Eccentric visual acuity in patients with macular disease

A series of cards each containing a two dimensional array of identical Snellen "E's" was used to determine best eccentric visual acuity in patients with macular disease having Snellen visual acuity of 20/70 or worse. Each "full field E" card simultaneously presents the same letter to foveal and parafoveal areas. This test can therefore determine quickly if potentially useful vision is present in any area of the central visual field. In our study of 37 eyes, 70% demonstrated potential visual acuity at least two times better than visual acuity measured by conventional methods, and 20% demonstrated at least a fourfold improvement. This suggests that most patients with macular disease do not spontaneously employ their best remaining area of retina for fixation.     

Pattern electroretinogram plus visual evoked potential: A decisive test in patients suspected of malingering

Along the processing chain in the visual pathway the pattern electroretinogram (PERG) is a better indicator of the peripheral function than the visual evoked potential (VEP). Therefore the PERG and the VEP will be impaired equally by disturbances before the ganglion cell layer (e.g., blurred image or retinal disease) and differently by further centrally located diseases (e.g., tumor compression of the optic nerve). Thus in patients complaining of reduced visual acuity who show disturbed VEP but a normal PERG, malingering can be definitely ruled out. Representative combinations of PERG and VEP findings are described.     

Maturational topography of the visual evoked potential in fetal lambs

The normal maturational course of the visual evoked potential (VEP) in human newborns and infants is well documented. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data about VEP maturation in the normal preterm infant. Since this population is at risk to develop many abnormalities affecting the VEP (intraventricular hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and retinopathy of prematurity), one must question whether such VEP data collected from this group is representative of normal maturation. To provide normative parametric developmental data we have been studying VEP development in fetal lambs. Six fetal lambs between 105 and 120 days gestational age were externalized and surgically instrumented with subcutaneous recording electrodes placed over the occipital and parietal regions. High-intensity light-emitting diodes (LEDs) externalized fiberoptic cables were secured adjacent to the orbit. from 108 to 141 days gestation, fetal VEPs were recorded in response to bright flash stimulation and the maturational topography was investigated.Over the occipital regions, the emergence of major positivities at P400 and P650 were observed beginning around 120 days gestation. Over the parietal area, the emergence of P200 and P500 components was observed by 128 days gestation. The latency-maturation functions revealed that the slope of the parietal function was steeper than the occipital counterpart, suggesting that the maturation of parietal neurons occurs at a faster rate than neuronal development in the occipital regions.     

The topography of expanded uncrossed retinal projections following neonatal enucleation of one eye: differing effects in dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus

The topographic organization of the uncrossed retinal projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and superior colliculus (SC) was studied in normal adult hooded rats and in rats subjected to unilateral ocular enucleation on the day of birth. Sections were stained for anterograde degeneration products following discrete retinal lesions at various locations. The projection from the temporal crescent to the dLGN in neonatally enucleated rats had an expanded but topographically normal organization, with the nasotemporal and dorsoventral retinal axes displaying polarities identical to those in normal adults. Neonatal enucleation permits the remaining uncrossed retinogeniculate projection to extend primarily along the "lines of projection" into neuropil normally recipient of binocularly conjugate crossed projections. In the SC, the dorsoventral axis of the temporal crescent showed a normal polarity, but the nasotemporal axis failed to display any topographic organization. Retinal loci in the temporal crescent projected throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the ipsilateral SC. Retinal lesions placed outside the temporal crescent failed to produce any substantial degeneration in ipsilateral dLGN or SC. These topographically distinct effects in dLGN and SC following unilateral eye removal on the day of birth are discussed in the context of differing constraints upon axonal ingrowth and connectivity during early development, which may normally bring about the characteristically distinct features of retinogeniculate and retinocollicular organization.     

Phase-Field-Based Axisymmetric Lattice Boltzmann Method for Two-Phase Electro-Hydrodynamic Flows

In this work, a novel and simple phase-field-based lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is proposed for the axisymmetric two-phase electro-hydrodynamic flows. The present LB method is composed of three LB models, which are used to solve the axisymmetric Allen-Cahn equation for the phase field, the axisymmetric Poisson equation for the electric potential, and the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations for the flow field. Compared with the previous LB models for the axisymmetric Poisson equation, which can be viewed as the solvers to the convection-diffusion equation, the present model is a genuine solver to the axisymmetric Poisson equation. To test the capacity of the LB method, the deformation of a single leaky or perfect dielectric drop under a uniform electric field is considered, and the effects of electric strength, conductivity ratio, and permittivity ratio are investigated in detail. It is found that the present numerical results are in good agreement with some available theoretical, numerical and/or experimental data.     

