Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Multipurpose Contact Lens Care Solutions and Their Ingredients on Membrane-Associated Mucins of Human Corneal Epithelial Cells

Purpose: Membrane-associated mucins play an important role for protecting epithelial cells at the ocular surface from microbial invasion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether multipurpose solutions (MPSs) for contact lens care and their ingredients alter the expression of membrane-associated mucins in human corneal epithelial (HCE-T) cells. Methods: SV40-immortalized HCE-T cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium/F12 medium with 5% fetal bovine serum to confluence and were then exposed to 10% dilutions of five different MPSs, or to their representative ingredients, 0.1% macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate, 0.1% poloxamer, 0.1% poloxamine, 1 and 5 ppm polyhexamethylene biguanide, or 0.05% and 0.1% boric acid for 24 hr. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the gene expression of MUC1, MUC4, and MUC16. Immunofluorescence staining of MUC16 protein on the surface of the HCE-T cells exposed to 10% diluted MPSs for 24 hr or undiluted MPSs for 30 min was observed by laser confocal scanning microscopy followed by quantitative image analysis. Results: Three MPSs containing boric acid significantly reduced gene expressions of MUC1 from 20.2% to 56.7% (P<0.01). Gene expressions of MUC4 and MUC16 were also reduced by these MPSs; however, there were no significant differences. Among ingredients, 0.1% boric acid significantly reduced gene expressions of MUC1 and MUC16 by 7.4% and 18.9%, respectively (P<0.01). Immunofluorescence microscopy also demonstrated that in undiluted form, three MPSs containing boric acid significantly reduced the expression of MUC16 protein. Conclusions: The MPSs containing boric acid downregulate membrane-associated mucins as compared with MPSs that do not contain boric acid. There may be some subtle membrane or other interactions between ingredients in lens-care solutions that adversely alter corneal cell mucins.
Carnosic acid protects starvation-induced SH-SY5Y cell death through Erk1/2 and Akt pathways, autophagy, and FoxO3a

Abstract Carnosic acid (CA) is recognized as a unique neuroprotective compound in the herb rosemary, since it induces expression of antioxidant enzymes including heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), γ-glutamylcysteine synthase (γ-GCS), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) via activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which is a nuclear transcription factor. In this study, we examined the cytoprotective effects of CA against starvation. We found that CA protected starvation-induced SH-SY5Y cell death by activating Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2). Interestingly, CA induced moderate autophagy and dephosphorylation of a transcriptional factor, the forkhead box protein O3a (FoxO3a). These effects of CA play an important role in cytoprotection.
Stromal Melting Associated With a Cosmetic Contact Lens Over a Boston Keratoprosthesis: Treatment With a Conjunctival Flap

Objectives: The aim was to discuss the use of a conjunctival flap for treatment of keratolysis of a keratoprosthesis (Kpro) donor graft in a patient fitted with a cosmetic contact lens. Methods: Keratolysis developed in the donor graft of a Boston Kpro; this was associated with the use of a cosmetic contact lens. A conjunctival flap was used to stabilize the graft. The literature is reviewed for similar cases, and the rationale for the intervention is described and discussed. Results: Reinforcement of the graft with a conjunctival flap resulted in an arrest in stromal melting and stabilization of visual acuity. Conclusions: Low Dk opaque contact lenses may be a risk factor for keratolysis after Kpro. A conjunctival flap technique can provide stabilization of keratolysis with arrest of corneal melting and merits further study.
An Assessment of the Optimal Lens Fit Rate in Keratoconus Subjects Using Three-Point-Touch and Apical Touch Fitting Approaches With the Rose K2 Lens

Objectives: To compare the number of ordered lenses required to achieve an optimal lens fit between three-point-touch and apical touch fittings in keratoconus subjects with nipple and oval cones using the first definite apical clearance lens (FDACL) as a starting point. Methods: First trial lens was selected following manufacturer’s guidelines and the back optic zone radius (BOZR) was flattened or steepened in 0.10 mm steps until a FDACL was found. Subsequently, subjects were randomly allocated to three-point-touch (BOZR 0.10 mm flatter than FDACL) and apical touch fittings (BOZR 0.40 mm flatter than FDACL). Changes were made solely in total lens diameter, edge lift, and/or back vertex power until an optimal lens fit was achieved. Differences between fitting approaches were compared in terms of optimal lens fit rates defined as the percentage of subjects successfully fitted with the first lens ordered from the manufacturer. Results: Sixty-one subjects (109 eyes) were randomly allocated to three-point-touch and apical touch fitting approaches. An average of 2.3 trial lenses were necessary to achieve the FDACL. An optimal lens fit rate was achieved with the first lens in 84 of 109 eyes (77%). No statistically significant differences in optimal lens fit rates were found between three-point-touch and apical touch fitting approaches (83% and 71%, respectively; P = 0.12) and between nipple and oval cones (81% and 68%, respectively; P = 0.12). Conclusions: The use of the FDACL provides a systematic, reliable, and repeatable starting point for Rose K2 contact lens fitting in keratoconus. Eye care practitioners should anticipate higher optimal lens fit rates when using three-point-touch (83%) in comparison with apical touch contact lens fittings (71%).
Environmental management accounting in Europe: current practice and future potential

