How long to prosecute child sexual abuse for a community using a Children's Advocacy Center and two comparison communities?

This article explores the length of time between key events in the criminal prosecution of child sexual abuse cases (charging decision, case resolution process, and total case-processing time), which previous research suggests is related to victims' recovery. The sample included 160 cases in three communities served by the Dallas County District Attorney. Most cases (69%) took at least 60 days for the charging decision, with cases investigated at the Children's Advocacy Center having a quicker time than either comparison community.

A novel microscope system for time-lapse observation of corneal cells in a living mouse.

A novel microscope system is presented for observation of corneal cells in a living mouse. It enables tracking of individual cells in all layers of the cornea at various times, thus allowing the generation of time-lapse recordings. The system consists of three major components: an upright fluorescence microscope for visualization of corneal cells, a mouse-holding unit for immobilization of the animal and the eye, and a set of gimbals which permit observation of a wide area of corneal surface without refocusing.

An update on corneal hydration control.

An account is provided of developments in our understanding of the mechanism of corneal hydration control, particularly as regards the possibility of an active system for its regulation. Emphasis is given to issues that are contentious, such as the role of bicarbonate in the endothelial pump and the significance of water channels in both corneal limiting cell layers.

Drug delivery to the posterior segment from drops.

The published evidence that instilled drugs can affect the blood supply to the retina and optic nerve head in humans is examined. As a background, seven techniques that have been used to measure flow are briefly described and criticized. For timolol, the corresponding measurements, obtained by a number of investigators are evaluated.

Role of tears in keratocyte loss after epithelial removal in mouse cornea.

Purpose: To study the role of tears in the death of keratocytes after epithelium removal in the mouse cornea.

Methods: In anesthetized mice, an approximately 1-mm circle of epithelium was removed from the center of the cornea, exposing the underlying stroma. In one group of animals, access of tears to the bare stroma was allowed-in vivo, by closing the eyelids, or ex vivo, by dropping tears from another animal onto the denuded stroma of an enucleated eyeball.

Some puzzles in the microscopic structure of the stroma.

The mammalian corneal stroma has some intriguing features related to its lamellar structure. OPTICAL LAMINATION: Stromal sections under the polarizing microscope show birefringent bands that are about 5 times less numerous than the collagenous lamellae seen in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Scattered light reveals similar laminae in the intact fresh tissue.

An oneiropenic account of an ophthalmological career.

The author has done pretty much what he wanted to do throughout his professional life. Little harm resulted. A few findings may survive.

The Von Sallmann Lecture 1996: an ophthalmological explanation of REM sleep.

The hypothesis is advanced that the purpose of the eyeball movements during REM sleep is to stir the aqueous humor behind the closed lids and so avoid the risk that its stagnation could cause corneal anoxia. The relevance of the hypothesis to evolutionary biology and intensive care nursing is discussed.

The regurgitation of large vitreous injections.

The same quantity of fluorescein labelled dextran was injected into the vitreous humor of 5 rabbits; in one eye, dissolved in 10 microliters solution and in the other, 100 microliters. The level of fluorescence in the two eyes was compared a few days later and found to average only 12% less with the larger volume. It is concluded that regurgitation through the needle hole can be ignored in spite of the very high intraocular pressure created by the 100 microliter injection.

In Memoriam: HUGH DAVSON 1909-1996.

No abstract Copyright 1996 Academic Press Limited

The fate of scleral grafts in the cornea.

There have been reports of the clearing of sclera that has been grafted into the cornea. This clearing was studied in the rabbit by transplanting full-thickness scleral buttons or by implanting slivers of sclera, both autografts and allografts, into the cornea. Some clearing around the edges of the implanted scleral tissues was observed to take place slowly over the following months.

Quantitative measurement of corneal haze after myopic PRK.

Objective: To design and evaluate an instrument for the objective measurement of haze in rabbits after myopic PRK.

Methods: A circular fluorescent lamp bulb projected light onto the cornea through a circular collimating aperture covered with an orange filter. The image was collected on a centrally mounted CCD camera and the profile of the haze circle along its horizontal diameter determined.

Inflammatory cells, refractive regression, and haze after excimer laser PRK.

