OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of a dietary supplement containing bilberry extract (BE) on eye fatigue induced by acute video display terminal (VDT) loads. DESIGN AND SETTING: A prospective, ...randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed from August 2012 to February 2013 in the Medical Corporation Jico-kai Yagi Hospital, and the Shinyokohama Shinoharaguchi Orthopedic Surgery and Dermatology Clinic, in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred eighty-one office workers aged 20–40 years that used VDTs were screened by critical flicker fusion (CFF) and near point accommodation (NPA). INTERVENTION: The participants were randomized to either a BE (480 mg/day) or placebo (vehicle) group, and took allocated capsule, daily, for 8 weeks. MEASUREMENTS: The CFF, NPA, contrast visual acuity, functional visual acuity, keratoconjunctival epithelial damage, and fluorescein tear film break-up time were examined, and 18 subjective symptoms of eye fatigue were evaluated by questionnaire. Adverse events were reported via medical interviews. Data were collected both before and after VDT load at baseline, and 4, and 8 weeks after daily supplementation with either BE or placebo. RESULTS: Of 281 participants screened, 88 having relatively lower levels of CFF and NPA were enrolled in the study. Of these, 37 control and 43 BE group subjects completed the study. The VDT load-induced reduction in CFF was alleviated after 8 weeks of BE supplementation (95% confidence interval, 0.10–1.60; p=0.023), in contrast to placebo supplementation, while NPA variation was not. Of the subjective symptoms of eye fatigue, VDT load-induced ocular fatigue sensation, ocular pain, eye heaviness, uncomfortable sensation, and foreign body sensation were mitigated more in the BE group than in the control group, at week 8 (p<0.05). There were no severe adverse events in either group. CONCLUSIONS: BE supplementation improved some of the objective and subjective parameters of eye fatigue induced by VDT loads.
Summary
Background
The direct microscopy, fungal culture and histopathology that are necessary for the definitive diagnosis of tinea unguium are disadvantageous in that detection sensitivity is ...affected by the level of skill of the person who performs the testing, and the procedures take a long time.
Objectives
The Dermatophyte Test Strip, which was developed recently, can simply and easily detect filamentous fungi in samples in a short time, and there are expectations for its use as a method for tinea unguium screening. With this in mind, we examined the detection capacity of the Dermatophyte Test Strip for tinea unguium.
Methods
The presence or absence of fungal elements was judged by direct microscopy and Dermatophyte Test Strip in 165 nail samples obtained from residents in nursing homes for the elderly. Moreover, the minimum sample amount required for positive determination was estimated using 32 samples that showed positive results by Dermatophyte Test Strip.
Results
The Dermatophyte Test Strip showed 98% sensitivity, 78% specificity, 84·8% positive predictive value, 97% negative predictive value and a positive and negative concordance rate of 89·1%. The minimum sample amount required for positive determination was 0·002–0·722 mg.
Conclusions
The Dermatophyte Test Strip showed very high sensitivity and negative predictive value, and was considered a potentially useful method for tinea unguium screening. Positive determination was considered to be possible with a sample amount of about 1 mg.
What's already known about this topic?
Tinea should be diagnosed based on mycological examinations.
Direct microscopy, culture and histopathology are employed to detect fungal elements.
These methods require technical skill and/or consume time.
What does this study add?
The Dermatophyte Test Strip visualizes mycotic antigens by immunochromatography.
It allows easier and faster detection of fungi in samples, with very high sensitivity.
It is a useful method for screening of tinea unguium.
The hemodynamics associated with cerebral AVMs have a significant impact on their clinical presentation. This study aimed to evaluate the hemodynamic features of AVMs using 3D phase-contrast MR ...imaging with dual velocity-encodings.
Thirty-two patients with supratentorial AVMs who had not received any previous treatment and had undergone 3D phase-contrast MR imaging were included in this study. The nidus diameter and volume were measured for classification of AVMs (small, medium, or large). Flow parameters measured included apparent AVM inflow, AVM inflow index, apparent AVM outflow, AVM outflow index, and the apparent AVM inflow-to-outflow ratio. Correlation coefficients between the nidus volume and each flow were calculated. The flow parameters between small and other AVMs as well as between nonhemorrhagic and hemorrhagic AVMs were compared.
