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Purpose: To evaluate refractive outcomes, defocus curve, wavefront analysis, and automated refraction of a novel monofocal intraocular lens (IOL) with higher order aspheric coefficients and controlled curvature change. Methods: This prospective observational study included 29 eyes of 29 consecutive patients with healthy eyes and normal visual potential who had undergone cataract surgery and implantation of the enVista Aspire IOL (Bausch + Lomb, Inc). Outcome measures included monocular uncorrected (UDVA), corrected (CDVA), distance-corrected intermediate (DCIVA) (at 66 cm), and distance-corrected near (DCNVA) (at 40 cm) visual acuity, defocus curve, wavefront analysis, mean refractive prediction error, and automated and manifest (MRSE) refraction spherical equivalent. Results: Mean UDVA was 20/22, with 93.1% of eyes having 20/25 or better. Mean CDVA was 20/20, with all eyes having 20/25 or better. Mean DCIVA was 20/34, with 90% of eyes having 20/40 or better. Mean DCNVA was 20/38, with 83% of eyes having 20/40 or better. The monocular defocus curve demonstrated approximately 1.50 diopters (D) depth of focus for visual acuity of 0.2 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution or better. Postoperative mean MRSE was close to emmetropia (0.02 ± 0.29 D), and 96.6% of eyes were within ±0.50 D. Automated refraction measured with ray-tracing, dynamic sciascopy, and Hartmann-Shack devices were within ±0.25 D of the subjective refraction. The postoperative ocular 4th-order spherical aberration measured with Hartmann-Shack aberrometer was 0.08 and 0.15 µm for a 4.5- and 6-mm pupil, respectively. Conclusions: Implantation of a new enhanced monofocal IOL demonstrated useful near and intermediate vision while maintaining excellent distance acuity. Wavefront analysis revealed minimal postoperative spherical aberration, and the automated refraction was near emmetropia.

The one-minute sit to stand test (1min-STST) is a field test used to assess functional capacity. It is easily implementable and of significant clinical utility; however, no reference values are currently available for the Chilean population. The objective of this study was to establish reference values for the 1min-STST in a healthy Chilean population. A multicenter cross-sectional study involving data collection from six locations in Chile was conducted. Healthy adults between 18 and 80 years of age were recruited. The anthropometric variables, levels of physical activity, smoking status, Borg scale ratings, and number of repetitions during the 1min-STST were recorded. Reference values were determined according to sex and age range. Four hundred ninety-nine healthy subjects (57.5% women, n = 287; median height, 1.63 (0.14) m; weight, 72.8 (20) kg; average BMI, 27.3 ± 4.1 kg/m2) were included in the study. The median (and the lower limit of normality (LLN) values) for the 1min-STST in men ranged from 18-29 years, with 38 (LLN 27) repetitions and 23 (LLN 15) repetitions for 70-80 years. For women aged 18-29 years, 38 (LLN 28) repetitions were performed, and for women aged 70-80 years, 24 (LLN 17) repetitions were performed. This study established reference values for the healthy adult Chilean population.

Children with Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome (CZVS) experience severe neurological and nutritional impairments. Although immediate clinical consequences are well-documented, long-term anthropometric and nutritional outcomes remain poorly understood. This study assessed longitudinal anthropometric and nutritional outcomes in children affected by CZVS. A cohort of 38 children aged ≥ 5 years diagnosed with CZVS was followed at a reference center in Northeast Brazil. Anthropometric measures (weight, height, BMI, head circumference) were collected using standardized methods, including digital scales and anthropometric tape measures. Growth was analyzed using WHO Anthro and WHO Anthro Plus software (version 3.2.2). Dietary intake was evaluated through two 24 h recalls and analyzed with NutWIN 2.5 software. Nutritional status was classified using WHO growth standards, and associations between dietary intake and BMI were statistically examined. Children showed significant linear growth improvement (p = 0.007) without corresponding weight gain, leading to worsening BMI classifications (p = 0.017). Dietary evaluations revealed limited dietary diversity, frequent intake of ultra-processed foods, inadequate fruit consumption, and widespread insufficiencies in caloric and micronutrient intake (zinc, calcium, iron, vitamin D). Low carbohydrate intake was significantly associated with inadequate BMI (p = 0.030). Multidisciplinary nutritional interventions addressing medical, dietary, educational, and socioeconomic factors are essential for improving health outcomes in children with CZVS.

