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At least 1,315 records · Page 73Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Astigmatism control.

Refractive cataract surgery has become a reality for the modern phacosurgeon, and control of astigmatism plays a vital role in this quest for optical refractive outcomes. Fortunately, a number of effective options exist to minimize postoperative cylinder. These include placing the cataract incision on the steep corneal meridians; use of adjunctive corneal or limbal relaxing incisions; or even using advanced technology, such as the excimer laser. Careful attention must be directed to the measurement of pre-existing astigmatism, and a detailed surgical strategy must then be formulated. Finally, one must be able to avail themselves of enhancement techniques to address residual astigmatism.

Astigmatism↗
PubMed2006

Corneal pachymetry mapping with high-speed optical coherence tomography.

OBJECTIVE: To map corneal thickness before and after LASIK with optical coherence tomography (OCT). DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-two eyes of 21 normal subjects undergoing LASIK. METHODS: A high-speed (2000 axial scans/second) 1.3-microm-wavelength corneal and anterior segment OCT prototype was used for corneal scanning. The scan pattern consisted of 10-mm radial lines on 8 meridians centered on the vertex reflection. The entire scan pattern of 1024 a-scans was acquired in 0.5 seconds. We developed automated computer processing for 3-dimensional corneal reconstruction and measurement. Corneal thickness was measured normal to the anterior surface and presented as color pachymetry maps and zonal statistics. The maps were divided into a central zone (<2 mm) and 3 annular areas (pericentral, 2-5 mm; transitional, 5-7 mm; peripheral, 7-10 mm), which were further divided into quadrantal zones. The average, minimum, and maximum corneal thicknesses were computed for zones within the 7-mm diameter. Optical coherence tomography and ultrasound pachymetry were measured 3 times at the preoperative and 3-month postoperative visits. Reproducibility was assessed by the pooled standard deviations (SDs) of the repeated measurements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Optical coherence tomography pachymetric map and zonal statistic, and ultrasound pachymetry. RESULTS: Before LASIK, central corneal thicknesses (CCTs) were 546.9+/-29.4 microm (mean +/- SD) for OCT and 553.3+/-33.0 microm for ultrasound. After LASIK, CCTs were 513.7+/-44.5 microm for OCT and 498+/-46.6 microm for ultrasound. Optical coherence tomography and ultrasound CCT were highly correlated (Pearson correlation r = 0.97 before LASIK and 0.98 afterwards). Optical coherence tomography CCT was slightly less than ultrasound CCT before surgery (mean difference, -6.4 microm; 95% limits of agreement, -23.2 to 10.4 microm) but slightly greater after LASIK (15.7 microm; -1.6 to 33 microm). These differences were statistically significant, but no more than the CCT measurement differences between ultrasound pachymeters. The reproducibility of the OCT zonal pachymetry averages was roughly 2 microm. CONCLUSIONS: High-speed OCT provided noncontact, rapid, reproducible pachymetric mapping over a wide area of the cornea. It is equivalent to ultrasound for CCT measurement before and after LASIK. This technology could be valuable for planning keratorefractive procedures and diagnosis of corneal diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Retrospective study of Lyme borreliosis positive serologies in 2003].

PURPOSES OF THE STUDY: To estimate the percentage of positive sera for Lyme borreliosis antibodies, to precise the characteristics of clinical cases diagnosed from serological data and to determine their geographical distribution in France. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studied sera were those received by the Pasteur-Cerba laboratory in 2003. IgG and IgM isotypes were detected using the Dade Behring kits. Antibody specificity was analysed with the Meridian's western blot. RESULTS: 1504/16 176 (9%) sera were positive for IgG isotype, and 978/3298 (29%) for IgM. The specificity was confirmed by western blot in 49% cases for IgG and in 54% for IgM. The highest positive serology rates were found in eastern and centre regions and in Aquitaine. Forty-two cases have been investigated leading to the identification of 16 borreliosis cases, each suffering of an erythema migrans. Five of them had neurological signs. Patient mean age was 40 years. 87% of patients had risk factors and 69% reported previous tick bites, mainly on lower limbs. CONCLUSION: A low rate of positive borreliosis sera was found, suggesting that serology prescription should be limited to patients suffering of compatible clinical signs, as recommended by the EUCALB. Erythema migrans was the most frequent clinical manifestation and neurological signs were present in 30% of cases. Finally, the geographical case distribution was similar to that provided by the study of the Sentinelle network in 1999-2000.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Altered sleep-wake cycles and physical performance in athletes.

Sleep-waking cycles are fundamental in human circadian rhythms and their disruption can have consequences for behaviour and performance. Such disturbances occur due to domestic or occupational schedules that do not permit normal sleep quotas, rapid travel across multiple meridians and extreme athletic and recreational endeavours where sleep is restricted or totally deprived. There are methodological issues in quantifying the physiological and performance consequences of alterations in the sleep-wake cycle if the effects on circadian rhythms are to be separated from the fatigue process. Individual requirements for sleep show large variations but chronic reduction in sleep can lead to immuno-suppression. There are still unanswered questions about the sleep needs of athletes, the role of 'power naps' and the potential for exercise in improving the quality of sleep.

Circadian Rhythm↗
PubMed2005

Epidemiology of Oestrus ovis (Linneo, 1761) infestation in goats in Spain.

This survey was conducted to determine the chronobiology and seroprevalence of nasal bot infestation (Oestrus ovis) in Spain and to identify the risk factors associated with this disease in caprine herds. A total of 1590 sera from adult goats were collected at random on 175 farms in southwestern Spain. Sera were tested by ELISA, using crude protein from second stage larvae as antigen. The mean seroprevalence was 46.04% and mean percentage of optical densities was 41.83. These data indicate a high prevalence of this parasite in the investigated areas. The serological survey revealed that goats managed at higher altitudes, at meridians latitudes and on farms with small herds had a smaller probability of infestation. Eighty goat heads, obtained from abattoirs in the central region of Spain, were collected and examined for nasal botflies from February to October 2002. O. ovis larval stages were recovered from the nasal-sinus cavities of 23 goats, reaching a prevalence of 34.94%. The mean larval burden was 3.9 larvae per infested head. No first instars were found during February and March, when the second instar reached its larger count. The third instar was observed in very small number during the whole period of study, with one peak occurring in July--August. These data show the existence of a favourable period for the development of larval instars of O. ovis in goats that starts in February and finishes in September.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Field testing of a fenbendazole treatment combined with hygienic and management measures against a natural Giardia infection in calves.

The need of a combination of animal treatment and environmental measures against a natural Giardia infection in calves between the age of 1 and 6 months was emphasized and evaluated. Ten commercial farms with a total of 94 calves suffering from chronic diarrhea, ill thriving and impaired growth, were included in two subsequent studies. The first study indicated that treatment of all animals with fenbendazole at 15 mg/kg during 3 consecutive days combined with environmental measures on the final day of treatment, which were either removal of bedding, thorough cleaning and ammonia 10% disinfection or relocation of the treated animals to a Giardia free environment, resulted in a total reduction in cyst excretion for at least 2 weeks. In the second study, the immunofluorescence assay (Merifluor Cryptosporidium/Giardia; Meridian Diagnostics Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio) was used quantitatively and confirmed that the combination of treatment and environmental measures resulted in a total reduction of cyst excretion during 2 weeks and in a significant (P<0.05; >or=98.0%) reduction of the cyst excretion until at least 4 weeks after treatment. Furthermore, there was a noticeable improvement of the clinical symptoms in all animals towards day 28 after treatment and 4 months after treatment health in all calves was normal.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2003

Spatial summation of S-cone ON and OFF signals: effects of retinal eccentricity.

We studied spatial summation for S-cone ON and OFF signals as a function of retinal eccentricity in human subjects. S-cone isolation was obtained by the two-colour threshold method of Stiles, modified by adding blue light to the yellow background. Test stimuli were blue light increments or decrements within a circular area of variable size. These were presented for 100 ms at 0 to 20 deg along the horizontal temporal retinal meridian. Ricco's area of complete spatial summation was measured from the threshold vs. area curves. This was nearly constant and approximately the same for both types of stimuli within the 0-5 deg range and increased beyond this range. The decremental area increased faster, suggesting that separate mechanisms, presumably ON and OFF, integrate S-cone increments and decrements. The results appear to provide new evidence for the existence of separate S-cone ON and OFF pathways. We compare the data with known morphology of primate retina and assume that, if S-cone decrements are detected via separate OFF cells, these should differ in density and dendritic field size from the S-cone ON cells, but only in the retinal periphery.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

A new look at the Bezold-Brücke hue shift in the peripheral retina.

Experiments were conducted with a bipartite field to better understand the Bezold-Brücke hue shift in the peripheral retina. The first experiment measured hue shift in the fovea and at 1 degrees and 8 degrees along the horizontal meridian of the nasal retina for nominal test wavelengths of 430, 450, 490, 520 and 610 nm. Peripheral measurements were obtained under two adaptation conditions: after 30 min dark adaptation and following a rod-bleach. Results indicated that foveal hue shifts differed from those obtained after a rod-bleach. Data from the rod-bleach and no-bleach conditions in the periphery were similar, indicating that rods could not account for the differences between the foveal data and the rod-bleach peripheral data. Hue shifts obtained for the 520 nm test stimulus, and to a smaller extent other test wavelengths, at 8 degrees nasal retinal eccentricity revealed that the wavelength of the matching stimulus depended upon the lateral position of the matching and test fields, and this effect was greater in the no-bleach condition than the rod-bleach condition. Several factors were investigated in experiments 2 and 3 to explain the results with the 520 nm test field. It appears that differential rod density under the two half fields and the compression of photoreceptors by the optic disk may partially, but not fully, account for the 520 nm effect.

Color Perception↗
PubMed2004

Development of a viewing strategy during adaptation to an artificial central scotoma.

Although many individuals with a central scotoma develop eccentric fixation most often beneath or left of the scotoma, little is known about how they come to develop a particular viewing strategy. We investigated this by asking eight subjects with normal vision to read isolated letters, words and text passages while an artificial scotoma covered a central portion of the visual field. We quantified viewing strategy and analysed changes in their viewing behaviour over 8-10 sessions within a two-week period. Subjects read while either a horizontal (n=4) or vertical bar scotoma (n=4), 10 degrees wide, covered the entire horizontal or vertical meridian of the stimulus field. For the horizontal scotoma group: (1) there was an increasing preference to use the inferior visual field for isolated letters/words and text passages, which was essentially complete within the test period; (2) the superior visual field was preferred when reading letters/words initially presented in upper visual space and the inferior visual field when reading letters/words initially presented in lower visual space; (3) in general, variation in viewing strategy according to stimulus position diminished over the sessions for all stimuli. For the vertical scotoma group: (1) two subjects used the left and right visual fields in approximately equal proportion to view isolated letters/words, one subject showed a weak preference to use the left visual field and one subject developed a strong preference for using the right visual field; (2) the text passages could be read with combined use of left and right visual fields in a specific manner; (3) the left visual field was preferred to view stimuli initially presented in left visual space while the right visual field was preferred for words initially presented in right visual space. This effect diminished across sessions. Overall, these findings indicate that (1) a specific viewing strategy can be developed through as little as 5 hours of reading experience without guided training; (2) two distinctly separate retinal areas can be used in an integrated manner during reading; (4) stimulus position in visual space can influence viewing strategy; (5) in general, reading encourages a preference for the inferior over the superior visual field, but not the left over right visual field. Letter/word/text recognition and reading speeds increased progressively across sessions, even after scotoma lateralisation appeared stabilised suggesting that multiple mechanism are involved in adaptive changes.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2005

Spatial and temporal properties of interocular timing differences in multifocal visual evoked potentials.

The multifocal VEPs (mfVEPs) obtained from the right and left eyes are practically identical in shape and amplitude, however small differences in the implicit times (ITs) have been reported. We have analyzed the ITs in detail to show that they are dependent on the radial location of the stimulus in the visual field. The differences are large, up to 8.3 ms, near the horizontal meridian, and are probably due to differences in the distances of the nasal and temporal ganglion cell axons from the optic disc. The intraretinal conduction velocity of ganglion cell axons, determined by dividing the axonal length to the optic disc by the ITs, was 0.29 m/s at an eccentricity of 0.5-1.4 degrees and 1.39 m/s at 8-12 degrees .

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Accommodative state of young adults using reading spectacles.

We examined the accommodative state of young adults wearing +2D and +3D reading spectacles under normal conditions and with the elimination of accommodative cues. Subjects' refractions were measured with an infrared PowerRefractor. Power of the vertical meridian was recorded for subjects viewing far and near targets in free space and through a Badal lens apparatus with and without reading spectacles. Additionally, refractive measurements were taken after subjects wore +2D reading spectacles for 30 min (post-adaptation). In free viewing and viewing through the Badal lens, subjects uniformly over-accommodated relative to the target while wearing reading spectacles (i.e., with the spectacles, they focused at a plane in front of the target). Subjects in the first post-adaptation test showed no significant difference in accommodation between viewing a near target with and without +2D spectacles after having read with them for 30 min, though they had without post-adaptation. Subjects in the second post-adaptation test were not significantly differently accommodated before and after reading when binocularly viewing a near target with +2D reading spectacles. The results imply that no adaptation of the subjects' accommodative postures while viewing visual targets occurred as a result of a 1/2 h near work task with the spectacles. The over-accommodation of subjects using reading spectacles while they are performing visual tasks shows the necessity of measurement if their true accommodative posture is to be determined.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed2006

Retinal image quality, reading and myopia.

