Search

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.01.011 Byline: R. De Cock, E. Matthysen Abstract: Fireflies are the classic example of organisms that use light signalling for sexual communication. However, many genera have diurnally active adults for which the use of light signals for courtship seems unlikely. It is generally accepted that diurnal fireflies use pheromones instead of light signalling for sexual communication, even though robust observational data or convincing experimental evidence is lacking. In several field experiments, we investigated whether sexual communication in the diurnal P. hemipterus is based upon pheromones rather than on light emission. During the daytime, males were attracted to females without the aid of visual cues. Males coming from the downwind side of females arrived first. Arrival directions of males to females were strongly nonrandom and were correlated with downwind direction, i.e. possibly into the direction from which a pheromone plume is dispersed. Males arrived more rapidly when the wind came from a fixed direction and wind speed was high. Although the presumed pheromone signal still attracted males at a distance of 20m, its maximal sampling range was at a relatively close range (ca. 43m after 3h). More males were attracted when females showed signalling behaviour. These results strongly suggest that sexual communication in P. hemipterus is based entirely on pheromones. Author Affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium Article History: Received 22 July 2004; Revised 28 September 2004; Accepted 11 January 2005 Article Note: (miscellaneous) MS. number: 8213

PURPOSE: To find out the incidence of intraocular lens (IOL) optic opacification in a suspect IOL. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients' notes 3–4 years postimplant. RESULTS: In all, 56 IOLs showed signs of opacification, resulting in reduced vision out of 181 lenses traced. CONCLUSION: Certain hydrophilic acrylic IOLs like the model in question (SC60B-0UV) show opacification of the IOL, which may impair the vision of pseudophakic patients. However, not all lenses of this variety exhibit this cloudiness. Factors affecting this phenomenon are not yet completely clear but may include changes in the UV absorbant material incorporated in the lens substance itself. We report a series of patients who had received this lens and experienced loss of vision due to opacification of the IOL. In a follow-up ranging from 1 to 4 years postoperatively, a higher incidence of postoperative opacification of this lens emerges, after comparison with existing literature. IOL exchange in such patients is the only option. However, this mode of treatment should not be offered lightly as results may be guarded at best even in the face of a technically satisfactory procedure.Eye (2005) 19, 661–664. doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6701621 Published online 3 September 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response from the author of the article "Calcification of Rayner hydrophilic acrylic intra-ocular lenses after Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty" that appeared in the 2014 issue is presented.

A letter to the editor is presented on calcification of rayner hydrophilic acrylic intra-ocular lenses after endothelial keratoplasty.

A case of oculocerebrocutaneous syndrome is presented, to our knowledge the first to be reported in West Bank and Gaza. The child was of consanguinous parents. The clinical features of orbital cyst, periorbital cutaneous malformations, and cerebral malformations are described, together with a brief review of previous reports. The need for neurological follow-up of these cases is emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The intensity of agricultural production was assessed in 25 landscape test sites across temperate Europe using a standardised farmer questionnaire. The intensity indicators, nitrogen input (to arable crops and to permanent grassland), density of livestock units and number of pesticide applications (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and retardants), were recorded and integrated into an overall intensity index. All three components were needed to appropriately characterise the intensity of agricultural management. Four hypotheses were tested. (i) A low diversity of crops is related to higher intensity. The contrary was observed, namely because diverse crop rotations contained a higher share of crops which are more demanding in terms of nitrogen and of plant protection. (ii) Intensity decreases when there is more permanent grassland. This was confirmed by our study. (iii) Large farms are managed more intensively. There was no relation between farm size and intensity. (iv) Large fields are managed more intensively. There was a tendency towards higher nitrogen input and livestock density in landscapes with larger fields but only a few of the results were statistically significant. The aggregated overall intensity index was of limited usefulness mainly because of limitations in interpretability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction: Parents try to prevent possible negative outcomes associated with gaming by setting rules on their adolescent's gaming behavior (i.e., restrictive mediation). Parents can use either more autonomy-supportive or more controlling styles to communicate those rules. Using a person-centered approach, this study aims to, first, identify profiles of parents' perceived degree of restrictive mediation in gaming and styles of communicating these rules (i.e., autonomy-supportive and controlling); second, to examine how adolescents in different profiles differ in terms of maladaptive gaming outcomes (i.e., problematic gaming, simulated, and online gambling); third, to investigate the moderating role of gaming frequency and adolescents' personality (i.e., behavioral inhibition system [BIS] sensitivity and behavioral activation system [BAS] sensitivity) in the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes., Methods: The study used quantitative, cross-sectional survey data from Belgian adolescents (N = 1651, mean age = 14.00 years, 51.2% boys), collected between November 2021 and February 2022 in schools., Results: Cluster analysis yielded four profiles of perceived restrictive mediation: an exclusively controlling one, an autonomy-supportive one, one where parents used a perceived mix of both communication styles, and one where there was an overall perceived lack of restrictive mediation. Adolescents in the controlling profile displayed the most maladaptive outcomes. Some of the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes were stronger for more frequent gamers and for adolescents scoring higher on both BIS and BAS sensitivity., Conclusion: Associations between the parental profiles and gaming outcomes were theoretically meaningful, yet small in terms of effect size., (© 2023 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

