Filtering erroneous protein annotation.

MOTIVATION: Automatically generated annotation on protein data of UniProt (Universal Protein Resource) is planned to be publicly available on the UniProt web pages in April 2004. It is expected that the data content of over 500,000 protein entries in the TrEMBL section will be enhanced by the output of an automated annotation pipeline. However, a part of the automatically added data will be erroneous, as are parts of the information coming from other sources. We present a post-processing system called Xanthippe that is based on a simple exclusion mechanism and a decision tree approach using the C4.5 data-mining algorithm. RESULTS: It is shown that Xanthippe detects and flags a large part of the annotation errors and considerably increases the reliability of both automatically generated data and annotation from other sources. As a cross-validation to Swiss-Prot shows, errors in protein descriptions, comments and keywords are successfully filtered out. Xanthippe is a contradictive application that can be combined seamlessly with predictive systems. It can be used either to improve the precision of automated annotation at a constant level of recall or increase the recall at a constant level of precision. AVAILABILITY: The application of the Xanthippe rules can be browsed at http://www.ebi.uniprot.org/

[Incomitance patterns in different ocular motility disorders]. / Inkomitanzverhalten bei verschiedenen okulären Bewegungsstörungen.

By measuring the angles stepwise through the whole field of gaze or through selected meridians the pattern of incomitance can be analyzed. It can be graphically demonstrated by "incomitance curves" or "-lines". A preliminary but very useful guess of the incomitance pattern can be obtained in performing the cover test turning the head of the patient passively in small steps. The Hess-Screen gives a quick and useful graphical overview. Synoptometer and Harms tangent screen allow a detailed study. The evaluation of the incomitance pattern allows conclusions on the etiology and explains the remaining binocular field and the head position. In neurogenic palsies, the angle increases in a linear fashion, whereas in passive motor disturbances the angle may increase sharply, change its direction in the opposite direction of gaze and show a zone of concomitance. Duanes retraction syndrome shows passive components. Examples of patients with specific incomitance patterns are shown.

[Detection of pediatric visual defect]. / Erkennen der kindlichen Sehbehinderung.

The clinical evaluation of children under one year of age suspected of blindness or severe visual impairment is discussed. Etiology of childhood blindness has shown a marked decrease of acquired causes. A marked increase occurs of the group of combined visually and generally handicapped children. This is due mainly to the increase in cerebral visual disturbances in cerebral palsies. Differentiation between visual handicap on one side and psychomotor handicap on the other side is difficult. Non visual stimulation of motor activities and observation of the level of development may be helpful. The important question to be answered is whether the actual visual capacity is sufficient for the stimulation of the development of the psychomotor potential.

[Isolated trochlear nerve paralysis following head trauma]. / Isolierte Trochlearisparesen nach Schädeltrauma.

39 cases with isolated trochlear nerve palsies of traumatic origin have been analyzed retrospectively. 18 patients (46%) had had cerebral contusion, 15 (39%) cerebral concussion, and 6 patients (15%) a minor head trauma. 33 patients had unilateral trochlear nerve palsies and 6 (all of them with cerebral contusion) bilateral. The degree of the palsies did not correlate with the severity of the head trauma. Essential pathogenetic mechanisms were frontal or occipital blows. We emphasize a fact hitherto underestimated in the literature, that even a relatively mild head trauma (cerebral concussion or minor head trauma) can cause isolated trochlear nerve palsies. This was the case in 21 of our 39 patients (54%). Simple clinical examination techniques are described (Bielschowsky phenomenon, pencil test), which allow detection of trochlear nerve palsies in most cases.

[Incomitance pattern in Duane's syndrome]. / Zur Frage des Inkomitanzmusters beim Duane-Syndrom.

Incomitance patterns were studied in 13 cases of Duane's syndrome. In most cases the patterns found were of a nonlinear type. An attempt is made to relate the incomitance patterns to the clinical picture and to compare them with other incomitant disorders.

Septo-optic pituitary dysplasia. Observations on three patients.

