Blinded

Animal models are critical for understanding the initiation and progression of myopia, a refractive condition that causes blurred distance vision. The prevalence of myopia is rapidly increasing worldwide, and myopia increases the risk of developing potentially blinding diseases. Current pharmacological, optical, and environmental interventions attenuate myopia progression in children, but it is still unclear how this occurs or how these interventions can be improved to increase their protective effects. To optimize myopia interventions, directed mechanistic studies are needed...

PURPOSE: Post-operative vision impairment is common among patients who have undergone cataract surgery in low-resource settings, impacting quality of clinical outcomes and patient experience. This prospective, multisite, single-armed, pragmatic validation study aimed to assess whether receiving tailored recommendations via the free Better Operative Outcomes Software Tool (BOOST) app improved surgical outcomes, as quantified by post-operative unaided distance visual acuity (UVA) measured 1-3 days after surgery...

PURPOSE: Strabismus is more frequent in cerebral palsy (CP) than in the normal population, but reports differ how much it is increased. We here examined the global prevalence and types of strabismus in CP, whether esotropia or exotropia is more frequent, and whether the prevalence differs between ethnicities and/or country income levels, and between generations. METHODS: We compiled in a systematic review and meta-analysis the results of 147 CP studies that report the prevalence of strabismus or the ratio of esotropia to exotropia, and we conducted subgroup analyses for region (income level) and ethnicity...

BACKGROUND: Insomnia has emerged as a major public health issue jeopardizing human wellbeing. Furthermore, insomnia and angina arise concomitantly and exert reciprocal effects. Multiple studies suggest that perimenopausal females are more prone to experiencing both angina and insomnia, consequently substantially compromising their quality of life.Credible evidence suggests that acupuncture exerts a beneficial impact in alleviating insomnia. Nevertheless, the exhaustive investigation into the potential of acupuncture for mitigating insomnia co-occurring with stable angina in perimenopausal females remains a realm yet to be traversed in the realm of randomized controlled trials...

BACKGROUND: Aromatase inhibitors have positive impacts on the disease-free life of patients with breast cancer. However, their side effects, especially arthralgia, may be experienced by many patients. This study sought to assess the efficacy of Progressive Relaxation Exercises on the prevalent side effects of Aromatase Inhibitors in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was conducted with single-blind randomization at a physiotherapy department in a local hospital...

While conspiracy theories are treated as irrational fringe beliefs in popular culture, conspiracy belief is quite common. Given the disconnect between stereotypes about conspiracy belief and its prevalence, I tested whether people have difficulty recognizing the conspiracy theories that they believe as conspiracy theories. Across two studies I demonstrate that people have considerable difficulty identifying conspiracy theories they believe as conspiracy theories, particularly when they do not take much time to consider whether their beliefs might be conspiracy theories...

BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure (CHF) poses a significant burden on both patients and their family caregivers (FCs), as it is associated with psychological distress and impaired quality of life (QOL). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) supports QOL by focusing on value living and facilitates acceptance of psychological difficulties by cultivating psychological flexibility. A protocol is presented that evaluates the effectiveness of a dyad ACT-based intervention delivered via smartphone on QOL and other related health outcomes compared with CHF education only...

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is essential to maintain retinal function, and RPE cell death represents a key pathogenic stage in the progression of several blinding ocular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To identify pathways and compounds able to prevent RPE cell death, we developed a phenotypic screening pipeline utilizing a compound library and high-throughput screening compatible assays on the human RPE cell line, ARPE-19, in response to different disease relevant cytotoxic stimuli...

IMPORTANCE: It is unclear whether arthroscopic resection of degenerative knee tissues among patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee delays or hastens total knee arthroplasty (TKA); opposite findings have been reported. OBJECTIVE: To compare the long-term incidence of TKA in patients with OA of the knee after nonoperative management with or without additional arthroscopic surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this ad hoc secondary analysis of a single-center, assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial performed from January 1, 1999, to August 31, 2007, 178 patients were followed up through March 31, 2019...

IMPORTANCE: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is one of the most common childhood cancers in sub-Saharan Africa and is etiologically linked to malaria. However, evidence for an effect of malaria interventions on BL is limited. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential population-level association between large-scale rollout of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) in sub-Saharan Africa in the 2000s and BL incidence. DATA SOURCES: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a search was conducted in the Embase, Global Health, and Medline databases and in cancer registry publications between January 1, 1990, and February 27, 2023...

