The impact of advanced age-related macular degeneration on the National Eye Institute's Visual Function Questionnaire-25.

PURPOSE: To assess visual function among patients diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by stage of disease and laterality. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional cohort study of 739 AMD patients and their responses to the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) at time of study enrolment. Patients with AMD were categorized into Early/Intermediate AMD and three groups of advanced AMD: (i) neovascular AMD (NV), (ii) geographic atrophy (GA) and (iii) Both Advanced forms. These three advanced stages were further stratified into unilateral or bilateral advanced disease. Mean composite scores and subscale scores for 12 different areas were based on a 100-point scale with the lowest and highest possible scores set at 0 and 100, respectively. Scores for the advanced AMD groups were compared with Early/Intermediate AMD using general linear modelling. RESULTS: A total of 739 AMD patients (294 Early/Intermediate, 115 GA, 168 NVAMD and 162 Both Advanced) were included in the analysis. Mean composite scores were highest among Early/Intermediate patients (89.9), followed by patients diagnosed with unilateral disease in the Both Advanced (88.0) and NV (86.1) groups. Mean composite scores were similar for bilateral NV (82.9) and unilateral GA (81.7), and mean scores were lowest for the bilateral GA (71.3) and bilateral Both Advanced (68.5) groups. In general, this pattern persisted across the twelve subscales as well. Subscale scores ranged from a low of 35.1 for driving among bilateral Both Advanced patients to a high of 99.2 for colour vision among patients with unilateral Both Advanced. Overall, patients with unilateral advanced disease consistently had higher mean scores than their bilateral counterparts. The largest difference was 19.5 composite score points between the unilateral and bilateral Both Advanced groups, there was a difference of 10.4 points between the GA groups, and a relatively small difference of 3.2 points between the NV groups. CONCLUSIONS: We found large differences in visual function as reported from the VFQ-25 across the different types of advanced stage AMD groups and number of eyes affected with advanced AMD. These findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for the type and number of eyes affected by advanced stage AMD.

Underexpression of circulating miR-145-5p and miR-133a-3p are associated with breast cancer and immunohistochemical markers.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of genes with important roles in cancer. Therefore, they represent interesting targets as biomarkers for early detection, follow-up, and prognosis of the disease. CONTEXT: In early stages of breast cancer, differences in the expression of miR-148b-3p, miR-145-5p and miR-133a-3p have been reported. AIMS: To compare the expression of miR-148b-3p, miR-145-5p and miR-133a-3p in serum samples from female patients with and without breast cancer. SETTING AND DESIGN: Case control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We quantified the expression by real-time polymerase chain reaction of miR-148b-3p, miR-145-5p, and miR-133a-3p in serum samples from 27 breast cancer (BC) and 17 benign breast tumor patients. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Comparison between groups with categorical variables was made using the Pearson's Chi-square test. Comparative analysis for continuous variables between two groups was performed using the Student's t-test. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for multigroup comparison, followed by Tukey HSD analysis. RESULTS: The use of contraceptives and a high number of births were identified as risk factors for BC. We observed that miR-145-5p expresses in low levels in BC and positively diagnosed Her2 patients. In addition, BC patients with either ductal carcinoma or positive molecular diagnosis for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, luminal A, or Her2 negative, presented a decreased expression of miR-133a-3p. CONCLUSIONS: We observed an existing association between the molecular characteristics of BC and levels of circulating miR-133a-3p and miR-145-5p, proving the potential role of miRNAs as biomarkers for BC.

Effect of the diet traditional and non-traditional on the respiration and excretion in larvae of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei / Efecto de la dieta tradicional y no tradicional en la respiración y excreción de larvas de camarón blanco Litopenaeus vannamei

Objective. It was studied the respiration and ammoniacal excretion of zoeas and mysis of Litopenaeus vannamei fed with the diet used traditionally (of microalgae and nauplios of Artemia) and another alternative (not traditional) of microalgae with rotifers. Materials and methods. After four hours the oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion in BOD bottles with 60 larvae (closed respirometers) was estimated. The concentrations of O2 and NH4+ were measured with an electrode polarográfico in the first case and with the indophenol blue technique for the second. Results. In zoea, oxygen consumption increased with development and showed statistical differences (p=0.023). In mysis, the oxygen consumption were significance in the traditional diet, whereas no differences were alternative (p=0.003). In both stages for the ammoniacal excretion increased development stage and there were detected statistical difference (p<0.001), although to the diets were not noticed significant differences. Conclusions. A higher energy absorption for zoea (I, II y III) what mysis (I, II y III) larvae was obtained, this is likely an interaction between rates of respiration and excretion caused by variations in the efficiency of absorption by the larvae. The weights obtained in both larvae were not supplied with differences between diets.

Objetivo. Se analizó la respiración (O2) y excreción amoniacal (NH4+) en larvas zoea y mysis de camarón blanco Litopenaeus vannamei, alimentadas con las dietas tradicionales (microalgas y nauplios de Artemia) y no tradicionales (microalgas y rotíferos). Materiales y métodos. A las cuatro horas de experimentación se estimó el consumo de oxígeno y la excreción de amonio en botellas BOD con 60 larvas (respirómetros cerrados). La concentración de O2 se midió con un electrodo polarográfico y la NH4+ se determinó con la técnica de azul de Indofenol. Resultados. En zoea, el consumo de oxígeno incrementó con el desarrollo y se presentaron diferencias estadísticas (p=0.023). En mysis, los consumos de oxígeno presentaron una significancia entre la dieta tradicional, mientras en la alternativa no se obtuvieron diferencias (p=0.003). La excreción en ambos estadios larvales aumentó con la fase y se detectaron diferencias estadísticas (p<0.001), aunque no se registraron diferencias significativas en las larvas respecto a las dietas suministradas. Conclusiones. Se obtuvo una absorción de energía superior para las zoea (I, II y III) que mysis (I, II y III), esto probablemente a una interacción entre las tasas de respiración y de excreción provocada por variaciones en la eficiencia de absorción de las larvas. Los pesos obtenidos en ambas larvas no resultaron con diferencias entre las dietas suministradas.

The Epl1 and Sm1 proteins from Trichoderma atroviride and Trichoderma virens differentially modulate systemic disease resistance against different life style pathogens in Solanum lycopersicum.

Fungi belonging to the genus Trichoderma, commonly found in soil or colonizing plant roots, exert beneficial effects on plants, including the promotion of growth and the induction of resistance to disease. T. virens and T. atroviride secrete the proteins Sm1 and Epl1, respectively, which elicit local and systemic disease resistance in plants. In this work, we show that these fungi promote growth in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants. T. virens was more effective than T. atroviride in promoting biomass gain, and both fungi were capable of inducing systemic protection in tomato against Alternaria solani, Botrytis cinerea, and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst DC3000). Deletion (KO) of epl1 in T. atroviride resulted in diminished systemic protection against A. solani and B. cinerea, whereas the T. virens sm1 KO strain was less effective in protecting tomato against Pst DC3000 and B. cinerea. Importantly, overexpression (OE) of epl1 and sm1 led to an increase in disease resistance against all tested pathogens. Although the Trichoderma WT strains induced both systemic acquired resistance (SAR)- and induced systemic resistance (ISR)-related genes in tomato, inoculation of plants with OE and KO strains revealed that Epl1 and Sm1 play a minor role in the induction of these genes. However, we found that Epl1 and Sm1 induce the expression of a peroxidase and an α-dioxygenase encoding genes, respectively, which could be important for tomato protection by Trichoderma spp. Altogether, these observations indicate that colonization by beneficial and/or infection by pathogenic microorganisms dictates many of the outcomes in plants, which are more complex than previously thought.

Evaluation of a SUMO E2 Conjugating Enzyme Involved in Resistance to Clavibacter michiganensis Subsp. michiganensis in Solanum peruvianum, Through a Tomato Mottle Virus VIGS Assay.

Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm) causes bacterial wilt and canker of tomato. Currently, no Solanum lycopersicum resistant varieties are commercially available, but some degree of Cmm resistance has been identified in Solanum peruvianum. Previous research showed up-regulation of a SUMO E2 conjugating enzyme (SCEI) transcript in S. peruvianum compared to S. lycopersicum following infection with Cmm. In order to test the role of SCEI in resistance to Cmm, a fragment of SCEI from S. peruvianum was cloned into a novel virus-induced gene-silencing (VIGS) vector based on the geminivirus, Tomato Mottle Virus (ToMoV). Using biolistic inoculation, the ToMoV-based VIGS vector was shown to be effective in S. peruvianum by silencing the magnesium chelatase gene, resulting in leaf bleaching. VIGS with the ToMoV_SCEI construct resulted in ~61% silencing of SCEI in leaves of S. peruvianum as determined by quantitative RT-PCR. The SCEI-silenced plants showed unilateral wilting (15 dpi) and subsequent death (20 dpi) of the entire plant after Cmm inoculation, whereas the empty vector-treated plants only showed wilting in the Cmm-inoculated leaf. The SCEI-silenced plants showed higher Cmm colonization and an average of 4.5 times more damaged tissue compared to the empty vector control plants. SCEI appears to play an important role in the innate immunity of S. peruvianum against Cmm, perhaps through the regulation of transcription factors, leading to expression of proteins involved in salicylic acid-dependent defense responses.

[Bioethics and nursing praxis]. / La bioética y la praxis de la enfermería.

Bioethics is a discipline that has gained great relevance in today's world Changes in health care, advances in technology and science are giving hope to life, however they are also causing ethic conflicts. Patients are at risk of loosing their own right to live or die. Healthcare professionals are meant to deliver care, but also to protect the rights and the quality of life of the patients. As more and more people have recognized the importance of bioethics, ethic committees have sprung up in many healthcare settings. Continuing education programs on ethical principles and ethical decision/making models are critical. Nurses play an important role, they bridge the gap between the needs of individual patients and the healthcare system. They have a very close contact with the patients. Nurses have the ability to recognize moral problems as actual or potential conflicts in rights, duties or principles, and to take appropriate action to resolve the ethical issue.