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Reorientation enables navigators to regain their bearings after becoming lost. Disoriented individuals primarily reorient themselves using the geometry of a layout, even when other informative cues, such as landmarks, are present. Yet the specific strategies that animals use to determine geometry are unclear. Moreover, because vision allows subjects to rapidly form precise representations of objects and background, it is unknown whether it has a deterministic role in the use of geometry. In this study, we tested sighted and congenitally blind mice ( Ns = 8–11) in various settings in which global shape parameters were manipulated. Results indicated that the navigational affordances of the context—the traversable space—promote sampling of boundaries, which determines the effective use of geometric strategies in both sighted and blind mice. However, blind animals can also effectively reorient themselves using 3D edges by extensively patrolling the borders, even when the traversable space is not limited by these boundaries.

Resisting immediate temptations in favor of larger later rewards predicts academic success, socioemotional competence, and health. These links with delaying gratification appear from early childhood and have been explained by cognitive and social factors that help override tendencies toward immediate gratification. However, some tendencies may actually promote delaying gratification. We assessed children’s delaying gratification for different rewards across two cultures that differ in customs around waiting. Consistent with our preregistered prediction, results showed that children in Japan ( n = 80) delayed gratification longer for food than for gifts, whereas children in the United States ( n = 58) delayed longer for gifts than for food. This interaction may reflect cultural differences: Waiting to eat is emphasized more in Japan than in the United States, whereas waiting to open gifts is emphasized more in the United States than in Japan. These findings suggest that culturally specific habits support delaying gratification, providing a new way to understand why individuals delay gratification and why this behavior predicts life success.

Episodic memory involves remembering not only what happened but also where and when the event happened. This multicomponent nature introduces different sources of interference that stem from previous experience. However, it is unclear how the contributions of these sources change across development and what might cause the changes. To address these questions, we tested 4- to 5-year-olds ( n = 103), 7- to 8-year-olds ( n = 82), and adults ( n = 70) using item- and source-recognition memory tasks with various manipulations (i.e., list length, list strength, word frequency), and we decomposed sources of interference using a computational model. We found that interference stemming from other items on the study list rapidly decreased with development, whereas interference from preexperimental contexts gradually decreased but remained the major source of interference. The model further quantified these changes, indicating that the ability to discriminate items undergoes rapid development, whereas the ability to discriminate contexts undergoes protracted development. These results elucidate fundamental aspects of memory development.

Mind wandering is a state in which our mental focus shifts toward task-unrelated thoughts. Although it is known that mind wandering has a detrimental effect on concurrent task performance (e.g., decreased accuracy), its effect on executive functions is poorly studied. Yet the latter question is relevant to many real-world situations, such as rapid stopping during driving. Here, we studied how mind wandering would affect the requirement to subsequently stop an incipient motor response. In healthy adults, we tested whether mind wandering affected stopping and, if so, which component of stopping was affected: the triggering of the inhibitory brake or the implementation of the brake following triggering. We observed that during mind wandering, stopping latency increased, as did the percentage of trials with failed triggering. Indeed, 67% of the variance of the increase in stopping latency was explained by increased trigger failures. Thus, mind wandering primarily affects stopping by affecting the triggering of the brake.

Negative affect is a fundamental dimension of human emotion. When extreme, it contributes to a variety of adverse outcomes—from physical and mental illness to divorce and premature death. Mechanistic work in animals and neuroimaging research in humans and monkeys has begun to reveal the broad contours of the neural circuits governing negative affect, but the relevance of these discoveries to everyday distress remains incompletely understood. Here we used a combination of approaches— including neuroimaging assays of threat anticipation and emotional face perception and >10,000 momentary assessments of emotional experience—to demonstrate that individuals showing greater activation in a cingulo-opercular circuit during an anxiety-eliciting laboratory paradigm experience lower levels of stressor-dependent distress in their daily lives (n=202-208). Extended amygdala activation was not significantly related to momentary negative affect. These observations provide a framework for understanding the neurobiology of negative affect in the laboratory and in the real world.STATEMENT OF RELEVANCEAnxiety, sadness, and other negative emotions are hallmarks of the human condition. When extreme, they contribute to a variety of adverse outcomes—from physical and mental illness to divorce and premature death—pointing to the need to develop a better understanding of the underlying brain circuitry. Recent work has begun to reveal the neural systems governing negative affect, but the relevance of these tantalizing laboratory discoveries to the real world has remained unclear. Here we used a combination of brain imaging and smartphone-based survey techniques to show that individuals marked by greater activation in a cingulo-opercular circuit during an anxiety-promoting laboratory paradigm tend to experience diminished distress in response to everyday stressors. These observations provide new insights into the brain systems most relevant to moment-by-moment fluctuations in negative mood, underscoring the importance of more recently evolved cortical association areas.

Our knowledge of the world is populated with categories such as dogs, cups, and chairs. Such categories shape how we perceive, remember, and reason about their members. Much of our exposure to the entities we come to categorize occurs incidentally as we experience and interact with them in our everyday lives, with limited access to explicit teaching. This research investigated whether incidental exposure contributes to building category knowledge by rendering people “ready to learn”—allowing them to rapidly capitalize on brief access to explicit teaching. Across five experiments ( N = 438 adults), we found that incidental exposure did produce a ready-to-learn effect, even when learners showed no evidence of robust category learning during exposure. Importantly, this readiness to learn occurred only when categories possessed a rich structure in which many features were correlated within categories. These findings offer a window into how our everyday experiences may contribute to building category knowledge.

Memory-guided predictions can improve event comprehension by guiding attention and the eyes to the location where an actor is about to perform an action. But when events change, viewers may experience predictive-looking errors and need to update their memories. In two experiments ( Ns = 38 and 98), we examined the consequences of mnemonic predictive-looking errors for comprehending and remembering event changes. University students watched movies of everyday activities with actions that were repeated exactly and actions that were repeated with changed features—for example, an actor reached for a paper towel on one occasion and a dish towel on the next. Memory guidance led to predictive-looking errors that were associated with better memory for subsequently changed event features. These results indicate that retrieving recent event features can guide predictions during unfolding events and that error signals derived from mismatches between mnemonic predictions and actual events contribute to new learning.

As children age, they can learn increasingly complex features of environmental structure—a key prerequisite for adaptive decision-making. Yet when we tested children ( N = 304, 4–13 years old) in the Children’s Gambling Task, an age-appropriate variant of the Iowa Gambling Task, we found that age was negatively associated with performance. However, this paradoxical effect of age was found only in children who exhibited a maladaptive deplete-replenish bias, a tendency to shift choices after positive outcomes and repeat choices after negative outcomes. We found that this bias results from sensitivity to incidental nonrandom structure in the canonical, deterministic forms of these tasks—and that it would actually lead to optimal outcomes if the tasks were not deterministic. Our results illustrate that changes in decision-making across early childhood reflect, in part, increasing sensitivity to environmental structure.

