Impact of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic on the patient journeys of those with a newly diagnosed paediatric brain tumour in the UK: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To explore the impact of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, management and patient journey for children and young people with a newly diagnosed brain tumour in the UK.

Design: Exploratory qualitative study focused on patient journeys from multiple perspectives, conducted as part of a wider mixed-methods study.

Setting: Three paediatric oncology tertiary centres in the UK.

Association of obesity and metabolic syndrome with incident primary open angle glaucoma in the UK Biobank.

Background: We sought to investigate the association between obesity, metabolic syndrome, and metabolic health with incident primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).

Methods: We included 103 249 UK Biobank participants without previously diagnosed glaucoma or glaucoma-related procedures at enrolment. The primary outcome was POAG identified from diagnostic coding via linked hospital inpatient and primary care data.

Eye on the horizon: The metabolic landscape of the RPE in aging and disease.

To meet the prodigious bioenergetic demands of the photoreceptors, glucose and other nutrients must traverse the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a polarised monolayer of cells that lie at the interface between the outer retina and the choroid, the principal vascular layer of the eye. Recent investigations have revealed a metabolic ecosystem in the outer retina where the photoreceptors and RPE engage in a complex exchange of sugars, amino acids, and other metabolites. Perturbation of this delicate metabolic balance has been identified in the aging retina, as well as in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the Western world.

Plants Utilize a Protection/Deprotection Strategy in Limonoid Biosynthesis: A "Missing Link" Carboxylesterase Boosts Yields and Provides Insights into Furan Formation.

The furan ring is a defining feature of limonoids, a class of highly rearranged and bioactive plant tetranortriterpenoids. We recently reported an apparent complete biosynthetic pathway to these important natural furanoids. Herein, we disclose the subsequent discovery of a yield-boosting "missing link" carboxylesterase that selectively deprotects a late-stage intermediate, so triggering more efficient furan biosynthesis.

Pointing to success: a discussion of the role of professional achievements in the selection of specialist surgical trainees.

Background: In Australia and New Zealand, competitive selection processes for surgical specialty training programs often use a standardized curriculum vitae (CV) to assess criteria such as professional achievements. This review aims to assess the predictive validity, standardization, and implicit biases of these selection methods, as well as their implications for trainees and the diversity of surgical cohorts.

Methods: The 2023 CV scoring criteria were collected for all available specialty surgical programs in Australia and New Zealand.

N-acetylcysteine amide and di- N-acetylcysteine amide protect retinal cells in culture via an antioxidant action.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a significant role in toxicity to the retina in a variety of diseases. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) and the dimeric di-N-acetylcysteine amide (diNACA) were evaluated in terms of protecting retinal cells, in vitro, in a variety of stress models. Three types of rat retinal cell cultures were utilized in the study: macroglial-only cell cultures, neuron-only retinal ganglion cell (RGC) cultures, and mixed cultures containing retinal glia and neurons.

Topical dorzolamide for macular holes: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: To assess topical dorzolamide as medical therapy for idiopathic full-thickness macular holes (FTMHs).

Methods: Randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, single-centre clinical trial involving 32 patients with idiopathic small FTMHs (<400 ). Participants in both arms used topical dorzolamide 2% or saline thrice daily for 8 weeks with monthly OCT.

Building the workforce of tomorrow: The weighting of rural exposure in standardised curriculum vitae scoring criteria for entrance into Australian specialty training programs.

Objective: To determine the weighting of rural exposure within publicly available standardised curriculum vitae (CV) scoring criteria for trainee medical officer's applying into medical and surgical specialty training programs in Australia and New Zealand.

Methods/design: An observational analysis of rural exposure point allocations within publicly available standardised CV scoring criteria for entrance into specialty training programs.

Setting: All Australian and New Zealand medical and surgical specialties training programs outlined by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) who publish publicly available standardised CV scoring criteria for entrance into specialty training were included.

Effects of slit lamp-delivered retinal laser photobiomodulation in a rat model of choroidal neovascularization.

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration, also known as exudative or wet age-related macular degeneration, is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Photobiomodulation has the potential to target the up-stream hypoxic and pro-inflammatory drivers of choroidal neovascularization. This study investigated whether photobiomodulation attenuates characteristic pathological features of choroidal neovascularization in a rodent model.

One-Year Outcomes of Preserflo Microshunt for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Prcis: This systematic review and meta-analysis concludes that the PreserFlo Microshunt glaucoma drainage device significantly reduces intraocular pressure in primary open angle glaucoma patients at 12 months postinsertion.

Purpose: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of the PRESERFLO MicroShunt (PF-MS) on intraocular pressure (IOP) at 12 months has been conducted.

Method: The PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched.

Metabolic reprogramming of the retinal pigment epithelium by cytokines associated with age-related macular degeneration.

The complex metabolic relationship between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors is essential for maintaining retinal health. Recent evidence indicates the RPE acts as an adjacent lactate sink, suppressing glycolysis in the epithelium in order to maximize glycolysis in the photoreceptors. Dysregulated metabolism within the RPE has been implicated in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss.

A 12-year follow up survey of childhood blindness at schools for the blind in Cambodia.

Background: Cambodia is a low-income country in South East Asia with a population of 15.5 million people of whom 4.9 million (38%) are under the age of 16.

Repetitive, non-invasive imaging of neurodegeneration, and prevention of it with gene replacement, in mice with Sanfilippo syndrome.

Hampering assessment of treatment outcomes in gene therapy and other clinical trials in patients with childhood dementia is the lack of an objective, non-invasive measure of neurodegeneration. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely available, rapid, non-invasive, and quantitative method for examining the integrity of the neuroretina. Profound brain and retinal dysfunction occur in patients and animal models of childhood dementia, including Sanfilippo syndrome and we recently revealed a correlation between the age of onset and rate of progression of retinal and brain degeneration in sulfamidase-deficient Sanfilippo mice.

The role of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection in peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy: A systematic review.

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections have revolutionized the field of ophthalmology, and their use in a variety of retinal diseases is growing. One target disease is peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy, a disease that is uncommon and poorly understood. Despite this, there are numerous studies and case reports outlining the potential role of intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF medicines to treat it.

Does Twitter improve the dissemination of ophthalmology scientific publications?

Purpose: To determine whether Twitter improves dissemination of ophthalmology scientific publications METHODS: Data were collected on articles published on PubMed between the years 2016 and 2021 (inclusive) and identified with the word "ophthalmology". Twitter performance metrics, including the number of tweets, number of likes, and number of retweets were collected from Twitter using the publicly available scientific API. Machine learning and descriptive statistics were used to outline Twitter performance metrics.

A case study in applying artificial intelligence-based named entity recognition to develop an automated ophthalmic disease registry.

Purpose: Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-based named entity extraction (NER) have improved the ability to extract diagnostic entities from unstructured, narrative, free-text data in electronic health records. However, there is a lack of ready-to-use tools and workflows to encourage the use among clinicians who often lack experience and training in AI. We sought to demonstrate a case study for developing an automated registry of ophthalmic diseases accompanied by a ready-to-use low-code tool for clinicians.

Ophthalmology Operation Note Encoding with Open-Source Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing.

Introduction: Accurate assignment of procedural codes has important medico-legal, academic, and economic purposes for healthcare providers. Procedural coding requires accurate documentation and exhaustive manual labour to interpret complex operation notes. Ophthalmology operation notes are highly specialised making the process time-consuming and challenging to implement.