Using coloured filters to reduce the symptoms of visual stress in children with reading delay

Background: Meares Irlen Syndrome (MIS), otherwise known as “visual stress”, is one condition that can cause difficulties with reading. Aim: This study aimed to compare the effect of two coloured-filter systems on the symptoms of visual stress in children with reading delay. Methods: The study design was a pre-test, post-test, randomized head-to-head comparison of two filter systems on the symptoms of visual stress in school children. A total of 68 UK mainstream schoolchildren with significant impairment in reading ability completed the study. Results: The filter systems appeared to have a large effect on the reported symptoms between pre and post three-month time points (d = 2.5, r = 0.78). Both filter types appeared to have large effects (Harris d = 1.79, r = 0.69 and DRT d = 3.22, r = 0.85). Importantly, 35% of participants’ reported that their symptoms had resolved completely; 72% of the 68 children appeared to gain improvements in three or more visual stress symptoms. Conclusion and significance: The reduction in symptoms, which appeared to be brought about by the use of coloured filters, eased the visual discomfort experienced by these children when reading. This type of intervention therefore has the potential to facilitate occupational engagement

Visual field loss and vision-related quality of life in the Italian Primary Open Angle Glaucoma Study.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between visual field (VF) loss, vision-related quality of life (QoL) and glaucoma-related symptoms in a large cohort of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients. POAG patients with or without VF defects or "glaucoma suspect" patients were considered eligible. QoL was assessed using the validated versions of the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) and glaucoma-related symptoms were assessed using the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS). Patients were classified as having VF damage in one eye (VFD-1), both eyes (VFD-2), or neither eye (VFD-0). 3227 patients were enrolled and 2940 were eligible for the analysis. 13.4% of patients were classified in the VFD-0, 23.7% in the VFD-1, and 62.9% in the VFD-2 group. GSS visual symptoms domain (Func-4) and GSS non-visual symptoms domain (Symp-6) scores were similar for the VFD-0 and VFD-1 groups (p = 0.133 and p = 0.834 for Func-4 and Symp-6, respectively). VFD-0 group had higher scores than VFD-2 both in Func-4 (p < 0.001) and Symp-6 domains (p = 0.035). Regarding the NEI-VFQ-25, our data demonstrated that bilateral VF defects are associated with vision-related QoL deterioration, irrespective of visual acuity

Alice in wonderland syndrome. a clinical and pathophysiological review

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) is a perceptual disorder, principally involving visual and somesthetic integration, firstly reported by Todd, on the literary suggestion of the strange experiences described by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland books. Symptoms may comprise among others aschematia and dysmetropsia. This syndrome has many different etiologies; however EBV infection is the most common cause in children, while migraine affects more commonly adults. Many data support a strict relationship between migraine and AIWS, which could be considered in many patients as an aura or a migraine equivalent, particularly in children. Nevertheless, AIWS seems to have anatomical correlates. According to neuroimaging, temporoparietal- occipital carrefour (TPO-C) is a key region for developing many of AIWS symptoms. The final part of this review aims to find the relationship between AIWS symptoms, presenting a pathophysiological model. In brief, AIWS symptoms depend on an alteration of TPO-C where visual-spatial and somatosensory information are integrated. Alterations in these brain regions may cause the cooccurrence of dysmetropsia and disorders of body schema. In our opinion, the association of other symptoms reported in literature could vary depending on different etiologies and the lack of clear diagnostic criteria

Characteristics Symptoms of Imminent Eclampsia: A case Referent Study from a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania

\ud \ud Maternal mortality in developing coun- tries is unacceptably high with eclampsia being con- sistently among the top causes. As yet, primary pre- vention of this complication is not possible since causes of pre-eclampsia are largely unknown and bio- chemical, hematological and radiological markers have proved unsuitable for routine prediction of eclamptic fits. Although headache, visual disturbance, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting are routinely elicited when managing pre-eclampsia and have been reported to predict eclamptic fits, the literature at- tempting to characterize them is scanty. We sought to establish characteristics of the prodromal symptoms of eclampsia and compare them with similar symp- toms as experienced by normotensive pregnant women at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Tanzania. Methods: This study was conducted at MNH in 2010 by enrolling 123 eclamptic and 123 normotensive women. Women in the two groups were interviewed about their experiences and characteristics of head-ache, visual disturbances, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting using a semi structured questionnaire. The severity, nature and other characteristics of the symptoms were assessed using standard scale/meth- ods and data compared among the two groups. Re- sults: Prodromal symptoms of eclampsia were pre- sent in 90% of eclamptic women. Headache was more frequent among eclamptic women (88%) than the normotensive (43%), p < 0.001). The symptom was also more perceived as severe among eclamptic (46.3%) than the normotensive (5.7%), p < 0.001. The most frequent location for headache was frontal in 65.7% of eclamptic women compared to frontal (41.5%) or generalized (39.6%) for the normotensive. Likewise, visual problems were significantly more frequent among eclamptic women (39%) compared to the normotensive (3%), p < 0.001. Upper abdominal pain was significantly more reported by eclamptic (36%) than normotensive women (0.9%), p = 0.001. The general occurrence of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting was not significantly different in the two groups. The time lag from development of a sym- ptom to eclamptic fit was up to seven days for most symptoms except visual disturbances of which 98% developed fits within 12 hours. Conclusion: Whereas the prodromal symptoms of eclampsia and similar symptoms in normotensive women were common, the characteristics of headache and visual disturbance differ significantly in the two groups. The knowledge of these differences could be utilized to improve the quality of management of pre-eclamptic women in order to prevent eclampsia.\u

