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Humans' voice offers the widest variety of motor phenomena of any human activity. However, its clinical evaluation in people with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) lags behind current knowledge on advanced analytical automatic speech processing methodology. Here, we use deep learning-based speech processing to differentially analyze voice recordings in 14 people with PD before and after dopaminergic medication using personalized Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks (p-CRNN) and Phone Attribute Codebooks (PAC). p-CRNN yields an accuracy of 82.35% in the binary classification of ON and OFF motor states at a sensitivity/specificity of 0.86/0.78. The PAC-based approach's accuracy was slightly lower with 73.08% at a sensitivity/specificity of 0.69/0.77, but this method offers easier interpretation and understanding of the computational biomarkers. Both p-CRNN and PAC provide a differentiated view and novel insights into the distinctive components of the speech of persons with PD. Both methods detect voice qualities that are amenable to dopaminergic treatment, including active phonetic and prosodic features. Our findings may pave the way for quantitative measurements of speech in persons with PD., Competing Interests: MMÇ was employed by the company xMint. MC was employed by the company Logitech. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Jain, Abedinpour, Polat, Çalışkan, Asaei, Pfister, Fietzek and Cernak.)

The increasing number of scientific publications focusing on magnetic materials indicates growing interest in the broader scientific community. Substantial progress was made in the synthesis of magnetic materials of desired size, morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemistry. Physical and chemical stability of magnetic materials is acquired by the coating. Moreover, surface layers of polymers, silica, biomolecules, etc. can be designed to obtain affinity to target molecules. The combination of the ability to respond to the external magnetic field and the rich possibilities of coatings makes magnetic materials universal tool for magnetic separations of small molecules, biomolecules and cells. In the biomedical field, magnetic particles and magnetic composites are utilized as the drug carriers, as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and in magnetic hyperthermia. However, the multifunctional magnetic particles enabling the diagnosis and therapy at the same time are emerging. The presented review article summarizes the findings regarding the design and synthesis of magnetic materials focused on biomedical applications. We highlight the utilization of magnetic materials in separation/preconcentration of various molecules and cells, and their use in diagnosis and therapy.

Honey has been considered as a therapeutic agent; its successful application in the treatment of non-healing infected wounds has promoted its further clinical usage for treating various disorders including eye disorders. There is evidence that honey may be helpful in treating dry eye disease, post-operative corneal edema, and bullous keratopathy. Furthermore, it can be used as an antibacterial agent to reduce the ocular flora. This review discusses both the current knowledge of and new perspectives for honey therapy in ophthalmology., (© 2016 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.)

Antiangiogenic drugs are approved for many cancer types for longer than a decade. Furthermore, several antiangiogenic agents are approved for local application in ophthalmology for treatment of macular degeneration, venous retinal occlusion and diabetic retinopathy. Knowing that antiangiogenic agents are active in ocular system, we reviewed the current literature, whether antiangiogenic drugs may cause ocular side effects in cancer patients by systemic application.   Furthermore, we searched in published papers, if systemic application of antiangiogenic agents in cancer patients may simultaneously treat their ocular disorders, if they have such.  Finally, we emphasized cooperation between an oncologist and ophthalmologist when treating patients with antiangiogenic drugs.

The aim of this study was to report the complementary use of honey for treatment of a contact lens-induced corneal ulcer. A 23-year-old contact lens user presented with a corneal ulcer in her left eye. She had visual acuity reduced to hand movement. There was a history of wearing contact lenses while swimming in a lake seven days before presentation. The cultures from corneal scrapings and contact lenses were positive for Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Pseudomonas spp. The treatment with topical levofloxacin and 25% (w/v) γ-irradiated honeydew honey solution was effective and the patient achieved final best corrected visual acuity of affected eye. In addition to positive clinical outcome, honeydew honey was shown to be highly effective in vitro against ocular isolates, in particular S. maltophilia. The minimal inhibitory concentrations for honeydew honey ranged from 5% to 10%. These results demonstrate that honey is a promising antibacterial agent in management of corneal ulcers. Moreover, honey exhibits anti-biofilm and anti-inflammatory properties, and thus becomes an interesting ophthalmologic agent., (Copyright © 2014 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Endophthalmitis following eye surgery remains a rare but serious complication. Topical fluoroquinolones have been used as prophylactic agents against endophthalmitis. However, the emerging resistance of ocular pathogens to fluoroquinolones may preclude their routine use. Honey, a natural antimicrobial product with wound healing properties, is a promising candidate for the prophylaxis of endophthalmitis. The goal of this study was to determine whether 25% (w/v) honey solution is effective in eradicating bacterial ocular pathogens in the perioperative period in patients scheduled for cataract surgery or vitrectomy, and to compare its efficacy to 0.3% ofloxacin. In this pilot study, 101 patients were randomized to honey (n = 49) or ofloxacin (n = 52) treatment. In both groups, eye drops were administered five times a day for 7 days before and 5 days after surgery. Before administration of the antibacterial agents, 18 and 25 isolates were detected in the ofloxacin and honey group, respectively. After 7 days of administration, four isolates (coagulase-negative Staphylococcus) were detected in each therapeutic group. No significant difference in antibacterial effect was found between groups. These results indicate that honey may act as a prophylactic agent of endophthalmitis; however, further studies are needed to characterize its ocular penetration properties., (Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) as the most common cause of legal blindness in industrialized countries remains an incompletely understood, complex retinal disease. Prophylactic and therapeutic options are still limited. Sensitive diagnostic tools and prognostic markers to evaluate disease stage and progression in the individual patient are needed. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays a key role in the disease process both in early and late variants of AMD. An excessive accumulation of lipofuscin granules in the lysosomal compartment of RPE cells represents a common downstream pathogenetic pathway in various retinal diseases including AMD. Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging allows the visualization of the topographic distribution of lipofuscin over large retinal areas (Fig. 3, Ref. 13).

Retinal vein occlusion is a common retinal vascular disorder causing visual deterioration in the elderly. Vision-threatening complications include macular ischemia, neovascularisations, and vitreous hemorrhages. There are central and branch retinal vein occlusions as well as their ischemic and nonischemic subtypes. Branch occlusion and nonischemic cases are associated with better prognosis, often with good recovery of visual acuity. There have been various modes of therapy used for this disease but with little or poor effect. Due to the lack of effective monotherapy for retinal vein occlusions, there is probably a need to combine the therapy approaches (Fig. 4, Ref. 24). Full Text in PDF www.elis.sk.