Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011 Aug; 2011: 2164-7
Eastwood-Sutherland C, Gale TJ

The extended period many people now spend looking at computer screens is thought to affect eyesight over the long term. In this paper we are concerned with developing and initial evaluation of a wireless camera-based tracking system providing quantitative assessment of computer screen interaction. The system utilizes a stereo camera system and wireless XBee based infrared markers and enables unobtrusive monitoring. Preliminary results indicate that the system is an excellent method of monitoring eye-screen distance. This type of system will enable future studies of eye-screen distance for computer users.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Dec 16;
Ogada DL, Keesing F, Virani MZ

Vultures are nature's most successful scavengers, and they provide an array of ecological, economic, and cultural services. As the only known obligate scavengers, vultures are uniquely adapted to a scavenging lifestyle. Vultures' unique adaptations include soaring flight, keen eyesight, and extremely low pH levels in their stomachs. Presently, 14 of 23 (61%) vulture species worldwide are threatened with extinction, and the most rapid declines have occurred in the vulture-rich regions of Asia and Africa. The reasons for the population declines are varied, but poisoning or human persecution, or both, feature in the list of nearly every declining species. Deliberate poisoning of carnivores is likely the most widespread cause of vulture poisoning. In Asia, Gyps vultures have declined by >95% due to poisoning by the veterinary drug diclofenac, which was banned by regional governments in 2006. Human persecution of vultures has occurred for centuries, and shooting and deliberate poisoning are the most widely practiced activities. Ecological consequences of vulture declines include changes in community composition of scavengers at carcasses and an increased potential for disease transmission between mammalian scavengers at carcasses. There have been cultural and economic costs of vulture declines as well, particularly in Asia. In the wake of catastrophic vulture declines in Asia, regional governments, the international scientific and donor communities, and the media have given the crisis substantial attention. Even though the Asian vulture crisis focused attention on the plight of vultures worldwide, the situation for African vultures has received relatively little attention especially given the similar levels of population decline. While the Asian crisis has been largely linked to poisoning by diclofenac, vulture population declines in Africa have numerous causes, which have made conserving existing populations more difficult. And in Africa there has been little government support to conserve vultures despite mounting evidence of the major threats. In other regions with successful vulture conservation programs, a common theme is a huge investment of financial resources and highly skilled personnel, as well as political will and community support.

US Army Med Dep J. 2011 Oct-Dec; 51-8
Nagra M

Throughout combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Army nurses have served in a new role--providing en route care in military helicopters for patients being transported to a higher level of care. From aid stations on the battlefield where forward surgical teams save lives, limbs, and eyesight, to the next higher level of care at combat support hospitals, these missions require specialized nursing skills to safely care for the high acuity patients. Little information exists about patient outcomes associated with the nursing assessment and care provided during helicopter medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) of such unstable patients and the consequent impact on the patient's condition after transport. In addition, there are no valid and reliable tools to capture care delivery, patient outcomes, and associated nursing workload and staffing requirements. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, a new process was implemented over a 2-year period to measure nursing related patient outcomes during MEDEVAC, and to capture the nursing workload. The use of standard metrics to establish patient priorities and improve nursing care during MEDEVAC allowed the level II forward surgical teams or their equivalents and level III combat support hospitals to make structural, process, and outcome improvements in the en route care programs throughout the Iraq theater of operations. Implications of this program were broad, including establishment of a process to support decision making based on data driven metrics, improvement of quality of nursing care, and defining nurse staffing requirements.

