PURPOSE\nTo measure macular choroidal thickness in normal eyes at different points using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to evaluate the association of choroidal thickness and age.\n\n\nDESIGN\nRetrospective, observational case series.\n\n\nMETHODS\nEDI OCT images were obtained in patients without significant retinal or choroidal pathologic features. The images were obtained by positioning a spectral-domain OCT device close enough to the eye to acquire an inverted image. Seven sections were obtained within a 5 x 30-degree area centered at the fovea, with 100 scans averaged for each section. The choroid was measured from the outer border of the retinal pigment epithelium to the inner scleral border at 500-microm intervals of a horizontal section from 3 mm temporal to the fovea to 3 mm nasal to the fovea. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate variations of choroidal thickness at each location and to correlate choroidal thickness and patient age.\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe mean age of the 30 patients (54 eyes) was 50.4 years (range, 19 to 85 years), and 14 patients (46.7%) were female. The choroid was thickest underneath the fovea (mean, 287 microm; standard deviation, +/- 76 microm). Choroidal thickness decreased rapidly in the nasal direction and averaged 145 microm (+/- 57 microm) at 3 mm nasal to the fovea. Increasing age was correlated significantly with decreasing choroidal thickness at all points measured. Regression analysis suggested that the subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased by 15.6 microm for each decade of life.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nChoroidal thickness seems to vary topographically within the posterior pole. The thickness of the choroid showed a negative correlation with age. The decrease in the thickness of the choroid may play a role in the pathophysiologic features of various age-related ocular conditions.

Enhanced Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography of the Choroid in Normal Eyes

Alzheimer's disease causes a progressive dementia that currently affects over 35 million individuals worldwide and is expected to affect 115 million by 2050 (ref. 1). There are no cures or disease-modifying therapies, and this may be due to our inability to detect the disease before it has progressed to produce evident memory loss and functional decline. Biomarkers of preclinical disease will be critical to the development of disease-modifying or even preventative therapies. Unfortunately, current biomarkers for early disease, including cerebrospinal fluid tau and amyloid-β levels, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging and the recent use of brain amyloid imaging or inflammaging, are limited because they are either invasive, time-consuming or expensive. Blood-based biomarkers may be a more attractive option, but none can currently detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease with the required sensitivity and specificity. Herein, we describe our lipidomic approach to detecting preclinical Alzheimer's disease in a group of cognitively normal older adults. We discovered and validated a set of ten lipids from peripheral blood that predicted phenoconversion to either amnestic mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease within a 2-3 year timeframe with over 90% accuracy. This biomarker panel, reflecting cell membrane integrity, may be sensitive to early neurodegeneration of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

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Plasma phospholipids identify antecedent memory impairment in older adults

Recommendations on Screening for Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Retinopathy (2016 Revision).

The progress in understanding and treatment of diabetic retinopathy

Cellular interactions with extracellular matrix play essential roles in tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase identified as a key mediator of signaling by integrins, a major family of cell surface receptors for extracellular matrix, as well as other receptors in both normal and cancer cells. FAK is activated by integrins through disruption of an auto-inhibitory intra-molecular interaction between its kinase domain and the amino terminal FERM domain. The activated FAK forms a binary complex with Src family kinases which can phosphorylate other substrates and trigger multiple intracellular signaling pathways to regulate various cellular functions. Subcellular localization of FAK in focal adhesions is essential for FAK signaling, which is another distinguishing feature of the kinase. Integrin-FAK signaling has been shown to activate a number of signaling pathways through phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions to promote tumorigenesis. FAK also plays a prominent role in tumor progression and metastasis through its regulation of both cancer cells and their microenvironments including cancer cell migration, invasion, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and angiogenesis. More recently, a role for FAK in tumor initiation and progression has been demonstrated directly using xenograft as well as conditional knockout mouse models. In agreement with these experimental data, overexpression and activation of FAK have been found in a variety of human cancers. A number of small molecule inhibitors for FAK have been developed and in various phases of testing for cancer treatments. Overall, the intensive research on FAK signaling in cancer have yielded a wealth of information on this pivotal kinase and these and future studies are leading to potentially novel therapies for cancer.

Signal transduction by focal adhesion kinase in cancer

Rhabdomyolysis is the consequence of extensive muscle injury with the release of muscle cell constituents into plasma. It can arise from trauma and also from a variety of nontraumatic causes. Trauma, drugs, toxins and infection are the major causes of rhabdomyolysis, but it is rarely associated with metabolic disorders such as severe electrolyte disturbance, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar nonketotic coma, hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis. There have been several reported cases of metabolic rhabdomyolysis, but panhypopituitarism as a cause has never been identified. We experienced a case of acute rhabdomyolysis associated with panhypopituitarism. Thus, So we report this case with the review of related literature. Metabolic disorder is a rare cause of rhabdomyolysis, but it should always be considered in a patient having and unexplained increased of the creatine kinase concentration (J Kor Soc Endocrinol 20:174～178, 2005).

A Case of Panhypopituitarism with Rhabdomyolysis.

Perry syndrome is a rare, adult-onset, autosomal dominant, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by parkinsonism, weight loss, psychiatric symptoms, and central hypoventilation. We report the case of a 51-year-old man, whose condition was genetically identified as Perry syndrome. Here we focus the polysomnographic (PSG) findings and discuss the correlations between PSG and neuropathological findings. Sleep Med Res 2018;9(2):115-117

http://www.sleepmedres.org/upload/pdf/smr-2018-00213.pdf

sleep and Respiration of perry syndrome: polysomnographic and pathological Correlations

Head banging is one subtype of sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder, characterized by stereotyped, repetitive rhythmic movements, such as lifting the head or entire upper body, banging the frontal area hard on the pillow, or slamming the occiput against a headboard. An atypical form of head banging with punching or slapping the head with a hand is extremely rare, with only four such cases reported so far. Herein, we present a young adult male who, since his early teens, has had atypical head banging, also called head-slapping, and discuss the neuropsychological and polysomnographic findings, and review the literature.

Atypical head banging developed in teens persisting into adulthood as sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder.

Copyright c 2015, the Korean Thyroid Association. All rights reserved. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The High Proportion of Painless Thyroiditis as a Cause of Thyrotoxicosis in Korea

/pdf/the-high-proportion-of-painless-thyroiditis-as-a-cause-of-5eguyei92v.pdf

The High Proportion of Painless Thyroiditis as a Cause of Thyrotoxicosis in Korea

Abstract Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have a special ability to remember their initial shape and return from operating temperature. For this special ability, there are many studies in the field of smart wearables to replace rigid, heavy, and large electric actuators with SMAs that can be a fabrication. The usual operating method of the SMA is heating the SMA by direct Joule heating with electricity. Although direct Joule heating is fast and easy, there is overshooting, unstable, and high-power consumption. For these issues to use the SMA as textile actuators, this research suggested a heating method with silver paste required lower power consumption and coating the basic fabric with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to support heating stability and heat uniformity. The heating method evaluated the efficiency of heat by comparing direct heating and silver layer heating and the uniformity of heat with the infrared images of whether CNTs coated or not. In this research, we reached higher temperatures with lower power than direct Joule heating using wearable heaters manufactured using silver paste. In addition, we confirmed that coating the basic fabric with carbon nanotubes reduce the temperature imbalance, and improved the heating stability. This research is expected that SMA will be used as a wearable actuator to help develop wearable devices that can move. 

https://fashionandtextiles.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s40691-023-00331-1

Sang Jin Kim

Papers

A Case of Panhypopituitarism with Rhabdomyolysis.

sleep and Respiration of perry syndrome: polysomnographic and pathological Correlations

Atypical head banging developed in teens persisting into adulthood as sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder.

The High Proportion of Painless Thyroiditis as a Cause of Thyrotoxicosis in Korea

Improved heating method for shape-memory alloy using carbon nanotube and silver paste