Shortening the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity test utilizing a novel computer software: reproducibility in control and patient eyes.

Purpose: To describe and compare a method of computerized visual acuity (VA) testing software to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) chart.

Methods: Setting: Single tertiary institution.

Study Population: Prospective study including right eyes of volunteers (N = 109) and patients (N = 126).

Ovarian size as a risk factor for recurrent adnexal torsion: Smaller is not better.

Aim: To investigate characteristics and risk factors for recurrent adnexal torsion (AT).

Methods: Retrospective cohort study in a university-affiliated medical center included 320 Women with AT verified by laparoscopy, from January 2005 through January 2017. Demographic data, clinical symptoms, surgical findings and treatment were retrospectively reviewed from patient records.

Does stress affect IVF outcomes? A prospective study of physiological and psychological stress in women undergoing IVF.

Research Question: What are the effects of physiological and psychological stress on fertility outcomes for women undergoing IVF?

Design: A prospective cohort study of 72 patients undergoing IVF in 2017 and 2018. Physiological stress was assessed by salivary cortisol measurements: (i) pretreatment, when the patient received the IVF protocol; (ii) before oocyte retrieval (follicular cortisol was also measured); and (iii) before embryo transfer. Emotional stress was evaluated at each assessment with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a 1-10 Visual Analogue Scale (VAS, referred to as the 'Stress Scale'.

A Comparison of different scoring terminations rules for visual acuity testing: from a computer simulation to a clinical study.

: To compare four visual acuity (VA) scoring termination rules. : A computer simulation generated 30,000 virtual patients who underwent 10 repetitions for each of four termination rules, on both the Snellen and ETDRS charts (2.4 million tests performed in total).

Learn on Source, Refine on Target: A Model Transfer Learning Framework with Random Forests.

We propose novel model transfer-learning methods that refine a decision forest model M learned within a "source" domain using a training set sampled from a "target" domain, assumed to be a variation of the source. We present two random forest transfer algorithms. The first algorithm searches greedily for locally optimal modifications of each tree structure by trying to locally expand or reduce the tree around individual nodes.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus induces and benefits from cell stress, autophagy, and apoptosis.

The mode and timing of virally induced cell death hold the potential of regulating viral yield, viral transmission, and the severity of virally induced disease. Orbiviruses such as the epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) are nonenveloped and cytolytic. To date, the death of cells infected with EHDV, the signal transduction pathways involved in this process, and the consequence of their inhibition have yet to be characterized.

Topical minocycline for managing symptoms of recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common ulcerative condition of the oral mucosa. In this study, minocycline oral rinses were compared to a placebo in patients suffering from frequent episodes of RAS. Thirty-three patients with RAS were randomly allocated to topical therapy with 0.

Season of birth, natural light, and myopia.

Purpose: To investigate the possible roles of season of birth and perinatal duration of daylight hours (photoperiod) in the development of myopia.

Design: Retrospective, population-based, epidemiological study.

Participants: A total of 276 911 adolescents (157 663 male, 119 248 female) 16 to 22 years old.

An open-label study of an herbal topical medication (QoolSkin) for patients with chronic plaque psoriasis.

QoolSkin is novel herbal topical medication indicated for the treatment of patients with psoriasis and we endeavored to determine the efficacy of QoolSkin in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. In an open-label, parallel-group study conducted at four sites in Israel, patients with chronic plaque psoriasis were treated by application of QoolSkin two to three times per day, for a period of 16 weeks. Clinical assessment was performed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and the Beer-Sheva Psoriasis Severity Score (BPSS).

Fas pulls the trigger on psoriasis.

Fas/FasL signaling is best known for induction of apoptosis. However, there is an alternate pathway of Fas signaling that induces inflammatory cytokines, particularly tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-8. This pathway is prominent in cells that express high levels of anti-apoptotic molecules such as Bcl-xL.

Correcting BLAST e-values for low-complexity segments.

The statistical estimates of BLAST and PSI-BLAST are of extreme importance to determine the biological relevance of sequence matches. While being very effective in evaluating most matches, these estimates usually overestimate the significance of matches in the presence of low complexity segments. In this paper, we present a model, based on divergence measures and statistics of the alignment structure, that corrects BLAST e-values for low complexity sequences without filtering or excluding them and generates scores that are more effective in distinguishing true similarities from chance similarities.

The implications and management of drug interactions with itraconazole, fluconazole and terbinafine.

The efficacy and safety of many pharmacological agents can be adversely affected by drug interactions. However, an appreciation of the mechanisms and incidence of these interactions, together with a knowledge of the patient's medical history, means that the majority are predictable and can be managed successfully. Drug interactions involving oral antifungal agents such as itraconazole, fluconazole and terbinafine have been studied extensively and are well understood.

Necrobiosis lipoidica and diabetic control revisited.

Necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum is a rare skin disorder, usually considered a marker for diabetes mellitus. More than half of the patients with necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum have diabetes mellitus, but less than one per cent of diabetes mellitus patients have necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum. In the diabetes and dermatology literature, we find the position that there is no effect of glucose control on either the appearance of necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum or the clinical course of the lesion.

Huge cutaneous plasmacytomas complicating multiple myeloma.

The case of a 46-year-old woman with multiple myeloma and extramedullary dissemination to the urinary bladder and skin is described. Cutaneous plasmacytomas were scattered as firm, violaceous-red, lesions of variable diameter (2-13 cm) which were extremely tender. Despite combined chemotherapy and half-body irradiation, the lesions progressed until the patient died 8 months following diagnosis.

The sign of Leser-Trélat associated with transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary-bladder--a case report and short review.

Leser-Trélat sign is defined as the sudden appearance of multiple seborrhoeic keratoses in association with internal malignancy. Although 75 cases have been reported to date, controversy still exists about the significance of this sign. The first association of the Leser-Trélat sign with transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary-bladder is reported.