To assess the long-term stability of clinical measures of convergence (near point of convergence [NPC] and positive fusional vergence [PFV]) in participants enrolled in the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial-Attention and Reading Trial (CITT-ART) who received 16 weeks of office-based vergence/accommodative therapy. A total of 310 children, 9–14 years old, with symptomatic convergence insufficiency were enrolled in CITT-ART. Some 270 completed both their 16-week primary outcome visit followed by a 1-year follow-up visit. Of those 270, 181 (67

This study evaluated the ability of QuickSee to detect children at risk for significant vision conditions (significant refractive error [RE], amblyopia and strabismus). Non-cycloplegic refraction (using QuickSee without and with +2 dioptre (D) fogging lenses) and unaided binocular near visual acuity (VA) were measured in 4- to 12-year-old children. Eye examination findings (VA, cover testing and cycloplegic retinoscopy) were used to determine the presence of vision conditions. QuickSee performance was summarised by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity for various levels of RE. QuickSee referral criteria for each vision condition were chosen to maximise sensitivity at a specificity of approximately 85

To survey paediatric eye care providers to identify current patterns of prescribing for hyperopia. Paediatric eye care providers were invited, via email, to participate in a survey to evaluate current age-based refractive error prescribing practices. Questions were designed to determine which factors may influence the survey participant's prescribing pattern (e.g., patient's age, magnitude of hyperopia, patient's symptoms, heterophoria and stereopsis) and if the providers were to prescribe, how much hyperopic correction would they prescribe (e.g., full or partial prescription). The response distributions by profession (optometry and ophthalmology) were compared using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov cumulative distribution function test. Responses were submitted by 738 participants regarding how they prescribe for their hyperopic patients. Most providers within each profession considered similar clinical factors when prescribing. The percentages of optometrists and ophthalmologists who reported considering the factor often differed significantly. Factors considered similarly by both optometrists and ophthalmologists were the presence of symptoms (98.0

SIGNIFICANCE Highly hyperopic children are at greater risk for developing conditions such as strabismus, amblyopia, and early literacy and reading problems. High hyperopia is a common finding in infants in a pediatric medical practice, and early detection can be done effectively in that setting with tropicamide autorefraction. PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot screening program to detect high hyperopia in 2-month-old infants in a pediatric medical practice in Columbus, Ohio. METHODS Cycloplegic refractive error (1% tropicamide) was measured by retinoscopy and autorefraction with the Welch Allyn SureSight (Welch Allyn/Hillrom, Skaneateles Falls, NY) in 473 infants (55.4% female) who were undergoing their 2-month well-baby visit at their pediatrician's medical practice. Cycloplegic retinoscopy (1% cyclopentolate) was repeated at a subsequent visit in 35 infants with ≥+5.00 D hyperopia in the most hyperopic meridian during the screening. RESULTS Twenty-eight infants (5.9%) had high hyperopia (spherical equivalent, ≥+5.00 D), and 61 (12.9%) had high hyperopia (≥+5.00 D in at least one meridian of at least one eye) by retinoscopy with 1% tropicamide. The mean ± standard deviation spherical equivalent tropicamide cycloplegic refractive error measured with retinoscopy was +2.54 ± 1.54 D (range, −3.25 to +7.00 D) and with SureSight was +2.29 ± 1.64 D (range, −2.90 to +7.53 D). Retinoscopy done using 1% cyclopentolate was 0.44 ± 0.54 D more hyperopic in spherical equivalent than with 1% tropicamide (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS High hyperopia was a common finding in 2-month-old infants in a pediatric medical setting that could be detected effectively by cycloplegic autorefraction using tropicamide. Greater cooperation between pediatric primary vision and medical care could lead to effective vision screenings designed to detect high hyperopia in infants.

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between peripheral defocus and pupil size on axial growth in children randomly assigned to wear either single vision contact lenses, +1.50 diopter (D), or +2.50 D addition multifocal contact lenses (MFCLs). Methods:Children 7 to 11 years old with myopia (-0.75 to -5.00 D; spherical component) and ≤1.00 D astigmatism were enrolled. Autorefraction (horizontal meridian; right eye) was measured annually wearing contact lenses centrally and ±20 degrees, ±30 degrees, and ±40 degrees from the line of sight at near and distance. Photopic and mesopic pupil size were measured. The effects of peripheral defocus, treatment group, and pupil size on the 3-year change in axial length were modeled using multiple variables that evaluated defocus across the retina. Results:Although several peripheral defocus variables were associated with slower axial growth with MFCLs, they were either no longer significant or not meaningfully associated with eye growth after the treatment group was included in the model. The treatment group assignment better explained the slower eye growth with +2.50 MFCLs than peripheral defocus. Photopic and mesopic pupil size did not modify eye growth with the +2.50 MFCL (all P ≥ 0.37). Conclusions:The optical signal causing slower axial elongation with +2.50 MFCLs is better explained by the lens type worn than by peripheral defocus. The signal might be something other than peripheral defocus, or there is not a linear dose-response relationship within treatment groups. We found no evidence to support pupil size as a criterion when deciding which myopic children to treat with MFCLs.

