Effect of sodium hyaluronate in treating fungal corneal ulcer

AIM: To retrospectively analyze the effects of sodium hyaluronate in treating fungal corneal ulcer.<p>METHODS: Since June, 2006, there were 178 patients(178 eyes)with fungal corneal ulcer receiving medical treatment in our hospital. Among them, 81 patients(81 eyes)as the control group received the traditional antifungal treatment with the natamycin and fluconazole being the major medicine, from June 2006 to June 2008. While, 97 patients(97 eyes)as the treatment group received sodium hyaluronate treatment based on traditional antifungal treatment during the period of June 2008 to March 2010. Effects of two therapeutic methods were compared and analyzed. <p>RESULTS: Of the 97 cases in the treatment group, the average hospital stay was: 14.15±4.23d, with 90 cases(92.8%)cured, 5 cases(5.2%)improved, 2 cases(2.1%)ineffective, the final visual acuity of 51.6% patients better than 0.3. Of the 81 cases in the control group, average hospital stay was: 17.26±6.23d, with 69 cases(85.2%)cured, 7 cases(8.6%)improved, 5 cases(6.2%)ineffective, the final visual acuity of 39.5% patients better than 0.3. After statistical analysis, the average hospital stay, the cure rate, the effective rate and the final visual acuity in both groups showed statistically significant difference(<i>P</i><0.05). The average hospital stay of the treatment group was shorter than that of the control group, while the cure rate and effective rate and the final visual acuity was better than that of the control group.<p>CONCLUSION: Sodium hyaluronate can promote fungal corneal ulcer healing, improve the cure rate and reduce the formation of corneal scar

Decorrelation of Neutral Vector Variables: Theory and Applications

In this paper, we propose novel strategies for neutral vector variable decorrelation. Two fundamental invertible transformations, namely serial nonlinear transformation and parallel nonlinear transformation, are proposed to carry out the decorrelation. For a neutral vector variable, which is not multivariate Gaussian distributed, the conventional principal component analysis (PCA) cannot yield mutually independent scalar variables. With the two proposed transformations, a highly negatively correlated neutral vector can be transformed to a set of mutually independent scalar variables with the same degrees of freedom. We also evaluate the decorrelation performances for the vectors generated from a single Dirichlet distribution and a mixture of Dirichlet distributions. The mutual independence is verified with the distance correlation measurement. The advantages of the proposed decorrelation strategies are intensively studied and demonstrated with synthesized data and practical application evaluations

Taxonomic studies on the subtribe Aphrastobraconina Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) in China

The species of the subtribe Aphrastobraconina Ashmead from China were studied and five species belonging to three genera (Undabracon Quicke, 1986, Curriea Ashmead, 1900 and Aphrastobracon Ashmead, 1896) recognized. Three new species (Undabracon cariniventris sp. n., Aphrastobracon huanjiangensis sp. n. and A. politus sp. n.) are fully described and illustrated. The genus Undabracon (Quicke, 1986), the species Aphrastobracon flavipennis Ashmead and Curriea tibialis (Ashmead) are reported for the first time from China. A key to the species of the genus Undabracon is provided

Calcineurin mediates acetylcholinesterase expression during calcium ionophore A23187-induced HeLa cell apoptosis

AbstractWe previously reported that acetylcholinesterase plays a critical role in apoptosis and its expression is regulated by Ca2+ mobilization. In the present study, we show that activated calpain, a cytosolic calcium-activated cysteine protease, and calcineurin, a calcium-dependent protein phosphatase, regulate acetylcholinesterase expression during A23187-induced apoptosis. The calpain inhibitor, calpeptin, and the calcineurin inhibitors, FK506 and cyclosporine A, inhibited acetylcholinesterase expression at both mRNA and protein levels and suppressed the activity of the human acetylcholinesterase promoter. In contrast, overexpression of constitutively active calcineurin significantly activated the acetylcholinesterase promoter. Furthermore, we identify a role for the transcription factor NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells), a calcineurin target, in regulating the acetylcholinesterase promoter during ionophore-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of human NFATc3 and NFATc4 greatly increased the acetylcholinesterase promoter activity in HeLa cells treated with A23187. Overexpression of constitutive nuclear NFATc4 activated the acetylcholinesterase promoter independent of A23187, whereas overexpression of dominant-negative NFAT blocked A23187-induced acetylcholinesterase promoter activation. These results indicate that calcineurin mediates acetylcholinesterase expression during apoptosis

3-Chloro-5-(trifluoro­meth­yl)pyridin-2-amine

In the title compound, C6H4ClF3N2, an inter­mediate in the synthesis of the fungicide fluazinam, the F atoms of the trifluoro­methyl group are disordered over two sites in a 0.683 (14):0.317 (14) ratio. In the crystal structure, centrosymmetric dimers arise from pairs of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds