Simultaneous Determination of Nine Phthalates in Vegetable Oil by Atmospheric Pressure Gas Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (APGC-MS/MS).

Although the use of phthalates has been restricted worldwide, they remain an issue due to health concerns. Diet is one of the most important exposure pathways for humans and due to their solubility in oil, phthalates are commonly found in edible oil and food high in fat. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using electron ionization (EI) has been commonly used for the analysis of the phthalates in foodstuffs, including edible oil.

Efficacies of preoperative prism adaptation test and monocular occlusion for detecting the maximum angle of deviation in intermittent exotropia.

Background: The efficacies of prism adaptation test (PAT) and monocular occlusion (MO) and their optimal test durations to detect the maximum angles of deviation at near and distance in eyes with intermittent exotropia (IXT) were assessed and compared.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 72 patients with IXT. All the patients had undergone the initial strabismus surgery between April 2015 and October 2018 and had been preoperatively tested by both PAT and MO performed on different days for 30 and 60 min.

Efficacy of toric intraocular lens and prevention of axis misalignment by optic capture in pediatric cataract surgery.

Purpose: To compare the outcomes of intraocular lens (IOL) implantation using toric (T)-IOL and nontoric (N)-IOL in pediatric cataract patients with astigmatism and to examine the effect of optic capture (OC) on the axis misalignment (AM) of the T-IOLs.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Kindai University Hospital, Osaka, Japan.

Design: Interventional, comparative case study.

Role of fusional convergence amplitude in postoperative phoria maintenance in children with intermittent exotropia.

Purpose: To examine the role of fusional convergence amplitude in postoperative phoria maintenance in childhood intermittent exotropia [X(T)].

Methods: The medical records of 29 children aged 15 years or younger (mean age, 10.8 ± 2.

Influence of Test Distance on Stereoacuity in Intermittent Exotropia.

Aims: To investigate influence of test distance on stereoacuity in intermittent exotropia (X[T]) using the same test conditions for both near and far distances.

Methods: Subjects were 38 consecutive patients with X(T). All the patients were between ages 6 and 15 years and had decimal visual acuity of 1.

Optical coherence tomographic findings at the fixation point in a case of bilateral congenital macular coloboma.

Background: Congenital macular coloboma is a rare ocular disease that consists of atrophic lesions in the macula with well-circumscribed borders. We report the findings of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) at the fixation point in a case of bilateral macular coloboma.

Case Report: The subject is a 4-year-old boy.

Longitudinal clinical course of three Japanese patients with Leber congenital amaurosis/early-onset retinal dystrophy with RDH12 mutation.

Purpose: To report the longitudinal clinical course of three Japanese patients from two families with Leber congenital amaurosis/early-onset retinal dystrophy (LCA/EORD), and the results of next-generation DNA sequences on them.

Patients And Methods: The patients were three Japanese children: a 4-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy, and a 3-year-old girl. Patients 1 and 2 were siblings, and patient 3 was from an unrelated family.

Effect of suppression during tropia and phoria on phoria maintenance in intermittent exotropia.

Background: Treatment for intermittent exotropia X(T) aims to keep the eye in a phoric position and to maintain the phoria. However, maintenance of phoria is difficult even after treatment, and the cause is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of suppression during tropia and/or phoria in X(T), and to determine how the suppression affected patient's ability to maintain phoria.

Slug is upregulated during wound healing and regulates cellular phenotypes in corneal epithelial cells.

Purpose: The involvement of the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the process of corneal wound healing remains largely unclear. The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into Slug expression and corneal wound healing.

Methods: Slug expression during wound healing in the murine cornea was evaluated using fluorescence staining in vivo.

Successive iterative restoration applied to streak artifact reduction in X-ray CT image of dento-alveolar region.

Purpose: X-ray computed tomography (CT) images in the dento-alveolar region are sometimes rendered unusable for diagnostic purposes due to the appearance of streak artifacts. The purpose of the study is to reduce streak artifacts appeared on dental and maxillofacial X-ray CT images by the application of modified iterative restoration method.

Methods: We took advantage of the aspect that adjacent CT images often depict very similar anatomical structures within the resulting collection of thin-slice images.

Connective tissue growth factor cooperates with fibronectin in enhancing attachment and migration of corneal epithelial cells.

Corneal wound healing is a complex process involving the integrated actions of various growth factors, cytokines and extracellular matrix produced by corneal cells and inflammatory cells. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) has been linked to wound healing, and fibronectin (FN) is a major component of the extracellular matrix. However, the functions of CTGF and FN in corneal epithelial cells are not well understood.

Analysis of Gibbs monolayer adsorbed at the toluene/water interface by UV-visible partial internal reflection spectrometry.

Gibbs monolayers of lipophilic tetraphenylporphyrinatomanganese(III) and hydrophilic diacid of meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatopheny)porphyrin adsorbed at the liquid-liquid interface have been analyzed by UV-visible external reflection (ER) and partial internal reflection (PIR) spectra measured at different angles of incidence. The angle-dependent ER and PIR spectra over the Brewster angles (thetaERB and thetaIRB) have readily been measured at the toluene/water interface. As preliminarily expected in our previous study, the present study has first proved that the reflection-absorbance of UV-visible PIR spectra quantitatively agrees with the theoretical calculations for the Gibbs monolayer over thetaIRB.

The cytokine regulation of SPARC production by rabbit corneal epithelial cells and fibroblasts in vitro.

Objective: SPARC (osteonectin/BM40) is detected in the corneal stroma during the wound-healing process. To understand the metabolism of SPARC in the cornea, we investigated the effects of cytokines and growth factors on SPARC synthesis by rabbit corneal epithelial cells and fibroblasts.

Methods: Rabbit corneal epithelial cells or fibroblasts were cultured for 3 days with serum-containing minimal essential medium (MEM), then subcultured for 3 days on serum-free MEM with epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), or interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta).