Local OCT Structural Correlates of Deep Visual Sensitivity Defects in Early Atrophic Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To determine local OCT structural correlates of deep visual sensitivity defects (threshold of ≤10 decibels on microperimetry) in early atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Prospective observational study.

Participants: Forty eyes from 40 participants, with at least incomplete retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal atrophy (iRORA), or more advanced atrophic lesion(s).

Longitudinal Changes of Visual Sensitivity With Geographic Atrophy Progression Assessed by Defect-Mapping Microperimetry.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between structural and functional changes over time in the progression of geographic atrophy (GA) as assessed by defect-mapping microperimetry, an approach optimized to characterize the spatial extent of deep visual sensitivity losses.

Methods: A total of 57 eyes from 50 participants underwent defect-mapping microperimetry testing of the central 8° radius (with a 10-dB stimuli presented once each at 208 locations) over a median of five visits, scheduled at 3-monthly intervals. GA lesion(s) on fundus autofluorescence in the corresponding region tested on microperimetry at each visit were manually annotated.

Modeling Alcohol Consumption in Rodents Using Two-Bottle Choice Home Cage Drinking and Microstructural Analysis.

Two-bottle choice home cage drinking is one of the most widely used paradigms to study ethanol consumption in rodents. In its simplest form, animals are provided with access to two drinking bottles, one of which contains regular tap water and the other ethanol, with daily intake measured by change in bottle weight over the 24 h period. Consequently, this approach requires no specialized laboratory equipment.

Donor Time to Death and Kidney Transplant Outcomes in the Setting of a 3-Hour Minimum Wait Policy.

Importance: Lengthening waiting lists for organ transplant mandates the development of strategies to expand the deceased donor pool. Due to concerns regarding organ viability, most organ donation organizations internationally wait no longer than 1 to 2 hours for potential donation after circulatory death (DCD), possibly underutilizing an important organ source; UK policy mandates a minimum 3-hour wait time.

Objective: To assess whether time to death (TTD) from withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) is associated with kidney transplant outcomes.

Source identification and human health risk to polychlorinated biphenyls in public parks and playground surface soils, southern zone of Ghana.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) constitute a typical example of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that have been detected globally in most environmental media. Soil serves as a critical reservoir for PCBs. This research is aimed at evaluating the potential exposure and associated health risks posed by soil-laden PCBs to humans during outdoor activities on public playgrounds and parks within the southern zone of Ghana where limited studies have been undertaken.