Visual functions and multimodal imaging of patients with idiopathic focal choroidal excavation.

This study aimed to evaluate visual function and perform multimodal imaging on patients with focal choroidal excavation without any chorioretinal disease (idiopathic focal choroidal excavation [iFCE]). Seventeen eyes of 15 patients with iFCE (8 men, 7 women; mean ± standard deviation age, 56.0 ± 10.

Crystal structure refinements of stoichiometric NiSe and NiSe.

Single crystals of NiSe (trinickel diselenide) and NiSe (nickel selenide) with stoichiometric chemical compositions were grown in evacuated silica-glass tubes. The chemical compositions of the single crystals of NiSe and NiSe were determined by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The crystal structures of NiSe [rhombohedral, space group R32, a = 6.

Microdiamond in a low-grade metapelite from a Cretaceous subduction complex, western Kyushu, Japan.

Microdiamonds in metamorphic rocks are a signature of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism that occurs mostly at continental collision zones. Most UHP minerals, except coesite and microdiamond, have been partially or completely retrogressed during exhumation; therefore, the discovery of coesite and microdiamond is crucial to identify UHP metamorphism and to understand the tectonic history of metamorphic rocks. Microdiamonds typically occur as inclusions in minerals such as garnet.

Numerous retinal pigment epithelial elevations and drusen associated with unusual dilated choroidal vessels seen at choriocapillaris level in macular area.

Purpose: To report the ocular findings in a patient with extensive diffuse elevations of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and drusen associated with dilated choroidal vessels.

Observations: The eye of a 72-year-old woman with numerous drusen and dilated choroidal vessels in the macular and surrounding areas of the right eye was studied. Her visual acuity was 20/16 in this eye and she was asymptomatic although the Amsler grid testing showed mild metamorphopsia.

Contractile actin belt and mesh structures provide the opposite dependence of epithelial stiffness on the spontaneous curvature of constituent cells.

Actomyosin generates contractile forces within cells, which have a crucial role in determining the macroscopic mechanical properties of epithelial tissues. Importantly, actin cytoskeleton, which propagates actomyosin contractile forces, forms several characteristic structures in a 3D intracellular space, such as a circumferential actin belt lining adherence junctions and an actin mesh beneath the apical membrane. However, little is known about how epithelial mechanical property depends on the intracellular contractile structures.