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Odontepyris costatus sp. nov. is described from Japan and Taiwan. This new species is most similar to O. formosicola Terayama, 1997 known from Cambodia and Taiwan according to the key to the Eastern Palaearctic Odontepyris. O. costatus sp. nov. can be distinguished from the latter by the relatively small eye and the wide metapectal-propodeal disc. It is also similar to O. telortis Lim & Lee, 2009 known from South Korea, but it is distinguished from O. telortis by the imbricate median area of metapostnotum. The morphological variations and diagnostic characters of the Eastern Palaearctic species are briefly discussed and the modified key to species is provided. Key words: new species, Japan, Taiwan, wing venation

Purpose To share our experience with pediatric orbital expansion using eye conformers for anophthalmia and microphthalmia and parental feedback on outcomes. Methods Cases of congenital anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia were managed with eye conformers for orbital expansion and formation of lid fornices at the anaplastology clinic of King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected on the globe adaptation process and the perceived achievements by the parents at different follow-up visits. Parental feedback was collected on their acceptance of eye conformer use to address anophthalmia and microphthalmia. Results The anophthalmia/microphthalmia annual prevalence was 1.7 per 10,000 live births in Saudi Arabia. Of the 45 sockets treated for orbital expansion since 2014, 15 children were managed by using eye conformers. Six children had a bilateral birth defect. Severe microphthalmia was in seven children while eight children had anophthalmos. At the first visit, small eye conformers (nine), stem eye conformer (four), symblepharon ring (one), and hydrogel eye conformer (one) were fitted. After multiple visits and follow-ups, at the two-year follow-up, seven (46.7%) children were fitted while three (20%) were under the process of prosthesis fitting, as volume expansion was satisfactory. Parents of these children replied that they prefer this method over others and would recommend others to follow the same. Conclusions Orbital expansion and lid fornices formation by using an eye conformer is effective, easy, and acceptable to parents. It can be initiated in the early months of a child's life.

Due to its reported high sampling frequency and precision, the Tobii Pro Spectrum is of potential interest to researchers who want to study small eye movements during fixation. We test how suitable the Tobii Pro Spectrum is for research on microsaccades by computing data-quality measures and common properties of microsaccades and comparing these to the currently most used system in this field: the EyeLink 1000 Plus. Results show that the EyeLink data provide higher RMS precision and microsaccade rates compared with data acquired with the Tobii Pro Spectrum. However, both systems provide microsaccades with similar directions and shapes, as well as rates consistent with previous literature. Data acquired at 1200 Hz with the Tobii Pro Spectrum provide results that are more similar to the EyeLink, compared to data acquired at 600 Hz. We conclude that the Tobii Pro Spectrum is a useful tool for researchers investigating microsaccades.

A new species, Olyra parviocula, is described from the Kameng River, Brahmaputra River drainage in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. The new species differs from congeners in having small eye diameter 5–8% HL; short adipose fin, not confluent with caudal-fin, its base length 9–12% SL; dorsal-fin branched rays 6; anal-fin rays viii–xi, 8–10 and maxillary barbel almost reaching pelvic-fin base. A key to identification of all valid species of Olyra is provided.

Molecules of the hedgehog (hh) family are involved in the specification and patterning of eyes in vertebrates and invertebrates. These organs, though, are of very different sizes, raising the question of how Hh molecules operate at such different scales. In this paper we discuss the strategies used by Hh to control the development of the two eye types in Drosophila: the large compound eye and the small ocellus. We first describe the distinct ways in which these two eyes develop and the evidence for the key role played by Hh in both; then we consider the potential for variation in the range of action of a "typical" morphogen and measure this range ("characteristic length") for Hh in different organs, including the compound eye and the ocellus. Finally, we describe how different feedback mechanisms are used to extend the Hh range of action to pattern the large and even the small eye. In the ocellus, the basic Hh signaling pathway adds to its dynamics the attenuation of its receptor as cell differentiate. This sole regulatory change can result in the decoding of the Hh gradient by receiving cells as a wave of constant speed. Therefore, in the fly ocellus, the Hh morphogen adds to its spatial patterning role a novel one: patterning along a time axis.

