Effectiveness of virtual reality-based programs as vestibular rehabilitative therapy in peripheral vestibular dysfunction: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To study the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) interventional programs as a vestibular rehabilitative method for patients with uncompensated peripheral vestibular disorders. METHODS: The databases PubMed, Google scholar, Embase and Cochrane Library were used (up to July 2021). Studies selected in this study were controlled trials in which virtual reality was used as vestibular rehabilitative therapy in comparison to any other vestibular rehabilitative methods or medical or dietary recommendations. Comparison was made in at least one of these outcomes measures; Subjective measures such as Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Vertigo Symptom Scale-Short Form questionnaire, Activities-specific Balance Confidence questionnaire, Dizziness Analogue Scale or Visual Analogue Scale, besides objective measures as posturography. Six articles were included in the meta-analysis; tested for heterogeneity of the estimates using chi-squared and I2 tests, outcomes were expressed as mean difference and 95% CI. Estimates from included studies were pooled using the random-effect model. RESULTS: virtual reality as a vestibular rehabilitative intervention was able to improve scores of Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Vertigo Symptom Scale-Short Form questionnaire, Visual Analogue sale and posturography as outcome measures of vestibular rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: virtual reality has a potential clinical benefit for vestibular rehabilitation in peripheral vestibular dysfunction compared with conventional vestibular rehabilitation methods. However, further research is needed to document the exact parameters of an optimal protocol for virtual reality rehabilitation, the period needed for effective rehabilitation and its side effects.

Phenylthiazole antibiotics: A metabolism-guided approach to overcome short duration of action.

Antibacterial resistance is a pressing global health challenge that necessitates the development of new therapeutic agents. Phenylthiazole antibacterial agents have been extensively studied, by our group, as a potential novel class of antibiotics to circumvent the scourge of antibacterial resistance. Previously, the phenylthiazole lead compound 1 was shown to possess potent activity against clinical isolates of methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and VRSA). The promising activity of this novel class of antibiotics is hampered by their short half-life due to rapid hepatic metabolism. In the present study, a metabolic methylene soft spot in the lead 1 was identified and replaced with an oxygen atom. The newly developed phenylthiazoles, with alkoxy side chains, demonstrate high metabolic stability (t1/2 > 4 h), while maintaining their potent anti-MRSA activity. Furthermore, compound 5p demonstrated a selective advantage over vancomycin with its ability to kill intracellular MRSA.

International anthropometric study of facial morphology in various ethnic groups/races.

When anthropometric methods were introduced into clinical practice to quantify changes in the craniofacial framework, features distinguishing various races/ethnic groups were discovered. To treat congenital or post-traumatic facial disfigurements in members of these groups successfully, surgeons require access to craniofacial databases based on accurate anthropometric measurements. Normative data of facial measurements are indispensable to precise determination of the degree of deviations from the normal. The set of anthropometric measurements of the face in the population studied was gathered by an international team of scientists. Investigators in the country of the given ethnic group, experienced and/or specially trained in anthropometric methods, carried out the measurements. The normal range in each resultant database was then established, providing valuable information about major facial characteristics. Comparison of the ethnic groups' databases with the established norms of the North America whites (NAW) offered the most suitable way to select a method for successful treatment. The study group consisted of 1470 healthy subjects (18 to 30 years), 750 males and 720 females. The largest group (780 subjects, 53.1%) came from Europe, all of them Caucasians. Three were drawn from the Middle-East (180 subjects, 12.2%), five from Asia (300 subjects, 20.4%) and four from peoples of African origin (210 subjects, 14.3%). Their morphological characteristics were determined by 14 anthropometric measurements, 10 of them used already by classic facial artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, complemented by four measurements from the nasal, labio-oral and ear regions. In the regions with single measurements, identical values to NAW in forehead height, mouth width, and ear height were found in 99.7% in both sexes, while in those with multiple measurements, vertical measurements revealed a higher frequency of identical values than horizontal ones. The orbital regions exhibited the greatest variations in identical and contrasting measurements in comparison to NAW. Nose heights and widths contrasted sharply: in relation to NAW the nose was very or extremely significantly wide in both sexes of Asian and Black ethnic groups. Among Caucasians, nose height significantly differed from NAW in three ethnic groups, with one shorter and two greater. In the Middle Eastern groups nose width was identical to those of NAW but the height was significantly greater. The present study, conducted by investigators working separately across the world and with small samples of the population, is clearly preliminary in nature and extent. Yet it may fulfill its mission if medical and anthropological investigators continue the work of establishing normative data of the face. These data are urgently needed by medical professionals but have been lacking up till now in western and northern Europe, Asia, and Africa.