Outcomes of Ahmed Glaucoma Valve Implantation with Subsequent Trans-Scleral Diode Cyclophotocoagulation as the Main Intervention if IOP Remained Medically Uncontrolled.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation with subsequent trans-scleral diode cyclophotocoagulation (CPC) as the main intervention if IOP remained medically uncontrolled.

Patients And Methods: Charts of 108 consecutive eyes (90 patients) that underwent AGV implantation from 2003 to 2018 at a single clinical practice were retrospectively reviewed. The procedure was considered a failure if any of the following occurred: additional incisional glaucoma surgery, IOP >21 mmHg or < 20% reduction from baseline on 2 consecutive study visits after 3 months, IOP ≤ 5 mmHg on 2 consecutive study visits after 3 months, loss of light perception, or AGV removal.

A novel apoE-mimetic increases brain apoE levels, reduces Aβ pathology and improves memory when treated before onset of pathology in male mice that express APOE3.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive dysfunction and amyloid plaques composed of the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ). APOE is the greatest genetic risk for AD with APOE4 increasing risk up to ~ 15-fold compared to APOE3. Evidence suggests that levels and lipidation of the apoE protein could regulate AD progression.

United States Medicare Reimbursement Trends for Glaucoma Procedures: 2000-2020.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate US Medicare reimbursement trends for common glaucoma procedures from 2000 to 2020.

Materials And Methods: Current Procedural Terminology codes for Glaucoma procedures in the US centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services database were used to conduct this economic analysis. Reimbursement data from the Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were compiled for the selected procedures and compensation trends were investigated after adjusting for inflation in 2020 US dollars from the unadjusted data between 2000 and 2020.

Diffractive optic intraocular lens exchange: indications and outcomes.

Purpose: To assess indications and outcomes of surgical exchange of diffractive optic multifocal and extended depth-of-focus intraocular lenses (IOLs) in favor of monofocal IOLs.

Setting: Private practice, Los Angeles, California.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Femtosecond laser-assisted intraocular lens exchange.

Intraocular lens (IOL) exchange in patients with anterior capsule contraction resulting from phimosis can complicate IOL exchange as the fibrotic anterior capsule must be cut to gain access to the IOL. Maintaining curvilinear capsulotomy is particularly important when the desired outcome is bag-to-bag IOL exchange. Similarly, when the posterior capsule is open, properly sized curvilinear anterior capsulotomy will allow for optic capture and further stability of the exchanged IOL.

Length of Stay After Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: An Analysis of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the trends, predictors, and outcomes of delayed discharge (>72 h) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Background: Length of stay post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement may have significant clinical and administrative implications.

Methods: Data from the Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry were used to identify patients undergoing nonaborted transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement who survived to discharge, and data linked from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were used to provide 1-year events.

Multiple environmental stressors induce complex transcriptomic responses indicative of phenotypic outcomes in Western fence lizard.

Background: The health and resilience of species in natural environments is increasingly challenged by complex anthropogenic stressor combinations including climate change, habitat encroachment, and chemical contamination. To better understand impacts of these stressors we examined the individual- and combined-stressor impacts of malaria infection, food limitation, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposures on gene expression in livers of Western fence lizards (WFL, Sceloporus occidentalis) using custom WFL transcriptome-based microarrays.

Results: Computational analysis including annotation enrichment and correlation analysis identified putative functional mechanisms linking transcript expression and toxicological phenotypes.

Outcomes of beta blocker use in cocaine-associated chest pain: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: Beta blockers (β-blockers) remain a standard therapy in the early treatment of acute coronary syndromes. However, β-blocker therapy in patients with cocaine-associated chest pain (CACP) continues to be an area of debate due to the potential risk of unopposed α-adrenergic stimulation and coronary vasospasm. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of available studies to compare outcomes of β-blocker versus no β-blocker use among patients with CACP.

Surgical management of negative dysphotopsia.

Purpose: To evaluate curative and preventative surgical strategies for negative dysphotopsia.

Setting: Private practice, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Design: Retrospective case series.

The Role of Intracoronary Plaque Imaging with Intravascular Ultrasound, Optical Coherence Tomography, and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

The development of multiple diagnostic intracoronary imaging modalities has increased our understanding of coronary atherosclerotic disease. These imaging modalities, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), have provided a method to study plaques and introduced the concept of plaque vulnerability. They are being increasingly used for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) optimization and are invaluable tools in research studying the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), in-stent thrombosis and in-stent restenosis.

