Search

Background: China has the largest burden of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) worldwide. The mechanism of the angle closure is complex and includes pupillary block and non-pupillary block. Currently, opinion is that laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) alone is not sufficient to prevent disease progression. Laser peripheral iridoplasty (LPIP) is an alternative and effective way of widening the angle recess in eyes that are affected by primary angle closure (PAC). However, it is not known if greater benefit would be achieved using LPI plus LPIP for PAC with multiple mechanisms (MAC). Thus, the aim of this study is to demonstrate if LPI plus LPIP would be more effective than single LPI in controlling the progression of PAC with multiple mechanisms, based on ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) classification. A secondary aim is to determine whether or not this would result in the use of less medication and/or prolong the time to antiglaucoma surgery.Methods: This multiple-mechanism angle-closure study will comprise a 3-year, multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, open-label, superiority trial, the aim of which will be to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LPI plus LPIP versus LPI for PAC. It is anticipated that 240 adults, diagnosed with PAC (the mechanism of angle closure will be assessed by UBM and it will be determined whether or not it involves multiple mechanisms) will be recruited from ten ophthalmic centers in China. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive either single LPI or LPI plus LPIP. Participant assessment will be designed to test the rate of disease progression and who will be followed up for 3 years. The primary outcome will be the disease progression rate and a comparison will be made between the LPI and LPI plus LPIP groups using Pearson's χ2 test. Logistic regression analysis will be performed to account for the central effect.Discussion: If the LPI plus LPIP is found to significantly decrease the rate of PAC progression, this intervention could potentially be a standard therapy to be used to treat PAC when multiple mechanisms are involved in angle closure. Subsequently, this would have the potential to delay the rate of PAC progression to PACG and delay the time to the administration of antiglaucoma medication or trabeculectomy surgery.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02613013 . Registered on 24 November 2015. In fact, the study was due to start in late October 2015, however, there were no patients recruited in October, and when we registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on 5 November 2015, we received suggestions on the English translation of our protocol from the PRS Team at Clinicaltrial.gov, so the final successful registration date was on 24 November 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the toxic effects of bee venom (BV) in humans are known, there are only a few systematic studies are available in literature. Here, we have evaluated the potential toxicity of BV from Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) by studying acute toxicity in mice receiving subcutaneous injections of high (120 mg/kg), medium (60 mg/kg) and low (8 mg/kg) doses of BV. General toxicity symptoms and histopathological changes were recorded for 14 days. The results indicated that highdose BV could be fatal. The mental state, appetite, and respiration of mice in the medium- and high-dose groups changed in varying degrees; higher doses led to more prominent symptoms (LD50, 119.7 mg/kg). BV in medium- and high-dose groups significantly inhibited weight gain in mice within 2 days, which did not significantly differ between the dose groups and control at the later stage. The hemolysis rate was significantly higher in the low-dose, while in the medium- and high-dose groups, the coagulation time significantly prolonged in male mice. Histopathological changes showed that medium- and high-dose groups exhibited toxicity to tested organs. Our study showed that BV exhibited strong toxicity at higher concentration and is relatively safe when the BV concentration is lower than 8 mg/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new diphenyl ether derivative, namely barceloneic lactone D (1), along with five known compounds (2-6) were isolated from the solid cultures of an endolichenic fungus, Preussia africana. The structure of new compound was elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. All the isolates were evaluated for their antifungal activities. All compounds showed definite inhibitory activities with inhibition rate ranging from 9.2% to 79.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An environmentally benign approach is put forward with the focus on directly liquefying and depolymerizing Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. (Chinese fir) sawdust into ethyl levulinate (EL) under supercritical ethanol (scEtOH) conditions by using phosphotungstic acid (PTA) as a catalyst. The effects of parameters such as catalyst dosage, temperature, and reaction time on alcoholysis yield were investigated. The experimental results show that the biomass alcoholysis yield reached 95.35% with 0.5 g PTA as a catalyst at 260 °C for 30 min. Alcoholysis yield and quantitative content of EL depended on the catalyst. The light bio-oil was primarily composed of phenols, aldehydes, ketones, and esters. A high quantitative content of EL up to 20.82% (AR, Relative abundance) was achieved, compared to 0.73% AR when PTA was not added. Hence, scEtOH with dissolved PTA may offer novel media for both chemical reactions and biomass conversion technology as a replacement for environmentally undesirable organic solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyaniline (PANI) chains were grafted at the edge of graphene oxide (GO) sheets by in-situ chemical oxidation polymerization. The obtained GO-PANI composite was used for the adsorption of cationic methylene blue (MB) and anionic methyl orange (MO) dyes from aqueous solutions. The structure of the GO-PANI composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic micrograph (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and zeta potentials. GO-PANI exhibited a high adsorption capacity for MB (962 mg/g) and MO (885 mg/g) compared with other reported absorbents, which was due to adsorption through strong π-π stacking and anion--cation interactions. The nanocomposite could be recycled five times without significant loss in removal abilities for MB (87.8%) and MO (75.0%), respectively. GO-PANI composite is a promising adsorbent for the adsorption of anionic and cationic dyes from aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]