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Journal of Investigative Medicine High... 2023Neuroretinitis, originally described by Leber at the turn of the 20th century, has long perplexed ophthalmologists due to its multiple recognized causes and often...
Neuroretinitis, originally described by Leber at the turn of the 20th century, has long perplexed ophthalmologists due to its multiple recognized causes and often atypical presentation. Optic disk edema and macular star in the affected eye are well-agreed upon findings and are due to increased permeability of blood vessels near the optic disk and in the retina at large. It also is universally painless and presents with a relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) in the affected eye or eyes. However, depending on the infectious agent, an underlying autoimmune condition, or undefined idiopathic cause, there can be various degrees of vision loss, visual field loss, progression or recurrence, as well as involvement of the other eye. We present this case of presumed sequential idiopathic neuroretinitis with severe vision and visual field loss with a low-positive anti-MOG test in the border county of El Paso.
Topics: Humans; Retinitis; Optic Disk; Chorioretinitis; Diagnosis, Differential
PubMed: 37942586
DOI: 10.1177/23247096231206619 -
IScience Jan 2022Observations of black hole X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei indicate that the accretion flows around black holes are composed of hot and cold gas, which have... (Review)
Review
Observations of black hole X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei indicate that the accretion flows around black holes are composed of hot and cold gas, which have been theoretically described in terms of either a hot geometrically thick corona lying above and below a cold geometrically thin disk or an inner advection dominated accretion flow connected to an outer thin disk. This article reviews the accretion flows around black holes, with an emphasis on the physics that determines the configuration of hot and cold accreting gas, and how the configuration varies with the accretion rate and thereby produces various luminosity and spectra.
PubMed: 34977506
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103544 -
Analytical Chemistry Oct 2022This manuscript details the first report of a complete additively manufactured rotating disk electrode setup, highlighting how high-performing equipment can be designed...
This manuscript details the first report of a complete additively manufactured rotating disk electrode setup, highlighting how high-performing equipment can be designed and produced rapidly using additive manufacturing without compromising on performance. The additively manufactured rotating disk electrode system was printed using a predominantly acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) based filament and used widely available, low-cost electronics, and simplified machined parts to create. The additively manufactured rotating disk electrode system costs less than 2% of a comparable commercial solution (£84.47 ($102.26) total). The rotating disk electrode is also additively manufactured using a carbon black/polylactic acid (CB/PLA) equivalent, developing a completely additively manufactured rotating disk electrode system. The electrochemical characterization of the additively manufactured rotating disk electrode setup was performed using hexaamineruthenium(III) chloride and compared favorably with a commercial glassy carbon electrode. Finally, this work shows how the additively manufactured rotating disk electrode experimental system and additive manufactured electrodes can be utilized for the electroanalytical determination of levodopa, a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, producing a limit of detection of 0.23 ± 0.03 μM. This work represents a step-change in how additive manufacturing can be used in research, allowing the production of high-end equipment for hugely reduced costs, without compromising on performance. Utilizing additive manufacturing in this way could greatly enhance the research possibilities for less well-funded research groups.
Topics: Acrylonitrile; Butadienes; Carbon; Chlorides; Electrodes; Levodopa; Polyesters; Soot; Styrenes
PubMed: 36129134
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02884 -
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Mar 2020
Topics: Adult; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Myopia; Optic Disk; Optic Nerve Diseases
PubMed: 32057022
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1103_19 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Apr 2023The Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Disk (IBD-Disk) is a physician-administered tool that evaluates the functional status of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)....
BACKGROUND
The Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Disk (IBD-Disk) is a physician-administered tool that evaluates the functional status of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The aim of our study was to validate the content of the IBD-Disk in a Greek cohort of IBD patients.
METHODS
Two questionnaires [the IBD Disk and the IBD-Disability Index (IBD-DI)] were translated into Greek and administered to IBD patients at baseline visit, after 4 weeks and 6 months. Validation of the IBD Disk included measuring of concurrent validity, reproducibility, and internal consistency.
RESULTS
A total of 300 patients were included at baseline and 269 at follow-up. There was a good correlation between the total scores of the IBD-Disk and IBD-DI at baseline (Pearson correlation 0.87, < 0.001). Reproducibility of the total IBD-Disk score was very good [intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89 (0.86-0.91)]. Cronbach's coefficient alpha for all items achieved 0.90 (95%CI 0.88-0.92), demonstrating a very good homogeneity of the IBD-Disk items. Female gender and extraintestinal manifestations were significantly associated with a higher IBD-Disk total score.
CONCLUSIONS
The Greek version of the IBD-Disk proved to be a reliable and valid tool in detecting and assessing IBD-related disability in a Greek cohort of IBD patients.
