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Darrell E White,1 Yang Zhao,2 Hemalatha Jayapalan,3 Pattabhi Machiraju,3 Ramu Periyasamy,3 Abayomi Ogundele2 1SkyVision Centers, Westlake, OH, USA; 2Medical Affairs, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Princeton, NJ, USA; 3Medical Services, Indegene, Inc, Bangalore, IndiaCorrespondence: Abayomi OgundeleMedical Affairs, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc, 2 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540, USAEmail abayomi.ogundele@sunpharma.comPurpose: Dry eye disease (DED) is one of the most common ophthalmic disorders. Pathogenesis of the disease includes inflammation of the ocular surface and lacrimal gland. Two anti-inflammatory prescription treatments are currently available: cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% (CYC) and lifitegrast 5% ophthalmic solution (LIF). The objective of this survey-based study was to assess physician satisfaction with CYC and LIF for the treatment of DED.Methods: Physicians currently treating DED patients with CYC or LIF were asked to rate the experiences of their patients currently or formerly using CYC and LIF, and their own perspectives on the two treatments.Results: Twenty-one physicians participated in the survey, providing responses on behalf of 210 patients. Overall, physicians reported low levels of satisfaction with onset of action of CYC and LIF, and fewer than half considered either drug to be effective in managing symptoms or improving patient quality of life (QoL). Burning sensation and dysgeusia were the most frequently reported side effects. Onset of action and effectiveness after onset were the main switching drivers. Although two-thirds of physicians were satisfied with the overall effectiveness of CYC and LIF, all physicians agreed that more DED treatment options are needed, with > 50% strongly agreeing.Conclusion: Physicians perceived a gap in DED management with currently available topical anti-inflammatory agents. Although satisfaction with CYC and LIF was high, few physicians considered these medications to be effective in managing symptoms or improving QoL.Keywords: physician satisfaction, dry eye disease, cyclosporine, lifitegrast, ocular surface

Darrell E White,1 Yang Zhao,2 Hemalatha Jayapalan,3 Pattabhi Machiraju,3 Ramu Periyasamy,3 Abayomi Ogundele2 1SkyVision Centers, Westlake, OH, USA; 2Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA; 3Indegene, Inc., Bangalore, IndiaCorrespondence: Abayomi OgundeleMedical Affairs, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., 2 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540, USAEmail abayomi.ogundele@sunpharma.comPurpose: To assess patient satisfaction among current and former users of the anti-inflammatory topical medications, cyclosporine A 0.05% (CYC) and lifitegrast 5.0% (LIF), for the management of dry eye disease (DED).Patients and Methods: Patients with DED were recruited via physician referral to participate in a survey. Current users of CYC or LIF were asked to rate their experience in terms of satisfaction, side effects, and limitation of activities. Switchers of CYC to LIF or LIF to CYC were asked to rate the importance of potential reasons for switching.Results: Surveys were completed by 207 patients currently treated with CYC (n=98), LIF (n=96), or other DED medications (n=13). Although overall satisfaction with current treatment was high, current users of CYC and LIF reported ineffective relief of DED symptoms (31% and 22%, respectively) and dissatisfaction with the time to onset of effect (29% and 11%). Substantial proportions of patients reported ‘sometimes’, “usually”, or ‘always’ experiencing the following side effects: burning sensation (72% CYC, 64% LIF), itching (43% CYC, 44% LIF), altered sensation of taste (21% CYC, 56% LIF), blurred vision (37% CYC, 50% LIF), and discharge (28% CYC, 30% LIF). Of the 30 switchers of CYC to LIF and 31 switchers of LIF to CYC, the majority reported inability to relieve DED symptoms as a very or extremely important switching reason. Despite switching, one in four patients were somewhat dissatisfied or dissatisfied with their current medication, with 37% of patients reporting ineffective symptom relief.Conclusion: Although the rate of overall satisfaction was generally high with both LIF and CYC, many patients were unable to achieve effective symptom relief and commonly experienced side effects. The proportion of patients who were dissatisfied and/or unable to achieve effective symptom relief even after switching suggests the need for additional treatment options for managing DED.Keywords: patient satisfaction, dry eye disease, cyclosporine, lifitegrast, ocular surface