Previous findings suggest that mentally representing exact numbers larger than four depends on a verbal count routine (e.g., “one, two, three . . .”). However, these findings are controversial because they rely on comparisons across radically different languages and cultures. We tested the role of language in number concepts within a single population—the Tsimane’ of Bolivia—in which knowledge of number words varies across individual adults. We used a novel data-analysis model to quantify the point at which participants ( N = 30) switched from exact to approximate number representations during a simple numerical matching task. The results show that these behavioral switch points were bounded by participants’ verbal count ranges; their representations of exact cardinalities were limited to the number words they knew. Beyond that range, they resorted to numerical approximation. These results resolve competing accounts of previous findings and provide unambiguous evidence that large exact number concepts are enabled by language.

Action selection appears to rely on conjunctive representations that nonlinearly integrate task-relevant features. Here, we tested a corollary of this hypothesis: that such representations are also intricately involved during attempts to stop an action—a key aspect of action regulation. We tracked both conjunctive representations and those of constituent rule, stimulus, or response features through trial-by-trial representational similarity analysis of the electroencephalogram signal in a combined rule-selection and stop-signal paradigm. Across two experiments with student participants ( N = 57), we found (a) that the strength of decoded conjunctive representations prior to the stop signal uniquely predicted trial-by-trial stopping success (Experiment 1) and (b) that these representations were selectively suppressed following the onset of the stop signal (Experiments 1 and 2). We conclude that conjunctive representations are key to successful action execution and therefore need to be suppressed when an intended action is no longer appropriate.

When searching for a target object (e.g., a friend at a party), we engage in a continuous “look- identify” cycle in which we use known features (e.g., hair color) to guide attention and eye gaze towards potential targets and then to decide if it is indeed the target. Theories of attention refer to the information about the target in memory as the “target” or “attentional” template and typically characterize it as a single, fixed, source of information. However, this notion is challenged by a recent debate over how the target template is adjusted in response to linearly separable distractors (e.g., all distractors are “yellower” than an orange target). While there is agreement that the target representation is shifted away from distractors, some have argued that the shift is “relational” (Becker, 2010) while others have argued it is “optimal” (Navalpakkam & Itti, 2007; Yu & Geng, 2019). Here, we propose a novel resolution to this debate based on evidence that the initial guidance of attention uses a coarse code based on “relational” information, but subsequent decisions use an “optimal” representation that maximizes target-to-distractor distinctiveness. We suggest that template information differs in precision when guiding sensory selection and when making identity decisions during visual search (Wolfe, 2020a, 2020b).

Purpose: To describe the feasibility of a new one-step approach to aspirate the aqueous and apply melphalan in a single-go without repeated entries into the anterior chamber. Methods: This retrospective non-comparative study was conducted at a referral center and included 12 patients. The one-step approach is described in a step-wise manner. No complications were observed among the patients. Results: One single injection of intracameral melphalan proved to be a successful treatment in nine cases. Two patients required a second injection, which was administered two weeks after the first one following the same technique. Conclusions: This proved to be a reasonable technique for the smooth application of melphalan in the anterior chamber studded with retinoblastoma seeds. Our outcomes revealed that it is an effective, quick, and cost-effective technique. Longer-term data collection is underway, though initial findings are encouraging.

Psychological theories of identity concealment locate the ultimate source of concealment decisions within the social environment, yet most studies have not explicitly assessed stigmatizing environments beyond the immediate situation. We advanced the identity-concealment literature by objectively measuring structural forms of stigma related to sexual orientation (e.g., social policies) at proximal and distal geographic levels. We linked these measures to a new, population-based data set of 502 gay and bisexual men (residing in 44 states and Washington, DC; 269 counties; and 354 cities) who completed survey items about stigma, including identity-concealment motivation. Among gay men, the association between structural stigma and concealment motivation was (a) observed across three levels (city, county, and state), (b) conditional on one’s exposure at another geographic level (participants reported the least motivations to conceal their identity if they resided in both cities and states that were lowest in structural stigma), and (c) mediated by subjective perceptions of greater structural stigma.

Adolescence is associated with heightened social influence, especially from peers. This can lead to detrimental decision-making in domains such as risky behavior but may also raise opportunities for prosocial behavior. We used an incentivized charitable-donations task to investigate how people revise decisions after learning about the donations of others and how this is affected by age ( N = 220; age range = 11–35 years). Our results showed that the probability of social influence decreased with age within this age range. In addition, whereas previous research has suggested that adults are more likely to conform to the behavior of selfish others than to the behavior of prosocial others, here we observed no evidence of such an asymmetry in midadolescents. We discuss possible interpretations of these findings in relation to the social context of the task, the perceived value of money, and social decision-making across development.

Our memories can differ in quality from one event to the next, and emotion is one important explanatory factor. Still, the manner in which emotion impacts episodic memory is complex: Whereas emotion enhances some aspects of episodic memory—particularly central aspects—it dampens memory for peripheral/contextual information. Extending previous work, we examined the effects of emotion on one often overlooked aspect of memory, namely, temporal context. We tested whether emotion would impair memory for when an event occurred. Participants ( N = 116 adults) watched videos wherein negative and neutral images were inserted. Consistent with prior work, results showed that emotion enhanced and impaired memory, respectively, for “what” and “which.” Unexpectedly, emotion was associated with enhanced accuracy for “when”: We found that participants estimated that neutral images occurred relatively later, but there was no such bias for negative images. By examining multiple features of episodic memory, we provide a holistic characterization of the myriad effects of emotion.

There is considerable debate about whether bilingual children have an advantage in executive functioning relative to monolingual children. In the current meta-analysis, we addressed this debate by comprehensively reviewing the available evidence. We synthesized data from published studies and unpublished data sets, which equated to 1,194 effect sizes from 10,937 bilingual and 12,477 monolingual participants between the ages of 3 and 17 years. Bilingual language status had a small overall effect on children’s executive functioning ( g = .08, 95% confidence interval = [.01, .14]). However, the effect of language status on children’s executive functioning was indistinguishable from zero ( g = −.04) after we adjusted for publication bias. Further, no significant effects were apparent within the executive-attention domain, in which the effects of language status have been hypothesized to be most pronounced ( g = .06, 95% confidence interval = [−.02, .14]). Taken together, available evidence suggests that the bilingual advantage in children’s executive functioning is small, variable, and potentially not attributable to the effect of language status.

