Glaucoma is characterized by the progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and optic nerve axons, and its risk increases with age. Retinal neuroinflammation and epigenetic changes have been suggested to be key contributors to glaucoma neuropathology. Recent research suggests that activating the retinoid X receptor (RXR) in the retina plays a critical role in modulating various cellular functions, showcasing beneficial effects in animal models of glaucoma. Yet, the neuroprotective mechanisms activated in response to RXR modulation in glaucoma remain unclear. This study investigated the impact of RXR alpha (RXRα) modulation on retinal neurons in vivo under both normal and glaucoma conditions using adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy. RXRα knockdown in RGCs promoted histone deacetylation, pro-inflammatory, and apoptotic changes, along with inducing functional and structural deficits in the inner retina. In contrast, overexpression of RXRα in RGCs protected these cells and preserved inner retinal function in glaucoma through the activation of PI3K/Akt/Gsk3β signaling. This study identified the RXRα-mediated epigenetic and inflammatory regulatory mechanisms in RGCs and established that specifically targeting RXRα in RGCs imparts functional and cellular protection to the retina in glaucoma, with potential implications in other neurodegenerative disorders.

Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is associated with damage to the retinal blood vessels that lead eventually to vision loss. The existing treatments of DR are invasive, expensive, and cumbersome. To overcome challenges associated with existing therapies, various intraocular sustained release and novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been explored.

Areas covered: The review discusses recently developed intraocular devices for sustained release of drugs as well as novel noninvasive drug delivery systems that have met a varying degree of success in local delivery of drugs to retinal circulation.

Expert opinion: The intraocular devices have got very good success in providing sustained release of drugs in patients. The development of NDDS and their application through the ocular route has certainly provided an edge to treat DR over existing therapies such as anti-VEGF administration but their success rate is quite low. Moreover, most of them have proved to be effective only in animal models. In addition, the extent of targeting the drug to the retina still remains variable and unpredictable. The toxicity aspect of the NDDS has generally been neglected. In order to have successful commercialization of nanotechnology-based innovations well-designed clinical research studies need to be conducted to evaluate their clinical superiority over that of the existing formulations.

There are many ways in which communication practices can be gendered. It is important to recognise and understand how, why, and in what contexts these can be observed. This paper focusses specifically on children and the context of formal schooling, analysing the empirical data and connecting it with theoretical analyses to provide an overall picture of gendered communication amongst children in educational contexts, especially with regard to classroom discussion. This paper demonstrates that masculine dominance in communication is present in children's communication, and explanations for this occurrence fall on traditional gender stereotypes that still linger, to greater and lesser degrees, in all parts of our society, including education. Therefore, it is incumbent upon educators to be aware of this threat to gender equitable learning and plan accordingly.

This meta-analysis presents empirical research using a Philosophy for/with Children (P4wC) approach. P4wC involves a teacher engaging in philosophical problem posing and dialogue with students. There has been research focussed on the benefits derived from this practice for students. This meta-analysis calculates the effect size of these benefits that can be calculated using quantitative measures. This meta-analysis contains 62 data sets from 30 studies. P4wC is found to have a significant overall effect size of 0.65. Moreover, subgroup analyses show that when the research focusses on the development of critical thinking, the effect size is substantial at 0.89. This indicates that P4wC has a large impact on the capacity for children and young people to develop critical thinking. Other subgroup analysis also shows that this holds across age ranges. However, it does differ by region, with studies conducted in Eastern countries yielding a higher effect size than Western countries.