Multicolor Imaging Highlights Xerophthalmic Fundus

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Cell and Molecular Mechanisms of Retinal Ganglion Cell Degeneration in Glaucoma

AbstractGlaucoma is an eye disorder in which intraocular pressure is elevated and retinal ganglion cells therefore degenerate. It is a multifaceted ailment with multiple cell types and pathways involved, all working together and giving rise to optic nerve degeneration. Current drugs used in the treatment of glaucoma all work by lowering intraocular pressure and only slowing the progression of the optic nerve damage. No drugs have yet been shown to effectively target retinal ganglion cells and help regain the lost vision. It is of great importance to understand the cellular and molecular processes involved in glaucomatous neurodegeneration to be able to identify potential targets of treatment. The current review attempts to provide insight into these processes. First, an overview of the disease is provided and then, cell types other than retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) that contribute to the neurodegeneration process (including lamina cribrosa cells, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, andmicroglia) and cellular and molecular events in the RGCs leading to their degeneration and death (such as mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal transport disruption, calcium dyshomeostasis, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and endothelial reticulum stress) are explained.Keywords: Glaucoma; Retinal Ganglion Cell; Neurodegeneration; Apoptosis; Cellular Components;Signaling Pathways

Non- Pharmacological Approaches on the Improvement of Sleep Disturbances in Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Objective Autism is a type of neurodegenerative disorder, affected by genetic and environmental factors. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have symptoms of attention deficit and behavioral problems. The amount of sleep has a significant effect on a child's mood. Sleep problems in a child with autism are more common than a normal child. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of non- pharmacological approaches on the improvement of sleep disturbances in patients with ASD. Materials & Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct databases were systematically searched for articles published between January 2009 and May 2019. All original articles from observational and interventional studies were reviewed. The CONSORT Statement and Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist were used to assess the quality of the selected papers. Results  A review of 18 eligible articles according to the CONSORT checklist (for interventional studies) and STROBE (for descriptive studies) demonstrated that behavioral interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, bedtime fading with response cost, and functional behavioral assessment, physical activity such as aerobic exercise, swimming, and aquatic exercise and weighted blankets could be effective in the improvement of sleep disturbances. Conclusion Restlessness, tantrum, increased stereotypic activities, reduced learning level and speaking power in children with autism was due to poor sleep quality and sleep deficiency, which could affect their life dimensions. Non- pharmacological approaches to the treatment of sleep disturbances could improve both the sleep quality of these individuals and the quality of their lives in addition to having no adverse effect.     &nbsp

Intravitreal Methotrexate

Intravitreal methotrexate (MTX) has been proven to be an effective treatment for various intraocular diseases. In this article, a comprehensive review was performed on intravitreal applications of methotrexate. Different aspects of the administration of intravitreal MTX for various clinical conditions such as intraocular tumors, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and uveitis were reviewed and the adverse effects of intravitreal injection of MTX were discussed. The most common indications are intraocular lymphoma and uveitis. Other applications remain challenging and more studies are needed to establish the role of intravitreal MTX in the management of ocular diseases

Sexual dysfunction among women of reproductive age: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Available statistics show a high prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) among women worldwide. Various factors affect SD among women of reproductive age. Objectives: To evaluate studies on the prevalence and determinants of SD in different parts of the world. Materials and Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest databases were systematically reviewed during 2000–2019. All original articles were reviewed. The STROBE checklist was used to evaluate the quality of the papers. I2 was calculated to determine heterogeneity. Fixed effects and/or random-effects models were applied to estimate the pooled prevalence. Meta-regression analysis was also performed to identify the sources of heterogeneity. Results: Based on the results of the meta-analysis (21 eligible studies), the pooled prevalence with 95% confidence interval of SD was estimated at 50.75% (41.73–59.78). The prevalence of pain and disorders in arousal, sexual desire, lubrication, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction were calculated (39.08%, 48.21%, 50.70%, 37.60%, 40.16%, and 35.02%, respectively). Also, age, depression, low education level, increased duration of the marriage, and the presence of chronic diseases were the highest risk factors for SD. Conclusion: The prevalence of SD in women of reproductive age varies in different countries. Considering the importance of female SD, further studies are needed to facilitate the development of relevant educational interventions. Key words: Sexual dysfunction, Women, Reproductive age

Mining Frequent Patterns in Uncertain and Relational Data Streams using the Landmark Windows

Todays, in many modern applications, we search for frequent and repeating patterns in the analyzed data sets. In this search, we look for patterns that frequently appear in data set and mark them as frequent patterns to enable users to make decisions based on these discoveries. Most algorithms presented in the context of data stream mining and frequent pattern detection, work either on uncertain data, or use the sliding window model to assess data streams. Sliding window model uses a fixed-size window to only maintain the most recently inserted data and ignores all previous data (or those that are out of its window). Many real-world applications however require maintaining all inserted or obtained data. Therefore, the question arises that whether other window models can be used to find frequent patterns in dynamic streams of uncertain data.In this paper, we used landmark window model and time-fading model to answer that question. The method presented in the form of proposed algorithm, which uses the idea of landmark window model to find frequent patterns in the relational and uncertain data streams, shows a better performance in finding functional dependencies than other methods in this field. Another advantage of this method compared with other methods is that it shows tuples that do not follow a single dependency. This feature can be used to detect inconsistent data in a data set

Side Effects of Brolucizumab

Age-related macular degeneration and its complication, subretinal neovascularization, are common causes of progressive, irreversible impairment of central vision. Antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has improved the visual outcome and provided an evolution in the treatment of retinal disease. The current four anti- VEGF drugs – pegaptanib, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and bevacizumab – have been administered for many years. A new anti-VEGF agent, brolucizumab, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in late 2019 for the treatment of wet agerelated macular degeneration. Brolucizumab is a novel single-chain fragment variable antibody that inhibits all isoforms of VEGF-A and has been suggested to have more tissue penetration. Despite all the benefits, there are some reports of serious side effects that need to be understood in managing patients. Brolucizumab has been reported to cause occlusive retinal vasculitis in the setting of intraocular inflammation, which has not been seen in other anti-VEGF medications. A PubMed and Scopus search was performed and all article types were included. In the present article, we have reviewed the reported side effects of brolucizumab