Computerizing orthoptics and visual therapy: Methods and applications

In today\u27s vision therapy environment, the practitioner has available the benefits and parameters of the computer age. The computerized vision therapy market is constantly changing, with many systems adding programs and capabilities; some new systems joining the market; and some systems falling by the way side. This thesis presents a review of the optometric literature dealing with the background and uses of computers in vision therapy, and other related areas of optometry. Specific computer - systems currently on the market, and designed totally with vision therapy in mind, are outlined and discussed. These systems are compared and contrasted; to include current costs; availability; and intrinsic capabilities. This review should answer some of the questions regarding what is available to the practitioner wishing to computerize his/her vision therapy procedures

Public attitudes and perceptions of wind energy development within the Rolling Plains and Breaks ecological region

Master of Regional and Community PlanningDepartment of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community PlanningJohn W. KellerThe Great Plains possesses one of the best sources of wind energy in North America. Based upon the need to diversify energy production domestically, wind energy’s future in both the immediate and long term should be dynamic. The success of wide scale development of this potential will be largely determined by the perceptions of local residents, who are most affected by the siting and design of wind energy projects. Currently, regulation of this natural resource is left largely to state and county governments. A majority of these entities in the Great Plains region have no regulations governing wind energy development or employ a patchwork of "borrowed" codes from across the nation. The system of regulation of natural resources by political boundary is archaic. It fails to recognize that there are high degrees of correlation between social, economic, and natural resources without respect for artificial political boundaries. This study is the first in the Great Plains to examine public attitudes toward the development of wind energy and its relationship to the landscape based upon ecological regions rather than political boundaries. The analysis of collected data will provide a useful tool for local planners, policy makers, and the general public in understanding the prevalent issues involved with wind energy development in this region

Evolutionary predictors of mammalian home range size: body mass, diet and the environment

ABSTRACT Aim Mammalian home range patterns provide information on spatial behaviour and ecological patterns, such as resource use, that is often used by conservation managers in a variety of contexts. However, there has been little research on home range patterns outside of the terrestrial environment, potentially limiting the relevance of current home range models for marine mammals, a group of particular conservation concern. To address this gap, we investigated how variation in mammalian home range size among marine and terrestrial species was related to diet, environment and body mass. Location Global. Methods We compiled data on home range size, environment (marine and terrestrial), diet and body mass from the literature and empirical studies to obtain a dataset covering 462 mammalian species. We then used phylogenetic regression analyses (to address non-independence between species) to examine the relative contribution of these factors to variation of home range size among species. Results Body size explained the majority of the difference in home range size among species (53-85%), with larger species occupying larger home ranges. The type of food exploited by species was also an important predictor of home range size (an additional 15% of variation), as was the environment, but to a much lesser degree (1.7%). Main conclusions The factors contributing to the evolution of home ranges are more complex than has been assumed. We demonstrate that diet and body size both influence home range patterns but differ in their relative contribution, and show that colonization of the marine environment has resulted in the expansion of home range size. Broad-scale models are often used to inform conservation strategies. We propose that future integrative models should incorporate the possibility of phylogenetic effects and a range of ecological variables, and that they should include species representative of the diversity within a group

The effect of whole grain wheat sourdough bread consumption on serum lipids in healthy normoglycemic/normoinsulinemic and hyperglycemic/hyperinsulinemic adults depends on presence of the APOE E3/E3 genotype: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiological studies associate consumption of whole grain foods, including breads, with reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk; however, few studies have compared wheat whole grains with wheat refined grains.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study investigated effects of 6-week consumption of whole grain wheat sourdough bread in comparison to white bread on fasting serum lipids in normoglycemic/normoinsulinemic (NGI; n = 14) and hyperglycemic/hyperinsulinemic (HGI; n = 14) adults. The influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, 3 within the <it>APOE </it>gene (E2, E3, E4) and 2 within the hepatic lipase gene promoter (<it>LIPC </it>-514C>T, LIPC -250G>A) were considered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline, HGI participants had significantly higher body weight, waist circumference, body fat, and fasted glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), glucagon, triacylglycerols (TAG) and TAG:HDL-cholesterol, compared to NGI participants; however, none of these in addition to none of the other serum lipids, differed between bread treatments, within either participant group. For participants with the <it>APOE </it>E3/E3 genotype, LDL-cholesterol (<it>P </it>= 0.02) increased in the NGI group (n = 7), and TAG (<it>P </it>= 0.03) and TAG:HDL-cholesterol (<it>P </it>= 0.04) increased in the HGI group (n = 10), following consumption of whole grain wheat sourdough compared to white bread.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In summary, 6-week consumption of whole grain wheat sourdough bread did not significantly modulate serum lipids in NGI or HGI adults; however, it significantly increased LDL-cholesterol, TAG and TAG:HDL-cholesterol in participants with the <it>APOE </it>E3/E3 genotype. These data add to limited literature comparing wheat whole grains to wheat refined grains on CVD risk and highlight the need to consider genetic variation in relation to lipoprotein lipid content and CVD risk.</p

The GLOBE climate legislation study: a review of climate change legislation in 66 countries: fourth edition

The GLOBE Climate Legislation Study is the most comprehensive audit of climate legislation across 66 countries, together responsible for around 88% of global manmade greenhouse gas emissions. It is produced by the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics in collaboration with GLOBE International. The 4th edition of the Study was formally launched at the 2nd GLOBE Climate Legislation Summit held at the Senate of the United States of America and at the World Bank in Washington DC on 27th-28th February 2014. The next edition of the Climate Legislation Study will be launched in early 2015, covering legislation in 100 countries. Key messages from the 4th edition: ◾Almost 500 climate laws have been passed in the 66 countries covered by the study; the direction of travel is clear; and encouragingly, it is developing countries and emerging markets, which are advancing climate change laws and regulation at the fastest pace. ◾Even though the legislative progress is impressive, the cumulative ambition of these laws is not yet sufficient to limit global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the agreed goal of the international community. ◾In order for a successful outcome in Paris in 2015 there is now extreme urgency to strengthen commitments, and for countries that have not yet passed climate change laws and/or regulations to do so

Self-assembly in dilute mixtures of non-ionic and anionic surfactants and rhamnolipid biosurfactant

The self-assembly of dilute aqueous solutions of a ternary surfactant mixture and rhamnolipid biosurfactant/surfactant mixtures has been studied by small angle neutron scattering. In the ternary surfactant mixture of octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether, C12E8, sodium dodecyl 6-benzene sulfonate, LAS, and sodium dioxyethylene monododecyl sulfate, SLES, small globular interacting micelles are observed over the entire composition and concentration range studied. The modelling of the scattering data strongly supports the assumption that the micelle compositions are close to the solution compositions. In the 5-component rhamnolipid/surfactant mixture of the mono-rhamnose, R1, di-rhamnose, R2, rhamnolipids with C12E8/LAS/SLES, globular micelles are observed over much of the concentration and composition range studied. However, for solutions relatively rich in rhamnolipid and LAS, lamellar/micellar coexistence is observed. The transition from globular to more planar structures arises from a synergistic packing in the 5 component mixture. It is not observed in the individual components nor in the ternary C12E8/LAS/SLES mixture at these relatively low concentrations. The results provide an insight into how synergistic packing effects can occur in the solution self-assembly of complex multi-component surfactant mixtures, and give rise to an unexpected evolution in the phase behaviour

The 2015 Global Climate Legislation Study: a review of climate change legislation in 99 countries: summary for policy-makers

This report summarises the main insights from the 2015 Global Climate Legislation Study. It is the fifth edition in a series dating back to 2010 (Townshend et al., 2011). The 2015 edition covers 98 countries plus the EU, up from 66 in 2014, which together account for 93 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The study is intended as a source of information for legislators, researchers and policy-makers. It is hoped that parliaments considering climate change legislation will benefit from the growing body of experience reflected in the study. Facilitating knowledge exchange among parliamentarians was one of the primary motivations behind the Climate Legislation Study when the series was conceived by the Grantham Research Institute, LSE and GLOBE International in 2010. Since then there have been many examples of parliamentarians learning from, and being inspired by, each other through forums such as GLOBE and the Inter-Parliamentary Union – the two co-sponsors of the 2015 study

