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Yosuke Harada,1,2 Ken Fukuda,1 Asami Nakahira,1 Kentaro Tada,1 Tamaki Sumi,1 Atsuki Fukushima1 1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of therapy in patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) anterior uveitis. Patients and methods: We reviewed the records of patients with CMV anterior uveitis who attended our institution between October 2010 and December 2015 and who were confirmed to have CMV DNA in the aqueous humor by polymerase chain reaction analysis. Results: Fourteen immunocompetent patients (10 men and 4 women, total of 17 eyes) were enrolled. The mean ± SD age at the onset of antiviral therapy was 63.1 ± 11.3 years (range, 44–87 years). CMV DNA was not detected in the aqueous humor of 3 patients on initial testing, but it was detected on subsequent analysis. All patients underwent systemic antiviral therapy. Among the patients who were followed up for more than 6 months after starting systemic antiviral therapy, systemic antiviral therapy was successfully terminated in all 4 patients without corneal endothelial loss but had to be continued because of disease recurrence on its termination in 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) with corneal endothelial damage (P = 0.038). Conclusions: Patients with corneal endothelial cell loss are likely to require longer term antiviral therapy than those without endothelial damage. In addition, whereas definitive diagnosis of CMV anterior uveitis requires the detection of CMV DNA in aqueous humor by polymerase chain reaction, one-fifth of patients in the present study tested negative on initial examination. Keywords: cytomegalovirus, anterior uveitis, corneal endothelial cell, polymerase chain reaction, clinical course

Yoko Ikeda,1,2,* Kazuhiko Mori,1,* Kaori Tada,3 Morio Ueno,1 Shigeru Kinoshita,4 Chie Sotozono1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 2Oike-Ganka Ikeda Clinic, 3Department of Ophthalmology, Japanese Red Cross Society Kyoto Daini Hospital, 4Department of Frontier Medical Science and Technology for Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To evaluate and compare the intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction efficacy and safety between the ophthalmic solutions 0.005% latanoprost (Lat) and 0.0015% tafluprost (Taf) in Japanese patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG).Methods: In this randomized nonmasked study, we prospectively enrolled 30 Japanese NTG patients who had used Lat monotherapy for more than 4 weeks, and randomly divided them into the following two groups: 1) Lat-to-Taf group (LT group) and 2) Taf-to-Lat group (TL group). At the beginning of the study, both groups were switched from initial Lat to Lat or Taf for 12 weeks, and then switched over to the other drug (crossover) for 12 additional weeks. At 0, 4, 12, 16, and 24 weeks, we evaluated each patient’s IOP, conjunctival injection, and corneal epitheliopathy score, and at 0, 12, and 24 weeks, we evaluated their eyelash changes and pigmentation of the eyelids and irises.Results: The mean IOP of the LT group (15 eyes) was 10.5, 10.6, and 11.1 mmHg, at 0, 12, and 24 weeks, respectively, whereas that of the TL group (15 eyes) was 11.7, 11.1, and 10.5 mmHg at 0, 12, and 24 weeks, respectively. No significant differences were found between the two groups and in the intragroup comparisons. Moreover, no significant differences were found between Lat and Taf in regard to the conjunctival injection score and corneal epitheliopathy score. Eyelash changes and eyelid and iris pigmentation were similar in both groups.Conclusion: The findings of this study show that Lat and Taf have equivalent efficacy and safety in Japanese patients with NTG. Keywords: latanoprost, tafluprost, normal-tension glaucoma, crossover

Novel properties of recently developed conducting and insulating polymers and their composites are discussed. Properties of conducting polymer whose main chains are composed of unsaturated [Pi]-bonds depend strongly on the main chain structure, substituent and also molecular dopants. Various applications of conducting polymers such as electroluminescence (EL) elements, electrolyte capacitors, photoconductors, photovoltaic cells, superconductors and insulators at cryogenic temperature, are discussed by taking effects of molecular dopants such as [C.sub.60] into consideration. A new type of insulating polymer, syndiotactic polypropylene prepared by newly developed metallocene catalysts has been studied and found to exhibit much superior electrical, thermal and mechanical characteristics compared with those of conventional isotactic polypropylene, atactic polypropylene and polyethylene. These excellent characteristics originate from lower crystallinity, smaller spherulites and different crystal lattice than in isotactic polypropylene. Negligible degradation of syndiotactic polypropylene by contact with copper is interpreted in terms of difference of catalysts and suppression of diffusion of copper cation. New types of conducting polymer, insulating polymer composites were prepared. Their conductivity was controlled over more than 10 orders of magnitude by small amounts of a conducting polymer, polypyrrole, which can be interpreted in terms of the percolation model depending on the shape and density of polypyrrole coated insulating polymer particles. Nonlinear current-voltage characteristics were also studied.