Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MicroShunt implantation versus standard trabeculectomy for open-angle glaucoma (a SIGHT study): study protocol of a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Background: Trabeculectomy is the "gold standard" initial surgical procedure for open-angle glaucoma worldwide. During the last decade, the introduction of less invasive procedures, including new bleb-forming surgery such as the MicroShunt, has altered the approach of glaucoma management. At present, there is insufficient evidence comparing the effectiveness between these procedures nor versus trabeculectomy.

Magnetic resonance imaging reveals possible cause of diplopia after Baerveldt glaucoma implantation.

Purpose: To assess if ocular motility impairment, and the ensuing diplopia, after Baerveldt Glaucoma device (BGI) implantation, is related to the presence of a large fluid reservoir (bleb), using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Methods: In a masked observational study (CCMO-registry number: NL65633.058.

The long-term postoperative effect of the Baerveldt glaucoma drainage device and of a trabeculectomy on the corneal endothelium.

Purpose: To determine whether the postoperative corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) differs between glaucoma patients who underwent Baerveldt implant (BGI) surgery and patients who underwent a trabeculectomy (TE) over 5 years ago.

Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study including 34 patients who underwent TE and 36 patients who underwent BGI surgery 5-11 years ago, as part of a randomized clinical trial. None of the patients had a history of intraocular surgery prior to their glaucoma surgery.

Ocular motility changes and diplopia in sutured versus unsutured implantation of the Baerveldt glaucoma device.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of two surgical techniques in primary Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) surgery, that is the sutured technique and the unsutured (free) plate technique, on the ocular motility and prevalence of diplopia. We hypothesize that the free plate technique results in a lower diplopia prevalence.

Methods: We performed a prospective study of patients who underwent BGI surgery with the free plate technique and compared them with patients from a previous study who had undergone BGI surgery with the sutured technique.

Touching the High Complexity of Prebiotic Vivinal Galacto-oligosaccharides Using Porous Graphitic Carbon Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry.

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are used in infant formula to replace the health effects of human milk oligosaccharides, which appear to be dependent upon the structure of the individual oligosaccharides present. However, a comprehensive overview of the structure-specific effects is still limited as a result of the high structural complexity of GOS. In this study, porous graphitic carbon (PGC) was used as the stationary phase during ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS).

Primary baerveldt versus trabeculectomy study after 5 years of follow-up.

Purpose: Although the Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) initially was reserved for refractory glaucoma, its role in the surgical management of glaucoma has shifted towards a primary treatment choice. We performed a randomized prospective study to compare BGI surgery and trabeculectomy (TE) in patients without previous ocular surgery.

Methods: We included 119 glaucoma patients without previous ocular surgery.

Ethyl tert-butyl ether (EtBE) degradation by an algal-bacterial culture obtained from contaminated groundwater.

EtBE is a fuel oxygenate that is synthesized from (bio)ethanol and fossil-based isobutylene, and replaces the fossil-based MtBE. Biodegradation of EtBE to harmless metabolites or end products can reduce the environmental and human health risks after accidental release. In this study, an algal-bacterial culture enriched from contaminated groundwater was used to (i) assess the potential for EtBE degradation, (ii) resolve the EtBE degradation pathway and (iii) characterize the phylogenetic composition of the bacterial community involved in EtBE degradation in contaminated groundwater.

Motility Changes and Diplopia After Baerveldt Glaucoma Drainage Device Implantation or After Trabeculectomy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify any diplopia and motility changes after the implantation of a Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) or after trabeculectomy (TE).

Methods: We analyzed 51 patients with a BGI and 52 patients with a TE from a prospective cohort study. To quantify any diplopia, we asked patients about the presence of diplopia at 1 year after surgery.

Primary Baerveldt versus trabeculectomy study after one-year follow-up.

Purpose: To compare a Baerveldt implant and trabeculectomy with respect to intraocular pressure (IOP) and failure rate at 1 year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes are pharmacological therapy and complications at 1 year of follow-up.

Methods: This was a randomized, comparative study.

Lipid polymorphism in chloroplast thylakoid membranes - as revealed by P-NMR and time-resolved merocyanine fluorescence spectroscopy.

Chloroplast thylakoid membranes contain virtually all components of the energy-converting photosynthetic machinery. Their energized state, driving ATP synthesis, is enabled by the bilayer organization of the membrane. However, their most abundant lipid species is a non-bilayer-forming lipid, monogalactosyl-diacylglycerol; the role of lipid polymorphism in these membranes is poorly understood.

Glyceollins and dehydroglyceollins isolated from soybean act as SERMs and ER subtype-selective phytoestrogens.

Seven prenylated 6a-hydroxy-pterocapans and five prenylated 6a,11a-pterocarpenes with different kinds of prenylation were purified from an ethanolic extract of fungus-treated soybean sprouts. The activity of these compounds toward both human estrogen receptors (hERα and hERβ) was determined in a yeast bioassay and the activity toward hERα was additionally tested in an U2-OS based hERα CALUX bioassay. In the yeast bioassay, compounds with chain prenylation showed in general an agonistic mode of action toward hERα, whereas furan and pyran prenylation led to an antagonistic mode of action.

Production of butyrate from lysine and the Amadori product fructoselysine by a human gut commensal.