Although Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) has become widespread as a first choice for the treatment of bullous keratopathy, corneal endothelial cell loss during the early postoperative period caused by intraoperative mechanical stress to the donor endothelium remains a clinical challenge. At present, a pull-through technique is the standard procedure for graft delivery in DSAEK. However, the anterior chamber is likely to collapse during graft delivery in patients with a small eye or shallow anterior chamber, as often seen in Asian patients, leading to endothelial cell damage. To solve this problem, we developed a new device for DSAEK, known as NS Endo-Inserter, in which the graft flows into the anterior chamber in a balanced salt solution in one step. This article reviews the features of NS Endo-Inserter and the outcomes of DSAEK using this device.

There are four main factors causing the accident on the highway: the first is the sleepy driver, the second is the condition of the vehicle used, the third is the road factor, the fourth is the environmental factor. The human eye in a normal physical state has a different size, so that when a person who has large eyes when drowsy then the large opening of his eyes will be different from the size of the eyes of someone who has small eye size. Therefor in this research the system was designed by taking a unique eye reference per person. Preliminary data retrieval is taken when the driver starts driving a vehicle assuming the initial condition of the driver is not drowsy. This initial data will be used as a reference for threshold decision making in the process of determining drowsiness in subsequent experiments. In this research using the EAR value of each driver from the initialization process, and the EAR value is also used as a baseline for stating a driver’s eyes are closed or open based on the EAR threshold. If the EAR value (from driving process) is below the threshold for several consecutive times (with a reference of 1.5 seconds) the driver will be detected drowsy by the system. If detected drowsiness, it will be given a response in the form of motor vibration and sound. The drowsiness detection system has been designed using the proposed EAR threshold method from each ratio of eyes each individual driver. From this research get the EAR driver is 0.03-0.69. EARmin for each driver is in the range: 0.03-0.18 and EARmax for each driver in the range: 0.35-0.69. The minimum value of the EAR threshold is 0.20 and the maximum value of the EAR threshold is 0.41. From the four times the drowsiness detection system testing, the system successfully to detect drowsiness from each driver.

Clinical congenital anophthalmos varies on a spectrum of complete lack of an eye to an underdeveloped, small eye. Multiple genetic mutations have been linked with this rare disorder, including genes involved in early development (SOX2), development of the lens or retina (PAX6, CHX10), and vitamin A processing (STRA6, RARB, RBP4). The early diagnosis of clinical anophthalmos is important in part because of its association with a variety of developmental abnormalities, which are seen in 33–73% of infants born with anophthalmos. It is also important for an early concerted effort between ophthalmologists, ocularists, and the family to expand the socket and orbital space. Initial expansion of the socket space with acryl or hydrogel conformers is quickly followed by expansion of the orbit with hydrogels in order to stimulate bone growth. With close follow-up and compliance, good cosmetic and psychosocial outcomes can be achieved.

Our visual input is constantly changing, but not all moments are equally relevant. Temporal attention, the prioritization of visual information at specific points in time, increases perceptual sensitivity at behaviorally relevant times. The dynamic processes underlying this increase are unclear. During fixation, humans make small eye movements called microsaccades, and inhibiting microsaccades improves perception of brief stimuli. Here we asked whether temporal attention changes the pattern of microsaccades in anticipation of brief stimuli. Human observers (female and male) judged brief stimuli presented within a short sequence. They were given either an informative precue to attend to one of the stimuli, which was likely to be probed, or an uninformative (neutral) precue. We found strong microsaccadic inhibition before the stimulus sequence, likely due to its predictable onset. Critically, this anticipatory inhibition was stronger when the first target in the sequence (T1) was precued (task-relevant) than when the precue was uninformative. Moreover, the timing of the last microsaccade before T1 and the first microsaccade after T1 shifted, such that both occurred earlier when T1 was precued than when the precue was uninformative. Finally, the timing of the nearest pre- and post-T1 microsaccades affected task performance. Directing voluntary temporal attention therefore impacts microsaccades, helping to stabilize fixation at the most relevant moments, over and above the effect of predictability. Just as saccading to a relevant stimulus can be an overt correlate of the allocation of spatial attention, precisely timed gaze stabilization can be an overt correlate of the allocation of temporal attention.Significance statementWe pay attention at moments in time when a relevant event is likely to occur. Such temporal attention improves our visual perception, but how it does so is not well understood. Here we discovered a new behavioral correlate of voluntary, or goal-directed, temporal attention. We found that the pattern of small fixational eye movements called microsaccades changes around behaviorally relevant moments in a way that stabilizes the position of the eyes. Microsaccades during a brief visual stimulus can impair perception of that stimulus. Therefore, such fixation stabilization may contribute to the improvement of visual perception at attended times. This link suggests that in addition to cortical areas, subcortical areas mediating eye movements may be recruited with temporal attention.

Alfred Lukyanovich Yarbus (1914–1986) pioneered the study of stabilized retinal images, miniature eye movements, and the cognitive influences that act on visual scanning. Yarbus’s studies of these different topics have remained fundamentally disconnected and independent of each other, however. In this review, we propose that Yarbus’s various research lines are instead deeply and intrinsically interconnected, as are the small eye movements produced during visual fixation and the large-scale scanning patterns associated with visual exploration of objects and scenes. Such apparently disparate viewing behaviors may represent the extremes of a single continuum of oculomotor performance that operates across spatial scales when we search the visual world.

Congenital eye malformations are the second most common cause of childhood blindness and are originated by disruption of the normal process of eye development during embryonic stage. Their etiology is variable, although monogenic causes are of great importance as they have a high risk of familial recurrence. Included among the most severe congenital eye abnormalities are microphthalmia, defined by an abnormally small eye, and anophthalmia, characterized by congenital absence of ocular structures. The currrent knowledge of the genes involved in human microphthalmia and anophthalmia in humans is revised in this work.

Background Nanophthalmos is rare developmental ocular condition characterized by a small eye with short axial length, high hyperopia and high lens to eye volume ratio due to arrested development of eye ball as a result of scleral inelasticity. Observations A 33 year old woman who presented with a complaint of blurring of distance and near vision in both eyes since childhood came to LV Prasad Eye Institute on July 2017. Best corrected visual acuity was 20/60 using soft contact lens +23.50 diopters for the right and left eyes. Axial lengths of two eyes were markedly shortened along with steep corneal curvatures. Visante anterior segment ocular coherence tomography showed a steep (convex) corneo-scleral junction (CSJ) which might be the reason for ill-fitting with conventionally estimated soft contact lens (SCL) parameters. Finally, selection of the customized hydrogel soft contact lens base curve close to flatter corneal curvature and small diameter showed characteristics of optimal lens fit. Conclusion The corneo-scleral junction profile plays significant role in soft contact lens fitting. An eye with a profile of convex CSJ would require a lens with steeper curvature compared to conventional measurements. Cases of nanophthalmos would require observation of the profile with the help of optical coherence tomography in addition to measurement of corneal curvature prior to fitting soft contact lenses.

We describe a novel laparoscopic knot pusher which has the advantage over existing instruments of being suitable for applying both sliding and non-sliding extra-corporeal knots. Loading the suture into the knot pusher is done by touch rather than vision which is an advantage in a darkened endoscopy theatre, and once loaded, the suture is held securely despite not having had to thread the suture through a small eye. The knot pusher can also be used as an alternative to pre-tied Endoloops using a long tie.

Prochilodus argenteus is an endemic fish species from the São Francisco River basin that is of high economic and environmental importance. The present study aimed to contribute with information to the taxonomic identification of larvae and juveniles of this species. Larvae , obtained from induced spawning of wild animals, were reared in ponds. Individuals were collected daily and classified into larval stages or juvenile phase. Morphological descriptions and morphometric measurements were performed, together with a piece wise linear regression analysis of the body proportions throughout the development process. Individuals in the preflexion stage had a standard length (SL) of 4.48 to 6.64mm, long to moderate body (BH/SL), small to moderate head (HL/SL), and a small to moderate eye (ED/HL). In the flexion stage, the SL varied from 6.60 to 11.00mm, long to moderate body, moderate head, and small to moderate eye. Larvae in the postflexion stage presented SL of 10.54-19.93mm, moderate body, moderate to big head and small eye. The juvenile phase included specimens with a SL of 18.27 to 42.21mm which presented a moderate to high body, big head and small to moderate eye. Regression analysis showed significant moments of change in rate of increase of the body proportions, presenting a change in the growth pattern from allometry to isometry during the early development.

