Asymmetry Index Research Articles

The role of the target language culture on Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry.

As an important carrier of culture, poetry plays a significant role in deepening language learners' understanding of the target language culture as well as enhancing their language skills; however, the effect of the target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry remains unclear. The study served as an attempt to shed light on the point of whether the target language culture has different effects on high- and low-level Chinese Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry with the use of pictures related to Arabic culture and those not related to Arabic culture. In the current study, 40 Arabic learners (20 high-level and 20 low-level) scored the Arabic poem line based on their fondness for it after viewing two kinds of picture with electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Frontal alpha asymmetry index as a correlate of approach and avoidance related motivation measured by EEG power in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) was calculated for examining whether the behavioral results of Arabic learners' fondness for poetry are in line with the results of changes in the related EEG components. Behavioral results illustrated that low-level subjects showed significantly less liking for Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture compared to those not related to Arabic culture. The high-level subjects did not show a significant difference in the level of liking for Arabic poetry between the two cases. FAA results demonstrated that low-level subjects presented a significant avoidance-related responses to Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture in comparison to viewing pictures not related to Arabic culture; while the FAA values did not differ significantly between the two cases in high-level subjects, which is in line with behavioral results. The findings of this research can benefit teachers in motivating students to learn poetry in foreign language curriculum and also contribute to the literature on the effect of target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry.

The effect of combined surgery and physiotherapy on the facial asymmetry in patients with congenital muscular torticollis: a retrospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of surgical therapy, intraoperative evaluation, and immediate physiotherapy on the facial asymmetry of patients with congenital muscular torticollis (CMT). Patients who underwent a combination of unipolar sternocleidomastoid muscle release with perioperative physiotherapy between 2014 and 2020 in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen were enrolled. Three-dimensional photographs of the face acquired 2 months preoperatively and 1.5–2 years postoperatively were assessed. Based on 43 patients, there was a significant improvement in the asymmetry indices (angles between bilateral exocanthion, bilateral cheilion, and nasion–gnathion lines): mean ± standard deviation reductions in indices (Ex–Ex)–(Ch–Ch), (Ex–Ex)–(Na–Gn), and (Ch–Ch)–(Na–Gn) of 0.88 ± 1.08° (P < 0.001), 1.04 ± 1.26° (P < 0.001), and 0.21 ± 1.06° (P = 0.024), respectively. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that intervention at an early age (P = 0.017) and left-sided torticollis (P = 0.030) were associated with a significantly greater improvement in the facial asymmetry. This study found that the use of combined surgery and physiotherapy reduced the facial asymmetry of patients with CMT at 2 years postoperatively. Early intervention and left-sided torticollis were associated with a greater improvement in the facial asymmetry. This indicates that attention should be given to early intervention and right-sided CMT cases postoperatively.

Influence of Amputation on Kinetic Chain Musculature Activity During Basic and Modified Core Exercises.

Core strength is vital for athletic performance, and many more exercises that involve the kinetic chain have been designed for able-bodied athletes. Disabilities that impair the kinetic chain can reduce the effectiveness of strength training. However, the impact of amputation on core strength training of people with disabilities and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the muscle activation patterns and levels in athletes with amputation during 4 basic and modified weight-bearing core strength-training exercises. Fifteen elite athletes with unilateral amputation (170.6 [7.3]cm; 63.9 [11.9]kg; 25.9 [5.3]y) volunteered for this study. Surface electromyography was used to measure the muscle activity mainly in the lumbopelvic-hip complex-stabilizing muscles during 4 kinetic chain trunk exercises with and without modifications. The significance level was set at α = .05. The results showed a significant difference in muscle activation between different body sides (P < .05). Specifically, amputation on the support position resulted in a diagonal pattern of muscle activation, and amputation on the free distal segments resulted in a unilateral dominant pattern with higher activation in muscles on the nonamputated side (P < .05). Modifications led to significant decreases in muscle activation asymmetry index (P < .05). Amputation caused muscle activation asymmetry and 2 activation patterns. Modifications by enhancing proximal stability and adjusting distal loading effectively reduced the asymmetry of muscle activation. Coaches and clinicians can use these results to tailor exercises for athletes with disabilities in training and rehabilitation.

