Contribution to the floristic knowledge of the head of the Po Valley (Piedmont, north Italy)

In 2014, the annual field trip of the working group for Floristics, Systematics, and Evolution of the Italian Botanical Society was held in Piemonte (northern Italy), at the head of the Po Valley. This valley, at whose extremity is located the Monviso (3,841 m a.s.l.), belongs to the Cottian Alps about which very little is known from a floristic point of view. An inventory of the taxa of vascular plants collected during the field trip is reported here. The research led to the identification of 3,546 exsiccata, kept in nine public and nine private collections. A total of 669 taxa belonging to 79 plant families were recorded. Six taxa resulted endemic to Italy and three exclusive to Piemonte, while only nine alien species were detected; six taxa are new and five confirmed for the regional flora

Citokininek, a növényi in vitro fejlődés kulcsregulátorai

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Overview of the FTU results

Since the 2018 IAEA FEC Conference, FTU operations have been devoted to several experiments covering a large range of topics, from the investigation of the behaviour of a liquid tin limiter to the runaway electrons mitigation and control and to the stabilization of tearing modes by electron cyclotron heating and by pellet injection. Other experiments have involved the spectroscopy of heavy metal ions, the electron density peaking in helium doped plasmas, the electron cyclotron assisted start-up and the electron temperature measurements in high temperature plasmas. The effectiveness of the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy system has been demonstrated and the new capabilities of the runaway electron imaging spectrometry system for in-flight runaways studies have been explored. Finally, a high resolution saddle coil array for MHD analysis and UV and SXR diamond detectors have been successfully tested on different plasma scenarios

Overview of the FTU results

Since the 2016 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, FTU operations have been mainly devoted to experiments on runaway electrons and investigations into a tin liquid limiter; other experiments have involved studies of elongated plasmas and dust. The tearing mode onset in the high density regime has been studied by means of the linear resistive code MARS, and the highly collisional regimes have been investigated. New diagnostics, such as a runaway electron imaging spectroscopy system for in-flight runaway studies and a triple Cherenkov probe for the measurement of escaping electrons, have been successfully installed and tested, and new capabilities of the collective Thomson scattering and the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy diagnostics have been explored

Benchmarking evaluation of five PHMB-based multi-purpose solutions and a silicone hydrogel contact lens

Copyright 2017 by the IJO Press. AIM: To evaluate and compare the clinical performance of 5 kinds of polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) based multi-purpose solutions (MPS) manufactured in China when used with a commercially available silicone hydrogel contact lens in terms of solution-induced corneal staining (SICS), ocular response (corneal staining and ocular hyperemia), corneal infiltrative events (CIE) and ocular comfort. METHODS: This was a prospective, open label, randomized, parallel group clinical trial. Totally 162 participants who were at least 18y old were enrolled and randomized into 5 groups of PHMB-based MPS made in China: Complete® MPS, Hydron® Aqua-shining moist, BaoshiningTM, Weicon® Fresh, Weicon® 2000 MPS (abbreviated as C, H, B, W, and W2). All participants wore balafilcon A contact lenses with monthly disposal (Bausch & Lomb Purevision®) in conjunction with the designated MPS on a daily wear for 3mo. Clinical visits were at baseline, 2wk, 1 and 3mo. SICS and CIE were reported as first event incidence per 100 Px-months. Ocular response was graded on 0-4 scale in 0.5 steps (0=none, 4=severe) and ocular comfort was assessed via a numeric rating scale (1-10 in 1-point steps, 1=poor, 10=excellent). Ocular comfort and ocular response variables were analysed using linear mixed model. CIE and SICS were analysed using Fisher's exact test and logistic regression. RESULTS: There were 36 (22%) Pxs who dropped out. SICS incidence for each MPS were: H (26.3%), B (20.8%), W (19.4%), W2 (13.4%), C (12.8%). The SICS rate of H was significantly different to W2 (P = 0.012) and C (P = 0.005). There were no significant differences in ocular response, CIE incidence and ocular comfort between different MPSs (P>0.05). Pxs with SICS had significantly lower comfort during the day and at the end of than those who did not have SICS. CONCLUSION: Differences in SICS incidence were found between MPSs but not for CIE incidence, ocular response or ocular comfort. SICS in PHMB-based MPS was found to be associated with ocular discomfort

Effects of relative negative spherical aberration in single vision contact lens visual performance