Microsaccades are involuntary and very small eye movements during fixation. Recently, the microsaccade-related neural dynamics have been extensively investigated both in experiments and by constructing neural network models. Experimentally, microsaccades also exhibit many behavioral properties. It’s well known that the behavior properties imply the underlying neural dynamical mechanisms, and so are determined by neural dynamics. The behavioral properties resulted from neural responses to microsaccades, however, are not yet understood and are rarely studied theoretically. Linking neural dynamics to behavior is one of the central goals of neuroscience. In this paper, we provide behavior predictions on spatiotemporal properties of microsaccades according to microsaccade-induced neural dynamics in a cascading network model, which includes both retinal adaptation and short-term depression (STD) at thalamocortical synapses. We also successfully give experimental tests in the statistical sense. Our results provide the first behavior description of microsaccades based on neural dynamics induced by behaving activity, and so firstly link neural dynamics to behavior of microsaccades. These results indicate strongly that the cascading adaptations play an important role in the study of microsaccades. Our work may be useful for further investigations of the microsaccadic behavioral properties and of the underlying neural dynamical mechanisms responsible for the behavioral properties.

I describe two distinctive new species of elapid snakes of the genus Toxicocalamus from the southeastern end of Papua New Guinea. The first species, T. mintoni sp. nov., is unique within the genus in having the frontal fused with the supraoculars. It is a fairly gracile species of uniformly light-brown coloration and is known from only a single specimen from central Sudest Island. The second species, T. pachysomus sp. nov., is unique in its combination of having a distinct preocular unfused with the prefrontal, the internasal in contact with the preocular, the second supralabial in contact with the nasal, and paired subcaudals. Its stout habitus is unique within the genus, and its small eye is also distinctive. This species too is known from only a single specimen from the Cloudy Mountains, the southeasternmost portion of the island of New Guinea. Milne Bay Province, which is comprised of the southeastern extremity of New Guinea and its adjacent offshore islands, is a center of diversity for the ...

Purpose: Is to present a simple technique for complete excision of microphthalmia and its huge cyst. Patients: Five patients with microphthalmia and huge cyst were included. The pathology was bilateral in one case. Lateral canthotomy was performed in all cases. The 4 recti of the small eye were exposed and dis-inserted with application of 4 tractional sutures at the insertion sites. Gentle traction and blunt dissection with protection of the cyst by malleable retractor were used to release the cyst gradually. The optic nerve was clamped and cauterized. By cutting the optic nerve, the microphthalmic eye and its huge cyst came out easily. Results: In no patient was the cyst was ruptured or incompletely excised. Conclusion: This technique is simple, fast and effective for complete excision of the microphthalmia and its huge cyst completely.

Altres ajuts: Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) Neural mechanisms of attention allow selective sensory information processing. Top-down deployment of visual-spatial attention is conveyed by cortical feedback connections from frontal regions to lower sensory areas modulating late stimulus responses. A recent study reported the occurrence of small eye vergence during orienting top-down attention. Here we assessed a possible link between vergence and attention by comparing visual event related potentials (vERPs) to a cue stimulus that induced attention to shift towards the target location to the vERPs to a no-cue stimulus that did not trigger orienting attention. The results replicate the findings of eye vergence responses during orienting attention and show that the strength and time of eye vergence coincide with the onset and strength of the vERPs when subjects oriented attention. Our findings therefore support the idea that eye vergence relates to and possibly has a role in attentional selection.

Diaphanosoma edmondsoni sp. nov. is described from material from several lakes in Washington, California, and Montana. It differs from all other known species of the genus in having a specific combination of traits: a head with conspicuously protruding dorsal part, comparatively small eye shifted ventrally, specific armament of postero-ventral valve margin, lack of thorn(s) near posterior valve margin, comparatively long distal basal spine of postabdominal claws of slightly variable shape, and occasional presence of additional large spines on the claws. This is the first endemic species of the genus (and also of the family Sididae and order Ctenopoda) recorded in the western part of North America, which along with some other cladocerans form a group of taxa highlighting this region as one of the regional centers of endemic aquatic fauna.

