January, 2002
1. What is an action potential? Describe how this differs from
membrane electrical potential changes in the
rod photoreceptor
during phototransduction.
2. With the aid of diagrams illustrate the anatomy of the fovea.
3. What determines corneal curvature? How might this be modified to
alter refraction?
4. Discuss the process of leukocyte adhesion in the
blood vessels during
inflammation. What drugs may affect
this process?
5. Discuss, with the aid of diagrams, the autonomic
control of lacrimal
secretion.
6. What is a second messenger? Discuss how a cytokine
might act on a
second messenger.
7. What is amyloid? Discuss the mechanisms by which
amyloid is
deposited in the brain.
8. Describe how staphylococcus aureus becomes resistant
to methicillin.
9. How does the anatomy of the superior oblique muscle
influence its
primary and secondary actions
in different positions of gaze?
10. Write short notes on ageing in the lens.
11. Write short notes on:
a. mechanism of action of aminoglycosides
b. pathogenic fungi
c. necrotising facsciitis
12. Write short notes on when you would use parametric
and
non-parametric
statistical tests.
April, 2002
1. Describe mechanisms regulating aqueous outflow.
2. What are free radicals? How do they cause damage
to retinal
photoreceptors? What protective
mechanisms are present in the
normal eye?
3. The resolving power of the eye is known as visual
acuity. Write short
notes on its physiological basis.
4. What factors affect corneal hydration? Discuss
the role of the
epithelium.
5. Describe ways in which cells die.
6. Write short notes, with the aid of diagrams, on the vascular supply
of
the optic nerve.
7. Write short notes on the development of the lens pre-natally and
during infancy.
8. What is the Golgi apparatus? How is it involved in secretion of
proteins? Describe this process in relation
to mast cells.
9. Write short notes on the pathogenesis of atheromatous
plaques.
10. Compare and contrast magnocellular and parvocellular pathways.
11. What is an electroretinogram? What are the cellular
origins of its
components?
12. Define sensitivity, specificity and positive
predictive value of a
screening procedure.
October, 2002
1. List the steps in the process of angiogenesis.
2. With the aid of diagrams, describe the microscopic and
macroscopic anatomy of the iris.
3. List the techniques used to identify disease causing genes.
4. List the main molecular events in visual
trandsduction.
5. Draw a diagram of a tuberculous granuloma.
6. List methods by which MRSA infections
may be reduced.
7. Draw and annotate a diagram to describe
the anatomical
relationships between
the paranasal air sinuses and the orbit.
8. What are HLA antigens? List how they are involved in the process
of corneal graft rejection.
9. Wrist short notes on: a. crystallins
and b. laminin.
10. List the role extracellular matrix proteins play in the maintenance
of
corneal transparency.
11. What is the polymerase chain reaction?
List the principles behind
the
test and two examples of how it might be applied to disease of
the
eye.
12. Draw a diagram of a normal retinal capillary and a capillary from
a
patient with severe diabetic retinopathy.