Analysis was undertaken of the retinal image characteristics of the best-spectacle corrected eyes of progressing myopes (n = 20, mean age = 22 years; mean spherical equivalent = -3.84 D) and a control group of emmetropes (n = 20, mean age = 23 years; mean spherical equivalent = 0.00 D) before and after a 2h reading task. Retinal image quality was calculated based upon wavefront measurements taken with a Hartmann-Shack sensor with fixation on both a far (5.5 m) and near (individual reading distance) target. The visual Strehl ratio based on the optical transfer function (VSOTF) was significantly worse for the myopes prior to reading for both the far (p = 0.01) and near (p = 0.03) conditions. The myopic group showed significant reductions in various aspects of retinal image quality compared with the emmetropes, involving components of the modulation transfer function, phase transfer function and point spread function, often along the vertical meridian of the eye. The depth of focus of the myopes (0.54 D) was larger (p = 0.02) than the emmetropes (0.42 D) and the distribution of refractive power (away from optimal sphero-cylinder) was greater in the myopic eyes (variance of distributions p < 0.05). We found evidence that the lead and lag of accommodation are influenced by the higher order aberrations of the eye (e.g. significant correlations between lead/lag and the peak of the visual Strehl ratio based on the MTF). This could indicate that the higher accommodation lags seen in myopes are providing optimized retinal image characteristics. The interaction between low and high order aberrations of the eye play a significant role in reducing the retinal image quality of myopic eyes compared with emmetropes.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed2005

Pupillary evaluation of retinal asymmetry: development and initial testing of a technique.

Glaucomatous damage to upper and lower retina is often unequal. We have developed a rapid, objective, quantitative measure of asymmetry of retinal sensitivity, using infrared pupillometry and pairs of large stimuli that are symmetric about the horizontal meridian. Results for a group of 11 young subjects free of eye disease indicate that the distribution of asymmetry is close to a normal distribution centered near upper/lower symmetry. Some subjects showed modest amounts of asymmetry, which was relatively uniform within each eye, and between the two eyes, of the subject. This approach to determination of asymmetry within an eye is potentially applicable to testing patients with glaucoma. The narrowness of the distribution should make it possible to detect asymmetries caused by disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Optical models for human myopic eyes.

Data from the author's investigations and other studies are used to construct refractive dependent models. These models include a gradient index lens and aspheric corneal, lens and retinal surfaces. Elements that alter with refraction are anterior corneal radius, vitreous length and retinal shape (vertex radius of curvature and asphericity) and decentration. Two versions of the models are produced, one with centred and symmetrical optical elements, and one with tilts of the lens and decentrations and tilts of the retina. The centred model predicts increase in spherical aberration in myopia. It predicts the relative change in mean sphere in the periphery between the horizontal and vertical meridians that has been observed in a recent experimental study. It overestimates peripheral astigmatism by about 50%. The decentred version has limited success in predicting changes in peripheral refraction of average eyes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effect of binocular eye position and head rotation plane on the human torsional vestibuloocular reflex.

We examined how the gain of the torsional vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) (defined as the instantaneous eye velocity divided by inverted head velocity) in normal humans is affected by eye position, target distance, and the plane of head rotation. In six normal subjects we measured three-dimensional (3D) eye and head rotation axes using scleral search coils, and 6D head position using a magnetic angular and linear position measurement device, during low-amplitude (approximately 20 degrees ), high-velocity (approximately 200 degrees/s), high-acceleration (approximately 4000 degrees /s2) rapid head rotations or 'impulses.' Head impulses were imposed manually and delivered in five planes: yaw (horizontal canal plane), pitch, roll, left anterior-right posterior canal plane (LARP), and right anterior-left posterior canal plane (RALP). Subjects were instructed to fix on one of six targets at eye level. Targets were either straight-ahead, 20 degrees left or 20 degrees right from midline, at distance 15 or 124 cm from the subject. Two subjects also looked at more eccentric targets, 30 degrees left or 30 degrees right from midline. We found that the vertical and horizontal VOR gains increased with the proximity of the target to the subject. Previous studies suggest that the torsional VOR gain should decrease with target proximity. We found, however, that the torsional VOR gain did not change for all planes of head rotation and for both target distances. We also found a dynamic misalignment of the vertical positions of the eyes during the torsional VOR, which was greatest during near viewing with symmetric convergence. This dynamic vertical skew during the torsional VOR arises, in part, because when the eyes are converged, the optical axes are not parallel to the naso-occipital axes around which the eyes are rotating. In five of six subjects, the average skew ranged 0.9 degrees -2.9 degrees and was reduced to <0.4 degrees by a 'torsional' quick-phase (around the naso-occipital axis) occurring <110 ms after the onset of the impulse. We propose that the torsional quick-phase mechanism during the torsional VOR could serve at least three functions: (1) resetting the retinal meridians closer to their usual orientation in the head, (2) correcting for the 'skew' deviation created by misalignment between the axes around which the eyes are rotating and the line of sight, and (3) taking the eyes back toward Listing's plane.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Abnormal retinotopic representations in human visual cortex revealed by fMRI.