Statistical features of the general population of patients with genital endometriosis

Abstract. It is relevant to study the incidence of genital endometriosis, for which radical treatment methods have not been found yet. This study should also include a statistical analysis of the general population of patients included in the research, followed by clinical trials. Object and methods. A statistical analysis of the general population of patients was carried out with the following values: N (120), mode (Mo), median (Me), simple arithmetic mean (M) and its standard deviation (M ± δ), variation indicators (R-range): dispersion (D), standard deviation (δ); coefficient of variation (V); quartiles (Q) and their range (IQR). We also determined the tkp value (according to the Student distribution table) with a probability of values of 0.95 and texp, as well as scattering indicators — minimum (min) and maximum (max), dispersion (S2), asymmetry (As), kurtosis (Ex), and others. To test the hypothesis about the type of distribution, we used the Pearson goodness-of-fit test. Additionally, the standard sampling error for the mean (E), the marginal sampling error (ε), and the confidence interval (CI) were estimated. Using the distribution table, we found the χ2 values; the random error of the lower (tL) and upper bound (tU), and the confidence interval of the standard deviation were calculated. Results and discussion. The following indicators were calculated: average and standard deviation (M ± δ); Mo and Me had an equal value. The sample range was calculated; the sample quartiles divided the given population into four equal parts, where Q2 (25 %) was equal to 30 years, Q1 (25 %) corresponded to 27 years, Q3 — to 34 years (25 %), and IQR corresponded to 7 years. Notably, 28 people were under 27 years old and over 34. To exclude anomalous distribution, outliers were determined using the Tukey method; outliers over 55 years turned out to be rigid. The value of the indicator V=18.89 % was determined; that was less than 30 %, which indicated the homogeneity of the population and weak variation. The standard sampling error for the mean (E), marginal sampling error (ε), and confidence interval for dispersion were calculated. The value of the χ2 indicator was estimated according to the distribution table. The random error of the dispersion of the lower (tL) and upper bound (tU) was determined. The significance score of the asymmetry index was calculated using the mean square error of the asymmetry coefficient (SAs). Conclusion. As it follows from statistical analysis, this general population had all the signs of a symmetrical normal distribution, therefore, the results obtained are trustworthy.

DEXA Body Composition Asymmetry Analysis and Association to Injury Risk and Low Back Pain in University Soccer Players.

Soccer is a laterally dominant sport owing to the repetitive nature of unilateral kicking. The relationship between functional and body composition asymmetries related to limb dominance in soccer players has yet to be established. When present, asymmetries can increase the risk of injury and low back pain. Our study investigated whether lateral dominance is associated with limb asymmetries in a comprehensive body composition assessment among varsity soccer players. Twenty-seven varsity soccer players (age 20.4 ± 1.7 years old; BMI 22.6 ± 4.6 kg/m2) participated in this study. Body composition was assessed through dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. Results showed low lower limb asymmetry indices in both males (3.82%) and females (3.36%) compared to normal ranges. However, upper limb lean mass exhibited high asymmetry, surpassing thresholds in males (7.3%) and females (4.39%). Significant differences were found in total bone mass among males and total lean body mass among females. Male players exhibited higher asymmetry indices in both arm and trunk mass compared to females. Despite these asymmetries, no significant correlations were found between asymmetry indices and occurrences of lower limb injury or low back pain. The study suggests that while evaluating body composition for injury prevention in soccer shows potential, lateral dominance may be influenced by factors extending beyond sport-specific adaptations.

