Linguistic Variation in Iranian University Student Graffiti: Examining the Role of Gender.

Research on the discursive features of graffiti in institutional settings is in its infancy and few studies have investigated the phenomenon and its implications in educational contexts. In this paper, we report on a study in which we employed systemic functional linguistics (Halliday in Learning how to mean, Edward Arnold, 1975). to probe communicative functions and gender differences in Iranian university student graffiti that appeared in all-male and all-female locations.

Bacterial dormancy: A subpopulation of viable but non-culturable cells demonstrates better fitness for revival.

The viable but non culturable (VBNC) state is a condition in which bacterial cells are viable and metabolically active, but resistant to cultivation using a routine growth medium. We investigated the ability of V. parahaemolyticus to form VBNC cells, and to subsequently become resuscitated.

Evaluation of the World Health Organization outcome standards at the early and late post-operative visits following cataract surgery.

Introduction: This study was conducted to determine whether the World Health Organization (WHO) visual acuity standards are correlated between the early and late early post-operative periods following phacoemulsification (phaco) and small incision extracapsular cataract surgery (SICS). Secondary aims were to compare visual outcomes and complications following SICS and phaco.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study following phaco and SICS performed by one surgeon.

New Zealand ophthalmologists' opinions and behaviours on climate, carbon and sustainability.

Importance: Ophthalmology faces imperatives to improve sustainability, but there is uncertainty about how to respond.

Background: We sought New Zealand ophthalmologists' opinions on climate change, sustainability and the role of ophthalmologists in responding to these issues, as well as information on the extent that ophthalmology practices are acting on sustainability.

Design: Anonymous online survey of New Zealand fellows and trainees (178) of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) was conducted.

SMOKING STATUS AND TREATMENT OUTCOMES OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR INHIBITORS FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.

Purpose: To assess whether smoking status affects 1-year visual outcomes in eyes treated with vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of data from a prospectively designed, multicenter, observational database. Nine hundred and eighty seven treatment-naive eyes of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration were tracked by the Fight Retinal Blindness! outcome registry in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Switzerland who had documented smoking status at baseline and commenced vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor therapy from January 2006 to December 2016.

Ophthalmic Simulated Surgical Competency Assessment Rubric for manual small-incision cataract surgery.

Purpose: To develop and test the validity of a surgical competency assessment tool for simulated small-incision cataract surgery (SICS).

Setting: Participating ophthalmologists contributed from 8 countries.

Design: Qualitative and quantitative development and evaluation of face and content validity of an assessment rubric, and evaluation of construct validity and reliability.

Lifetime Fitness Costs of Inbreeding and Being Inbred in a Critically Endangered Bird.

Reduced fitness as a result of inbreeding is a major threat facing many species of conservation concern [1-4]. However, few case studies for assessing the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the wild means that its relative importance as a risk factor for population persistence remains under-appreciated [5]. The increasing availability and affordability of genomic technologies provide new opportunities to address knowledge gaps around the magnitude and manifestation of inbreeding depression in wild populations [6-12].

Improved Refractive Outcomes of Small-Incision Extracapsular Cataract Surgery after Implementation of a Biometry Training Course.

Purpose: To determine whether a biometry training course could improve refractive outcomes of patients undergoing manual small-incision extracapsular cataract surgery (SICS).

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective, interventional, cohort study at the Pacific Eye Institute, Fiji. SICS refractive outcomes were evaluated before and after a structured biometry teaching course.

Randomized, Controlled, Double-Masked, Multicenter, Pilot Study Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Intranasal Neurostimulation for Dry Eye Disease.

Purpose: We assess the safety and effectiveness of intranasal neurostimulation to promote tear production via the nasolacrimal pathway in subjects with dry eye disease.

Methods: A multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-masked pilot study was conducted in adults with dry eye diagnosis and at least one eye with corneal fluorescein staining ≥2 in at least one region or a sum of all regions ≥5 (National Eye Institute grading), basal Schirmer test score ≤10 mm, a cotton-swab stimulated Schirmer score ≥7 mm higher, and an Ocular Surface Disease Index score ≥23. Subjects were randomized to receive active intranasal neurostimulation or sham control intranasal stimulation 4 to 8 times per day.

