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Objective The study aimed to investigate the long-term efficacy of conventional laser photocoagulation in the treatment of diabetic macular edema. Methods In this retrospective study, the records of patients presented with diabetic macular edema (DME) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy were reviewed. DME defined as clinically significant macular edema was treated by using argon green or yellow dye laser with focal, grid, and modified grid techniques according to Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study parameters. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was measured. BCVA change after the treatment and its relationship with other factors were evaluated. Results The study included 133 eyes of 81 patients. The mean follow-up was 28.26 months. BCVA demonstrated the increase of 2 lines or more in 20.7% of the eyes, stabilization within 2 lines in 60.7% of the eyes, and loss of 2 lines or more in 18.3% of the eyes. The eyes with baseline BCVA lower than or equal to 0.50 showed a statistically significant increase (p=0.001) whereas the eyes with baseline BCVA of more than 0.50 did not show a statistically significant change (p=0.070) after laser photocoagulation treatment. Conclusions Conventional laser photocoagulation is an effective treatment in diabetic macular edema including center-involved type and stabilizes visual acuity in the majority of the patients. Improvement in BCVA is significant in the group with lower baseline BCVA. Abbreviations DM = diabetes mellitus, DME = diabetic macular edema, ETDRS = early treatment diabetic retinopathy study, CSME = clinically significant macular edema, CLP = conventional laser photocoagulation, VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, BCVA = best-corrected visual acuity, ANOVA = analysis of variance, VA = visual acuity.Social Media in the COVID-19 pandemic context has become a real dissemination medium of ophthalmology information for both physicians and health care consumers. This trend of sharing information has revealed new and innovative interventions in Ophthalmology such as teleophthalmology on Social Media by providing synchronous and asynchronous consultations, education, and prevention solutions as well as scientific research findings. This paper is a review of the current challenges and limitations faced by ophthalmologists and health care consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Endophthalmitis remains a serious complication following intraocular procedures. Preoperative prophylactic measures for endophthalmitis decrease the morbidity associated with this disease and represent a standard of care prior to ophthalmic surgery. The literature supports as measures for ocular antisepsis povidone-iodine solution for ocular surface preparation, chlorhexidine in patients with iodine allergy and application of topical antibiotics. Povidone-iodine is regarded as the most effective antiseptic associated with significant reduction in ocular surface bacterial counts. Currently, the recommended preoperative management is the application of 5% povidone-iodine solution in the conjunctival fornix, prior to surgery. This paper reviews the preoperative measures for ocular antisepsis, used in order to decrease the risk of culture-proven endophthalmitis.Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is an important tool in the diagnosis, evaluation and follow up of glaucoma patients. Even if we are dealing with a primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) or a primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patient, the mechanism of angle closure can be revealed by performing an UBM. The device can help differentiate between the two types of glaucoma even in patients with opaque corneas when gonioscopy cannot be performed. Knowing the type of glaucoma is vital, especially regarding an individualized treatment, since each patient is unique and needs to be treated accordingly, in order to prevent glaucomatous optic neuropathy and visual field loss. Abbreviations AC = anterior chamber, ICE = iridocorneal endothelial syndrome, IOP = intraocular pressure, NTG = normal tension glaucoma, PACG = primary angle closure glaucoma, PC = posterior chamber, PEX = pseudoexfoliation syndrome, POAG = primary open angle glaucoma, UBM = ultrasound biomicroscopy.Lipofuscin is an intracellular aging pigment with fluorescent properties, found in retinal pigment epithelium cells of the eye. It is the main fluorophore used in fundus autofluorescence imaging techniques to diagnose, describe, and follow retinal disease. Lipofuscin forms by incomplete lysosomal degradation of cellular material previously subjected to oxidative changes. A2E is the most studied fluorescent component of lipofuscin, but most of its composition remains unknown. Lipofuscin is photoreactive, generating reactive oxygen species, which may explain its role in disease development. Further knowledge is needed concerning lipofuscin genesis, biochemical composition, fluorescent compounds, and role in pathogenesis of retinal degenerative disease.Corneal dystrophies represent a group of progressive, genetically transmitted disorders with variable pathological, histological, and clinical manifestations. Recent ophthalmological examination techniques and genetic investigation methods have brought benefits in the deepening of these conditions. However, many aspects remain unknown, so the results of treatments are unsatisfactory. The aim of this article was to recall the clinical, genetic, histological and treatment types of these conditions.Social marketing is an arranged cycle for impacting change. With its marketing and exploring segments, publicizing and customer advancement (counting situating, division, imaginative system, message plan and testing, media technique and planning, and successful following), social advertising can assume a focal part in themes like wellbeing and climate. Social marketing consolidates the best components of conventional ways to deal with social change in an incorporated arranging and activity structure and it utilizes progresses in correspondence innovation and advertising abilities. Moreover, it uses marketing methods to create conversation and advance data, perspectives, qualities, and practices. Thus, it adds to establishing an environment helpful for social and conduct change.New viral infections, due to their rapid spread, lack of effective antiviral drugs and vaccines, kill millions of people every year. The global pandemic SARS-CoV-2 in 2019-2021 has shown that new strains of viruses can widespread very quickly, causing disease and death, with significant socio-economic consequences. Therefore, the search for new methods of combating different pathogenic viruses is an urgent task, and strategies based on nanoparticles are of significant interest. This work demonstrates the antiviral adsorption (virucidal) efficacy of nanoparticles of porous silicon (PSi NPs) against various enveloped and non-enveloped pathogenic human viruses, such as Influenza A virus, Poliovirus, Human immunodeficiency virus, West Nile virus, and Hepatitis virus. PSi NPs sized 60 nm with the average pore diameter of 2 nm and specific surface area of 200 m2/g were obtained by ball-milling of electrochemically-etched microporous silicon films. After interaction with PSi NPs, a strong suppression of the infectious activity of the virus-contaminated fluid was observed, which was manifested in a decrease in the infectious titer of all studied types of viruses by approximately 104 times, and corresponded to an inactivation of 99.99% viruses in vitro. This sorption capacity of PSi NPs is possible due to their microporous structure and huge specific surface area, which ensures efficient capture of virions, as confirmed by ELISA analysis, dynamic light scattering measurements and transmission electron microscopy images. The results obtained indicate the great potential of using PSi NPs as universal viral sorbents and disinfectants for the detection and treatment of viral diseases.