Previous research indicates that writing practice may be more beneficial than nonmotor practice for letter learning. Here, we report a training study comparing typing, visual, and writing learning conditions in adults ( N = 42). We investigated the behavioral consequences of learning modality on literacy learning and evaluated the nature of the learned letter representations. Specifically, the study addressed three questions. First, are the benefits of handwriting practice due to motor learning per se or to other incidental factors? Second, do the benefits generalize to untrained tasks? And third, does handwriting practice lead to learning and strengthening only of motor representations or of other types of representations as well? Our results clearly show that handwriting compared with nonmotor practice produces faster learning and greater generalization to untrained tasks than previously reported. Furthermore, only handwriting practice leads to learning of both motor and amodal symbolic letter representations.

A reduction in the corneal endothelial cells multitude after anterior pole intervention is well established in numerous researches, but there are few articles that follow the impact of vitreoretinal interventions on the cornea, especially when endotamponade agents are used. The assessment of the endothelial corneal cells is needed since it facilitates the personal evaluation of the functional endothelial stock. Specular microscopy investigation offers a scale of the functional strength of the endothelium of cornea, which is vital before all intraocular interventions. Endotamponade agents are very suitable and important tools in the surgical treatment of retinal detachment, but their use must be differentiated depending on the uniqueness of each patient. This research shows corneal endothelial damages caused by intraocular tamponade agents of different types in the case of pars plana vitrectomy for cases of multitude retinal detachments. The purpose of the research was to determine the changes that appear in the endothelium of the cornea and to deal with the results when different tamponade agents are used in the surgical cure for retinal detachment. Specular endothelial corneal microscopy records were achieved and the modifications of the following parameters revealed corneal implication: mean endothelial cell densities, average cell area, coefficient of variation, hexagonality and corneal center thickness. On the first day and at three months postoperatively, a statistically significant reduction was observed for the CV, MCD, and HEX parameters (p 0.001), but no statistically significant difference of the two endotamponade agents (for MCD, p=0.15; for CV, p=0.63; for HEX, p=0.93) was noticed. AVG parameter had a statistically significant decrease (p 0.001) and there was also a statistically significant difference of the two endotamponade agents (p=0.03), patients with gas tamponade presenting a superior result. On the first day and at three months postoperatively, the corneal center thickness presented a statistically significant increase (p 0.001) and there was a statistically significant difference between the two endotamponade agents (p=0.03), patients with gas endotamponade presenting a superior result. In conclusion, using the intraocular tamponade agents helps reestablish the functional-anatomical recovery of the retina after surgery, but their special indication must be well-established for each case of retinal detachment.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pterygium excision on intraocular lens (IOL) power and refraction. Methods: The present study was carried out on patients with combined cataract and pterygium excision (combined group) and pterygium surgery first and cataract surgery after one month (sequential group). Parameters such as mean keratometry (K) values, axial length, IOL power, and corneal astigmatism were compared pre and postoperatively in the combined and sequential groups. Results: 70 eyes of 70 patients were included in the present study. The mean age of the participants in the combined group was 70.46±10.12, whereas that in the sequential group was 68.68±11.22 (p=0.243). The mean horizontal length of the pterygium in the combined group was 2.64±0.17 mm and 2.57±0.17 mm in the sequential group. The mean postoperative K values (p=0.03) and IOL power (p=0.04) in the combined group were significantly higher than the preoperative values. The estimated postoperative refractive error in the combined group was -0.50±1.00 D and 0.25±0.5 D in the sequential group (p=0.04). On the other hand, the postoperative refraction in the sequential group was predictable. Corneal visibility was diminished on the nasal side in almost all the patients in the combined group as compared to the sequential group. Conclusion: The postoperative refraction errors were positively correlated with the length of pterygium in the combined group. The unpredictability of these errors recommends sequential surgery in cases with concurrent pterygium and cataract.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of a selective, partial, pedicle conjunctival flap in the treatment of deep corneal ulcers with or without perforation, resistant to medical treatment. Method: This interventional self-controlled retrospective study included 31 eyes of 31 patients with deep corneal ulcers who underwent conjunctival flap surgery in a tertiary eye care unit between 2017 and 2019. Of these, 9 eyes exhibited corneal perforation. The follow-up period was 12 months. The primary outcome measures were restoring ocular surface integrity and secondary outcome measures were improvement in visual acuity and postoperative complications encountered. Results: Out of the total of 31 patients, 17 patients (55%) were males and 14 patients (45%) were females. The mean age was 56.03 ± 15.46 years. The mean disease duration was 64.10 ± 35.01 days, the mean diameter of the ulcer was 3.61 ± 1.02 mm and the mean depth of the ulcer was 70.65 ± 20.28% of the thickness of the cornea. The etiology was extensive and the corneal ulcers were categorized as infectious (12), noninfectious (16), and unknown (3). An anatomic cure was obtained in 29 (94%) of 31 eyes. Conjunctival flap surgery was unsuccessful in 2 eyes that required evisceration. The postoperative visual acuity (BCVA) improved in 13 (42%) of the 31 eyes, decreased in 9 eyes (29%) and remained unchanged in 9 eyes (29%). The most frequent complications after conjunctival flap surgery were pseudopterygium, cataract and corneal opacity and less frequent complications were glaucoma, astigmatism, flap retraction, corneal perforation and endophthalmitis. Conclusions: Conjunctival flap surgery can successfully treat refractory deep corneal ulcers. It can restore ocular surface integrity and provide metabolic and mechanical support for corneal healing. Also, it can avoid emergency penetrating keratoplasty or create appropriate conditions for a future optic keratoplasty.

Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/100000185, Funder: Winton Centre for Risk & Evidence Communication, Funder: David & Claudia Harding Foundation, As part of the Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (SCORE) program, the present study consisted of a two-stage replication test of a central finding by Pennycook et al. (2020), namely that asking people to think about the accuracy of a single headline improves "truth discernment" of intentions to share news headlines about COVID-19. The first stage of the replication test (n = 701) was unsuccessful (p = .67). After collecting a second round of data (additional n = 882, pooled N = 1,583), we found a small but significant interaction between treatment condition and truth discernment (uncorrected p = .017; treatment: d = 0.14, control: d = 0.10). As in the target study, perceived headline accuracy correlated with treatment impact, so that treatment-group participants were less willing to share headlines that were perceived as less accurate. We discuss potential explanations for these findings and an unreported change in the hypothesis (but not the analysis plan) from the preregistration in the original study.

