Halo Size Research Articles

The Effects of Blue-Light Filtering Intraocular Implants on Glare Geometry

Purpose One common complaint with natural opacified lenses is the deleterious effects of higher-order ocular aberrations and intraocular scatter, such as halos and starbursts, which are not always remedied with surgery and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Blue-light filtering (BLF) IOL filter scatter-prone short-wave light. Here, we determine whether BLF IOL reduce halo and starburst size. Methods This study was a case-control design, between- and within-subjects (contralateral implantation). Sixty-nine participants with either the BLF IOL (n = 25; AlconSN60AT), clear IOL (n = 24; AlconSA60AT or WF), or both (n = 20) IOL participated. Participants were exposed to a point source of broadband simulated sunlight, which created the appearance of halos/starbursts. Dysphotopsia was measured as the diameter of broadband light-induced halos and starbursts. Results A case-control analysis. Halo size was significantly larger (t[35.05] = 2.98, p = 0.005) in participants with the clear control lens (M = 3°55′ ± 2°48′), compared to the BLF IOL (M = 1°84′ ± 1°34′). Starburst size was not significantly different between groups. Contralateral analysis. Halo size was significantly smaller (t = −3.89, p = .001) in test eyes with the BLF (M = 3°16′ ± 2°35′) compared to the fellow control eyes (M = 5°42′ ± 3°17′). Starburst size was also significantly smaller (t = −2.60, p < 0.018) in BLF test eyes (M = 9°57′ ± 4°25′) than the fellow eye with the clear IOL (M = 12°33′ ± 5°25′). Conclusions BLF IOL filter short-wave light and mimic retinal screening by the young, natural crystalline lens. Such filtering can reduce some deleterious effects of bright light by decreasing ocular diffusion/halos and starbursts.

Experiments on physical ablation of long bone using microwave ablation; defining optimal settings using ex- and in-vivo experiments.

Improved survival of cancer patients leads to more skeletal metastatic lesions that need local therapies for tumor control and pain relief. Not all tumors are radiosensitive and alternative therapies are direly needed. Microwave ablation (MWA) is a technique for minimally invasive local tumor control by physical ablation. In soft tissue local temperature ablation is more common, but studies on bone tissue are limited. To ensure safe and effective treatment, studies on local tumor ablation in bone are needed. Microwave ablation was performed on sheep bone, for both in- and ex-vivo settings. Both a slow-cooking MWA protocol (gradually increasing wattage in the first two minutes of ablation) and a fast-cooking protocol (no warm-up period) were used. Heat distribution through the bone during ablation was determined by measuring temperature at 10- and 15mm from the ablation probe (= needle). Ablation size after procedure was measured using nitro-BT staining. In-vivo ablations led to up to six times larger halos than ex-vivo with the same settings. Within both ex- and in-vivo experiments, no differences in halo size or temperature were found for different wattage levels (65W vs 80W). Compared to a fast cooking protocol, a two-minute slow cooking protocol led to increased temperatures and larger halos. Temperatures at 10- and 15mm distance from the needle no longer increased after six minutes. Halo sizes kept increasing over time without an evident plateau. Microwave ablation is technically effective for creating cell death in (sheep) long bone. It is recommended to start ablations with a slow-cooking period, gradually increasing the surrounding tissue temperature in two minutes from 40 to 90°C. Ex-vivo results cannot simply be translated to in-vivo.

Gravitational microlensing by dressed primordial black holes

The accretion of dark matter around the primordial black holes (PBHs) could lead to the formation of surrounding minihalos, whose mass can be several orders of magnitude higher than the central PBH mass. The gravitational microlensing produced by such dressed PBHs could be quite different from that of the bare PBHs, which may significantly affect the constraints on the PBH abundance. In this paper, we study the gravitational microlensing produced by dressed PBHs in detail. We find that all the microlensing effects by dressed PBHs have asymptotic behavior depending on the minihalo size, which can be used to predict the microlensing effects by comparing the halo size with the Einstein radius. When the minihalo radius and the Einstein radius are comparable, the effect of the density distribution of the halo is significant to the microlensing. Applying the stellar microlensing by dressed PBHs to the data of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment and Subaru/HSC Andromeda observations, we obtain the improved constraints on the PBH abundance. It shows that the existence of dark matter minihalos surrounding PBHs can strengthen the constraints on the PBH abundance from stellar microlensing by several orders, and can shift the constraints to the well-known asteroid mass window where PBHs can constitute all the dark matter.