Interpretable Deep Learning applied to Plant Stress Phenotyping

Availability of an explainable deep learning model that can be applied to practical real world scenarios and in turn, can consistently, rapidly and accurately identify specific and minute traits in applicable fields of biological sciences, is scarce. Here we consider one such real world example viz., accurate identification, classification and quantification of biotic and abiotic stresses in crop research and production. Up until now, this has been predominantly done manually by visual inspection and require specialized training. However, such techniques are hindered by subjectivity resulting from inter- and intra-rater cognitive variability. Here, we demonstrate the ability of a machine learning framework to identify and classify a diverse set of foliar stresses in the soybean plant with remarkable accuracy. We also present an explanation mechanism using gradient-weighted class activation mapping that isolates the visual symptoms used by the model to make predictions. This unsupervised identification of unique visual symptoms for each stress provides a quantitative measure of stress severity, allowing for identification, classification and quantification in one framework. The learnt model appears to be agnostic to species and make good predictions for other (non-soybean) species, demonstrating an ability of transfer learning

Emergence of nonmotor symptoms as the focus of research and treatment of Parkinson's disease: Introduction to the special section on nonmotor dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is traditionally characterized by the cardinal motor symptoms of tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and impairments of posture, gait, and balance. A relatively new focus of research and treatment is the nonmotor symptoms of the disease, following from recent understanding of the neuropathological stages. Disruptions of arousal, mood, sleep, and autonomic function before the first motor signs of PD implicate the lower brainstem, which is affected before the substantia nigra and dopaminergic system. In later stages of the disease, the pathology extends to the cortex, accompanied by impairments in cognition and perception. The articles in this special section advance our knowledge of the brain bases of the nonmotor symptoms of PD, including disrupted visual perception, impaired cognition across a range of domains, and psychiatric and artistic manifestations. Subtypes under investigation include those described by side of disease onset (left or right body side), predominant cognitive profile, and gender. Taken together, the articles in this special section reflect the field's growing focus on the nonmotor symptoms of PD, their brain bases, and the corresponding potential for their treatment.Published versio

Incidence of symptomatic toxoplasma eye disease: aetiology and public health implications.

Ocular disease is the commonest disabling consequence of toxoplasma infection. Incidence and lifetime risk of ocular symptoms were determined by ascertaining affected patients in a population-based, active reporting study involving ophthalmologists serving a population of 7.4 million. Eighty-seven symptomatic episodes were attributed to toxoplasma infection. Bilateral visual acuity of 6/12 or less was found in seven episodes (8%) and was likely to have been transient in most cases. Black people born in West Africa had a 100-fold higher incidence of symptoms than white people born in Britain. Only two patients reported symptoms before 10 years of age. The estimated lifetime risk of symptoms in British born individuals (52% of all episodes) was 18/100000 (95% confidence interval: 10.8-25.2). The low risk and mild symptoms in an unscreened British population indicate limited potential benefits of prenatal or postnatal screening. The late age at presentation suggests a mixed aetiology of postnatally acquired and congenital infection for which primary prevention may be appropriate, particularly among West Africans

Visual Dependency and Dizziness after Vestibular Neuritis

Symptomatic recovery after acute vestibular neuritis (VN) is variable, with around 50% of patients reporting long term vestibular symptoms; hence, it is essential to identify factors related to poor clinical outcome. Here we investigated whether excessive reliance on visual input for spatial orientation (visual dependence) was associated with long term vestibular symptoms following acute VN. Twenty-eight patients with VN and 25 normal control subjects were included. Patients were enrolled at least 6 months after acute illness. Recovery status was not a criterion for study entry, allowing recruitment of patients with a full range of persistent symptoms. We measured visual dependence with a laptop-based Rod-and-Disk Test and severity of symptoms with the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). The third of patients showing the worst clinical outcomes (mean DHI score 36–80) had significantly greater visual dependence than normal subjects (6.35° error vs. 3.39° respectively, p = 0.03). Asymptomatic patients and those with minor residual symptoms did not differ from controls. Visual dependence was associated with high levels of persistent vestibular symptoms after acute VN. Over-reliance on visual information for spatial orientation is one characteristic of poorly recovered vestibular neuritis patients. The finding may be clinically useful given that visual dependence may be modified through rehabilitation desensitization techniques

Experience of cardiac rehabilitation after coronary artery surgery: effects on health and risk factors

Objective:Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs are provided to support the recovery process following acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Attendance varies. We related attendance following CABG to severity of cardiac symptoms, general health status (Short Form-36) and prevalence of modifiable coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors. METHODS: 209 patients due to undergo CABG were recruited and assessed preoperatively as well as at a mean of 16.4 months postoperatively. General health status was measured using the Short Form-36 questionnaire. Severity of cardiac symptoms was assessed on a visual analogue scale. Modifiable coronary artery disease risk factors (smoking, body mass index, hypertension and elevated cholesterol) and social deprivation index were noted