176 research outputs found
Ophthalmic evaluation of diagnosed cases of eye cystinosis: A tertiary care center’s experience
Background: We aimed to identify diagnosed cases of ocular cystinosis and describe clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic characteristics. Methods: This is a descriptive and retrospective case series. All patients underwent a full check-up examination every 4–6 months by ophthalmologists, nephrologists and other required specialists. Results: Of the seven cases, six (85.7%) were females and one (14.2%) was male. The infantile nephropathic form of cystinosis was observed in five patients and the juvenile nephropathic form in two patients. No patients with the ocular form of cystinosis were identified. Corneal cystine crystals (CCC) were found in all analyzed patients. Severe ocular and general complications of the disease that had been standing for years, connected to the infantile nephropathic form, delayed diagnosis or inappropriate treatment, were observed only in two patients. All patients received topical therapy. No adverse events related to the therapy were observed. Conclusions: Cystinosis is a rare, progressive disease. Early diagnosis and treatment prevent serious complications from numerous systemic organs. Patients require constant systematic monitoring by various specialists
Antioxidant status in the vitreous of eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with and without proliferative vitreoretinopathy, macular hole and epiretinal membrane
(1) Background: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that the antioxidant status in the vitreous body of eyes, which had been vitrectomized due to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) with or without proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), is higher than in eyes vitrectomized due to other retinal diseases. (2) Methods: four patient groups were analyzed: 22 eyes of patients with RRD without PVR, 27 eyes with RRD and PVR, 22 eyes with macular hole (MH) and 10 eyes with epiretinal membrane (ERM). Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine the total antioxidant status (TAS) values as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities in the vitreous fluid samples. (3) Results: no significant differences in TAS values and antioxidant enzyme activities were observed among patient with RRD with and without PVR and with MH and ERM. The longer the duration of RRD leading to PVR and better postoperative visual acuity, the higher the TAS level. No significant differences were found between “macula on” and “macula off” subgroups within the RRD group and the RRD combined with PVR group. (4) Conclusions: The preliminary results do not support the thesis that the antioxidant status of vitrectomized eyes is different in patients with RRD with or without PVR in comparison to patients with MH and ERM. In patients with RRD, PVR presence and detached macula do not affect the values of TAS, SOD and GR in the vitreous fluid. The duration of the disease influences TAS in the vitreous in eyes with RRD complicated with PVR
Orientational Ordering in Spatially Disordered Dipolar Systems
This letter addresses basic questions concerning ferroelectric order in
positionally disordered dipolar materials. Three models distinguished by dipole
vectors which have one, two or three components are studied by computer
simulation. Randomly frozen and dynamically disordered media are considered. It
is shown that ferroelectric order is possible in spatially random systems, but
that its existence is very sensitive to the dipole vector dimensionality and
the motion of the medium. A physical analysis of our results provides
significant insight into the nature of ferroelectric transitions.Comment: 4 pages twocolumn LATEX style. 4 POSTSCRIPT figures available from
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Ozone-based eye drops activity on ocular epithelial cells and potential pathogens infecting the front of the eye
Confirmation of the biological effectiveness of new ophthalmic preparations introduced in the market is an important element in maintaining the safety of using this type of medications. This study aimed to investigate the activity of Ozodrop® on human corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells, as well as its antibacterial and antifungal activity. Cytotoxicity analyses of ocular surface epithelial cells were performed in vitro by MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide) and Neutral Red uptake assays. The level of nitric oxide released by the cells was assessed by the Griess method. The reduction of the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical by the tested formulation was analyzed. Microbiological tests were also performed. It was found that the Ozodrop® preparation exhibited biological activity, but was less active than the reference antibiotics and the anti-yeast agent. The cytotoxic activity of the Ozodrop® formulation was dependent on the time of cell exposure to it. No toxic effect was observed in the short-term, for up to 3 h. It appeared after 24 h of exposure of the cells to the preparation. The drops showed antioxidant activity in the specified concentration range. They also stimulated the release of nitric oxide, mainly by corneal epithelial cells. The Ozodrop® formulation exhibits biological activity that can be considered useful in the treatment of infections in the front part of the eye
Force-velocity relation and density profiles for biased diffusion in an adsorbed monolayer
In this paper, which completes our earlier short publication [Phys. Rev.
Lett. 84, 511 (2000)], we study dynamics of a hard-core tracer particle (TP)
performing a biased random walk in an adsorbed monolayer, composed of mobile
hard-core particles undergoing continuous exchanges with a vapor phase. In
terms of an approximate approach, based on the decoupling of the third-order
correlation functions, we obtain the density profiles of the monolayer
particles around the TP and derive the force-velocity relation, determining the
TP terminal velocity, V_{tr}, as the function of the magnitude of external bias
and other system's parameters. Asymptotic forms of the monolayer particles
density profiles at large separations from the TP, and behavior of V_{tr} in
the limit of small external bias are found explicitly.Comment: Latex, 31 pages, 3 figure
Ocular involvement of sars-cov-2 in a polish cohort of covid-19-positive patients
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the current human COVID-19 pandemic has shown tropism toward different organs with variable efficiency, eyes included. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the presence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 infection in ocular swabs in patients affected by COVID-19. A consecutive series of 74 COVID-19-positive patients (age 21–89) were enrolled at two Polish COVID-19 hospitals for 4 months and were characterized by PCR for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in nasopharyngeal (NP) and ocular swabs, while their respiratory and ocular symptoms were noted. Almost 50% of them presented with severe/crit-ical respiratory involvement, and some degree of eye disease. No tight correlation was observed between the presence of ocular and respiratory symptoms. Three male patients presenting with severe/critical lung disease tested positive in ocular swab, however with mild/moderate ocular symptoms. In conclusion, our study lends further support to the view that overt ocular infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not such a frequent occurrence
Treatment of backscattering in a gas of interacting fermions confined to a one-dimensional harmonic atom trap
An asymptotically exact many body theory for spin polarized interacting
fermions in a one-dimensional harmonic atom trap is developed using the
bosonization method and including backward scattering. In contrast to the
Luttinger model, backscattering in the trap generates one-particle potentials
which must be diagonalized simultaneously with the two-body interactions.
Inclusion of backscattering becomes necessary because backscattering is the
dominant interaction process between confined identical one-dimensional
fermions. The bosonization method is applied to the calculation of one-particle
matrix elements at zero temperature. A detailed discussion of the validity of
the results from bosonization is given, including a comparison with direct
numerical diagonalization in fermionic Hilbert space. A model for the
interaction coefficients is developed along the lines of the Luttinger model
with only one coupling constant . With these results, particle densities,
the Wigner function, and the central pair correlation function are calculated
and displayed for large fermion numbers. It is shown how interactions modify
these quantities. The anomalous dimension of the pair correlation function in
the center of the trap is also discussed and found to be in accord with the
Luttinger model.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, journal-ref adde
General energy bounds for systems of bosons with soft cores
We study a bound system of N identical bosons interacting by model pair
potentials of the form V(r) = A sgn(p)r^p + B/r^2, A > 0, B >= 0. By using a
variational trial function and the `equivalent 2-body method', we find explicit
upper and lower bound formulas for the N-particle ground-state energy in
arbitrary spatial dimensions d > 2 for the two cases p = 2 and p = -1. It is
demonstrated that the upper bound can be systematically improved with the aid
of a special large-N limit in collective field theory
Luttinger model approach to interacting one-dimensional fermions in a harmonic trap
A model of interacting one--dimensional fermions confined to a harmonic trap
is proposed. The model is treated analytically to all orders of the coupling
constant by a method analogous to that used for the Luttinger model. As a first
application, the particle density is evaluated and the behavior of Friedel
oscillations under the influence of interactions is studied. It is found that
attractive interactions tend to suppress the Friedel oscillations while strong
repulsive interactions enhance the Friedel oscillations significantly. The
momentum distribution function and the relation of the model interaction to
realistic pair interactions are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages latex, 1 eps-figure in 1 tar file, extended Appendix, added
and corrected references, new eq. (53), corrected typos, accepted for PR
Joule-heating Effects In the Amorphous Fe40ni40b20 Alloy
The effects of Joule heating on the amorphous Fe40Ni40B20 alloy are investigated by measuring the time behavior of the electrical resistance of ribbon strips during such a treatment. The structural transformations occurring in subsequent stages of the process are studied by means of x-ray-diffraction, differential-scanning-calorimetry, and magnetic-permeability measurements. A continuous evolution from a fully amorphous to a fully crystalline structure may be followed. The crystallization mechanisms observed in Joule-heated samples differ from the ones occurring under conventional heating conditions. The electrical resistance displays a bump in the course of Joule heating. A quantitative model relating such a bump to the extra heat released to the sample by fast crystallization is proposed and discussed
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