In August 2018, a firefly ( Coleoptera: Lampyridae ) of American origin was observed in several localities in Girona (Catalonia, Spain) and was described as Photinus immigrans by Zaragoza-Caballero and Vinolas, 2018. Here, we show that this species dispersed very quickly throughout northeastern Spain and was, in 2020, observed in the French Pyrenees. The animal's quick progress is documented, and part of its biology is described (dispersion speed, land use, phenology, identification of all life stages). An additional population was localized in Extremadura, and its special status is discussed. We were able to determine its Argentinian-Uruguayan origin and propose, therefore, to consider Photinus immigrans as a synonym of Photinus signaticollis (Blanchard, 1846) (= Photinus immigrans Zaragoza-Caballero and Viñolas, 2018, syn. nov.). Our data clearly show that at least the Catalan and French populations are spreading very quickly and are able to settle permanently if adequate ecosystems are found. The species is highly expansive and may well be invasive; our citizen science platforms are ideally suited to monitor their progress throughout Spain and France. This is important for avoiding future ecological problems with diverse native faunas, such as glow-worms, fireflies and earthworms. If no ways are found to stop the species' progression, the animals will quite probably invade substantial areas of France, Spain and the rest of Europe in the years to come.

Nocturnal light pollution from anthropogenic origin is increasing worldwide and is recognised as a major threat for nocturnal biodiversity. We studied the impact of artificial light on the mate attraction success of female common glow-worms ( Lampyris noctiluca L.) by daily monitoring their glowing status in the field, acting as a proxy for mating status throughout the mating season. We found that females in dark surroundings typically stopped glowing after one night, indicating that they had mated, while females in illuminated areas glowed for significantly more nights, in some cases up to 15 nights. Our study confirms previous findings and hypotheses that females exposed to artificial light suffer from a reduced mate attraction success with a negative impact on populations.

