PURPOSE To compare topographic indices of surface regularity in dry eye patients and in normal subjects (controls) and to investigate the short-term effect of lacrimal punctal plugs on these indices in dry eye patients. METHODS The surface regularity index (SRI) and surface asymmetry index (SAI) of the TMS-2 corneal topographic modelling system were used to evaluate corneal surface regularity...

BACKGROUND The current study examined the relationships between academic achievement, sleep, temperament and demographic-historical data in school-age children. METHODS Teachers were asked to fill out the teacher temperament questionnaire and a form for school achievement, while mothers filled out a demographic-historical form and the sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC), a 26-item que...

[1] Seasonal climate prediction remains a challenge. During Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter the large‐scale teleconnection pattern the Arctic Oscillation (AO) explains the largest fraction of temperature variance of any other known climate mode. However the Arctic Oscillation is considered to be a result of intrinsic atmospheric dynamics or chaotic behavior and therefore is unpredictable. Here ...

PURPOSE To determine the interaction between corneal topographic and tomographic parameters and dry eye syndrome (DES) in keratoconus (KC) patients. METHODS Seventy-seven eyes of 49 patients with KC (age 34.4 ± 11.6 years) were enrolled in this study. In these 77 eyes we recorded surface regularity index (SRI), surface asymmetry index (SAI) and Klyce/Maeda KC index (KCI) using the Topographic...

[1] This paper compares by land cover type seasonal and spatial variations of MODIS leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (0.4–0.7 mm) absorbed by vegetation (FPAR) from 2.5 years with those from the Common Land Model (CLM) and investigates possible reasons for notable differences. The FPAR value is mainly determined by LAI in MODIS and both LAI and stem area...

Introduction Governments across Europe want to promote healthy and active aging, as a matter of both public health and economic sustainability. Designing policies focused on the most vulnerable groups requires information at the individual level. However, a measure of healthy and active aging at the individual level does not yet exist. Objectives This paper develops the Selfie Aging Index (SA...

BACKGROUND In vivo evaluation of cholinergic circuits of the human brain has recently been introduced using a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) protocol based on coupling peripheral nerve stimulation with motor cortex TMS (short latency afferent inhibition, SAI). SAI is reduced in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and drugs enhancing cholinergic transmission increase SAI. METHODS We evaluated wh...

the contamination of riverbed sediments by heavy metals has assumedserious problems due to their toxicity and accumulative behavior. the present studyinvestigated the concentrations of heavy metals from the bottom sediments of shitalakhyariver to understand the level of contamination and their distribution. the averageconcentrations of heavy metals al, k, ca, mg, fe, as, cu, co, cr, and zn are ...

AIM Cross-sectional study that aims to evaluate the results of cervical spine surgeries due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) instability, between January of 2000 and of 2012 in a main Portuguese centre. METHODS Patients followed on Rheumatology submitted to cervical spine fusion due to atlantoaxial (AAI), sub-axial (SAI) or cranio-cervical (CCI) instabilities between 2000-2012 were included. Info...