A Halo abstraction for distributed n-dimensional structured grids within the C++ PGAS library DASH.

The Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) library DASH provides C++ container classes for distributed N-dimensional structured grids. This article presents enhancements on top of the DASH library to support stencil operations and halo areas to conveniently and efficiently parallelize structured grids. The improvements include definitions of multiple stencil operators, automatic derivation of halo sizes, efficient halo data exchanges, as well as communication hiding optimizations. The main contributions of this article are two-fold. First, the halo abstraction concept and the halo wrapper software components are explained. Second, the code complexity and the runtime of an example code implemented in DASH and pure Message Passing Interface (MPI) are compared.

The relationship between galaxy and halo sizes in the Illustris and IllustrisTNG simulations

ABSTRACT Abundance matching studies have shown that the average relationship between galaxy radius and dark matter halo virial radius remains nearly constant over many orders of magnitude in halo mass, and over cosmic time since about z = 3. In this work, we investigate the predicted relationship between galaxy radius re and halo virial radius Rh in the numerical hydrodynamical simulations Illustris and IllustrisTNG from z ∼ 0–3, and compare with the results from the abundance matching studies. We find that Illustris predicts much higher re/Rh values than the constraints obtained by abundance matching, at all redshifts, as well as a stronger dependence on halo mass. In contrast, IllustrisTNG shows very good agreement with the abundance matching constraints. In addition, at high redshift it predicts a strong dependence of re/Rh on halo mass on mass scales below those that are probed by existing observations. We present the predicted re/Rh relations from Illustris and IllustrisTNG for galaxies divided into star forming and quiescent samples, and quantify the scatter in re/Rh for both simulations. Further, we investigate whether this scatter arises from the dispersion in halo spin parameter and find no significant correlation between re/Rh and halo spin. We investigate the paths in re/Rh traced by individual haloes over cosmic time, and find that most haloes oscillate around the median re/Rh relation over their formation history.

IOL glistenings and disability glare

AbstractGlistenings are small fluid‐filled microvacuoles that appear within the intraocular lens (IOL) optic when it is placed in an aqueous environment. Subsurface nanoglistenings are much smaller fluid‐filled gaps from the surface of the optic of the IOL and they may give the IOL surface whitish coloration when the light is directed at the IOL at the angle of incidence of 30° or greater. It has been proposed that the optical quality of an IOL is not significantly affected by the level of glistenings. However, glistening was shown to degrade vision by inducing glare symptoms (straylight) rather than by lowering visual acuity; straylight elevation demonstrates a proportional relationship with the number of glistenings. Retinal straylight, even presenting in low levels, can cause increase in halo size, elevation in luminance detection threshold, and reduction in contrast sensitivity, being a reason for persistent visual complaints. The magnitude of retinal straylight can be clinically determined by the level of disability glare. Moreover, glistenings are not unique to adults and have been reported in paediatric patients Thus, patients having undergone cataract surgery in childhood should undergo a periodical ophthalmic follow‐up for evaluating visual quality and disability glare, and subsequently as determined by grade of glistenings.

A putative 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase is involved in the virulence, carbohydrate metabolism, biofilm formation, twitching halo, and osmotic tolerance in Acidovorax citrulli.

Acidovorax citrulli (Ac) is a gram-negative bacterium that causes bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) disease in cucurbit crops including watermelon. However, despite the great economic losses caused by this disease worldwide, Ac-resistant watermelon cultivars have not been developed. Therefore, characterizing the virulence factors/mechanisms of Ac would enable the development of effective control strategies against BFB disease. The 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase (BdpM) is known to participate in the glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways. However, the roles of the protein have not been characterized in Ac. To elucidate the functions of BdpmAc (Bdpm in Ac), comparative proteomic analysis and diverse phenotypic assays were conducted using a bdpmAc knockout mutant (bdpmAc:Tn) and a wild-type strain. The virulence of the mutant to watermelon was remarkably reduced in both germinated seed inoculation and leaf infiltration assays. Moreover, the mutant could not grow with fructose or pyruvate as a sole carbon source. However, the growth of the mutant was restored to levels similar to those of the wild-type strain in the presence of both fructose and pyruvate. Comparative proteomic analyses revealed that diverse proteins involved in motility and wall/membrane/envelop biogenesis were differentially abundant. Furthermore, the mutant exhibited decreased biofilm formation and twitching halo size. Interestingly, the mutant exhibited a higher tolerance against osmotic stress. Overall, our findings suggest that BdpmAc affects the virulence, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, biofilm formation, twitching halo size, and osmotic tolerance of Ac, suggesting that this protein has pleiotropic properties. Collectively, our findings provide fundamental insights into the functions of a previously uncharacterized phosphoglycerate mutase in Ac.

Iterative-Bayesian unfolding of cosmic-ray isotope fluxes measured by AMS-02

The measurement of the isotopic composition of cosmic rays (CRs) provides essential insights into the understanding of the origin and propagation of these particles, namely the CR source spectra, the propagation processes and the galactic halo size. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a CR experiment operating aboard the International Space Station since May 2011, has the capability of performing these measurements due to its precise determination of the velocity provided by its Time of Flight (TOF) and Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors. The correct interpretation of the data requires the measurements to be deconvoluted from the instrumental effects. The unique design of AMS-02, with more than one detector being used to measure the same particle flux, requires a novel approach to unfold the measured fluxes. In this work, we apply for the first time the so-called iterative-bayesian approach in the context of the direct measurement of the cosmic-ray fluxes. Moreover, we introduce a non-parametric regularization method for the detector response functions and a single, smooth flux prior covering the range of measurements from both detectors, TOF and RICH. The accuracy of the method is assessed using a simulated flux based on previous AMS-02 measurements and taking into account the full detector response. In addition, the estimation of the errors and a discussion about the performance of the method are also shown, demonstrating that the method is fast and reliable, allowing for the recovery of the true particle fluxes in the whole energy range.

Galaxy–halo size relation from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and the ELUCID simulation

ABSTRACT Based on galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and dark matter haloes in the dark matter only, cosmological, and constrained ELUCID simulation, we investigate the relation between the observed radii of central galaxies with stellar mass $\gtrsim\!{10}^{8} \, h^{-2}\, {\rm M}_\odot$ and the virial radii of their host dark matter haloes with virial mass $\gtrsim\!{10}^{10.5} \, h^{-1}\, {\rm M}_\odot$, and the dependence of galaxy–halo size relation on the halo spin and concentration. Galaxies in observation are matched to dark matter (sub)haloes in the ELUCID simulation using a novel neighbourhood subhalo abundance matching method. For galaxy two-dimensional (2D) half-light radii R50, we find that early- and late-type galaxies have the same power-law index 0.55 with $R_{50} \propto R_{\rm vir}^{0.55}$, although early-type galaxies have smaller 2D half-light radii than late-type galaxies at fixed halo virial radii. When converting the 2D half-light radii R50 to 3D half-mass radii r1/2, both early- and late-type galaxies display similar galaxy–halo size relations with $\log r_{1/2} = 0.55 \log (R_{\rm vir}/210 \, h^{-1}\, {\rm kpc}) + 0.39$. We find that the galaxy–halo size ratio r1/2/Rvir decreases with increasing halo mass. At fixed halo mass, there is no significant dependence of galaxy–halo size ratio on the halo spin or concentration.

The Lensed Lyman-Alpha MUSE Arcs Sample (LLAMAS)

Aims. We present the Lensed Lyman-Alpha MUSE Arcs Sample (LLAMAS) selected from MUSE and HST observations of 17 lensing clusters. The sample consists of 603 continuum-faint (−23 &lt; MUV &lt; −14) lensed Lyman-α emitters (producing 959 images) with secure spectroscopic redshifts between 2.9 and 6.7. Combining the power of cluster magnification with 3D spectroscopic observations, we were able to reveal the resolved morphological properties of 268 Lyman-α emitters. Methods. We used a forward-modeling approach to model both Lyman-α and rest-frame UV continuum emission profiles in the source plane and measure spatial extent, ellipticity, and spatial offsets between UV and Lyman-α emission. Results. We find a significant correlation between UV continuum and Lyman-α spatial extent. Our characterization of the Lyman-α halos indicates that the halo size is linked to the physical properties of the host galaxy (SFR, Lyman-α equivalent width, Lyman-α line FWHM). We find that 48% of Lyman-α halos are best fit by an elliptical emission distribution with a median axis ratio of q = 0.48. We observe that 60% of galaxies detected both in UV and Lyman-α emission show a significant spatial offset (ΔLyα − UV). We measure a median offset of ΔLyα − UV = 0.58 ± 0.14 kpc for the entire sample. By comparing the spatial offset values with the size of the UV component, we show that 40% of the offsets could be due to star-forming sub-structures in the UV component, while the larger offsets (60%) are more likely due to greater-distance processes such as scattering effects inside the circumgalactic medium or emission from faint satellites or merging galaxies. Comparisons with a zoom-in radiative hydrodynamics simulation of a typical Lyman-α emitting galaxy show a very good agreement with LLAMAS galaxies and indicate that bright star-formation clumps and satellite galaxies could produce a similar spatial offset distribution.

Formation of the Cosmic-Ray Halo: The Role of Nonlinear Landau Damping

We present a nonlinear model of a self-consistent Galactic halo, where the processes of cosmic-ray (CR) propagation and excitation/damping of MHD waves are included. The MHD turbulence that prevents CR escape from the Galaxy is entirely generated by the resonant streaming instability. The key mechanism controlling the halo size is the nonlinear Landau (NL) damping, which suppresses the amplitude of MHD fluctuations and, thus, makes the halo larger. The equilibrium turbulence spectrum is determined by a balance of CR excitation and NL damping, which sets the regions of diffusive and advective propagation of CRs. The boundary z cr(E) between the two regions is the halo size, which slowly increases with the energy. For the vertical magnetic field of ∼1 μG, we estimate z cr ∼ 1 kpc for GeV protons. The derived proton spectrum is in a good agreement with observational data.

Does intraocular straylight predict night driving visual performance? Correlations between straylight levels and contrast sensitivity, halo size, and hazard recognition distance with and without glare.

PurposeTo evaluate the relationship between intraocular straylight perception and: (i) contrast sensitivity (CS), (ii) halo size, and (iii) hazard recognition distance, in the presence and absence of glare.Subjects and methodsParticipants were 15 (5 female) ophthalmologically healthy adults, aged 54.6–80.6 (median: 67.2) years. Intraocular straylight (log s) was measured using a straylight meter (C-Quant; Oculus GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany). CS with glare was measured clinically using the Optovist I device (Vistec Inc., Olching, Germany) and also within a driving simulator using Landolt Cs. These were presented under both static or dynamic viewing conditions, and either with or without glare. Hazard detection distance was measured for simulated obstacles of varying contrast. For this, the participant was required to maintain a speed of 60 km/h within a custom-built nighttime driving simulator. Glare was simulated by LED arrays, moved by cable robots to mimic an oncoming car’s headlights. Halo size (“halometry”) was measured by moving Landolt Cs outward originating from the center of a static glare source. The outcome measure from “halometry” was the radius of the halo (angular extent, in degrees visual angle).ResultsThe correlation between intraocular straylight perception, log s, and hazard recognition distance under glare was poor for the low contrast obstacles (leading/subdominant eye: r = 0.27/r = 0.34). Conversely, log CS measured with glare strongly predicted hazard recognition distances under glare. This was true both when log CS was measured using a clinical device (Optovist I: r = 0.93) and within the driving simulator, under static (r = 0.69) and dynamic (r = 0.61) conditions, and also with “halometry” (r = 0.70). Glare reduced log CS and hazard recognition distance for almost all visual function parameters.ConclusionIntraocular straylight was a poor predictor of visual function and driving performance within this experiment. Conversely, CS was a strong predictor of both hazard recognition and halo extent. The presence of glare and motion lead to a degradation of CS in a driving simulator. Future studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of all above-mentioned vision-related parameters for predicting fitness to drive under real-life conditions.

