High-speed video-oculography applied to assess pupil light reflex

Póster presentado en el VII European/ I World Meeting in Visual and Physiological OpticsEye response to light exposure is usually described through the pupillary light reflex, which controls the pupil diameter and allows for testing the sensory and motor functions of the eye. We have arranged an experimental setup and developed a procedure in order to improve the video-oculography experiment through high-speed imaging. The technique has been applied over eleven people distinguishing between consensual and direct pupillary light reflexes and analyzing the eye dominance. We found no significant differences. Moreover, obtained time parameters describing the pupil light reflex agree with those from literature.The authors acknowledge the projects BIA2011-22704, GV/2013/009 and PROMETEO/ 2011/021. A. B. Roig acknowledges a grant from Cajamurcia

A high-resolution binocular video-oculography system: assessment of pupillary light reflex and detection of an early incomplete blink and an upward eye movement

Background: The pupillary light reflex characterizes the direct and consensual response of the eye to the perceived brightness of a stimulus. It has been used as indicator of both neurological and optic nerve pathologies. As with other eye reflexes, this reflex constitutes an almost instantaneous movement and is linked to activation of the same midbrain area. The latency of the pupillary light reflex is around 200 ms, although the literature also indicates that the fastest eye reflexes last 20 ms. Therefore, a system with sufficiently high spatial and temporal resolutions is required for accurate assessment. In this study, we analyzed the pupillary light reflex to determine whether any small discrepancy exists between the direct and consensual responses, and to ascertain whether any other eye reflex occurs before the pupillary light reflex. Methods: We constructed a binocular video-oculography system two high-speed cameras that simultaneously focused on both eyes. This was then employed to assess the direct and consensual responses of each eye using our own algorithm based on Circular Hough Transform to detect and track the pupil. Time parameters describing the pupillary light reflex were obtained from the radius time-variation. Eight healthy subjects (4 women, 4 men, aged 24–45) participated in this experiment. Results: Our system, which has a resolution of 15 microns and 4 ms, obtained time parameters describing the pupillary light reflex that were similar to those reported in previous studies, with no significant differences between direct and consensual reflexes. Moreover, it revealed an incomplete reflex blink and an upward eye movement at around 100 ms that may correspond to Bell’s phenomenon. Conclusions: Direct and consensual pupillary responses do not any significant temporal differences. The system and method described here could prove useful for further assessment of pupillary and blink reflexes. The resolution obtained revealed the existence reported here of an early incomplete blink and an upward eye movement.The authors acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through the project BIA2011-22704 and the Generalitat Valenciana through the projects GV/2013/009 and PROMETEO/2011/021. A. B. Roig acknowledges a grant from Cajamurcia

Endogenous Antioxidants: A Review of their Role in Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stress (OxS) constitutes a disturbance caused by an imbalance between the generation of free radicals and antioxidant system, which causes damage to biomolecules. This, in turn, may lead the body to the occurrence of many chronic degenerative diseases. Therefore, it is very important to know the functioning of those endogenous (and exogenous) antioxidants systems to prevent such diseases. Due to evolutionary conditions in living beings, among other functions have been developed and selected defense systems against the deleterious action of free radicals. Such systems are intrinsic in cells (at level intracellular and extracellular) and act together with the dietary exogenous antioxidants. All these antioxidant systems have very important role in preserving the oxide/reduction equilibrium in the cell. To understand the role of the transcription factor Nrf2 in regulating the processes of antioxidant defense, it must also know the role of many of the endogenous antioxidants that occur because of its activation. Therefore, this chapter makes a literature review of the most important general aspects of endogenous antioxidant systems, which will provide another point of view from which to approach the study and treatment of many chronic degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and Parkinson

Aliens and Science. Exobiology in the Movies

Se puede definir la exobiología como la rama de la biología interesada en la búsqueda de vida fuera del planeta Tierra. La exobiología, pues, no pretende ser una disciplina cientí- fica pura sino que representa el esfuerzo multidisciplinar por parte de investigadores de distintas áreas para intentar responder preguntas sobre la vida basándose en el conocimiento de distintos campos científicos. Un concepto bastante abstracto que requiere de muchísima imaginación y que el cine ha usado en infinitas ocasiones para crear ilusión y entretenimiento. Con este artículo los autores echan mano de esa imaginación para hacer un recorrido por la figura del alienígena en la historia del cine, pero antes harán un repaso por la literatura, la pintura, la historia y la ciencia. A continuación elaboran un balance de los usos simbólicos que de los alienígenas ha hecho el cine, así como de una clasificación taxonómica de los mismos y terminar con el, quizá, más conocido extraterrestre de la historia del cine, el xenomorfo creado por Ridley Scott y la saga de Alien.We can define exobiology as branch of the biology concerned with the search of life outside Earth. The exobiology don’t pretend to be just a discipline as biology or physics, but represent the multidiscipline effort of many scientist fields in order to answer the basic questions around Life and if is it possible beyond our planet’s atmosphere. Movies has used the imagination of the exobiology many times to create illusion and entertainment. With this article the authors has drawn the iconography of the extraterrestrial character in Literature, Painting, History, Science and Cinema, pointing out its symbolic uses and giving special attention to the most famous alien of the history of the movies, the xenomorph created by Ridley Scott