Physico-Chemical Heterogeneity of Organic-Rich Sediments in the Rifle Aquifer, CO: Impact on Uranium Biogeochemistry.

The Rifle alluvial aquifer along the Colorado River in west central Colorado contains fine-grained, diffusion-limited sediment lenses that are substantially enriched in organic carbon and sulfides, as well as uranium, from previous milling operations. These naturally reduced zones (NRZs) coincide spatially with a persistent uranium groundwater plume. There is concern that uranium release from NRZs is contributing to plume persistence or will do so in the future.

Silver nanowire exposure results in internalization and toxicity to Daphnia magna.

Nanowires (NWs), high-aspect-ratio nanomaterials, are increasingly used in technological materials and consumer products and may have toxicological characteristics distinct from nanoparticles. We carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the physicochemical stability of four silver nanowires (AgNWs) of two sizes and coatings and their toxicity to Daphnia magna . Inorganic aluminum-doped silica coatings were less effective than organic poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) coatings at preventing silver oxidation or Ag(+) release and underwent a significant morphological transformation within 1 h following addition to low ionic strength Daphnia growth media.

Hypocretin-1 receptors regulate the reinforcing and reward-enhancing effects of cocaine: pharmacological and behavioral genetics evidence.

Considerable evidence suggests that transmission at hypocretin-1 (orexin-1) receptors (Hcrt-R1) plays an important role in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behaviors in rodents. However, far less is known about the role for hypocretin transmission in regulating ongoing cocaine-taking behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of the selective Hcrt-R1 antagonist SB-334867 on cocaine intake, as measured by intravenous (IV) cocaine self-administration in rats.

CAPRG: sequence assembling pipeline for next generation sequencing of non-model organisms.

Our goal is to introduce and describe the utility of a new pipeline "Contigs Assembly Pipeline using Reference Genome" (CAPRG), which has been developed to assemble "long sequence reads" for non-model organisms by leveraging a reference genome of a closely related phylogenetic relative. To facilitate this effort, we utilized two avian transcriptomic datasets generated using ROCHE/454 technology as test cases for CAPRG assembly. We compared the results of CAPRG assembly using a reference genome with the results of existing methods that utilize de novo strategies such as VELVET, PAVE, and MIRA by employing parameter space comparisons (intra-assembling comparison).

The PGC-1α-related coactivator promotes mitochondrial and myogenic adaptations in C2C12 myotubes.

The transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α is a potent regulator of skeletal muscle metabolism. Less is known about the structurally similar PGC-1α-related coactivator (PRC) that is enriched in myoblasts and adult skeletal muscle. The present study was designed to determine the effect of PRC on the metabolic profile of C2C12 myotubes.

Using gene expression to assess the status of fish from anthropogenically influenced estuarine wetlands.

The diverse mixture of contaminants frequently present in estuaries complicates their assessment by routine chemical or biological analyses. We investigated the use of gene expression to assess contaminant exposure and the condition of southern California estuarine fish. Liver gene expression, plasma estradiol concentrations, and gonad histopathology were used to study biological condition in longjaw mudsuckers (Gillichthys mirabilis).

Quantification of water solubilized CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in Daphnia magna.

The relative transparency of Daphnia magna (daphnia) and the unique optical properties of quantum dots (QDs) were paired to study the accumulation potential and surface coating effects on uptake of amphiphilic polymer coated CdSe/ZnS QDs. Fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to visualize and spectrally distinguish QDs from competing autofluorescent signals arising from the daphnia themselves and their food sources. QDs were found to accumulate within the digestive tracts of daphnia, as well as, in some cases, adhere to the carapace, antennae, and thoracic appendages.

Prophylaxis with lactoferrin, a novel antimicrobial agent, in a neonatal rat model of coinfection.

Lactoferrin has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, and the authors hypothesized that recombinant human lactoferrin (Talactoferrin alfa [TLF]) would reduce mortality and morbidity in a coinfection model. The MIC 50 (minimum inhibitory concentration required to inhibit the growth of 50% of organisms) of TLF against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus epidermidis was determined. Neonatal Wistar rats were infected with C albicans or S epidermidis or both, at doses of 2 x10(8) colony-forming units (CFUs) given subcutaneously.