Retrospective Evaluation of Condyle and Ramus Asymmetry with Ortopantomography in Dentate and Total Edentulous Patients

Objectives: A symmetrical facial appearance affects people's social relationships. Mandibular asymmetry directly effects the facial appearance and may have many morphological and functional causes. Clinically healthy individuals may experience complete edentulousness in advancing ages, which may lead to asymmetry in the condyles and facial appearance. Our aim in this study is to evaluate whether fully-toothed and total edentulous conditions cause changes in the vertical height of the condyle and ramus and also asymmetry. Material and Methods: A total of 200 patients (104 female, 96 male) with 100 fully-toothed and 100 edentulous were included in the study. Right and left condylar ramus were measured and recorded according to the asymmetry measurement index of Habets et al., with using tracing paper under the reflector light on the patients' orthopantomographic images. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS:22 package program. T-tests, Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests were used for comparisons. P &amp;lt;0.05 were considered significant. Results: In previous studies, the difference between the genders was found to be statistically insignificant, therefore we evaluated men and women together. In our research, the mean of the condyle and ramus height asymmetry index in edentulous patients was 4.76 mm and 2.12 mm respectively, and the mean of the condyle and ramus height asymmetry index in fully-toothed patients was 4.88 mm and 2.34 mm, respectively. According to the t-test, the mean of the condyle height and ramus height asymmetry index was found to be higher in fully-toothed patients but this difference was not statistically significant (p&amp;gt;0.05). Conclusion: Although condylar asymmetry was more common than ramus asymmetry in this study, this difference was not statistically significant when total edentulous and fully-toothed patients were compared. Keywords: Habets technique; condylar asymmetry; ramus asymmetry

Statistical Analyses of Solar Prominences and Active Region Features in 304 Å Filtergrams Detected via Deep Learning

Solar active regions (ARs) are areas on the Sun with very strong magnetic fields where various activities take place. Prominences are one of the typical solar features in the solar atmosphere, whose eruptions often lead to solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Therefore, studying their morphological features and their relationship with solar activity is useful in predicting eruptive events and in understanding the long-term evolution of solar activities. A huge amount of data have been collected from various ground-based telescopes and satellites. The massive amounts of data make human inspection difficult. For this purpose, we developed an automated detection method for prominences and ARs above the solar limb based on deep-learning techniques. We applied it to process the 304 Å data obtained by SDO/AIA from 2010 May 13 to 2020 December 31. Besides the butterfly diagrams and latitudinal migrations of the prominences and ARs during solar cycle 24, the variations of their morphological features (such as the locations, areas, heights, and widths) with the calendar years and the latitude bands were analyzed. Most of these statistical results based on our new method are in agreement with previous studies, which also guarantees the validity of our method. The N–S asymmetry indices of the prominences and ARs show that the northern hemisphere is the dominant hemisphere in solar cycle 24, except for 2012–2015, and 2020 for ARs. The high-latitude prominences show much stronger N–S asymmetry, where the northern hemisphere is dominant in ∼2011 and ∼2015, and the southern hemisphere is dominant from 2016–2019.

Removal of movement artifacts and assessment of mental stress analyzing electroencephalogram of non-driving passengers under whole-body vibration.

The discomfort caused by whole-body vibration (WBV) has long been assessed using subjective surveys or objective measurements of body acceleration. However, surveys have the disadvantage that some of participants often express their feelings in a capricious manner, and acceleration data cannot take into account individual preferences and experiences of their emotions. In this study, we investigated vibration-induced mental stress using the electroencephalogram (EEG) of 22 seated occupants excited by random vibrations. Between the acceleration and the EEG signal, which contains electrical noise due to the head shaking caused by random vibrations, we found that there was a strong correlation, which acts as an artifact in the EEG, and therefore we removed it using an adaptive filter. After removing the artifact, we analyzed the characteristics of the brainwaves using topographic maps and observed that the activities detected in the frontal electrodes showed significant differences between the static and vibration conditions. Further, frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and relative band power indices in the frontal electrodes were analyzed statistically to assess mental stress under WBV. As the vibration level increased, EEG analysis in the frontal electrodes showed a decrease in FAA and alpha power but an increase in gamma power. These results are in good agreement with the literature in the sense that FAA and alpha band power decreases with increasing stress, thus demonstrating that WBV causes mental stress and that the stress increases with the vibration level. EEG assessment of stress during WBV is expected to be used in the evaluation of ride comfort alongside existing self-report and acceleration methods.

