bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A12. IPL therapy in the inflammatory stage of rosacea
Authors: Rone M , Kisis J 
Published: March 2003

The inflammatory stage of Rosacea iscommonly treated with topical or oral antibiotics. However, if additional erythema and telangiectasias are present, antibiotics are not successful. IPL (intense pulsed light) is mostly involved when only initial or residual telangiectasias are present. Application of IPL simultaneously with topical or oral medicine could be an effective form of treatment in the inflammatory stage of rosacea. This study was performed in order to detect the effect of IPL application with simultaneous topical antibiotics in inflammatory rosacea and to assess the efficacy of IPL therapy in routine treatment of rosacea.Twenty patients aged between 34 and 70 with papulopustular rosacea (14 female and 7 male) were included in the study. Ten patients (group I) were treated for 21 weeks with topical metronidazole. The other ten patients (group II) received an additional 3 sessions with IPL 515–755 nm Photoderm VL technology over 4 weeks. Treatment affectivity was recorded by digital visualisation and patient satisfaction scale before each IPL session.In all patients, significant reductions in papulopustular elements were observed. Eight out of 10 patients (group I) still showed permanent erythema and telangiectasias despite topical treatment. In 3/10 patients a few telangiectasias remained following the treatment in contrast to 5/10 satisfied group I patients. The most effective treatment was the application of 570 nm and 590 nm wavelength at a fluence of 25–55 J/cm2.Application of IPL in inflammatory rosacea is equally as safe and effective in residual or initial lesions. Moreover, in combination with antibiotics, it promotes reduction of all symptoms, is less time‐consuming and is more successful for patients. The pathogenetic influence of IPL in rosacea seems not only to be limited to selective photothermolysis of dilated blood vessels, but may also have immunomodulatory effects on inflammatory processes and possibly on collagen remodelling. The combination of IPL and antibiotics from theoutset of rosacea therapy is considered to be highly effective.
A17. Cheilitis: more than just a cosmetic problem
Authors: Zelenkova H , Jautova J , Stracenska J 
Published: March 2003

Cheilitis, the inflammation of lips, may attain acute, subacute or chronic forms. Its symptoms should not be underestimated as simply a cosmetic defect. Different pathological processes may underlie the variable clinical pictures. In addition to cheilitis glandularis, cheilitis granulomatosa and cheilitis abrasiva praecancerosa, dermatologists focus their attention more on cheilitis actinica, cheilitis iritativa (arteficialis), cheilitis allergica and cheilitis of microbial origin. In addition to these types of cheilitis is cheilitis accompanying the therapy with retinoids. Severe forms of the cheilitis erosiva and exfoliativa are frequently observed in patients treated with Roaccutane. Clinical discomfort and deterioration of their aesthetic appearance may cause severe stigmatisation. In spite of the availability of a number of therapeutics, treatment of cheilitis may be problematic due to the increasing incidence of contact allergies. It is therefore appropriate to exclude all preparations containing perfumes and preservatives. We evaluated several parameters in a study aimed at the utilisation of Anthelios XL 60 creme (La Roche‐Posay Laboratoire Pharmaceutique) and Ceralip (La Roche‐Posay Laboratoire Pharmaceutique) in patients with acne conglobata who were treated with retinoids during the spring and summer season.Intended utilisation: Ceralip cream has proved to be efficient as a preventive and complementary dermatological preparation in the first phase of therapy with retinoids.
Clinical effectiveness and the education of healthcare practitioners
Authors: Clifford Collette , Murray Sarah , Kelly Sue 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThis paper reports a project designed to determine the extent to which undergraduate university research programmes prepare healthcare practitioners to use research and facilitate evidence‐based practice in clinical areas. Three groups of healthcare professionals participated in a sample of convenience to complete a modified training needs analysis questionnaire developed by Hicks et al. (1996). This enabled exploration of whether there are any differences between professional groups using their knowledge of research in practice. This is a relevant issue, as the available literature indicates that the way in which these groups of staff are introduced to research studies in their undergraduate programmes may be varied. For example, nurses commonly have a broad‐brush introduction to research studies, while medical students tend to focus on statistics and epidemiology. Sampling limitations are noted, but the findings indicate that for this small group of respondents, university programmes impact on the extent to which they can use research in practice. Differences in response between professional groups indicate that the nature of the research programme attended by healthcare students may impact upon the extent to which they feel confident about using research in practice. This work has raised questions that could be explored usefully in a larger controlled study in which the research curriculum is examined alongside student learning.