This paper reports and analyses the results of a trans-European project to investigate the present and potential future links between the environmental management and management accounting functions of a company or business. A taxonomy of four broad but distinct approaches to environmental accounting is identified from the literature: external financial reporting; social accountability reporting; energy and materials accounting; and environmental management accounting. This project focuses on the latter the generation, analysis and use of financial and related non-financial information, in order to support management within a company or business, in integrating corporate environmental and economic policies and building sustainable business. The research involved interviews with accountants1 and environmental managers at eighty-four companies in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK, and detailed case studies of fifteen companies in those four countries. The paper summarizes the findings of the research and their implications for four core hypotheses, goes on to discuss international differences, and concludes by reviewing the implications of the results for likely future developments.
Application of Senofilcon A Contact Lenses for Therapeutic Bandage Lens Indications

Purpose: To conduct a retrospective consecutive chart review of senofilcon A contact lenses when used for therapeutic or bandage lens applications. Indication for use includes corneal protection from exposure or repeated irritation, corneal pain relief, and barrier protection. Outcome assessments included pain relief, improvement in corneal signs, additional complications, and overall treatment success. Methods: A total of 43 fully consented patients across 3 different clinical practices in the United States (Georgia, Florida and Ohio) were included in this study. Subjects enrolled in the study were identified by site investigators as their most recent 15 to 20 patients fit in senofilcon A lenses for the listed therapeutic indications. The cases were reviewed to assess the therapeutic success of the lens for the outcomes listed earlier. Results: All lenses fit had an 8.4-mm base curve and 14.0 mm diameter. Patients were fit for pain relief in 26 of the 43 cases of which 81% were judged to be fully effective, 8% partially effective, and 11% ineffective. Improvement in corneal integrity was the treatment goal in 25 cases and was fully effective in 64%, partially effective in 24%, and no change was noted in 12% of the cases. Twelve refractive surgical patients (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, epithelial laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy, or photorefractive keratectomy) wore the lenses successfully for 4 to 6 days postoperatively for comfort and protection without complications. Investigators judged the overall treatment as fully successful in 68% cases, partially successful in 18% cases, and neutral or unsuccessful in 14% cases. No adverse events were reported in any case. Conclusions: Senofilcon A contact lenses are successful in the majority of cases when used for providing protection of corneal exposure and recurrent damage, pain management, barrier protection, and postsurgical management.
Non-clinical and extra-legal influences on decisions about compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital

Background: On the eve of reform of the 1983 Mental Health Act (MHA), little is known about how decisions to admit people under its powers are made. Aims: To describe non-clinical and extra-legal influences on professionals’ decisions about compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital. Method: Participant-observation of MHA assessments, including informal and depth interviews with the practitioners involved, and follow-up interviews with the people who had been assessed. Results: A candidate patient’s chance of being sectioned is likely to increase when there are no realistic alternatives to in-patient care. This typically occurs when staff have insufficient time to set such alternatives in place and are unsupported by other professionals in doing this. Outcomes may also be affected by local operational norms and the level of professional accountability for specific MHA decisions. Conclusion: Non-clinical and extra-legal factors explain some of the geographical variation in MHA admission rates. If compulsion is to be used only in the ‘last resort’, administrators and policy makers should look beyond legislative change to matters of resource allocation and service organisation.
Qualitative analysis of social network influences on quitting smoking among individuals with serious mental illness

