Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome after Foldable Artiflex Iris-Fixated Phakic Intraocular Lens Implantation

Toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) developed in four cases after uneventful implantation of a foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens (pIOL). Two cases occurred sequentially in one patient. The TASS subsided without complications in all cases after intensive topical steroid treatment. A multitude of possible causes is considered for the occurrence of these TASS cases. From the sterilization and cleaning of surgical instruments to the possibility of endotoxines in ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVD). These rare cases should alert the surgeon to the possibility of TASS after pIOL implantation

Bang Chan

Bang Chan traces the changing cultural characteristics of a small Siamese village during the century and a quarter from its founding as a wilderness settlement outside Bangkok to its absorption into the urban spread of the Thai capital. Rich in ethnographic detail, the book sums up the major findings of a pioneering interdisciplinary research project that began in 1948. Changes in Bang Chan's social organization, technology, economy, governance, education, and religion are portrayed in the context of local and national developments

Comment on "Estimate of the vibrational frequencies of spherical virus particles"

This comment corrects some errors which appeared in the calculation of an elastic sphere eigenenergies. As a result, the symmetry of the mode having the lowest frequency is changed. Also a direction for calculating the damping of these modes for embedded elastic spheres is given.Comment: comment L. H. Ford Phys. Rev. E 67 (2003) 05192

Neuroimaging of Unusual Glioblastoma Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Background: Gliosarcoma refers to an uncommon astrocytic tumor of the central nervous system. These tumors include both glial and mesenchymal components by definition, and are extremely malignant. Gliosarcomas are particular to tumors with distinct gliomatous and sarcomatous constituents, and are distinguished from gliobastomas which have undergone mesenchymal metaplasia. Gliosarcomas encompass 2-8% of all glioblastoma cases and tend to occupy the supratentorial regions of the brain, especially the temporal lobe. Rare infratentorial lesions including the cerebellar hemisphere, intraventricular, and multi-focal tumors have also been reported. Accurate neuroimaging diagnosis is critical and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and spectroscopy can be useful to differentiate from inflammatory disease. Methods: We report a 38 year-old Caucasian male with a right parietal lobe glioblastoma. The patient presented with new onset tonic-clonic seizures lasting approximately five minutes associated with postictal confusion and incontinence. The patient had conventional brain MRI scans including DTI. MRI data was processed to obtain tractography and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps. MR images were examined for location and extent of tumor as well as invasion, destruction or displacement of brain parenchyma and white matter tracts. Results: Noncontract CT revealed no abnormality and emergent MR imaging shows a ring-enhancing lesion measuring 3.1x2.2x3.1 cm at the junction of the right parieto-occipital region. The lesion abuts the dural surface, characteristic of gliosarcoma. Extensive surrounding edema causing complete effacement of the posterior horn of the right lateral ventricle, parietal effacement of the anterior floor of the right ventricle, and a 1.2 cm right to left midline shift were observed. Mild diffuse enhancement in the region of the splenium of the corpus callosum was likely compatible with seizure activity. Increased signal intensity of axial FLAIR image was seen in this area after four weeks. Fractional anisotropy is reduced at the tumor site suggesting an aggressive and invasive lesion. Diffusion tensor tractography shows destruction of white matter tracts compatible with destruction rather than invasion of parenchyma. Histopathology confirms gliobastoma multiforme, demonstrating mixed glial and sarcomatous components. However, GFAP was strongly positive in both areas and a reticulin stain was not increased in the sarcomatorus areas excluding the sarcomatous variant of glioblastoma. Conclusion: We report the imaging findings of a rare gliosblastoma radiographically presenting as a gliosarcoma due to its location along the dural surface, but with lack of pathologic findings. Gross total tumor resection was performed and the patient and is undergoing adjuvant radiation therapy with concurrent chemotherapy

Are quantum states real?

In this paper we consider theories in which reality is described by some underlying variables. Each value these variables can take represents an ontic state (a particular state of reality). The preparation of a quantum state corresponds to a distribution over the ontic states. If we make three basic assumptions, we can show that the distributions over ontic states corresponding to distinct pure states are non-overlapping. This means that we can deduce the quantum state from a knowledge of the ontic state. Hence, if these assumptions are correct, we can claim that the quantum state is a real thing (it is written into the underlying variables that describe reality). The key assumption we use in this proof is ontic indifference - that quantum transformations that do not affect a given pure quantum state can be implemented in such a way that they do not affect the ontic states in the support of that state. In fact this assumption is violated in the Spekkens toy model (which captures many aspects of quantum theory and in which different pure states of the model have overlapping distributions over ontic states). This paper proves that ontic indifference must be violated in any model reproducing quantum theory in which the quantum state is not a real thing. The argument presented in this paper is different from that given in a recent paper by Pusey, Barrett, and Rudolph. It uses a different key assumption and it pertains to a single copy of the system in question.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Remarks added concerning fact that ontic indifference assumption is violated in Spekkens toy mode