UNASSIGNED: To compare early visual quality of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) versus laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in terms of low contrast acuity.
UNASSIGNED: A secondary analysis was performed using a harmonized dataset derived from two completed prospective cohort studies on active-duty military service members undergoing either SMILE (n = 37), wavefront-guided (WFG) LASIK (n = 51), or wavefront-optimized (WFO) LASIK (n = 56). Night vision and photopic and mesopic low contrast visual acuity (LCVA) up to 3 months postoperatively were compared between groups.
UNASSIGNED: Compared to SMILE-treated eyes, WFG LASIK-treated eyes had significantly better night vision and photopic LCVA at 1 month postoperatively (beta = -0.039, P = .016; beta = -0.043, P = .007, respectively). WFO LASIK-treated eyes had significantly better photopic LCVA at 1 month postoperatively (beta = -0.039, P = .012) but had worse mesopic LCVA at 3 months postoperatively (beta = 0.033, P = .015) versus SMILE-treated eyes.
UNASSIGNED: SMILE and LASIK, on either a WFG or WFO laser platform, yielded excellent outcomes, but LCVA seemed to recover quicker following LASIK compared to SMILE. [J Refract Surg. 2024;40(9):e667-e671.].

UNASSIGNED: Herein, we report a rare case of nyctalopia diagnosed in the first trimester of pregnancy due to vitamin A deficiency as a result of a bariatric gastrectomy. Low serum vitamin A levels establish the diagnosis and the patient was treated with oral vitamin A supplements. Moreover, due to the teratogenic effects of exceed Vitamin A levels in early pregnancy, supplements\' dosages should be prescribed with respect to the safe limits. Our case aims to highlight the importance of checking micronutricients and vitamins levels before and during pregnancy in women that had a previous bariatric surgery.
UNASSIGNED: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been identified as the predominant factor in the development of night blindness during pregnancy, a high-risk for morbidity situation. Herein, we report a rare case of nyctalopia diagnosed in the first trimester of pregnancy due to VAD as a result of a bariatric gastrectomy. Our case aims to highlight the importance of checking micronutricients and vitamins levels before and during pregnancy in women that had a previous bariatric surgery. Low serum vitamin A levels establish the diagnosis and the patient was treated with oral vitamin A supplements. An uneventful antenatal course resulted in the birth of a healthy live neonatal at 38 weeks of gestation. In conclusion, nyctalopia is a rare condition in pregnant women that is often caused by VAD that poses significant health risks for both the mother and the infant, especially in women with a history of gastrointestinal bypass surgery, or any factors leading to malnutrition. Clinicians have to be alerted for micronutrients deficient in pregnant women who have a bariatric operation in their medical history.

In the autonomous driving industry, there is a growing trend to employ long-wave infrared (LWIR)-based uncooled thermal-imaging cameras, capable of robustly collecting data even in extreme environments. Consequently, both industry and academia are actively researching contrast-enhancement techniques to improve the quality of LWIR-based thermal-imaging cameras. However, most research results only showcase experimental outcomes using mass-produced products that already incorporate contrast-enhancement techniques. Put differently, there is a lack of experimental data on contrast enhancement post-non-uniformity (NUC) and temperature compensation (TC) processes, which generate the images seen in the final products. To bridge this gap, we propose a histogram equalization (HE)-based contrast enhancement method that incorporates a region-based clipping technique. Furthermore, we present experimental results on the images obtained after applying NUC and TC processes. We simultaneously conducted visual and qualitative performance evaluations on images acquired after NUC and TC processes. In the visual evaluation, it was confirmed that the proposed method improves image clarity and contrast ratio compared to conventional HE-based methods, even in challenging driving scenarios such as tunnels. In the qualitative evaluation, the proposed method demonstrated upper-middle-class rankings in both image quality and processing speed metrics. Therefore, our proposed method proves to be effective for the essential contrast enhancement process in LWIR-based uncooled thermal-imaging cameras intended for autonomous driving platforms.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of our wearable night-vision aid in patients with concentric peripheral visual field loss.
METHODS: Prospective, single blind, three-group, and three-period crossover clinical study.
METHODS: The study included patients with concentric peripheral visual field loss, a best-corrected visual acuity (decimal visual acuity) of 0.1 or higher in the better eye, and the presence of a central visual field. HOYA MW10 HiKARI® (HOYA Corporation), our original wearable night-vision aid, was used as the test device with three types of camera lenses (standard-, middle-, and wide-angle lenses). Under both bright and dark conditions, the angle of the horizontal visual field was measured using each of the three lens types for each group. The baseline angle was measured when each participant wore the night-vision aid (powered off).
RESULTS: The study included 21 participants. Under bright condition, the perceived horizontal visual field was significantly wider than the baseline setup when using the standard-angle lens (\"the standard lens\"); the middle-angle lens (\"the middle lens\") was significantly wider than both the baseline setup and the standard lens; and the wide-angle lens (\"the wide lens\") was significantly wider than the other lenses. Under dark condition, the perceived horizontal visual field was again significantly wider when using the middle lens than the baseline setup and the standard lens, and when using the wide lens, the perceived horizontal visual field was again wider than when using the other lenses. The control in the bright condition was significantly wider (p < 0.001) than when used in the dark condition, while the standard-angle lens in the dark condition was significantly wider (p = 0.05) than when used in the bright condition. In regards to the middle and wide lenses, there was no statistically significant result emerging from either of the illumination conditions.
CONCLUSIONS: Our wearable night-vision aid with a middle-angle or wide-angle lens appears to provide wider visual field images in patients with concentric peripheral visual field loss, regardless of whether the illumination conditions are bright or dark.

