Young Adults With Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: A Multicenter Optic Disc Drusen Study.

PURPOSE: Optic disc drusen (ODD), present in 2% of the general population, have occasionally been reported in patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION). The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of ODD in young patients with NA-AION. DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional multicenter study. METHODS: All patients with NA-AION 50 years old or younger, seen in neuro-ophthalmology clinics of the international ODDS (Optic Disc Drusen Studies) Consortium between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2019, were identified. Patients were included if ODD were diagnosed by any method, or if ODD were excluded by enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) using ODDS Consortium guidelines. NA-AION eyes with ODD were termed "ODD-AION"; those without were termed "NODD-AION". RESULTS: A total of 65 patients (127 eyes) with NA-AION were included (mean 41 years old). Of the 74 eyes with NA-AION, 51% had ODD-AION, whereas 43% of fellow eyes without NA-AION had ODD (P = .36). No significant differences were found between ODD-AION and NODD-AION eyes in terms of Snellen best-corrected VA or perimetric mean deviation. According to EDI-OCT results, 28% of eyes with NODD-AION had peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS); 7% had hyperreflective lines, whereas 54% with ODD-AION had PHOMS; and 66% had hyperreflective lines (P = .006 and P < .001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Most of these young NA-AION patients had ODD. This indicates that ODD may be an independent risk factor for the development of NA-AION, at least in younger patients. This study suggests ODD-AION be recognized as a novel diagnosis

A comparison of commercial ethanol production systems from Brazilian sugarcane and US corn

Global biofuels production grew rapidly from 2007 to 2012, led by the United States and Brazil, the world's two largest fuel-ethanol-producing systems. In this paper we provide insights into the characteristics of mature Brazilian sugarcane and maturing US dry mill corn ethanol industries. Both systems continue to improve as measured by life cycle data such as total renewable energy produced per unit of fossil energy consumed [renewable energy ratio (RER)]. Sugarcane self-benchmarking systems showed RER values of 7.0 in 2002 to 9.4 in 2009 as the industry started to switch to mechanized harvesting. The average US RER improved from 1.1 to 1.7 from 2000 to 2010. RERs of 4.4 to 5.5 are observed in corn ethanol plants employing natural gas or corn stover combined heat and power. Ethanol systems configured to produce ethanol and electricity had similar net energy balances (a ratio of net energy produced to energy contained in the fuel). One measure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions (biomass use efficiency) compares the effectiveness of displacing carbon from combustion of fossil fuels with renewable carbon. Advanced corn ethanol systems reach higher GHG emission reduction levels compared to sugarcane ethanol by displacing coal-based electricity. Sugarcane systems achieve double the GHG emissions reductions per unit of harvested land relative to corn ethanol because sugarcane and corn are grown as perennial and annual crops in tropical and temperate climatic zones, respectively. Carbon dioxide capture and storage systems could offer additional GHG emission reductions for both corn and sugarcane ethanol systems. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd8220522

Size-Related Changes in Foot Impact Mechanics in Hoofed Mammals

Foot-ground impact is mechanically challenging for all animals, but how do large animals mitigate increased mass during foot impact? We hypothesized that impact force amplitude scales according to isometry in animals of increasing size through allometric scaling of related impact parameters. To test this, we measured limb kinetics and kinematics in 11 species of hoofed mammals ranging from 18–3157 kg body mass. We found impact force amplitude to be maintained proportional to size in hoofed mammals, but that other features of foot impact exhibit differential scaling patterns depending on the limb; forelimb parameters typically exhibit higher intercepts with lower scaling exponents than hind limb parameters. Our explorations of the size-related consequences of foot impact advance understanding of how body size influences limb morphology and function, foot design and locomotor behaviour