To determine the accuracy of intraocular lens (IOL) calculations in eyes undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery with IOL implantation using immersion A-scan ultrasound (US) and Lenstar LS 900(®) biometry. In this prospective study, 200 eyes of 200 patients were randomized to undergo either Lenstar LS 900(®) or immersion A-scan US biometry to determine the IOL dioptric power prior to phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Post-operative refractive outcomes of these two groups of patients were compared. The result showed no significant difference between the target spherical equivalent (SE) and the post-operative SE value by the Lenstar LS 900(®) (p value = 0.632) or immersion A-scan US biometry (p value = 0.438) devices. The magnitude of difference between the two biometric devices were not significantly different (p value = 0.868). There was no significant difference in the predicted post-operative refractive outcome between immersion A-scan US biometry and Lenstar LS 900(®). Based on the results, the immersion A-scan US technique is as accurate as Lenstar LS 900(®) in the hands of an experienced operator.
Testicular volume (TV) is one of the most important traits used in evaluation of the reproductive capacity of male animals. The levelled-container used in the present study was found to be reliable instrument to measure TV, based on a water displacement method. Sperm-associated antigen 11 (SPAG11) is an important gene that affects male reproductive performance. An objective of the present study, therefore, was to determine if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a fragment of the SPAG11 gene could be used to determine associations with values of testicular biometric variables in Boer goats. Primers were designed to amplify the full length of the first two exons of SPAG11. The targeted fragment was generated using a molecular cloning technique. As the result, four SNPs, [g.1256A > G(ss19199134542), g.1270C > T(ss19199134541), g.1325A > G(ss19199134540) and g.1327 G > A (ss19199134543)], were detected using a single-base extension (SBE) method. Two of these SNPs were synonymous (ss19199134540 and ss19199134542). The other two SNPs were nonsynonymous, thus, there were changes in amino acid in the resulting protein: threonine to isoleucine (for ss19199134541) and arginine to glutamine (for ss19199134543). The SNP ss19199134543 was the only locus detected that was associated with TV (P = 0.002). None of the testes dimensions nor TW were associated with detected SPAG11 gene SNPs. Most likely, the ss19199134543 locus affects tissue structures adjacent to the testes, causing the change in TV. In conclusion, among the studied testicular biometric variables, TV had the greatest potential for preselecting of bucks with desirable semen quality. The use of the levelled-container as a TV measurement approach was an accurate and reliable method.
Utilizing the multiple degrees of freedom offered by the data glove for each finger and the hand, a novel on-line signature verification system using the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) numerical tool for signature classification and verification is presented. The proposed technique is based on the Singular Value Decomposition in finding r singular vectors sensing the maximal energy of glove data matrix A, called principal subspace, so the effective dimensionality of A can be reduced. Having modeled the data glove signature through its r-principal subspace, signature authentication is performed by finding the angles between the different subspaces. A demonstration of the data glove is presented as an effective high-bandwidth data entry device for signature verification. This SVD-based signature verification technique is tested and its performance is shown to be able to recognize forgery signatures with a false acceptance rate of less than 1.2%.