Abstract Objective: The prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults with serious mental illness (SMI) remains high in the United States despite the availability of effective smoking cessation treatment. Identifying social influences on smoking and smoking cessation may help enhance intervention strategies to help smokers with SMI quit. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore social network influences on efforts to quit smoking among adults with SMI enrolled in a cessation treatment program. Methods: Participants were 41 individuals with SMI enrolled in a Medicaid Demonstration Project of smoking cessation at community mental health centers. A convenience sampling strategy was used to recruit participants for social network interviews exploring the influence of family, friends, peers, and significant others on quitting smoking. A team-based analysis of qualitative data involved descriptive coding, grouping coded data into categories, and identifying themes across the data. Results: Social barriers to quitting smoking included pro-smoking social norms, attitudes, and behaviors of social network members, and negative interactions with network members, either specific to smoking or that triggered smoking. Social facilitators to quitting included quitting with network members, having cessation role models, and social support for quitting from network members. Conclusions: Similar to the general population, social factors appear to influence efforts to quit smoking among individuals with SMI enrolled in cessation treatment. Interventions that leverage positive social influences on smoking cessation have the potential to enhance strategies to help individuals with SMI quit smoking.
Narrative development and supported employment of persons with severe mental illness

Abstract Background: While the relationship between objective recovery and work among persons with severe mental illness (SMI) is well-established, few studies have examined the link between subjective recovery and employment. Aims: The study investigated the prospective relationship between narrative development at the start of supported employment (SE) and positive work outcomes. Methods: The authors employed a time-limited, mixed-method longitudinal design to examine the relationship between the baseline narrative development of 38 SE participants with SMI and employment outcomes eight months later, as well as whether narratives evolved over the course of the study. Results: While narrative development was unrelated to work for the 59% of participants who were employed at the end of the study, unemployed individuals showed more developed baseline narratives overall, as well as enriched baseline emotional connectedness and social worth. Higher emotional connectedness at the start of SE programs was predictive of fewer hours worked eight months later, controlling for executive functioning, negative symptoms and self-esteem. Although workers showed no narrative changes over time, those without work demonstrated increased agency over the eight months of the study. Conclusion: Further research is warranted to clarify the relationship between richer personal narratives and unemployment.
Two Cases of Spontaneous Filtering Blebs, One Idiopathic and One Associated With Terrien Marginal Degeneration

Purpose: To report a case of an idiopathic unilateral filtering bleb in an otherwise well patient and a case of bilateral spontaneous filtering blebs in association with Terrien marginal degeneration. Methods: In this retrospective observational study of 2 cases, clinical notes, ultrasound biomicroscopy and gonioscopy images were reviewed. Results: Case 1: A 32-year-old woman presented with a 1-year history of a gradually growing cyst in her right eye. No changes in vision were reported. The patient had no previous ocular or systemic history, trauma, or surgical interventions. Slit-lamp examination revealed a multilobulated cyst at the supranasal limbus OD. Diagnosis was an idiopathic spontaneous limbal filtering bleb of unclear etiology because there was no inciting event or obvious cause. Case 2: A 31-year-old man, with 2 past episodes of spontaneous filtering bleb development, affecting the left, then the right, eye, presented with his third event in May 2012. The visual acuity was decreased to 20/400 OD. The right eye was hypotonous and ultrasound biomicroscopy confirmed a shallow anterior chamber, a superior peripheral corneal defect, and an echolucent space suggestive of subconjunctival fluid. Limbal thinning was noted bilaterally, consistent with Terrien marginal degeneration. Conclusions: This is a rare case of an idiopathic filtering bleb occurring in a healthy patient with no precipitating cause, other ocular abnormalities, or physical malformations, and the only reported case of bilateral sequential filtering blebs associated with an atypical presentation of Terrien marginal degeneration.
Changes in markers of ovarian reserve and endocrine function in young women with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy

Premenopausal women undergoing chemotherapy are at risk for amenorrhea and impaired fertility. The objective of the current study was to assess levels of mullerian inhibitory substance (MIS), estradiol (E2), follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH), and menstrual status, in women undergoing chemotherapy.
A meta-analytic review of the relationship between neurocognition, metacognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia

Abstract Previous research has identified that neurocognition predicts functional outcome in schizophrenia to a greater extent than psychopathology. More contemporary authors have begun to explore the role of metacognition as a mediating variable between neurocognition and functional outcome. The present review sought to extend the known work by synthesising the results reported in individual studies to see if these results are consistently found across samples. Relevant search strategies were entered into Medline (PubMed), PsychINFO and Embase. The present meta-analysis encompassed 17 studies (N = 1060) investigating the relationship between neurocognition and metacognition and seven studies investigating the relationship between metacognition and functional outcome (N = 645). A small-to-moderate mean effect size was found between neurocognition and metacognition (effect size range: 0.13–0.58) and a small-to-moderate effect size was found between metacognition and functional outcome (range: 0.17–0.57). Study findings suggest that relationships between variables are consistently found across samples and that future research should focus on investigating this relationship at earlier stages of illness, in female cohorts and across cognitive domains. Greater investigation is required in functional outcome, differentiating the impact of metacognition on functional capacity and other domains of functional outcome.
Effects of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor‐induced dermatologic toxicities on quality of life

