Femtosecond Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis Treatment of Residual Refractive Error following Femtosecond Laser-Enabled Keratoplasty.

Purpose:To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in the treatment of residual myopia and astigmatism following femtosecond laser-enabled keratoplasty (FLEK). Design:Retrospective case review. Methods:Chart review of all patients with prior FLEK who subsequently underwent femto-LASIK surgery after full suture removal was performed at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at the University of California, Irvine. A total of 14 eyes in 13 patients met this criterion, and their comprehensive examinations performed at standard intervals were reviewed. Main outcome measures include uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) expressed as the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR), manifest refractive astigmatism, and spherical equivalent. Results:From the preoperative visit to the 3 month visit, all 14 eyes significantly improved in UDVA (logMAR, 0.93 ± 0.23 to 0.44 ± 0.32, P = 0.002) with no loss of CDVA (logMAR, 0.26 ± 0.19 to 0.18 ± 0.23, P = 0.50). All 14 eyes showed significant improvement in manifest refractive astigmatism (4.71 ± 1.77 to 2.18 ± 1.45 diopters (D), P = 0.003) and spherical equivalent (-2.57 ± 2.45 to -0.48 ± 0.83 D, P = 0.0007). There were no flap or graft complications as a result of femto-LASIK. Conclusions:Our findings suggest that femto-LASIK on eyes with prior FLEK is safe and effective in improving visual acuity and reducing residual astigmatism

Rapid Response of an Academic Surgical Department to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Patients, Surgeons, and the Community.

BackgroundAs the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread, swift actions and preparation are critical for ensuring the best outcomes for patients and providers. We aim to describe our hospital and Department of Surgery's experience in preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic and caring for surgical patients during this unprecedented time.Study designThis is a descriptive study outlining the strategy of a single academic health system for addressing the following 4 critical issues facing surgical departments during the COVID-19 pandemic: developing a cohesive leadership team and system for frequent communication throughout the department; ensuring adequate hospital capacity to care for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients; safeguarding supplies of blood products and personal protective equipment to protect patients and providers; and preparing for an unstable workforce due to illness and competing personal priorities, such as childcare.ResultsThrough collaborative efforts within the Department of Surgery and hospital, we provided concise and regular communication, reduced operating room volume by 80%, secured a 4-week supply of personal protective equipment, and created reduced staffing protocols with back-up staffing plans.ConclusionsBy developing an enabling infrastructure, a department can nimbly respond to crises like COVID-19 by promoting trust among colleagues and emphasizing an unwavering commitment to excellent patient care. Sharing principles and practical applications of these changes is important to optimize responses across the country and the world

Marshall University Music Department Presents the Marshall University Symphony Orchestra Family Concert

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1611/thumbnail.jp

Selective spatial enhancement: Attentional spotlight size impacts spatial but not temporal perception

An important but often neglected aspect of attention is how changes in the attentional spotlight size impact perception. The zoom-lens model predicts that a small ("focal") attentional spotlight enhances all aspects of perception relative to a larger ("diffuse" spotlight). However, based on the physiological properties of the two major classes of visual cells (magnocellular and parvocellular neurons) we predicted trade-offs in spatial and temporal acuity as a function of spotlight size. Contrary to both of these accounts, however, across two experiments we found that attentional spotlight size affected spatial acuity, such that spatial acuity was enhanced for a focal relative to a diffuse spotlight, whereas the same modulations in spotlight size had no impact on temporal acuity. This likely reflects the function of attention: to induce the high spatial resolution of the fovea in periphery, where spatial resolution is poor but temporal resolution is good. It is adaptive, therefore, for the attentional spotlight to enhance spatial acuity, whereas enhancing temporal acuity does not confer the same benefit.This research was supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE140101734) awarded to S.C.G. and an ARC Discovery Grant (DP110104553) awarded to M.E

Experimental Study of an Iron-Based Metal-Organic Framework as Flame Retardant for Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)

PresentationPoly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a kind of widely used thermoplastic in the family of poly (acrylic ester)s due to its good mechanical properties, like good moldability, high resistance to UV light and weathering, high strength, and excellent dimensional stability. However, PMMA is also characterized by limited heat resistance, poor thermal stability, and high flammability. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of porous materials, which possess unique physicochemical properties and have attracted considerable interests from different fields, such as energy, gas storage and separation, and catalysis. Additionally, because of their inorganic−organic hybrid nature, MOFs are usually compatible with polymers to form composites. PCN-250 is an iron-based MOF with nitrogen-containing structure and it is chemically stable and physically robust. So far, it can be economically synthesized in large scale. In this study, PCN-250 is used as a potential flame retardant for PMMA. To evaluate the performance of PCN-250 with different concentrations, the thermostability and flame retardancy of the PMMA composites are systematically investigated using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and cone calorimetry. This study will give us some insight about the application of MOFs as a new kind of flame retardant to enhance and improve the fire safety of polymer materials

Analytical Validation of Variants to Aid in Genotype-Guided Therapy for Oncology

The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988 requires that pharmacogenetic genotyping methods need to be established according to technical standards and laboratory practice guidelines before testing can be offered to patients. Testing methods for variants in ABCB1, CBR3, COMT, CYP3A7, C8ORF34, FCGR2A, FCGR3A, HAS3, NT5C2, NUDT15, SBF2, SEMA3C, SLC16A5, SLC28A3, SOD2, TLR4, and TPMT were validated in a CLIA-accredited laboratory. As no known reference materials were available, DNA samples that were from Coriell Cell Repositories (Camden, NJ) were used for the analytical validation studies. Pharmacogenetic testing methods developed here were shown to be accurate and 100% analytically sensitive and specific. Other CLIA-accredited laboratories interested in offering pharmacogenetic testing for these genetic variants, related to genotype-guided therapy for oncology, could use these publicly available samples as reference materials when developing and validating new genetic tests or refining current assays

ImmPort, toward repurposing of open access immunological assay data for translational and clinical research

Immunology researchers are beginning to explore the possibilities of reproducibility, reuse and secondary analyses of immunology data. Open-access datasets are being applied in the validation of the methods used in the original studies, leveraging studies for meta-analysis, or generating new hypotheses. To promote these goals, the ImmPort data repository was created for the broader research community to explore the wide spectrum of clinical and basic research data and associated findings. The ImmPort ecosystem consists of four components–Private Data, Shared Data, Data Analysis, and Resources—for data archiving, dissemination, analyses, and reuse. To date, more than 300 studies have been made freely available through the ImmPort Shared Data portal , which allows research data to be repurposed to accelerate the translation of new insights into discoveries