Self-incompatibility system of Oenothera organensis for the detection of genetic effects at low radiation doses.

The self-incompatibility system of Oenothera organensis is used to analyze the frequency of S locus mutations induced by low doses (2.5-20 rad) of fast neutrons and x-rays. Th principles and methods of the screening system for detection of low dose effects have been presented. The results show that low doses induced significantly higher frequencies of seeds and seedlings than those produced spontaneously. The analyses of part of the progenies derived from the control and treated series suggested that they were due to revertible mutations. A modified in vitro method of culturing pollinated cut styles has been developed for rapid screening of compatible pollen tubes

Impact of the Ability to Divide Attention on Reading Performance in Glaucoma

PURPOSE: To determine if the ability to divide attention affects the relationship between glaucoma-related vision loss and reading speed. METHODS: Better eye mean deviation (MD), contrast sensitivity (CS), and better-eye distance visual acuity (VA) were measured in 28 participants with glaucoma and 21 controls. Reading speeds were assessed using MNRead, IRest, and sustained silent reading tests (words per minute, wpm). The ability to divide attention was measured using the Brief Test of Attention (BTA; scored 0-10). Multivariable linear regression models were used to determine the relationship between visual factors and reading speeds. Effect modification by BTA score (low BTA: 0.1 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Decreased ability to divide attention, indicated by lower BTA scores, is associated with slower reading speeds in glaucoma with reduced CS and VF defects

A prospective study on clinical profile and incidence of acute kidney injury due to hair dye poisoning

Background: Globally suicides are mounting at an alarming rate over the last few decades thus claiming the most productive age group of the society. Developing country like India is no exception to this needless increasing toll.Methods: This study was a prospective observational study with 31 patients recruited at Osmania General Hospital between November 2011 – October 2013. Patients of alleged hair dye ingestion admitted in MICU were taken up for study after the exclusion criteria were ruled out. Informed consent was obtained from every patient or patient’s relatives. All routine laboratory investigations were done basing on standard clinical procedures and protocols and patient related clinical information were recorded on the prepared proforma from the time of hospital admission till discharge or death. The presence of AKI was defined and graded as per the RIFLE criteria.Results: The present work examines 31 cases of suicidal ingestion of hair dye, out of which males were 6 (19.35%) and females were 25 (80.64%). It was observed that the tendency to commit suicide was more in the age group 21 -30 years with males (30%) and females (70%). 19% of total patients who ingested more than 50 ml of dye had developed Acute Kidney injury requiring hemodialysis. Upon treatment about 58% of patients were discharged from hospital in good general health condition, Four patients expired due to respiratory complications with pneumonia, ARDS, sepsis and ARF.Conclusions: So in current scenario of emerging hair dye poisoning, it is imperative for a timely intervention by reducing the time of admission in hospital and also early management by clinicians is the need of an hour

Histopathological Study of Stomatitis Nicotina

One hundred and thirteen biopsies of the palate in people accustomed to smoking cigars, most of them with the burning end of the cigar inside the mouth, have been studied

Changes in the ducts of the glands of the hard palate in reverse smokers

Three hundred fifty-nine cases of stomatitis nicotina were studied in reverse smokers of home made chuttas. One hundred thirty-five biopsies of papular unbilicated lesions of stomatitis nicotina were studied histopathologically. The biopsies were chosen after toluidine blue staining. Mild dysplastic to severe dysplastic changes were seen around the openings of the ducts of the glands. There were three cases of microinvasive carcinoma in the one hundred thirty-five biopsies. Cystic dilatation of the ducts, due to obstruction of the ducts by keratotic plugging, was not seen in stomatitis nicotina lesions but was seen in elderly women who had smoked reverse for more than 4 to 5 decades. The ducts of the glands could probably form a portal of entry for the tobacco pyrolytic products which may act as carcinogenics

Eye movements and reading in glaucoma: observations on patients with advanced visual field loss

Purpose To investigate the relationship between reading speed and eye movements in patients with advanced glaucomatous visual field (VF) defects and age-similar visually healthy people. Methods Eighteen patients with advanced bilateral VF defects (mean age: 71, standard deviation [SD]: 7 years) and 39 controls (mean age: 67, SD: 8 years) had reading speed measured using short passages of text on a computer set-up incorporating eye tracking. Scanpaths were plotted and analysed from these experiments to derive measures of ‘perceptual span’ (total number of letters read per number of saccades) and ‘text saturation’ (the distance between the first and last fixation on lines of text). Another eye movement measure, termed ‘saccadic frequency’ (total number of saccades made to read a single word), was derived from a separate lexical decision task, where words were presented in isolation. Results Significant linear association was demonstrated between perceptual span and reading speed in patients (R2=0.42) and controls (R2=0.56). Linear association between saccadic frequency during the LDT and reading speed was also found in patients (R2=0.42), but not in controls (R2=0.02). Patients also exhibited greater average text saturation than controls (P=0.004). Conclusion Some, but not all, patients with advanced VF defects read slower than controls using short text passages. Differences in eye movement behaviour may partly account for this variability in patients. These patients were shown to saturate lines of text more during reading, which may explain previously-reported difficulties with sustained reading