Intersaccadic periods of fixation are characterized by incessant retinal motion due to small eye movements. While these movements are often disregarded as noise, the temporal modulations they introduce to retinal receptors are significant. However, analysis of these input modulations is challenging because the intersaccadic eye motion is close to the resolution limits of most eyetrackers, including widespread pupil-based video systems. Here, we analyzed in depth the limits of two high-precision eyetrackers, the Dual-Purkinje Image and the scleral search coil, and compared the intersaccadic eye movements of humans to those of a non-human primate. By means of a model eye we determined that the resolution of both techniques is sufficient to reliably measure intersaccadic ocular activity up to approximately 80Hz. Our results show that the characteristics of ocular drift are remarkably similar in the two species; a clear deviation from a scale-invariant spectrum occurs in the range between 50 and 100Hz, generally attributed to ocular tremor, leading to intersaccadic retinal speeds as high as 1.5deg/s. The amplitude of this deviation differs on the two axes of motion. In addition to our experimental observations, we suggest basic guidelines to evaluate the performance of eyetrackers and to optimize experimental conditions for the measurement of ocular drift and tremor.

The surgical management of cataract in the small eye presents the ophthalmic surgeon with numerous challenges. An understanding of the anatomic classification in addition to a thorough preoperative assessment will help individualize each case and enable the surgeon to better prepare for the obstacles that might be encountered during surgery. Small eyes are especially challenging in terms of intraocular lens (IOL) calculations and possible current limitations of available IOL powers, which could necessitate alternative means of achieving emmetropia. Surgical strategies for minimizing complications and maximizing good outcomes can be developed from knowledge of the anatomic differences between various small-eye conditions and the pathologies that may be associated with each. A thorough understanding of the challenges inherent in these cases and the management of intraoperative and postoperative complications will ensure that surgeons approaching the correction of these eyes will achieve the best possible surgical results. Financial Disclosure No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

In “Visual discrimination training improves Humphrey perimetry in chronic cortically induced blindness,” authors Cavanaugh et al. assessed whether visual discrimination training improves performance on visual perimetry tests in chronic stroke patients with visual cortex involvement. They found that in adults with chronic cortical visual impairment, the blind field border appears to have enhanced plastic potential, which can be recruited by gaze-controlled visual discrimination training to expand the visible field. Drs. Wall and Schiefer express concerns regarding the study, explaining that Cavanaugh et al. may not have separated the potential effects of training on improving attention along the vertical meridian, that the Humphrey device does not adequately capture small eye movements, and that the retest variability below 15 dB has little predictive value, in addition to other confounding factors. Cavanaugh et al. defend their article, stating that Humphrey visual fields (HVFs) remain the clinical gold standard for measuring visual defects in hemianopia. They explain that a shift in attention does not automatically cause a shift in fixation, and that, in their study, they created maps with a resolution of 0.1° squared. They proposed a new approach to collecting and analyzing HVFs, while rigorously controlling for drifts in fixation, whether attention-induced or otherwise. In “Visual discrimination training improves Humphrey perimetry in chronic cortically induced blindness,” authors Cavanaugh et al. assessed whether visual discrimination training improves performance on visual perimetry tests in chronic stroke patients with visual cortex involvement. They found that in adults with chronic cortical visual impairment, the blind field border appears to have enhanced plastic potential, which can be recruited by gaze-controlled visual discrimination training to expand the visible field.

PURPOSE The authors designed a malleable awl using a Steinmann pin for transnasal medial canthopexy. METHODS A Steinmann pin with a small eye at the end (00-0187-001-69, Zimmer Inc., Warsaw, IN, U.S.A.) was prepared, and its distal part was bent using pliers (01-9726, Walter Lorenz Surgical Inc., Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.) to make it a semicircle with the diameter of the circle being the intercanthal distance of the patient. RESULTS Transnasal medial canthopexy was performed for 5 patients with telecanthus. All 5 patients had satisfactory results. CONCLUSIONS This malleable awl might allow easy, safe, and stable fixation of the tendon, permit a safe approach with minimal bone fenestration, and be cost effective.

Despite early reports and the contemporary consensus on microsaccades as purely binocular phenomena, recent work has proposed not only the existence of monocular microsaccades, but also that they serve functional purposes. We take a critical look at the detection of monocular microsaccades from a signal perspective, using raw data and a state-of-the-art, video-based eye tracker. In agreement with previous work, monocular detections were present in all participants using a standard microsaccade detection algorithm. However, a closer look at the raw data invalidates the vast majority of monocular detections. These results again raise the question of the existence of monocular microsaccades, as well as the need for improved methods to study small eye movements recorded with video-based eye trackers.