The representation of the visual field in early visual areas is retinotopic. The point-to-point relationship on the retina is therefore maintained on the convoluted cortical surface. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been able to demonstrate the retinotopic representation of the visual field in occipital cortex of normal subjects. Furthermore, visual areas that are retinotopic can be identified on computationally flattened cortical maps on the basis of positions of the vertical and horizontal meridians. Here, we investigate abnormal retinotopic representations in human visual cortex with fMRI. We present three case studies in which patients with visual disorders are investigated. We have tested a subject who only possesses operating rod photoreceptors. We find in this case that the cortex undergoes a remapping whereby regions that would normally represent central field locations now map more peripheral positions in the visual field: In a human albino we also find abnormal visual cortical activity. Monocular stimulation of each hemifield resulted in activations in the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulated eye. This is consistent with abnormal decussation at the optic chiasm in albinism. Finally, we report a case where a lesion to white matter has resulted in a lack of measurable activity in occipital cortex. The activity was absent for a small region of the visual field, which was found to correspond to the subject's field defect. The cases selected have been chosen to demonstrate the power of fMRI in identifying abnormalities in the cortical representations of the visual field in patients with visual dysfunction. Furthermore, the experiments are able to show how the cortex is capable of modifying the visual field representation in response to abnormal input.

Albinism↗
PubMed1997

Retinotopic organisation of cortical mechanisms responsive to colour: evidence from patient studies.

This paper deals with the visual responses of three patients who have impaired colour vision consequent on cortical dysfunction which, in two of them, is associated with demonstrable neuronal damage. The studies to be described are concerned particularly with the spatial attributes of their chromatic response mechanisms. Data are presented which establish that a hemianope GY has coarse chromatic discrimination for large stimuli located within his 'blind' hemifield. GY responds to stimuli containing differently coloured equiluminant components as if the coloured components were averaged over the whole field and it is speculated that such spatial averaging may correspond to the process which, in normal vision, provides compensation for change of illuminant in order to achieve colour constancy. Colour constancy is impaired in a second patient, BL, who has cortical lesions involving the lingual and fusiform gyri, areas which are partially spared in GY. It is shown that movement, but not colour, presented to GY's normal hemifield generates a response localised in his blind hemifield and disinhibitory interaction between movement and colour is illustrated for a patient MW, in whom colour chromatic stimuli generate spreading inhibition of visual responses. This inhibitory interaction is propagated between widely separated stimuli, including those which are located on opposite sides of the vertical meridian. We discuss these experimental results in relation to anatomical and physiological mechanisms of the primate visual cortex.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Stimulus control of visual fixation duration in a single saccade paradigm.

Subjects performed a task in which they successively inspected two stimuli presented at an equal distance of the left (SL) and the right (SR) of the visual meridian and subtending a 45 degrees visual angle. This was followed by a joint response on the basis of the status of both stimuli. The instruction was to fixate the position of SL at the start of a trial, followed by a single saccade to SR. In earlier studies on this paradigm it was suggested that the fixation time of SL (TL) may serve as a modern version of the (d)-reaction in which the time for achieving perceptual identification is measured uncontaminated by decision. This suggestion has the implicit assumption that, at least in this single saccade paradigm, the saccade from SL to SR is triggered when perceptual identification has been completed. There is the potential alternative that the duration of TL is programmed in advance, depending on the general processing demands of the stimuli in a block of trials. These two options were tested in two experiments. In the first, presentation of SL was delayed with a fixed or with a variable interval (200-400 ms) during a block of trials. In the second, the stimulus quality of SL was varied between and within blocks of trials. The results of either manipulation argue against preprogramming TL, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that the saccade is triggered upon completion of perceptual processing. Thus, TL in the single saccade paradigm appears a serious candidate for the (d)-reaction.

Adult↗