US Army Med Dep J. 2011 Oct-Dec; 45-50
Davis RS, Connelly LK

The mission of the en route caregiver is to provide critical care in military helicopters for wounded Warriors. This care minimizes the effects of the wounds and injuries, and improves morbidity and mortality. This article will focus on the history of Army Nursing en route care. From World War II through Vietnam, and continuing through the War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, Army nurses served in providing en route care in military airplanes and helicopters for patients being transported to higher echelons of care. From aid stations on the battlefield to forward surgical teams which provide life, limb, and eyesight saving care, to the next higher level of care in combat support hospitals, these missions require specialized nursing skills to safely care for the high acuity patients. Before the en route care concept existed, there was not a program to train nurses in these critical skills. There was also a void of information about patient outcomes associated with the nursing assessment and care provided during helicopter medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) of such unstable patients, and the consequent impact on the patient's condition after transport. The role of critical care nurses has proven to be essential and irreplaceable in providing full-spectrum care to casualties of war, in particular, the postsurgical patients transferred from one surgical facility to another in theatre. However, we have only recently developed the concepts over the required skill set, training, equipment, functionality, evidenced-based care, and sustainability of nursing in the en route care role. Much of the work to quantify and qualify nursing care has been done by individuals and individual units whose lessons-learned have only recently been captured.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Nov 15; 108(46): 18569-70
Curcio CA

Alzheimers Dement. 2011 Nov; 7(6): 562-6
Weiner MF, Rossetti HC, Harrah K

This study reports a 5-year experience using videoconference (VC) technology in diagnosing and treating adult members of the Choctaw Nation with symptoms or complaints of cognitive impairment.Patients were given the option of a VC session or a face-to-face evaluation in the clinic. Before their VC session, patients underwent neuropsychological testing, Clinical Dementia Rating, Geriatric Depression Scale and Neuropsychiatric Inventory, brain computed tomography, and routine blood tests. Physical observations made by VC included eyesight, hearing, facial expression, gait and station, coordination, tremor, rapid alternating movements, psychomotor activity, and motor tests of executive function. Cogwheeling and rigidity were tested by our on-site nurse, who also obtained vital signs as indicated.Between January 2005 and March 2010, there were 47 clinics, 171 visits, and 85 unique patients. There were 52 new evaluations and 119 follow-up visits. The number of visits ranged from one to eight and the length of follow-up from 1 month to 4.5 years. The no-show rate for all VC sessions in 2009 was 3%, and only two subjects in 5 years refused further VC visits.Once cultural barriers are dealt with, VC-based diagnosis and treatment of adults with cognitive disorders who live in remote areas is feasible and well accepted by patients and families.

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2011 Nov-Dec; 59(6): 475-9
Basu M, Das P, Pal R, Kar S, Desai VK, Kavishwar A

Eye morbidities with or without symptoms delineate a significant morbidity among adolescent schoolgirls in India. The study was undertaken to assess the extent of visual impairment and ocular morbidity to identify influencing factors and the impact on scholastic performance.A population-based cross-sectional study was undertaken among 3002 urban girl students of Surat in Gujarat, India. Overall prevalence of refractive error was found to be 15.22%; myopia affected 91.47%, hyperopia 4.60%, and astigmatism 0.04%. The prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was more in higher age groups, while hyperopia was more in lower age groups; even students with good vision reported ophthalmic symptoms. Of all spectacle users, in 29.73% cases the eyesight was not found to be with the best possible corrections. Refractive error was observed to be higher among the general caste (50.98%) and among Muslims (54.05%). Still, among those with problems of eyesight, 75.93% students had good academic performance. Associated ocular morbidity was noted in 20.35% participants along with the refractive error.This study highlighted the load of eye morbidities of adolescent Indian urban girls.

Br J Ophthalmol. 2011 Dec; 95(12): 1638-45
Curcio CA, Johnson M, Rudolf M, Huang JD

Ageing is the largest risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and soft drusen and basal linear deposits are lipid-rich extracellular lesions specific to AMD. Oil red O binding neutral lipid represents a major age-related deposition in the Bruch membrane (BrM) and the first identified druse component. Decades after these seminal observations, a natural history of neutral lipid deposition has been articulated and a biochemical model proposed. Results obtained with multiple biochemical, histochemical, and ultrastructural methods, and supported indirectly by epidemiology, suggest that the RPE secretes apolipoprotein B (apoB)-lipoprotein particles of unusual composition into BrM, where they accumulate with age eventually forming a lipid wall, a precursor of basal linear deposit. The authors propose that constituents of these lesions interact with reactive oxygen species to form pro-inflammatory peroxidised lipids that elicit neovascularisation. Here, the authors summarise key evidence supporting both accumulation of BrM lipoproteins leading to lesion formation and lipoprotein production by the RPE. The authors update their model with genetic associations between AMD and genes historically associated with plasma HDL metabolism, and suggest future directions for research and therapeutic strategies based on an oil-spill analogy.

