Rapid Alternate Flicker Modulates Binocular Interaction in Adults With Abnormal Binocular Vision.

Purpose: The current understanding of binocular processing is primarily derived from static spatial visual perception: this leaves the role of temporal information unclear. In this study, we addressed this gap by testing the effect of alternating flicker on binocular information processing in adults with abnormal binocular vision. Our goal was to determine which temporal frequency optimally balanced input from both eyes. Methods: We took measurements in four groups of human adults: 10 normal adults with the individual's nondominant eye covered by a 2% neutral density filter (aged 25.60 ± 1.43 years, experiment 1), 9 nonamblyopic anisometropes (aged 24.33 ± 1.66 years, experiment 2), 7 amblyopes (aged 26.5 ± 1.64 years, experiment 3), and 7 treated amblyopes (aged 24 ± 3.21 years, experiment 4). The balance point (BP), where participants' two eyes are equally effective, was measured using a binocular orientation combination task at four spatial frequencies (SFs; 0.5-4 c/d) and five temporal frequencies (TFs; baseline and 4, 7, 10, and 15 Hz). Its log transformation |logBP| was taken into further analysis. Results: We observed clear U-shaped temporal tuning of the |logBP| for the entire range of TFs (that we measured: trough occurred at 7 Hz). This pattern occurred and was significant in all four groups (P < 0.001). In addition, the effect of SFs on |logBP| was significant in normal, amblyopic, and treated amblyopic groups (all P < 0.001) and was marginally significant in the nonamblyopic anisometropic group (P = 0.086). Conclusions: Alternating flicker around 7 Hz may be the optimal temporal frequency for balancing eyes in human adults with binocular imbalance.

Action Video Gaming Does Not Influence Short-Term Ocular Dominance Plasticity in Visually Normal Adults.

Action video gaming can promote neural plasticity. Short-term monocular patching drives neural plasticity in the visual system of human adults. For instance, short-term monocular patching of 0.5-5 h briefly enhances the patched eye's contribution in binocular vision (i.e., short-term ocular dominance plasticity). In this study, we investigate whether action video gaming can influence this plasticity in adults with normal vision. We measured participants' eye dominance using a binocular phase combination task before and after 2.5 h of monocular patching. Participants were asked to play action video games, watch action video game movies, or play non-action video games during the period of monocular patching. We found that participants' change of ocular dominance after monocular patching was not significantly different either for playing action video games versus watching action video game movies (Comparison 1) or for playing action video games versus playing non-action video games (Comparison 2). These results suggest that action video gaming does not either boost or eliminate short-term ocular dominance plasticity, and that the neural site for this type of plasticity might be in the early visual pathway.

On the Relationship Between Sensory Eye Dominance and Stereopsis in the Normal-Sighted Adult Population: Normative Data.

The extent of sensory eye dominance, a reflection of the interocular suppression in binocular visual processing, can be quantitatively measured using the binocular phase combination task. In this study, we aimed to provide a normative dataset for sensory eye dominance using this task. Based on that, we also assessed the relationship between perceptual eye dominance and stereopsis. One-hundred and forty-two adults (average age: 24.00 ± 1.74 years old) with normal or corrected to normal monocular visual acuity (logMAR < 0.00) participated. Observer's sensory eye dominance was quantified in two complementary ways: the interocular contrast ratio when the two eyes were balanced (i.e., the balance point) and the absolute value of the binocular perceived phase when each eye viewed maximum contrast stimuli in binocular phase combination task. Stereo acuities were measured with maximum contrast stimuli using an identical spatial frequency (0.30 cycles/degree) and stimulus arrangement to that used in the eye dominance assessment. The averaged balance point was 0.93 ± 0.06 (Mean ± SD), the averaged absolute value of the binocular perceived phase when both eyes viewed maximum contrast stimuli was 7.62 ± 5.91°, and the averaged stereo acuity was 2.19 ± 0.34 log arc seconds. Neither of these two sensory eye dominance measures were significantly correlated with stereo acuity (Balance point: ρ = 0.14, P = 0.10; Phase: ρ = -0.13, P = 0.13). The sensory eye dominance, as reflected using a phase combination task, and stereopsis are not significantly correlated in the normal-sighted population at low spatial frequencies.

Combination of gemcitabine-containing magnetoliposome and oxaliplatin-containing magnetoliposome in breast cancer treatment: A possible mechanism with potential for clinical application.

Breast cancer is a major global health problem with high incidence and case fatality rates. The use of magnetoliposomes has been suggested as an effective therapeutic approach because of their good specificity for cancers. In this study, we developed two novel magnetoliposomes, namely, Gemcitabine-containing magnetoliposome (GML) and Oxaliplatin-containing magnetoliposome (OML). These magnetoliposomes were combined (CGOML) was used to treat breast cancer under an external magnetic field. Biosafety test results showed that GML and OML were biologically safe to blood cells and did not adversely affect the behavior of mice. Pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution studies indicated that both magnetoliposomes exhibited stable structures and persisted at the target area under an external magnetic field. Cell and animal experiments revealed that CGOML can markedly suppress the growth of MCF-7 cells, and only the CGOML group can minimize the tumor size among all the groups. Finally, CGOML can significantly inhibit MCF-7cell growth both in vitro and vivo by activating the apoptotic signaling pathway of MCF-7 cells.