Grasping the non-conscious: Preserved grip scaling to unseen objects for immediate but not delayed grasping following a unilateral lesion to primary visual cortex

AbstractPatients with damage to primary visual cortex can sometimes direct actions towards ‘unseen’ targets located in areas of the visual field that are deemed ‘blind’ on the basis of static perimetry tests. Here, we show that a patient with a complete right homonymous hemianopia after a V1 lesion remains sensitive to the width of objects presented in her blind field but only when reaching out to grasp them in ‘real-time’. A subsequent fMRI experiment revealed spared extra-geniculostriate pathways, which may mediate her preserved abilities. Taken together, the results support the view that visually guided movements can be mediated by pathways that do not support visual consciousness

Biomaterial modification of urinary catheters with antimicrobials to give long-term broadspectrum antibiofilm activity

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the commonest hospital-acquired infection, accounting for over 100,000 hospital admissions within the USA annually. Biomaterials and processes intended to reduce the risk of bacterial colonization of the catheters for long-term users have not been successful, mainly because of the need for long duration of activity in flow conditions. Here we report the results of impregnation of urinary catheters with a combination of rifampicin, sparfloxacin and triclosan. In flow experiments, the antimicrobial catheters were able to prevent colonization by common uropathogens Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for 7 to 12 weeks in vitro compared with 1–3 days for other, commercially available antimicrobial catheters currently used clinically. Resistance development was minimized by careful choice of antimicrobial combinations. Drug release profiles and distribution in the polymer, and surface analysis were also carried out and the process had no deleterious effect on the mechanical performance of the catheter or its balloon. The antimicrobial catheter therefore offers for the first time a means of reducing infection and its complications in long-term urinary catheter users