Med Pr. 2011; 62(3): 227-35
Jedrejko M, Skoczyńska A

Acquired reversible dyschromatopsia has been associated with occupational exposure to mercury vapor. Early-detected impairments in color discrimination precede adverse permanent effects of mercury, so they may help to monitor the health of the exposed workers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the color discrimination ability in this group of workers, using Lanthony D-15d test.Employed in a chloralkali plant, 27 male workers exposed to mercury vapor and 27 healthy white-collar workers (control group) were qualified for the study. To assess color discrimination, the Lanthony 15-Hue desaturated test (Lanthony D-15) was used. In order to investigate quantitative and qualitative results, the Lanthony D-15d scoring software was performed. Urinary mercury was determined using flameless atomic absorption spectrometry.In the workers exposed to mercury vapor, urine mercury concentration was 117.4 +/- 62.6 microg/g creatinine on average compared with 0.279 +/- 0.224 mg/g creatinine in the control group (p < 0.0001). In 18 exposed persons (66.7%), the results of the Lanthony D-15d test showed qualitative changes, which are borderline corresponding to the early stage of developing dyschromatopsia type III. The quantitative analysis of the test findings indicated a significantly higher value of the Color Confusion Index (CCI) in the right eye in the exposed group compared to the control group (p = 0.01), with no significant difference in the CCI in the left eye. In the exposed group, the CCI in the right eye was significantly higher than the CCI in the left eye (p = 0.0005). There was neither correlation between CCI and the level of urinary mercury, nor between CCI and duration of exposure.The results showed that the Lanthony D-15d test is useful in the detection of early toxic effects in the eyesight of the workers exposed to mercury vapor. The observed color vision impairments are borderline corresponding to the early stage of developing dyschromatopsia type III.

Cell Biochem Biophys. 2011 Dec; 61(3): 685-90
Jing L, Li L, Jiang-Hua R, Sheng-Ning Z, Zhu L, Lai-Bang L, Jiang L

In this study, we analyzed causes of abdominal hemorrhage after reduced-size liver transplantation in rat. Healthy SD rats (weight range of 260-280 g) underwent liver transplantation, the donors were female and the recipients were male rats. The recipients were, on average, by <10 g heavier than the donors. All operations on donor rats were performed by the same person using unaided eyesight. Operations on recipient rats were performed by two persons using unaided eyesight. About 270 rats received reduced-size liver transplantation of which 44 died because of intra-abdominal hemorrhages. The distribution of abdominal hemorrhage sites was as follows: 28 cases with anastomotic hemorrhages of the inferior vena cava of the superior liver, 9 cases with subcapsular hemorrhage, 9 cases with tied hemorrhages from the left lateral lobe, 7 cases with hemorrhages from the papillary lobe, 7 hemorrhages from the triangular lobe, 5 hemorrhages of the right suprarenal vein and lumbar veins, 4 hemorrhages caused by mechanical injury, 4 cuff hemorrhages of the portal vein and the inferior vein cava of the inferior liver, 8 anastomotic hemorrhages of the inferior vena cava of the superior liver and the tied hemorrhage of the left outboard lobe, and 5 hemorrhages of the two tied points of the reduced-size liver. Ten hemorrhages were stopped by suture or/and ligature, and 6 were stopped by washing with or soaking in hot water. Results of this study will be helpful to raise success rates of reduced-size liver transplantation.

Soins Pediatr Pueric. 2011 Jul-Aug; 26-9
Dupleix D

Young children's eyewear benefits from technical and technological progress and the attention paid by professionals to children's vision. Beyond the aesthetics of the frames, the quality of the lenses and the accuracy of the correction enable a child's eyesight to be maintained or improved, with the cooperation of the parents.

Soins Pediatr Pueric. 2011 Jul-Aug; 21-3
Delord JJ, Fourtanet T

Testing eyesight from a very early age is both medically as well as politically motivated. The attention paid to children's eyesight by ophthalmologists, paediatricians and doctors in early childhood or school health centres should be supported by a systematic eyesight assessment and the refunding of the necessary collyrium.