Influence of zonular tension on molecular transport in the porcine ocular lens.

Introduction: Accommodation is the process of changing the ocular lens' refractive power and focal distance. This process involves application of biomechanical forces on the lens by the surrounding musculature. Previous studies have demonstrated that the lens epithelium demonstrates mechanotransduction and that tension influences its chemical activity.

Mark-recapture validates the use of photo-identification for the widely distributed blue-spotted ribbontail ray, Taeniura lymma.

The ability to identify individual animals can provide valuable insights into the behaviour, life history, survivorship, and demographics of wild populations. Photo-identification (photo-ID) uses unique natural markings to identify individuals and can be effective for scalable and non-invasive research on marine fauna. The successful application of photo-ID requires that chosen distinguishing markings are unique to individuals and persist over time.

Two-Year Outcomes of Umbilical Cord Milking in Nonvigorous Infants: A Secondary Analysis of the MINVI Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Compared with early cord clamping (ECC), umbilical cord milking (UCM) reduces delivery room cardiorespiratory support, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and therapeutic hypothermia in nonvigorous near-term and full-term infants. However, UCM postdischarge outcomes are not known.

Objective: To determine the 2-year outcomes of children randomized to UCM or ECC at birth in the Milking in Nonvigorous Infants (MINVI) trial.

Automated Compression Testing of the Ocular Lens.

The biomechanical properties of the ocular lens are essential to its function as a variable power optical element. These properties change dramatically with age in the human lens, resulting in a loss of near vision called presbyopia. However, the mechanisms of these changes remain unknown.

Caffeine and Less Invasive Surfactant Administration for Respiratory Distress Syndrome of the Newborn.

BACKGROUND: Management strategies for preterm neonates with respiratory distress syndrome include early initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and titration of fractional inspired oxygen and may include the use of less invasive surfactant administration (LISA) to avoid the need for endotracheal intubation. This randomized trial investigated whether early administration of caffeine and LISA would decrease the need for endotracheal intubation in the first 72 hours of life (HoL) compared with caffeine and CPAP alone. METHODS: Eligible neonates born at 24 weeks 0 days to 29 weeks 6 days of gestational age were randomly assigned to receive intravenous caffeine in the first 2 HoL followed by surfactant administration via the LISA method (intervention) or caffeine followed by CPAP (control).

A method for generating zonular tension in the murine eye by embedding and compressing the globe in a hydrogel.

The ocular lens is the primary organ within the eye responsible for accommodation. During accommodation, the lens is subject to biomechanical forces. We previously demonstrated that stretching the porcine lens can increase lens epithelial cell proliferation.

Parental perspectives on a trial using waived informed consent at birth.

Objectives: To determine parental perspectives in a trial with waived consent.

Study Design: Anonymous survey of birth parents with term infants who were randomized using a waiver of consent, administered after infant discharge.

Results: 121 (11%) survey responses were collected.

Umbilical Cord Milking Versus Delayed Cord Clamping in Infants 28 to 32 Weeks: A Randomized Trial.

Objectives: To determine whether rate of severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) or death among preterm infants receiving placental transfusion with UCM is noninferior to delayed cord clamping (DCC).

Methods: Noninferiority randomized controlled trial comparing UCM versus DCC in preterm infants born 28 to 32 weeks recruited between June 2017 through September 2022 from 19 university and private medical centers in 4 countries. The primary outcome was Grade III/IV IVH or death evaluated at a 1% noninferiority margin.

A Narrative Review of the Rationale for Conducting Neonatal Emergency Studies with a Waived or Deferred Consent Approach.

Emergency research studies are high-stakes studies that are usually performed on the sickest patients, where many patients or guardians have no opportunity to provide full informed consent prior to participation. Many emergency studies self-select healthier patients who can be informed ahead of time about the study process. Unfortunately, results from such participants may not be informative for the future care of sicker patients.

Cardiac and cerebral hemodynamics with umbilical cord milking compared with early cord clamping: A randomized cluster crossover trial.

Objective: A large, randomized cluster cross-over trial (N = 1730) comparing intact umbilical cord milking (UCM) to early cord clamping (ECC) in non-vigorous near-term/term newborns demonstrated a reduction in cardiorespiratory interventions at birth and less moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. We evaluated changes in cerebral tissue oxygenation (StO), pulse oximetry (SpO), pulse rate and fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO) during the first 10 min of life in a subset of infants enrolled in the parent trial.

Study Design: Infants enrolled in the Milking in Non-Vigorous Infants trial that had StO monitoring at birth were included in the sub-study conducted at 3 hospitals the US and Canada.

Oxidative stress in the brain and retina after traumatic injury.

The brain and the retina share many physiological similarities, which allows the retina to serve as a model of CNS disease and disorder. In instances of trauma, the eye can even indicate damage to the brain abnormalities observed such as irregularities in pupillary reflexes in suspected traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been observed in neurodegenerative disorders and in both traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) and in TBI.

Coral bleaching due to cold stress on a central Red Sea reef flat.

Ocean warming is leading to more frequent coral bleaching events. However, cold stress can also induce bleaching in corals. Here, we report observations of a boreal winter bleaching event in January 2020 in the central Red Sea, mainly within a population of the branching coral on an offshore reef flat.

