The time course of dark adaptation was measured in 10 subjects from three families with autosomal dominant sector retinitis pigmentosa (RP) due to mutations in the first exon of the rod opsin gene. In each subject cone adaptation and the early part of the recovery of rod sensitivity followed the normal time course, but the later phase of rod adaptation was markedly prolonged. The recovery of ro...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of ceramic surface texture on the wear of rounded rod specimens. Plate specimens were fabricated from zirconia (ZrO2), feldspathic porcelain, and lithium disilicate glass ceramics (LDG ceramics). Plate surfaces were either ground or polished. Rounded rod specimens with a 2.0-mm-diameter were fabricated from type 4 gold alloy and heat-press...

In the retina, rod and cone photoreceptors form distinct connections with different classes of downstream bipolar cells. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for their selective connectivity are unknown. Here we identify a cell-adhesion protein, ELFN1, to be essential for the formation of synapses between rods and rod ON-bipolar cells in the primary rod pathway. ELFN1 is expressed sele...

PURPOSE To investigate whether rod a-wave analysis using high intensity flashes adds information above that obtained with standard ERG. METHODS A total of 2,396 eyes were recorded. Patient age was 2.4 months-84.6 years. RESULTS A-wave analysis of high intensity flashes provided additional information on rod system function in 25% of eyes recorded, most importantly in subjects with midretina...

The time course of rod dark adaptation was measured in 12 patients and carriers of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). In contrast to previous studies the rod absolute threshold was determined prior to any exposure to the bleaching light. For seven of the patients and carriers the recovery of rod sensitivity to the prebleach level was prolonged, with the delay ranging from mild to severe. The prolongati...

Brain microglial morphology relates to function, with ramified microglia surveying the micro-environment and amoeboid microglia engulfing debris. One subgroup of microglia, rod microglia, have been observed in a number of pathological conditions, however neither a function nor specific morphology has been defined. Historically, rod microglia have been described intermittently as cells with a sa...

Although the visual system occupies nearly half of the mammalian brain, we still do not completely understand its first synaptic stage. One reason is that the dendrites postsynaptic to photoreceptors comprise such a maze of fine processes that doubt remains whether all the second order circuits have been identified—even after 4 decades of electron microscopy. Now advanced functional methods app...

Sensor based planning for rod-shaped robots is necessary for the realistic deployment of noncircular symmetric robots into unknown environments. To this end, the rod hierarchical generalized Voronoi graph (rod-HGVG), introduced in this paper, is a roadmap for rod-like robots. A key feature of this roadmap is that it can be incrementally constructed using distance (range) information. This plann...