To validate Pediatric Refractive Error Profile 2 (PREP2) subscales that can be used to evaluate contact lens wearers and compare vision‐specific quality of life measurements between children wearing multifocal and single vision contact lenses for 2 weeks.

Focusing on zoo environments, we conducted a literature review investigating the use of non-invasive technologies designed for monitoring the behaviour and welfare of animals. The research question asks: What technologies or monitoring methods have been able to capture information on behaviours and needs of animals in zoo, sanctuary, domestic or agricultural environments? From the initial literature review, we determined progressive zoos, research labs, institutions and companies and identified monitoring technologies developed to improve animal welfare. We then emailed out a concise survey to those zoos to gauge what monitoring technologies they were using and asked them to identify where systems and their deployment could be improved. We highlight advances and developments identified in the literature, to underline current and future monitoring needs of zoo environments. We contribute to the research field by mapping these sought-after changes against the most relevant identified monitoring technologies distinguished in the literature search.

Designing for slow cities and the need to design for future urban environments that include the more than human is a major priority for our times. This position paper problematizes the nature–culture divide in research about place and place-making, where place is understood to be about the sense of meaning we layer on locations in the physical world. It emphasizes the importance of narrative identity and place-making in the context of designing for urban environmental futures and creation of slow cities. We present an overview of a methodology to re-emplace place-making with animals in the context of slow cities and designing for the more than human. The work discussed here explores the use of narrative inquiry with some early narrative data (in the form of stories) about dog walks and those moments where our companion animals demonstrate agentic place-based meaning-making. The problem of understanding “what animals want” and how they make might ”make sense” of an experience is approached via a focus on a rich exemplar case in order to distinguish between emplotment (narrative meaning-making as self) and emplacement (narrative meaning-making as an aspect of place). This is used to create a framework for future evaluation with a view to revealing how “more than human stories”—just like our own familiar human stories—are also about agency and meaning in place. This recognition has import for ways in which we might approach decentring the human when we frame urban design activities.

This paper introduces a design framework for mixed reality urban exploration (MRUE), based on a concrete implementation in a historical city. The framework integrates different modalities, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and haptics-audio interfaces, as well as advanced features such as personalized recommendations, social exploration, and itinerary management. It permits to address a number of concerns regarding information overload, safety, and quality of the experience, which are not sufficiently tackled in traditional non-integrated approaches. This study presents an integrated mobile platform built on top of this framework and reflects on the lessons learned.

For this project, we design a self-activated wave enrichment system for a solo male platypus, 'Sam', at Melbourne Zoo. We develop a sensor system that Sam can learn to activate by swimming near the device to trigger a wave sequence, providing both choice (to activate a wave pattern) and control (whether to activate) over his environment. We predict that the triggering will promote natural exploration and play behaviours in response to the wave patterns and reduce noted abnormal repetitive behaviours. The project involves multiple stakeholders with city and state zoos, Animal Welfare Specialists, keepers and operational systems teams, university researchers and multiple funding applications and ethical clearances. With the project 'still in process', we detail the initial testing which indicates the overall potential success of the interactive system for Sam and specify the next steps for implementation, observation, analysis and beyond.

SIGNIFICANCE The Welch Allyn SureSight (Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY) and Plusoptix PowerRefractor (Plusoptix, Nuremberg, Germany) are often used with infants, but little is known about the repeatability and validity of their peripheral refractive error measurements. Selecting the best instrument will support future refractive error and emmetropization studies. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and repeatability of peripheral refractive error measurements and peripheral refraction profiles measured with the Welch Allyn SureSight and Plusoptix PowerRefractor compared with the criterion standard Grand Seiko WR-5100K (Grand Seiko Co., Hiroshima, Japan). METHODS Cycloplegic (tropicamide 1%) autorefraction was measured in the right eyes of 21 adult subjects (31.4 ± 10.4 years) with the three instruments in randomized order on two separate visits, at least 24 hours apart, centrally, and at 30 and 20° temporal and nasal gaze. RESULTS The SureSight measurements were within 0.24 D and not significantly different from the Grand Seiko WR-5100K in any gaze (P < .65), whereas the PowerRefractor measurements were more myopic by as much as −0.97 D and significantly different in four of the five gaze directions (P < .04). The 95% limits of agreement between occasions by gaze ranged from ±0.38 to ±0.61 D for the SureSight, similar to or slightly better than the WR-5100K (±0.31 to ±1.51 D) and the PowerRefractor (±0.72 to ±1.71 D). There were no significant differences between visits for any instrument in any gaze (P < .94). The repeatability of the SureSight was also better than that for the Grand Seiko when peripheral refraction was represented by quadratic fits to the data. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the Welch Allyn SureSight is the most suitable portable autorefractor to use to monitor peripheral autorefraction based on better repeatability between occasions and better validity compared with the criterion standard Grand Seiko WR-5100K.