Recording and viewing stereoscopic ophthalmic surgical videos with smartphones

Objective

To determine whether stereoscopic footage of cataract surgery could be captured with smartphones and to develop a procedure for editing and viewing the footage. The authors sought to measure whether subjectively convincing stereo footage could be captured with smartphones, whether it would be possible to sync this footage for stereoscopic viewing, and whether these tasks could easily be performed at lower cost than commercially available options.

Assessing post-traumatic stress disorder in South African adolescents: using the child and adolescent trauma survey (CATS) as a screening tool

Background  

Several studies have demonstrated that South African children and adolescents are exposed to high levels of violent trauma with a significant proportion developing PTSD, however, limited resources make it difficult to accurately identify traumatized children.     

Repression of c-myc gene expression by the thiol and disulfide forms of the cytoprotector amifostine

The clinically approved cytoprotector amifostine, designated WR-2721, [S-2-(3-aminopropylamino)ethylphosphorothioic acid], protects against both radiation and drug-induced mutagenesis in animal systems. These effects extend over a wide concentration range making amifostine a strong candidate for evaluation as a possible cancer chemopreventive agent. To better identify and develop potential intermediate biomarkers for chemoprevention at the molecular level we applied the technique of differential display RT-PCR to assess the effects of both the thiol (SH), i.e. WR1065 and the disulfide (SS), i.e. WR-33278, metabolites of amifostine on gene expression in CHO-AA8 cells. Cells were exposed to either 40 microM or 4 mM of each agent for 30 min, and subsequent changes in gene expression were identified and contrasted to that found in corresponding untreated control cells. One band that showed a differential response was sequenced and was found to have 78% homology with a segment of the human pHL-1 cDNA clone contained in GenBank. This clone contains a COX III mitochondrial DNA insert and two exons of human c-myc. Northern blot analyses were performed by using the cloned human c-myc exon 1 probe to confirm whether c-myc gene expression was affected. Repression of c-myc expression was observed under all of the conditions evaluated. An exposure of cells to 40 microM of the disulfide form of amifostine was the most effective in repressing c- myc, i.e. 27% of control level. A concentration of 4 mM of the disulfide form reduced gene expression to 45% of the control level, while the thiol form was less effective, with 4 mM and 40 microM concentrations reducing c-myc gene expression to 65% and 46% of control levels, respectively.      

HEPATIC ARTERY ANEURYSM: AN UNUSUAL PRESENTATION

SUMMARY The natural history of visceral artery aneurysms, and in particular those of the hepatic artery, is unclear. The clinical presentation can include upper abdominal pain, bleeding into the gastrointestinal tract, and obstructive jaundice. We present the case of a middle-aged woman with right upper quadrant pain and a palpable mass, in whom a thrombosed hepatic artery aneurysm was found to be the cause.     

Lymphocyte subsets in normal bone marrow

Bone marrow aspirates and biopsies from ten normal donors were stained directly with monoclonal antibodies specific for lymphocyte, monocyte, and myeloid antigens, and were analyzed by flow cytometry. To avoid cell loss, lymphocytes were not specifically isolated prior to staining. T cells comprised 46% of aspirate lymphocytes and 22% of biopsy lymphocytes. Further, the Leu-3:Leu-2 ratio of bone marrow T cells was below 1.0. B cells comprised 8% to 11% of bone marrow lymphocytes in both aspirates and biopsies, and there was a substantial percentage of cells in the lymphocyte window that was negative for all B and T cell markers. The lymphocyte window had very little myeloid contamination; however, when the myeloid window was examined, staining was greater than 90%.     

MGB4 Relationship Between Quality of Life, Disease Severity, and Physician Visits in Managed Care Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

The relationship between disease severity, quality of life (QOL), and resource use in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) has not been well explored in a managed care population. As the overall lifetime incidence of AD is 15–20%, this represents a substantial burden to the healthcare system.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate how severity of illness assessed via chart review relates to patient-assessed severity, QOL, and number of physician encounters.
METHODS: Questionnaires regarding AD severity (e.g., mild, moderate, severe) were mailed to 400 participants identified from the claims database. Adults assessed their QOL using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Short Form 36(SF-36), while children used the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). The number of physician visits for AD over the previous 12 month period were determined from a claims database. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients.
RESULTS: Results of the interim analysis in 150 respondents (64 adults, 86 children) indicate that patient assessed severity had a stronger correlation with DLQI (r = 0.43, p = 0.0004) and CDLQI (r = 0.42, p = 0.0011) than did retrospectively assessed severity (r = 0.39, p = 0.0015 [DLQI]; and r = 0.10, p = 0.44 [CDLQI]). Among the eight domains reported in the SF-36, the DLQI showed the strongest correlation with the mental health domain (r =−0.57, p = 0.0001). Visit counts were significantly correlated with self-assessed severity for adults (r = 0.40) and children (r = 0.32).
CONCLUSIONS: A weaker correlation for QOL and physician visits was observed with retrospectively assessed severity than with patient-assessed severity. Self assessed severity of illness correlated moderately well with QOL and number of physician encounters.     

Detection and significance of alpha granule membrane protein 140 expression on platelets collected by apheresis

Activation of platelets may be measured by using the monoclonal antibody S12 to detect alpha granule membrane protein 140 (GMP-140) antigen expressed only on activated platelets. S12 was used to measure activation of apheresis platelet concentrates by flow cytometry. Eleven platelet concentrates obtained by one method and nine obtained by another were analyzed 4 hours after collection. Means +/- 1SD of 25.3 +/- 14.8 percent and 28.9 +/- 11.6 percent, respectively, of platelets were found to be activated (range, 4.8-53.1%). Six of the platelet concentrates obtained by the second method were filtered. There was a drop of 17.8 percent (range, 10-25%) in the mean total number of platelets recovered after filtration, but there was no difference in the proportion of activated platelets measured immediately before and after filtration. The 1-hour posttransfusion platelet count increment was obtained after 12 of these apheresis platelet concentrates were transfused to eight patients who were not refractory from either a clinical or alloimmune standpoint. There was a significant inverse correlation between the platelet count increment and the proportion of activated platelets in the component (p less than 0.05, r = -.58). These data suggest that apheresis platelet concentrates with more activated platelets have a reduced 1-hour recovery. Filtration did not enhance activation or selectively remove activated platelets. Expression of GMP-140 may serve as a useful quality control measurement.