This study explored the adsorption of carboxylic acids, especially free fatty acids (FFAs), present in biofuel (distilled fractions of bio-oil such as gasoline-like hydrocarbons, kerosene-like hydrocarbons, and diesel-like hydrocarbons) using red-mud-based adsorbents. The red mud was thermally activated at 40 °C and 600 °C and chemically activated with 0.25M, 1M, and 2M HCl. Analytical techniques were used to characterize the adsorbents’ properties. At the same time, the study examined factors like feed type, adsorbents, FFA contents, adsorbent percentage, activation temperature, acid solution concentration, and contact time to assess adsorption efficiency. The characterization results indicated that chemical activation with 0.25M HCl significantly increased the surface area to 84.3290 m2/g, surpassing that of the thermally activated samples (35.2450 m2/g at 400 °C). Adsorption experiments demonstrated that all chemically activated samples, with 5% adsorbent, adsorbed over 2000 mg of FFAs per gram of adsorbent, with CARM-1M HCl achieving 100% removal of acids from gasoline-like hydrocarbons. Kinetic modeling showed that the pseudo-second-order model best represented the adsorption data, as evidenced by high R2 values and close agreement between the experimental and calculated qe values. Therefore, adsorption with chemically activated red mud efficiently deacidifies biofuels, providing a cost-effective and promising approach for their upgrading.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of small aperture optics on corneal aberrations in post-RK patients. Preoperative data was evaluated from 32 eyes of 23 post-RK patients. Scheimpflug tomography was used to obtain measurements of corneal HOAs at 6-mm, 4-mm, and 2-mm corneal plane aperture diameters. The data was extrapolated using a non-linear fit to estimate HOAs that would be obtained with the 1.6 mm effective pinhole IOL aperture at the corneal plane for individual patients. The average RMS HOAs estimated for the 1.6 mm aperture was 0.063 ± 0.015 μm compared to 0.185 ± 0.029 μm for the natural pupil size. A postoperative RK case with an IC-8® Apthera™ unilateral implantation demonstrated a 70% reduction in HOAs by objective measurement and prediction, plus a 2-line improvement in CDVA. Prediction modeling revealed that HOAs may be reduced in post-RK patients following pinhole IOL implantation, compared to the natural photopic pupil size. Furthermore, the approach can be used to guide which post-RK patients would benefit from a small aperture IOL during cataract surgery.

Covalent drug discovery efforts are growing rapidly but have major unaddressed limitations. These include high false positive rates during hit-to-lead identification; the inherent uncoupling of covalent drug concentration and effect [i.e., uncoupling of pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD)]; and a lack of bioanalytical and modeling methods for determining PK and PD parameters. We present a covalent drug discovery workflow that addresses these limitations. Our bioanalytical methods are based upon a mass spectrometry (MS) assay that can measure the percentage of drug-target protein conjugation (% target engagement) in biological matrices. Further we develop an i ntact protein PK/PD model ( i PK/PD) that outputs PK parameters (absorption and distribution) as well as PD parameters (mechanism of action, protein metabolic half-lives, dose, regimen, effect) based on time-dependent target engagement data. Notably, the i PK/PD model is applicable to any measurement (e.g., bottom-up MS and other drug binding studies) that yields % of target engaged. A Decision Tree is presented to guide researchers through the covalent drug development process. Our bioanalytical methods and the Decision Tree are applied to two approved drugs (ibrutinib and sotorasib); the most common plasma off-target, human serum albumin; three protein targets (KRAS, BTK, SOD1), and to a promising SOD1-targeting ALS drug candidates. Robust bioanalytical and modeling methods are needed for covalent drug discovery. Here, the authors demonstrate a mass spectrometry (MS) assay to measure target engagement of any drug-target protein complex, a universal PK/PD model for covalent drugs, and a decision tree to guide research.