Relative Contributions of Field‐Aligned Currents and Particle Precipitation to Inter‐Hemispheric Asymmetry at High Latitudes During the 2015 St. Patrick's Day Storm

AbstractHigh latitude upper atmospheric inter‐hemispheric asymmetry (IHA) tends to be enhanced during geomagnetic storms, which may be due to the complex spatiotemporal changes and magnitude modifications in field aligned currents (FACs) and particle precipitation (PP). However, the relative contribution of FACs and PP to IHA in high‐latitude forcing and energy is not well understood. The IHA during the 2015 St. Patrick’s Day storm has been investigated using the global ionosphere thermosphere model (GITM), driven by FACs from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) and PP from the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE). A comprehensive study of the (a) relative contributions of FACs and PP to electric potential and Joule heating and (b) sensitivity of electric potential and Joule heating to the changes in magnitude and distribution of FACs and PP is presented. The results indicate that FACs lead to larger potential and Joule heating changes compared with PP. The spatial variations of potential and Joule heating are also affected by variation in FACs. As for asymmetric magnitude and distribution, it is found that electric potential and Joule heating are more sensitive to changes in the distribution of FACs and PP than the magnitude of FACs and PP. A new spatial asymmetry index (SAI) is introduced, which reveals spatial asymmetric details that are often overlooked by previous studies. This sensitivity study reveals the relative contributions in high‐latitude forcing and emphasizes the importance of obtaining accurate FACs and PP in both hemispheres.

Long-term follow-up study of SWEDD patients with mild parkinsonian signs

BackgroundWhether scan without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD) can be a reliable indication of a clinical entity of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is controversial.ObjectiveTo evaluate the proportion of SWEDD patients with...

Lesion volume and spike frequency on EEG impact perfusion values in focal cortical dysplasia: a pediatric arterial spin labeling study

Arterial spin labelling (ASL), an MRI sequence non-invasively imaging brain perfusion, has yielded promising results in the presurgical workup of children with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD)-related epilepsy. However, the interpretation of ASL-derived perfusion patterns remains unclear. Hence, we compared ASL qualitative and quantitative findings to their clinical, EEG, and MRI counterparts. We included children with focal structural epilepsy related to an MRI-detectable FCD who underwent single delay pseudo-continuous ASL. ASL perfusion changes were assessed qualitatively by visual inspection and quantitatively by estimating the asymmetry index (AI). We considered 18 scans from 15 children. 16 of 18 (89%) scans showed FCD-related perfusion changes: 10 were hypoperfused, whereas six were hyperperfused. Nine scans had perfusion changes larger than and seven equal to the FCD extent on anatomical images. Hyperperfusion was associated with frequent interictal spikes on EEG (p = 0.047). Perfusion changes in ASL larger than the FCD corresponded to larger lesions (p = 0.017). Higher AI values were determined by frequent interictal spikes on EEG (p = 0.004). ASL showed FCD-related perfusion changes in most cases. Further, higher spike frequency on EEG may increase ASL changes in affected children. These observations may facilitate the interpretation of ASL findings, improving treatment management, counselling, and prognostication in children with FCD-related epilepsy.

Low Rate of Postoperative Pterygium Recurrence in Patients under Treatment with Low-Dose Oral Doxycycline for Chronic Blepharitis: A First Report.

