Intense pulsed light (IPL): An innovative method for the treatment of Meibomian gland dysfunction in patients with dry eye disease

Introduction: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a leading cause of dry eye syndrome. They produce lipids that contribute to the integrity of the tear film and slow down its evaporation. When these glands become blocked, they can lead to symptoms associated with dry eye disease. Until recently, only tear substitutes containing lipid components, omega-3 fatty acids, warm compresses, and topical anti-inflammatory agents were used for treatment. Intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy is a new treatment option for dry eye syndrome due to meibomian gland dysfunction.Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IPL for the treatment of dry eye syndrome due to meibomian gland dysfunction in patients of different age groups by examining the non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT) and Schirmer’s test measured before IPL treatment and their change after two IPL procedures.Material and Methods: ANTARES corneal topographer (CSO, ANTARES-2017) was used to measure the indicators. Intense pulsed light treatment was given to 61 patients in both eyes. Each patient had a second-degree MGD and underwent two procedures at an interval of two weeks. The tear breakup time (TBUT) and Schirmer’s test were assessed at baseline and two weeks after the last treatment. The analysis, by which the data were processed, is GLM Repeated Measures.Results: The majority of tests documented an improvement in the clinically relevant parameters, including the tear breakup time, Schirmer’s test, meibum quality, and Standard Evaluation of Eye Dryness Questionnaire. Side effects were relatively rare, but included discomfort and skin erythema. Age, gender and the application of artificial tears did not have a significant effect on the described results.Conclusion: Intense pulsed light shows therapeutic potential for MGD treatment, improving the quality of the tear film and reducing the symptoms of dry eye syndrome

Assessing the performance of analytical methods for propolis – A collaborative trial by the international honey commission

Propolis is a resinous beehive product with extraordinary bioactivity and chemical richness, linked with the botanical sources of the resin. The potential of this product keeps captivating the scientific community, conducting to continuous and growing research on plant sources, composition, or applications in agriculture, cosmetics, pharmacy, odontology, etc. In all cases, the quality assessment is a requirement and relies on methods to extract the bioactive substances from the raw propolis and quantify different components. Unfortunately, besides the absence of international quality requirements, there is also a lack of standardized analytical procedures, despite the presence of several methodologies with unknown reliability, often not comparable. To overcome the current status, the International Honey Commission established an inter-laboratory study, with propolis samples from around the globe, to harmonize analytical methods and evaluate their accuracy. A common set of protocols was matched between twelve laboratories from nine countries, for quantification of ash, wax, and balsamic content in raw propolis, and spectrophotometric evaluation of total phenolics, flavone/flavonol, and flavanone/ dihydroflavonol in the extract. A total of 3428 results (97% valid data), were used to assess the methods’ accuracy following ISO-5725 guidelines. The within-laboratory precision, revealed good agreement levels for the majority of the methods, with relative variance below 5%. As expected, the between-laboratory variance increased, but, with exception of the flavanone method that revealed a clear lack of consistency, all the others maintained acceptable variability levels, below 30%. Because the performance of ultrasounds procedures was low, they cannot be recommended until further improvements are made.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). Thanks to the Programa Apíıcola Nacional 2020-2022 (National Beekeeping Program) for funding the project "Standardization of production procedures and quality parameters of bee products" and to Project PDR2020-1.0.1- FEADER-031734: “DivInA-Diversification and Innovation on Beekeeping Production”. National funding by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, through the institutional scientific employment program-contract with Soraia I. Falcão. A special thanks is given to Hartmut Scheiter and Allwex Food Trading GmbH, Bremen, Germany, for providing, handling and delivering the propolis blind samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The American Dream in the 21st Century. Will Smith and 'The Pursuit of Happyness'

This project involves analysis of the American Dream in its four versi ons as classified by Jim Cullen: upward mobility, equality, home ownership, and fame and success. Furthermore, it looks at its applications o n the motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) as well as Will Smith ́s personal and professional life. The aim is to demonstrate that the Dream is still a recurrent idea in the 21 st century and that Smith ́s character, Chris Gardner, and the celebrity himself fully illustrate the four versions of the Dream. Primary sources, including the above mentioned film directed by Gabriele Muccino and the biographical book The Amazing Life of Will Smith written by Matt Green have been used for the purpose of this study. Moreover, interviews with Will Smith and other important works published on the topic of the Dream have been consulted. We finally conclude that the American Dream is a controversial topic which has played an important role in USA history and cultu re and is still a n important issue in the 21 st century

Abstracts Of The Proceedings And The Posters From The Third Scientific Session Of The Medical College Of Varna

October 2-3, 201