Corticosteroid implants for chronic non-infectious uveitis.

BACKGROUND: Uveitis is a term used to describe a heterogeneous group of intraocular inflammatory diseases of the anterior, intermediate, and posterior uveal tract (iris, ciliary body, choroid). Uveitis is the fifth most common cause of vision loss in high-income countries, accounting for 5% to 20% of legal blindness, with the highest incidence of disease in the working-age population.Corticosteroids are the mainstay of acute treatment for all anatomical subtypes of non-infectious uveitis and can be administered orally, topically with drops or ointments, by periocular (around the eye) or intravitreal (inside the eye) injection, or by surgical implantation. OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy and safety of steroid implants in people with chronic non-infectious posterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, and panuveitis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (Issue 10, 2015), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to November 2015), EMBASE (January 1980 to November 2015), PubMed (1948 to November 2015), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (1982 to November 2015), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) (last searched 15 April 2013), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov), and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic search for studies. We last searched the electronic databases on 6 November 2015.We also searched reference lists of included study reports, citation databases, and abstracts and clinical study presentations from professional meetings. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials comparing either fluocinolone acetonide (FA) or dexamethasone intravitreal implants with standard-of-care therapy with at least six months of follow-up after treatment. We included studies that enrolled participants of all ages who had chronic non-infectious posterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, or panuveitis with vision that was better than hand-motion. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently reviewed studies for inclusion. Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias for each study. MAIN RESULTS: We included data from two studies (619 eyes of 401 participants) that compared FA implants with standard-of-care therapy. Both studies used similar standard-of-care therapy that included administration of prednisolone and, if needed, immunosuppressive agents. The studies included participants from Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We assessed both studies at high risk of performance and detection bias.Only one study reported our primary outcome, recurrence of uveitis at any point during the study through 24 months. The evidence, judged as moderate-quality, showed that a FA implant probably prevents recurrence of uveitis compared with standard-of-care therapy (risk ratio (RR) 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.14 to 0.59; 132 eyes). Both studies reported safety outcomes, and moderate-quality evidence showed increased risks of needing cataract surgery (RR 2.98, 95% CI 2.33 to 3.79; 371 eyes) and surgery to lower intraocular pressure (RR 7.48, 95% CI 3.94 to 14.19; 599 eyes) in the implant group compared with standard-of-care therapy through two years of follow-up. No studies compared dexamethasone implants with standard-of-care therapy. AUTHORS\u27 CONCLUSIONS: After considering both benefits and harms reported from two studies in which corticosteroids implants were compared with standard-of-care therapy, we are unable to conclude that the implants are superior to traditional systemic therapy for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis. These studies exhibited heterogeneity in design and outcomes that measured efficacy. Pooled findings regarding safety outcomes suggest increased risks of post-implant surgery for cataract and high intraocular pressure compared with standard-of-care therapy

The Versatility of Graded Acoustic Measures in Classification of Predation Threats by the Tufted Titmouse \u3ci\u3eBaeolophus bicolor\u3c/i\u3e: Exploring a Mixed Framework for Threat Communication

Many mammal and bird species respond to predator encounters with alarm vocalizations that generate risk-appropriate responses in listeners. Two conceptual frameworks are typically applied to the information encoded in alarm calls and to associated anti-predator behaviors. ‘Functionally referential’ alarm systems encode nominal classes or categories of risk in distinct call types that refer to distinct predation-risk situations. ‘Risk-based’ alarms encode graded or ranked threat-levels by varying the production patterns of the same call types as the urgency of predation threat changes. Recent work suggests that viewing alarm-response interactions as either referential or risk-based may oversimplify how animals use information in decision-making. Specifically, we explore whether graded alarm cues may be useful in classifying risks, supporting a referential decision-making framework. We presented predator (hawk, owl, cat, snake) and control treatments to captive adult tufted titmice Baeolophus bicolor and recorded their vocalizations, which included ‘chick-a-dee’ mobbing calls (composed of chick and D notes), ‘seet’ notes, two types of contact notes (‘chip’, ‘chink’), and song. No single call type was uniquely associated with any treatment and the majority of acoustic measures varied significantly among treatments (46 of 60). The strongest models (ANOVA and classification tree analysis) grouped hawk with cat and owl, and control with snake, and were based on the number or proportion of a) chick and D notes per chick-a-dee call, b) chip versus chink notes produced following treatment exposure, and c) the frequency metrics of other note types. We conclude that (1) the predation-threat information available in complex titmouse alarm calls was largely encoded in graded acoustic measures that were (2) numerous and variable across treatments and (3) could be used singly or in combinations for either ranking or classification of threats. We call attention to the potential use of mixed threat identification strategies, where risk-based signal information may be used in referential decision-making contexts

Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

The plaster sculpture depicts a standing Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge, who is widely believed to be Lincoln\u27s first love. In the sculpture, Lincoln leans against a tree while holding a book. Ann looks up at Lincoln with both of her hands resting on the tree.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-statuettes-and-figurines/1017/thumbnail.jp

Do Social Connections and Hope Matter in Predicting Early Adolescent Violence?

