Baseline Lamina Cribrosa Curvature and Subsequent Visual Field Progression Rate in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between the degree of posterior bowing of the lamina cribrosa (LC) at baseline and the rate of subsequent visual field (VF) progression in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Participants: One hundred one early-stage (VF mean deviation [MD], -5.

Stereochemical Study of Puna'auic Acid, an Allenic Fatty Acid from the Eastern Indo-Pacific Cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena sp.

The isolation and structure elucidation of puna'auic acid, an allenic fatty acid isolated from a marine cyanobacterium, is described. All configurations were first assessed through molecular modeling of NMR and ECD spectra and then confirmed through a straightforward enantioselective total synthesis of puna'auic acid featuring a key reductive opening of a propargylic epoxide.

Lamina Cribrosa Morphology Predicts Progressive Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Loss In Eyes with Suspected Glaucoma.

Although early diagnosis and treatment reduce the risk of blindness from glaucoma, the decision on whether or not to begin treatment in patients with suspected glaucoma is often a dilemma because the majority of patients never develop definite glaucoma. A growing body of evidences suggests that posterior bowing of the lamina cribrosa (LC) is the earliest structural change preceding the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss in glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Based on this notion, we conducted a prospective study enrolling 87 eyes suspected of having glaucoma to investigate whether the future rate of RNFL loss is associated with the baseline LC curve evaluated by measuring the LC curve index (LCCI) using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography.

Looking beyond the imaging plane: 3D needle tracking with a linear array ultrasound probe.

Ultrasound is well suited for guiding many minimally invasive procedures, but its use is often precluded by the poor visibility of medical devices. When devices are not visible, they can damage critical structures, with life-threatening complications. Here, we developed the first ultrasound probe that comprises both focused and unfocused transducer elements to provide both 2D B-mode ultrasound imaging and 3D ultrasonic needle tracking.

3D Ultrasonic Needle Tracking with a 1.5D Transducer Array for Guidance of Fetal Interventions.

Ultrasound image guidance is widely used in minimally invasive procedures, including fetal surgery. In this context, maintaining visibility of medical devices is a significant challenge. Needles and catheters can readily deviate from the ultrasound imaging plane as they are inserted.

Ethnobotanical survey of cosmetic plants used in Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia).

Background: Cosmetic plants and their uses have often been neglected in ethnobotanical surveys which focus mainly on plants with medicinal or food uses. Thus, this survey was carried out to specifically investigate cosmetics in a small community and to establish a cosmetopoeia, based on the model of pharmacopoeia for medicinal plants. The geographic spread of the survey covered the Marquesas Islands, one of the five archipelagos of French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean).

Positional and Curvature Difference of Lamina Cribrosa According to the Baseline Intraocular Pressure in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) Study.

Purpose: To investigate the variation of lamina cribrosa (LC) structure based on the baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and healthy individuals using swept-source optical coherence tomography.

Methods: A total of 108 eyes with POAG and 61 healthy eyes were recruited. Based on the baseline IOP, the POAG eyes were divided into higher-baseline IOP (HTG; baseline IOP > 21 mmHg, n = 38 eyes) and lower-baseline IOP (NTG; baseline IOP ≤ 21 mmHg, n = 70 eyes).

Optimization of coronary optical coherence tomography imaging using the attenuation-compensated technique: a validation study.

Aim: To optimize conventional coronary optical coherence tomography (OCT) images using the attenuation-compensated technique to improve identification of plaques and the external elastic lamina (EEL) contour.

Methods And Results: The attenuation-compensated technique was optimized via manipulating contrast exponent C, and compression exponent N, to achieve an optimal contrast and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This was applied to 60 human coronary lesions (38 native and 22 stented) ex vivo conventional coronary OCT images acquired from heart autopsies of 10 patients and matching histology was available as reference.

Anterior Displacement of Lamina Cribrosa during Valsalva Maneuver in Young Healthy Eyes.

Purpose: To investigate lamina cribrosa (LC) displacement during the Valsalva maneuver in young healthy eyes using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Methods: Forty-eight eyes of 48 young healthy volunteers (age range: 20-34 years) underwent intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement by Goldmann applanation tonometry as well as Cirrus HD-OCT scans before and during the Valsalva maneuver. The optic nerve head (ONH) parameters (average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, rim area, disc area, average C/D ratio, vertical C/D ratio, cup volume), anterior LC depth (LCD), subfoveal and peripapillary choroidal thickness, and neural canal opening diameter were measured on compensated OCT and compared during Valsalva challenge.

Prelamina and Lamina Cribrosa in Glaucoma Patients With Unilateral Visual Field Loss.

