To save energy, the European directives from the Eco-design of Energy Using Products (2005/32/CE) have recommended the replacement of incandescent lamps by more economic devices such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). However, the emission spectrum of these devices is enriched in blue radiations, known to be potentially dangerous to the retina. Recent studies showed that light exposure contribute...

The detrimental effects of excess personal solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure include wrinkles, immunosuppression and skin cancer. Approximately 1 000 South Africans die each year from melanoma skin cancer and 30% of all histologically-diagnosed cancers are skin cancers, including the non-fatal non-melanoma skin cancers. Individuals with minimum natural protection from melanin, includin...

The present study was conducted to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of aqueous acetone extract of Sida alba. (Malvaceae) an herbal plant used in Burkina Faso to treat traditionally hepatics affections in albinos Wistar rats. Animals were treated by gavage during 28 days with different doses of aqueous acetone extracts of Sida alba. (75, 100, 150 mg/kg) suspended in 35% ethanol. Control gro...

The biogenesis of thylakoid membranes, an indispensable event for the photoautotrophic growth of plants, requires a significant increase in the level of the unique thylakoid membrane lipid monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), which constitutes the bulk of membrane lipids in chloroplasts. The final step in MGDG biosynthesis occurs in the plastid envelope and is catalyzed by MGDG synthase. Here w...

Wild-type house mice were used to test the effect of intrauterine position on anogenital distance (AGD) and to verify whether crowding stress would masculinize female pups, developing at all intrauterine positions, as has been demonstrated in CF-1 mice stressed by restraint, heat, and light. Stress of crowding was documented by comparing aggressive behavior, litter birth weights, and plasma cor...

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional extension of OCT. In addition to imaging based on tissue reflectivity, PS-OCT also enables depth-resolved mapping of sample polarization properties such as phase-retardation, birefringent axis orientation, Stokes vectors, and degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU). In this study, PS-OCT was used to investigate the po...

Face appearance in support of biometric recognition has been conventional with researcher for many years. Face systems have successfully made the changeover from the research laboratory to the commercial zone. Biometric detection should make use of dimensions that are solely subject-intrinsic, avoiding integration of other contaminate inputs and the property of imaging system revolution as much...

PURPOSE Esotropia is a feature of albinism. Amongst esotropic patients there may be mild unrecognised albinos. Oculocutaneous albinism shares several clinical features with congenital esotropia. It is well known that mammals with oculocutaneous albinism have misrouted retinal ganglion cell axons, most likely caused by the absence of melanin or DOPA during development. We investigated the hypoth...

At the optic chiasm the two optic nerves fuse, and fibers from each eye cross the midline or turn back and remain uncrossed. Having adopted their pathways the fibers separate to form the two optic tracts. Research into the architecture and development of the chiasm has become an area of increasing interest. Many of its mature features are complex and vary between different animal types. It is p...

We assessed the integrity of the prostaglandin synthetic pathway by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) production and studied platelet aggregation responses to arachidonic acid and PGG2 in 12 patients with storage pool deficiency (SPD). Eight patients were deficient only in dense granules (delta-SPD) and four were deficient in both dense and alpha-granules (alpha delta-SPD). Production of MDA in r...