Human intestinal bacteria produce butyrate, which has signalling properties and can be used as energy source by enterocytes thus influencing colonic health. However, the pathways and the identity of bacteria involved in this process remain unclear. Here we describe the isolation from the human intestine of Intestinimonas strain AF211, a bacterium that can convert lysine stoichiometrically into butyrate and acetate when grown in a synthetic medium.

Involvement of a Hydrophobic Pocket and Helix 11 in Determining the Modes of Action of Prenylated Flavonoids and Isoflavonoids in the Human Estrogen Receptor.

Six prenylated (iso)flavonoids were purified from a licorice root extract and subjected to competition experiments with six commercially available (iso)flavonoids. The agonistic and antagonistic activities of these compounds towards both hERα (human estrogen receptor alpha) and hERβ were determined. Differences in the modes of action (agonist or antagonist) were observed for the various compounds tested.

Level and position of substituents in cross-linked and hydroxypropylated sweet potato starches using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Sweet potato starch was cross-linked using sodium trimetaphosphate and hydroxypropylated using propylene oxide. The level and position of phosphorus and hydroxypropyl groups within cross-linked and hydroxypropylated sweet potato starch was investigated by phosphorus and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31)P, (1)H NMR). The cross-linking reaction produced monostarch monophosphate and distarch monophosphate in a molar ratio of 1:1.

Enzyme resistant feruloylated xylooligomer analogues from thermochemically treated corn fiber contain large side chains, ethyl glycosides and novel sites of acetylation.

In order to use corn fiber as a source for bioethanol production the enzymatic hydrolysis of the complex glucuronoarabinoxylans present has to be improved. Several oligosaccharides present in the supernatant of mild acid pretreated and enzymatically saccharified corn fiber that resist the current available enzymes were (semi)purified for structural analysis by NMR or ESI-MS(n). The structural features of 21 recalcitrant oligosaccharides are presented.

The structure of an alternative wall teichoic acid produced by a Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 mutant contains a 1,5-linked poly(ribitol phosphate) backbone with 2-α-D-glucosyl substitutions.

A tagF1-tagF2 deletion mutant of Lactobacillus plantarum lacks poly(glycerol phosphate) polymerase activity required for glycerol-type wall teichoic acid (WTA) biosynthesis. The mutant activates an alternative genetic locus, tarIJKL, encoding the enzymes for nucleotide activation and incorporation of ribitol in the WTA backbone polymer. This alternative ribitol-type WTA backbone and its repeating unit were isolated and characterized by HPAEC, UPLC-MS, NMR spectroscopy, and MALDI-TOF MS, using synthetic molecules as references.

Novel surface-active oligofructose fatty acid mono-esters by enzymatic esterification.

This article describes the synthesis of a series of oligofructose monoesters with fatty acids of different chain length (C8, C12, C16 and C18) to obtain food-grade surfactants with a range of amphiphilicity. Reactions were performed in a mixture of DMSO/Bu(t)OH (10/90 v/v) at 60°C and catalysed by immobilised Candida antarctica lipase B. MALDI-TOF-MS analysis showed that the crude reaction products were mixtures of unmodified oligofructose and mostly mono-esters.

Development and validation of a confirmative LC-MS/MS method for the determination of ß-exotoxin thuringiensin in plant protection products and selected greenhouse crops.

Bacterial products based on Bacillus thuringiensis are registered in many countries as plant protection products (PPPs) and are widely used as insecticides and nematocides. However, certain B. thuringiensis strains produce harmful toxins and are therefore not allowed to be used as PPPs.

Surgical outcomes of the Baerveldt Glaucoma Implant: differences between surgical techniques in the Rotterdam Eye Hospital.

Purpose: During the last decades, the Baerveldt Glaucoma Implant (BGI) has proven effective in the surgical treatment of glaucoma. Various surgical procedures have been used for its implantation and these may yield different clinical outcomes and different intraoperative and postoperative complications. We evaluated the success rate of BGI and compared complications between 2 different surgical implantation techniques.

Miotics after modern cataract surgery are history.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a long-acting miotic (physostigmine) after phacoemulsification in preventing peripheral anterior synechiae (PAS), lens dislocation, and high postoperative intraocular pressure.

Methods: This was a prospective randomized controlled trial of 400 patients (400 eyes) scheduled for phacoemulsification. Patients were randomly assigned either to receive a single application of physostigmine ointment directly after phacoemulsification or not.

Single perioperative subconjunctival steroid depot versus postoperative steroid eyedrops to prevent intraocular inflammation and macular edema after cataract surgery.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of dexamethasone 0.1% eyedrops after phacoemulsification versus a single perioperative subconjunctival injection of betamethasone acetate 5.7 mg/mL to prevent anterior segment inflammation and macular edema.

New insights into an ancient antibrowning agent: formation of sulfophenolics in sodium hydrogen sulfite-treated potato extracts.

The effect of sodium hydrogen sulfite (S), used as antibrowning agent, on the phenolic profile of potato extracts was investigated. This extract was compared to one obtained in the presence of ascorbic acid (A). In the presence of A, two major compounds were obtained, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) and 4-O-caffeoyl quinic acid.

Measuring non-steady-state metabolic fluxes in starch-converting faecal microbiota in vitro.

This paper explores human gut bacterial metabolism of starch using a combined analytical and computational modelling approach for metabolite and flux analysis. Non-steady-state isotopic labelling experiments were performed with human faecal microbiota in a well-established in vitro model of the human colon. After culture stabilisation, [U-13C] starch was added and samples were taken at regular intervals.