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Elizabeth Yeu,1 Steven Silverstein,2 Michel Guillon,3 Marc-Matthias Schulze,4 David Galarreta,5 Sruthi Srinivasan,6 Venkiteshwar Manoj6 1Virginia Eye Consultants, Norfolk, VA 23502, USA; 2Silverstein Eye Centers, Kansas City, MO 64133, USA; 3Ocular Technology Group International, London SW1E 6AU, UK; 4Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE), School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario NL2 3G1, Canada; 5Hospital Clinico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid Castillay Leon 47011, Spain; 6Alcon Research, LLC, Johns Creek, GA 30097, USACorrespondence: Elizabeth YeuVirginia Eye Consultants, Norfolk, VA 23502, USATel +1 757-622-2200Fax +1 757-961-0011Email eyeu@vec2020.comPurpose: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of propylene glycol/hydroxypropyl-guar (PG-HPG)-based nanoemulsion (Systane® Complete) lubricant eye drops in participants with dry eye disease (DED).Participants and Methods: In this phase IV, open-label, single-arm, interventional, multicenter study, adult participants with DED – subtyped into aqueous deficient, evaporative, and mixed dry eye – were instructed to instill one drop of PG-HPG in each eye twice a day for 28 days. Endpoints included change from baseline in tear film break-up time (TFBUT) (primary) and ocular discomfort visual analog scale (VAS) score at Day 14 and TFBUT at Day 28 (secondary). Safety was assessed throughout the study. Data were analyzed for overall patient cohort and by DED subtypes.Results: A total of 134 participants received treatment (mean age: 56.6 years; female: 75.4%). At Day 14, the mean (standard deviation [SD]) TFBUT increased from 2.6 (1.00) seconds at baseline to 4.2 (2.92) seconds (mean change: 1.5 [2.80] seconds); median change was 0.8 seconds (95% CI: 0.52, 1.19) for the overall cohort; the change was maintained at Day 28 (mean change: 1.4 (2.80) seconds, median change: 0.8 seconds (95% CI: 0.49, 1.17). Subgroup analysis showed a mean change (SD) from baseline in TFBUT of 1.1 (2.41) seconds for aqueous deficient, 2.4 (3.17) seconds for evaporative, and 1.2 (2.63) seconds for mixed dry eye at Day 14, respectively. The ocular discomfort VAS score improved (decreased) from baseline at Day 14 (mean [SD] change: − 17.3 [24.80]) for the overall cohort, − 22.0 [21.73] for aqueous deficient, − 17.6 [24.17] for evaporative and − 13.1 [27.49] for mixed dry eye subgroups). Adverse events (AEs) were reported in 9 (6.7%) participants. No serious AEs were reported during the study.Conclusion: Our study findings demonstrated that PG-HPG-based nanoemulsion lubricant eye drops were effective and well tolerated in participants with DED and all of its subtypes.Keywords: aqueous deficient dry eye, dry eye disease, evaporative dry eye, propylene glycol/hydroxypropyl guar-nanoemulsion ocular lubricant, mixed dry eye

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly infectious, with the current pandemic causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. As large numbers of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) have also been infected and several have died, there is much global concern about protective measures for them, particularly those performing surgery or other procedures with close patient contact. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been and there remains a shortage in the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), including the N95 filtering facepiece (FFP) respirator, for HCWs. N95 respirators have filtration efficiency of 95% of aerosol particles. Surgical N95 respirators are used where fluid resistance is also required together with respiratory protection, e.g. during surgery or interventional procedures. The shortage of N95 respirators may be overcome by extended use and reuse - comprising rotation and decontamination by approved techniques. The additional role of powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR) is also discussed.

Gary Jerkins,1 Jack V Greiner,2,3 Louis Tong,4– 6 Jacqueline Tan,7 Joseph Tauber,8 Ali Mearza,9,10 Sruthi Srinivasan11 1Advancing Vision Research, LLC, Nashville, TN, USA; 2Clinical Eye Research of Boston, Boston, MA, USA; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 4Singapore National Eye Center, National University of Singapore, Singapore; 5Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; 6Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, Singapore; 7University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 8Tauber Eye Center, Kansas City, MO, USA; 9Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK; 10Ophthalmic Consultants of London, London, UK; 11Alcon Research, LLC, Johns Creek, GA, USACorrespondence: Gary JerkinsAdvancing Vision Research, LLC, Nashville, TN 37205, USATel +1 615-502-2871Fax +1 615-915-1825Email drjeyeguy@garyjerkins.comPurpose: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of two lipid-based lubricant eye drops in patients with lipid-deficient dry eye.Methods: This Phase IV, multicenter, prospective, double-masked study enrolled adults (aged ≥ 18 years) who had a tear film breakup time (TFBUT) of ≤ 15 seconds(s), and unanesthetized Schirmer I test of ≥ 3 mm to ≤ 12 mm in at least one eye, at both screening and baseline visits. Eligible patients (n=231) were randomized (1:1) and received either Systane® Balance (SYSB; n=117) or Refresh® Optive Advanced (RFO-Ad, n=114), four-times a day, for 35 days. The primary endpoint was non-inferiority for change from baseline in TFBUT at Day 35 (non-inferiority was established if the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference between the treatment groups was > – 1.0 s); secondary endpoints (test of superiority) were change in TFBUT and global ocular discomfort visual analog scale (VAS) score at Day 35. Other endpoints included the impact of dry eye on everyday life (IDEEL) treatment satisfaction scores (inconvenience and effectiveness) and safety.Results: At Day 35, the mean change from baseline in TFBUT was 0.998 s in the SYSB and 0.868 s in the RFO-Ad groups with a treatment difference: 0.130 s; (95% CI − 0.34, 0.60; P< 0.0001) demonstrating non-inferiority of SYSB to RFO-Ad. The global ocular discomfort VAS scores improved in both groups, with a mean change from baseline of – 9.7 and – 8.8 in SYSB and RFO-Ad groups (treatment difference – 0.8; P=0.62), respectively. No meaningful difference was observed in IDEEL treatment effectiveness and treatment inconvenience scores between SYSB vs RFO-Ad (P> 0.05 for treatment difference). Both treatments were well tolerated.Conclusion: SYSB lubricant eye drops were non-inferior to RFO-Ad for improvement in TFBUT in patients with lipid-deficient dry eye. Both lubricant eye drops improved TFBUT and ocular discomfort scores in patients with lipid-deficient dry eye.Keywords: dry eye, lipid-deficient, evaporative dry eye, lubricant eye drops, non-inferiority