PubMed: 37109360
DOI: 10.3390/jcm12083023 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jan 2023The intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) and its associated conditions are an important problem in modern medicine. The onset of IDD may be in childhood and... (Review)
Review
The intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) and its associated conditions are an important problem in modern medicine. The onset of IDD may be in childhood and adolescence in patients with a genetic predisposition. IDD progresses with age, leading to spondylosis, spondylarthrosis, intervertebral disk herniation, and spinal stenosis. The purpose of this review is an attempt to summarize the data characterizing the patterns of production of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in IDD and to appreciate the prognostic value of cytokine imbalance as its biomarker. This narrative review demonstrates that the problem of evaluating the contribution of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines to the maintenance or alteration of cytokine balance may be a new key to unlocking the mystery of IDD development and new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of IDD in the setting of acute and chronic inflammation. The presented data support the hypothesis that cytokine imbalance is one of the most important biomarkers of IDD.
Topics: Humans; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration; Cytokines; Intervertebral Disc Displacement; Biomarkers; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Intervertebral Disc
PubMed: 36768679
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032360 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2023The intercalated disk is a cardiac specific structure composed of three main protein complexes-adherens junctions, desmosomes, and gap junctions-that work in concert to... (Review)
Review
The intercalated disk is a cardiac specific structure composed of three main protein complexes-adherens junctions, desmosomes, and gap junctions-that work in concert to provide mechanical stability and electrical synchronization to the heart. Each substructure is regulated through a variety of mechanisms including proteolysis. Calpain proteases, a class of cysteine proteases dependent on calcium for activation, have recently emerged as important regulators of individual intercalated disk components. In this review, we will examine how calcium homeostasis regulates normal calpain function. We will also explore how calpains modulate gap junctions, desmosomes, and adherens junctions activity by targeting specific proteins, and describe the molecular mechanisms of how calpain dysregulation leads to structural and signaling defects within the heart. We will then examine how changes in calpain activity affects cardiomyocytes, and how such changes underlie various heart diseases.
Topics: Calpain; Calcium; Myocardium; Myocytes, Cardiac; Adherens Junctions
PubMed: 37511485
DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411726 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2022Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a modern, non-invasive technique for examining the posterior segment of the eye in vivo. The quality of images is crucial for the...
BACKGROUND
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a modern, non-invasive technique for examining the posterior segment of the eye in vivo. The quality of images is crucial for the diagnostic process. Despite good image quality and high signal strength, we still obtain images with less relevant diagnostic data, especially in relation to RNFL and GCL thickness in myopic and hyperopic eyes.
AIM
To evaluate the change of RNFL, GCL thickness and rim and disk areas in myopic eyes that underwent OCT examination before and after refractive correction with contact lenses or glasses.
METHOD
A prospective cross-sectional pilot study included 43 eyes in 22 patients with myopia and hyperopia, with or without astigmatism. Patients were examined using OCT with and without contact lenses or glasses.
RESULTS
RNFL thickness, GCL thickness, rim area and disk area average and minimum values were significantly changed after correction with glasses or contact lenses.
CONCLUSION
Myopic patients with greater than -2.50 D have to be examined using OCT with their contact lens or glasses corrections in the case of borderline data. Uncorrected myopic eyes show a thinner RNFL and GCL and smaller disk areas, which may mislead ophthalmologists.
PubMed: 35743500
DOI: 10.3390/jcm11123430 -
Algorithms For Molecular Biology : AMB Jun 2021K-mer based methods have become prevalent in many areas of bioinformatics. In applications such as database search, they often work with large multi-terabyte-sized...
K-mer based methods have become prevalent in many areas of bioinformatics. In applications such as database search, they often work with large multi-terabyte-sized datasets. Storing such large datasets is a detriment to tool developers, tool users, and reproducibility efforts. General purpose compressors like gzip, or those designed for read data, are sub-optimal because they do not take into account the specific redundancy pattern in k-mer sets. In our earlier work (Rahman and Medvedev, RECOMB 2020), we presented an algorithm UST-Compress that uses a spectrum-preserving string set representation to compress a set of k-mers to disk. In this paper, we present two improved methods for disk compression of k-mer sets, called ESS-Compress and ESS-Tip-Compress. They use a more relaxed notion of string set representation to further remove redundancy from the representation of UST-Compress. We explore their behavior both theoretically and on real data. We show that they improve the compression sizes achieved by UST-Compress by up to 27 percent, across a breadth of datasets. We also derive lower bounds on how well this type of compression strategy can hope to do.
PubMed: 34154632
DOI: 10.1186/s13015-021-00192-7 -
Frontiers in Bioengineering and... 2021Intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD) is a leading cause of disability. The degeneration is inevitable, and the mechanisms are complex. Current therapeutic strategies... (Review)
Review
Intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD) is a leading cause of disability. The degeneration is inevitable, and the mechanisms are complex. Current therapeutic strategies mainly focus on the relief of symptoms, not the intrinsic regeneration of the intervertebral disk (IVD). Tissue engineering is a promising strategy for IVDD due to its ability to restore a healthy microenvironment and promote IVD regeneration. This review briefly summarizes the IVD anatomy and composition and then sets out elements of the microenvironment and the interactions. We rationalized different scaffolds based on tissue engineering strategies used recently. To fulfill the complete restoration of a healthy IVD microenvironment, we propose that various tissue engineering strategies should be combined and customized to create personalized therapeutic strategies for each individual.
PubMed: 34354983
DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.592118