The Pulsair 3000 tonometer — how many readings need to be taken to ensure accuracy of the average?
Authors: McCaghrey G. E. , Matthews F. E. 
Published: March 2003

SummaryManufacturers of non‐contact tonometers recommend that a number of readings are taken on each eye, and an average obtained. With the Keeler Pulsair 3000 it is advised to take four readings, and average these. This report analyses readings in 100 subjects, and compares the first reading, and the averages of the first two and first three readings with the “machine standard” of the average of four readings. It is found that, in the subject group investigated, the average of three readings is not different from the average of four in 95% of individuals, with equivalence defined as ±1.0 mmHg.
Optical and biometric relationships of the isolated pig crystalline lens
Authors: Vilupuru Abhiram S. , Glasser Adrian 
Published: March 2003

Summary Aim: To investigate the interrelationships between optical and biometric properties of the porcine crystalline lens, to compare these findings with similar relationships found for the human lens and to attempt to fit this data to a geometric model of the optical and biometric properties of the pig lens. Methods: Weight, focal length, spherical aberration, surface curvatures, thickness and diameters of 20 isolated pig lenses were measured and equivalent refractive index was calculated. These parameters were compared and used to geometrically model the pig lens. Results: Linear relationships were identified between many of the lens biometric and optical properties. The existence of these relationships allowed a simple geometrical model of the pig lens to be calculated which offers predictions of the optical properties. Conclusions: The linear relationships found and the agreement observed between measured and modeled results suggest that the pig lens confirms to a predictable, preset developmental pattern and that the optical and biometric properties are predictably interrelated.
The effects of accommodative facility training on a group of children with impaired relative accommodation—a comparison between dioptric treatment and sham treatment
Authors: Sterner Bertil , Abrahamsson Maths , Sjöström Anders 
Published: March 2003

SummaryThe effects of accommodative facility training were evaluated by comparing training with plano lenses and ±2.00 D lens flipper sets. Thirteen children with symptoms and signs of accommodative dysfunction were included in the study. Seven started with 2 weeks of plano lens training before proceeding to traditional dioptric flipper training; later, one patient from this group was lost to follow‐up. The remaining six children used powered flipper training from the start. The positive (PRA) and negative relative accommodation (NRA) were examined every second week. During the initial training period both the PRA and the NRA decreased in the sham treatment group (P=0.010 and P=0.102, respectively), while the PRA and the NRA increased during the dioptric training in both groups (P=0.102 and P=0.033, respectively). The result of this study indicates that accommodative facility training has a real effect on the amplitude of relative accommodation in patients with impaired relative accommodation.
New developments in supra‐threshold perimetry
Authors: Henson David B. , Artes Paul H. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose: To describe a series of recent enhancements to supra‐threshold perimetry.Methods: Computer simulations were used to develop an improved algorithm (HEART) for the setting of the supra‐threshold test intensity at the beginning of a field test, and to evaluate the relationship between various pass/fail criteria and the test's performance (sensitivity and specificity) and how they compare with modern threshold perimetry. Data were collected in optometric practices to evaluate HEART and to assess how the patient's response times can be analysed to detect false positive response errors in visual field test results.Results: The HEART algorithm shows improved performance (reduced between‐eye differences) over current algorithms. A pass/fail criterion of `3 stimuli seen of 3–5 presentations' at each test location reduces test/retest variability and combines high sensitivity and specificity. A large percentage of false positive responses can be detected by comparing their latencies to the average response time of a patient.Conclusions: Optimised supra‐threshold visual field tests can perform as well as modern threshold techniques. Such tests may be easier to perform for novice patients, compared with the more demanding threshold tests.
