Persistent cone dysfunction in acute exudative polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Yi-Zhong Wang.
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OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of the extract from gardenia on influenza viral pneumonia in mice and virus-induced cytopathic effect. METHOD: The mice were infected by influenza virus in nasal, the lung inflammation, mortality rate and life elongation rate were observed respectively. The anti-viral activity of the extract from gardenia was accessed by cytopathic effect (CPE) in vitro and 0% toxicity concentration (TC0), 50% toxicity concentration (TC50), 50% inhibitor concentration (IC50), therapeutic index (TI) were determined by Reed-Muench method. RESULT: The pneumonia induced by influenza virus in mice was inhibited significantly by the extract from gardenia, as the mortality rate decreased and the life elongation rate increased remarkably. Meanwhile the NO content in serum decreased significantly; The cytopathic effect induced by six kinds of viruses was inhibited remarkably. CONCLUSION: The six kinds of viruses were inhibited significantly by the extract from gardenia which inhibitory effect on mice influenza viral pneumonia was related to the NO content decreased.
Using fractal noise images, we measured the dependence of D(min) on the spatial passband (spatial frequency and orientation) over which information was correlated either between the eyes for stereo or between sequential frames for motion. Without affecting the amplitude spectrum of the noise stimulus we used idealized filters to scramble the phase of components outside a pre-defined passband. Using a simple Gaussian model in which performance depends on the signal/noise within a restricted spatial region, we obtained estimates of the bandwidth of the narrowest underlying spatial frequency and orientation spectral region subserving these two comparable tasks. Spatial bandwidths varied with peak spatial frequency but were very broad approximating the spectrum of the stimulus itself. Orientation properties of the underlying mechanisms were isotropic. These results suggest that the independent activity of individual narrowband spatial channels is not perceptually accessible for these tasks.
AIM: To investigate the relationship between the superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) metabolic changes and the gastric carcinogenesis. METHODS: The SOD activity and MDA content were measured in the gastric tissues from the focus center, peripheral and far-end areas of gastric carcinoma (n = 52) and gastric ulcer (n = 10). All the tissues were subjected to routine histological examinations and classifications. RESULTS: The SOD activity was greatly reduced but the MDA content was markedly increased in the center areas of the non-mucous gastric carcinoma (non-MGC); and the poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma varied. The SOD activity was gradually decreased and the MDA content was gradually increased in the tissues from the focus far-end, peripheral to center areas of non-MGC. Both of the SOD activity and the MDA content were significantly declined and were respectively at same low level in the tissues from the focus center, peripheral, and far-end area with the mucous gastric carcinoma (MGC). In contrast to the gastric ulcer and grade I or II of non-MGC, the same level of the SOD activity and the MDA content were found in the focus center areas. Between non-MGC (groups A-D) and gastric ulcer (group F), the differences of SOD activity and MDA content were very noticeable in the gastric tissues from the focus peripheral and far-end areas, in which the SOD activity showed noticeable increase and the MDA content showed noticeable decrease in the gastric ulcer. CONCLUSION: The active free radical reaction in the gastric tissues can induce the carcinogenesis of non-MGC. The utmost low ability of antioxidation in the gastric tissues can induce the carcinogenesis of MGC. The metabolic change of the free radicals centralized mostly in the center of ulcerated lesions only, which suggested the ability of antioxidation was declined only in these lesions. However, the metabolism of free radicals varied significantly and the ability of antioxidation declined not only in the local focus area but also in the abroad gastric tissues with gastric carcinoma.
Contour integration plays an important role in linking local elements into global shape and the binding strength among local elements depends on both orientation and position features. The very high sensitivity reported for detecting the sinusoidal deformation of circular contours may result from the presence and concordance of both orientation and position cues to shape difference. In this study, position and orientation-defined micropatch-sampled radial frequency (MSRF) patterns were employed, which permit the independent assessment of the contributions of local orientation and position features to shape integration. It was demonstrated that, while both local orientation and position features can encode shape deformation, the human visual system is more sensitive to orientation-defined shape difference than to position-defined shape difference. Furthermore, integration of the local orientation feature into shape is more than two times stronger than that of local position, and may involve a global pooling mechanism. Nevertheless, optimal shape discrimination performance requires the analysis of both local orientation and position features.
PURPOSE: To define the critical period for susceptibility of human stereopsis to an anomalous binocular visual experience. METHODS: Random dot stereoacuity was measured in 152 children with a history of onset of either infantile or accommodative strabismus before 5 years of age. In each of these populations and in the combined population, the critical periods for susceptibility of stereopsis are described using four-parameter developmental weighting functions. RESULTS: In children with infantile strabismus, the critical period for susceptibility of stereopsis begins at 2.4 months and peaks at 4.3 months. In children with accommodative esotropia, the critical period for susceptibility of stereopsis begins at 10.8 months and peaks at 20 months. When the data are combined across the two populations, the critical period begins soon after birth and peaks sharply at 3.5 months but shows continued susceptibility to at least 4.6 years. CONCLUSIONS: An anomalous binocular visual experience during early infancy severely disrupts stereopsis, yet the critical period for susceptibility of stereopsis extends through late infancy and early childhood and continues to at least 4.6 years of age.