Drinking low levels of alcohol when pregnant seems to subtly affect how a baby's face develops, including the shape of the eyes, nose and lips. Heavy drinking during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, characterized by facial features such as small eye openings, a short, upturned nose and a smooth philtrum over the upper lip. Children with this condition are likely to have attention and behavioral disorders and a lower IQ, says Jane Halliday of the Murdoch Children's Research institute In Victoria, Australia. To see if low levels of alcohol consumption can also affect fetuses, Halliday's team studied l570 women throughout their pregnancies. Of these, 27 percent said they continued to drink at least some alcohol.

The light environment of the mesopelagic realm of the ocean changes with both depth and viewer orientation, and this has probably driven the high diversity of visual adaptations found among its inhabitants. The mesopelagic ‘cockeyed’ squids of family Histioteuthidae have unusual eyes, as the left and right eyes are dimorphic in size, shape and sometimes lens pigmentation. This dimorphism may be an adaptation to the two different sources of light in the mesopelagic realm, with the large eye oriented upward to view objects silhouetted against the dim, downwelling sunlight and the small eye oriented slightly downward to view bioluminescent point sources. We used in situ video footage from remotely operated vehicles in the Monterey Submarine Canyon to observe the orientation behaviour of 152 Histioteuthis heteropsis and nine Stigmatoteuthis dofleini . We found evidence for upward orientation in the large eye and slightly downward orientation in the small eye, which was facilitated by a tail-up oblique body orientation. We also found that 65% of adult H. heteropsis ( n = 69) had yellow pigmentation in the lens of the larger left eye, which may be used to break the counterillumination camouflage of their prey. Finally, we used visual modelling to show that the visual returns provided by increasing eye size are much higher for an upward-oriented eye than for a downward-oriented eye, which may explain the development of this unique visual strategy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Vision in dim light’.

Version of record (published version) freely available online following 12 month embargo from date of publication at the Publisher website .

Following a period of quiescence at the end of last century, the study of microsaccades has now regained strong impetus and broad attention within the vision research community. This new wave of interest, partly fueled by the advent of a new generation of high-resolution eyetrackers, has attracted new researchers and led to new ideas. Old hypothesis have been revisited and new ones formulated. This article is designed to serve as a practical guide for researchers in the field. Because of the history of the field and the difficulty of measuring very small eye movements, the study of microsaccades presents peculiar challenges. Here, we summarize some of the main challenges and describe methods for assessing and improving the quality of the recordings. Furthermore, we examine how these experimental challenges have influenced analysis of the visual functions of microsaccades and critically review current evidence on three long-debated proposals: the maintenance of fixation, the prevention of visual fading, and the exploration of fine spatial detail.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether experience improves detection of small eye movements similar to those seen in the cover test during ideal conditions. Methods: Three groups of examiners with varying amounts of experience in eye movement detection tasks were studied. Eight examiners were 1st-year optometry students, six were 4th-year optometry students, and six were practicing optometrists. To determine thresholds for eye movement detection, examiners indicated the horizontal direction in which the eyes of one of the experimenters moved. The direction and extent of each eye movement was randomly selected. The extent of the eye movement was one of eight logarithmic steps from a maximum that was determined through an initial session where the approximate sensitivity of the examiners was found (generally 6 1.75 prism diopters). Results: Detection thresholds were determined by fitting the data with a cumulative Gaussian function. The mean horizontal eye movement eye movement necessary to obtain 99% correct judgments was 2.65 prism diopters for the 1st-year students, 2.47 prism diopters for the 4th-year students, and 2.40 prism diopters for the practicing optometrists. Conclusions: The results indicate that during ideal conditions, little or no training is required for efficient detection of small eye movements. (Optom Vis Sci 2000;77:670- 674)

A new ogcocephalid batfish,Coelophrys bradburyae, is described on the basis of a single specimen collected from the Pacific coast off Aomori, Japan, at a depth between 557–595 m. The species differs from others of the genus by having a small eye (7.1 in head length), short upper jaw (3.7 in head length), short pectoral and pelvic fins (length 3.0 and 9.6 in head length, respectively), small illicial cavity (width 5.3 in head length), and no bifurcated tubercles on the lateral surface of the body. A key to the species ofCoelophrys is given and the evolutionary relationships of the genus discussed based on cladistic analyses: the sister relationship withHalieutopsis was confirmed and possible paedomorphic states, including the globose body, proposed as having evolved secondarily from a flat-bodied ogcocephalid ancestor.