Purpose: To investigate the characteristics of the prelamina and lamina cribrosa (LC) of both eyes in glaucoma patients with unilateral visual field (VF) defect.

Methods: Forty-one subjects diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma with unilateral VF loss and 41 age-matched healthy control subjects were scanned by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). All eyes were divided into three groups: VF-affected glaucomatous eyes (group A, n = 41), perimetrically unaffected fellow eyes (group B, n = 41), and healthy control eyes (group C, n = 41).

Clinical Assessment of Lamina Cribrosa Curvature in Eyes with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Purpose: Quantitative evaluation of lamina cribrosa (LC) posterior bowing in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) eyes using swept-source optical coherence tomography.

Methods: Patients with POAG (n = 123 eyes) and healthy individuals of a similar age (n = 92 eyes) were prospectively recruited. Anterior laminar insertion depth (ALID) was defined as the vertical distance between the anterior laminar insertion and a reference plane connecting the Bruch's membrane openings (BMO).

Interventional multispectral photoacoustic imaging with a clinical ultrasound probe for discriminating nerves and tendons: an ex vivo pilot study.

Accurate and efficient identification of nerves is an essential component of peripheral nerve blocks. While ultrasound (US) imaging is increasingly used as a guidance modality, it often provides insufficient contrast for identifying nerves from surrounding tissues such as tendons. Electrical nerve stimulators can be used in conjunction with US imaging for discriminating nerves from surrounding tissues, but they are insufficient to reliably prevent neural punctures, so that alternative methods are highly desirable.

Indices for assessing coral reef fish biodiversity: the need for a change in habits.

We present the first representative and quantified overview of the indices used worldwide for assessing the biodiversity of coral reef fishes. On this basis, we discuss the suitability and drawbacks of the indices most widely used in the assessment of coral fish biodiversity. An extensive and systematic survey of the literature focused on coral reef fish biodiversity was conducted from 1990 up to the present.

In-plane ultrasonic needle tracking using a fiber-optic hydrophone.

Purpose: Accurate and efficient guidance of needles to procedural targets is critically important during percutaneous interventional procedures. Ultrasound imaging is widely used for real-time image guidance in a variety of clinical contexts, but with this modality, uncertainties about the location of the needle tip within the image plane lead to significant complications. Whilst several methods have been proposed to improve the visibility of the needle, achieving accuracy and compatibility with current clinical practice is an ongoing challenge.

A Global Shape Index to Characterize Anterior Lamina Cribrosa Morphology and Its Determinants in Healthy Indian Eyes.

Purpose: Lamina cribrosa (LC) morphology could be implicated in the progression of glaucoma. To date, no established, quantifiable parameter to assess LC shape in vivo exists. We aim to introduce a new global shape index for the anterior LC (LC-GSI) and to identify associations with ocular factors in a healthy Indian population.

Bioassessment of trace element contamination of Mediterranean coastal waters using the seagrass Posidonia oceanica.

A large scale survey of the trace element (TE) contamination of Mediterranean coastal waters was performed from the analysis of Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni and Pb in the bioindicator Posidonia oceanica, sampled at 110 sites differing by their levels of exposure to contaminants. The holistic approach developed in this study, based on the combined utilization of several complementary monitoring tools, i.e.

Temperature and food influence shell growth and mantle gene expression of shell matrix proteins in the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera.

In this study, we analyzed the combined effect of microalgal concentration and temperature on the shell growth of the bivalve Pinctada margaritifera and the molecular mechanisms underlying this biomineralization process. Shell growth was measured after two months of rearing in experimental conditions, using calcein staining of the calcified structures. Molecular mechanisms were studied though the expression of 11 genes encoding proteins implicated in the biomineralization process, which was assessed in the mantle.

Nukuhivensiums, indolo[2,3-a]quinoliziniums from the Marquesan plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis.

The first phytochemical inspection of the Marquesan endemic plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis led to the isolation and structure characterization of two new indolo[2,3-a]quinolizinium derivatives named nukuhivensium and N₁₂-methyl-nukuhivensium. They feature an aromatic indolo[2,3-a]quinolizinium core, substituted at C-2 by a n-propyl group, which is unusual in this family of alkaloid derivatives. The structure elucidation was performed on the basis of NMR spectroscopy and especially by interpretation of 2D HMBC correlations.

Motility activation and metabolism characteristics of spermatozoa of the black-lip-pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera var: cumingii (Jameson, 1901).

Motility of Pinctada margaritifera (Linnaeus, 1758); var: cumingii (Jameson, 1901) (P. margaritifera) spermatozoa collected from gonads are not immediately activated at spawning in seawater (SW) but motility occurs when spermatozoa are transferred into alkaline seawater (pH ranging from 9.0 to 11.