Testing the consistency of propagation between light and heavy cosmic ray nuclei * *Supported by the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1738130)

One of the fundamental challenges in cosmic ray physics is to explain the nature of cosmic ray acceleration and propagation mechanisms. Owing to the precise cosmic ray data measured by recent space experiments, we can investigate cosmic ray acceleration and propagation models more comprehensively and reliably. In this paper, we combine the secondary-to-primary ratios and primary spectra measured by PAMELA, AMS02, ACE-CRIS, and Voyager-1 to constrain the cosmic ray source and transport parameters. The study shows that the data yield a medium-energy diffusion slope and a high-energy slope . The species place a looser constraint on but a tighter constraint on . The overlaps imply that heavy and light particles can provide compatible results at medium to high energies. Moreover, both the light and heavy nuclei indicate a consistent diffusion slope variation at GV. At low energies, significant disagreements exist between heavy and light elements. The boron-to-carbon ratio requires a much larger diffusion slope shift at approximately 4 GV or a stronger Alfvén velocity than the low-mass data. This indicates that the heavy and light particles may suffer different low-energy transport behaviors in the galaxy. However, a better understanding of the consistency/inconsistency between the heavy and light cosmic rays relies on more precise cross-sections, better constraints on correlations in systematic errors of data, a more accurate estimation of the galaxy halo size, and a more robust description of solar modulation during the reversal period of the heliospheric magnetic field.

P-046 Effect of different sperm chromatin dispersion type on IVF/ICSI outcome and offspring profile

Abstract Study question Whether the percentage of different sperm chromatin dispersion type are associated with the IVF/ICSI outcome and offspring profile? Summary answer Percentage of different sperm chromatin dispersion type are significantly associated with the embryo cleavage rate, embryo quality, live birth rate and offspring gender. What is known already The sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) is increasingly recognized as a key sperm functional parameter for assessing male fertility. Sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test is widely used in clinical andrology lab to measure DFI, and according to the size of sperm halo it divides sperm into three categories: big halo sperm, middle halo sperm, small or no halo sperm. Previous study reported that big halo sperm are significantly associated with embryo quality and pregnancy rate. The average halo size of Y-chromosome bearing sperm are significantly smaller than X - chromosome bearing sperm. Study design, size, duration This is a multi-center retrospective study recruited 200 couples underwent IVF/ICSI treatment in Nanfang Hospital and Guangdong Women's and Children's Hospital from May 2018 to May 2019. Participants/materials, setting, methods Patients meet the followed inclusion criteria were recruited: (1) The male partners received sperm chromatin dispersion test; (2) The female partners have normal ovarian reserve (female age &amp;lt; 35 years old, FSH ≤10 IU/L and AFC ≥ 5); (3) Couples received fresh single embryo transfer. The association between sperm chromatin dispersion type and IVF/ICSI outcome and the offspring profile were retrospectively analyzed. Main results and the role of chance Regression analysis showed that the embryo cleavage rate is positively associated with the percentage of sperm with big halo (Adjusted ?????(95% CI) 0.09 (0.01, 0.17), P&amp;lt;0.05), but negatively associated with the percentage of sperm with middle halo (Adjusted ????? (95% CI)- 0.22 (-0.35, -0.09), P&amp;lt;0.001). The good embryo rate is negatively associated with the percentage of sperm with middle halo (Adjusted ????? (95% CI) -0.60 (-1.04, -0.16), P&amp;lt;0.05). Live birth is significantly associated with the percentage of sperm with small halo (Adjusted OR (95% CI) 0.89 (0.80, 1.00), P&amp;lt;0.05). Offspring gender is significantly associated with the percentage of sperm with big halo (Adjusted OR (95% CI) 0.95 (0.91, 0.99), P&amp;lt;0.05) and the percentage of sperm with middle halo (Adjusted OR (95% CI) 1.09 (1.02, 1.17), P&amp;lt;0.05). The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of the big halo sperm percentage to predict male offspring is 0.68 (95%CI (0.54, 0.81), P &amp;lt; 0.05). The AUC of middle halo sperm percentage to predict female offspring is 0.66 (95%CI (0.52, 0.80), P &amp;lt; 0.05). Limitations, reasons for caution This is a retrospective study which may have the bias caused by the nature of this type of study. The sample size is relatively small. Wider implications of the findings The percentage of big halo sperm are significantly associated with embryo cleavage rate and male offspring. The percentage of middle halo sperm are significantly associated with embryo cleavage rate, lower good embryo rate and female offspring. The percentage of small halo sperm is significantly associated with live birth. Trial registration number 82101683