Aims: To develop the Workload Assessment of Nurses on Emergency (WANE) tool and to test its validity and reliability to measure nursing workload in the emergency departments., Background: Ensuring safe nursing staffing in emergency departments is a worldwide concern. There is no valid tool to measure emergency nursing workload in order to determine the needed nurse staffing in the emergency departments., Design: A two-year, cross-sectional, multicenter study., Methods: Workload was operationalised as the time nurses spent with nursing activities, classified into direct and indirect care. A board of experts provided content validity. Construct validity was evaluated by examining the WANE's correlations and group-discriminations patterns within the network of variables known to determine nursing workload. Reliability was assessed by the tool's ability to yield consistent results across repeated measurements. Reporting of this research adheres to STROBE guidelines., Results: Seven emergency departments, including 3,024 patients, were involved in the first year and 18 emergency departments and 7,442 patients in the second year. Direct care time correlated positively and significantly with patient dependency on nursing care, age and length of emergency department stay and discriminated between the categories of dependency on nursing care, age and hospitalisation. Both direct and indirect care time discriminated between the emergency departments according to different patient care profiles and unit characteristics. WANE showed consistent results across measurements., Conclusions: Results support the WANE's reliability and validity to measure emergency nursing workload. This tool could be used to determine, on patient and unit, a baseline nurse staffing and the nursing skill mix in the emergency departments. WANE is also an evidence-based management tool for benchmarking purposes., Relevance to Clinical Practice: The use of an evidence-based workload tool in making staffing decisions in emergency departments is crucial to ensure safe patient care and prevent work overload in nursing staff., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Based on a previously derived population pharmacokinetic model, a novel neonatal amikacin dosing regimen was developed. The aim of the current study was to prospectively evaluate this dosing regimen. First, early (before and after second dose) therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) observations were evaluated for achieving target trough (<3 mg/liter) and peak (>24 mg/liter) levels. Second, all observed TDM concentrations were compared with model-predicted concentrations, whereby the results of a normalized prediction distribution error (NPDE) were considered. Subsequently, Monte Carlo simulations were performed. Finally, remaining causes limiting amikacin predictability (i.e., prescription errors and disease characteristics of outliers) were explored. In 579 neonates (median birth body weight, 2,285 [range, 420 to 4,850] g; postnatal age 2 days [range, 1 to 30 days]; gestational age, 34 weeks [range, 24 to 41 weeks]), 90.5% of the observed early peak levels reached 24 mg/liter, and 60.2% of the trough levels were <3 mg/liter (93.4% ≤5 mg/liter). Observations were accurately predicted by the model without bias, which was confirmed by the NPDE. Monte Carlo simulations showed that peak concentrations of >24 mg/liter were reached at steady state in almost all patients. Trough values of <3 mg/liter at steady state were documented in 78% to 100% and 45% to 96% of simulated cases with and without ibuprofen coadministration, respectively; suboptimal trough levels were found in patients with postnatal age <14 days and current weight of >2,000 g. Prospective evaluation of a model-based neonatal amikacin dosing regimen resulted in optimized peak and trough concentrations in almost all patients. Slightly adapted dosing for patient subgroups with suboptimal trough levels was proposed. This model-based approach improves neonatal dosing individualization., (Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.)

A representative sample (n=1,000) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and older filled out an online questionnaire on their Internet use in general and their use of social networking sites (SNS) in particular. We measured total time spent on the Internet, time spent on SNS, number of SNS profiles, gender, age, schooling level, income, job occupation, and leisure activities, and we integrated several psychological scales such as the Quick Big Five and the Mastery Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression modeling shows that gender and age explain an important part of the compulsive SNS score (5%) as well as psychological scales (20%), but attitude toward school (additional 3%) and income (2.5%) also add to explained variance in predictive models of compulsive SNS use.

We studied the spectral characteristics of the larvae of three sympatric Belgian species of fireflies, Lampyris noctiluca, Phosphaenus hemipterus and Lamprohiza splendidula. An in vivo spectral study was performed to compare bioluminescence spectra. The emission spectrum of a laboratory reared female L. noctiluca was recorded by a different, more exact method. The mean peak wavelength (lambdamax = 546 nm) and shapes of the unimodal emission spectra are visually similar for the larvae of all three species. The emission spectrum of the adult female L. noctiluca peaked in the same range as the larval bioluminescence between 546 and 551 nm. The bandwidth at half-maximum intensity was slightly greater for larval L. noctiluca (77 +/- 4 nm) compared with P. hemipterus (70 +/- 10 nm). The bandwidth of larval L. splendidula (77 +/- 8 nm) was not different compared with the other larvae, whereas the females' bandwidth was somewhat narrower (68 nm). The ecological significance of the color of bioluminescence and conservancy of green emission in larval fireflies and other luminescent beetle larvae is discussed.

We have sampled our clinic population in order to ascertain the proportion with herpetic eye disease of the anterior segment. The age, gender predominance, and incidence of bilateral disease amongst such patients has not changed over the past 20 years. The predominant disease type was stromal keratitis, with significant morbidity and visual handicap. Herpetic eye disease of the anterior segment utilizes only 1% of out-patient clinic resources overall, but 17% of specialist external disease clinic time. There was a statistically significant correlation between total length of follow-up and reduced visual acuity. It would seem that the prevalence of herpetic eye disease of the anterior segment appears to have halved since comparable reports were published. In addition, the prognosis of the disease, in terms of the prevalence of visual impairment, has worsened.