In, India coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases are on the rise in terms of the total number of cases. Findings on clinical and hematological parameters alone carry no significance apart from telling patients present status and hence are diminutive. This study aims to assess the hematological and serum biochemistry parameters and correlate them with the presenting symptoms and severity of disease which can help predict the need for intensive care unit (ICU) care, help in triage, assess the severity of the disease which will help clinicians decide their future course of action and further improve patients clinical outcome.

A total of 200 COVID-19 positive patients were included. Hematological and serum biochemistry parameters were recorded for the patients at the time of admission and categorized as mild, moderate, and severely ill based on clinical status and then admitted into various wards.

Total leucocyte count (TLC) was significantly different and higher in severely ill patients (13,200±6,999.2) compiminary findings of this study suggest hematological and serum biochemistry parameters could be used as a screening tool to identify patients requiring intensive care and thus allowing clinical stratification and triage at the time of presentation.

The preliminary findings of this study suggest hematological and serum biochemistry parameters could be used as a screening tool to identify patients requiring intensive care and thus allowing clinical stratification and triage at the time of presentation.Regression based methods for the detection of publication bias in meta-analysis have been extensively evaluated in literature. When dealing with continuous outcomes, specific hidden factors (e.g., heteroscedasticity) may interfere with the test statistics. In this paper we investigate the influence of residual heteroscedasticity on the performance of four tests for publication bias the Egger test, the Begg-Mazumdar test and two tests based on weighted regression. In the presence of heteroscedasticity, the Egger test and the weighted regression tests highly inflate the Type I error rate, while the Begg-Mazumdar test deflates the Type I error rate. Although all three tests already have low statistical power, heteroscedasticity typically reduces it further. Our results in combination with earlier discussions on publication bias tests lead us to conclude that application of these tests on continuous treatment effects is not warranted.Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) are specialized cells that are widely distributed throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Sorafenib in vitro EECs sense luminal content and release hormones, such as ghrelin, cholecystokinin, glucagon like peptide 1, peptide YY, insulin like peptide 5, and oxyntomodulin. These hormones can enter the circulation to act on distant targets or act locally on neighboring cells and neuronal pathways to modulate food digestion, food intake, energy balance and body weight. Obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes are associated with alterations in the levels of enteroendocrine hormones. Evidence also suggests that modified regulation and release of gut hormones are the result of compensatory mechanisms in states of excess adipose tissue and hyperglycemia. This review collects the evidence available detailing pathophysiological alterations in enteroendocrine hormones and their association with appetite, obesity and glycemic control.