The perception of halos and other night vision disturbances is a common complaint in clinical practice. Such visual disturbances must be assessed in order to fully characterize each patient\'s visual performance, which is particularly relevant when carrying out a range of daily tasks. Visual problems are usually assessed using achromatic stimuli, yet the stimuli encountered in daily life have very different chromaticities. Hence, it is important to assess the effect of the chromaticity of visual stimuli on night vision disturbances. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the chromaticity of different visual stimuli on night vision disturbances by analyzing straylight and visual discrimination under low-light conditions. For that, we assessed the monocular and binocular visual discrimination of 27 subjects under low illumination using the Halo test. The subjects\' visual discrimination was assessed after exposure to different visual stimuli: achromatic, red, green, and blue, both at the monitor\'s maximum luminance and maintaining the same luminance value for the different visual stimuli. Monocular straylight was also measured for an achromatic, red, green, and blue stimuli. The blue stimulus had the greatest effect on halos in both monocular and binocular conditions. Visual discrimination was similar for the red, green, and achromatic stimuli, but worsened at lower luminance. The greatest influence of straylight was observed for the blue stimulus. In addition, visual discrimination correlated with straylight measurements for achromatic stimuli, wherein greater straylight values correlated with an increased perception of halos and other visual disturbances.

UNASSIGNED: To longitudinally assess the impact of high-risk structural biomarkers for natural disease progression in non-exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on spatially resolved mesopic and scotopic fundus-controlled perimetry testing.
UNASSIGNED: Multimodal retinal imaging data and fundus-controlled perimetry stimuli points were semiautomatically registered according to landmark correspondences at each annual visit over a period of up to 4 years. The presence of sub-RPE drusen, subretinal drusenoid deposits, pigment epithelium detachments (PEDs), hyper-reflective foci (HRF), vitelliform lesions, refractile deposits, and incomplete RPE and outer retinal atrophy (iRORA) and complete RPE and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) were graded at each stimulus position and visit. Localized retinal layer thicknesses were extracted. Mixed-effect models were used for structure-function correlation.
UNASSIGNED: Fifty-four eyes of 49 patients with non-exudative AMD (mean age, 70.7 ± 9.1 years) and 27 eyes of 27 healthy controls (mean age, 63.4 ± 8.9 years) were included. During study course, presence of PED had the highest functional impact with a mean estimated loss of -1.30 dB (P < 0.001) for mesopic and -1.23 dB (P < 0.001) for scotopic testing, followed by HRF with -0.89 dB (mesopic, P = 0.001) and -0.87 dB (scotopic, P = 0.005). Subretinal drusenoid deposits were associated with a stronger visual impairment (mesopic, -0.38 dB; P = 0.128; scotopic, -0.37 dB; P = 0.172) compared with sub-RPE drusen (-0.22 dB, P = 0.0004; -0.18 dB, P = 0.006). With development of c-RORA, scotopic retinal sensitivity further significantly decreased (-2.15 dB; P = 0.02). Thickening of the RPE-drusen-complex and thinning of the outer nuclear layer negatively impacted spatially resolved retinal sensitivity.
UNASSIGNED: The presence of PED and HRF had the greatest prognostic impact on progressive point-wise sensitivity losses. Higher predominant rod than cone-mediated localized retinal sensitivity losses with early signs of retinal atrophy development indicate photoreceptor preservation as a potential therapeutic target for future interventional AMD trials.

