INTRODUCTION: A previous study has employed shear-wave ultrasound elastographic imaging to assess corneal rigidity in an ex-vivo porcine eye model. This study employs the same modality in vivo in a rabbit eye model in order to assess lens, ciliary body and total ocular rigidity changes following the instillation of atropine and pilocarpine. METHODS: Ten non-pigmented female rabbits were examined. Measurements of the lens, ciliary body and total ocular rigidity as well as lens thickness and anterior chamber depth were taken with the Aixplorer system (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France) with the SuperLinear™ SL 15-4 transducer in both eyes at baseline as well as after pilocarpine and atropine instillation. The IOP was also measured with the TonoPen tonometer. RESULTS: Changes in rigidity in the examined areas following atropine instillation were statistically not significant. Ciliary body rigidity was significantly increased whereas lens and total ocular rigidity were significantly reduced following pilocarpine instillation. The decrease in lens rigidity following pilocarpine was significantly associated with the respective increase in ciliary body rigidity. CONCLUSIONS: Shear-wave ultrasound elastography can detect in vivo rigidity changes in the anterior segment of the rabbit eye model and may potentially be applied in human eyes, providing useful clinical information on conditions in which rigidity changes play an important role, such as glaucoma, pseudoexfoliation syndrome or presbyopia. and E. T. Detorakis, E. E. Drakonaki, H. Ginis, N. Karyotakis, I. G. Pallikaris
The article presents a manuscript collection of texts of evangelical provenance that has recently been purchased in a German second-hand bookshop. According to a chronogram, this manuscript is likely to come from 1840. The manuscript consists of fifteen relatively independent text sections thematically related to the denominational controversies before and after the battle of White Mountain. The paper examines possible printed or manuscript models of individual parts and as well as their reflection in both earlier and more recent bibliographic literature. and David Mach.
Projekt PROFICIO zahrnuje 20 klinických studií hodnotících účinek evolokumabu na výskyt kardiovaskulárních onemocnění včetně jeho bezpečnostního profilu a tolerance. Většina zařazených studií sleduje průměrné procentuální snížení koncentrací LDL-cholesterolu za 10 a 12 týdnů podávání evolokumabu ve srovnání se vstupními hodnotami. První výsledky byly prezentovány na přelomu srpna a září 2015 na kongresu Evropské kardiologické společnosti (ESC) v Londýně. Do této subanalýzy bylo zařazeno 3 146 pacientů, kteří absolvovali jednu z vybraných studií 3. fáze klinického zkoušení a kterým byl evolokumab podáván v dávce 140 mg s.c. 1krát za 2 týdny nebo 420 mg s.c. 1krát za 4 týdny. Hodnoty LDL-cholesterolu se po evolokumabu snížily v jednotlivých studiích o 56,5–74,9 % ve srovnání s placebem a o 36,9–44,9 % oproti ezetimibu. Výskyt nežádoucích účinků se nelišil od skupiny užívající placebo. Klíčová slova: evolokumab – projekt PROFICIO – LDL-cholesterol – kardiovaskulární riziko, The PROFICIO project includes 20 clinical studies evaluating the effect of evolocumab on the incidence of cardiovascular disease including its safety profile and tolerance. Most of the included studies follow the average proportional decrease of LDL-cholesterol concentrations over 10 and 12 weeks of administering evolocumab as compared to the input values. The first results were announced at the congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in London at the end of August and beginning of September 2015. This subanalysis comprised 3146 patients, who underwent one of the selected studies of phase 3 clinical testing and who were administered a dose of 140 mg s.c. evolocumab once in 2 weeks, or 420 mg s.c. once in 4 weeks. LDL-cholesterol levels decreased after evolocumab by 56.5 – 74.9% in the individual studies as compared to placebo and by 36.9 – 44.9% compared to ezetimib. The incidence of adverse effects did not differ from the group which used placebo. Key words: evolocumab – PROFICIO project – LDL-cholesterol – cardiovascular risk, and Pavel Kraml
Hexamerins are hemocyanin-related haemolymph proteins that are widespread in insects and may accumulate to extraordinarily high concentrations in larval stages. Hexamerins were originally described as storage proteins that provide amino acids and energy for non-feeding periods. However, in recent years other specific functions like cuticle formation, transport of hormones and other organic compounds, or humoral immune defense have been proposed. During evolution, hexamerins diversified according to the divergence of the insect orders. Within the orders, there is a notable structural diversification of these proteins, which probably reflects specific functions. In this paper, the different possible roles of the hexamerins are reviewed and discussed in the context of hexamerin phylogeny., Thorsten Burmester, and Lit
The article lays out Jonathan Israel’s central ideas on the European Enlightenment, as they have been developed in his Radical Enlightenment (2001), Enlightenment Contested (2006) and A Revolution of the Mind (2009). I explain his ‘controversialist method’ of intellectual history and point out the advantages and faults of this approach. Israel’s model of the heterogeneous Enlightenment is shown as a response to A. MacIntyre’s postmodern criticism, and to the older models of a ‘single Enlightenment’, as presented by P. Gay, or older models of multiple enlightenments, as presented by J. G. Pocock. However, Israel’s heterogeneous Enlightenment recognizes just one progenitor of the positive ‘modern values’, which is identified with the Radical wing. The article reviews Israel’ s narrative of the development and spread of the Radical Enlightenment in Europe and the struggles with the Enlightenment mainstream and within the Enlightenment mainstream. However, I also show some faults in Israel’s argument, mainly his view of the ‘secular morality’, which should have been the outcome of the Radical Enlightenment’s campaign. In conclusion, I point at the inconsistency of Israel’s reconstruction of the Enlightenment morals and the differences between his view and J. Schneewind’s interpretation., Ivo Cerman., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy