Treatment chronic macular edema in Vogt-Koyanagi Harada syndrome with dexamethasone intravitreal implant: description of three case

Purpose: To report our experience with dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex, DEX implant) in the chronic cystic macular edema (ME )with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Syndrome. Method: A retrospective chart review of three patients with (VKH) treated with sustained-release dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant was performed.Complete ophthalmic examination included: best corrected visual acuity; ocular tonometry, were also evaluated signs of inflammatory activity of the anterior segment with biomicroscopy slit-lamp, and posterior segment with fundus biomiocrosopy, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography; measurement of macular morphology and thickness, optical with coherence tomography; and tolerability of the implant. Mean follow-up time post-injection was 6 months. All three eyes received 1Ozurdex implants during the follow-up period. The duration of effect of the implant was 4 to 6 months. No serious ocular or systemic adverse events were noted during the follow-up period. Results: In all three eyes, were observed a remarkable decrease ME, in angiographic and OCT , following placement intravitreal DEX implant Conclusions: The DEX implant 0.7 mg may be an effective treatment option for reduction ME in VGT, met the primary efficacy endpoint for improvement in visual acuity (VA) and safety profile was also acceptabl

Chemical and structural characterization of fibrous richterite with high environmental and health relevance from Libby, Montana (USA)

This study reports new structural and spectroscopic data of a sample of fibrous richterite from Libby, Montana (USA). The OH-stretching region was investigated by FT-IR. The spectrum showed, except for the typical absorption band at 3671 cm-1 assigned to the vibration of the O-H dipole bonded to three [6]Mg cations, a well developed band at 3658 cm-1 attributed to the M(1)+M(3)Fe2+ environment. The M(1)+M(3)Fe2+ occupancy calculated using the FT-IR data is in very good agreement with that obtained combining Mössbauer and EMP data. Fe3+ was only assigned at M(2) owing to the absence in FT-IR spectrum of absorption bands at Δ=-50 cm-1 from the tremolite reference band. Structural investigation was done by X-ray powder-diffraction using the Rietveld method. Cell parameters, fractional coordinates for all non-hydrogen atoms, and site scattering for M(1), M(2), M(3), M(4) and A were refined. The most relevant difference with respect to prismatic winchite is a general reduction of the cell parameters that is ascribed mainly to the higher fluorine content of fibrous richterite. Possible site occupancies were obtained by combining chemical data and Rietveld refinement results

Erionite-Na upon heating. Dehydration dynamics and exchangeable cations mobility

Erionite is a fibrous zeolite significantly more tumorigenic than crocidolite asbestos upon inhalation. In recent years, several papers have been published aimed at characterizing from the crystal-chemical point of view erionite fibres. As their toxicity has been ascribed to Fe acquired within the human body, studies aimed at characterizing the iron topochemistry have also been published, suggesting a possible important role played by the ionic exchange properties and cations mobility of this zeolite on developing carcinogenicity. Here we report the analysis results of the thermal behaviour of erionite-Na, which has been found to deviate significantly from that of erionite-K. This result is in contrast with the current scientific view that differences in weighted ionic potential, Si/Al ratio and size of exchangeable cations result in significantly different thermal behaviours, all those parameters being nearly identical or very similar in both species. The different mobility of the extraframework cations observed in erionite samples with dissimilar chemistry is of particular interest within the frame of the hypothesis that their biological activity could depend, apart from surface interactions, also on bulk effects

Sectional symmetry of solutions of elliptic systems in cylindrical domains

In this paper we prove a kind of rotational symmetry for solutions of semilinear elliptic systems in some bounded cylindrical domains. The symmetry theorems obtained hold for low-Morse index solutions whenever the nonlinearities satisfy some convexity assumptions. These results extend and improve those obtained in \cite{DaPaSys, DaGlPa1, Pa, PaWe}.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1209.5581, arXiv:1206.392

Symmetry results for cooperative elliptic systems via linearization

In this paper we prove symmetry results for classical solutions of nonlinear cooperative elliptic systems in a ball or in annulus in \RN, $N \geq 2$. More precisely we prove that solutions having Morse index $j \leq N$ are foliated Schwarz symmetric if the nonlinearity is convex and a full coupling condition is satisfied along the solution

Fast glycorrhachia and cerebrospinal fluid protein as predictors of sensory block in anesthesia with subarachnoid Ropivacaine