Objective predictors of subjective visual function for different age‐related cataract morphologies
Authors: Hakim‐Banan N. , Horgan S. E. , Hull C. C. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  To find objective chart tests that give a measure of visual function in the different age‐related cataract morphological groups and can be applied in a clinical setting.Methods:  Subjects with age‐related cataract (N = 33) were recruited to the study from both private optometric practice and a hospital eye department. All subjects underwent LOCS III grading of their cataract and had their functional vision assessed using the VF‐14 questionnaire. High (96%) and low (16%) contrast logMAR visual acuity were measured together with Pelli–Robson contrast sensitivity. A stepwise linear regression was then performed on the data to find significant predictors for VF‐14 in the three age‐related cataract morphological groups as well as in a mixed group.Results:  Low contrast logMAR visual acuity was a significant predictor of VF‐14 in the cortical (p = 0.014) and nuclear (p = 0.024) subgroups. For the mixed morphological group both high and low contrast visual acuity were significant predictors (p < 0.03). There were only three subjects with pure posterior subcapsular cataract and so no meaningful analysis could be performed.Conclusions:  Low contrast logMAR visual acuity may be a better predictor of visual function in cortical and nuclear cataract compared with high contrast logMAR visual acuity or Pelli–Robson contrast sensitivity.
Oculomotor adaptations produced by virtual reality environments
Authors: Stanger S. , Gray L. S. , Mon‐Williams M. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  Virtual reality (VR) displays require a static accommodation response to be maintained despite continual variation in vergence. The aim of this experiment was to establish the effect of VR stimulation upon the tonic elements of the accommodation and vergence controllers.Methods:  Twenty subjects (mean age 22.0 ± 4.5 years) participated with informed consent in the experiment. The subjects were emmetropic and free of all ocular or systemic disease. Tonic accommodation (TA) was measured in darkness using the Shin‐Nippon SRW‐5000 (Tokyo, Japan) infrared autorefractor which takes a measure of the accommodative state every 1 s. Readings were taken over a period of 3 min and an average TA value was calculated when the accommodative state had reached a stable level. Tonic vergence (TV) was measured in darkness continuously for 3 min using an EyeTrace 300X (Iota AB, Sundvall, Sweden) infrared limbal eyetracker and an average TV value was calculated when the traces had reached a stable level. Subjects were then immersed in a VR environment, for 30 min, generated using SimulEyes field‐sequential shutter goggles controlled by a Dell XPS R450 PC (Bracknell, UK). The VR display required a constant accommodation response of 3D, while the vergence response typically varied between 0 and 5 MA. Following immersion, measurements of TA and TV were repeated.Results:  A significant relationship (y = 1.13x − 0.71, R = 0.85, p = 0.001) was found between the initial TV level and the shift induced by the VR environment such that negative TV positions shifted in the positive direction and vice‐versa. No significant change in TA was observed.Conclusions:  The VR environment produced substantial adaptation of TV. These findings suggest that the vergence controller acts to shift vergence bias in order to reduce stimuli conflicts with accommodation found in VR environments. This enables subjects to maintain a stable accommodation response despite continual changes in the vergence position.