The scatter in the galaxy–halo connection: a machine learning analysis

ABSTRACT We apply machine learning (ML), a powerful method for uncovering complex correlations in high-dimensional data, to the galaxy–halo connection of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. The mapping between galaxy and halo variables is stochastic in the absence of perfect information, but conventional ML models are deterministic and hence cannot capture its intrinsic scatter. To overcome this limitation, we design an ensemble of neural networks with a Gaussian loss function that predict probability distributions, allowing us to model statistical uncertainties in the galaxy–halo connection as well as its best-fitting trends. We extract a number of galaxy and halo variables from the Horizon-AGN and IllustrisTNG100-1 simulations and quantify the extent to which knowledge of some subset of one enables prediction of the other. This allows us to identify the key features of the galaxy–halo connection and investigate the origin of its scatter in various projections. We find that while halo properties beyond mass account for up to 50 per cent of the scatter in the halo-to-stellar mass relation, the prediction of stellar half-mass radius or total gas mass is not substantially improved by adding further halo properties. We also use these results to investigate semi-analytic models for galaxy size in the two simulations, finding that assumptions relating galaxy size to halo size or spin are not successful.

Nonrelativistic Boson stars as N-body quantum systems

In this work, we show that the structural configuration of a collection of generic nonrelativistic bosons forming a gravitationally bound Bose–Einstein condensate can be interpreted as a nonrelativistic boson star. With the approach followed in this work, we can analyze with a concise and straightforward procedure the equilibrium properties of nonrelativistic boson stars viewed as a Bose–Einstein condensate. The system’s behavior is obtained by analyzing its fundamental constituent properties, i.e. the associated single-particle properties. Additionally, we show that by expressing the corresponding Newtonian gravitational potential, under certain circumstances, as a harmonic oscillator potential one, we can describe the conditions in which the nonrelativistic boson star can form equilibrium configurations. In order to analyze the boson star’s structural configuration, we employ four different ansätzes commonly used in the literature. These ansätzes allow us to compare the cloud’s structural properties of the boson star, which leads us to obtain several gravitational equilibrium configurations from compact objects matching the size of typical stars to gigantic systems comparable to the size of galaxy cluster dark matter halos. Finally, we show that these ansätzes predict, qualitatively speaking, the same structural and gravitational equilibrium configurations for different values of the parameters involved.

A Comprehensive Investigation of Contrast Sensitivity and Disk Halo in High Myopia Treated With SMILE and EVO Implantable Collamer Lens Implantation.

PurposeTo investigate the clinical outcomes in small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and EVO implantable Collamer lens (ICL)–treated high myopia.MethodsThirty-three SMILE-treated and 32 EVO ICL-treated patients were included and followed up for 6 months. Subjective refraction, contrast sensitivity, and disk halo size were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were obtained at the final visit.ResultsSignificant differences in efficacy and safety indices were observed between the SMILE and EVO ICL groups at 6 months postoperatively (P < 0.05). In the SMILE group, the mesopic contrast sensitivity at 2.2 cycles per degree (cpd) and photopic contrast sensitivity at 0.5, 3.4, and 7.1 cpd were significantly improved. In the EVO ICL group, the mesopic contrast sensitivity at 7.1 cpd and photopic contrast sensitivity at 0.5, 7.1, and 14.6 cpd were significantly improved. The halo radii after SMILE were significantly increased at 1 week, showed a decreasing trend at 1 month, returned to baseline at 3 months, and progressed stably at 6 months. However, it was unchanged in the EVO ICL group. Regarding subjective experience, haloes were the most common disturbance with mild and little bothersomeness after EVO ICL in contrast to starbursts after SMILE.ConclusionsEVO ICL implantation yielded better visual outcomes, improved contrast sensitivity particularly at high spatial frequencies, had a stabler disk halo size, and increased incidence of haloes, with less influence than that of SMILE.Translational RelevanceThe disk halo and PRO findings will be of benefit for consultations and evaluations in visual performance and disturbances.