Recycling Argon through Metamorphic Reactions: the Record in Symplectites

The 40Ar/39Ar ages of metamorphic micas that crystallized at high temperatures are commonly interpreted as cooling ages, with grains considered to have lost 40Ar via thermally-driven diffusion into the grain boundary network. Recently reported laser-ablation data suggest that the spatial distribution of Ar in metamorphic micas does not always conform to the patterns predicted by diffusion theory and that despite high metamorphic temperatures, argon was not removed efficiently from the local system during metamorphic evolution. In the Western Gneiss Region (WGR), Norway, felsic gneisses preserve microtextural evidence for the breakdown of phengite to biotite and plagioclase symplectites during near isothermal decompression from c. 20–25 to c. 8–12 kbar at ~700°C. These samples provide an ideal natural laboratory to assess whether the complete replacement of one K-bearing mineral by another at high temperatures completely ‘resets’ the Ar clock, or whether there is some inheritance of 40Ar in the neo-crystallized phase. The timing of the high-temperature portion of the WGR metamorphic cycle has been well constrained in previous studies. However, the timing of cooling following the overprint is still much debated. In-situ laser ablation spot dating in phengite, biotite-plagioclase symplectites and coarser, texturally later biotite yielded 40Ar/39Ar ages that span much of the metamorphic cycle. Together these data show that despite residence at temperatures of ~700°C, Ar is not completely removed by diffusive loss or during metamorphic recrystallization. Instead, Ar released during phengite breakdown appears to be partially reincorporated into the newly crystallizing biotite and plagioclase (or is trapped in fluid inclusions in those phases) within a close system. Our data show that the microtextural and petrographic evolution of the sample being dated provides a critical framework in which local 40Ar recycling can be tracked, thus potentially allowing 40Ar/39Ar dates to be linked more accurately to metamorphic history

Diagnosing the role of the state for local collective action : types of action situations and policy instruments

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552This paper presents a diagnostic approach to the role and capacity of governments to facilitate local collective action and alleviate environmental problems. The paper adds to a nascent scholarship aiming to conciliate theories on "governance by government" and "governance by self-organization". We adopt two premises for that purpose: (1) policy instruments shall be tailored to the strategic nature of local resource management decisions; and (2) such nature is not static and can be modified via governmental policies. We first build on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to characterize the decision-making situations that local resource users face and the local rules that shape said situations. Then, based on common pool resource (CPR) and policy instrument choice theory, we identify four mechanisms through which different policy instruments can facilitate local collective action (change in payoffs and their perception, reduction of transaction costs, reduction of uncertainty, and normative consonance). This analytical approach is then applied to four illustrative cases of water management in Germany, France, Greece and Spain. As shown, local resource users are embedded in not one but many overlapping decision-making situations. In this context, the promotion of collective action is rarely accomplished via a single policy instrument or mechanism but via bundles of them. Also, the paper illustrates the importance of understanding how governmental policies modify the structure of rules and incentives that affect local resource users, potentially facilitating local collective action and the solution of environmental problems

Transcriptomic analysis across nasal, temporal, and macular regions of human neural retina and RPE/choroid by RNA-Seq

AbstractProper spatial differentiation of retinal cell types is necessary for normal human vision. Many retinal diseases, such as Best disease and male germ cell associated kinase (MAK)-associated retinitis pigmentosa, preferentially affect distinct topographic regions of the retina. While much is known about the distribution of cell types in the retina, the distribution of molecular components across the posterior pole of the eye has not been well-studied. To investigate regional difference in molecular composition of ocular tissues, we assessed differential gene expression across the temporal, macular, and nasal retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid of human eyes using RNA-Seq. RNA from temporal, macular, and nasal retina and RPE/choroid from four human donor eyes was extracted, poly-A selected, fragmented, and sequenced as 100 bp read pairs. Digital read files were mapped to the human genome and analyzed for differential expression using the Tuxedo software suite. Retina and RPE/choroid samples were clearly distinguishable at the transcriptome level. Numerous transcription factors were differentially expressed between regions of the retina and RPE/choroid. Photoreceptor-specific genes were enriched in the peripheral samples, while ganglion cell and amacrine cell genes were enriched in the macula. Within the RPE/choroid, RPE-specific genes were upregulated at the periphery while endothelium associated genes were upregulated in the macula. Consistent with previous studies, BEST1 expression was lower in macular than extramacular regions. The MAK gene was expressed at lower levels in macula than in extramacular regions, but did not exhibit a significant difference between nasal and temporal retina. The regional molecular distinction is greatest between macula and periphery and decreases between different peripheral regions within a tissue. Datasets such as these can be used to prioritize candidate genes for possible involvement in retinal diseases with regional phenotypes