A one-year view on the association of metabolic syndrome and cognitive function in bipolar disorder - Preliminary data.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with bipolar disorder have a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and an increased risk for cognitive deficits. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the trajectory of cognitive decline in dependence of metabolic syndrome over a one-year interval. METHODS: 52 well-diagnosed individuals with bipolar disorder, euthymic at baseline and follow-up (n = 17 with metabolic syndrome vs. n = 35 without metabolic syndrome) were investigated with a comprehensive neurocognitive test battery (Trail Making Test A/B, Digit Symbol Test, California Verbal Leaning Test, or the Verbal Learning and Memory Test respectively) twice within the interval of one year. RESULTS: Patients with bipolar disorder and additional metabolic syndrome performed significantly worse in the domain of psychomotor and processing speed/attention than patients without metabolic syndrome at test point one. No deteriorating effects of metabolic syndrome on the cognitive domain scores and overall cognitive performance were found at the one-year follow up. However, no cognitive decline could be reported in both groups. LIMITATIONS: Time interval, small sample size and selection of metabolic syndrome affected patients were the major limitations of this study. CONCLUSION: There was no association of metabolic syndrome on the one-year trajectory of cognitive function in bipolar disorder. Future studies should expand the observation period and investigate larger samples.

[Optical quality of three trifocal intraocular lens models : An optical bench comparison]. / Optische Qualität dreier trifokaler Intraokularlinsenmodelle : Vergleich an der optischen Bank.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the optical quality of different trifocal intraocular lenses (IOL) is important in customized patient care. OBJECTIVE: Different trifocal IOL were compared regarding their optical quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the FineVision (PhysIOL, Liège, Belgium), the AT LISA tri 839MP (Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany), and the AcrySofIQ PanOptix (Alcon, Fort Worth, TX, USA) with a power of +21D for the distance using the OptiSpheric IOL PRO optical bench (Trioptics, Wedel, Germany). The additions for the near and intermediate distances were as follows: +3.5D/+1.75D (FineVision), +3.33D/+1.66D (AT LISA tri), and + 3,25D/+ 2,17D (PanOptix). We evaluated the modulation transfer function (MTF) at a spatial frequency of 50lp/mm and the Strehl ratio using 3­ (photopic) and 4.5-mm (mesopic) apertures. RESULTS: The MTF at 50 lp/mm (FineVision/AT Lisa tri/PanOptix) at the far focus was 0.373/0.399/0.400 (3-mm aperture) and 0.512/0.311/0.243 (4.5-mm aperture). At the intermediate focus, the MTF was 0.162/0.147/0.153 (3-mm aperture) and 0.092/0.125/0.137 (4.5-mm aperture). The MTF at the near focus was 0.229/0.192/0.404 (3-mm aperture) and 0.217/0.212/0.169 (4.5-mm aperture). The Strehl ratio was 0.335/0.298/0.370 (3-mm aperture) and 0.243/0.180/0.270 (4.5-mm aperture) at the far focus. At intermediate distances, the Strehl ratio was 0.189/0.185/0.162 (3-mm aperture) and 0.099/0.097/0.114 (4.5-mm aperture). The Strehl ratio was 0.305/0.283/0.464 (3-mm aperture) and 0.177/0.181/0.155 (4.5-mm aperture) at the near focus. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of the three trifocal IOL models at the optical bench could show distinct peaks at the far, intermediate, and near focus. The results were comparable in terms of optical performance.

Fermi orbital self-interaction corrected electronic structure of molecules beyond local density approximation.

The correction of the self-interaction error that is inherent to all standard density functional theory calculations is an object of increasing interest. In this article, we apply the very recently developed Fermi-orbital based approach for the self-interaction correction [M. R. Pederson et al., J. Chem. Phys. 140, 121103 (2014) and M. R. Pederson, J. Chem. Phys. 142, 064112 (2015)] to a set of different molecular systems. Our study covers systems ranging from simple diatomic to large organic molecules. We focus our analysis on the direct estimation of the ionization potential from orbital eigenvalues. Further, we show that the Fermi orbital positions in structurally similar molecules appear to be transferable.

[Impact of an Aspherical Aberration Correcting Monofocal Intraocular Lens on Patient Satisfaction for Daily Life Activities: The Heidelberg Daily Task Evaluation (DATE) Questionnaire]. / Einfluss einer asphärischen, aberrationskorrigierenden, monofokalen IOL auf die Patientenzufriedenheit im Rahmen der alltäglichen Tätigkeiten: Heidelberger "Daily-Tasks-Evaluation"-Fragebogen.

BACKGROUND: A clinical evaluation of the functional results and its impact on daily activities of an aspherical, aberration correcting intraocular lens (IOL) was undertaken. PATIENTS/METHODS: Twenty-one patients aged from 50 to 83 years underwent cataract surgery with implantation of the aspheric IOL (Tecnis ZCB00, Abbott Medical Optics). They were evaluated 2 to 4 months after surgery for their subjective satisfaction of vision quality and its impact on performance of daily activities as well as functional results and refractive outcome. Patients were asked to fill out a questionnaire - the Heidelberg DATE (DAily Tasks Evaluation) questionnaire. RESULTS: Significant changes from pre- to postoperative results were found in refraction (p ≤ 0.03), with a mean prediction error of + 0.21 ± 0.43 D. UDVA and CDVA improved significantly (p < 0.01), with a postoperative CDVA of 0.0 logMAR or better in 97.1 % of eyes. All patients would recommend the procedure to a relative or a friend and 93.8 % of patients reported to be satisfied with the outcome. CONCLUSION: The implantation of the aspheric IOL Tecnis ZCB00 after cataract surgery allows the restoration of visual function, providing an optimised optical quality and a high level of patient satisfaction.