Evaluating Automated Truck Platoon (ATP) Deployment for the Los Angeles–Inland Empire Trade Corridor Enhancement

The California Freight Mobility Plan 2020 lists the Los Angeles-Inland Empire trade corridor region as a prominent industrial hub experiencing an increase in freight flows. The California Freight Mobility Plan also regards automated truck platoon (ATP) as an emerging opportunity to minimize congestion on the trade corridor routes. Percentage change in accessibility from 2022 (“without” ATP) to 2040 (“with” ATP) is calculated for the eighteen industry sectors of the Los Angeles-Inland Empire trade corridor. The application of the accessibility formulation was carried out with data on travel time from I-710 and I-10 within Los Angeles County. The findings suggest that all the industry sectors have a very high positive percentage change in accessibility by transforming from “without” to “with” ATP deployment-based accessibility. In the vicinity of the prominent freight corridors of I-710 and I-10 within Los Angeles County, notably, the largest increase in accessibility above 90% will be observed for the industry sectors of Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Health Care and Social Assistance, Finance and Insurance, Transportation and Warehousing, and Retail Trade of the Los-Angeles-Inland Empire. Thus, these findings suggest the deployment of ATP on specific freight routes to enhance and sustain economic activity across the Los Angeles-Inland Empire trade corridors

Evaluation of retinal nerve fibre layer, optic nerve head, and macular ganglion cell analysis measurements for early glaucoma detection using spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Background: Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. It is very important to diagnose glaucoma in early stages so that timely management can be done. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), is a newer device which helps to diagnose glaucoma early. The aim of our study was to evaluate the RNFL, ONH, and mGCA (GCL+IPL) measurements for early glaucoma detection using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).Methods: Total 30, POAG (primary open angle glaucoma) suspects were compared with 30 normal controls. The Cirrus HD-OCT optic disc cube 200 × 200 protocol was used to measure ONH, RNFL and macular parameters.Results: The average cpRNFL thickness of all quadrants was significantly lower in POAG suspects, (84.13±7.42 μm versus 103.85±8.95 μm, p<0.001). The superior GCL+IPL thickness of POAG suspects and controls was 75.75±2.60 μm and 80.05±1.74 μm, respectively, (p<0.001). The inferior GCL+IPL thickness of POAG suspects and controls was 75.98±2.59 μm and 80.00±1.79 μm, respectively, (p<0.001).Conclusions: The SD-OCT is an important device to diagnose POAG suspects, early. The GCA measurements and average RNFL (especially superior and inferior) measurements, both are equally good to discriminate between glaucoma suspects and normal controls

COPS: a sensitive and accurate tool for detecting somatic Copy Number Alterations using short-read sequence data from paired samples.

Copy Number Alterations (CNAs) such as deletions and duplications; compose a larger percentage of genetic variations than single nucleotide polymorphisms or other structural variations in cancer genomes that undergo major chromosomal re-arrangements. It is, therefore, imperative to identify cancer-specific somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs), with respect to matched normal tissue, in order to understand their association with the disease. We have devised an accurate, sensitive, and easy-to-use tool, COPS, COpy number using Paired Samples, for detecting SCNAs. We rigorously tested the performance of COPS using short sequence simulated reads at various sizes and coverage of SCNAs, read depths, read lengths and also with real tumor:normal paired samples. We found COPS to perform better in comparison to other known SCNA detection tools for all evaluated parameters, namely, sensitivity (detection of true positives), specificity (detection of false positives) and size accuracy. COPS performed well for sequencing reads of all lengths when used with most upstream read alignment tools. Additionally, by incorporating a downstream boundary segmentation detection tool, the accuracy of SCNA boundaries was further improved. Here, we report an accurate, sensitive and easy to use tool in detecting cancer-specific SCNAs using short-read sequence data. In addition to cancer, COPS can be used for any disease as long as sequence reads from both disease and normal samples from the same individual are available. An added boundary segmentation detection module makes COPS detected SCNA boundaries more specific for the samples studied. COPS is available at ftp://115.119.160.213 with username "cops" and password "cops"