Two-year-olds typically extend labels of novel objects by the objects’ shape ( shape bias), whereas adults do so by the objects’ function. Is this because shape is conceptually easier to comprehend than function? To test whether the conceptual complexity of function prevents infants from developing a function bias, we trained twelve 17-month-olds (function-training group) to focus on objects’ functions when labeling the objects over a period of 7 weeks. Our training was similar to previously used methods in which 17-month-olds were successfully taught to focus on the shape of objects, resulting in a precocious shape bias. We exposed another 12 infants (control group) to the same objects over 7 weeks but without labeling the items or demonstrating their functions. Only the infants in the function-training group developed a function bias. Thus, the conceptual complexity of function was not a barrier for developing a function bias, which suggests that the shape bias emerges naturally because shape is perceptually more accessible than function.

Dyadic interactions are associated with the exchange of personality-related messages, which can be congruent or incongruent with one’s self-view. In the current preregistered study ( N = 52), we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) toward real social evaluations in order to uncover the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of congruent and incongruent evaluative feedback. Participants interacted first, and then during an electroencephalogram (EEG) session, they received evaluations from their interaction partner that were either congruent or incongruent with their own ratings. Findings show potentiated processing of self-related incongruent negative evaluations at early time points (N1) followed by increased processing of both incongruent negative and positive evaluations at midlatency time windows (early posterior negativity) and a prioritized processing of self-related incongruent positive evaluations at late time points (feedback-related P3, late positive potential). These findings reveal that, after real social interactions, evaluative feedback about oneself that violates one’s self-view modulates all processing stages with an early negativity and a late positivity bias.

Research has shown that hedonic-contrast effects are a ubiquitous and important phenomenon. In eight studies ( N = 4,999) and four supplemental studies ( N = 1,809), we found that hedonic-contrast effects were stronger for negative outcomes than for positive outcomes. This asymmetric-contrast effect held for both anticipated and experienced affect. The effect makes risks that include gains and losses more attractive in the presence of high reference points because contrast diminishes the hedonic impact of losses more than gains. We demonstrated that the effect occurs because people are generally more attentive to reference points when evaluating negative outcomes, so drawing attention to reference points eliminates the asymmetric-contrast effect.

Social pain is a common experience that has potent implications for health. However, individuals differ in their sensitivity to social pain. Recent evidence suggests that sensitivity to social pain varies according to a biological factor that modulates sensitivity to physical pain: resting (tonic) blood pressure. The current studies extended this evidence by testing whether blood pressure relates to sensitivity to imagined (Study 1: N = 762, 51% female adults) and acute (Study 2, preregistered: N = 204, 57% female adults) experiences of social pain and whether associations extend to general emotional responding (Studies 1–3; Study 3: N = 162, 59% female adults). In line with prior evidence, results showed that higher resting blood pressure was associated with lower sensitivity to social pain. Moreover, associations regarding blood pressure and sensitivity to social pain did not appear to be explained by individual differences in general emotional responding. Findings appear to be compatible with the interpretation that social and physical pain share similar cardiovascular correlates and may be modulated by convergent interoceptive pathways.

We tested whether similarity between events triggers adaptive biases in how those events are remembered. We generated pairs of competing objects that were identical except in color and varied the degree of color similarity for the competing objects. Subjects ( N = 123 across four experiments) repeatedly studied and were tested on associations between each of these objects and corresponding faces. As expected, high color similarity between competing objects created memory interference for object–face associations. Strikingly, high color similarity also resulted in a systematic bias in how the objects themselves were remembered: Competing objects with highly similar colors were remembered as being further apart (in color space) than they actually were. This repulsion of color memories increased with learning and served a clear adaptive purpose: Greater repulsion was associated with lower associative-memory interference. These findings reveal that similarity between events triggers adaptive-memory distortions that minimize interference.

Accumulating evidence suggests that distinct aspects of successful navigation—path integration, spatial-knowledge acquisition, and navigation strategies—change with advanced age. Yet few studies have established whether navigation deficits emerge early in the aging process (prior to age 65) or whether early age-related deficits vary by sex. Here, we probed healthy young adults (ages 18–28) and midlife adults (ages 43–61) on three essential aspects of navigation. We found, first, that path-integration ability shows negligible effects of sex or age. Second, robust sex differences in spatial-knowledge acquisition are observed not only in young adulthood but also, although with diminished effect, at midlife. Third, by midlife, men and women show decreased ability to acquire spatial knowledge and increased reliance on taking habitual paths. Together, our findings indicate that age-related changes in navigation ability and strategy are evident as early as midlife and that path-integration ability is spared, to some extent, in the transition from youth to middle age.

Objective: To compare visual outcomes and complications between manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) and phacoemulsification. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in the tertiary care center. A total of 1281 cases underwent manual small incision cataract surgery and phacoemulsification from January 2014 to December 2016. The postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) along with the rates of complications were compared between both groups. Results: Five hundred and twenty-one patients (40.67%) and 760 patients (59.33%) were subjected by staff members and residents, respectively. Altogether, 689 cases (53.79%) were subjected to MSICS technique and 592 cases (46.21%) to phacoemulsification. The MSICS group had significantly harder cataract (cataract grading ≥ 4+ :31.64% vs. 7.77%; p

Aim: The purpose of this experimental study was to evaluate the existence of adrenergic receptors in ketamine-induced corneal blood vessels in rat pups. Methods: The study of corneal neovascularization motricity was performed on 45-day-old Wistar rats in which, starting from the 15th day of life, corneal blood vessels were obtained by injecting intraperitoneal ketamine at a dose of 150 mg/ kg body weight, a total of 5 successive doses. The examination of the neovascularization was done with the help of a Nikon stereomicroscope connected to a video camera and a computer, the total magnification being 400X. The reactivity of the new corneal blood vessels to the administration in conjunctival instillations of a 1.5 mmol/L adrenaline solution was tested. The parameters followed were represented by variations in the caliber of corneal blood vessels. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel. Results: Administration of distilled water did not produce statistically significant changes in corneal blood vessels, while adrenaline produced a statistically significant constriction of vascular diameter (p=0.01 at T9, p=0.004 at T10, p=0.019 at time T11 of examinations). Conclusions: The results showed that adrenaline produces vasoconstriction in the new corneal blood vessels, which allows us to assume that they contain α-adrenergic receptors. However, we cannot say that corneal pathological vessels do not contain β2-type adrenergic receptors, because the effect of adrenaline may be an algebraic sum between vasoconstriction produced by stimulating α-adrenergic receptors and vasodilation produced by stimulating β2-adrenergic receptors, but in which the vasodilating effect may be masked by the vasoconstrictor effect given by a higher density of α-adrenergic receptors. Abbreviations: A= adrenaline, DNM = non-measurable diameter, NA= noradrenaline, Std.Er.= Standard error.