Osteonecrosis de maxilares asociada al uso de bifosfonatos: revisión de 491 casos

En los últimos años, el número de pacientes que presenta osteonecrosis maxilar asociada al uso de bifosfonatos (BIONJ) se ha incrementado. Esto es debido al aumento en el consumo de bifosfonatos, los cuales se asocian al tratamiento de carcinomas con metástasis óseas, mieloma múltiple, osteoporosis, osteopenia y enfermedades metabólicas como la enfermedad de Paget. Objetivo: Analizar el número de casos de pacientes que han desarrollado osteonecrosis de maxilares asociado al uso de bifosfonatos, publicados desde Junio del año 2006 hasta Abril 2010. Método: En esta revisión, se consultaron las bases de datos Pubmed-Medline, Scielo e Índice Médico Español, incluyendo límites en la búsqueda, para recopilar los casos de BIONJ que se hayan publicado desde el año 2006 hasta la actualidad. Los artículos seleccionados presentaban casos, en los cuales los pacientes que recibían bifosfonatos desarrollaban BIONJ. Resultados: Se encontraron 491 casos de BIONJ en total, de ellos 49,3% eran mujeres, 32% hombres y 18,7% no se establecía el género. La mayoría de estos casos se presentaron en la mandíbula y asociados particularment al ácido zolendrónico. Conclusiones: En los próximos años se espera que el número de pacientes que desarrollen esta complicación vaya en aumento, en particular en mujeres, a las cuales se les indica cada vez más esta medicación para el tratamiento de la osteoporosis

Three-dimensional planar object tracking with sub-pixel accuracy

Subpixel techniques are commonly used to increase the spatial resolution in tracking tasks. Object tracking with targets of known shape permits obtaining information about object position and orientation in the three-dimensional space. A proper selection of the target shape allows us to determine its position inside a plane and its angular and azimuthal orientation under certain limits. Our proposal is demonstrated both numerical and experimentally and provides an increase the accuracy of more than one order of magnitude compared to the nominal resolution of the sensor. The experiment has been performed with a high-speed camera, which simultaneously provides high spatial and temporal resolution, so it may be interesting for some applications where this kind of targets can be attached, such as vibration monitoring and structural analysis.The authors acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through the project BIA2011-22704 and the Generalitat Valenciana through the projects GV/2013/009 and PROMETEO/ 2011/021. A. B. Roig acknowledges a grant from Cajamurcia

Montfort, obres hidràuliques disperses

Les comarques del Vinalopó tenen moltes obres hidràuliques de origen musulmá i de tradició cristiana que es mantenen en l'actualitat com el cas de Montfort d'Alacant

Effective focal length through a microscope

Póster presentado en el VII European/ I World Meeting in Visual and Physiological OpticsThe optical power of a thick spherical lens and its Coddington shape factor are essential magnitudes that characterize its image quality. We propose an experimental procedure and apparatus that allow accurate determination of those magnitudes for any spherical lens from geometrical measurements. It overcomes the drawbacks of other devices that need of the refractive index or may damage the lens surfaces, like spherometers, and provides similar results to commercial lensmeters.The authors acknowledge the projects BIA2011-22704, GV/2013/009 and PROMETEO/ 2011/021. J. Espinosa thanks R. Tomás the provisioning. A. B. Roig acknowledges a grant from Cajamurcia

Tratamiento biológico de los residuos urbanos (RU): situación actual del tratamiento de restos vegetales y lodos de depuración en la Comunidad de Madrid

La creciente generación de residuos pone de manifiesto la necesidad de buscar las mejores alternativas de gestión y tratamiento adecuado para los mismos. El proceso de compostaje es una de las mejores opciones para el tratamiento de residuos como los restos vegetales y los lodos de depuración procedentes de Estaciones Depuradoras de Aguas Residuales. En la Comunidad de Madrid, la mayor parte de estos residuos se valorizan en la Planta de Compostaje ubicada en el término municipal de Villanueva de la Cañada. La generación de lixiviados en la fase de fermentación aerobia puede resultar desmesurada cuando las plantas de compostaje no trabajan bajo condiciones óptimas. En el presente trabajo se analiza la situación actual de los restos vegetales y lodos de depuración generados en la Comunidad de Madrid del cual surgen trabajos futuros orientados a la optimización de la planta así como a una posible valorización del lixiviado generado en los túneles de fermentación