Exploring the benefits of wearable electronic vision enhancement systems for people with age-related macular degeneration. A randomised crossover trial

Exploring the benefits of wearable electronic vision enhancement systems for people with age-related macular degeneration. A randomised crossover trial </p

“I’m like something out of Star Wars”: A qualitative investigation of the views of people with age-related macular degeneration regarding wearable electronic vision enhancement systems

Purpose: This study explores the initial views of people with age-related macular degeneration towards wearable electronic vision enhancement systems.Methods: Ten adults with age-related macular degeneration participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results: Four themes were identified. Firstly, participants spoke of the wide-ranging impact of sight loss and how current helpful coping strategies still had significant limitations, affecting their desire to seek new solutions. The second theme showed that “other people” offered welcomed support with existing electronic coping solutions and are needed to provide suitable advice and training. However, “other people” limited the acceptability of using new solutions in public places. The third theme captured participants’ desire for a wearable aid providing image magnification and enhancement over a range of distances. The final theme covered the reality of some current wearable technology, perceived as heavy, enclosing, or strange in appearance. Appearance caused some to lose interest in use, although others reframed the devices’ desired usefulness to solo and sedentary activities.Conclusion: This population are interested in the potential benefits of wearable electronic vision enhancement systems. More work is needed to understand the suitability of current solutions due to participant concerns about training, appearance and performance.</p

Are wearable electronic vision enhancement systems (wEVES) beneficial for people with age‐related macular degeneration? A scoping review

Introduction: Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible visual impairment in the United Kingdom. It has a wide‐ranging detrimental impact on daily living, including impairment of functional ability and quality of life. Assistive technology designed to overcome this impairment includes wearable electronic vision enhancement systems (wEVES). This scoping review assesses the usefulness of these systems for people with AMD. Methods: Four databases (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane CENTRAL) were searched to identify papers that investigated image enhancement with a head‐mounted electronic device on a sample population that included people with AMD. Results: Thirty‐two papers were included: 18 studied the clinical and functional benefits of wEVES, 11 investigated use and usability and 3 discussed sickness and adverse effects. Conclusions: Wearable electronic vision enhancement systems provide hands‐free magnification and image enhancement producing significant improvements in acuity, contrast sensitivity and aspects of laboratory‐simulated daily activity. Adverse effects were infrequent, minor and spontaneously resolved with the removal of the device. However, when symptoms arose, they sometimes persisted with continued device usage. There are multi‐factorial influences and a diversity of user opinions on promotors to successful device use. These factors are not exclusively driven by visual improvement and incorporate other issues including device weight, ease of use and inconspicuous design. There is insufficient evidence of any cost–benefit analysis for wEVES. However, it has been shown that a user's decision to make a purchase evolves over time, with their estimates of cost falling below the retail price of the devices. Additional research is needed to understand the specific and distinct benefits of wEVES for people with AMD. Further patient‐centred research should assess the benefits of wEVES in user‐led activities when directly compared with alternative coping strategies, allowing professionals and users to make better prescribing and purchasing decisions.</p

Solution-Processed, Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Colloid Films Enable High-Performance TiO₂ Photoanodes for Water Splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and solar fuels hold great promise for harvesting solar energy. TiO₂-based photoelectrodes for water splitting have been intensively investigated since 1972. However, solar-to-fuel conversion efficiencies of TiO₂ photoelectrodes are still far lower than theoretical values. This is partially due to the dilemma of a short minority carrier diffusion length, and long optical penetration depth, as well as inefficient electron collection. We report here the synthesis of TiO₂ PEC electrodes by coating solution-processed antimony-doped tin oxide nanoparticle films (nanoATO) on FTO glass with TiO₂ through atomic layer deposition. The conductive, porous nanoATO film-supported TiO₂ electrodes, yielded a highest photocurrent density of 0.58 mA/cm² under AM 1.5G simulated sunlight of 100 mW/cm². This is approximately 3× the maximum photocurrent density of planar TiO₂ PEC electrodes on FTO glass. The enhancement is ascribed to the conductive interconnected porous nanoATO film, which decouples the dimensions for light absorption and charge carrier diffusion while maintaining efficient electron collection. Transient photocurrent measurements showed that nanoATO films reduce charge recombination by accelerating transport of photoelectrons through the less defined conductive porous nanoATO network. Owing to the large band gap, scalable solution processed porous nanoATO films are promising as a framework to replace other conductive scaffolds for PEC electrodes

Design and Optimization of Selective Protein Kinase C θ (PKCθ) Inhibitors for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases

Protein kinase C θ (PKCθ) has a central role in T cell activation and survival; however, the dependency of T cell responses to the inhibition of this enzyme appears to be dictated by the nature of the antigen and by the inflammatory environment. Studies in PKCθ-deficient mice have demonstrated that while antiviral responses are PKCθ-independent, T cell responses associated with autoimmune diseases are PKCθ-dependent. Thus, potent and selective inhibition of PKCθ is expected to block autoimmune T cell responses without compromising antiviral immunity. Herein, we describe the development of potent and selective PKCθ inhibitors, which show exceptional potency in cells and in vivo. By use of a structure based rational design approach, a 1000-fold improvement in potency and 76-fold improvement in selectivity over closely related PKC isoforms such as PKCδ were obtained from the initial HTS hit, together with a big improvement in lipophilic efficiency (LiPE)

Cancer chemoprevention: Evidence of a nonlinear dose response for the protective effects of resveratrol in humans and mice

Resveratrol is widely promoted as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent, but a lack of information on the optimal dose prohibits rationally designed trials to assess efficacy. To challenge the assumption that "more is better," we compared the pharmacokinetics and activity of a dietary dose with an intake 200 times higher. The dose-response relationship for concentrations generated and the metabolite profile of [(14)C]-resveratrol in colorectal tissue of cancer patients helped us to define clinically achievable levels. In Apc(Min) mice (a model of colorectal carcinogenesis) that received a high-fat diet, the low resveratrol dose suppressed intestinal adenoma development more potently than did the higher dose. Efficacy correlated with activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and increased expression of the senescence marker p21. Nonlinear dose responses were observed for AMPK and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in mouse adenoma cells, culminating in autophagy and senescence. In human colorectal tissues exposed to low dietary concentrations of resveratrol ex vivo, we measured enhanced AMPK phosphorylation and autophagy. The expression of the cytoprotective NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, quinone 1 (NQO1) enzyme was also increased in tissues from cancer patients participating in our [(14)C]-resveratrol trial. These findings warrant a revision of developmental strategies for diet-derived agents designed to achieve cancer chemoprevention