Direct demonstration of transsynaptic degeneration in the human visual system: a comparison of retrograde and anterograde changes

Transneuronal degeneration of retinal ganglion cells was directly demonstrated in a patient who had unilateral removal of the striate cortex forty years prior to necropsy. For comparison, another case is presented showing anterograde transneuronal atrophy forty years after enucleation of one eye.     

Establishing scales of perceived severity for clinical situations during anaesthesia

Background. In many clinical, teaching, and research situationsit would be useful to have graded scales of the urgency or othersubjective properties for clinical situations that can ariseduring anaesthesia. Such a scale could serve as a referencepoint for the appropriate mapping of the urgency in audiblealarms or visual warnings, provide a basis for training of graduateddifficulty during anaesthesia simulation, provide a benchmarkin risk assessment exercises, guide prioritization of decisionsin computerized decision support systems for anaesthesia andhelp in assessing anaesthetist occupational stress. Methods. A questionnaire-based instrument was developed to assessthe perceived severity of a range of anaesthetic clinical situations.Four scales were tested: the severity of the situation for thepatient, the urgency of response required by the anaesthetist,attention required by the anaesthetist, and anxiety experienced.Over 300 anaesthetists in three cohorts of 100 were consultedin the selection of the situations to be studied. The finalversion of the questionnaire, which included 25 situations,was circulated to a further 229 anaesthetists for validation.The pair-wise relationships of the four properties and hencetheir independence, was examined using Kendall's and correlationanalysis. Results. The subjective assessments of urgency and attentionwere closely related, as were severity and anxiety. Comparingthe mean rank for the severity scale with the subjective riskscores revealed a statistically significant correlation of =0.647(P<0.01). Conclusion. Subjective assessment of severity by anaesthetistswas found to be consistent across the clinical situations studied.     

Age differences in blame attributions: the role of relationship outcome ambiguity and personal identification

Two social factors that could influence age differences in blame attributions were examined: relationship outcome ambiguity (ROA) and personal identification with the characters. ROA is the degree of uncertainty as to the successful resolution of a relationship dilemma. Blame attributions were examined individually for primary and secondary characters in the vignettes. Individuals read vignettes that varied in level of relationship outcome ambiguity. Participants rated the degree to which they blamed and they identified with each character. At high levels of ROA, age differences emerged in that older adults blamed primary characters more than younger adults did. At low levels of ROA, personal identification was the more robust predictor of blaming tendencies. In vignettes high in ROA, salvaging a relationship may take precedence over self-concerns, especially for older adults.     

Macular pigment and percentage of body fat

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between percentage of body fat and macular pigment (MP) optical density. METHODS: One hundred healthy subjects of ages between 22 and 60 years volunteered to participate in this study. MP optical density was measured psychophysically, serum lutein and zeaxanthin were quantified by HPLC, and dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Body fat was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA); body mass index (BMI) was also calculated for each subject. Clinical and personal details were recorded, with particular attention directed toward putative risk factors for AMD. RESULTS: There was a significant inverse relationship between the percentage of body fat and MP optical density in males (r=-0.392, P <0.01), and after correcting for age and dietary lutein and zeaxanthin, this inverse relationship remained significant (r=-0.290, P <0.05). The relationship between MP optical density and percentage of body fat in females was inverse, but not significant (r=-0.197, P=0.149). A significant and inverse relationship between serum zeaxanthin and percentage of body fat was observed for females only (r=-0.354, P <0.01). Dietary intake of fat was inversely related to serum lutein and zeaxanthin, and significantly so for lutein (r=-0.256, P <0.05). However, dietary fat was unrelated to MP optical density (r=0.041, P=0.688). CONCLUSIONS: A relative lack of MP is associated with adiposity in men, and may underlie the association between body fat and risk for AMD progression in males. Further, the processes governing accumulation and/or stabilization of lutein and zeaxanthin in fat tissue appear to differ for males and females.