Patients were divided into hemorrhagic (
= 8) and nonhemorrhagic (
= 24) groups. The correlation coefficient between the nidus volume and the apparent AVM inflow and outflow was .83. The apparent AVM inflow and outflow in small AVMs were significantly smaller than in medium AVMs (
< .001 for both groups). The apparent AVM inflow-to-outflow ratio was significantly larger in the hemorrhagic AVMs than in the nonhemorrhagic AVMs (
= .02).
The apparent AVM inflow-to-outflow ratio was the only significant parameter that differed between nonhemorrhagic and hemorrhagic AVMs, suggesting that a poor drainage system may increase AVM pressure, potentially causing cerebral hemorrhage.
As neurons age, their survival depends on eliminating a growing burden of damaged, potentially toxic proteins and organelles-a capability that declines owing to aging and disease factors. Here, we ...review the two proteolytic systems principally responsible for protein quality control in neurons and their important contributions to Alzheimer disease pathogenesis. In the first section, the discovery of paired helical filament ubiquitination is described as a backdrop for discussing the importance of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in Alzheimer disease. In the second section, we review the prominent involvement of the lysosomal system beginning with pathological endosomal-lysosomal activation and signaling at the very earliest stages of Alzheimer disease followed by the progressive failure of autophagy. These abnormalities, which result in part from Alzheimer-related genes acting directly on these lysosomal pathways, contribute to the development of each of the Alzheimer neuropathological hallmarks and represent a promising therapeutic target.
Proposed is a concept of a directional multi‐band antenna employing frequency selective surfaces (FSSs). To confirm the feasibility of the concept, the proposal is implemented by combining a metal ...reflector, two FSSs that act as frequency filters, and a multi‐band radiator. The proposed triple‐band antenna can radiate at 800 MHz (the metal reflector or FSS 1), 2 GHz (FSS 2), and 4 GHz (FSS 3). FSS 2 passes waves at one frequency band (800 MHz) and reflects all other bands, and FSS 3 passes waves at two frequency bands (800 MHz/2 GHz) and reflects all other bands. Beam control is easy since all that is needed is to change FSS size and/or the distance between the radiator and metal reflector/FSS. Electromagnetic field simulations and measurements demonstrate good directivity in the frequency bands of 800 MHz, 2 GHz and 4 GHz.
Development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction involves various alloimmune-independent insults including those mediated by Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, which is known to activate alloimmune ...responses. We hypothesized that TLR signaling may also contribute to the activation of fibroblasts and promoting allograft airway fibrosis. Mouse orthotopic tracheal transplants were conducted between major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched Balb/c donor and wild-type C3H or C3H-derived TLR4 mutant recipients (nonfunctional TLR4). Immunohistochemistry on day 21 showed significantly smaller alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive areas in TLR4 mutant recipients than wild-type recipients (P = .01). No difference was found for CD3+ T-cell infiltration. Proliferation of alloreactive T cells derived from the recipient spleen showed no difference between TLR4 mutant and wild-type recipients in a mixed lymphocyte reaction. The effect of TLR4 signaling was examined in primary pulmonary fibroblast cultures both with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. Stimulation with LPS significantly increased expression of α-SMA mRNA in wild-type fibroblasts cultured with TGF-β1 compared with the control without LPS (P = .001). Taken together, these findings suggest disruption of TLR signaling leads to reduced activation of fibroblasts without affecting T-cell infiltration and proliferation in this model. TLR4-mediated activation of fibroblasts may be a potentially important mechanism of allograft remodeling.
•In the allograft of mouse orthotopic tracheal transplantation, deletion of TLR4 signaling significantly reduced myofibroblasts without affecting T-cell infiltration.•TLR4 signaling contributed to activation of fibroblasts in coordination with TGF-β1 in vitro.•TLR4 signaling may play an important role in allograft fibrosis in addition to activation of alloimmune responses.
PDF
