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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Gene Expression Signatures In Tree Shrew Sclera In Different Visual Conditions, Lin Guo Jan 2014

Gene Expression Signatures In Tree Shrew Sclera In Different Visual Conditions, Lin Guo

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The sclera is a target tissue that receives signals that are initiated in the retina, cascade through retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choroid, and cause scleral extra cellular matrix remodeling. Biomechanical alterations of the sclera are produced by these biochemical changes, and in turn control the axial length of the eye. This dissertation project examined scleral gene expression changes in mRNA level of juvenile tree shrews. Three specific aims were investigated: specific aim one tested the hypothesis that three different GO visual conditions that all produce axial elongation and myopia: minus-lens wear, form deprivation, and continuous darkness, will produce similar …


Risk Assessment And Staging Of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Fangjian Guo Jan 2014

Risk Assessment And Staging Of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Fangjian Guo

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Obesity is associated with elevated risk for morbidity and mortality and has become an epidemic both in the United States and around the world. Insulin resistance is essentially involved in the pathogenic process of cardiometabolic diseases in obese people, which involves defects in glucose production by the liver and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and utilization by peripheral tissues. Insulin resistance appears at an early stage of life and is the first step in the development of cardiometabolic diseases. Long-term insulin resistance will induce metabolic syndrome and prediabetes and eventually will cause type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Obesity may exacerbate insulin …


Studies Of The Effect Of Nicotine On Color Vision In Color Deficient Humans, Warren Gwynn Jan 2014

Studies Of The Effect Of Nicotine On Color Vision In Color Deficient Humans, Warren Gwynn

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Previous research showed that oral nicotine use in non-smoking color normal individuals significantly improved color discrimination scores on the F-M 100 and both white and red increment thresholds of the Red Test. Our research sought to determine if similar results could be found when oral nicotine was administered to color deficient individuals. Ten color deficient individuals were first screened with both the HRR and Nagel Anomaloscope. Next, the F-M 100 and Red Test were performed before and after chewing nicotine gum (four mg). Subjects were introduced to testing procedures in one visit; a second visit, at least 24 hours later, …


Examining The Role Of G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor 1 (Gper) Activation In 17beta-Estradiol-Mediated Protection In Traumatic Brain Injury, Nicole Day Jan 2014

Examining The Role Of G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor 1 (Gper) Activation In 17beta-Estradiol-Mediated Protection In Traumatic Brain Injury, Nicole Day

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions of persons per year, potentially leading to permanent disability or death, and exacts a staggering financial toll. Despite the severity of this public health problem, there are no clinically proven pharmacotherapeutics available that effectively attenuate the secondary neurochemically-mediated damage that follows the initial biomechanical insult. In addition, the heterogeneous nature of TBI and complexity of secondary injury cascades suggest that a polytherapeutic approach could be a powerful strategy with which to simultaneously target more than one deleterious pathway. Recently, sex steroid hormones have sparked interest as possible neuroprotective agents after traumatic injury. One of …


Alpha-Camkii-Induced Vegf Expression Is Critical For The Growth Of Human Osteosarcoma, Paul Glenn Daft Jan 2014

Alpha-Camkii-Induced Vegf Expression Is Critical For The Growth Of Human Osteosarcoma, Paul Glenn Daft

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Osteosarcoma (OS) is among the most frequently occurring primary bone tumors, primarily affecting adolescents and young adults. Despite improvements in OS treatment, more specific molecular targets are needed. One target of interest is alpha-Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (α-CaMKII), a ubiquitous mediator of Ca2+-linked signaling, which has been shown to regulate tumor cell proliferation. Here, we show that α-CaMKII is highly expressed in primary OS tissue, and α-CaMKII deletion in human OS cell lines significantly reduces tumor burden in vivo. This inhibition of α-CaMKII results in decreased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein secretion. Highly aggressive OS cells express VEGF receptor …


Patient And System Level Factors As Predictors Of Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy Appointment Schedules In Cambodia, Gary T. Daigle Jan 2014

Patient And System Level Factors As Predictors Of Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy Appointment Schedules In Cambodia, Gary T. Daigle

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PATIENT AND SYSTEM LEVEL FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF ADHERENCE TO ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY APPOINTMENT SCHEDULES IN CAMBODIA GARY T. DAIGLE EPIDEMIOLOGY / INTERNATIONAL HEALTH ABSTRACT On-time attendance at clinical appointments by patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential to the prevention of medication interruptions, viral rebound, drug resistance, and long term mortality. An observational study conducted in 2010, Enablers and Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Cambodia, sought to identify factors that predict on-time clinical appointment attendance by patients on ART. These factors were classified as either ART patient level factors (e.g. demographic, clinical) or patient care and support system level factors …


The Relationship Between Emergency Department Wait Times And Inpatient Satisfaction, Polly Jean Davenport Jan 2014

The Relationship Between Emergency Department Wait Times And Inpatient Satisfaction, Polly Jean Davenport

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Comparisons Between The Nod And Nor Mouse: Insight Into Diabetes Pathogenesis And Protection, Joseph Guy Daft Jan 2014

Comparisons Between The Nod And Nor Mouse: Insight Into Diabetes Pathogenesis And Protection, Joseph Guy Daft

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Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is defined as the selective immune destruction of insulin producing beta cells within the islet. A new emphasis has been put on the role of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in T1D; however, there is much more to learn about this relationship. Distinct differences have been observed in the intestinal permeability, barrier function, commensal microbiota, and mucosal innate and adaptive immunity of patients and animals with T1D, when compared to healthy controls. The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse and the BioBreeding diabetes prone (BBdp) rat are commonly used to models to study T1D in humans. Most murine studies …


Contribution Of Kv4.2 To Neuronal Hyperexcitability In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Alicia Marie Hall Jan 2014

Contribution Of Kv4.2 To Neuronal Hyperexcitability In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Alicia Marie Hall

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may be advantageous for increasing seasonal and yearly variability in sex ratios.


The Multifaceted Role Of Neutrophils In Hiv-1-Infection, Nathan Bowers Jan 2014

The Multifaceted Role Of Neutrophils In Hiv-1-Infection, Nathan Bowers

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In recent years, a new appreciation of the role of neutrophils in regulating the immune system has emerged. Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocyte population and are traditionally recognized as essential effector cells of the innate immune system in the host defense against invading organisms. Neutrophils play a critical role in controlling bacterial and fungal infections by multiple mechanisms including phagocytosis, degranulation, and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Neutrophils have been shown to play important roles in viral pathogenesis, a knowledge gap exists in our understanding of the function of neutrophils in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). …


Assessing System Congruence By Analyzing The Relationship Between Employee And Patient Driven Outputs, Timothy J. Harlin Jan 2014

Assessing System Congruence By Analyzing The Relationship Between Employee And Patient Driven Outputs, Timothy J. Harlin

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Patients are at risk for employee driven preventable adverse events during hospital stays. These adverse events are varied and include such things as medication errors, pressure ulcers, hospital acquired infections, and falls. Preventable adverse events continue at alarming frequency despite significant academic, regulatory, and management attention to the topic over the past 14 years since the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) To Err is Human report. In addition to being at risk for preventable adverse events, patients experience aspects of the health care system such as ease of access, employee attitude, skill and efficiency of staff, and perceived value. Although purporting …


Sialic Acid: A Signal For Pneumococcal Egress From The Nasal Mucosa Into The Central Nervous System, Brandon L. Hatcher Jan 2014

Sialic Acid: A Signal For Pneumococcal Egress From The Nasal Mucosa Into The Central Nervous System, Brandon L. Hatcher

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Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is one of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis world-wide. The classic paradigm in the establishment of bacterial meningitis is that in the absence of physical trauma, infection in the peripheral blood is needed to cause invasion of the central nervous system (CNS). Our previous studies have shown that pneumococci, a frequent colonizer of the nasopharynx, can cause bacterial meningitis through a nonhematogenous route by which bacteria appear to travel along the olfactory nerves, through the cribriform plate to the olfactory bulbs and into the rest of the CNS. However, with the frequency of nasopharyngeal colonization and …


The Role Of Gene Fragmentation And Loss In Poxvirus Evolution, Eneida Hatcher Jan 2014

The Role Of Gene Fragmentation And Loss In Poxvirus Evolution, Eneida Hatcher

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temperatures were near pivotal. The second chapter addresses the effects of fluctuating


Proteomic Analysis Of Rosenthal Fibers And The Development Of Software For Proteomics, Michael Raymond Heaven Jan 2014