Purpose: To evaluate how capsular tension rings (CTR) affect refractive outcomes following cataract extraction by phacoemulsification complicated by zonular instability. Study design: Retrospective. Methods: In a retrospective case-control study, the 29 eyes of 29 patients with CTRs were compared with the 29 eyes of patients without zonular instability following routine phacoemulsification, with mean arithmetic refractive prediction error (ArRPE) and mean absolute refractive prediction error (AbRPE) as primary outcome measures. Results: A comparison of eyes with and without CTRs according to the SRK/ T formula revealed no statistically significant difference in ArRPE (0.52 vs. 0.45 D, p = 0.570) or AbRPE (0.52 vs. 0.55 D, p = 0.799). Postoperative hypermetropic shift occurred in most cases in both groups, although the mean difference between eyes with CTR (22/ 29) and without CTR (25/ 29) was not statistically significant (p = 0.315). Conclusion: Implanting CTRs did not consistently affect refractive outcomes versus routine phacoemulsification. Results suggest that intraocular lens power can be calculated as usual when CTRs are used. Abbreviations: CTR = capsular tension ring, ArRPE = arithmetic refractive prediction errors, AbRPE = absolute refractive prediction errors, IOL = intraocular lens, WTW = white-to-white, ACD = anterior chamber depths, AL = axial lengths, RPE = refractive prediction error.

Ferrigno et al. (2021) claim to provide evidence that monkeys can reason through the disjunctive syllogism (given A or B, not A, therefore B) and conclude that monkeys therefore understand logical “or” relations. Yet their data fail to provide evidence that the baboons they tested understood the exclusive “or” relations in the experimental task. For two mutually exclusive possibilities—A or B—the monkeys appeared to infer that B was true when A was shown to be false, but they failed to infer that B was false when A was shown to be true. In our own research, we recently found an identical response pattern in 2.5- to 4-year-old children, whereas 5-year-olds demonstrated that they could make both inferences. The monkeys’ and younger children’s responses are instead consistent with an incorrect understanding of A and B as having an inclusive “or” relation. Only the older children provided compelling evidence of representing the exclusive “or” relation between A and B.

Do people allocate more or fewer attentional resources when preparing for negative emotional visual stimuli to appear? In three experiments (total N = 150), participants performed a change-detection task while expecting a neutral, threatening, disgusting, or joyful stimulus or no stimulus to appear at a fixed moment. Responses to an infrequent dot probe were faster when participants were expecting a distracting stimulus. Importantly, although only negative stimuli impaired change-detection performance, there was no difference between the preparation effect for threatening and neutral stimuli (Experiment 1) or disgusting and joyful stimuli (Experiment 3). The preparation effects were also unaffected by the participant’s anxiety level. Experiment 2 confirmed that the threatening images affected performance when the dot probe appeared after the image. These results suggest that the visual system increases alertness in response to any upcoming stimulus and further imply that the effects of emotional stimuli largely occur after, but not before, the stimuli appear.

Purpose: To investigate the implantation of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a glaucoma drainage device. Methods: This study has been done in two steps. First, the constructed implants have been used in 4 rabbits and the histopathologic response was evaluated. In the second step, the implants were used in the 6 eyes of 6 patients with end-stage glaucoma with uncontrolled IOP and poor visual acuity. The tube was made of two-layer of PTFE membrane measuring 8 * 6 mm with a thickness of 1.8 mm and a silicone tube. The rabbits and the human eyes underwent surgical implantation of the tube in the anterior chamber. The histopathologic evaluation was done using H&E staining. Visual acuity, intraocular pressure and the number of glaucoma medications were assessed before and after the surgery. Results: In the histopathologic evaluation, subconjunctival polarizing fibers of a synthetic mesh infiltrated by fibrovascular septa was seen. A granulomatous inflammatory reaction composed of histiocytes, lymphocytes, and multinucleated giant cells were seen around and between the synthetic bundles. The average age of patients was 63 ± 5.5 years. The mean IOP reached from 36.6 ± 5.7 mmHg at baseline to 16.2 ± 8.9 mmHg at the final follow-up. Patients were followed for an average of 6.6 ± 4.5 months. One patient found hypotony refractory to medical and surgical treatment, which led to implant removal. One patient had uncontrolled IOP and finally led to phthisis bulbi following slow CPC. The remaining four eyes did well during the follow-up. Conclusion: The use of PTFE as a new polymer in tube shunt construction was reported. Larger studies, modification of the PTFE membranes like changing the porosity amount, and size of PTFE membranes might result in different conclusions.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and usefulness of Tenzel rotational flap in upper and lower lid reconstruction in malignant tumors, to determine the anatomical alignment, functional, and cosmetic outcome after lid reconstruction and recurrence of the tumor and to observe the canthal and fornix status. Methods: Prospective, non-comparative,interventional clinical study of 30 patients over a period of 18 months. The study was conducted with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Evaluation parameters were LPS (Levator palpebrae superioris) action Pre and post operative, MRD-1 (Margin Reflex Distance-1) values pre and post operative, central vertical palpebral fissure height (PFH) pre and post operative,and the calculation of the created defect express in percentage preoperatively. None of the case posterior lamina was repaired. It formed or strengthened automatically. Results: The diagnosis of Sebaceous cell carcinoma was 14/30 by FNAC and 17/30 by histopathology. The mean MRD-1 pre-operatively was -1.09 ± 1.54 mm to 4.02 ± 0.36 mm postoperatively in the upper lid. The mean LPS action pre-operatively was 4.35 ± 0.96 mm to 12.42 ± 1.24 mm postoperatively in the upper lid tumor. The mean pre-operative central palpebral aperture was 4.76 ± 0.88 mm and post-operative central palpebral aperture was 10.47 ± 0.88 mm in the upper lid tumor. The mean incision length was 8.16 ± 0.61 mm in upper lid and 9.27 ± 0.87 mm in lower lid Tenzel reconstruction respectively. In all the cases, posterior lamella grew normally. In addition, no strengthening procedure was required. Conclusion: This reconstructive procedure was useful to repair 40%-60% of the upper lid and 40%-70% created a defect in the lower eyelid after the removal of the malignant tumor. Histopathological diagnosis of the specimen was more accurate than FNAC. No repair of posterior lamella was made. No extra surgical procedure was needed. Thus, the surgical procedure time was markedly reduced. After the surgery, all the patients presented a good uplift of the upper lid, good closure of the eyelids, and were visually and functionally well rehabilitated. The aesthetic appearance was excellent.