Clinical Profile and Visual Outcome of Traumatic Glaucoma Patients Following Closed Globe Injury in the Rural Part of Eastern Uttar Pradesh at a Tertiary Eye Care Centre: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction: Glaucoma is a significant cause of ocular morbidity following ocular trauma, particularly Closed Globe Injury (CGI), which frequently leads to elevated Intraocular Pressure (IOP). This type of trauma can result in various tissue damages such as radial sphincter tears, iridodialysis, angle recession, cyclodialysis, trabecular meshwork tears, zonule separation, or peripheral retinal dialysis. Damage in these areas can lead to early or delayed onset glaucoma. Aim: To evaluate the clinical profile, assess visual outcomes, and analyse management strategies in post-traumatic glaucoma with CGI. Materials and Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary eye care centre in Department of Ophthalmology, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO), Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India. from January 2020 to December 2022. Retrospective data of patients presenting with CGI and developing elevated IOP (>21 mmHg) were collected. Only patients with a minimum follow-up of three months were included. Various parameters, including demographics, IOP, Best-Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA), and the effects of medical and surgical treatments on IOP and BCVA, were analysed. The Ocular Trauma Score (OTS) was also calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 21.0, with a significance level of 5%. Continuous variables were described as mean±Standard Deviation (SD), and an unpaired t-test was used for comparisons between pre- and postmanagement visual acuity and IOP. Results: Out of 259 eyes with ocular trauma, 93 (35.90%) were diagnosed with CGI and developed elevated IOP. The most common causes of elevated IOP were hyphema (37.63%) and angle recession mechanisms (32.25%). The median IOP at presentation was 35 mmHg (range: 12 to 71 mmHg) and decreased to 16.5 mmHg (range: 4 to 52 mmHg) at the last follow-up (p-value <0.001). Surgical management was required in 30 (32.25%) eyes, with 13 (13.97%) eyes undergoing trabeculectomy. Conclusion: Post-traumatic IOP elevation occurred in 93 (35.90%) eyes with CGI, and 13.97% of these eyes required glaucoma filtering surgery for IOP control. Overall, medical management was necessary in 67.74% of eyes, while 32.25% required surgical intervention. Eyes with posterior segment involvement had poor visual acuity. Poor baseline vision and vitreo-retinal involvement increased the risk of a poor visual outcome

IGV snapshot of performance comparison across SCNA detection tools in the region of chr1.

<p>IGV snapshot of performance comparison across SCNA detection tools in the region of chr1.</p

Performance comparison across SCNA detection tools.

<p>The percentage of true positive SCNAs (y axes) are plotted against the percentage of false positive SCNAs (x axes) for available SCNA detection tools including COPS. Simulated CNVs at three size ranges: 1–10 kb (A), 10–50 kb (B) and 50 kb–1 mb (C) were used. Paired-end reads of lengths 36, 50, 76, 100 and 150, were generated for each dataset. The size of the data points is representative of the deviation in size of the detected SCNA.</p

COPS and the boundary segmentation module workflow.

<p>Steps involved in the COPS workflow for tumor:normal (paired) samples along with the steps involved in the SCNA boundary segmentation module.</p

Overlapping of SCNAs detected using COPS and cnvPartition2.4.4 in a region of chr11.

<p>The log₂ratios estimated by COPS using paired tumor:normal reads are plotted before (blue dots) and after (red dots) applying the smoothening function (see zoomed inset), for a section of chromosome 11 harboring SCNAs. A snap-shot of this chromosome section from GenomeStudio is juxtaposed to reveal SCNAs (two major amplifications with different copy numbers) in the same region.</p

Clinical Characteristics of Pigment Dispersion Syndrome and Pigmentary Glaucoma Patients: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Pigmentary Glaucoma (PG) and Pigment Dispersion Syndrome (PDS) are two different spectrums of a single disease. Since the disease is seen in younger population and is rapidly progressive blinding disease, therefore early diagnosis and treatment will reduce the burden of the disease and improve the quality of life. Aim: To evaluate clinical characteristics of PDS and PG patients in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. Materials and Methods: This was a two years (1st January 2018 to 31st December 2019) hospital‑based retrospective cross-sectional study of patients who attended the glaucoma clinic. Diagnosis of PDS was made when they had normal optic disc, normal visual field {with or without increased Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP)} and at least two of the following three signs were found clinically: Krukenberg spindle, homogenous moderate-to-heavy (≥Spaeth 2+) Trabecular Meshwork (TM) pigmentation, and any degree of zonular and/or lenticular pigment granule dusting. Patients with PDS were diagnosed with PG, if they had two or more of the following findings: initial IOP >21 mmHg, glaucomatous optic nerve damage or glaucomatous visual field loss. Various parameters such as influence of demographics, IOP, Best‑Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA), Central Corneal Thickness (CCT), Mean Deviation (MD), Visual Field Index (VFI %), spherical equivalent and clinical finding of anterior segment of study patients were analysed. Mean, standard deviation and percentage were calculated using GraphPad Instat version 3.0. Results: Among 40 patients, nine eyes of the six patients had myopia of -0.5D or greater, with mean refractive error of -3.55±4.72 spherical equivalent. The average baseline IOP in study patients (PDS+PG), was 30.21±11.42 mmHg. Twenty four (60%) patients, either in one or both eyes had glaucoma, secondary to PDS at the initial diagnosis. Thirty three (82.5%) patients had Krukenberg spindles. Homogeneous TM pigmentation was seen in all patients. Typical spoke-like radial Iris Transillumination Defects (ITDs) were not observed in any of the patients except in one patient, who had isolated short slit-like trans-illumination defects in iris crypts. Conclusion: PDS patients with normal optic disc and visual field and raised IOP, should be started prophylactic treatment and needs to be monitored more closely. Thus, the finding of PDS in Indians should alert the ophthalmologist to look for glaucoma during the initial examination

Validation of SCNAs detected using sequencing reads with whole genome SNP microarray.

<p>SCNAs detected by COPS using reads from tumor:normal paired samples were overlapped with SCNAs detected by cnvPartition2.4.4 Illumina plugin in GenomeStudio with Omni 2.5 whole genome SNP microarray.</p