Short-term use of dexamethasone/netilmicin fixed combination in controlling ocular inflammation after uncomplicated cataract surgery

Purpose: To evaluate the short-term anti-inflammatory effect of dexamethasone/netilmicin fixed combination in the management of ocular inflammation after cataract surgery. Patients and Methods: Open-label, randomized, active-controlled, clinical study con-ducted in 6 sites in Italy; 238 patients were randomized 2:1 to dexamethasone/netilmicin (dexa/net, n=158) or betamethasone/chloramphenicol (beta/chl, n=80). Treatment started the day of surgery and continued 4 times daily for 7 days. The primary efficacy parameter was the anterior chamber (AC) flare. The percentage of patients displaying none or mild (ie, only barely detectable) AC flare was defined as “efficacy rate”, whereas the percentage of patients showing a decrease of AC flare score from baseline was defined as “percentage of responders”. Additional parameters evaluated were AC cells, conjunctival hyperaemia, corneal and lid oedema, symptoms of ocular discomfort, visual acuity, and intraocular pressure. Dexa/net was considered effective if the efficacy rate was not inferior (by means of 97.5% confidence interval) to that of beta/chl. Results: After 7 days of treatment, no AC flare was observed in 92.8% (dexa/net) and 92.3% (beta/chl) of patients, whereas no AC cells were observed in 91.5% (dexa/net) and 93.6% (beta/chl) of patients, respectively. The “efficacy rate” was 100% in both groups, whereas the “percentage of responders” was 94.1% in the dexa/net and 93.6% in the beta/chl group. The p-value to reject the null hypothesis of inferiority was <0.001. Other efficacy parameters confirmed both treatments as highly effective, despite their difference in steroid content (2 mg/mL for beta/chl vs 1 mg/mL for dexa/net). IOP and visual acuity at the end of the study were comparable. Two cases of allergic conjunctivitis were considered adverse events and were both related to dexa/net. Conclusion: Short-term use of dexa/net fixed combination is safe and effective in the control of post-operative inflammation following uncomplicated cataract surgery

Nonextensive statistical mechanics, superstatistics and beyond: theory and applications in astrophysical and other complex systems

A brief illustration is presented about the scientific motivation and contributions of this Special Issue

Metsovo Lung: History of Population Environmental Exposure

The historical course of the Metsovo Lung phenomenon began to be investigated in the 1980s when extensive pleural calcifications causing malignant mesothelioma appeared at a high frequency beyond expectation. It was not possible to explain their frequency. This finding reasonably raised the question of whether it was indeed tuberculous pleurisy or something else. The biopsies carried out confirmed that these were tremolite asbestos fibres. These fibres were derived from a shielding material containing asbestos. This is a global phenomenon according to which the entire population of Metsovo was exposed to asbestos, without knowing it, from a traditional shielding material. The abandonment of the material and its non-use brought about a gradual reduction of the phenomenon, which also marks the reduction of mesothelioma

First experimental evidence of 2He decay from 18Ne excited states

Two-proton decay from 18Ne excited states has been studied by complete kinematical detection of the decay products. The 18Ne nucleus has been produced as a radioactive beam by 20Ne projectile fragmentation at 45 AMeV on a 9Be target, using the FRIBs in-flight facility of the LNS. The 18Ne at 33 AMeV incident energy has been excited via Coulomb excitation on a natPb target. The correlated 2p emission has been disentangled from the uncorrelated 2p emission using a high granularity particle detector setup allowing the reconstruction of momentum and angle correlations of the two emitted protons. The obtained results unambiguously show that the 6.15 MeV 18Ne state two-proton decay proceeds through 2He emission (31%) and democratic or virtual sequential decay (69%)

Quantum Monte Carlo calculation of the zero-temperature phase diagram of the two-component fermionic hard-core gas in two dimensions

Motivated by potential realizations in cold-atom or cold-molecule systems, we have performed quantum Monte Carlo simulations of two-component gases of fermions in two dimensions with hard-core interactions. We have determined the gross features of the zero-temperature phase diagram by investigating the relative stabilities of paramagnetic and ferromagnetic fluids and crystals. We have also examined the effect of including a pairwise, long-range r^3 potential between the particles. Our most important conclusion is that there is no region of stability for a ferromagnetic fluid phase, even if the long-range interaction is present. We also present results for the pair-correlation function, static structure factor, and momentum density of two-dimensional hard-core fluids