Size structure of the coral Stylophora pistillata across reef flat zones in the central Red Sea.

Demographic analyses offer insight into the state of a population. Here, we surveyed different reef flat zones (exposed, midreef and sheltered) of six reefs over a cross-shelf gradient to characterize the population structure of Stylophora pistillata, a coral species which dominates reef flats in the central Red Sea. Phototransects were conducted at each reef flat zone, and the density of S.

Umbilical cord milking in nonvigorous infants: a cluster-randomized crossover trial.

Background: Delayed cord clamping and umbilical cord milking provide placental transfusion to vigorous newborns. Delayed cord clamping in nonvigorous newborns may not be provided owing to a perceived need for immediate resuscitation. Umbilical cord milking is an alternative, as it can be performed more quickly than delayed cord clamping and may confer similar benefits.

Arvcf Dependent Adherens Junction Stability is Required to Prevent Age-Related Cortical Cataracts.

The etiology of age-related cortical cataracts is not well understood but is speculated to be related to alterations in cell adhesion and/or the changing mechanical stresses occurring in the lens with time. The role of cell adhesion in maintaining lens transparency with age is difficult to assess because of the developmental and physiological roles that well-characterized adhesion proteins have in the lens. This report demonstrates that Arvcf, a member of the p120-catenin subfamily of catenins that bind to the juxtamembrane domain of cadherins, is an essential fiber cell protein that preserves lens transparency with age in mice.

A Review of Lens Biomechanical Contributions to Presbyopia.

Presbyopia-the progressive loss of near focus with age-is primarily a result of changes in lens biomechanics. In particular, the shape of the ocular lens in the absence of zonular tension changes significantly throughout adulthood. Contributors to this change in shape are changes in lens biomechanical properties, continuous volumetric growth lens, and possibly remodeling of the lens capsule.

Tunable alginate hydrogels as injectable drug delivery vehicles for optic neuropathy.

Many disease pathologies, particularly in the eye, are induced by oxidative stress. In particular, injury to the optic nerve (ON), or optic neuropathy, is one of the most common causes of vision loss. Traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) occurs when the ON is damaged following blunt or penetrating trauma to either the head or eye.

Direct comparison of RT-ddPCR and targeted amplicon sequencing for SARS-CoV-2 mutation monitoring in wastewater.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, variants of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged that are more contagious and more likely to cause breakthrough infections. Targeted amplicon sequencing approach is a gold standard for identification and analysis of variants. However, when applied to environmental samples such as wastewater, it remains unclear how sensitive this method is for detecting variant-associated mutations in environmental samples.

Stylophora under stress: A review of research trends and impacts of stressors on a model coral species.

Sometimes called the "lab rat" of coral research, Stylophora pistillata (Esper, 1797) has been extensively used in coral biology in studies ranging from reef ecology to coral metabolic processes, and has been used as a model for investigations into molecular and cellular biology. Previously thought to be a common species spanning a wide distribution through the Indo-Pacific region, "S. pistillata" is in fact four genetically distinct lineages (clades) with different evolutionary histories and geographical distributions.

A Pilot Randomized Trial of Heart Rate Monitoring Using Conventional Versus a New Electrocardiogram Algorithm during Neonatal Resuscitation at Birth.

Current guidelines support the use of a cardiac monitor during neonatal resuscitation. Infants born preterm randomized to a novel electrocardiogram algorithm displayed a heart rate sooner than the conventional electrocardiogram algorithm. Although resuscitation outcomes were not different, the availability of an earlier heart rate may benefit neonatal providers during high-risk resuscitations.

Outcomes of delivery room resuscitation of bradycardic preterm infants: A retrospective cohort study of randomised trials of high vs low initial oxygen concentration and an individual patient data analysis.

Objective: To determine whether hospital mortality (primary outcome) is associated with duration of bradycardia without chest compressions during delivery room (DR) resuscitation in a retrospective cohort study of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in preterm infants assigned low versus high initial oxygen concentration.

Methods: Medline and EMBASE were searched from 01/01/1990 to 12/01/2020. RCTs of low vs high initial oxygen concentration which recorded serial heart rate (HR) and oxygen saturation (SpO) during resuscitation of infants <32 weeks gestational age were eligible.

Differential Alveolar and Systemic Oxygenation during Preterm Resuscitation with 100% Oxygen during Delayed Cord Clamping.

Objective: Delayed cord clamping (DCC) and 21 to 30% O resuscitation is recommended for preterm infants but is commonly associated with low pulmonary blood flow (Qp) and hypoxia. 100% O supplementation during DCC for 60 seconds followed by 30% O may increase Qp and oxygen saturation (SpO).

Study Design: Preterm lambs (125-127 days of gestation) were resuscitated with 100% O with immediate cord clamping (ICC,  = 7) or ICC + 30% O, and titrated to target SpO ( = 7) or DCC + 100% O for 60 seconds, which followed by cord clamping and 30% O titration ( = 7).

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Associated with Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery Use: An Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS®) Registry Retrospective Cohort Analysis.

Purpose: Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) is increasingly performed at the time of cataract extraction. Understanding the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing MIGS procedures may provide insight into patient selection. This study evaluates racial-ethnic and other differences in the use of MIGS in persons with cataract and open-angle glaucoma (OAG).