Clinical experience of trabeculotomy for the surgical treatment of aniridic glaucoma

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of initial trabeculotomy in the patient with aniridic glaucoma. DESIGN: Clinical charts were reviewed. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-nine eyes of 16 patients with aniridia were studied. INTERVENTION: Glaucoma surgery was performed. As an initial procedure, trabeculotomy was performed in 12 eyes, other surgery was performed in 17 eyes (trabeculectomy, 5; goniotomy, 5; other, 7). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Success was defined as an intraocular pressure (IOP) of 21 mmHg or lower, and no further surgery was performed. RESULTS: Ten (83%) of 12 eyes obtained IOP control after first (6 eyes) or second (4 eyes) trabeculotomy with a mean follow-up period of 9.5 years. Five eyes maintained visual acuity of 20/40 to 20/200. No serious complications were found after trabeculotomy. Three (18%) of 17 eyes were controlled with the first glaucoma surgery other than trabeculotomy (goniotomy, trabeculectomy, trabeculectomy combined with trabeculotomy, and Molteno implant). Good IOP control was obtained in 8 (47%) of 17 eyes after several surgeries with a mean follow-up period of 10.4 years. Four of 17 eyes became phthisical. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that trabeculotomy is the preferred initial operation for uncontrolled glaucoma with aniridia.     

Effect of extracranial carotid artery stenosis and other risk factors for stroke on periventricular hyperintensity

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The pathogenesis of periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) is still uncertain. We investigated the relationship between PVH and risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases, especially extracranial carotid artery stenosis (ECAS). METHODS: We studied PVH and ECAS in 323 subjects between 1991 and 1994. Using 1.5-T MRI scan images, we measured PVH quantitatively at eight points and evaluated cerebral infarction. Duplex carotid sonography was performed on the carotid arteries bilaterally and used to divide the severity of ECAS into five grades. Risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases and atherosclerotic complications were assessed from the clinical history. RESULTS: Age was significantly correlated with the size of frontal and whole PVH (P < .01). Frontal PVH was significantly more severe in subjects with hypertension (P < .05). Frontal, occipital, and whole PVH were significantly more severe in subjects with a history of cerebrovascular accident (P < .01). Other risk factors and atherosclerotic complications were not correlated with PVH. There were no significant differences in the severity of PVH among the five groups of ECAS. The severity of PVH in each region was not related to ECAS. There was no significant difference in the age of patients in relation to the five grades of ECAS. However, PVH was significantly more severe in subjects with lacunar infarction or infarction of the deep border zone (P < .05). There was no relationship between PVH and cortical infarction or infarction of the cortical border zone. CONCLUSIONS: PVH correlated with age, hypertension, and past history of cerebrovascular disease but not with ECAS. PVH was significantly more severe in lacunar infarction and infarction of the deep border zone. These results suggest that small-vessel disease may underlie the pathogenesis and development of PVH.     

Effect of Contact Stiffness on Creep-Groan Occurrence on a Simple Caliper-Slider Experimental Model

In this paper, a fundamental mechanism for creep-groan generation is investigated by adopting a simple yet effective caliper-slider experimental model. Contact condition, which is a function of three parameters, namely normal force, contact roughness, and material combination, is connected with the creep-groan phenomenon in terms of contact stiffness. Creep-groan generation is determined by analyzing the frequency characteristic of the generated vibration acceleration when the sliding commences due to a simultaneous application and release of force in the tangential and normal directions, respectively. As per the obtained results, creep-groan occurrence or absence in the employed experimental model may be classified into three regions based upon the value of the contact stiffness, i.e., occurrence, non-occurrence, and mixed regions. The results also indicate that creep-groan occurrence in this caliper-slider experimental model can be avoided by controlling the value of contact stiffness in an effective manner.     

Susceptibility of nude mice carrying the Fv-4 gene to Friend murine leukemia virus infection

Fv-4 is a mouse gene that dominantly confers resistance to infection with Friend murine leukemia virus (F-MuLV) (S. Suzuki, Jpn. J. Exp. Med. 45:473-478, 1975). Despite complete resistance to ecotropic MuLV infection in mice carrying the Fv-4 gene, it is known that cells carrying the resistance gene in tissue culture do not always show resistance as extensive as that in vivo (H. Yoshikura and T. Odaka, JNCI 61:461-463, 1978). To investigate the immunological effect on resistance in vivo, we introduced the Fv-4 gene into BALB/c nude mice (Fv-4-/- nude[nu/nu]) by mating them with Fv-4 congenic BALB/c mice (Fv-4r/r nude+/+) and examined the susceptibility of the F2 progeny to F-MuLV. All BALB/c nude mice without the Fv-4 gene (Fv-4-/- nude[nu/nu]) were permissive to F-MuLV and developed erythroleukemia within 2 weeks after virus inoculation. The BALB/c nude mice with the Fv-4 gene (Fv-4r/r nude[nu/nu]) did not develop leukemia, and no or little virus was detected in the spleen 7 weeks after virus inoculation. The resistance to F-MuLV was dominant in (Fv-4 congenic BALB/c x BALB/c nude) F1 mice with the Fv-4r/- nude(nu/+) genotype as strictly as in (Fv-4 congenic BALB/c x BALB/c) F1 mice with the Fv-4r/- nude+/+ genotype. However, almost all BALB/c nude mice with the Fv-4r/- nude(nu/nu) genotype developed the disease within 7 weeks, and the virus was detected in all of their spleens even in the mice without leukemia. These results show that the resistance caused by the Fv-4 gene is recessive in nude mice and dominant in BALB/c mice. Some immunological effects, perhaps cell-mediated immunity, may play important roles in the resistance to F-MuLV infection in vivo in addition to the dosage effect of the Fv-4 product.     

Achieving multimedia communications on a heterogeneous network

A heterogeneous intelligent network has been designed and implemented to allow multimedia real-time communications and messaging among local area network workstations with logically associated speakerphones and among ISDN voice/data terminals with transparent tablets on top of bitmap screens and stylus pens. The architecture, presentation, editing, storage, and retrieval of multimedia documents in these two different kinds of terminals are described. The messages and protocol conversion facilities used for multimedia communications are presented, as are the lessons learned in internetworking a local area network with ISDN     

Effects of postdetection selection diversity reception in QDPSK land mobile radio

Postdetection selection diversity reception for Nyquist pulse shaped quadrature differential PSK (QDPSK) signal transmissions is addressed. Average bit error rate (BER) performance with differential and coherent demodulation is analysed for multiple-branch diversity reception under slow multipath Rayleigh fading. Diversity effects in real fading environments are verified by 8 and 16 kbit/s transmissions at 1.45 GHz carrier frequency.<>     

Preparation of monolithic silica gel and glass by the sol-gel method using N,N-dimethylformamide

The use of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was found to be effective in the sol-gel synthesis of silica gel and glass monoliths from tetramethoxysi lane (TMOS) by the sol-gel method. Wet gel bodies prepared by gelation of TMOS-DMF-CH₃OH-H₂O-NH₄OH (or HNO₃) solutions could be dried without the occurrence of fracture or cracks when drying conditions were appropriate. Furthermore, the resultant dried gel monoliths could be converted without cracking or bloating to silica glass on heating up to 1050° C and holding there for 2 h, when the composition of the starting solution was appropriate.