Technologies of sleep research

Sleep is investigated in many different ways, many different species and under many different circumstances. Modern sleep research is a multidisciplinary venture. Therefore, this review cannot give a complete overview of all techniques used in sleep research and sleep medicine. What it will try to do is to give an overview of widely applied techniques and exciting new developments. Electroencephalography has been the backbone of sleep research and sleep medicine since its first application in the 1930s. The electroencephalogram is still used but now combined with many different techniques monitoring body and brain temperature, changes in brain and blood chemistry, or changes in brain functioning. Animal research has been very important for progress in sleep research and sleep medicine. It provides opportunities to investigate the sleeping brain in ways not possible in healthy volunteers. Progress in genomics has brought new insights in sleep regulation, the best example being the discovery of hypocretin/orexin deficiency as the cause of narcolepsy. Gene manipulation holds great promise for the future since it is possible not only to investigate the functions of different genes under normal conditions, but also to mimic human pathology in much greater detail

Treatment of Traumatic Corneal Abrasions: A Three-Arm, Prospective, Randomized Study

Purpose: To compare three different treatment modalities for traumatic corneal abrasions. Methods: We conducted a prospective, randomized, masked, three-arm clinical study of patients presenting with superficial corneal foreign bodies. Treatment modalities were: (1) pressure patching with ofloxacin ointment (patch group, PG, n = 18), (2) therapeutic contact lens with ofloxacin eye drops (contact lens group, CLG, n = 20) and (3) ofloxacin ointment alone (ointment group, OG, n = 28). Primary outcome measure was the difference of the mean corneal abrasion area between the three groups at 3 different time points (baseline, day 1 and day 7). Results: A total of 66 patients were included in the study over a period of 2 years. Mean initial corneal abrasion area was 3.6 ± 3.4 mm(2) in the PG, 4.2 ± 4.0 mm(2) in the CLG and 3.7 ± 3.1 mm(2) in the OG (p = 0.875). Differences in corneal abrasion area at any time point were not statistically significant (abrasion area decrease from presentation to day 1 was 3.4 ± 3.3 mm(2) in the PG, 4.1 ± 4.0 mm(2) in the CLG and 3.5 ± 3.1 mm(2) in the OG, p = 0.789). The epithelium was healed in all patients at day 7. Conclusions: Treating traumatic corneal abrasions by pressure patching, a bandage contact lens or ointment alone was equal in reducing the abrasion area or reducing pain. According to our results the treatment of choice for traumatic abrasions may be adapted to the needs and preferences of the patient

Intraocular pressure during a very high altitude climb

Reports on intraocular pressure (IOP) changes at high altitudes have provided inconsistent and even conflictin

Granulomatous keratic precipitates in birdshot retinochoroiditis

With the purpose of facilitating clinical studies of this infrequent disease, an expert panel published research criteria for birdshot retinochoroiditis (RCBRC). The aim of our study was to investigate the sensitivity of the exclusion criteria of the RCBRC as applied to all patients seen in our center with a diagnosis of BRC. This was a single center retrospective study involving all patients with an ocular inflammatory disease seen at the Centre for Ophthalmic Specialized Care, Lausanne, Switzerland, between 1995 and 2012. The percentage of patients with a diagnosis of BRC was identified. The exclusion criteria of the RCBRC were applied to all patients and the percentage of patients with absence of keratic precipitates (KPs) and absence of posterior synechiae were calculated. Out of 1,504 new patients, 25 patients (1.66 %; 19 female, 6 male) were diagnosed with BRC and 19 patients had sufficient data to be included in the study (1.26 %, 13 female). All patients were positive for HLA-A29 testing. The sensitivity of the RCBRC with respect to the exclusion criteria applied to our patient cohort was 84.2 % due to the exclusion of three patients showing KPs. Our study supports the motion to re-evaluate the RCBRC, since granulomatous KPs can be present and are more frequent than previously estimated and stringent application of the criteria would lead to a substantial loss of study patients

Repeatability of nerve fiber layer thickness measurements in patients with glaucoma and without glaucoma using spectral-domain and time-domain OCT

BACKGROUND: The aim of this work is to assess the repeatability of spectral-domain-OCT (SD-OCT) retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) thickness measurements in a non-glaucoma group and patients with glaucoma and to compare these results to conventional time-domain-OCT (TD-OCT). METHODS: In a prospective, comparative, observational case-control study, 50 eyes of 25 non-glaucoma and 22 eyes of 11 patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) were included. SD-OCT and TD-OCT circle scans were centered on the optic disc. In each eye, OCT scans were performed three times by two independent observers. RNFL thickness was measured in four quadrants around the optic disc. In addition, the overall mean RNFL thickness was assessed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficients of variation (COV) were calculated. Inter-observer and inter-OCT repeatability was visualized by using Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: Intra-observer repeatability for TD- OCT was good with an ICC(mean RNFL thickness) of 0.939 in non-glaucomas and 0.980 in glaucomatous eyes. For SD-OCT, intra-observer repeatability was higher with an ICC of 0.989 for non-glaucomas and 0.997 for glaucomatous eyes. COVs for TD-OCT ranged from 2.9-7.7% in non-glaucomas and from 6.0-13.3% in glaucoma patients. COVs for SD-OCT ranged from 0.3-1% in non-glaucomas and from 0.9-2.3% in glaucomatous eyes. COVs were influenced by various factors. In the glaucoma group, COVs were significantly higher (p < 0.001) compared to the non-glaucoma group. COVs increased by a mean of 5.1% when TD-OCT was used instead of SD-OCT (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SD-OCT RNFL thickness measurements in healthy volunteers and glaucoma patients showed good intra- and inter-observer repeatability. Especially in glaucomatous eyes, repeatability of SD-OCT was superior to TD-OCT

International Linear Collider Reference Design Report

ILC Global Design Effort and World Wide Stud

Erratum to: Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition) (Autophagy, 12, 1, 1-222, 10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356

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