© 2018 Kho et al. Objective: The study aimed to compare the visual performance of contact lenses with and without negative spherical aberration (SA) over 5 days of wear. Methods: At baseline, 32 myopic participants (aged 18-33 years) were fitted in a randomized order with two lenses (test lens with minimal or no SA and 1-Day Acuvue Moist designed with negative SA) for 5 days (minimum 6 hours wear/day). Participants returned for a follow-up visit. This consisted of on-axis SA measurements; high-and low-contrast visual acuities at 6 m; highcontrast acuities at 70 and 40 cm; low-illumination, low-contrast acuity at 6 m; stereopsis at 40 cm; horizontal phorias at 3 m and 33 cm; and ±2.00 D monocular accommodative facility at 33 cm. Participants also rated (1-10 scale) vision quality (clarity and lack of ghosting for distance, intermediate, near, driving vision and vision stability during day-and night-time), overall vision satisfaction, ocular comfort, and willingness to purchase (yes/no response). Results: 1-Day Acuvue Moist induced significantly (p0.05) in acuity, binocular vision, and all subjective metrics except vision stability between lenses where the test lens was rated to provide more stable vision (p<0.05). Conclusion: Contrary to expectations, incorporating negative SA in single vision soft contact lenses did not improve visual performance in non-presbyopic adult myopes

Effects of relative negative spherical aberration in single vision contact lens visual performance

Danny Kho,1 Cathleen Fedtke,1,2 Daniel Tilia,1,2 Jennie Diec,1 Jennifer Sha,1 Varghese Thomas,1 Ravi C Bakaraju1,2 1Brien Holden Vision Institute, Clinical Trial Research Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Objective: The study aimed to compare the visual performance of contact lenses with and without negative spherical aberration (SA) over 5 days of wear. Methods: At baseline, 32 myopic participants (aged 18&ndash;33 years) were fitted in a randomized order with two lenses (test lens with minimal or no SA and 1-Day Acuvue Moist designed with negative SA) for 5 days (minimum 6 hours wear/day). Participants returned for a follow-up visit. This consisted of on-axis SA measurements; high- and low-contrast visual acuities at 6 m; high-contrast acuities at 70 and 40 cm; low-illumination, low-contrast acuity at 6 m; stereopsis at 40 cm; horizontal phorias at 3 m and 33 cm; and &plusmn;2.00 D monocular accommodative facility at 33 cm. Participants also rated (1&ndash;10 scale) vision quality (clarity and lack of ghosting for distance, intermediate, near, driving vision and vision stability during day- and night-time), overall vision satisfaction, ocular comfort, and willingness to purchase (yes/no response). Results: 1-Day Acuvue Moist induced significantly (p&lt;0.05) more negative SA at distance (∆=0.078 &mu;m) and near (∆=0.064 &mu;m) compared to the test lens, for a 6 mm pupil. There were no significant differences (p&gt;0.05) in acuity, binocular vision, and all subjective metrics except vision stability between lenses where the test lens was rated to provide more stable vision (p&lt;0.05). Conclusion: Contrary to expectations, incorporating negative SA in single vision soft contact lenses did not improve visual performance in non-presbyopic adult myopes. Keywords: soft contact lens, spherical aberration, power profile, visual acuit

Quantification of individual proteins in silicone hydrogel contact lens deposits

Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantify specifc proteins deposited on daily wear silicone hydrogel lenses used in combination with multipurpose disinfecting solutions (MPDSs) by applying multiple-reaction-monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS). Methods: Balaflcon A or senoflcon A contact lenses used with different MPDSs on a daily wear schedule were collected. Each worn lens was extracted and then digested with trypsin. MRM-MS was applied to quantify the amounts of lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin-1, proline-rich protein-4, and keratin-1 in the extracts. Results: The amount of protein extracted from the contact lenses was affected by the individual wearers, lens material, and type of care system used. Higher amounts of proteins were extracted from lenses after wear when they were used with an MPDS containing polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) and poloxamer 407 compared with MPDSs containing polyquaternium-1 (PQ-1)/alexidine dihydrochloride with Tetronic 904 or PQ-1/ PHMB with poloxamine and sulfobetaine (p<0.05). There was a correlation between the amount of lipocalin-1 or keratin-1 extracted from lenses and symptoms of ocular dryness. Conclusions: The MRM-MS technique is a promising approach that could be used to reveal associations of individual proteins deposited on lenses with performance of contact lenses during wear.10 page(s