Objective: To analyze the glutathione antioxidant defense system changes in the tear and serum of patients with hypertensive retinopathy (HR) and to establish whether there is an interdependence between their levels and HR degree. Methods: 90 patients were split into three groups according to the Keith-Wagner-Barker grading of HR: GI-36 patients; GII-35 patients; GIII-19 patients. The concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) and activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) in tear and serum were measured. Results were analyzed by ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni post hoc test. The Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated (p≤0.05 statistically significant). Results: In serum, the GSH level and GPx activity were not statistically changed between groups with HR degree advancement, unlike the GR activity that was statistically diminished (p=0.018). The values of the studied markers in the tear showed a decrease with the progression of the HR degree. Only serum GSH level correlated with the tear one (r=-0.361, p=0.000), while the enzymes activity did not. A correlation of GPx and GR activity (r=0.417, p=0.000) was identified in tear, while in serum - of GPx activity and GSH level (r=409, p=0.000). Tear GPx and GR levels correlated significantly but with low power with HR degree (r=0.299, p=0.004/ r=0.299, p=0.004). Conclusion: Statistically significant elevation in tear GPx and GR activity and a tendency of GSH level increase was revealed, being attested, and a direct correlation between GPx and GR activity, as well as of their activity with the HR degree. In serum, the GSH level and the GPx activity did not change accurately, while the GR activity diminished significantly, the identified decrease being correlated with the HR degree. Abbreviations: HR = hypertensive retinopathy, HTN = hypertension, GSH = reduced glutathione, GPx = glutathione peroxidase, GR = glutathione reductase, GGR = gamma-glutamyl transferase, ROSs = reactive species of oxygen, OS = oxidative stress.

The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, has dramatically increased worldwide from 2,5 million in 1990, to 6,1 million in 2016. This condition continues to unfold its complexity, being nowadays recognized more as a syndrome rather than a disease. Beside the motor symptoms, the non-motor features, which can appear as early as twenty years before the classic onset, are now included in the diagnostic criteria. Increased public awareness, early recognition, and intervention (mostly neuroprotective) could highly increase the quality of life of people suffering from PD. We believe that these measures must be taken without delay, in order to counteract the increasing prevalence of PD worldwide. Abbreviations: PD = Parkinson’s disease, GBD = Global Burden of Diseases, HY = Hoehn-Yahr scale, SD = standard deviation

Importance: Globe salvage marks the treatment success of retinoblastoma. Background: To evaluate four treatment strategies in group D and group E retinoblastoma. Design: Retrospective case series in a tertiary hospital. Participants: 81 patients with Group D and Group E retinoblastoma. Methods: Participants were divided into four sets. In set I, eyes received primary intravenous chemotherapy (IVC), cryotherapy (CT), laser therapy (LT) and Intravitreal Chemotherapy with Melphalan (IViC). In set II, primary IVC was combined with second line IVC, CT, LT and IVT-M. Set III eyes received primary IVC and Intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC), CT, LT and IViC. Set IV eyes received IAC, CT, LT and IViC. Treatment failure was defined as inadequate response during or after IVC or IAC. Main Outcome Measures: globe salvage and enucleation rates. Results: 52 eyes were included in group D and 29 in group E. In group D, globe salvage was obtained in 8 out of 11 eyes in Set I, 13 out of 19 eyes in set II, 5 out 6 eyes in set III, and 13 out of 16 eyes in set IV. In group E, enucleation was performed in 17 eyes. Global salvage was obtained in 0 out of 2 eyes in set I, 2 out of 3 eyes in set II, 3 out of 5 in set III, and in 1 out of 2 eyes in set IV. Conclusions: IVC with adjuvant IAC, LT, CT and IViC has shown favorable results as a treatment method for group D and group E retinoblastoma.

Objective: Refractive management in keratoconus is challenging. Although some kinds of phakic intraocular lenses have been studied in keratoconus so far, no study evaluated the results of EyeCryl Phakic Toric intraocular lenses in this kind of patients. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective chart review study, including all keratoconus patients implanted with an EyeCryl Phakic Toric intraocular lens in at least one of their eyes by an experienced cornea surgeon in Colombia. Follow-up to 6 months after surgery was also included. Results: A total of 20 eyes of 14 patients were included, with an average age of 29.3 ± 4.2 years. Spherical equivalent improved from a pre-surgical value of -10.31 D to +0.09 D at 6 months. 65% of the patients improved at least one line in the best-corrected distance visual acuity. At 6 months, 70% of the patients were within ± 0.50 D of spherical equivalent emmetropia. No complications occurred in any of the patients. Conclusion: EyeCryl Phakic intraocular lenses are an excellent option in keratoconus patients with high refractive error. Abbreviations: KC = Keratoconus, P-IOL = phakic intraocular lenses, ICL = Implantable Collamer Lens, WTW = White to White, SD = standard deviation, ANOVA = an analysis of variance, UDVA = monocular uncorrected distance visual acuity, CDVA = corrected distance visual acuity.

Introduction. Consumers are getting more empowered, the process of empowerment transforming them into the partners of organizations or co-producers of services. Health care services, as well as ophthalmology services, have been a sensitive topic and raised several debates that focused on the principles of Experiential Marketing and hedonic experiences. Aim. The aim of this paper was to investigate the experiences of patients in a public ophthalmology organization by using the components of Experiential Marketing: sense, feel, think, act, and relate. Materials and methods. The case study was cross-sectional, and the sampling method was non-probabilistic, following a snowball technique. The sample was made up of 100 patients of the Clinical Emergency Eye Hospital in Bucharest. The instrument for data collection was a self-administered questionnaire. The statistical analysis was conducted in SPSS version 20 and frequencies or percentages were used for describing the qualitative data. Findings. Experiential Marketing principles may successfully be applied in public ophthalmology services if a special attention is given to the Feel and Relate components.