Proteomic Analysis Of Rosenthal Fibers And The Development Of Software For Proteomics, Michael Raymond Heaven

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The first aim of my thesis was to identify the protein composition of the protein aggregates, called Rosenthal fibers, which are the defining feature of Alexander disease (AxD). AxD is a rare neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the astrocyte specific protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). GFAP is a type III intermediate filament protein that is overexpressed in AxD. A guiding hypothesis of this project was that sequestration of vital cell proteins in the aggregates contributed to disease. The results of my research do not support this hypothesis, but do provide an in depth characterization of the protein composition …


Effect Of Protons On The Biology Of Human Gliomas, Avinash Vinayak Honasoge Jan 2014

Effect Of Protons On The Biology Of Human Gliomas, Avinash Vinayak Honasoge

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Gliomas are the most common and most deadly primary brain cancer. Patient outcome for the most malignant variety, the World Health Organization (WHO) Type IV glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), has stagnated over the last several decades - the best combination treatment of surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapy results in median survival of just over a year. To escape treatment, GBM must multiply and migrate in a confined brain environment. Both of these aspects of tumor cell invasion rely on the cell's ability to volume regulate; cell division involves a stage called "pre-mitotic condensation" in which the cells shrink immediately prior to …


Measuring The Relationship Between Contextual Factors, Nurse Staffing Patterns, And Hospital Performance, Dong Yeong Shin Jan 2014

Measuring The Relationship Between Contextual Factors, Nurse Staffing Patterns, And Hospital Performance, Dong Yeong Shin

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Role Of Immunoregulatory Cytokines Il-12 And Il-23 In Skin Cancer, Tahseen H. Nasti Jan 2014

Role Of Immunoregulatory Cytokines Il-12 And Il-23 In Skin Cancer, Tahseen H. Nasti

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The incidence of new cases of skin cancer, which includes non-melanoma epithelial tumors and melanoma, has increased dramatically over the last few decades. Approximately 75% of all skin cancer-related deaths is due to melanoma, which is one of the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat. The initiating events and mechanisms that influence melanoma development are not fully known, due in part to a paucity of animal models amenable to identifying new oncogenic mutations, and investigating mechanisms of immunosurveillance. Transgenic mouse models often harbor an activating mutation in a known oncogene in all somatic cells, and its widespread expression from …


Three-Dimensional Photography Of Facial Morphology Of African-American Children Compared To Welsh Children, Don Franklin Norris Jan 2014

Three-Dimensional Photography Of Facial Morphology Of African-American Children Compared To Welsh Children, Don Franklin Norris

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The purpose of this study is to compare the facial morphology of African-American children to Welsh children using three-dimensional imaging. Materials and Methods: Three-dimensional images were captured using a stereo-photogrammatic camera system (3dMDfaceTM). 107 African-American children were imaged with the 3dMDfaceTM system and were compared with 64 Welsh children which were previously imaged using two Minolta Vivid VI900 3D laser scanners arranged in a stereo pair. The subjects were between 10 and 13 years old, presented with a normal BMI, and had no major craniofacial deformity. The images were aligned, combined and averaged using Rapidform 2006 Plus Pack 2 software …


Rhodopsin Trafficking And Retinal Function, Nicholas Joseph Reish Jan 2013

Rhodopsin Trafficking And Retinal Function, Nicholas Joseph Reish

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The health and maintenance of rod photoreceptors depends on the high-fidelity vectorial transport of rhodopsin from its site of synthesis in the inner segment to its final resting place in the outer segment disks. Multiple molecular interactions play a role in this process, including the interaction of the small GTPase rab11a with rhodopsin that was first described in vertebrates in amphibians. We found that the interaction of the small GTPase rab11a and rhodopsin is conserved in mammalian retina. This interaction is direct, is abrogated by human disease-causing truncation mutations in rhodopsin, and does not depend on the nucleotide binding status …


Gabaergic Dysfunction In Huntington Disease, Sarah Elizabeth Dougherty Jan 2013

Gabaergic Dysfunction In Huntington Disease, Sarah Elizabeth Dougherty

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GABAergic neurons are responsible for regulation of neuronal signaling through inhibition. Alterations in the delicate balance of excitation and inhibition have been observed in many neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by motor, psychiatric, and cognitive disturbances. As the hallmark movement pathology of HD is hyperkinesis it is intriguing to postulate that alterations in inhibition, and by extension within GABAergic cell networks, could be part of the pathogenesis of this disorder. In order to elucidate the role of GABAergic cell populations in HD we have used behavioral paradigms, molecular …