暂无摘要。

Visual fields under mesopic and scotopic lighting are increasingly being used for macular functional assessment. This review evaluates its statistical significance and clinical relevance, and the optimal testing protocol for early/intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD). PubMed and Embase were searched from inception to 14/05/2022. All quality assessments were performed according to GRADE guidelines. The primary outcome was global mean sensitivity (MS), further meta-analysed by: AMD classification scheme, device, test pattern, mesopic/scotopic lighting, stimuli size/chromaticity, pupil dilation, testing radius (area), background luminance, adaptation time, AMD severity, reticular pseudodrusen presence, and follow-up visit. From 1489 studies screened, 42 observational study results contributed to the primary meta-analysis. Supported by moderate GRADE certainty of the evidence, global MS was significantly reduced across all devices under mesopic and scotopic lighting with large effect size (-0.9 [-1.04, -0.75] Hedge\'s g, P < 0.0001). The device (P < 0.01) and lighting (P < 0.05) used were the only modifiable factors affecting global MS, whereby the mesopic MP-1 and MAIA produced the largest effect sizes and exceeded test-retest variabilities. Global MS was significantly affected by AMD severity (intermediate versus early AMD; -0.58 [-0.88, -0.29] Hedge\'s g or -2.55 [3.62, -1.47] MAIA-dB) and at follow-up visit (versus baseline; -0.62 [-0.84, -0.41] Hedge\'s g or -1.61[-2.69, -0.54] MAIA-dB). Magnitudes of retinal sensitivity changes in early/intermediate AMD are clinically relevant for the MP-1 and MAIA devices under mesopic lighting within the central 10° radius. Other factors including pupil dilation and dark adaptation did not significantly affect global MS in early/intermediate AMD.
摘要: 中明视和暗视照明下的视野越来越多地用于黄斑功能评估。这篇综述评估了其统计学意义和临床相关性, 以及早期/中期年龄相关性黄斑变性 (AMD) 的最佳检测方案。检索PubMed和Embase自建库起至2022年5月14日的文献。所有质量评估均根据GRADE指南进行。主要结局是全局平均敏感性 (MS), 进一步meta分析指标包括: AMD分类方案、设备、测试模式、中位/暗位照明、刺激大小/色度、瞳孔扩张、测试半径 (面积) 、背景亮度、适应时间、AMD严重程度、网状假性玻璃膜疣的存在和随访。我们对筛选的 1489 项中的42 项观察性研究结果进行了meta分析。在中等GRADE质量证据的支持下及在中明视和暗视照明下, 所有设备的全、全视野MS均显著降低 (−0.9 [−1.04, −0.75] Hedge’s g, P < 0.0001) 。所使用的设备 (P < 0.01) 和照明 (P < 0.05) 是影响全视野MS的唯一可改变的变量, 因此中视MP-1和MAIA受影响最大, 并超过了重新测试的可变性。AMD严重程度 (中度 vs 早期AMD;−0.58 [−0.88, −0.29] Hedge’s g或−2.55[3.62, −1.47]MAIA-dB) 和随访 (与基线相比;−0.62[−0.84, −0.41]Hedge’s g或−1.61[−2.69, −0.54]MAIA-dB) 对全视野MS有显著影响。早期/中期AMD的视网膜敏感性变化幅度与MP-1和MAIA装置在中心10°半径内的中明视照明下具有临床相关性。瞳孔扩张和暗适应等其他因素对早期/中期AMD的全视野MS没有显著影响。.

High sensitivity of scotopic vision (vision in dim light conditions) is achieved by the rods\' low background noise, which is attributed to a much lower thermal activation rate (kth) of rhodopsin compared with cone pigments. Frogs and nocturnal geckos uniquely possess atypical rods containing noncanonical cone pigments that exhibit low kth, mimicking rhodopsin. Here, we investigated the convergent mechanism underlying the low kth of rhodopsins and noncanonical cone pigments. Our biochemical analysis revealed that the kth of canonical cone pigments depends on their absorption maximum (λmax). However, rhodopsin and noncanonical cone pigments showed a substantially lower kth than predicted from the λmax dependency. Given that the λmax is inversely proportional to the activation energy of the pigments in the Hinshelwood distribution-based model, our findings suggest that rhodopsin and noncanonical cone pigments have convergently acquired low frequency of spontaneous-activation attempts, including thermal fluctuations of the protein moiety, in the molecular evolutionary processes from canonical cone pigments, which contributes to highly sensitive scotopic vision.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our work was to assess the impact of flight conditions by aircraft type on the workload estimated using NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX).
BACKGROUND: Learning about subjective workload is important for assessing the impact of a pilot\'s work environment on their performance in the cockpit. This is an important element of flight safety and includes the prevention of aviation accidents.
METHODS: The study included 146 military pilots that fly the following aircrafts: flying fast-jet (21), fixed-wing (24), and rotary-wing (101). The NASA-TLX questionnaire was used to assess workload and pilots were asked to determine the level of workload resulting from flying under the following conditions: daytime flight (VFR), night-vision flight performed under Night Visual Flight Rules (NVFR), and night-vision flight using night-vision goggles (NVGs).
RESULTS: The highest level of workload was consistently attributed to flights performed under NVG conditions. NVFR conditions were rated as the most burdensome, while VFR conditions were rated as the least burdensome. Fast-jet pilots rated their mental performance and effort workload as significantly higher than pilots of other aircrafts.
CONCLUSIONS: Pilots\' perceived workload is influenced by both flight conditions and the type of aircraft they fly. Workload knowledge is important for flight safety and should be taken into account during training and flight-task planning.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study can be useful both in flight training and in work on the effectiveness of the human-machine interface. Awareness of one\'s own limitations due to the work environment can help improve flight safety.