Current medical research and opinion
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A randomized clinical trial comparing three fixed combinations of bimatoprost with timolol in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
To compare the efficacy and safety of two fixed combination, preservative-free eye drops (bimatoprost 0.01% in combination with either timolol 0.1% or 0.5%) in a gel formulation, with bimatoprost 0.03%/timolol 0.5% in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension (OHT). ⋯ These study results suggest that the preservative-free ophthalmic formulation of T4030a (bimatoprost 0.01%/timolol 0.1%) can be regarded as a useful tool in the therapeutic management of OAG and OHT.
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Variola virus, the causing agent of smallpox, was eradicated in 1980s and today no new cases are reported. The first human infectious illness to be eliminated globally is variola. On the contrary to Variola, monkeypox, which is a zoonotic and variola-like disease, has nowadays turned to be a major health problem worldwide. ⋯ The clinical diagnosis of monkeypox infection is commonly made based on the occurrence pattern of its skin rash. It is possible in varicella to concurrently identify lesions in their various stages including macular, papular, vesicular, pustular, and crusts; however, monkeypox lesions are all in the same stage and evolve with the same rate. In this review, we have tried to provide a holistic and comprehensive comparison between these three skin infections with a focus on the newly epidemic monkeypox, bringing about the most recent knowledge about its features and its diagnosis.
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The study comprehensively investigates the prognostic value of norepinephrine (NE) dose, lactate and heart rate in patients with sepsis and septic shock. Limited data regarding the prognostic value of NE dose, lactate and heart rate in patients meeting the sepsis-3 criteria is available. ⋯ Both very high NE doses and lactate levels - but not heart rate - were associated with increased risk of 30-d all-cause mortality in patients with sepsis and septic shock.
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A world-wide immunization project was launched at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic to contain and minimize the adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We carried out a series of statistical analyses in this paper to determine, confirm and quantify the impact of the vaccinations on COVID-19 cases and mortalities, amidst critical confounding factors-temperature and solar irradiance. ⋯ Results show that the world-wide vaccination against COVID-19 project had a significant impact in reducing mortalities and minimizing the adverse effects due to COVID-19 globally, in all five (5) major continents of the world and the countries studied in this work, however, temperature and solar irradiance still had effects on COVID-19 response in the vaccination eras.
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This commentary takes note of the existence of "tortured phrases" (i.e. unspecific jargon or confusing alternative phrases), as indexed in the Tortured Phrases Detector of the Problematic Paper Screener (PPS) (sourced on January 10, 2023) in 213 preprints, 13 of which are related to COVID-19. Select "tortured phrases" in 11 preprints are highlighted, to offer readers an appreciation of this phenomenon. ⋯ This commentary is thus only a spring-board to introduce this linguistic phenomenon and to encourage interested academics to explore more cases, the practical implications of their existence, and even the weaknesses and strengths of PPS. Caution is needed about excessive extrapolation of the existence of "tortured phrases", so as not to automatically associate them with ethical infractions or misconduct.