Partnering to develop a continuing professional development program in a low-resource setting: Cambodia.

Objective: To design and implement a continuing professional development (CPD) program for Cambodian ophthalmologists.

Design: Partnering (twinning) between the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) and the Cambodian Ophthalmological Society (COS).

Participants: Practicing ophthalmologists in Cambodia.

Demographic features and visual outcomes of patients presenting to diabetic photo-screening and treated for sight threatening retinopathy in Fiji.

Aim: To describe the demographic features and visual outcomes of patients presenting to photo-screening services, and treated for sight threatening retinopathy (STR) in a low resource setting, Fiji.

Methods: A retrospective review of all new patients who presented for diabetic photo-screening at the Diabetic Eye Clinic, Suva in 2010. Fundus images were graded using standardised guidelines.

Short-term outcomes of small incision cataract surgery provided by a regional population in the Pacific.

Background: This study aims to describe patient demographics, visual and surgical outcomes of a cohort undergoing small incision cataract surgery at a Pacific regional ophthalmic training facility.

Design: This is a prospective, longitudinal study conducted at the Pacific Eye Institute, Fiji.

Participants: One hundred fifty-six patients underwent small incision cataract surgery.

Models for implementing continuing professional development programs in low-resource countries.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Implementing CPD programs for medical professionals has been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes, and is increasingly required for continuing medical licensure.

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) From Queensland Are Genetically Distinct From 2 Populations in Victoria.

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) suffered population declines and local extirpation due to hunting in the early 20th century, especially in southern Australia. Koalas were subsequently reintroduced to the Brisbane Ranges (BR) and Stony Rises (SR) by translocating individuals from a population on French Island descended from a small number of founders. To examine genetic diversity and north-south differentiation, we genotyped 13 microsatellite markers in 46 wild koalas from the BR and SR, and 27 Queensland koalas kept at the US zoos.

Scope for genetic rescue of an endangered subspecies though re-establishing natural gene flow with another subspecies.

Genetic diversity is positively linked to the viability and evolutionary potential of species but is often compromised in threatened taxa. Genetic rescue by gene flow from a more diverse or differentiated source population of the same species can be an effective strategy for alleviating inbreeding depression and boosting evolutionary potential. The helmeted honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops cassidix is a critically endangered subspecies of the common yellow-tufted honeyeater.

Cataract Surgery Outcomes From a Resident Training in a Low-Resource Setting in the Pacific.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the overall quality of the cataract surgeries performed by a single resident during training in a core surgical competency in a low-resource environment.

Design: This was a retrospective cohort review of cataract surgeries performed by a single surgeon.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of all consecutive cases of cataract surgery, in patients older than age 20, performed by 1 resident during the residency period was undertaken.

Sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy at presentation to screening services in Fiji.

Purpose: To report the spectrum of retinopathy at first presentation to photoscreening services, to determine the proportion of patients that present with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR), and to raise awareness of the burden of diabetic eye disease in Fiji.

Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study used data from the initial visit of all new patients presenting to the diabetes retinal screening service at the Pacific Eye Institute in Fiji over the 3-month period between July and September 2012. Patients were assessed using a detailed questionnaire regarding diabetes type, duration of disease, medications, complications and co-morbidities, and blood sugar control.

Co-gradient variation in growth rate and development time of a broadly distributed butterfly.

Widespread species often show geographic variation in thermally-sensitive traits, providing insight into how species respond to shifts in temperature through time. Such patterns may arise from phenotypic plasticity, genetic adaptation, or their interaction. In some cases, the effects of genotype and temperature may act together to reduce, or to exacerbate, phenotypic variation in fitness-related traits across varying thermal environments.

Mutability dynamics of an emergent single stranded DNA virus in a naïve host.

Quasispecies variants and recombination were studied longitudinally in an emergent outbreak of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) infection in the orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). Detailed health monitoring and the small population size (<300 individuals) of this critically endangered bird provided an opportunity to longitudinally track viral replication and mutation events occurring in a circular, single-stranded DNA virus over a period of four years within a novel bottleneck population. Optimized PCR was used with different combinations of primers, primer walking, direct amplicon sequencing and sequencing of cloned amplicons to analyze BFDV genome variants.