Level of Eye Care Among Eye Care Providers Themselves.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of eye disease and frequency of eye examinations among eye care providers themselves. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, an anonymous questionnaire was used to evaluate occurrence of eye disease and frequency of eye examinations among eye care providers including the clinicians (ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents, and optometrists) as well as the support staff (ophthalmic technicians and eye clinic administrative staff). RESULTS: The survey response rate was 98 of 173 (56.6%) including 50 ophthalmic technicians, 27 ophthalmologists, 7 ophthalmology residents, 6 optometrists, and 8 eye clinic administrative staff members. The most common reported ocular condition was dry eye disease (36.7%). Myopia and hyperopia were present in 60 (61.2%) and 13 (13.3%), respectively. Myopia was significantly more prevalent among the clinicians (75.0%) than in the support staff (51.7%, P =0.02). The most recent eye examination was within the past year in 42 (42.9%), 1 to 2 years in 28 (28.6%), 3 to 5 years in 14 (14.3%), and over 5 years in 10 (10.2%). Four (4.1%) had never had an eye examination before. The number of eye examinations received was significantly higher in the support staff compared with the clinicians for the past one year (0.86±0.74 vs 0.43±0.59, respectively, P =0.003) and the past five years (2.81±2.08 vs 1.75±1.78, respectively, P =0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Dry eye disease and myopia are common among eye care providers. A significant portion of eye care providers do not have regular eye examinations for themselves.

The complex, dynamic SpliceOme of the small GTPase transcripts altered by technique, sex, genetics, tissue specificity, and RNA base editing.

The small GTPase family is well-studied in cancer and cellular physiology. With 162 annotated human genes, the family has a broad expression throughout cells of the body. Members of the family have multiple exons that require splicing. Yet, the role of splicing within the family has been underexplored. We have studied the splicing dynamics of small GTPases throughout 41,671 samples by integrating Nanopore and Illumina sequencing techniques. Within this work, we have made several discoveries. 1). Using the GTEx long read data of 92 samples, each small GTPase gene averages two transcripts, with 83 genes (51%) expressing two or more isoforms. 2). Cross-tissue analysis of GTEx from 17,382 samples shows 41 genes (25%) expressing two or more protein-coding isoforms. These include protein-changing transcripts in genes such as RHOA, RAB37, RAB40C, RAB4B, RAB5C, RHOC, RAB1A, RAN, RHEB, RAC1, and KRAS. 3). The isolation and library technique of the RNAseq influences the abundance of non-sense-mediated decay and retained intron transcripts of small GTPases, which are observed more often in genes than appreciated. 4). Analysis of 16,243 samples of "Blood PAXgene" identified seven genes (3.7%; RHOA, RAB40C, RAB4B, RAB37, RAB5B, RAB5C, RHOC) with two or more transcripts expressed as the major isoform (75% of the total gene), suggesting a role of genetics in altering splicing. 5). Rare (ARL6, RAB23, ARL13B, HRAS, NRAS) and common variants (GEM, RHOC, MRAS, RAB5B, RERG, ARL16) can influence splicing and have an impact on phenotypes and diseases. 6). Multiple genes (RAB9A, RAP2C, ARL4A, RAB3A, RAB26, RAB3C, RASL10A, RAB40B, and HRAS) have sex differences in transcript expression. 7). Several exons are included or excluded for small GTPase genes (RASEF, KRAS, RAC1, RHEB, ARL4A, RHOA, RAB30, RHOBTB1, ARL16, RAP1A) in one or more forms of cancer. 8). Ten transcripts are altered in hypoxia (SAR1B, IFT27, ARL14, RAB11A, RAB10, RAB38, RAN, RIT1, RAB9A) with RHOA identified to have a transient 3'UTR RNA base editing at a conserved site found in all of its transcripts. Overall, we show a remarkable and dynamic role of splicing within the small GTPase family that requires future explorations.

Visuomotor Figure Construction and Visual Figure Delayed Recall and Recognition in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) develop visuospatial deficits over time, and those with logopenic variant (lvPPA) are at greatest risk of developing such deficits. However, not all previous studies of visuospatial deficits in PPA have ensured equivalent duration of disease across variants and few have measured deficits longitudinally. AIMS: The aims of our study were to: 1) investigate differences in baseline visuomotor figure construction, visual figure delayed recall, and figure recognition in PPA variants with similar symptom duration at baseline, and 2) explore patterns of decline in these areas. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Ninety-three individuals with PPA [39 lvPPA, 24 nonfluent agrammatic PPA (nfaPPA), and 30 semantic variant PPA (svPPA)] were administered the Benson Complex Figure Copy, Benson Complex Figure Delay (Recall), and Benson Figure Recognition. Thirty individuals completed this testing 3 to 47 months post baseline. OUTCOME & RESULTS: Participants with lvPPA and svPPA showed lower mean scores than those with nfaPPA on visual figure delayed recall at baseline, even though there were no differences in estimated time from disease onset or correlation with disease severity as reflected by naming performance, F(2, 90) = 5.78, p < .004. Those with nfaPPA performed significantly better than those with lvPPA, Tukey HSD p < .05, and those with svPPA, Tukey HSD p < .01. There were no differences between variants in rate of decline in visuomotor figure construction, visual figure delayed recall, and figure recognition. CONCLUSIONS: These findings revealed relatively spared visuospatial memory in nfaPPA, which may aid in the differential diagnosis of PPA and contribute to designing therapy or compensatory strategies.