Previous studies have proposed that the inner retina is affected in myopes. This study aimed to investigate the changes in adaptive circuitry of the inner retina in myopia, using the global flash multifocal electroretinogram (global flash mfERG) with different levels of contrast (luminance modulation). Fifty-four myopes had global flash mfERG recorded with different contrasts. The direct component (DC) and the induced component (IC) of the mfERG response were pooled into six regions for analysis. The response amplitudes and implicit times at different contrasts were also analysed. Results showed that myopes had significant reduction in the paracentral DC amplitude for the 29% and 49% contrasts and in the paracentral IC amplitude at all contrasts measured. The peripheral IC amplitude for the 49% contrast was also reduced. No significant change was found in implicit time for either DC or IC response. Refractive error explained about 14% of the variance in DC and 16% of the variance in IC amplitude respectively; axial length could not account for additional variance in either paracentral DC or IC amplitudes in the hierarchical regression models used. We concluded that the paracentral retinal region in myopes showed signs of impaired retinal adaptation, suggesting a functional loss at the inner retinal layer. In addition, functions attributed to the outer retinal layer showed only small changes due to myopia.

Our findings suggested that the inner retinal functions in the central retina, with some involvement of the paracentral region, were decreased as myopia progressed in children.

The present research examined what is necessary to make youth mentoring effective. Central to the discussion is mentee–mentor relationship quality in relation to program effectiveness. Data were drawn from an ongoing youth mentoring program organized in Hong Kong using a conceptual framework derived from ecological psychology to guide analysis. Data analysis followed a multistage process. Quantitative factor analysis was computed to identify the principal components of the mentee–mentor relationship. Then, to explore subjective meanings of the quantitative findings, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 48 mentees who were randomly selected from the respondents. Further statistical associations and qualitative categorizations were conducted with this subsample to examine the complex relations between the relationship outcomes and the program (functional) outcomes.

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A high resolution spectroscopic study of HI+ has been carried out for the first time. The absorption spectrum in the inverted 2Π ground electronic state has been measured with a linewidth of 0.004 cm−1 between 1995 and 2245 cm−1. A total of 117 vibration–rotation transitions were observed with a tunable diode laser spectrometer coupled to an ac glow discharge cell employing velocity modulation. Lines were measured in the vibrational fundamental of the 2Π1/2 spin substate and in the three lowest (v+1←v) bands of the 2Π3/2 spin substate. A good fit to the data was obtained using a standard vibration–rotation, fine structure Hamiltonian. Equilibrium values were determined for 16 molecular parameters including the harmonic vibrational frequency ωe, the rotational constant Be, and the Λ-doubling constants pe and qe. A review of the ground state properties of the hydrogen halide ions HX+ (X=F, Cl, Br, I) shows that the harmonic force constant is, to excellent approximation, a linear function of the internuclear spacing. In ten different vibration–rotation transitions of the two spin substates of HI+, hyperfine splittings were observed. A total of 58 relative splittings of hyperfine components were analyzed to determine the iodine quadrupole coupling constant eQq0 as well as the Frosch–Foley magnetic hyperfine constants a, (b+c), and d. The results have been used to investigate the electronic properties of the ion.