In order to understand the nature of the mechanisms responsible for global shape detection, we measured coherence thresholds in a 2IFC task where subjects judged which of two arrays of Gabors contained global circular structure. The stimulus was composed of an array of oriented Gabor patches positioned on a polar grid. Thresholds were obtained for different array parameters (e.g. different area, density, number and positions of elements) as well as for different element parameters (e.g. different carrier spatial frequencies, contrasts, polarities and orientations). Global structure was detected when ~10% of the elements were coherently oriented. Neither the properties of the array (density, area, number or position of elements), nor those of the individual elements (carrier spatial frequency, contrast, polarity) altered coherence thresholds. Varying contrast or carrier spatial frequency within individual arrays also did not alter performance. Sensitivity was invariant to positional perturbations of the array grid. Only jittering the local orientation of elements decreased sensitivity. The underlying mechanisms are broadly tuned for contrast, spatial frequency and the spatial positioning of image samples. Detecting circular structure is a robust process and, in this case, a purely global one. Sensitivity was highest for circular as opposed to radial or spiral shapes.
PURPOSE: To study the accuracy of the newly proposed Amblyopia Treatment Study (ATS) visual acuity testing protocol for 3- to 6-year-old children. Because no "gold standard" is available for acuity testing in pediatric patients, accuracy was evaluated using computer simulations based on a psychometric model. METHODS: Monte Carlo simulations of ATS acuity data were generated using a psychometric model that accounts for true acuity, noise in the visual system, and the rate of inadvertent misses. We varied true acuity from 20/15 to 20/400 (-0.1 to 1.3 logMAR). Visual system noise was represented by the slope beta of the psychometric function and ranged from 1 (noisy) to 8 (not noisy). The rate of inadvertent misses ranged from 0% to 10%. Accuracy of the ATS protocol was evaluated in terms of precision, bias, and stimulus range limitations. The same model was fitted to experimental ATS acuity data, thus allowing us to study the distributions of acuity, visual system noise, and level of attentiveness in 126 children ages 3 to <7 years. RESULTS: For conditions with little noise in the visual system (beta > 2), precision was well within 0.1 logMAR (corresponding to one line on a logMAR letter chart), except for acuities worse than 1.2 logMAR, and decreased to 0.15 to 0.2 logMAR for beta = 1. Bias was negligible, except in noisy conditions, where the ATS protocol tended to overestimate acuity by one line at the poor end of the true acuity range and underestimate acuity at the good end of the true acuity range. Effects of the rate of inadvertent misses were small. Fits to the real data showed a wide range of slope parameters, but only 11% had beta < or = 2. The rate of inadvertent misses was < or = 2% in 89% of cases. CONCLUSION: The simulations suggest that the ATS protocol offers an accurate method for assessing visual acuity in children in the range of 3 to 6 years of age with both precision and bias within 0.1 logMAR for typical values of the psychometric parameters.
Using fractal noise images, we measured the dependence of Dmin and Dmax for stereo on the interocular differences of spatial frequency and contrast. Dmin exhibits a strong dependence on the highest spatial frequency contained in the image, while Dmax exhibits a weaker dependence on the lowest spatial frequency contained within the image. Neither relationship was found to be different when the filtering was restricted to only one eye's image, although the effect of differential lowpass filtering for Dmin was greater than that of binocular lowpass filtering. Contrast is thought to affect stereo performance particularly when it is reduced in only one eye's image. We show that, at least for broadband fractal images representative of everyday natural images, interocular contrast differences are no more disruptive than binocular ones. These results bear upon the nature of the matching process in stereopsis. The fact that these interocular spatial frequency and contrast manipulations do not selectively degrade stereopsis beyond that expected from a consideration of purely monocular effects is consistent with matching occurring within multiple spatial channels prior to their combination.
PURPOSE: Recent studies suggest that a global shape-discrimination task is sensitive to neural undersampling and/or irregular sampling, but is not affected by normal aging. In this study, the ability of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to perform the shape-discrimination task was examined. METHODS: Twenty patients with AMD (age range, 66-81 years) were selected on the basis of Snellen visual acuity of 20/50 or better in at least one eye and prior clinical documentation. A control group consisted of 10 older subjects (age range, 61-93 years) with normal findings in a fundus examination. Radial frequency (RF) patterns were used as stimuli. A spatial paradigm and a temporal two-alternative, forced-choice (2AFC) staircase paradigm were used. In each trial, two RF patterns (one deformed and one undeformed) were presented, and patients were asked to identify the deformed pattern. The peak spatial frequency of RF patterns was 5 cyc/deg; the radial modulation frequency was 8 cyc/360 degrees; mean radii were 0.5 degrees, 1 degrees, 2.0 degrees, or 2.5 degrees; and stimulus contrast was 80%. Thresholds for detecting the deformation were estimated by a maximum-likelihood fitting procedure. RESULTS: Thirty-five of 40 eyes with AMD had 20/50 or better acuity. Among them, 29 eyes had early AMD (drusen, hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation), 5 had extrafoveal geographic atrophy, and 1 had exudative AMD. With the spatial 2AFC, 91% (32/35) of eyes with AMD showed significant elevation of the threshold for detecting radial deformation of RF patterns when compared with normal control eyes. With the temporal 2AFC, 97% (31/32) of eyes with AMD showed significant threshold elevations, and the degree of the deficit in the shape discrimination did not correlate significantly with visual acuity loss (r = 0.3, P = 0.094). Comparison of the severity of AMD with shape-discrimination performance revealed that the average detection threshold of the eyes with extrafoveal geographic atrophy was significantly higher than that of the eyes with drusen only (P < 0.01), even though average acuity showed no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AMD had significant deficits in performing the global shape-discrimination task. The dissociation of shape discrimination with visual acuity suggests that the shape-discrimination task may provide distinguishable information about the integrity of the photoreceptor mosaic in AMD.