Temporal integration of astigmatic blur information
Authors: Potter J. A. , Strang N. C. , Whitaker D. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  The accommodation response has recently been shown to improve visual acuity (VA) in the presence of astigmatism in some individuals. This improvement could potentially result from the accommodation system exhibiting a cyclic tracking response. This type of response would allow the integration of target features over time, resulting in an improvement in VA. In this study we measure VA in simulated astigmatic blur conditions, with the magnitude of astigmatic blur being temporally modulated over a range of astigmatic blur intervals. Improvement of VA with increased range of astigmatic blur would support the integration of visual information over time hypothesis.Methods:  Three fully corrected subjects participated in a 3‐Alternative Force Choice method of constant stimuli paradigm where they were asked to identify one of three randomly chosen letters (K, R or X). The stimuli (Arial, font size 18) were subjected to varying amounts of Gaussian blur along the horizontal and vertical meridian and presented at a distance of 1.3 m. On any trial, the stimuli were randomly presented to the subjects at one of six astigmatic blur intervals. Each blur interval revolved at a temporal frequency of 2 Hz around the circle of least confusion with the smallest interval presenting the stimuli at the circle of least confusion and the largest oscillating the stimuli across the full interval, i.e. from the most horizontally to vertically blurred meridian.Results:  From the resulting psychometric functions it was shown that all subjects exhibit a progressive improvement in letter recognition with increasing astigmatic blur interval.Conclusions:  The improvement of VA with increased astigmatic blur interval strengthens the hypothesis that visual information can be integrated over a period of time.
Stimulus size and the variability of the threshold response in the central and peripheral visual field
Authors: Kim L. S. , Wild J. M. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  The investigation of the peripheral visual field has shown considerable interest for the investigation of field loss attributed to anticonvulsant therapy. The purpose was to determine the within‐visit between‐subject, the between‐visit between‐subject, and the between‐location variability of the threshold response in the normal eye with increase in stimulus eccentricity out to 60° as a function of stimulus size.Methods:  Forty‐eight normal subjects attended for a total of three visits (mean age = 49.5 years, SD = 18.9, range 22–84 years). At the first visit, one randomly assigned eye of each subject was examined with the Humphrey Field Analyzer 750 (Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany) and the Full Threshold algorithm using Programs 30–2 and 60–4 and stimulus sizes III and V. The combination of stimulus size and of program, and the order of the combination within‐ and between‐sessions, were randomized for each subject. The results of the first visit were considered as a familiarization period and were discarded. The protocol at the second and third visits was identical to that at the first visit for each subject.Results:  The ratio of the SD of the group mean sensitivity was determined at each stimulus location for stimulus size III compared with stimulus size V for Programs 30–2 and 60–4 at visit 3. The SDs were greater than unity for Program 30–2 (p < 0.0001) and for Program 60–4 (p < 0.0001) indicating greater variability for the size III stimulus. The SDs were also greater than unity for the central inner zone (p < 0.0001), central outer zone (p < 0.0001) and peripheral inner zone (p < 0.0001). The ratios in the peripheral outer zone were not quite greater than unity (p = 0.054). The ratios increased with increase in eccentricity by up to 2.7 times between 15° and 30° eccentricity and by up to 2.7 times between 30° and 60° eccentricity. The group mean ratio did not vary significantly between the two visits for Program 30–2 stimulus size III (p = 0.563), Program 60–4 stimulus size III (p = 0.935) and for Program 60–4 stimulus size V (p = 0.005). However, the group mean SD was lower at visit 3 compared with visit 2 for Program 30–2 stimulus size V (p = 0.0004). The SDs associated with the extreme peripheral locations in the superior and nasal fields were smaller for stimulus size III because the threshold was frequently attenuated by lid and facial contour.Conclusions:  Considerably narrower confidence limits for normality for the peripheral regions of Program 30–2 and for 60–4 are demonstrated with the use of Goldmann size V.
