Vision-related quality of life after unilateral occipital stroke.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Stroke damage to the primary visual cortex induces large, homonymous visual field defects that impair daily living. Here, we asked if vision-related quality of life (VR-QoL) is impacted by time since stroke. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted a retrospective meta-analysis of 95 occipital stroke patients (female/male = 26/69, 27-78 years old, 0.5-373.5 months poststroke) in whom VR-QoL was estimated using the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) and its 10-item neuro-ophthalmic supplement (Neuro10). Visual deficit severity was represented by the perimetric mean deviation (PMD) calculated from 24-2 Humphrey visual fields. Data were compared with published cohorts of visually intact controls. The relationship between VR-QoL and time poststroke was assessed across participants, adjusting for deficit severity and age with a multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Occipital stroke patients had significantly lower NEI-VFQ and Neuro10 composite scores than controls. All subscale scores describing specific aspects of visual ability and functioning were impaired except for ocular pain and general health, which did not differ significantly from controls. Surprisingly, visual deficit severity was not correlated with either composite score, both of which increased with time poststroke, even when adjusting for PMD and age. CONCLUSIONS: VR-QoL appears to improve with time postoccipital stroke, irrespective of visual deficit size or patient age at insult. This may reflect the natural development of compensatory strategies and lifestyle adjustments. Thus, future studies examining the impact of rehabilitation on daily living in this patient population should consider the possibility that their VR-QoL may change gradually over time, even without therapeutic intervention.

Effect of Microstructure on Contact Angle and Corrosion of Ductile Iron: Iron-Graphite Composite.

Ductile iron samples with similar compositions and varying microstructures were uniformly abraded, and the effects of phase fractions (ferrite, pearlite, and graphite) on the apparent contact angle (with water) and corrosion characteristics of ductile iron were investigated. We also investigated the effect of droplet volume on the apparent contact angle of ductile iron. Irrespective of the droplet size, the ductile iron system followed the Wenzel model of wetting, and the contact angle increased with increasing droplet volume. The Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter contact angles were calculated, and the calculated results agreed well with the experimental results. It was experimentally proven that pearlite is more susceptible to corrosion than ferrite and graphite, and a higher portion of pearlite in the microstructure can be detrimental to the corrosion resistance of the material. Understanding the relationship between the microstructure, contact angle, and corrosion can be used to develop materials with higher contact angle and corrosion-resistant microstructures. Using metal pipes that have high contact angles is desirable because artificial coatings on metal pipes can degrade over time leading to high cost of replacement and contamination to water systems.