Early experience with a new integrated microwave surgical device,Acrosurg Revo®, for laparoscopic surgery: A case series of two patients

IntroductionAbdominal surgery uses various energy devices for vessel sealing, tissue dissection, and detachment. Currently, Acrosurg Revo® (Nikkiso Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), a novel energy device using microwaves, has been developed for use in laparoscopic surgery. This report describes the early clinical experience of using this device in two cases of laparoscopic surgery.Presentation of caseCase 1 was of a 64-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic abdominal incisional hernia repair. Case 2 was of a 56-year-old man with a diagnosis of ascending and sigmoid colon cancer who underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy and sigmoid colectomy with D3 dissection. Each surgery was completed using Acrosurg Revo® and an endoscopic electrosurgical unit. The postoperative course was uneventful, and both patients were discharged from the hospital without any complications.DiscussionWith this new and novel device, vessel sealing, hemostasis, coagulation, tissue dissection, and detachment were all possible. Notably, there was no spark or mist that hindered the surgical field of view. Furthermore, because microwave coagulation did not result in tissue carbonization, there was a considerable decrease in device tip contamination.ConclusionThe Acrosurg Revo® may be a useful energy device for laparoscopic surgery.     

The effects of bright light treatment on subjective and objective sleepiness during three consecutive night shifts among hospital nurses – a counter-balanced placebo-controlled crossover study

Objectives:The objective was to investigate effects of timed bright light treatment on subjective and objective measures of sleepiness during three consecutive night shifts among hospital nurses.Methods:Thirty-five nurses were exposed to bright light (10,000 lux) and red dim light (100 lux) during three consecutive night shifts in a counter-balanced crossover trial lasting nine days, which included three days before and three days after the three night shifts. Light exposure for 30 minutes was scheduled between 02:00–03:00 hours on night 1, and thereafter delayed by one hour per night in order to delay the circadian rhythm. Subjective sleepiness was measured daily (heavy eyelids, reduced performance) and every second hour while awake (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, KSS). Objective sleepiness (Psychomotor Vigilance Task, PVT) was measured at 05:00 hours during each night shift. Beyond nocturnal light exposure on the night shifts, no behavioral restrictions or recommendations were given at or off work.Results:Bright light treatment significantly reduced heavy eyelids during night shifts. However, results on KSS and PVT were unaffected by bright light. There were no differences in subjective sleepiness during the three days following the night shifts.Conclusions:This bright light treatment protocol did not convincingly reduce sleepiness among nurses during three consecutive night shifts. Nor did bright light impede the readaptation back to a day-oriented rhythm following the night shift period. Too few consecutive night shifts, inappropriate timing of light, and possible use of other countermeasures are among the explanations for the limited effects of bright light in the present study.     

Design and application research of nucleotide sequence analysis system software

INTRODUCTION　　From integrallevel and celllevel,the research of organism and diseasediagnosishave already entered molecular level.Molecular biology is the science to researchstructure and function of organism macromolecule.Based on differentgene code se-…     

Magnetic and electrical stimulation of undulating nerve fibres: a simulation study

Mathematical models of myelinated nerve fibres are highly stylized abstractions of real nerve fibres. For example, nerve fibres are usually assumed to be perfectly straight. Such idealizations can cause discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental results. One well-known discrepancy is that the currently used models predict (contradictory to experimental findings) that an activation of nerve fibres is not possible with a pure transverse electric field. This situation occurs when a magnetic coil is placed symmetrically above a straight nerve fibre for magnetic nerve stimulation, or when an anode and a cathode are placed equidistantly on a line perpendicular to the fibre in the case of electrical stimulation. It is shown that this discrepancy does not occur if the physiological undulation of peripheral nerve fibres is included in the models. Even for small undulation amplitudes (e.g. 0.02 mm), it is possible to activate the fibre in these positions. For physiological undulations, as found in the literature, and favourable (off-centre) positions, the typical reduction of the thresholds is in a range between one and five, compared with perfectly straight fibres.