Purpose: to examine the lens epithelial cells in diabetic patients with pseudoexfoliation to ultramicroscope and to compare the findings with those of patients without diabetes mellitus (DM) and/or without pseudoexfoliation (PEX). Materials and Methods: Forty patients aged 65-86 years were enrolled in the study. All patients had senile cataract and were divided into four groups of ten patients in each group. Group I: patients without pseudoexfoliation, without DM, Group II: without pseudoexfoliation, with DM, Group III: with pseudoexfoliation, without DM, Group IV (Pseudoexfoliation-Diabetic Group): with pseudoexfoliation, with DM. In all cases, part of the central portion of anterior lens capsule was removed during routine cataract surgery, and was properly prepared in order to be examined under a transmission electron microscope. Results: In the control group, mainly degenerative alterations to varying extents were observed. In all groups, intracellular and extracellular oedema, multilayering, apoptosis, completely destroyed cells adjacent to normal cellswere described. In the diabetic group, alterations were more severe with respect to group I. In PEX cases, the additionalirregularity of the epithelium surface, loose intercellular connection, as well as the loose connection between cells and basement membrane were described with the presence of PEX material free and within the basement membrane. In cases with PEX and DM, degenerative alterations and PEX material were observed as well, but the epithelium was better conserved compared to the PEX group. Conclusion: the observed lesions were more extended and more frequent in the pseudoexfoliation group, followed by the diabetic group. The pseudoexfoliation-diabetic group presented less intense modifications raising questions about the interaction of these different diseases. Abbreviations: DM = Diabetes Mellitus, PEX = Pseudoexfoliation, PXM = Pseudoexfoliative Material, AD = Alzheimer disease, TGF-β1 = Transforming Growth Factor beta 1, WHO = World Health Organization, LEC = Lens Epithelium Cells, BM = Basement Membrane, CM = Cytoplasmic Membrane.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ab interno XEN gel stent in patients with open angle glaucoma who underwent a previous failed filtering surgery. Methods: A retrospective, observational, multi-centered and descriptive cohort study was conducted from January 2019 to February 2020 on patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) who underwent XEN gel stent implant after a failed filtering surgical procedure. Main parameters evaluated were: changes in IOP measured with Goldmann applanation tonometer, number of anti-glaucomatous eye drops, postoperative complications, and necessity of further surgical procedures. The quantification of quality of life was obtained from the VFQ-25 questionnaire. A descriptive analysis based on pre- post- and intra-operative data was carried out. Results: In all patients included in the study (6 patients for a total of 7 eyes), IOP dropped during the follow up time. We found a mean percentage reduction of -41.5% at 9 months compared to the preoperative data (baseline). IOP lowered from 21.71 ± 4.64 mmHg to 9 ± 3,21 mmHg 1 day after the operation, 11 ± 3.21 at 1 week, 11.42 ± 1.81 mmHg at 1 month, 12.42 ± 3.10 mmHg at 3 months, 13.57 ± 3.45 at 6 months, 12.71 ± 1.79 at 9 months. In 71.4%, the procedure turned out to be complication free and only one case required needling of the bleb in order to achieve optimal intraocular pressure control. A total of 71.4% patients reached a medication free regimen with a percentage of reduction in the mean number of drugs needed of -88.9%. Conclusion: In our experience, XEN gel stent implant performed in Caucasian patients with POAG and a history of failed filtrating surgery, showed to be an effective and safe procedure.

Purpose: To compare the outcome of fixed suture trabeculectomy with releasable suture trabeculectomy in terms of IOP control, bleb morphology, complications and need of antiglaucoma medication post-surgery. Methods: This study enlisted 200 cases of open angle glaucoma, whose IOP was uncontrolled despite maximal medication. Trabeculectomy was performed using releasable suture in one group of 100 patients and fixed suture in another group of 100 with mitomycin 0.02% in both groups. The study was randomized, the method being the simple randomization. Fornix based trabeculectomy was done in both groups. Two 10-0 nylon releasable sutures were used at two corners of the rectangular flap and one fixed 10-0 vicryl suture was used in the center of the flap. Two mattress sutures (conjunctiva cornea) were also used. Essentially, all the sutures were removed postoperatively over a period of 2-4 weeks depending upon the level of IOP. Mitomycin c 0.02% was used in both groups. Results: The mean preoperative intraocular pressure was 33 ± 12 mmHg in the single suture group and 39 ± 13 mmHg in the releasable suture group (p). We observed a highly significant reduction of intraocular pressure at all times in both groups compared with the preoperative intraocular pressure (P, 0.0001). There was an obvious difference between the bleb morphology between conventional trabeculectomy and releasable suture trabeculectomy. Blebs in releasable suture trabeculectomy were more diffuse, low lying and presented a more ideal vascularity. Conclusion: Releasable suture trabeculectomy is a far much better technique than conventional trabeculectomy. Results are very good in terms of IOP control, post-operative complications, and bleb morphology. They may possibly have a role in wound modulation thereby achieving an ideal bleb, though more large sample studies need to be done.

Aim: To study the buckling of intraocular lens (IOL) haptics and its effect on vision in patients implanted with either hydrophilic or hydrophobic lens material. Study design: Prospective, observational and descriptive study. Setting: Tertiary eye care center in India. Material and methods: Patients operated for age-related cataract by phacoemulsification technique implanted with hydrophilic or hydrophobic IOL came either for follow-up surgery or complaints in an operated eye, being examined for visual acuity, refraction, anterior segment evaluation, and retinal examination. The position of IOL in terms of optic and haptics was noted and photographed. Results: 317 patients participated in the study. The mean age (SD) of the patients was 65 years (± 4.5). Of 317 patients, 127 (254 eyes) had bilateral, and 190 (190 eyes) had one eye IOL implantation. Out of 444 eyes, 254 (57.2 %) had hydrophilic and 190 eyes (42.8%) had hydrophobic IOL implantation. Buckling of IOL haptic was seen in 37 (8.3%) eyes of which 34 (13.9%) had hydrophilic, and 3 (1.6%) had hydrophobic IOL. Maximum eyes (n=20) with hydrophilic IOL presented during 1-3 years after IOL implantation. Major complaint for which patients came for follow up was blurring of vision (48.9%) and diminished vision (36.3%). Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) was observed in 2/ 190 (1.1%) eyes with hydrophobic and 28/ 254 (11%) eyes with hydrophilic IOL. Discussion: The present study dealt with the long-term performance of the haptics of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic IOLs in relation to its stability in the capsular bag. Conclusion: Buckling of haptic was seen more in the hydrophilic than in the hydrophobic IOLs. PCO was common in these eyes. Change in refraction occurred in eyes with hydrophilic IOL with buckling.

