Transient eye closure and ocular preference in patients with intermittent exotropia.

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship of sensory and motor ocular dominance to transient eye closure (TEC) under bright light conditions in patients with intermittent exotropia. METHODS: Forty patients (age range, 7-40 years) with intermittent exotropia were included in this prospective study. Motor and sensory ocular dominance were evaluated using the hole-in-the-card and Worth 4-Dot tests. Presence of any outward eye deviation or TEC was assessed and recorded in all participants under bright light conditions. Based on the fusion control grade of exodeviation, patients were assigned to good, fair, and poor control groups, and the results were compared. RESULTS: A total of 23 patients (58%) showed TEC under bright light: 18 (45%) in the good control group, 14 (35%) in the fair control group, and 8 (20%) in the poor control group. Eighteen patients (56%) with good and fair control showed TEC in the dominant eye. Five (63%) with poor control closed their nondominant eyes, and in all of them, outward eye deviation was observed before TEC. The angle of deviation at far and near and the degree of near stereopsis were not related to presence of TEC (P = 0.70, P = 0.06, and P = 0.34, resp.). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with intermittent exotropia who exhibit TEC under bright light, those with good control tend to close the dominant eye, whereas in the majority of patients with poor control, spontaneous deviation occurs and is then followed by TEC of the nondominant eye.

The effect of sunglass filters on contrast sensitivity, monocular eye closure, and blinking rate in people with intermittent exotropia.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Transient monocular eye closure and photosensitivity under bright light have been reported in people with intermittent exotropia (IXT). The exact mechanism of these symptoms has not been established. BACKGROUND: This study examines the effect of sunglass filters on contrast sensitivity (CS), transient monocular eye closure, and blinking rate under bright light in people with IXT. METHODS: Forty participants with IXT and complaints of photosensitivity were included in the study. The binocular CS test was performed under mesopic and photopic conditions with and without glare, and with and without two filters with different grades of light transmission (filter 1: 44-80%; filter 2: 20-43% light transmittance). The effect of two filters on transient eye closure, contrast sensitivity, and blinking rate was assessed under bright light. Also, participants were divided into 3 groups based on their degree of control of fusion (good, fair, and poor control). RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 12.0 years ± 8.0 (standard deviation) (range: 7-40 years). There was no significant difference between the age (p = 0.139), stereopsis (p = 0.134), as well as the near and far degree of deviation (p = 0.516, and p = 0.237) between the three groups of fusion control. Under mesopic conditions with glare, mean binocular CS was significantly higher with filters (p < 0.001). Without filters, 57.5% of the participants exhibited monocular eye closure under a photopic setting with additional glare. No participant showed eye closure using filter 2. People in the poor control group showed exodeviation before monocular eye closure (62.5% without filter and 12.5% with filter 1, p = 0.01). The blinking rate decreased from 36.0 ± 4.0 blinks per minute without filter to 21.0 ± 3.0 using filter 1, and 20.0 ± 3.0 with filter 2. CONCLUSION: In people with IXT, wearing sunglass filters of different transmittance reduces monocular eye closure and blinking rate under bright light. To improve these symptoms, sunglasses can be considered for IXT.

Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in different types of amblyopia.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The visual system plays an important role in the development of the vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR). In clinical practice, the ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP) test is used to assess contralateral VOR. BACKGROUND: This study sought to compare the oVEMP in patients with anisometropic, strabismic, and mixed amblyopia using unilateral and bilateral (simultaneous binaural) stimulation. METHODS: Forty-two amblyopic patients (20 males and 22 females) with a mean age of 10.48 ± 4.00 years (range: 5 - 20 years) were examined. The Titmus stereopsis test, alternate cover test, and best-corrected visual acuity were evaluated. Patients were divided into three groups: anisometropic, strabismic, and mixed amblyopia. The oVEMP responses including the amplitude of electrical activity (n1-p1 complex) and the latencies (n1 and p1) of the VOR responses were recorded under unilateral and bilateral stimulations. RESULTS: In the anisometropic and strabismic group, n1 latency was significantly faster in the non-amblyopic eyes compared to amblyopic eyes (Z = -2.04, p = 0.042, andZ = -2.54, p = 0.024 respectively). Mean p1 latency was significantly faster in the non-amblyopic eyes compared to the amblyopic eyes of the strabismic group (Z = -2.31, p = 0.011)In all groups, the p1 latency was faster in the non-amblyopic eye compared to bilateral stimulation (all, p < 0.05). In all groups, the n1-p1 amplitude was not significantly different between the two eyes, and between each eye and bilateral stimulation (all, p > 0.05). No significant correlation was found between the depth of amblyopia and n1 and p1 responses (all, p > 0.05). In all groups there was no significant difference in the latency of n1 and p1 between the amblyopic eye and bilateral stimulation (all, p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Regardless of its type, amblyopia affects vestibular-ocular reflex responses. Further research is warranted to clarify the effect of the disease and its treatment on the ocular-vestibular system.

Production of eco friendly DME fuel over sonochemically synthesized UiO66 catalyst.

The ultrasound-assisted preparation of UiO-66 was carried out at T = 80-220 °C, and the catalytic performances were evaluated in methanol conversion. Also, physicochemical properties were assessed by XRD, SEM, PSD, FTIR, N2 adsorption-desorption, TG-DTG, and NH3-TPD analysis. The characterization proved that increasing the synthesis temperature positively affected the crystallinity, specific surface area, thermal stability, and acidity of the catalysts. Besides, the catalysts' performance was investigated in the methanol conversion reaction (T = 350-450 °C, P = 1 atm, and WHSV = 5 h-1), leading to the DME (Dimethyl Ether) production. Rising reaction temperature increased the methanol conversion and DME yield. The synthesized sample at 220 °C had the best properties and performance with conversion and yield of about 38% and 51%, respectively. The stability test for the UiO-66-220 (University of Oslo 66) catalyst was performed at 450 °C for 12 h, and the activity remained stable for about 5 h. Furthermore, the used catalyst was characterized via XRD and TG analysis.

An inversion-free method for finding positive definite solution of a rational matrix equation.

A new iterative scheme has been constructed for finding minimal solution of a rational matrix equation of the form X + A*X (-1) A = I. The new method is inversion-free per computing step. The convergence of the method has been studied and tested via numerical experiments.

Preparation of low cost activated carbon from Myrtus communis and pomegranate and their efficient application for removal of Congo red from aqueous solution.

In this research, the potential applicability of activated carbon prepared from Myrtus communis (AC-MC) and pomegranate (AC-PG) as useful adsorbents for the removal of Congo red (CR) from aqueous solutions in batch method was investigated. The effects of pH, contact time, agitation time and amount of adsorbents on removal percentage of Congo red on both adsorbents were examined. Increase in pH up to 6 for AC-MC and pH 7 for AC-PG increase the adsorption percentage (capacity) and reach equilibrium within 30 min of contact time. Fitting the experimental data to conventional isotherm models like Freundlich, Langmuir, Tempkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich show that the experimental data fitted very well to the Freundlich isotherm for AC-MC and Langmuir isotherm for AC-PG. Fitting the experimental data to different kinetic models such as pseudo first-order, pseudo second-order, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion mechanism showed the applicability of a pseudo second-order with involvement of intraparticle diffusion model for interpretation of experimental data for both adsorbents. The adsorption capacity of AC-PG and AC-MC for the removal of CR was found to be 19.231 and 10 mg g(-1). These results clearly indicate the efficiency of adsorbents as a low cost adsorbent for treatment of wastewater containing CR.