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors frequently result in dermatologic toxicities, including rash, xerosis, pruritus, and paronychia. Although the frequency and severity of these events have been described, their effect on health‐related quality of life (QoL) remains poorly understood. By using a dermatology‐specific questionnaire, the authors examined the effect of these toxicities on QoL.
Boston Type 1 Keratoprosthesis for Chemical and Thermal Injury

Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of the Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis (Kpro-1) in eyes with failed interventions for chemical and thermal injury. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of every eye with chemical or thermal injury that was treated with a Kpro-1 at a tertiary eye care center between January 1, 2008 and July 1, 2013. The main outcome measures were visual outcome, prosthesis retention, and postoperative complications. Results: Nine eyes met the inclusion criteria, including 7 eyes with alkali burns, 1 eye with an acid burn, and 1 eye with a thermal burn. After a mean follow-up of 40.7 months (range, 29–60 months), the median best-corrected visual acuity was 20/60 (range, 20/15 to no light perception). One eye was ≥20/20, 3 eyes were ≥20/40, and 6 eyes were ≥20/70. The initial Kpro-1 prosthesis was retained in 7 (77.7%) eyes and successfully replaced in the other 2 eyes. One or more serious complications occurred in 6 (66.7%) eyes. These included 2 cases of sterile corneal ulceration with prosthesis extrusion, 2 cases of microbial keratitis (1 bacterial and 1 fungal), 2 cases of bacterial endophthalmitis, and 2 cases of retinal detachments. These complications contributed to visual outcomes of hand motions in 2 eyes and no light perception in 1 eye. Conclusions: The Boston Kpro-1 is associated with highly satisfactory visual outcomes and prosthesis retention in most cases of severe chemical or thermal injury. Serious complications are common and may compromise the final outcome.
Cognitive complaints, neuropsychological performance and affective disorders in elderly community residents

Background. Previous studies have assessed the relationship between subjective cognitive complaints and objective impairment. While some of them found that cognitive complaints were explained by affective disorders, other researches found a relationship between cognitive complaints and neuropsychological performance. Most of them focused on memory functioning. However, elderly normal adults also display a decline in executive functions. This study aimed to assess the relationship between cognitive complaints, objective memory and executive performance and affective disorders. Methods. This study was carried out with 937 community-dwelling elderly individuals recruited from the electoral list of the city of Saint-Etienne, France. Cognitive complaints were assessed using the MacNair scale. Cognitive performances were measured via a large battery of memory and executive-performance tests chosen for their capacity to detect subtle cognitive impairment. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using scales devised by Pichot and Goldberg. Results. Cognitive complaints were associated with lower scores on verbal-memory tests and several executive-performance tests. Moreover, affective disorders were related to some of the executive-performance test scores, but they were not related to scores on the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test, Digit Symbol Substitution Test and Trail Making B scores. Conclusions. Cognitive complaints of the elderly can reflect objective memory and executive-performance impairments, independent of affective disorders. Cognitive complaints should be assessed using both memory and executive-performance tests.
Anxiety and depression in the first six months after stroke. A longitudinal multicentre study

Purpose. To document the prevalence, severity and time course of anxiety and depression in stroke rehabilitation patients in four European countries. Method. At two, four and six months post-stroke, the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression were determined in 532 consecutively recruited patients, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Time course of prevalence and severity was examined, using Cochran-Q and Friedman-tests, respectively. We identified whether the numbers of anxious/depressed patients at each time point comprised the same individuals. Results. Prevalence of anxiety ranged between 22% and 25%; depression between 24% and 30%. Median severity ranged between 4 and 5. No significant differences between centres occurred (p > 0.05). Prevalence of both disorders was not significantly different over time. Severity of anxiety decreased between four and six months; severity of depression remained stable. About 40% of the patients with initial anxiety remained anxious at six months. Some 11% and 7% of those initially not anxious became anxious at four or six months after stroke, respectively. Depression showed a similar pattern. Conclusions. Despite differences in patient profiles and intensity of rehabilitation, no significant differences occurred between centres in prevalence and severity of both disorders. Anxiety was almost as common as depression and additional patients became anxious/depressed at each time point.