Background: Recurrent corneal erosions can occur as a sequel of trauma, of dystrophies or spontaneously. Therapeutic options include topical lubricating and desiccating agents, therapeutic contact lenses, anterior stromal puncture and, most recently, phototherapeutic keratectomy. At present there are no studies available assessing the value of these different therapeutic options., Methods: Fifteen eyes of 12 patients underwent therapeutic excimer photoablation after failure of other forms of treatment (lubricating agents in all cases, therapeutic contact lenses in 8, anterior stromal puncture in 2). Ablation depth was 5 microns, except in patients with stromal dystrophy or myopia (6 eyes), who had a deeper ablation., Results: After a first photokeratectomy 9 eyes remained asymptomatic (mean follow-up 12.8 months), 2 eyes had persistent symptoms and 4 had recurrent corneal erosions after 1-24 months. The chance of success after one treatment was 60% after 12 months as calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method., Conclusions: The method of photoablation as applied in this study has a similar chance of success to other surgical methods such as anterior surgical stromal puncture. Patients included in this study, however, were highly selected and were refractory to other forms of treatment.

Clinical audit was performed on the accuracy of malaria diagnosis by nursing staff within Harare City Health Department using diagnosis by doctors as the reference standard. This was found to be about 10 pc based on symptoms. The criteria for diagnosis of malaria as in ZEDAP manuals and in-house training were not being utilised. Pyrexia was not present in 40 pc of the patients. Serious illnesses were occasionally dismissed as malaria and not treated appropriately or reviewed. The most common misdiagnosis was of acute respiratory tract infections which also have clear guidelines for diagnosis. More appropriate training methods need to be developed to improve the diagnostic capacity of nursing staff who are frontline providers of primary health care. This study shows the importance of performing an audit for process evaluation, compared to set standards and to be used for improving the quality of services.

Background: Ligneous conjunctivitis is a rare acute or subacute membranous conjunctivitis of unknown etiology for which no generally accepted form of treatment is available., Methods: Between 1972 and 1993, 17 patients with ligneous conjunctivitis were treated with excision biopsy, meticulous hemostasis, and immediate, intensive topical treatment with heparin, steroids, and, in 12 patients, alpha-chymotrypsin until all signs of conjunctival inflammation had subsided., Results: On histologic examination, the lesions consisted of subepithelial deposits of fibrin in all patients. Eight patients had no recurrence (mean follow-up, 33.1 months) and in four patients the conjunctivitis was controlled after one repeat excision and topical treatment (mean follow-up, 40.3 months). One patient had three recurrences before responding to treatment (follow-up, 24 months). In four patients, treatment was unsuccessful, although lesion-free intervals were longer than usually seen in this condition (mean, 7.8 months)., Conclusion: These results suggest that intensive and early use of topical heparin may improve therapy results in ligneous conjunctivitis.

Four hundred and sixteen penetrating keratoplasties performed at St John Ophthalmic Hospital, Jerusalem, between January 1988 and July 1992 were reviewed retrospectively. The leading indications were keratoconus, microbial keratitis, trachomatous corneal scarring and herpes simplex keratitis. After a mean follow-up of 12.4 months (> 1-48 months) 79.8% of the grafts remained clear. The results in terms of graft clarity and visual improvement varied among the different diagnostic groups. No relationship was found between donor age, cadaver time or storage time and graft survival. This series demonstrates the viability of penetrating keratoplasty in this area of low economic development but highlights the need for strict patient selection to ensure optimal use of scarce donor material.

A study of all the schools for the blind in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was undertaken during 1991-2. Two hundred and five children had a complete ophthalmic examination. This represented 94% of all children aged 5-15 years attending schools for the blind. According to WHO categories of visual loss, 63% were blind and 21% had severe visual impairment. The main causes of blindness and severe visual loss were retinal (52%), optic atrophy (12%), glaucoma (9%) and cataract (7%). Common retinal diseases included degenerative myopia, Leber's congenital amaurosis, cone dystrophy and retinitis pigmentosa. Depending on the locality, 44-85% of these children were the product of a consanguineous marriage and a positive family history was present in 57%. The minimum prevalence of childhood blindness was estimated to be 0.32/1000 children. A reduction in the prevalence of blindness requires a reduction in consanguineous marriages, genetic counselling for affected families and public health measures to ensure early referral for management of cataract and glaucoma.