [with centroid-to-centroid distances of 3.656 (1) Å and average face-to-face distances of 3.431 (5) Å] between the aromatic rings of adjacent mol­ecules complete the inter­molecular inter­actions in this structure

Characterization of the early fiber development gene, Ligon-lintless 1 (Li1), using microarray

AbstractCotton fiber length is a key factor in determining fiber quality in the textile industry throughout the world. Understanding the molecular basis of fiber elongation would allow for improvement of fiber length. Ligon-lintless 1 (Li1) is a monogenic dominant mutation that results in short fibers. This mutant provides an excellent model system to study the molecular mechanisms of cotton fiber elongation. Microarray technology and quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to evaluate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the Ligon-lintless 1 (Li1) mutant compared to the wild-type. Although the results showed only a few differentially expressed genes at −1, 3 and 7days post anthesis (DPA); at 5 DPA, there were 1915 DEGs, including 984 up-regulated genes and 931 down-regulated genes. The critical stage for early termination of Li1 fiber elongation was 5 DPA, as there were the most differentially expressed genes in this sample. The transcription factors and other proteins identified might contribute to understanding the molecular basis of early fiber elongation. Gene ontology analysis identified some key GO terms that impact the regulation of fiber development during early elongation. These results provide some fundamental information about the TFs that might provide new insight into understanding the molecular mechanisms governing cotton fiber development

Pterostilbene, a Methoxylated Resveratrol Derivative, Efficiently Eradicates Planktonic, Biofilm, and Intracellular MRSA by Topical Application

Pterostilbene is a methoxylated derivative of resveratrol originated from natural sources. We investigated the antibacterial activity of pterostilbene against drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the feasibility of using it to treat cutaneous bacteria. The antimicrobial effect was evaluated using an in vitro culture model and an in vivo mouse model of cutaneous infection. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay demonstrated a superior biocidal activity of pterostilbene compared to resveratrol (8~16-fold) against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and clinically isolated vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA). Pterostilbene was found to reduce MRSA biofilm thickness from 18 to 10 μm as detected by confocal microscopy. Pterostilbene showed minimal toxicity to THP-1 cells and was readily engulfed by the macrophages, facilitating the eradication of intracellular MRSA. Pterostilbene exhibited increased skin absorption over resveratrol by 6-fold. Topical pterostilbene application improved the abscess formation produced by MRSA by reducing the bacterial burden and ameliorating the skin architecture. The potent anti-MRSA capability of pterostilbene was related to bacterial membrane leakage, chaperone protein downregulation, and ribosomal protein upregulation. This mechanism of action was different from that of resveratrol according to proteomic analysis and molecular docking. Pterostilbene has the potential to serve as a novel class of topically applied agents for treating MRSA infection in the skin while demonstrating less toxicity to mammalian cells

Poly[[tetra­aquadi-μ3-oxalato-μ2-oxalato-diprasedymium(III)] dihydrate]

In the title compound, {[Pr2(C2O4)3(H2O)4]·2H2O}n, the three-dimensional network structure has the PrIII ion coordinated by nine O atoms in a distorted tricapped trigonal-prismatic geometry. The coordinated and uncoordinated water mol­ecules inter­act with the carboxyl­ate O atoms to consolidate the network via O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Enhancement of polar phases in PVDF by forming PVDF/SiC nanowire composite

Different contents of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires were mixed with Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to facilitate the polar phase crystallization. It was shown that the annealing temperature and SiC content affected on the phase and crystalline structures of PVDF/SiC samples. Furthermore, the addition of SiC nanowire enhanced the transformation of non-polar α phase to polar phases and increased the relative fraction of β phase in PVDF. Due to the nucleating agent mechanism of SiC nanowires, the ion-dipole interaction between the negatively charged surface of SiC nanowires and the positive CH2 groups in PVDF facilitated the formation of polar phases in PVDF