Low doses of systemic doxycycline (LD-SD) inhibit angiogenesis and the expression of matrix metalloproteases, which are determinants of pterygium progression. This study aimed to compare the recurrence rate and visual outcome of pterygium excision in patients undergoing chronic treatment with LD-SD for chronic refractory blepharitis and LD-SD-naive patients. A retrospective analysis of patients that underwent surgical excision and conjunctival graft apposition was conducted. Patients were divided in a TETRA group (under LD-SD treatment at the moment of surgery) and a control group. The main outcome was the rate of recurrence at 1 year postoperatively. Secondary outcomes were the comparisons of surface regularity, visual quality, and dry-eye symptoms at 6-week, 6-month, and 1-year follow-up in the two groups. The TETRA group showed a significantly lower rate of 1-year recurrence both in primary (p = 0.034) and recurrent (p < 0.001) pterygia. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), astigmatic error, corneal total root mean square (RMS), and ocular surface disease index (OSDI) significantly reduced during the follow-up in both groups. The surface asymmetry index and high-order aberrations (HOAs) significantly reduced only in the TETRA group. The final BCVA was significantly higher, while the OSDI score and total RMS and HOAs were significantly lower in the TETRA group compared to the control. Patients under treatment with LD-SD showed a lower rate of recurrence at 1-year follow-up compared to controls. These patients also experienced higher BCVA and surface regularity and less dry-eye symptoms.

The Relationship Between Hand Preference and Mandibular Asymmetry: A Preliminary Study

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between functional laterality (hand preference) and mandibular asymmetry in skeletal Class I, normodivergent patients.&#x0D; Methods: 21 left-handed and 40 right-handed Class I normodivergent patients were included in the study. The hand preferences of the participants were determined by using the Oldfied hand preference questionnaire. Mandibular condylar height (CH), ramal height (RH), and total height (CH+RH) were measured on pretreatment panoramic radiographic images of the patients, and asymmetry values were obtained according to the formula of asymmetry indices. Data were analyzed with the Student’s t-test and Pearson chi-square.&#x0D; Results: Right and left CH values were greater in left-handed patients than in right-handed patients. Right and left RH and CH+RH values were greater in right-handed patients than in left-handed. However, there was no difference between the measurements (p &gt; .05). There was no significant relationship between the functional values and hand-use preference (p &gt; .05).&#x0D; Conclusions: Hand use preference was not associated with condylar, ramal, and total mandibular asymmetry.

Design and emotional responses: is there coherence between what is said and what is felt? A study using biofeedback and virtual reality

Identifying users’ experience when using products is one of the major challenges for design. Analyzing users’ psychophysiological reactions to an experience using biofeedback can produce more reliable results than using subjective evaluations, such as structured interviews and questionnaires. Two case studies were conducted to identify emotions users actually felt and to check whether there is some correspondence with what they reported after using two computational systems. The first system investigated users’ emotions during training on a vehicle driving simulator, and the second analyzed the emotions experienced during a car racing game, both in a virtual reality environment. User’s opinions about their emotional state were obtained using self-report techniques (using the Geneva Emotions Wheel—GEW and Positive and Negative Affective Schedule—PANAS questionnaires) and applying EEG (brain activity with Frontal Alpha Asymmetry Index—FAAI) and infrared thermography (facial thermograms). The training experiment presented the greater concordance between the psychophysiological and the self-report responses. Results evidenced the importance of undertaking multimodal studies in design research to determine users’ emotional experiences in a virtual reality context.

Shear and shear-induced normal responses of origami cylinders relate to their structural asymmetries

Origami cylinders have been studied extensively under compression, however, their normal force response under shear deformation is still ill-understood. We experimentally studied the shear-induced normal force of these systems and provided a simple model to predict this response in Yoshimura and Kresling origami cylinders in the range of small deformations. Besides that, the effect of disorder is little understood in those origami patterns. Therefore, we investigate the disorder effect and show it can lead to diverse normal responses perpendicular to shear deformation in crumpled Yoshimura, with slopes of the force perpendicular to torsion that can be positive, zero, or negative depending on the disordered pattern of folds. The disorder leads to an asymmetry concerning the shearing direction, which we quantified via an asymmetry index from the 2D Fast Fourier transform spectrum of the crease pattern images. This asymmetry index is found to be linearly related to the slope of the normal force-torsion relationship.

Machine learning-based nomogram to predict poor response to overnight orthokeratology in Chinese myopic children: A multicentre, retrospective study.