PURPOSE: Damage to the adult primary visual cortex (V1) causes vision loss in the contralateral hemifield, initiating a process of transsynaptic retrograde degeneration (TRD). Here, we examined retinal correlates of TRD using a new metric to account for global changes in inner retinal thickness and asked if perceptual training in the intact or blind field impacts its progression. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of optical coherence tomography data in 48 participants with unilateral V1 stroke and homonymous visual defects who completed clinical trial NCT03350919...

IMPORTANCE: Benefits of prostate cancer (PCa) screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) alone are largely offset by excess negative biopsies and overdetection of indolent cancers resulting from the poor specificity of PSA for high-grade PCa (ie, grade group [GG] 2 or greater). OBJECTIVE: To develop a multiplex urinary panel for high-grade PCa and validate its external performance relative to current guideline-endorsed biomarkers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: RNA sequencing analysis of 58 724 genes identified 54 markers of PCa, including 17 markers uniquely overexpressed by high-grade cancers...

PURPOSE: Currently, the rigid instruments used for laparoscopic radical resection of prostate cancer not only have the risk of damage to tissues, blood vessels, and nerves, but their limited freedom will also cause surgical blind areas. Soft robots are expected to solve these issues due to inherent flexibility, compliance, and safe interaction with tissues and organs. In addition, to achieve high surgical accuracy and provide precise guidance for surgeons, the navigation method should be studied for the soft robot...

Effects of angiotensin receptor/neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI) on ventricular remodeling in patients with heart failure, especially heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), are better than those of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI). Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by mitral regurgitation exacerbates ventricular remodeling and increases the risk of heart failure. There is limited evidence on the effects of early administration of ARNI in patients with AMI complicated by mitral regurgitation...

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: This study compares the efficacy and safety of a tubeless, on-body automated insulin delivery (AID) system with that of a tubeless, on-body sensor-augmented pump (SAP). METHODS: This multicentre, parallel-group, RCT was conducted at 13 tertiary medical centres in South Korea. Adults aged 19-69 years with type 1 diabetes who had HbA1c levels of <85.8 mmol/mol (<10.0%) were eligible. The participants were assigned at a 1:1 ratio to receive a tubeless, on-body AID system (intervention group) or a tubeless, on-body SAP (control group) for 12 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Total marrow (lymphoid) irradiation (TMI/TMLI) is a radiotherapy treatment used to selectively target the bone marrow and lymph nodes in conditioning regimens for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A complex field geometry is needed to cover the large planning target volume (PTV) of TMI/TMLI with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Five isocenters and ten overlapping fields are needed for the upper body, while, for patients with large anatomical conformation, two specific isocenters are placed on the arms...

Spherical movable tensegrity robots, resorting to the intrinsic hallmark of being lightweight and resilient, have exhibited tremendous potential in exploring unpredictable terrains and extreme environments where traditional robots often struggle. The geometry of spherical tensegrities is suitable for rolling locomotion, which guarantees the system to react to changing demands, navigate unexplored terrain, and perform missions even after suffering massive damage. The objective of this article is to enrich the type of spherical movable tensegrity robots with multiple kinematic gait patterns and to gain superior motion paths that are in conformity with the intrinsic features of structural rolling locomotion...

Chronic testosterone (T) substitution and short-term T administration positively affect protein metabolism, however, data on acute effects in humans are sparse. This study aimed to investigate T's acute effects on whole-body protein metabolism in hypogonadal and eugonadal conditions. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, including twelve healthy young males. Whole-body protein metabolism was evaluated during 1) eugonadism, and after medically-induced hypogonadism, with application of a gel on each trial day containing either 2) placebo, 3) T 50 mg, or 4) T 150 mg; under basal (5h basal period) and insulin-stimulated conditions (3h clamp)...

AIMS: To systematically clarify the spatiotemporal trends, and age-sex-specific blindness and vision loss (BVL) burden due to high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG) from 1990 to 2019, and project this burden over the next decade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained the number and rate of years lived with disability (YLDs) for the BVL burden attributable to HFPG by age, sex, socio-demographic index (SDI), and location between 1990 and 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database...

Child-to-Parent Violence -The Blind Spot in Research on Family Violence? A Systematic Review Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a phenomenon that has received little attention in the German scientific community. With this paper, the authors present the international state of research in the context of a systematic review. By means of a search a dataset of 317 scientific publications for the period 2012-2022 was identified at August 2022. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 studies were finally defined and analyzed in detail...