Factors influencing healthy eating and physical activity amongst school staff.

Limited research has explored teachers' perceptions of the role that schools can play in supporting staff members' healthy eating and physical activity. We aimed to identify barriers to healthy eating and physical activity within the school context, and to conclude on potential strategies for supporting staff to pursue these healthier behaviours. A convenience sampling strategy was used to recruit eleven schools from across Victoria to participate in this study, through contacts known to the researchers. The researchers facilitated focus groups involving staff from schools. Focus groups ranged in size from 3 to 12 participants (total 82) and lasted between 40 and 75 min. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and sub-themes which were identified by staff as being important for healthy eating and physical activity. Schools that were perceived by staff to support healthy eating and physical activity offered opportunities, through initiatives and the physical environment, to support staff in accessing environments and facilities that supported them in being healthy. Further supportive elements were identified as a culture of health behaviours amongst staff members and leadership which supported health behaviours. Workplace stressors were reported to impact many aspects of staff health and wellbeing. Potential actions by schools to better support staff to pursue healthy eating and physical activity were identified from the themes emerging from this study. Alignment between these themes and elements of the World Health Organisation's healthy workplace framework suggest it will be important for health promotion models to account for these themes.

Serious games for immersive cultural training: creating a living world.

Living worlds offer a nonlinear, unscripted process for experiencing and safely learning the cognitive complexity and nuance of culture through emergent high-fidelity simulation. The 3D Asymmetric Domain Analysis and Training model uses visual, auditory, behavioral, and cultural models for immersive cultural training using the living-world construct.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease presenting as optic neuritis.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a granulomatous multisystem inflammatory disorder that classically affects the uvea, inner ear, meninges, and skin. We report three patients who presented with initial findings suggestive of bilateral optic neuritis requiring CSF analysis and brain images. None of these patients had extraocular changes. Fluorescein angiography of the retina led to the diagnosis of VKH disease in all patients. Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease should be included in differential diagnosis of bilateral optic neuritis, even when extraocular manifestations of the disease are absent. In such cases, fluorescein angiography will aid diagnosis.

Conjunctival epithelium in pars plana vitrectomy specimens.

PURPOSE: To review histopathology of vitrectomy specimens obtained during routine pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for evidence of inadvertent introduction of conjunctival epithelium into the vitreous cavity during PPV. METHODS: Retrospective review of all vitreous specimens obtained from PPV over a 3-year period during which vitreous samples were routinely submitted from routine and diagnostic PPV. Patient charts and operative reports were reviewed, with particular attention to history of postoperative endophthalmitis, and the use of transconjunctival PPV. RESULTS: A total of 650 specimens were obtained over a 3-year period. Three specimens with conjunctival epithelium were identified. None of these cases resulted in endophthalmitis. Two of these three cases used transconjunctival techniques. In one case all three sclerotomies were made using transconjunctival techniques. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of conjunctiva in the vitreous aspirate from completely transconjunctival PPV indicates that conjunctival epithelium can be inadvertently introduced into the vitreous cavity during PPV. Although none of these cases resulted in endophthalmitis, special care to sterilize the conjunctiva before the creation of transconjunctival sclerotomies is warranted.

Differences in clinical findings between Caucasians and African Americans with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of ocular manifestations in African American and Caucasian patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis at the initial ophthalmic examination and to determine the relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) levels, chest x-ray findings, and ocular signs of sarcoidosis. DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-one consecutive patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis seen at the Doheny Eye Institute from January 1989 through April 2005. METHODS: Medical records were reviewed to obtain demographic data, biopsy site, initial ocular findings, pulmonary symptoms, and results of serum ACE levels and chest x-rays. Associations between ACE level/chest x-ray stages and ocular manifestations related to sarcoidosis were obtained from these data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Ocular manifestations related to sarcoidosis. RESULTS: Of the 81 patients, 35 were Caucasian; 29 were African American; and the remaining 17 were Hispanic, Asian Indian, and other races. Female patients were older than males (P = 0.05). Sixty-five (80%) of the 81 patients had ocular manifestations related to sarcoidosis. Thirty-three patients (40.7%) had uveitis, 12 (14.8%) had adnexal granulomas, and 25 (30.8%) had keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Of the 33 patients with uveitis, 22 presented with nongranulomatous inflammation. There was no significant association between ocular manifestations related to sarcoidosis and serum ACE levels (P = 0.43) or chest x-ray stage (P>0.99). Of the 29 African American patients, 26 (89.7%) had ocular manifestations related to sarcoidosis, compared with 24 (68.6%) of the 35 Caucasians (P = 0.12). The African American patients were younger (mean age, 44.4 years) than the Caucasian patients (mean age, 52.0) (P = 0.003) and had higher mean ACE levels (P = 0.003). A significantly high proportion of African American males presented with uveitis (P = 0.005), and a significantly high proportion of African American females presented with adnexal granulomas (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present study reveals that patients with sarcoidosis can present initially with clinical features of nongranulomatous uveitis. Relative to Caucasians, African American patients with sarcoidosis tend to be younger when they first present to the ophthalmologist and to present with uveitis and/or adnexal granuloma. Serum ACE levels and chest x-ray stages may not help predict the occurrence of ocular changes in sarcoidosis.

Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon in the conjunctiva: immunohistochemical analysis.

PURPOSE: To present two cases of conjunctival lesions exhibiting the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon, each with different immunohistochemical findings. DESIGN: Interventional case reports. METHODS: Two young males with conjunctival lesions underwent biopsy. Demographic data and timing of biopsy were extracted from the charts. The biopsy specimens were formalin fixed and paraffin embedded for light microscopy. Immunohistochemical staining using the peroxidase method was carried out on each for IgG, IgM, IgA, the C3 component of complement, and eosinophilic major basic protein. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Presence of positive or negative staining for the various antigens. RESULTS: Both biopsy specimens exhibited the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon, a morphologically unique process consisting of an amorphous, eosinophilic material surrounded by epithelioid histiocytes, multinucleated giant cells, lymphocytes, and eosinophils. Two staining patterns were seen. One revealed predominately immunoglobulin deposition, whereas the other revealed primarily eosinophilic major basic protein. This is the first instance we are aware of in which eosinophilic major basic protein was the predominate finding in an ocular specimen. CONCLUSION: The composition of Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon material varies and may be related to various factors, including timing of biopsy and prior treatment.

Recopilación de plantas medicinales, validadas farmacológicamente por estudiantes asesorados en el departamento de Farmacología y Fisiología, de la Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacia / Collection of medicinal plants, pharmacologically validated by students advised in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy

La información recopilada presenta los datos importantes de las validaciones realizadas como: el nombre científico, nombre común, fase de investigación, parte de la planta analizada, tipo de extracto, acción farmacológica, resultados del análisis y los test específicos para cada acción farmacológica analizada. Las plantas se clasifican dependiendo a la familia a la que pertenece.