BACKGROUND: Identify if glycorrhachia and cerebrospinal fluid protein could influence the time of sensory block to T10, the duration and the metameric block's level, after a standard dose of Ropivacaine. METHODS: 80 patients, ASA I - III undergoing to transurethral prostate resection with spinal anesthesia in a prospected open study were recruited. A 0.2 ml liquor's sample was taken; glycorrhachia, by glycemic stix and CSF protein, by urinary stix, were got, before Ropivacaine 0.5% 15 mg injection (0.10 - 0.15 mlsec). After anti-trendelemburg, with 30 ° tilting for 15 min, the onset of sensory block to T10, the maximum metameric level to 15' and the time of sensory block were reported. The data collection were analyzed using the software language R. RESULTS: A significant correlation liquor specific weigh preoperative glycemia (0.749), liquoral specific weigh glycorrhachia (rho = 0.751; R2 = 0.564; P 0.05) and specific weigh CSF protein (rho = 0.684; R2 = 0.468; P 0.05) were reported. Inverse relation CSF weightsensory block level (rho -0.789, P 0.05, R2 0.621) was evidenced. Inverse relation onset time to T10 glycorrhachia (84%) and cephalic block glycorrhachia (76%) were found. Inverse correlation onset time to T 10 CSF protein and cephalic block proteinorrachia was respectively 84% and 67%. A rho of 0.712 with R2 of 51% BMI onset to T10 and rho of 0.681 with R2 of 51% BMI maximum cephalic block with P 0.05 were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The predictability of a iso-hypobaric local anesthetic could reduce the risk of procedure failure and adverse events by further cephalic spread

A nonexistence result for sign-changing solutions of the Brezis-Nirenberg problem in low dimensions

We consider the Brezis-Nirenberg problem: \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} -\Delta u = \lambda u + |u|^{2^* -2}u & \hbox{in}\ \Omega\\ u=0 & \hbox{on}\ \partial \Omega, \end{cases} \end{equation*} where $\Omega$ is a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^N$, $N\geq 3$, $2^{*}=\frac{2N}{N-2}$ is the critical Sobolev exponent and $\lambda>0$ a positive parameter. The main result of the paper shows that if $N=4,5,6$ and $\lambda$ is close to zero there are no sign-changing solutions of the form $$u_\lambda=PU_{\delta_1,\xi}-PU_{\delta_2,\xi}+w_\lambda,$$ where $PU_{\delta_i}$ is the projection on $H_0^1(\Omega)$ of the regular positive solution of the critical problem in $\mathbb{R}^N$, centered at a point $\xi \in \Omega$ and $w_\lambda$ is a remainder term. Some additional results on norm estimates of $w_\lambda$ and about the concentrations speeds of tower of bubbles in higher dimensions are also presented.Comment: 21 page

Neurovisual training (TRIGRAM) in young patients with visual-perceptive dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Although this condition is characterized by anatomical malformation of the brain, it seems that the typical reading pattern of dyslexic may be also related to more complex sensory deficits. Among them, visual- perceptive deficits have been described in a subtype of dyslexia, called visual-perceptive dyslexia. The distinctive feature of a patient suffering from visual-perceptive dyslexia form is marked by effortlessly recognize the characteristics of each individual stimulus. The Tetra protocol is a visual-perceptual evaluation protocol that was introduced for the diagnostic phase and the rehabilitation of visual-perceptive dyslexia. The diagnostic tests include: the eidomorphometry test, designed to evaluate the perception of spatial relationships; the contrast sensitivity threshold test, especially at low spatial frequencies; and the REPORT TEST words, to assess the speed and the reading efficiency. In addition, the rehabilitation phase is carried out with the visual neuro-enhancement program TRIGRAM, a visual training proposal designed to reduce the lateral masking phenomenon in visual-perceptive dyslexic. Thus, in this study we used the diagnostic tests of TETRA® Protocol to determine presence of visual-perceptual abnormalities in children with dyslexia. Proven time the presence of these visual-perceptual alterations, the patients were also subjected to the rehabilitation sessions of TRIGRAM, in order to investigate whether this visual training may improve the pattern of reading. At the end of the program (t1) and after three months (t2), the same subjects underwent the same diagnostic tests of TETRA® Protocol to evaluate and confirm the results obtained during rehabilitation program. The results showed a significant increase in contrast sensitivity at low and high spatial frequencies. Moreover, the same improvements in the visual system's ability to discriminate the contours of an object within the field of view, have been maintained three months after the end of treatment. We also observed a significant improvement in the perception of spatial relationships, with reduction of SRA value. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the visual rehabilitation training (TRIGRAM) is able to improve the perception of spatial relationships, and increase contrast sensitivity in young patients affected by "visual dyslexia". Nonetheless, these data need to be confirmed in larger cohort of subjects in order to establish whether these effects can also increase lexical ability (increased reading speed and reduce errors during the lexical task)