Effects of Fucoidans on Activated Retinal Microglia.

Sulfated marine polysaccharides, so-called fucoidans, have been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In this study, we tested the effects of different fucoidans (and of fucoidan-treated RPE cells) on retinal microglia to investigate whether its anti-inflammatory effect can be extrapolated to the innate immune cells of the retina. In addition, we tested whether fucoidan treatment influenced the anti-inflammatory effect of RPE cells on retinal microglia.

The Impact of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Leadership Development Program: Experience from the First 20 Years.

 This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)'s Leadership Development Program (LDP), report the program's impact on participants in attaining ophthalmic leadership positions, and identify opportunities to improve future LDP programming.  An open cohort study was performed on AAO LDP graduates by using an online questionnaire and retrospective monitoring.  AAO LDP graduates from 1999 to 2019 participated in the study.

Risk of malignancy in follicular thyroid neoplasm: predictive value of thyrotropin.

Unlabelled: The cytological diagnosis of follicular neoplasm is a common finding in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid nodules and includes benign disease as well as differentiated thyroid cancer. The aim of the study is to determine if thyrotropin is a predictive factor for a malignant nature of follicular neoplasm.

Patients, Methods: The records of 119 patients with follicular neoplasm on FNAC, who underwent surgery for final diagnosis, were reviewed retrospectively.

Calculation and validation of a plasma calcitonin limit for early detection of medullary thyroid carcinoma in nodular thyroid disease.

Background: The early diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is crucial for effective therapy. Elevated plasma calcitonin concentrations (pCT-Cs) are generally a specific and sensitive indicator for C-cell hyperplasia or MTC. The presence of thyroid nodules raises the possibility of MTC.

[Spectrometric assessment of thyroid depth within the radioiodine test].

Unlabelled: Aim of this study is the validation of a simple method for evaluating the depth of the target volume within the radioiodine test by analyzing the emitted iodine-131 energy spectrum.

Patients, Methods: In a total of 250 patients (102 with a solitary autonomous nodule, 66 with multifocal autonomy, 29 with disseminated autonomy, 46 with Graves' disease, 6 for reducing goiter volume and 1 with only partly resectable papillary thyroid carcinoma), simultaneous uptake measurements in the Compton scatter (210 +/- 110 keV) and photopeak (364-45/+55 keV) windows were performed over one minute 24 hours after application of the 3 MBq test dose, with subsequent calculation of the respective count ratios. Measurements with a water-filled plastic neck phantom were carried out to perceive the relationship between these quotients and the average source depth and to get a calibration curve for calculating the depth of the target volume in the 250 patients for comparison with the sonographic reference data.