The Contribution Of Intereim Executives To The Healthcare Industry, Ray Snead Jan 2013

The Contribution Of Intereim Executives To The Healthcare Industry, Ray Snead

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This is the first research-based study of interim executive services in the US healthcare industry. It opens a new area of inquiry for academic investigation of the role of interim executive services in the healthcare industry. The study focused on Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors leadership in acute care hospitals of all sizes across the United States. The research survey resulted in 443 responses to over seventy-five questions addressing interim executive services from the perspective of healthcare decision makers. Ninety five percent of the respondents were CEOs and the remainder were board members, primarily chairpersons. The research is …


The Phenotypic Expression Of Usp14 Deficiency Is Dependent Upon Genetic Background, Andrea Gail Marshall Jan 2013

The Phenotypic Expression Of Usp14 Deficiency Is Dependent Upon Genetic Background, Andrea Gail Marshall

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The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) plays a critical role in regulating a diversity of cellular processes that are essential to neuronal function, such as synaptic transmission, axon guidance, and neurite outgrowth. Dysfunctions of the UPS are linked with many neurodegenerative disorders, including motor neuron diseases like spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), although it is not known how UPS dysfunction contributes to disease pathology. The proteasome, an approximate 2.5 megadalton protein complex comprised of a 20S core particle and 19S regulatory particle, is the site of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in the cell. Recent studies have linked ubiquitin specific …


Cd5 Regulation Of T Helper Cell Differentiation And Cytokine Signaling, Donald J. Mcguire Jan 2013

Cd5 Regulation Of T Helper Cell Differentiation And Cytokine Signaling, Donald J. Mcguire

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CD5 is expressed on T and B1a cells and is an important regulator of cell survival and activation. Engagement of CD5 promotes cell survival through the activation of the serine threonine kinase CK2. Mice with genetic abrogation of CD5 binding to CK2 (CD5∆CK2bd) exhibited reduced severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis that was associated with increased activation induced cell death. In addition to inhibiting cell death, CD5 activation of CK2 significantly enhances Th17 differentiation. Loss of CD5-CK2 signaling reduces the generation of Th17 cells despite an unexpected increase in pSTAT3 levels. The mechanisms of CD5's enhancement of Th17 differentiation have not …


Intrinsic And Extrinsic Factors Required For Cd4 T Memory Cell Formation And Function, Sarah B. Mollo Jan 2013

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Factors Required For Cd4 T Memory Cell Formation And Function, Sarah B. Mollo

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CD4 T cells are central to the organization of the immune response through the secretion of cytokines that recruit and activate other immune cells. Following infection and pathogen control, the majority of the effector CD4 T cells undergo apoptosis, leaving a subset that persists and gives rise to the memory T cell pool. Upon encountering the same pathogen, memory CD4 T cells respond rapidly, providing enhanced protection from re-infection. What determines which effector CD4 T cells will survive is unclear; however, there are a number of factors both intrinsic to the cell as well as external signals from the environment …


Phenotypic Analysis Of B Cells In Hla*B44 Positive Patients That Exhibit Common Variable Immunodeficiency And Recurrent Sino-Pulmonary Infections, Eva Szymanska Mroczek Jan 2013

Phenotypic Analysis Of B Cells In Hla*B44 Positive Patients That Exhibit Common Variable Immunodeficiency And Recurrent Sino-Pulmonary Infections, Eva Szymanska Mroczek

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Depressed serum immunoglobulin levels and recurrent sinopulmonary infections mark Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). Many family members of CVID patients also suffer Recurrent Sino-Pulmonary Infection (RESPI) but have normal serum immunoglobulins. We identified HLAB44 positive identical female twins who suffer sinopulmonary infections and are discordant for CVID and RESPI. Flow cytometry subsets showed equivalent numbers of immature B cells (BC) in both twins, but lower numbers of transitional and mature BC in the CVID twin. Presented is an in-depth comparison of V (D) J gene usage, hydrophobicity, length, DH reading frame, and amino acid usage between µ H chain repertoires …