Induced irregular astigmatism in hypermetropic PRK and LASIK: a bilateral cohort study
Authors: Sciscio A. , Hull C. C. , Stephenson C. G. , O'Brart D. P. S. , Marshall J. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  To determine if there was a difference in irregular astigmatism following hypermetropic correction with Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) and Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) by Fourier analysis of corneal topographical data.Methods:  Thirty‐six eyes of 18 patients affected by hypermetropia were enrolled as part of a prospective study in which one eye was treated with PRK and the other with LASIK. In the eyes that underwent LASIK the flap was cut on a nasal hinge with a LSK one microkeratome. The laser system was a Summit SVS Apex Plus with an optical zone of 6.5 mm and a blending zone of 1.5 mm. Corneal topographical data was acquired with a TMS‐1 pre‐operatively and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post‐operatively. The dioptric files for each time point were converted into ASCII format and subsequently analysed with purpose written software to extract the Fourier harmonics. This permitted the objective analysis of the irregular astigmatism, equivalent spherical component and regular astigmatism.Results:  The irregular astigmatism increased in both groups post‐operatively, reached a peak at 3 months and then reduced over the next 9 months. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups at any time point (p < 0.05 all cases). At 12 months the irregular astigmatism values for both groups remained above their pre‐operative levels.Conclusion:  The irregular astigmatism analysed in this study showed no statistically significant difference between the PRK and the LASIK group throughout the follow‐up period. It appears that, from a corneal topographical point of view, the two procedures induce an equal amount of irregular astigmatism.
Chromatic and achromatic loss of sensitivity in glaucoma
Authors: Pacheco‐Cutillas M. , Barbur J. L. , Edgar D. F. 
Published: March 2003

Purpose:  Loss of both chromatic and achromatic sensitivity in glaucoma has been shown, however, the relative loss is unknown. We aim to quantify and establish which of these systems is affected most in glaucoma.Methods:  Earlier experiments have shown that thresholds for detection of coherent motion of colour‐defined, spatially structured stimuli are not affected by dynamic luminance contrast noise. We used these results to design stimuli conditions that isolate chromatic and achromatic mechanisms. We studied 13 subjects with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) with mean age of 70 years, 17 control subjects with a mean age of 68 years and 13 young normal subjects with a mean age of 31 years. Contrast thresholds were measured using a 4‐alternative, forced‐choice procedure involving discrimination of motion direction. Achromatic and chromatic sensitivities were measured, the latter along the tritan and protan confusion axes, foveally and at 8° eccentricity.Results:  There were statistically significant differences between the three subject groups. Comparison of the control and POAG groups revealed a loss of sensitivity in the POAG group. Achromatic sensitivity thresholds increased 1.4‐fold (both at the fovea and at 8°), whereas chromatic thresholds increased 1.8‐ (B/Y) and 1.5‐fold (R/G) at the fovea and 2.0‐ (B/Y) and 1.6‐fold (R/G) at 8°. Comparison of the control and young groups reflected the ageing effects. Achromatic sensitivity showed 1.5‐fold reduction (both fovea and 8°), but the chromatic loss was more severe: 3.5‐ (B/Y) and 3.0‐fold (R/G) at the fovea, and 3.6‐ (B/Y) and 3.2‐fold (R/G) at 8°.Conclusions:  The results confirm that the B/Y channel is most affected in glaucoma, but both chromatic and achromatic mechanisms are affected by ageing and glaucoma.
Alcohol's Effect on the Development and Progression of Cancer
Authors: Homann Nils , Seitz Helmut K. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractIn industrialized countries, alcohol intake is the major cause of cancer of the esophagus, oral cavity, and pharynx. It is also one of the most important risk factors for laryngeal and hepatocellular cancer. Epidemiologic studies are presently investigating a link between alcohol and an increased risk for breast, left‐sided colon, and rectal cancers. Experimental studies have elucidated some of the mechanisms behind these findings. Alcohol‐associated malnutrition and the fundamental changes of alcohol in the metabolism of other nutrients may explain a part of alcohol‐associated carcinogenesis. Alcohol per se is not carcinogenic but its first metabolite, acetaldehyde, is teratogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. Genetic linkage studies suggest that certain polymorphisms and/or mutations in the genes coding for enzymes responsible for acetaldehyde accumulation and detoxification, namely alcohol dehydrogenases and aldehyde dehydrogenases, are associated with an increased cancer risk. These experiments suggest that the major carcinogenic action of alcohol is likely produced by acetaldehyde. Other pathomechanisms of alcohol are being studied as well. Alcohol and alcoholism also influence the treatment of cancer, as alcoholics are at a greater risk of perioperative morbidity and surgical complications.