How long do intrinsic and extrinsic visual cues take to exert their effect on the perceptual upright?

We determined the amount of time it took for intrinsic and extrinsic visual cues to determine the perceptual upright. The perceptual upright was measured using a probe, the identity of which depended on its perceived orientation (the Oriented Character Recognition Test). A visual background that filled the field of view and contained both intrinsic and extrinsic cues was presented in different orientations and for presentation times of between 50 and 500 ms followed by a mask. The contribution of each class of cue was identified by exploiting their different degrees of ambiguity. Intrinsic cues include scene structure (e.g., walls, floor and ceiling of an indoor scene) which indicates four potential up directions, and the horizon which indicates two possibilities. Extrinsic cues, which rely on information not in the image such as a surface acting as a support structure for an object, signal the direction of up unambiguously. The contribution of each class of visual cue could thus be identified from the number of cycles its effect showed as the background was presented in all orientations round the clock. While the more high-level extrinsic cues to up exerted a larger influence on the perceptual upright than the intrinsic cues, the magnitude of each cue’s effect increased with presentation time at approximately the same rate with a time constant of about 60 ms. This finding poses a challenge for bottom-up theories of scene perception and suggests that low-level and high-level information are processed in parallel at least insofar as they indicate orientation.     

Naevus comedonicus of the scalp

We report the case of a 3-year-old boy with naevus comedonicus, characterized by confluent clusters of dilated follicular orifices plugged with keratinous material that resemble open comedones, located on the scalp.     

Single-center experience with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser for superficial cutaneous vascular lesions in face

Background and objectives: Superficial cutaneous vascular lesions (SCVLs) are quite common. Several types of lasers have been used to treat these lesions; however, there are no dedicated treatment guidelines and few studies in the literature addressed their treatment. Aims: In this paper, we aimed to report our clinical experience with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser treatment on different types of facial SCVLs including telangiectasia, spider angioma, and erythema. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from 146 patients with SCVLs, who had been treated with the 532-nm wavelength laser at our outpatient dermatology clinic. Treatment responses were graded as four groups: clearance (> 75% improvement compared with the previous session), marked improvement (50–75%), partial improvement (25–50%), and no response (< 25%). Results: The rate of clearance plus marked improvement (favorable outcome) was 66.1% for telangiectasia group, 93.5% for spider angioma group, and 26.7% for erythema group. Mean number of treatments was 2.9 ± 1.4 for telangiectasia group, 1.4 ± 0.8 for spider angioma group, and 2.9 ± 1.7 for facial erythema group. Only minimal adverse effects related to treatment procedure were detected in 5 out of 146 (3.4%) patients. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that KTP laser might be a safe and effective laser modality for SCVLs, which may be associated with physiological problems due to cosmetic concerns.     

Reproductive failure and antisperm-antibody production among prostitutes.

Reproductive failure and anti-sperm antibody (ASA) production among prostitutes were investigated. A questionnaire including the subject's age, years of prostitution, date of most recent birth, number of children and contraceptive method used at the beginning of prostitution were asked of 109 prostitutes, but only 53 agreed to complete the questionnaire. ASA was detected by ELISA in the prostitutes (n = 109) and in the control group (n = 40) sera. The tests revealed a high ASA rate (43.1%) among the prostitutes. The difference in the incidence of ASA between controls (5%) and the prostitutes (43.1%) was highly significant (p less than 0.01). It was found that ASA positivity incidence in 27 prostitutes who had never use any contraception method and who became infertile within 9.3 years (average) was 61.3%. These results may be explained by repeatedly inoculations with multiple sperm antigens and/or microorganisms.     

High-output left ventricular failure after dextran use in an operative hysteroscopy.

High-output left ventricular failure occurred in a patient after a difficult case of hysteroscopic lysis of adhesions using dextran as a distension medium. The excessive dissection in the uterine wall, the long duration of the operation, and the large volumes of dextran probably caused intravasation of dextran into the systemic circulation inducing a significant shift of fluids from the third space. This was possibly assisted by the large volume of fluids given intravenously in a 45-kg patient initiating the reported sequence of events.     

Effect of subminimal inhibitory concentrations of three fluoroquinolones on adherence of uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli

The effect of subinhibitory concentrations (1/2-1/32 x MIC) of ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and levofloxacin on the adherence of three strains of Escherichia coli (a mannose-resistant haemagglutinating clinical isolate, a non-haemagglutinating clinical isolate and the mannose-resistant haemagglutinating ATCC 25922 strain) were studied. Ciprofloxacin had the lowest MIC values but only the 1/2 MIC concentration inhibited adherence of mannose-resistant haemagglutinating strains after exposure to subMIC values. Significant inhibition of adherence was observed with 1/4 x MIC ofloxacin for both haemagglutinating isolate (27096) and the ATCC strain. Levofloxacin might be more effective and safer than ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin as a long acting fluoroquinolone at subMIC values in patients with UTI.     

Enamel matrix proteins in the treatment of periodontal sites with horizontal type of bone loss

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to assess the clinical and radiographic outcome of horizontal type of bone loss over a period of 8 months following periodontal surgery with adjunctive use of enamel matrix proteins (EMP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients, who received nonsurgical periodontal therapy and had radiographic horizontal bone loss with an associated probing depth (PD) of > or =4 mm at the maxillary incisor/canine segment, were included. One side of the selected segment divided by the mid-sagittal plane was treated with EMP as part of a crevicular flap. The other side was treated either with a similar intracrevicular (ICI) or a reverse bevel incision (RBI) as part of a conventional flap debridement. Therefore, patients were divided into two groups of 10 patients according to the type of incision performed on the control side. The analysis was based on a classification of two severity groups according to preoperative PD, with the patient's means of measurements for each treatment being the experimental units for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: For pockets of 4-6 mm, EMP treatment was significantly better than the ICI/flap debridement in terms of PD reduction (p<0.001), relative attachment level (RAL) gain (p<0.001) and recession (REC) (p<0.05). Although sites exposed to EMP treatment exhibited significantly greater RAL gain than RBI/flap debridement sites (p<0.01), both treatments resulted in equally effective PD reduction. Less REC occurred with EMP application than with ICI-RBI/flap debridement (p<0.05). Treatment of shallow sites by the conventional flap with both incisions resulted in a tendency for loss of attachment whereas EMP treatment maintained the attachment levels. No significant difference in the degree of probing and radiographic bone levels was found between the treatments. CONCLUSION: EMP treatment showed better clinical improvements as compared to the conventional flap debridement performed with two different incisions. Clinical improvements were more pronounced at periodontal sites with deep, rather than shallow, periodontal pockets. The results of this study provided an important preliminary base for further clinical and histologic studies.     

"Double imaging" for the diagnostic work-up of alveolar soft part sarcoma with Tc-99m MIBI

The authors report a case of alveolar soft-part sarcoma with lung metastases demonstrated by "double imaging" with Tc-99m HDP and Tc-99m MIBI. The tumor originated in the soft tissue with direct invasion to the right scapula, which was hypoactive on bone scan and hyperactive on Tc-99m MIBI images. A focus of dense accumulation of Tc-99m MIBI in the lungs, suggesting metastasis was also demonstrated.