To evaluate the use of biofeedback intervention in the levels of depression. The main hypothesis tested if the use of biofeedback improves depression levels compared to the control group. A randomised clinical trial. The final sample was composed of 36 participants (18 in the experimental group, receiving 6 training, once a week, with biofeedback; and 18 in the control group, who received conventional treatment in the service).Outcome measures were assessed in two stages: pre-test and post-test. The research used the following instruments: demographic survey data, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0.0 and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The factors and variables were presented in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics. Fisher's exact test (p < 0.05) was used to verify the existence of an association between the counting variables. The multinomial logistic regression model was adopted, and the Logit link function was used, as the software RStudio version 3.6.2. The factors that remained in the final model were group, sex, partner, atypical antidepressant, benzodiazepines, mood stabiliser, antiepileptic and antihistamine, according to the levels of depression based on the BDI. The group that did not receive biofeedback intervention had 16 times more chances of increasing the depression levels compared to participants in the experimental group. The use of biofeedback reduces depression, thus, representing a complementary alternative for the treatment of moderate and severe depression, and dysthymia.

Purpose To evaluate tolerance to simulated astigmatism on distance visual acuity in pseudophakic eyes implanted with an extended depth of focus (EDOF) diffractive intraocular lens (IOL) with violet light filter. Methods This prospective observational study enrolled consecutive patients who underwent cataract surgery with violet light-filtering diffractive EDOF IOL implantation. Cylinder defocus was induced with plus cylinder lenses from +0.50 to +2.00 diopters (D) in 0.50-D steps for each astigmatic orientation (against-the-rule [ATR], oblique, and with-the-rule [WTR]). The monocular distance visual acuity was measured after induced astigmatism was added to the patient's corrected distance manifest refraction. The magnitude of astigmatic tolerance was assessed by taking the difference between distance visual acuity at each defocus relative to corrected distance visual acuity without defocus. Quality of vision was evaluated using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25). Results Most patients maintained 20/40 or better distance visual acuity with up to 1.00 D WTR astigmatism and 0.50 D ATR and oblique astigmatism. The median astigmatic defocus to maintain distance visual acuity within one-line reduction was 1.00 D with WTR and 0.50 D with ATR and oblique astigmatism. Within a two-line reduction, it was 1.50 D for WTR and 1.00 D for oblique and ATR. All patients reported excellent outcomes on the VFQ-25 questionnaire. Conclusions The diffractive EDOF IOL with violet light filter demonstrated satisfactory distance vision tolerance to induced astigmatism. WTR astigmatism was better tolerated for distance vision than oblique and ATR astigmatism. [J Refract Surg. 2025;41(5):e421–e426.]

Teniendo en cuenta que las decisiones de las altas corporaciones de la rama judicial -entendiendo por tales al Consejo de Estado para los efectos de este trabajo- al aplicar las normas del ordenamiento jurídico fijan la forma en que éstas deberán interpretarse y establecen así la manera en que las partes vinculadas a un caso deberán pedir la aplicación de las normas jurídicas a los jueces y magistrados, se analizan en este artículo las posiciones adoptadas por el Consejo de Estado sobre acciones de cumplimiento en materia de servicios públicos domiciliarios.

Epidemiological data suggest that phytochemicals may prevent and even reverse specific pathological processes underlying neurodegenerative diseases. A (poly)phenol-enriched fraction from leaves of Corema album was previously reported to modulate central events related to αSynuclein expression and aggregation as well as oxidative stress in eukaryotic models of Parkinson’s disease. In order to identify the potentially bioactive compound, this extract was subjected to a bioguided fractionation, leading to the identification of CAL_X. It is here shown that CAL_X reverses α-Synuclein cytotoxicity, reduces the number of cells displaying α-Synuclein aggregates and modifies the size of aggregates in yeast models expressing α-Synuclein. Likewise, the extract of Rubus genevieri, with reported bioactivity towards amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was also fractionated, leading to the identification of RGE_X. This study reveals that RGE_X reversed FUS cytotoxicity by a mechanism which involves the sequestering of FUS into the vacuole, preventing its cytosolic aggregation. Besides revealing CAL_X and RGE_X as protective molecules for pathological processes associated with neurodegeneration, this study supports the positive correlation between phytochemicals and neuroprotection, reinforcing their use as promising therapeutics.