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Objectives: Approximately 10 million Americans experience acts of physical violence by an intimate partner (IPV). Ocular injuries can present as a symptom of IPV in the emergency department, but IPV remains underreported in the literature. Understanding the incidence and trends in IPV-associated ocular injuries in the emergency department could increase the detection of at-risk patients otherwise overlooked., Design: Retrospective chart review., Participants: Emergency department patients evaluated for traumatic ocular injuries between January 2018 and April 2023 at a large tertiary care health system., Methods: The study population was identified by ICD-10 code and their responses to being screened at triage for home safety and any nursing concerns for abuse or neglect. Patient screening consisted of a 2-part questionnaire inquiring first about whether the patient feels safe at home ("Yes" or "No") and second regarding nurses' concerns for abuse, neglect, domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking., Results: There were 2,653,993 emergency department visits and 16,737 traumatic ocular injuries in the study period. Of them, 1.1% of patients (154 of 14,457) responded "No" to feeling safe at home. In only 0.6% of patients (82 of 14,457), a nursing concern was documented. Patients responding "No" to feeling safe at home presented with more severe ocular injuries such as maxillary fractures. On regression analysis, married, divorced, and widowed patients as well as patients on private insurance were less likely to report feeling unsafe at home than single patients on public insurance (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Traumatic ocular injuries in emergency departments should raise concerns about IPV. Opportunity exists to improve education, screening, and management of these patients., (Copyright © 2023 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Antiviral targeting of virus envelope proteins is an effective strategy for therapeutic intervention of viral infections. Here, we took a computer-guided approach with the aim of identifying new antivirals against the envelope protein E2 of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). BVDV is an enveloped virus with an RNA genome responsible for major economic losses of the cattle industry worldwide. Based on the crystal structure of the envelope protein E2, we defined a binding site at the interface of the two most distal domains from the virus membrane and pursued a hierarchical docking-based virtual screening search to identify small-molecule ligands of E2. Phenyl thiophene carboxamide derivative 12 (PTC12) emerged as a specific inhibitor of BVDV replication from in vitro antiviral activity screening of candidate molecules, displaying an IC 50 of 0.30 μM against the reference NADL strain of the virus. Using reverse genetics we constructed a recombinant BVDV expressing GFP that served as a sensitive reporter for the study of the mechanism of action of antiviral compounds. Time of drug addition assays showed that PTC12 inhibited an early step of infection. The mechanism of action was further dissected to find that the compound specifically acted at the internalization step of virus entry. Interestingly, we demonstrated that similar to PTC12, the benzimidazole derivative 03 (BI03) selected in the virtual screen also inhibited internalization of BVDV. Furthermore, docking analysis of PTC12 and BI03 into the binding site revealed common interactions with amino acid residues in E2 suggesting that both compounds could share the same molecular target. In conclusion, starting from a targeted design strategy of antivirals against E2 we identified PTC12 as a potent inhibitor of BVDV entry. The compound can be valuable in the design of antiviral strategies in combination with already well-characterized polymerase inhibitors of BVDV., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It has been shown that severe hypercholesterolemia is associated with carotid atherosclerosis but it is unclear whether this is true for moderate hypercholesterolemia. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of ultrasound detectable extent and severity of carotid intima-media thicknesses in 143 asymptomatic (79 males, 64 females, age range 45-64 years) primary moderate hypercholesterolemic patients (serum LDL cholesterol range 160-190 mg/dl). This group was compared with 143 asymptomatic normolipidemic subjects (serum LDL cholesterol < or = 130 mg/dl and serum triglycerides < 200 mg/dl) matched for age, sex and other cardiovascular risk factors. The maximum intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured using B-mode ultrasonography at 12 sites on the near and the far wall of the common, bifurcation and internal carotid arteries. The mean-maximum IMT at the 12 sites was compared in cases and controls. Moreover, the prevalence of intima-media thickening (i.e. at least one of the 12 sites with an IMT equal to or greater than 1.0 mm but less than 1.3) and plaques (i.e. at least one of the 12 sites with an IMT equal to or greater than 1.3 mm) was considered in the two groups. The mean-maximum intima-media thickness was 0.97 +/- 0.12 mm in hypercholesterolemic patients and 0.93 +/- 0.05 mm in controls (P < 0.0001). Intima-media thickening and plaques were detected in 76% of hypercholesterolemics vs. 57% of controls (P < 0.0002). Gender did not influence these differences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)