Mathematics has the potential for being spoken ambiguously. This is problematic for many students, in particular those who have disabilities that inhibit processing of printed material. This paper documents the magnitude of potential ambiguity arising from textbooks and provides a measure of the degree to which potential ambiguity is actualized through teachers' speech. Inconsistency among teachers in speaking mathematics is also documented. Evidence is provided that teachers are not adequately aware of ambiguity in speaking mathematics and that they believe that they should have training regarding ambiguity in communication of mathematics and how to speak mathematics non-ambiguously.

We prove a Chernoff-like large deviation bound on the sum of non-independent random variables that have the following dependence structure. The variables Y1,...,Yr are arbitrary [0,1]-valued functions of independent random variables X1,...,Xm, modulo a restriction that every Xi influences at most k of the variables Y1,...,Yr.

The World Bank will publish the nine volumes of Disease Control Priorities, 3rd edition, in 2015-16. Volume 1 - Essential Surgery-identifies 44 surgical procedures as essential on the basis that they address substantial needs, are cost eff ective, and are feasible to implement. This report summarises and critically assesses the volume's five key findings. First, provision of essential surgical procedures would avert about 1.5 million deaths a year, or 6-7% of all avertable deaths in low-income and middle-income countries. Second, essential surgical procedures rank among the most cost eff ective of all health interventions. The surgical platform of the first-level hospital delivers 28 of the 44 essential procedures, making investment in this platform also highly cost eff ective. Third, measures to expand access to surgery, such as task sharing, have been shown to be safe and effective while countries make long-term investments in building surgical and anaesthesia workforces. Because emergency procedures constitute 23 of the 28 procedures provided at first-level hospitals, expansion of access requires that such facilities be widely geographically diffused. Fourth, substantial disparities remain in the safety of surgical care, driven by high perioperative mortality rates including anaesthesia-related deaths in low-income and middle-income countries. Feasible measures, such as WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist, have led to improvements in safety and quality. Fifth, the large burden of surgical disorders, cost-eff ectiveness of essential surgery, and strong public demand for surgical services suggest that universal coverage of essential surgery should be financed early on the path to universal health coverage. We point to estimates that full coverage of the component of universal coverage of essential surgery applicable to first-level hospitals would require just over US$3 billion annually of additional spending and yield a benefit-cost ratio of more than 10:1. It would efficiently and equitably provide health benefits, financial protection, and contributions to stronger health systems.

This paper introduces the use of compressed sens-ing for autonomous robots performing environmental mappingin order to reduce data collection, storage, and transmissionrequirements. A prototype robot sends data collected overadaptively updated straight-line paths to a server, whichreconstructs an image of the environment variable using Split-Bregman iteration. The amount of data collected is only 10%of the amount of data in the final map, yet the relative erroris only 20%.

Purpose: To determine the optimal flip angle (FA) for cardiac cine imaging that maximizes myocardial signal and blood-myocardium contrast. Methods: Bloch equation simulations of stationary myocardium and flowing blood with an imperfect slice profile were compared to in vivo measurements of blood and myocardium signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and blood-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in healthy subjects (N = 10) in the short-axis and four-chamber views and in patients (N = 7) in the three-chamber imaging plane. Results: Left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) blood SNR and blood-myocardium CNR increases with increasing FA up to ≈105° in the short-axis view. A similar trend is seen in the RV four-chamber view, but a marked SNR difference between the LV and RV blood appears for FA>75°, especially during systole. Notable RV and LV SNR and CNR differences are also evident in the three-chamber view due to the predominant LV in-plane flow versus RV through-plane flow. Conclusion: Very high blood-myocardium CNR can be obtained with a FA of ≈105° in the short-axis plane and ≈75° in the three-chamber and four-chamber imaging planes. However, if through-plane flow is limited, as may occur for patients with low ejection fraction or low heart rates, then the FA may be limited to ≈75°.