Benchmarking Visual Performance with Monofocal Intraocular Lenses with and without Enhanced Optical Properties in a Nighttime Driving Simulator Environment: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a method for benchmarking intraocular lenses during driving activities under highly standardized conditions, specifically with regard to visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS). Therefore, patients with intraocular lens (IOL) implants ICB00 (Tecnis Eyhance, Johnson & Johnson, Santa Ana, CA, USA) vs. CNA0T0 (Clareon, Alcon Laboratories Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA) were examined clinically and in a nighttime driving simulator. Clinical tests for high (HCVA), low contrast (LCVA) distant VA, and mesopic CS were conducted in subjects at least 2 months after binocular IOL surgery (inclusion criteria: VA > 20/25, ophthalmologically normal, except cataract surgery). All patients completed a straight driving simulator route. VA, CS, and halo size were assessed binocularly during nighttime driving using eight-position Landolt Cs in four different locations and two (far and intermediate) distances. Results are presented as median/interquartile range: ICB00 data (corresponding CNA0T0 data are shown in brackets): 5 (6) subjects, aged 69.6/8.3 (71.1/13.0) years were enrolled. Clinical tests: logMAR HCVA 0.11/0.39 (0.00/0.51), logMAR LCVA 0.78/0.52 (0.80/0.54); logCS without glare 0.50/0.31 (0.30/0.65), logCS with glare 0.20/0.15 (0.20/0.5). Nighttime driving simulator: logMAR VA thresholds for right roadside, dashboard, navigation screen, and interior rear-view mirror were 0.50/0.06 (0.57/0.22), 0.81/0.07 (0.91/0.14), 0.80/0.17 (0.92/0.27), 0.50/0.11 (0.63/0.26); logCS thresholds were1.53/0.67 (1.00/0.81), 0.82/0.11 (0.61/0.19), 0.71/0.14 (0.50/0.15), 0.87/0.07 (0.81/0.11). Halo size: 5.40°/0.89° (5.88°/2.00°). Within a nighttime driving simulator environment, ICB00 exceeded CNA0T0 in median logMAR (VA) and logCS by 0.1 log unit at intermediate distances (dashboard, navigation screen). The clinical test for far and remote distances did not show a difference. These results confirm benefits of monofocal IOLs with enhanced optical properties for intermediate distances compared to conventional monofocal lenses within the target medium distance ranges.

Constraining the Cosmic Baryon Distribution with Fast Radio Burst Foreground Mapping

Abstract The dispersion measure of fast radio bursts (FRBs) encodes the integrated electron density along the line of sight, which is typically dominated by the intergalactic medium contribution in the case of extragalactic FRBs. In this paper, we show that incorporating wide-field spectroscopic galaxy survey data in the foreground of localized FRBs can significantly improve constraints on the partition of diffuse cosmic baryons. Using mock dispersion measures and realistic light-cone galaxy catalogs derived from the Millennium simulation, we define spectroscopic surveys that can be carried out with 4 and 8 m class wide-field spectroscopic facilities. On these simulated surveys, we carry out Bayesian density reconstructions in order to estimate the foreground matter density field. In comparison with the “true” matter density field, we show that these can help reduce the uncertainties in the foreground structures by ∼2–3× compared to cosmic variance. We calculate the Fisher matrix to forecast that N = 30 (96) localized FRBs should be able to constrain the diffuse cosmic baryon fraction to ∼10% (∼5%) and parameters governing the size and baryon fraction of galaxy circumgalactic halos to within ∼20%–25% (∼8%–12%). From the Fisher analysis, we show that the foreground data increase the sensitivity of localized FRBs toward our parameters of interest by ∼25×. We briefly introduce FLIMFLAM, an ongoing galaxy redshift survey that aims to obtain foreground data on ∼30 localized FRB fields.

Chlorhexidine added to different adhesive systems - Assessment of antibacterial activity and bond strength

This study aimed to assess the effects of adding chlorhexidine (CHX) to different adhesive systems on antibacterial activity and bond strength after 24 hours and 30 days under in vitro conditions. A total of 210 bovine incisor crowns and divided into three groups, based on the adhesive system: Single Bond Plus (SB), Clearfil SE Bond (CL), and AdheSE Primer and Bond (AD). All groups were subdivided by CHX concentration (n=7): no CHX, CHX applied before the adhesive (CPA), and the adhesive incorporated with 0.5% CHX, 1.0% CHX, and 2.0% CHX. The micro shear test was conducted on one-half of the specimens after 24 hours, and on the other half after 30 days. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using the agar diffusion test with Streptococcus mutans. The bond strength variable was assessed using the factorial analysis of variance for repeated measurements, whereas the variable of the bacterial halo size was subjected to the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric test. The significance level was 5% for both tests. The qualitative variable of fracture pattern was assessed by descriptive statistical analysis. Thus, CHX concentration of 2% (10.80 ±2.83) and CPA (9.95 ±1.47) (p &gt;0.05) helped to increase the bond strength values for most adhesive systems, whereas CL had the highest bond strength values. The CL adhesive system also presented the best results in the antibacterial test with S.mutans.