Effects Of Nicotine On The Human Visual System: 1) Color Perception; 2) Processing At The Cortical Level, Naser T. Naser Jan 2013

Effects Of Nicotine On The Human Visual System: 1) Color Perception; 2) Processing At The Cortical Level, Naser T. Naser

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The visual system is sensitive to various types of chemical substances, including nicotine. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are found in the nervous system, including the retina. These receptors play a role in modulating signals within the visual system. It has been shown that smoking affects color vision, and visual evoked potentials (VEPs). But few studies have been devoted to understanding the effects of nicotine alone. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of oral administration of nicotine in human adults, who are non-smokers, on color vision, and visual cortical processing. Previous studies on adult smokers revealed that …


The Relation Of Hospital Choices In It Infrastructure Spending And Deployment With Hit/Ehr Strategies And Operational Efficiency, Harold Neumeier Jan 2013

The Relation Of Hospital Choices In It Infrastructure Spending And Deployment With Hit/Ehr Strategies And Operational Efficiency, Harold Neumeier

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This study examined certain aspects of the association between information technology (IT) strategy and structure changes within hospitals, as well as the effects of IT infrastructure changes on measures of financial performance for these hospitals during the period of 2009-2011. Following the Process School of the Resource Based View, both internal and external information technology resources were examined to see how hospitals had responded to Federal policies related to the "meaningful use" of Health IT and Electronic Health records. Specifically, this study examined changes in information technology spending by hospitals based on size, hospital type, and percentage of revenue derived …


The Effects Of Markers For Hiv Disease Progression, Social Network, Barriers To Care, Depression, And Substance Abuse On Medical Appointment Adherence Of Hiv-Infected Adults, Yeow Chye Ng Jan 2013

The Effects Of Markers For Hiv Disease Progression, Social Network, Barriers To Care, Depression, And Substance Abuse On Medical Appointment Adherence Of Hiv-Infected Adults, Yeow Chye Ng

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The study was designed to test a causal model of theoretical relationships among markers for HIV disease progression, social network, barriers to care, depression, substance abuse, and medical appointment adherence among HIV-infected adults. The proposed causal model was derived and developed from Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress, appraisal, and coping. The knowledge gained from this study may yield critical information with respect to determining how a health care provider or researcher can develop specific behavioral interventions for the improvement of medical appointment adherence among HIV-infected adults living in the Southeastern United States. The correlational study was a secondary analysis …


Identification Of Claudin-1 As An Entry Factor In Dengue Infection And Development Of A High Throughput Screening Assay For Antivirals Against Dengue Virus, Pulin Che Jan 2013

Identification Of Claudin-1 As An Entry Factor In Dengue Infection And Development Of A High Throughput Screening Assay For Antivirals Against Dengue Virus, Pulin Che

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Dengue virus (DENV) has become a huge public health concern around the world with no vaccine or antivirals available. More than one-third of the world's population is living in areas at risk of infection. To conquer the dengue disease, a better understanding of virus-host interactions and development of the appropriate therapeutic treatments are required. In this dissertation, we first broadly reviewed the factors involved in dengue viral entry and the role of tight junctions as a pathogen target. Second, we developed, optimized and validated a high throughput screening (HTS) assay for anti-dengue virus drug screening. Taking advantage of using live …


Comparisons Between Electrophysiologic Assessments Of Visual Function And Histological Findings Of Cone Photoreceptors In Light-Damaged Albino Rats, Molly Clark Jan 2013

Comparisons Between Electrophysiologic Assessments Of Visual Function And Histological Findings Of Cone Photoreceptors In Light-Damaged Albino Rats, Molly Clark

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The purpose of this project was to investigate the etiology of decreased cone-driven vision in the light damage model of retinal degenerations. Experimental albino rats underwent moderate, low-intensity light damage for 10 days. Electroretinography was utilized to assess physiologic function of the rod- and cone-driven retinal function in the experimental and control (sibling) rats. Immunohistochemical staining for cone arrestin antibody identified cone photoreceptors, allowing quantification of cone density and comparison to the decline in functional vision. In this experiment the light-damaged rats showed decreased rod- and cone-driven function with partial recovery of responses 30 days later. Outer nuclear layer thickness …