Profound vision loss impairs psychological well-being in young and middle-aged individuals.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of profound vision loss on psychological well-being in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults with regard to mood, interpersonal interactions, and career-related goals. In addition, we assessed the significance of the resources that may be used to enhance psychological well-being in cases of profound vision loss, and in particular, examined the utility of low vision aids and the role of the ophthalmologist as a provider of emotional support.MethodsA questionnaire was issued to individuals aged 13-65 years with profound vision loss resulting from Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Depression prevalence was evaluated with questions regarding major depressive disorder symptomatology. Participants appraised the effects of vision loss on their interpersonal interactions and career goals by providing an impact rating (IR) on a 21-point psychometric scale from -10 to +10. Social well-being index was defined as the average of interpersonal IR and career IR. Subjects were additionally asked about the use of low vision aids and sources of emotional support.ResultsA total of 103 participants (mean age =26.4±11.2 years at LHON diagnosis; mean ± standard deviation) completed the questionnaire. Nearly half (49.5%) met the depression criteria after vision loss. Negative impacts on interpersonal interactions (median IR = -5) and career goals (median IR = -6) were observed; both ratings were worse (P<0.001) for depressed versus nondepressed subjects. Older age at diagnosis corresponded to higher depression prevalence and increased incidence of negative interpersonal IR and career IR. Sixty-eight percent of subjects used electronic vision aids; controlling for age, social well-being index was higher among these individuals than for those who did not use electronic aids (P=0.03). Over half of the participants (52.4%) asserted that they derived emotional support from their ophthalmologist.ConclusionProfound vision loss in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults is associated with significant negative psychological and psychosocial effects, which are influenced by age and use of electronic vision aids. Ophthalmologists, in addition to managing vision loss, may serve an important role in the emotional adaptation of these patients

The role of multiplier bounds in fuzzy data envelopment analysis

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The non-Archimedean epsilon ε is commonly considered as a lower bound for the dual input weights and output weights in multiplier data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. The amount of ε can be effectively used to differentiate between strongly and weakly efficient decision making units (DMUs). The problem of weak dominance particularly occurs when the reference set is fully or partially defined in terms of fuzzy numbers. In this paper, we propose a new four-step fuzzy DEA method to re-shape weakly efficient frontiers along with revisiting the efficiency score of DMUs in terms of perturbing the weakly efficient frontier. This approach eliminates the non-zero slacks in fuzzy DEA while keeping the strongly efficient frontiers unaltered. In comparing our proposed algorithm to an existing method in the recent literature we show three important flaws in their approach that our method addresses. Finally, we present a numerical example in banking with a combination of crisp and fuzzy data to illustrate the efficacy and advantages of the proposed approach

Development of Additive Construction Technologies for Application to Development of Lunar/Martian Surface Structures Using In-Situ Materials

For long-duration missions on other planetary bodies, the use of in situ materials will become increasingly critical. As human presence on these bodies expands, so must the breadth of the structures required to accommodate them including habitats, laboratories, berms, radiation shielding for natural radiation and surface reactors, garages, solar storm shelters, greenhouses, etc. Planetary surface structure manufacturing and assembly technologies that incorporate in situ resources provide options for autonomous, affordable, pre-positioned environments with radiation shielding features and protection from micrometeorites, exhaust plume debris, and other hazards. The ability to use in-situ materials to construct these structures will provide a benefit in the reduction of up-mass that would otherwise make long-term Moon or Mars structures cost prohibitive. The ability to fabricate structures in situ brings with it the ability to repair these structures, which allows for the self-sufficiency and sustainability necessary for long-duration habitation. Previously, under the auspices of the MSFC In-Situ Fabrication and Repair (ISFR) project and more recently, under the jointly-managed MSFC/KSC Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement (ACME) project, the MSFC Surface Structures Group has been developing materials and construction technologies to support future planetary habitats with in-situ resources. One such additive construction technology is known as Contour Crafting. This paper presents the results to date of these efforts, including development of novel nozzle concepts for advanced layer deposition using this process. Conceived initially for rapid development of cementitious structures on Earth, it also lends itself exceptionally well to the automated fabrication of planetary surface structures using minimally processed regolith as aggregate, and binders developed from in situ materials as well. This process has been used successfully in the fabrication of construction elements using lunar regolith simulant and Mars regolith simulant, both with various binder materials. Future planned activities will be discussed as well

Crystal Structure of the RNA Recognition Motif of Yeast Translation Initiation Factor eIF3b Reveals Differences to Human eIF3b

BACKGROUND: The multi-subunit eukaryotic initiation factor3 (eIF3) plays a central role in the initiation step of protein synthesis in eukaryotes. One of its large subunits, eIF3b, serves as a scaffold within eIF3 as it interacts with several other subunits. It harbors an RNA Recognition Motif (RRM), which is shown to be a non-canonical RRM in human as it is not capable to interact with oligonucleotides, but rather interacts with eIF3j, a sub-stoichiometric subunit of eIF3. PRINCIPAL FINDING: We have analyzed the high-resolution crystal structure of the eIF3b RRM domain from yeast. It exhibits the same fold as its human ortholog, with similar charge distribution on the surface interacting with the eIF3j in human. Thermodynamic analysis of the interaction between yeast eIF3b-RRM and eIF3j revealed the same range of enthalpy change and dissociation constant as for the human proteins, providing another line of evidence for the same mode of interaction between eIF3b and eIF3j in both organisms. However, analysis of the surface charge distribution of the putative RNA-binding β-sheet suggested that in contrast to its human ortholog, it potentially could bind oligonucleotides. Three-dimensional positioning of the so called "RNP1" motif in this domain is similar to other canonical RRMs, suggesting that this domain might indeed be a canonical RRM, conferring oligonucleotide binding capability to eIF3 in yeast. Interaction studies with yeast total RNA extract confirmed the proposed RNA binding activity of yeast eIF3b-RRM. CONCLUSION: We showed that yeast eIF3b-RRM interacts with eIF3j in a manner similar to its human ortholog. However, it shows similarities in the oligonucleotide binding surface to canonical RRMs and interacts with yeast total RNA. The proposed RNA binding activity of eIF3b-RRM may help eIF3 to either bind to the ribosome or recruit the mRNA to the 43S pre-initiation complex

Profound vision loss impairs psychological well-being in young and middle-aged individuals

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of profound vision loss on psychological well-being in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults with regard to mood, interpersonal interactions, and career-related goals. In addition, we assessed the significance of the resources that may be used to enhance psychological well-being in cases of profound vision loss, and in particular, examined the utility of low vision aids and the role of the ophthalmologist as a provider of emotional support. METHODS: A questionnaire was issued to individuals aged 13–65 years with profound vision loss resulting from Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Depression prevalence was evaluated with questions regarding major depressive disorder symptomatology. Participants appraised the effects of vision loss on their interpersonal interactions and career goals by providing an impact rating (IR) on a 21-point psychometric scale from −10 to +10. Social well-being index was defined as the average of interpersonal IR and career IR. Subjects were additionally asked about the use of low vision aids and sources of emotional support. RESULTS: A total of 103 participants (mean age =26.4±11.2 years at LHON diagnosis; mean ± standard deviation) completed the questionnaire. Nearly half (49.5%) met the depression criteria after vision loss. Negative impacts on interpersonal interactions (median IR = −5) and career goals (median IR = −6) were observed; both ratings were worse (P<0.001) for depressed versus nondepressed subjects. Older age at diagnosis corresponded to higher depression prevalence and increased incidence of negative interpersonal IR and career IR. Sixty-eight percent of subjects used electronic vision aids; controlling for age, social well-being index was higher among these individuals than for those who did not use electronic aids (P=0.03). Over half of the participants (52.4%) asserted that they derived emotional support from their ophthalmologist. CONCLUSION: Profound vision loss in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults is associated with significant negative psychological and psychosocial effects, which are influenced by age and use of electronic vision aids. Ophthalmologists, in addition to managing vision loss, may serve an important role in the emotional adaptation of these patients

From Architectured Materials to Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing

The classical material-by-design approach has been extensively perfected by materials scientists, while engineers have been optimising structures geometrically for centuries. The purpose of architectured materials is to build bridges across themicroscale ofmaterials and themacroscale of engineering structures, to put some geometry in the microstructure. This is a paradigm shift. Materials cannot be considered monolithic anymore. Any set of materials functions, even antagonistic ones, can be envisaged in the future. In this paper, we intend to demonstrate the pertinence of computation for developing architectured materials, and the not-so-incidental outcome which led us to developing large-scale additive manufacturing for architectural applications

Floaters and reduced contrast sensitivity after successful pharmacologic vitreolysis with ocriplasmin

Purpose: To describe the onset of floaters and reduction in contrast sensitivity (CS) following successful pharmacologic vitreolysis with ocriplasmin for the treatment of vitreo-macular traction (VMT) in a patient with previously normal CS. Observations: A 65-year-old woman with a past ocular history of normal visual acuity (VA = 20/26) and contrast sensitivity (1.81% Weber) presents with a 4-month history of distortions. VA decreased to 20/40 and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) demonstrated VMT. Pharmacologic vitreolysis was performed with intravitreal ocriplasmin. Ten weeks later the patient complained of floaters and was found to have a PVD and complete resolution of VMT. VA was still 20/40, but contrast sensitivity decreased by more than 100% to 3.77%Weber. After 6 months of attempted coping, this did not improve, so limited vitrectomy was performed. Post-operative VA = 20/26 and CS improved by 46% from 3.77%W to 2.03%W (normal). Conclusion: and importance: This case highlights a little discussed consequence of PVD induction by successful pharmacologic vitreolysis – the development of clinically significant floaters. The resulting reduction of contrast sensitivity was normalized by limited vitrectomy, strongly suggesting that the detached vitreous was the cause