Septo-optic pituitary dysplasia is a relatively rare but pathophysiologically interesting malformation of the brain midline structures including optic chiasm and nerves, hypothalamus, neurohypophysis and septum pellucidum. The lesion develops between the 5th and 8th week of pregnancy. The cause is unknown but heredity seems unlikely. Symptoms result from hypothalamic and neurohypophyseal insufficiency of variable severity combined with reduced vision due to hypoplasia of optic nerves and chiasm. Prognosis is variable, depending on the severity of the defect as well as on the earliest time of diagnosis followed by suitable hormone substitution and specialized care of blindness. We present the clinical course in three patients and the pathological findings in one patient who died in the 14th month of life.

[Indications for interventions on oblique muscles of the eye (author's transl)]. / Indikationen zur Operation an den schrägen Augenmuskeln.

Interventions in cases of vertical squint are done in most cases on the oblique muscles. Vertical squint occurs most frequently as a vertical component in horizontal deviations in children with early concomitant strabismus. Without horizontal deviation but with binocular vision, it is rare in symmetric, but rather frequent in asymmetric forms: the sursoadductory form occurs as "congenital trochlear paresis", the deorsoadductory form as "Brown's syndrome". Acquired paresis can cause oblique vertical forms of squint. Operative indications to be observed: 1. Size and nature of vertical deviation, changes of field of gaze. In horizontal and vertical changes of gaze, different patterns of incomitance have to be observed. 2. Horizontal components of squint: Their correction does not abolish VD (vertical deviation), this should be performed by intervention on the obliqui. In A- and V- incomitance with dysfunction of the vertical motors, these have to be operated on. 3. Method of fixation: If forms of upper squint are asymmetric, both eyes should be operated on.

[Illustration of the incomitance pattern in congenital unilateral obliquus superior paresis with the synoptometer (author's transl)]. / Die Darstellung des Inkomitanzmusters kongenitaler einseitiger Obliquus-superior-Paresen mit dem Synoptometer.

The step-by-step measurement of VD (vertical deviation) by means of the synoptometer demonstrates the incomitance pattern clearly. This procedure was applied in 28 cases of congenital trochlear palsy. Three incomitance patterns of VD produced by the horizontal change of gaze were found: Adduction type: Absence of VD in abduction and primary position, marked increase in adduction. A zone of relative concomitance with comfortable binocular vision may be found. Linear type: Linear increase of VD with the movement toward adduction. Marked VD in primary position. Compensation more difficult. Mixed type: Linear type with marked VD in abduction. In all cases, the horizontal angle was very small, often together with a moderate V-incomitance. The incomitance caused by vertical change of gaze was only moderate. It occurred mainly between the horizontal and elevated positions. The above-mentioned classification and the classification based on incomitance with vertical change of gaze are compared.

[Microtropia - heterophoria]. / Mikrotropie - Heterophorie.

In 31 cases of microtropia combined with large angle esophoria, prism treatment and surgery to eliminates the phoria component were performed. In 19 cases a stable microsotropia remained after elimination of the phoria component. In 12 cases unstable microtropia was found, i.e., the microtropia disappeared after treatment. In these cases, microtropia may be secondary to the heterophoria. The treatment of the esophoria component in cases of microtropia/esophoria with refraction or bifocal correction, prisms and surgery is as much indicated as in simple esophoria.

[Results of the surgical therapy of exotropia (author's transl)]. / Resultate der operativen Behandlung bei Exotropie.

An analysis of 113 exotropia operations showed a reduction of the evodeviation for distance to a residual angle of -9 and -12 delta. In 67 cases with unilateral surgery (recession-resection) each additional millimeter beyond two millimeters produced a reduction of angle of about 3 delta for distance, the variance, however, was considerable. The operation of 58 cases with intermittant exotropia improved the manifestation for distance significantly in 71%.

[On the indications for treatment of intermittent exotropia (author's transl)]. / Zur Behandlungsindikation bei intermittierender Exotropie.

The most decisive factors for surgical intervention in intermittent exotropia are the frequency of manifest deviation, the motor disturbancies and the degree of binocular functions present. The disturbance of binocular function may be characterised primarily by the extent to which binocular vision is convergence-dependent. We prescribe increasingly strong correcting prisms preoperatively. The aim is to attain and stabilise the divergent position of rest, to approximate the near and distant angles in cases of pseudodivergenceexcess, and to eliminate convergence-dependency of binocular vision.