Ocular surface evaluation in eyes with chronic glaucoma on long term topical antiglaucoma therapy

AIM： To evaluate ocular surface changes and its correlation with the central corneal subbasal nerve fibre layer in chronic glaucoma patients. METHODS： A prospective comparative study of ocular surface evaluation was performed in 50 eyes of 25 patients using two or more antiglaucoma medications for at least 6too and 50 eyes of 25 normal subjects without any ocular problems as controls. The study parameters evaluated included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, ocular surface evaluation parameters [fluorescein break-up time （FTBUT）, Schirmer＇s I test, ocular surface staining scores and ocular surface disease index score （OSDI）], central corneal sensation （Cochet Bonnett aesthesiometer）, central subbasal nerve fiber layer density （SBNFLD） by confocal microscopy. RESULTS： The mean values in the glaucoma cases and control groups respectively were as follows： OSDI score （35.89±16.07/6.02±3.84; P=-0.001）, Schirmer＇s I test score （7.632.64 mm/12.86±1.93 mm; P=-0.001）, FTBUT （9.442.76s/11.8±1.88s; P=0.001）, corneal （5.7±2.33/ 1.1±0.58; P=0.001） and conjunctival staining score （5.061.94/0.84±0.46; P=0.001）, corneal sensitivity （4.68±0.44/5.07±0.37; P=0.076）, mean subbasal nerve fiber number （3.58±0.99/5.40±1.70; P=0.001）, SBNFL length （1101.44±287.56 pm/1963.70±562.56 pro; P=0.001） and density （6883.941798.03 pm/mm/12 273.153516.04 pm/mm2; P=O.O01）. Dry eye severity of level 2 and 3 was seen in 66% of glaucoma group. Corneal （/=0.86） and conjunctival staining （R2=0.71） and OSDI score （R=0.67） showed statistically significant negative correlation with central corneal SBNFLD while FTBUT （R==0.84）, corneal sensitivity （/=0.52） showed positive correlation to central corneal SBNFLD in the long term topical antiglaucoma medication group. CONCLUSION： Ocular surface changes and antiglaucoma therapy induced dry eye is found to be associated with decreased SBNFLD in eyes on long term topical antiglaucoma medications.

Development of port fuel injected methanol(M85)-fuelled two-wheeler for sustainable transport

Due to increasingly stringent environmental pollution norms,there is a need for alternate combustion techniques and alternate fuels to keep up with changing trends.One of the viable solutions for India is the adaptation of methanol as a fuel for automotive sector.Therefore,in this study a functional two-wheeler prototype was developed,which uses M85(85%v/v methanol and 15%v/v gasoline)in an electronic control unit(ECU)controlled port fuel injected(PFI)engine.This study included comparative investigations of simulated on-road two-wheeler performance on chassis dynamometer using a gasoline-fuelled motorcycle with stock ECU vis-a-vis M85-fuelled motorcycle using recalibrated ECU.ECU recalibration exhibited that M85-fuelled vehicle was operated at relatively more advanced spark timing compared to baseline gasoline-fuelled vehicle.Performance results showed that M85-fuelled motorcycle produced relatively higher engine power and higher maximum vehicle speed compared to gasoline-fuelled motorcycle.Relatively superior acceleration characteristics(especially at higher speeds)of M85-fuelled motorcycle was another important finding of this study,indicating that M85 provided superior throttle response compared to gasoline.Comparative analysis of raw tailpipe emissions showed that modified M85-fuelled motorcycle emitted relatively higher hydrocarbon(HC),carbon monoxide(CO)and oxides of nitrogen(NO_x)emissions compared to stock gasoline-fuelled motorcycle.However,these emissions can be controlled by using adaptation of suitable after-treatment systems.