Machining of Tungsten Heavy Alloy under Cryogenic Environment

Abstract The alloys of Nickel, Cobalt, Titanium, Tungsten belong

Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma with presumed choroidal involvement

Conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma has been well-described, but rarely do these lesions demonstrate intraocular involvement. We report a case of conjunctival MALT lymphoma with intraocular involvement and novel spectral-domain ocular coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings. A 75-year-old woman with biopsy-proven MALT lymphoma of the conjunctiva presented with ipsilateral yellowish diffuse choroidal infiltrates on fundoscopic examination. Choroidal involvement was documented clinically, on ultrasonography, on fluorescein angiography, and by SD-OCT. Treatment consisted of 3 weeks of oral doxycycline and six cycles of systemic chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and rituximab. There was no evidence of progression or recurrence of MALT lymphoma after 9 months of follow-up. Despite complete resolution of clinical findings, ultrasound, and fluorescein angiography, the choroidal lesions remained unchanged on SD-OCT. Choroidal involvement of conjunctival MALT is rare, and can be successfully treated. Persistence of irregularities on SD-OCT did not influence management in the presence of clinical improvement and resolution on ultrasonography and fluorescein angiography

Five-year visual field outcomes of the HORIZON trial

Purpose to compare visual field (VF) progression between glaucoma patients receiving cataract surgery alone (CS) or with a Hydrus microstent (CS-HMS) Design post-hoc analysis of VF data from the HORIZON multicenter randomized controlled trial Methods 556 patients with glaucoma and cataract were randomized 2:1 to either CS-HMS (369) or CS (187) and followed up for 5 years. VF was performed at 6 months and then every year after surgery. We analyzed data for all participants with at least 3 reliable VFs (false positives < 15%). Average between-group difference in rate of progression (RoP) was tested using a Bayesian mixed model and a two-sided Bayesian p-value < 0.05 (main outcome). A multivariable model measured the effect of intraocular pressure (IOP). A survival analysis compared the probability of global VF sensitivity dropping by predefined cut-offs (2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 dB) from baseline. Results data from 352 eyes in the CS-HMS arm and 165 in the CS arm were analyzed (2966 VFs). The average RoP was (Estimate [95% Credible Intervals]) -0.26 [-0.36, -0.16] dB/year for CS-HMS and -0.49 [-0.63, -0.34] dB/year for CS. This difference was significant (p = 0.0138). The difference in IOP only explained 17% of the effect (p < 0.0001). Five-year survival analysis showed an increased probability of VF worsening by 5.5 dB (p = 0.0170), indicating a greater proportion of fast progressors in the CS arm. Conclusions CS-HMS has a significant effect on VF preservation in glaucoma patients compared to CS alone, reducing the proportion of fast progressors

Eye movements during visual search in patients with glaucoma

Background: Glaucoma has been shown to lead to disability in many daily tasks including visual search. This study aims to determine whether the saccadic eye movements of people with glaucoma differ from those of people with normal vision, and to investigate the association between eye movements and impaired visual search. Methods: Forty patients (mean age: 67 [SD: 9] years) with a range of glaucomatous visual field (VF) defects in both eyes (mean best eye mean deviation [MD]: –5.9 (SD: 5.4) dB) and 40 age-related people with normal vision (mean age: 66 [SD: 10] years) were timed as they searched for a series of target objects in computer displayed photographs of real world scenes. Eye movements were simultaneously recorded using an eye tracker. Average number of saccades per second, average saccade amplitude and average search duration across trials were recorded. These response variables were compared with measurements of VF and contrast sensitivity. Results: The average rate of saccades made by the patient group was significantly smaller than the number made by controls during the visual search task (P = 0.02; mean reduction of 5.6% (95% CI: 0.1 to 10.4%). There was no difference in average saccade amplitude between the patients and the controls (P = 0.09). Average number of saccades was weakly correlated with aspects of visual function, with patients with worse contrast sensitivity (PR logCS; Spearman’s rho: 0.42; P = 0.006) and more severe VF defects (best eye MD; Spearman’s rho: 0.34; P = 0.037) tending to make less eye movements during the task. Average detection time in the search task was associated with the average rate of saccades in the patient group (Spearman’s rho = −0.65; P < 0.001) but this was not apparent in the controls. Conclusions: The average rate of saccades made during visual search by this group of patients was fewer than those made by people with normal vision of a similar average age. There was wide variability in saccade rate in the patients but there was an association between an increase in this measure and better performance in the search task. Assessment of eye movements in individuals with glaucoma might provide insight into the functional deficits of the disease