Publications by authors named "Gareth Mercer"

Age-related lens opacification (cataract) remains the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. In low- and middle-income countries, utilization of cataract surgical services is often limited despite community-based outreach programmes. Community-led research, whereby researchers and community members collaboratively co-design intervention is an approach that ensures the interventions are locally relevant and that their implementation is feasible and socially accepted in the targeted contexts.

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Purpose: To investigate the relationship between social determinants of health with self-reported vision difficulty.

Design: Cross-sectional, population-based analysis.

Methods: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is an annual survey based on the U.

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Importance: Poor access to existing care for diabetic retinopathy (DR) limits effectiveness of proven treatments.

Objectives: We examined whether outreach screening in rural China improves equity of access.

Design, Setting And Participants: We compared prevalence of female sex, age > = 65 years, primary education or below, and requiring referral care for DR between three cohorts with diabetes examined for DR in neighboring areas of Guangdong, China: passive case detection at secondary-level hospitals (n = 193); persons screened during primary-level DR outreach (n = 182); and individuals with newly- or previously-diagnosed diabetes in a population survey (n = 579).

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We evaluated the relative efficacy of six pheromone-baited traps used in trapping Agriotes obscurus (L.) click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae): original Yatlor Traps, Yatlor Funnel Traps, Vernon Beetle Traps, Unitraps, Baited Pitfall Traps, and Vernon Pitfall Traps. Traps were rated according to quantitative and qualitative criteria of importance for each of four trap uses: general surveys, scientific studies, IPM monitoring, and mass trapping.

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic promoted hitherto unseen uptake of telemedicine by ophthalmologists. We performed a mixed methods study to explore patters of utilization during the pandemic and perceived future utility.

Methods: Ophthalmologists practicing in Canada between March and July 2020 were invited to complete an online questionnaire assessing demographics, clinical practice characteristics and telemedicine utilization prior to and during the pandemic.

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Purpose: Endophthalmitis following intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections is frequently caused by Streptococcus viridans organisms and tends to be aggressive. Herein, we present a case of postinjection Streptococcus viridans endophthalmitis presenting in an atypically delayed fashion with good visual outcome.

Methods: Single clinical case report.

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Purpose: Women bear an inequitable burden of blinding conditions compared to men primarily because they have more limited access to eye care services. This systematic review sought evidence regarding interventions to increase gender equity in eye care.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and EBSCO CINAHL, and contacted experts to identify studies in low- and middle-income countries of health services interventions for age-related cataract, childhood cataract, and trachoma.

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Wessel van den Berg and colleagues outline how increasing male partner involvement in efforts to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa may improve maternal and infant outcomes.

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Introduction: Guidelines in resource-poor settings have progressively included interventions to reduce postnatal HIV transmission through breast milk. In addition to HIV-free survival, infant growth and non-HIV infections should be considered. Determining the effect of these interventions on infant growth and non-HIV infections will inform healthcare decisions about feeding HIV-exposed infants.

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Article Synopsis
  • Blue lights in public washrooms were implemented to deter injection drug use, but their effectiveness and potential harm remain debated, with little formal research backing the claims.
  • Interviews with 18 individuals who use injection drugs revealed that while preferred locations for use are private, the accessibility of public washrooms often leads to their use, even when blue lights are present.
  • Participants acknowledged that blue lights complicate the injection process and can make drug use more dangerous due to visibility issues, yet many still support their presence, highlighting a complex relationship between harm reduction strategies and user experiences.
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Scientific literature describing arrayed primer extension and other array-based minisequencing technologies consistently cite the requirement for four fluorescent dideoxynucleotides (with concomitant absence/inactivation of deoxynucleotides) to ensure single-base extension and thus sequence-specific intensity data that can be interpreted as a base call or genotype. We present compelling evidence that fluorescent deoxynucleotides can reliably be used in microarray minisequencing experiments, generating fluorescent sequence extension intensity profiles that are homologous to the single-base extensions obtained with terminator dideoxynucleotides. Due to the almost 10-fold higher costs (and limited fluorophore choice) of many commercially available fluorescent dideoxynucleotides, compared to fluorescent deoxynucleotides, as well as other potentially constraining intellectual property and licensing issues, this hitherto dismissed microarray chemistry represents an important reevaluation in the field of array-based genotyping and related enzymology.

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