Objective: To examine the role of inflammatory cell invasion and aspects of tissue reaction on refractive regression and corneal haze after myopic PRK in rabbits.

Methods: Measurements were made for 12 weeks postoperatively of haze intensity, corneal topography, tear cytology, inflammatory cell invasion, subepithelial fibroblast density, and the thickness of the newly laid down connective tissue and of the regrown epithelium.

Results: Inflammatory cell invasion could be prevented by fitting a soft contact lens, but this had no effect on the haze or the regression.

Local pressure effects on vitreous kinetics.

Fluorescein (F) or carboxyfluorescein (CF) was injected subconjunctivally in rabbits and its penetration into and subsequent loss from the vitreous body and anterior segment was measured. Pressure was applied over the site of the injected dye, sufficient to close down the local choroidal circulation. This raised the penetration of F about 30 times and delayed its loss, and raised the penetration of CF about seven times without affecting its loss rate.

Poor mixing of microdrops with the tear fluid reduces the accuracy of tear flow estimates by fluorometry.

The initial rapid fall in tear film fluorescence after instilling a 1 microliter drop of fluorophore could be a result of stimulated tear flow or of distribution of the dye throughout the tear fluid present in the conjunctival sac. An attempt was made to decide this by comparing the fall in fluorescence of two different fluorophores instilled at an interval of several minutes. In fact, very few patterns of initial rapid loss were found, but it was noted that there was usually a strong gradient of fluorescence from side to side across the cornea that took several minutes to dissipate.

Short-term reproducibility of impression cytology.

Goblet cell impressions free from epithelial cells could be collected more consistently from the rabbit conjunctiva by creating a space between the applied cellulose acetate filter and the tissue surface. Successive impressions taken over the same region of the conjunctiva could not be matched. When tight control of the area being sampled was established, the impressions left by cells on successive filters varied widely in intensity.

Fluorometric measurement of light absorption by the rabbit cornea.

A bench specular microscope, modified to perform as a scanning microfluorometer, was used to make simple and precise measurements of the absorption of visible light by the isolated rabbit cornea. The tissue was scanned while identical FITC dextran solutions were perfused over both the surfaces, and the measured fluorescence levels in the solutions on the two sides were compared. The alteration in level corresponds to the difference between the absorption of the cornea and that of of an equal thickness of the solution, which was determined in a separate experiment.

The effect of age on the penetration of fluorescein into the human eye.

The penetration into the eye of fluorescein from a normal drop was found to increase with age and averaged twelve times more in the elderly than in the young. Examination of the literature suggests that this is a result of a greater contact time with the cornea rather than a rise in epithelial permeability.

A microfluorometer for measuring diffusion of fluorophores across the cornea.

A microscope has been modified to a confocal spatially scanning fluorometer so that the concentration profile of a fluorophore across an isolated cornea can be measured. A slit of light is focused through one half of the objective to excite fluorescence. A confocal slit is placed at the image-plane of the microscope to collect the fluorescent light from the tissue which passes through the other half of the objective.

Use of fluorometry in assessing the efficacy of a cation-sensitive gel as an ophthalmic vehicle: comparison with scintigraphy.

Gelrite, a heteropolysaccharide that forms a gel in the presence of cations, was tested in humans for its efficacy as an ophthalmic vehicle by a nonivasive fluorometric technique. Fluorescein was used as the tracer, and its concentration in the anterior chamber was used as the principal measure of bioavailability. The gel afforded a twofold increase in penetration of fluorescein compared with an isotonic buffer solution; this increase is slightly more than can be obtained with simple viscous vehicles.

The kinetics of tear fluid under the lower lid.

A very small drop of fluorescein solution was placed at the bottom of the lower fornix in human volunteers and its appearance in the tear film was measured. This was quite variable, but its appearance time averaged about 4 min and the peak of fluorescence 8 min. The time was shortened by blinking.

Loss of fluorescein across the conjunctiva.

The rate of disappearance from the tear film of fluorescein and rhodamine dextran instilled together into the human eye was compared. In many cases fluorescein disappeared more rapidly, which was attributed to its penetration across the conjunctival surface. A corresponding mean fluorescein permeability across this surface of 2.