An insight into the altered ophthalmic dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The objective of this survey-based study was to examine the effects of personal protective measures taken at the level of instrument and surgeon during the pandemic on the optics in ophthalmology.

Methods: The study involved an online questionnaire of 24 questions which was distributed to ophthalmologists practicing in several hospitals, including residents and fellows undergoing training in ophthalmology in India. The responses were collected through an online data collection tool (Google forms).

A rare case of generalized tonic-clonic seizure related to paclitaxel infusion.

What Is Known And Objective: Paclitaxel (Taxol) is an antineoplastic agent approved in the United States for the treatment of lung, breast, cervical, pancreatic cancers and Kaposi sarcoma. Paclitaxel does not cross the blood brain barrier, so central nervous system adverse effects are uncommon.

Case Description: We describe a 60-year-old woman with Stage IIIa squamous cell carcinoma of the left lung, who developed a generalized tonic-clonic seizure during her first infusion of paclitaxel.

Thailandepsin A-loaded and octreotide-functionalized unimolecular micelles for targeted neuroendocrine cancer therapy.

Due to the overexpression of somatostatin receptors in neuroendocrine (NE) cancers, drug nanocarriers conjugated with somatostatin analogs, such as octreotide (OCT), for targeted NE cancer therapy may offer increased therapeutic efficacies and decreased adverse effects. In this study, OCT-functionalized unimolecular micelles were prepared using individual hyperbranched polymer molecules consisting of a hyperbranched polymer core (Boltorn(®) H40) and approximately 25 amphiphilic polylactide-poly(ethlyene glycol) (PLA-PEG) block copolymer arms (H40-PLA-PEG-OCH3/OCT). The resulting micelles, exhibiting a uniform core-shell shape and an average hydrodynamic diameter size of 66 nm, were loaded with thailandepsin-A (TDP-A), a relatively new naturally produced histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor.