Unilateral electronegative ERG in a presumed central retinal artery occlusion

A unilateral electronegative electroretinogram (ERG) was seen in a 94-year-old man with presumed central retinal artery occlusion. Goldmann perimetry revealed central scotoma in the right eye and no abnormalities in the left eye. Full-field ERG in the right eye described a reduction of the b-wave with a relative preservation of the a-wave which is characteristic of electronegative ERG. Hence, our case illustrates that ERG testing is essential for the work-up of individuals with suspected retinal vascular disorders

Preservation of macular structure and function after intravitreal aflibercept for choroidal neovascularization associated with serpiginous choroiditis

Lund Univ, Scane Cty Univ Hosp, Dept Ophthalmol, Clin Sci, Lund, SwedenKing Khalid Eye Specialist Hosp, Vitreoretinal Div, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaOFTALMOLOGICA, San Miguel De Tucuman, ArgentinaFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilJohns Hopkins Univ, Sch Med, Wilmer Eye Inst, Retina Div, Baltimore, MD 21205 USADepartment of Ophthalmology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

An AI-based object detection approach for robotic competitions

Artificial Intelligence has been introduced in many applications, namely in artificial vision-based systems with object detection tasks. This paper presents an object localization system with a motivation to use it in autonomous mobile robots at robotics competitions. The system aims to allow robots to accomplish their tasks more efficiently. Object detection is performed using a camera and artificial intelligence based on the YOLOv4 Tiny detection model. An algorithm was developed that uses the data from the system to estimate the parameters of location, distance, and orientation based on the pinhole camera model and trigonometric modelling. It can be used in smart identification procedures of objects. Practical tests and results are presented, constantly locating the objects and with errors between 0.16 and 3.8 cm, concluding that the object localization system is adequate for autonomous mobile robots.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020). The project that gave rise to these results received the support of a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI20/11780028. João Braun is a PhD Student at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP) supervised by Prof. Paulo Costa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ocular Biocompatibility of Poly-N-Isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM)

Purpose. To study the safety of intravitreal injections of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM) tissue adhesive in rabbit eyes. Methods. Twelve study rabbits received an intravitreal injection of 0.1 mL 50% pNIPAM in the right eye. Follow-up examinations included color fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiography (FA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and electroretinography (ERG). Subsequent to the last follow-up assessment, the rabbits were sacrificed and histopathological study on the scleral incision sites was performed. Results. All study animals developed mild to moderate levels of inflammatory reaction in the conjunctiva, anterior chamber, and the anterior vitreous during the first month of follow-up. After this period, the level of the inflammatory reaction progressively decreased and completely disappeared after the third month of follow-up. The lens and cornea remained clear during the entire follow-up period. OCT and FA did not show areas of retinal damage or neovascularization. Histological and ERG studies of eyes injected with pNIPAM demonstrated absence of retinal toxicity. Conclusion. Intravitreal injections of pNIPAM were nontoxic in this animal study, and pNIPAM may be safe to be used as a bioadhesive in certain retinal diseases

Multimodal imaging analyses of hyperreflective dot-like lesions in acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinopathy

Background: Retrospective review of one acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) case with serological evidence of syphilis who had ocular signs and symptoms not attributable to other diseases. Enface and spectral-domain optical coherence tomographySD-OCT were analyzed at the time of presentation and at 1-month visit following initiation of treatment. The study patient underwent standard treatment for neurosyphilis. Results: Ophthalmic examination and imaging studies were consistent with the diagnosis of ASPPC. The patient age was 33 year-old and the baseline visual acuity was 20/400 and 20/80 in the right and left eyes, respectively. At presentation, SD-OCT scans showed disruption and loss of the ellipsoid zone (EZ), small nodular elevations on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and punctate hyperreflectivity in the choroid. Enface OCT at the level of RPE and EZ demonstrated multiple hyperreflective dot-like lesions simmetrically distributed within the macular area. These dot-like lesions corresponded to the small nodular elevations on RPE and to disruption/loss of EZ observed with SD-OCT. One month after neurosyphilis therapy, the visual acuity improved and the outer retinal changes partially reversed in both eyes. Conclusions: We report the outer retinal findings and its correlation using both en-face and SD-OCT in a patient with ASPPC. En-face OCT imaging provides a more precise outer retinal layers analyses allowing a better understanding of the ASPPC pathophysiology.Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu,821,Vila Clementino, BR-04023062 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Sao Paulo, BrazilFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu,821,Vila Clementino, BR-04023062 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Functional Analysis of Retinal Flecks in Stargardt Disease

To evaluate visual function of flecked areas in a series of patients with Stargardt disease (STGD) and compare them with adjacent non flecked areas

Applications of the Schwinger Multichannel method with pseudopotentials to electron scattering from polyatomic molecules II: rotational excitation cross sections

This paper reports results for rotational excitation of H2O and H2S molecules by electron impact. It is also a databasis including tables of previously published rotationally resolved cross sections for CH4, SiH4, GeH4, SnH4, PbH4, NH3, PH3, AsH3, SbH3, CF4, CCl4, SiCl4 SiBr4, and SiI4. Our scattering amplitudes were calculated using the Schwinger multichannel method with norm-conserving pseudopotentials and the rotational resolved cross sections were obtained with the help of the adiabatic nuclei rotation approximation. Our results are in good agreement with other theoretical data and experimental results when available.2129Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Emissões de metano do cultivo de arroz.

Segundo inventário brasileiro de emissões antrópicas de gases de efeito estufa. Relatórios de referência

Estudo clínico duplo cego comparando praziquantel com oxamniquine

Com objetivo de se compararem a tolerabilidade e eficácia do praziquantel e oxamniquine, procedeu-se a um estudo prospectivo duplo-cego envolvendo 120 pacientes com esquistossomose intestinal ou hepatintestinal. Os pacientes foram randomizados em dois grupos. Um foi tratado com praziquantel, na dose de 55 mg/kg de peso, o outro com oxamniquine, 15 mg/kg de peso, sempre administrados em dose única por via oral. O diagnóstico e seguimento parasitológicos basearam-se ho exame de fazes peio método de Kate Katz. Em 73 de 77 casos negativos após tratamento, executaram-se biópsias retais. Efeitos colaterais, principalmente tontura, sonolência, dores abdominais, cefaléia, náuseas e diarréia foram observados em 87% dos casos. Sua incidência, intensidade e duração foram semelhantes em ambos os grupos, mas a dor abdominal foi significativamente mais freqüente após praziquantel, havendo maior tendência para tontura intensa após oxamniquine. Observou-se aumento significante de alamina-aminotransferase e gama-glutamiltransferase após oxamniquine e de bilirrubina total após praziquantel. Um total de 48 pacientes tratados com praziquantel e 46 com oxamniquine completaram os exames de controle até o sexto mês. As percentages de cura foram de 79,2% e de 84,8% respectivamente, diferença não significativa. Os pacientes não curados mostraram redução média do número de ovos de 93,5% e de 84,1%, diferença não significativa. Cinco pacientes retratados com praziquantel curaram-se, mas somente um de três retratados com oxamniquine. Estes resultados mostram, que ambas as drogas-apesar de diferentes propriedades farmacológicas provocam reações colaterais semelhantes e apresentam eficácia terapêutica comparável.A double-blind clinical trial involving 120 patients with chronic schistosomiasis was carried out to compare the tolerability and efficacy of praziquantel and oxamniquine. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups. One was treated with praziquantel, 55 mg/kg of body weight CBWT), and the other one with oxamniquine, 15mg/kg bwt, administered in a single oral dose. The diagnosis and the parasitological follow-up was based on stool examinations by quantitative Kato-Katz method and on rectal biopsies. Side-effects mainly dizziness, sleepness, abdominal distress, headache, nausea and diarrhea were observed in 87% of the cases. Their incidence, intensity and duration were similar for both drugs but abdominal pain was significantly more frequent after praziquantel intake and severe dizziness was more commonly reported after oxamniquine. A significant increase of alanine-aminotransferase and y-glutamyltransferase was found with the latter drug and of total bilirubin with the former one. A total of 48 patients treated with praziquantel and 46 with oxamniquine completed with negative findings the required three post-treatment parasitological controls three slides of each stool sample on the first, third and sixth month. The achieved cure rates were 79.2% and 84.8%, respectively, a difference without statistical significance. The non-cured cases showed a mean reduction in the number of eggs per gram of feces of 93.5% after praziquantel and of 84.1% after oxamniquine. This diference also was not significant. Five patients retreated with praziquantel were cured but only one out of three treated a second time with oxamniquine. These findings show that both drugs despite their different chemical structures, pharmacological properties and mechanisms-of-action induce similar side-effects as well as a comparable therapeutical efficacy, in agreement with the results reported from analogous investigations