A research opportunity : “3D-ROSE” : virtual reality preparation for children having radiotherapy or imaging procedures

Professor Christian Langton is a medical physicist at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He has developed a way of preparing children who are about to have either radiotherapy or MRI imaging procedures and is seeking research partners to develop and test these further. This is a great opportunity for nurses interested in research, and who have access to a children’s hospital, to work with Professor Langton on some truly innovative, multidisciplinary research.

Observation of solution-induced corneal staining with fluorescein, rose bengal and lissamine green

Ever since sodium fluorescein (‘fluorescein’ [FL]) was first used to investigate the ocular surface over a century ago, the term ‘staining’ has been taken to mean the presence of ocular surface fluorescence [1]. This term has not been necessarily taken to infer any particular mechanism of causation, and indeed, can be attributed to a variety of possible aetiologies [2]. In recent times, there has been considerable interest in a form of ocular surface fluorescence seen in association with the use of certain combinations of soft contact lenses and multipurpose solutions. The first clinical account of this phenomenon was reported by Jones et al. [3], which was followed by a more formal investigation by the same author in 2002 [4]. Jones et al described this appearance as a ‘classic solution-based toxicity reaction’. Subsequently, this appearance has come to be known as ‘solution-induced corneal staining’ or more recently by the acronym ‘SICS’ [5]. The term SICS is potentially problematic in that from a cell biology point of view, there is an inference that ‘staining’ means the entry of a dye into corneal epithelial cells. Morgan and Maldonado-Codina [2] noted there was no foundation of solid scientific literature underpinning our understanding of the true basic causative mechanisms of this phenomenon; since that time, further work has been published in this field [6] and [7] but questions still remain about the precise aetiology of this phenomenon...

Adapting “8-bit” motion style to 3D computer animation for Wreck-it Ralph

Tangled (2011) demonstrated that Walt Disney Animation has successfully extended the traditional Disney animation aesthetic to the 3D medium. The very next film produced by the studio however, Wreck-it Ralph (2012), required the animators (trained in the traditional Disney style) to develop a limited style of animation inspired by the 8-bit motion of 1980s video games. This paper examines the 8-bit style motion in Wreck-it Ralph to understand if and how the principles of animation were adapted for the film.

Characterization of novel microsatellite markers derived from Korean rose bitterling (Rhodeus uyekii) genomic library

Korean rose bitterling (Rhodeus uyekii) is a freshwater fish endemic to Korea. Natural populations of this species have experienced severe declines as a result of habitat fragmentation and water pollution. To conserve and restore R. uyekii, the genetic diversity of this species needs to be assessed at the population level. Eighteen novel polymorphic microsatellite loci for R. uyekii were developed using an enriched partial genomic library. Polymorphisms at these loci were studied in 150 individuals collected from three populations. The number of alleles at each locus ranged from 3 to 47 (mean = 17.1). Within the populations, the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.032 to 1.000, expected heterozygosity from 0.082 to 0.967, and polymorphism information content from 0.078 to 0.950. Six loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni’s correction, and no significant linkage disequilibrium was detected between most locus pairs, except in three cases. These highly informative microsatellite markers should be useful for genetic population structure analyses of R. uyekii.