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in high myopic patients who experienced recent visual loss and to describe the characteristics of CNV that develop as a complication of pathologic myopia and were detected by fluorescein angiography (FA). Material and methods: The fluorescein angiograms of 89 patients with high myopia, who registered a recent decrease of visual acuity were reviewed. The incidence of CNV was evaluated and its angiofluorographic appearance described. Results: 172 eyes of 89 patients (six eyes were excluded for different reasons: anophthalmia, dense cataract, history of retinal detachment surgery) were analyzed. Among 89 patients (63 females, 26 males), in 58 cases (~65%), the angiofluorography revealed the presence of a neovascular membrane, and 8 cases presented bilateral CNV. That made a total of 66 eyes. The majority of CNVs were classic (56%), 20% had an occult pattern and 24% were cicatricial. The location was predominantly subfoveal. Conclusions: Considering that the main cause for visual loss in myopic patients is the new-onset myopic CNV, fluorescein angiography should be performed in cases with recent visual loss. When CNV is suspected, FA can demonstrate the presence of myopic CNV, bringing information regarding the type, area, and activity of the CNV and helping exclude other disorders. Due to its location, predominantly sub- or juxtafoveal and to the extended retinal lesions associated with pathologic myopia, the visual prognosis of these patients is poor despite new active treatments.

Rapid and seemingly effortless word recognition is a virtually unquestioned characteristic of skilled reading, yet the definition and operationalization of the concept of cognitive effort have proven elusive. We investigated the cognitive effort involved in oral and silent word reading using pupillometry among adults (Experiment 1, N = 30; Experiment 2, N = 20) and fourth through sixth graders (Experiment 3, N = 30; Experiment 4, N = 18). We compared multiple pupillary measures (mean, peak, and peak latency) for reading familiar words (real words) and unfamiliar letter strings (pseudowords) varying in length. Converging with the behavioral data for accuracy and response times, pupillary responses demonstrated a greater degree of cognitive effort for pseudowords compared with real words and stronger length effects for pseudowords than for real words. These findings open up new possibilities for studying the issue of effort and effortlessness in the field of word recognition and other fields of skill learning.

Practice makes perfect in almost all perceptual tasks, but how perceptual improvements accumulate remains unknown. Here, we developed a multicomponent theoretical framework to model contributions of both long- and short-term processes in perceptual learning. Applications of the framework to the block-by-block learning curves of 49 adult participants in seven perceptual tasks identified ubiquitous long-term general learning and within-session relearning in most tasks. More importantly, we also found between-session forgetting in the vernier-offset discrimination, face-view discrimination, and auditory-frequency discrimination tasks; between-session off-line gain in the visual shape search task; and within-session adaptation and both between-session forgetting and off-line gain in the contrast detection task. The main results of the vernier-offset discrimination and visual shape search tasks were replicated in a new experiment. The multicomponent model provides a theoretical framework to identify component processes in perceptual learning and a potential tool to optimize learning in normal and clinical populations.

Threats elicit physiological responses, the frequency and intensity of which have implications for survival. Ethical and practical limitations on human laboratory manipulations present barriers to studying immersive threat. Furthermore, few investigations have examined group effects and concordance with subjective emotional experiences to threat. The current preregistered study measured electrodermal activity in 156 adults while they participated in small groups in a 30-min haunted-house experience involving various immersive threats. Results revealed positive associations between (a) friends and tonic arousal, (b) unexpected attacks and phasic activity (frequency and amplitude), (c) subjective fear and phasic frequency, and (d) dissociable sensitization effects linked to baseline orienting response. Findings demonstrate the relevance of (a) social dynamics (friends vs. strangers) for tonic arousal and (b) subjective fear and threat predictability for phasic arousal.

Visual search is facilitated when the target is repeatedly encountered at a fixed position within an invariant (vs. randomly variable) distractor layout—that is, when the layout is learned and guides attention to the target, a phenomenon known as contextual cuing. Subsequently changing the target location within a learned layout abolishes contextual cuing, which is difficult to relearn. Here, we used lateralized event-related electroencephalogram (EEG) potentials to explore memory-based attentional guidance ( N = 16). The results revealed reliable contextual cuing during initial learning and an associated EEG-amplitude increase for repeated layouts in attention-related components, starting with an early posterior negativity (N1pc, 80–180 ms). When the target was relocated to the opposite hemifield following learning, contextual cuing was effectively abolished, and the N1pc was reversed in polarity (indicative of persistent misguidance of attention to the original target location). Thus, once learned, repeated layouts trigger attentional-priority signals from memory that proactively interfere with contextual relearning after target relocation.

Objective: To determine bacteria obtained from eye infections, both resistance and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) to gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin, tigecycline, linezolid and imipenem, in vitro. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was undergone with 50 samples from 50 eyes of patients diagnosed with keratitis or endophthalmitis, who came to a consultation at the Fundacion Oftalmologica de Santander (Floridablanca, Colombia) from August to November 2014. The MICs of the isolated microorganisms were established through Etest® strips (BioMerieux SA, Marcy-l'Etoile - France). Results: Of the 50 samples in total, 17 different bacteria species or groups were isolated. The main isolate for gram-positives was Methicillin Resistant Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus (17 samples), and for gram-negatives was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6 samples). The susceptibility percentages sorted from highest to lowest for gram-positive isolates (n=38) were: imipenem 90.3%, linezolid 87.9%, tigecycline 78.1%, gatifloxacin 68.8% and moxifloxacin 68.8%. For gram-negative isolates (n=12), they were: imipenem 72.7%, gatifloxacin 70%, moxifloxacin 66.7% (no reference cut-off points were found for Pseudomonas aeruginosa), tigecycline 22.2%, and linezolid 0% (as expected according to its inhibition spectrum). Conclusions: Although fourth generation fluoroquinolones are currently the preferred initial empirical monotherapy in our practice, given the increasing bacterial resistance, in cases in which gram-positive bacteria were isolated in the initial staining imipenem, linezolid or tigecycline could be used as an alternative. On the other hand, for cases of gram-negative bacteria, no antimicrobial susceptibility exceeded 80%, so using two antimicrobials looking for a synergy between them could be a better option. Abbreviations: S = Susceptibility, IS = Intermediate susceptibility, R = Resistance.

Stressful events are often vividly remembered. Although generally adaptive to survival, this emotional-memory enhancement may contribute to stress-related disorders. We tested here whether the enhanced memory for stressful events is due to the expectancy violation evoked by these events. Ninety-four men and women underwent a stressful or control episode. Critically, to manipulate the degree of expectancy violation, we gave participants either detailed or minimal information about the stressor. Although the subjective and hormonal stress responses were comparable in informed and uninformed participants, prior information about the stressor abolished the memory advantage for core features of the stressful event, tested 7 days later. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we further linked the expectancy violation and memory formation under stress to the inferior temporal cortex. These data are the first to show that detailed information about an upcoming stressor and, by implication, a reduced expectancy violation attenuates the memory for stressful events.