Assessment of Clinical Metadata on the Accuracy of Retinal Fundus Image Labels in Diabetic Retinopathy in Uganda: Case-Crossover Study Using the Multimodal Database of Retinal Images in Africa.

Background: Labeling color fundus photos (CFP) is an important step in the development of artificial intelligence screening algorithms for the detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Most studies use the International Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy (ICDR) to assign labels to CFP, plus the presence or absence of macular edema (ME). Images can be grouped as referrable or nonreferrable according to these classifications.

The neurobehavioural effects of cannabidiol in alcohol use disorder: Study protocol for a double-blind, randomised, cross over, placebo-controlled trial.

Current treatments for alcohol use disorders (AUD) have limited efficacy. Recently, Cannabidiol (CBD) has been examined in a multitude of clinical settings. Preclinical and clinical results suggest that CBD might be particularly well suited for the treatment of AUD and may reduce alcohol cue and stress-induced craving and alcohol seeking.

The effects of N-acetyl cysteine on intrinsic functional connectivity and neural alcohol cue reactivity in treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder: a preliminary study.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a potential pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD), but it is not known whether it modulates neural activation to alcohol cues or intrinsic functional connectivity. We investigated whether NAC attenuates (i) alcohol cue-elicited activation, and (ii) intrinsic functional connectivity compared to placebo in patients with AUD. In this preliminary study, twenty-three individuals (7 females) with moderate-severe AUD received daily NAC (2400 mg/day, n = 9), or a placebo (n = 14) for at least 2 weeks.

Simulation-Guided Engineering Enables a Functional Switch in Selinadiene Synthase toward Hydroxylation.

Engineering sesquiterpene synthases to form predefined alternative products is a major challenge due to their diversity in cyclization mechanisms and our limited understanding of how amino acid changes affect the steering of these mechanisms. Here, we use a combination of atomistic simulation and site-directed mutagenesis to engineer a selina-4(15),7(11)-diene synthase (SdS) such that its final reactive carbocation is quenched by trapped active site water, resulting in the formation of a complex hydroxylated sesquiterpene (selin-7(11)-en-4-ol). Initially, the SdS G305E variant produced 20% selin-7(11)-en-4-ol.