To develop and validate an effective nomogram for predicting poor response to orthokeratology. Myopic children (aged 8-15 years) treated with orthokeratology between February 2018 and January 2022 were screened in four hospitals of different tiers (i.e. municipal and provincial) in China. Potential predictors included 32 baseline clinical variables. Nomogram for the outcome (1-year axial elongation ≥0.20 mm: poor response; <0.20 mm: good response) was computed from a logistic regression model with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. The data from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College were randomly assigned (7:3) to the training and validation cohorts. An external cohort from three independent multicentre was used for the model test. Model performance was assessed by discrimination (the area under curve, AUC), calibration (calibration plots) and utility (decision curve analysis). Between January 2022 and March 2023, 1183 eligible subjects were screened from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, then randomly divided into training (n = 831) and validation (n = 352) cohorts. A total of 405 eligible subjects were screened in the external cohort. Predictors included in the nomogram were baseline age, spherical equivalent, axial length, pupil diameter, surface asymmetry index and parental myopia (p < 0.05). This nomogram demonstrated excellent calibration, clinical net benefit and discrimination, with the AUC of 0.871 (95% CI 0.847-0.894), 0.863 (0.826-0.901) and 0.817 (0.777-0.857) in the training, validation and external cohorts, respectively. An online calculator was generated for free access (http://39.96.75.172:8182/#/nomogram). The nomogram provides accurate individual prediction of poor response to overnight orthokeratology in Chinese myopic children.

The Effect of the Direction of Primary Lateral Spinal Curvature on Postural Stability in Children with Scoliosis.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of the direction and magnitude of primary lateral spinal curvature in children with scoliosis. Methods: Ninety-six children diagnosed with scoliosis were included in the study group, and fifty healthy peers were included in the control group. Posturographic measurements of body weight distribution and posturometric tests with eyes open and closed were performed. Results: Based on the symmetry index values, the study group was divided into children with symmetrical and asymmetrical body weight distributions on the basis of support. Then, taking into account the direction of the primary curvature, children with asymmetrical body weight distributions were divided into: (1) children with left-sided or right-sided scoliosis with overload on the same side of the body; and (2) children with left-sided or right-sided scoliosis with overload on the opposite side of the body. According to both posturometric tests, increased CoP spatial displacement was observed in the children with scoliosis compared to the healthy controls. The obtained results showed that increased asymmetry index and Cobb angle values significantly increase medial-lateral postural instability in children with scoliosis. Conclusions: These findings suggest that treatment to restore symmetric body weight distribution may prevent the progression of postural instability; however, this requires confirmation through further investigation.

Using fs/QCA to explore the influencing factors of urban green infrastructure development and its combinational drivers: the case of the Yangtze River Delta region of China.

High levels of urban green infrastructure (UGI) development can help mitigate the climate, biodiversity, and habitat crises faced by cities and support the achievement of sustainable urban development. Based on the relevant data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region obtained from 2011 to 2020, this study measured the development level of natural and geographic conditions, economic development, urban construction, social and cultural development, and eco-environment quality and urban green infrastructure (UGI); evaluated the development trend of UGI in the region during the 12th Five-Year Plan and 13th Five-Year Plan by using entropy TOPSIS; and used fs/QCA to explain the high-level development path of each city toward the achievement of a green infrastructure. The results showed that (1) the development level of UGI in the Yangtze River Delta region decreases from southeast to northwest, and gradually decreases from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other central cities. (2) There were several different configurations of high levels and non-high levels of UGI development drivers across regions, confirming the existence of multiple causality and asymmetry indices in the drivers of UGI. (3) During the "12th Five-Year Plan" and the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the conditions needed to achieve a high level of UGI gradually became stricter, expanding from nature-social culture and urban construction-eco-environmental drivers to nature-urban construction, nature-social culture-eco-environmental, urban construction-economy-social culture-eco-environmental drivers. Research findings can provide greater guidance and implications for future sustainable urban development.

Volumetric and Asymmetric Index Analysis of Subcortical Structures in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Retrospective Study Using volBrain Software.

Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and autoimmune disease that has a significant influence on the central nervous system, such as the brain and spinal cord, affecting millions of individuals globally. Understanding the connection between subcortical brain regions and MS is crucial for effective diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for treating this disabling disease. This study explores the relationship between volume and contours of asymmetry index of subcortical brain regions in individuals with MS using volBrain software (https://www.volbrain.net; developed by José V.Manjón (Valencia Polytechnic University, Valencia, Spain) and Pierrick Coupé (University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France)). Methods In our retrospective investigation, we admitted 100 Turkish individuals, comprising 50 patients diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (24 (48%) males and 26 (52%) females) and 50 healthy controls (23 (46%) males and 27 (54%) females), registered between October 2017 and February 2022 for five years and underwent assessment in the radiology department at the Teaching and Research Hospital of Kocaeli University; 1,150 Turkish patients were excluded from our study based on our exclusion criteria. We used magnetic resonance imaging with a 3-Tesla (3T) scanner and volBrain software to assess volumes (cm3) and asymmetry indexes due to asymmetry for different levels of atrophy of total intracranial, total brain, gray matter, white matter, and subcortical regions, the most affected regions in MS patients for both patient and control cohorts. Results Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between patient and control groups (p < 0.001), with patient group mean age at 38.32 years and control group mean age at 32.88 years. Patient group exhibited lower values for total intracranial, total brain, gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volume compared to control group (p < 0.05). The results indicated a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the values for total intracranial and total brain volume, whereas all other values remained unchanged. We compared volumes of subcortical structures on the right and left sides and found that the putamen, thalamus, and globus pallidus had statistically lower values in the patient group than in the control group (p < 0.001), apart from the lateral ventricle. Furthermore, our retrospective investigation demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the globus pallidus asymmetry index, indicating a preference for the patient group (p < 0.05). A lower asymmetry index value signifies a larger volume for the right side of the subcortical regions of the brain when compared to the left side. Conclusion Brain atrophy, although characterized by irreversible tissue damage, is targeted by therapeutic interventions to prevent progression. It is, therefore, imperative to develop a universally accepted measurement standard for subcortical structures that also considers the inherent variability present within each structure. Our findings serve as an important basis and indicator for the determination of subcortical atrophy and asymmetry in MS, the prognosis of the disease, and the etiology of clinical symptoms. Subsequent research may benefit by adopting the novel approach of considering brain atrophy as an outcome rather than a predictor, thereby facilitating the elucidation of the intricate biological mechanisms that give rise to volume loss.

Daytime Changes in Tear Film Parameters and Visual Acuity with New-Generation Daily Disposable Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses-A Double-Masked Study in Symptomatic Subjects.

This prospective, double-masked, contralateral study aimed to analyze and compare daytime changes in pre-lens tear film (PLTF) stability and optical quality in symptomatic subjects wearing two contact lenses (CL). A secondary goal was to assess the performance of the PLTF by using dynamic topography techniques and analyzing surface asymmetry and irregularity indexes (SAI and SRI, respectively). Measurements were conducted on 20 symptomatic subjects (OSDI score > 13). Participants were fitted contralaterally and randomly with spherical Delefilcon A and Stenfilcon A CLs and underwent a series of measurements over 3 consecutive days: three in the morning (after 1-2 h of CL wear) and three in the afternoon (after 7-9 h of CL wear). High- and low-contrast visual acuity (HCVA and LCVA, respectively), pre-lens NIBUT, and dynamic topography were assessed. The contralateral fit of the two lenses allowed a direct and better comparison between them since they were exposed to the same conditions during the day. Consequently, both lenses demonstrated similar performance in HCVA, LCVA, and PLTF stability, with no statistically significant differences between them, although some fluctuations were observed throughout the day. Dynamic topography proved sensitive in evaluating temporal changes in the PLTF. The SRI index showed greater sensitivity to topographic changes due to lacrimal destabilization, making it potentially valuable for evaluating dry eye patients.