Anophthalmia or microphthalmia (A/M), characterized by absent or small eye, can be unilateral or bilateral and represent developmental anomalies due to the mutations in several genes. Recently, mutations in aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1, member A3 (ALDH1A3) also known as retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 3, have been reported to cause A/M. Here, we screened a cohort of 75 patients with A/M and showed that mutations in ALDH1A3 occurred in six families. Based on this series, we estimate that mutations in ALDH1A3 represent a major cause of A/M in consanguineous families, and may be responsible for approximately 10% of the cases. Screening of this gene should be performed in a first line of investigation, together with SOX2. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A newborn baby was noted to have a small eye on the right side with partially fused eyelids. There was an impression of the presence of a globe but clinical examination was difficult.

International audience; The mechanisms of eye growth in Swiss-type cheeses have mostly been explained empirically. Greater understanding may be needed to anticipate structural changes that may lead to cracking instead of bubble formation. The microstructure of a Swiss-type cheese was therefore investigated using a multi-scale approach. Two techniques were used: light microscopy to study curd grain patterns, and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to study the organisation of the fat and protein network in the cheese matrix around eyes. Anisotropy was revealed according to the direction of examination, with a different organisation of curd grains along or perpendicular to the pressing axis of the cheese. The curd grains appeared to be highly stretched around the openings. CLSM revealed a difference in composition inside curd grains and at the surface of eyes. Moreover, holes were observed at the interfaces of the grains, possibly corresponding to small eyes or to the origin of cracks. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

The genus Sinopoda Jager, 1999 is recorded for the first time in Laos. Nine new species are described: Sinopoda steineri spec. nov. (female; Luang Nam Tha), S. tham spec. nov. (male, female; Oudomxai), S. sitkao spec. nov. (female; Luang Prabang), S. taa spec. nov. (female; Luang Prabang), S. suang spec. nov. (female; Huaphan), S. peet spec. nov. (female; Huaphan), S. guap spec. nov. (female; Khammuan), S. soong spec. nov. (female; Khammuan), S. scurion spec. nov. (female; Khammuan). All species have been collected from caves. Sinopoda scurion spec. nov. represents the first record of an eyeless huntsman spider, S. guap spec. nov. exhibits only small lenses of six eyes (AME lacking), S. soong spec. nov. has only two small eye lenses. Four immature individuals ( Sinopoda sp. indet. A–D) exhibited a reduced size or number of eyes, they are listed including their localities although they could not be identified to species level.

Holosprosencephaly (HPE) is the most common disorder of the developing forebrain in humans, and is characterized by failed or incomplete cleavage of the cerebral hemispheres and deep brain structures. HPE includes wide phenotypic variability, with a continuum of both brain and craniofacial anomalies.

Children who have an disproportionally small eye or lack one eyeball are likely to suffer from facial asymmetry. In order to gain insight into the pathogenesis and seek effective intervention strategies to it, we studied the biomechanical factors that may affect the development of children’ orbital-bone by establishing a model based on CT images so that biomechanical analyses on two-year-old children’s orbital-bone can be performed. As the preparation for later biomedical analysis, the modeling is performed using software Mimics. Although there have been several reports for orbital-bone until now, most of them are concerned about adults instead of children, especially two-year-old, who are in period of blooming growth,.

During visual fixation, our eyes are not entirely still. Instead, small eye movements, such as microsaccades, can be observed. We here investigate what determines the direction and frequency of these microsaccades, as this information might help to clarify what purpose they serve. The relative contribution of three possible factors was examined: (1) the orienting of covert attention, (2) the spatial distribution of possible target locations, and (3) whether monocular or binocular microsaccades are considered. The orienting of covert attention and the distribution of possible target locations had a relatively weak effect on microsaccade rates and directions. In contrast, the classification of micro-saccades as binocular (occurring in both eyes simultaneously) or monocular (observed in one eye only) strongly affected both the rate and the direction of microsaccades. The results are discussed in the context of existing findings.