Search

Abstract: Background: Visual cognitive functions of preverbal infants are evaluated by means of a behavioral assessment. Parents or primary caregivers may be appropriate to certify the acquisition of certain abilities. Aims: To develop the PreViAs (Preverbal Visual Assessment) questionnaire to assess visual behavior of infants under 24months of age and to assess the normative outcomes for each item at each age. Study design: The process was divided into three phases: scale development (items and domains generation), pilot testing, and exploratory analysis. Results: The final version of the PreViAs questionnaire consisted of 30 items, each related to one or more of four domains (visual attention, visual communication, visual–motor coordination, and visual processing). For the exploratory analysis, 298 children (159 boys and 139 girls) were recruited. Their ages ranged from 0.1 to 24months (mean, 11.2months). Internal consistency of the questionnaire was high for all domains (Cronbach's α coefficients of 0.85–0.94). Conclusions: The PreViAs questionnaire is a useful scale for assessing visual cognitive abilities of infants under 24months of age. It is easy and feasible to complete by primary caregivers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Tobacco smoking during pregnancy alters neurodevelopment. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides precise measurements of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), which forms part of the central nervous system. Aims: To assess using the OCT how smoking during pregnancy would affect optic nerve development as detected in human offspring. Study design: Visual examination and OCT were performed on a group of children (n=70; 4.15-13.50years of age), classified as being exposed or not to maternal smoking during gestational period. The association between smoking during pregnancy and RNFL thickness was assessed by a linear regression analysis adjusted for possible confounding factors. Results: Although visual outcomes did not differ between groups, a significant decrease in the RNFL thickness was found in the group of infants exposed to smoke (105.3 vs 95.6; p=0.002), even when adjusting for gestational age, birth weight or gender. Conclusions: OCT measurements show that intrautero exposure to tobacco smoke interferes with the development of the optic nerve. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Cryptorchidism is a frequent male sexual disorder in mammals, which affects the histology of the tunica propria, interstitial tissue, blood vessels, seminiferous epithelium and testis functioning. In this paper, proliferation and apoptosis were examined in the seminiferous epithelium of both testes from unaffected boars and from boars suffering unilateral and bilateral cryptorchidism. In germ cells, proliferation was studied using the immunohistochemical PCNA technique, and apoptosis was analysed by in situ TUNEL labelling. An index was obtained for the proliferation and apoptosis observed in seminiferous tubules. In abdominal testes the epithelium contained few spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. In the testes of unaffected boars, numerous spermatogonia proliferated, whereas in cryptorchid testes such proliferation was lower and the proliferation/apoptosis ratio diminished. In the unaffected group, the TUNEL-positive germ cells were spermatogonia and spermatocytes in different phases of meiosis. In abdominal testes, the TUNEL-positive germ cells were spermatogonia alone. The apoptosis index of both abdominal and scrotal testes was similar. In conclusion, spontaneous cryptorchid testes showed a lower rate of spermatogonia proliferation in the seminiferous epithelium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]