Abstract Background Diabetic neuropathy is a family of nerve disorders with progressive loss of nerve function in 15% of diabetes mellitus (DM) subjects. Two-point discrimination (TPD) is one method of quantitatively testing for loss of nerve function. The law of mobility for TPD is known for normal subjects in earlier studies but has not been studied for diabetic subjects. This is a pilot study to evaluate and plot the law of mobility for TPD among DM subjects. Methods The Semmes Weinstein monofilament (SWMF) was used to measure the loss of protective sensation. An Aesthesiometer was used to find the TPD of several areas in upper and lower extremities for normal and diabetic subjects. All the subjects were screened for peripheral artery occlusive disease with ankle brachial pressure index (0.9 or above). Results TPD of normal and diabetic subjects for different areas of hands and legs from proximal to distal is evaluated for 18 subjects. TPD values decrease from proximal to distal areas. Vierodt's law of mobility for TPD holds good for normal subjects in the hand and foot areas. The law of mobility for TPD in DM subjects holds well in the hand but doesn't hold well in foot areas with or without sensation. Conclusion TPD is a quantitative and direct measure of sensory loss. The TPD value of diabetic subjects reveals that the law of mobility do not hold well for Diabetic subjects in foot areas. The significance of this result is that the TPD of the diabetic subjects could provide direct, cost effective and quantitative measure of neuropathy.

Byline: R. Periyasamy, V. Vibashan, George. Varghese, M. Aleem Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-developmental disease commonly seen in children and it is diagnosed via extensive interview procedures, behavioral [...]

Global agricultural challenges, especially soil degradation caused by abiotic stresses, significantly reduce crop productivity and require innovative solutions. Biochar (BC), a biodegradable product derived from agricultural and forestry residues, has been proven to significantly enhance soil quality. Although its benefits for improving soil properties are well-documented, the potential of BC to mitigate various abiotic stresses-such as drought, salinity, and heavy metal toxicity-and its effect on plant traits need further exploration. This review aims to elucidate BC production by highlighting primary feedstock’s and synthesis techniques, and examining its role in boosting soil decomposition efficiency and fertility, which are pivotal for sustainable crop growth. This review also discuss how BC can enhance the nutritional and chemical properties of soil under different abiotic stress conditions, emphasizing its capacity to foster crop growth and development in adverse environments. Furthermore, this article serves as a comprehensive resource for agricultural researchers in understanding the importance of BC in promoting sustainable agriculture, and addressing environmental challenges. Ultimately, this review highlights critical knowledge gaps and proposes future research avenues on the bio-protective properties of BC against various abiotic stresses, paving the way for the commercialization of BC applications on a large scale with cutting-edge technologies.

The current research work on the effect of exhaust gas recirculation on the diesel engine for the analysis of performance and emission characteristics with corn oil methyl ester blends. The engine was tested with three fuels are 100 diesel, 20 B (20% COME + 80% Diesel) and 40 B (40% COME + 60% Diesel) with EGR condition of 0% and 20% rate. The engine was evaluated with performance characteristics such as thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, exhaust gas temperature and emissions such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. The analyzed results of the brake thermal efficiency were reduced with increased brake specific consumption and the exhaust emissions are decreased with the increase of biodiesel blend and increased EGR rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stir-squeeze casting (SSC) is the appropriate and inexpensive technique for producing aluminum hybrid matrix composites as it creates a uniform distribution of reinforcements in the composite with finer grains. Al7475 is a lightweight castable alloy that possesses enough hardness and strength with applications in automotive and aerospace. This research work examines the effect of process parameters for Al7475/Al2O3/B4C/TiB2 hybrid matrix composites produced by the stir-squeeze casting methodology. As per Taguchi design L16, four parameters with four levels were selected in the optimization process of SSC are stir speed (SD) of 300-450 rpm, melting temperature (ME) of 750–900°C, squeeze pressure (SE) of 50-125 MPa, and reinforcement (RT) of 2-8 wt%. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength (TS) and hardness (HN) are studied by the variation of each process parameters levels. The optimization results on TS and HN are predicted by Minitab-17 Software. It is observed that maximum TS of 325 MPa and HN of 130.6 Hv are attained at experiments L1 and L7, respectively. From the SN ratio result, the TS value is improved at the parameter level of RT2-SE4-ME2-SD4. The ANOVA result exposed that reinforcement is the most significant factor for enhancing tensile strength which contributes 38.9%, followed by squeeze pressure of 28.4%, stir speed of 13.6%, and melting temperature of 12.16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]