We tested relationships between social connections, hope, and violence among young adolescents from socially distressed urban neighborhoods, and examined whether relationships between adolescents' family and school connectedness and violence involvement were mediated by hopefulness. Data were from middle school students involved in the Lead Peace demonstration study. The sample (N = 164) was 51.8% female; 42% African American, 28% Asian, 13% Hispanic, and 17% mixed race or other race; average age was 12.1 years; 46% reported physical fighting in the past year. In multivariate models, parent‐family connectedness was protective against violence; school connectedness was marginally protective. Hopefulness was related to lower levels of violence. The relationship between school connectedness and violence was mediated by hopefulness; some evidence for mediation also existed in the family‐parent connectedness and violence relationship. Findings warrant continued exploration of hopefulness as an important protective factor against violence involvement, and as a mediator in relationships between social connections and violence involvement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116982/1/ajcp9387.pd

Translational Retinal Research and Therapies.

The following review summarizes the state of the art in representative aspects of gene therapy/translational medicine and evolves from a symposium held at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania on November 16, 2017 honoring Dr. Gustavo Aguirre, recipient of ARVO's 2017 Proctor Medal. Focusing on the retina, speakers highlighted current work on moving therapies for inherited retinal degenerative diseases from the laboratory bench to the clinic

Evaluation of boldness assays and associated behavioral measures in a social parrot, monk parakeet (\u3ci\u3eMyiopsitta monachus\u3c/i\u3e)

Boldness reflects consistent individual differences in risk-taking behavior across various contexts. However, evaluating this basic assumption has largely been neglected in birds. In a captive monk parakeet population (Myiopsitta monachus; N = 33), we undertook an analysis of 7 measures across 3 commonly used boldness assays (i.e., novel object, emergence, and predator-exposure tests). Using principal component analysis, we derived 3 components (PCs). PC-2 loaded strongly with measures from emergence and predator-exposure tests; we interpreted it as the closest approximation of boldness. PC-1 and PC-3 described different aspects of feeding such as foraging activity and rate, respectively. Finally, we assessed the predictive power of each measure that loaded significantly on the boldness axis.We found that no single metric explained even %55 of the variation in PC-2, nor could more than %50 individuals at the extremes of the spectrum be predicted. Our results demonstrate the utility of an inclusive approach in personality research

Social conformity affects experimental measurement of boldness in male but not female monk parakeets (\u3ci\u3eMyiopsitta monachus\u3c/i\u3e)

The standard approach for characterizing boldness rarely considers the influence of social environment on the expression of boldness in group-living animals. We studied a wild-caught, captive population of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) to investigate the impact of conspecific presence on boldness — a personality trait in monk parakeets — in a controlled environment. We quantified seven boldness metrics across three types of behavioural assay: novel object, emergence, and predator exposure tests in the presence of a companion pair of flock mates. Because of the high degree of sociality in this species, we hypothesized that the presence of companion birds would facilitate the focal individuals’ behavioural responses (i.e., increase the average boldness level). We found that behavioural response in a risky foraging context was inversely correlated between solitary and social condition in males, but not in females. Our results have implications for characterizing sex-specific differences of risk-taking behaviour in social animals

The scotopic threshold response of the cat erg is suppressed selectively by GABA and glycine

Corneal electroretinograms (ERGs) were recorded from anesthetized cats under scotopic conditions. We examined whether the scotopic threshold response (STR) of the ERG could be functionally distinguished from scotopic PII and a-wave using intravitreal application of neuroactive agents. We found that neurotransmitters with active sites on third order neurons had several different effects. Results were: (1) glycine and [gamma]-amino butyric acid (GABA) selectivity suppressed the STR but had relatively small and/or opposite effects on PII; (2) serotonin, acetylcholine and dopamine were nonselective and suppressed both STR and PII; (3) strychnine blocked the suppression of the STR by glycine. GABA-a antagonists alone only partially blocked GABA effects on the STR, and GABA-b antagonists were ineffective; (4) strychnine enhanced the STR. Bicuculline also increased STR amplitudes, but only in the presence of haloperidol. Our results suggest that the retinal pathway that contributes to the rod-driven STR is strongly influenced by cells that release glycine or GABA in the dark. These cells are possibly third order neurons in the retina. Our results also suggest that picrotoxin and bicuculline can facilitate the release of dopamine in the cat retina. Furthermore, the data indicate a light evoked release of dopamine which was first noticeable at about two log units above ERG threshold.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29513/1/0000600.pd