Reliability and correlation study of a new homocysteine assay.

BACKGROUND: Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular diseases and is also associated with congenital birth defects, pregnancy complications and cancer. Many homocysteine assays have been developed since the 1960s and most companies have commercially available kits for homocysteine determination. In this paper, we report the performance characteristics of the new Architect homocysteine assay and the correlation with HPLC and other routine analytical methods. METHODS: Recovery, limit of detection (LOD), total imprecision and interferences were evaluated; furthermore, the method was compared with HPLC and with two routine methods. RESULTS: Recovery was higher than 95%, LOD was lower than 1.0 micromol/L, the range for total imprecision was 1.7%-3.8%. No significant degree of interference was observed up to 5 g/L hemoglobin, 20 mg/dL (342.5 micromol/L) bilirubin and 60 g/L lipids. For the comparison study, this new method shows a lightly positive bias with HPLC (mean+/-SD: 0.03+/-1.7 micromol/L) with R(2)=0.96, a positive bias with the immunonephelometric method (mean+/-SD: 1.7+/-1.2 micromol/L) with R(2)=0.98, and a negative bias with the enzymatic method (mean+/-SD: -1.8+/-2.2 micromol/L) with R(2)=0.94. CONCLUSIONS: This new method from Abbott can be included among the methods suitable for homocysteine routine analysis.

Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture.

Agricultural lands occupy 37% of the earth's land surface. Agriculture accounts for 52 and 84% of global anthropogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Agricultural soils may also act as a sink or source for CO2, but the net flux is small. Many agricultural practices can potentially mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the most prominent of which are improved cropland and grazing land management and restoration of degraded lands and cultivated organic soils. Lower, but still significant mitigation potential is provided by water and rice management, set-aside, land use change and agroforestry, livestock management and manure management. The global technical mitigation potential from agriculture (excluding fossil fuel offsets from biomass) by 2030, considering all gases, is estimated to be approximately 5500-6000Mt CO2-eq.yr-1, with economic potentials of approximately 1500-1600, 2500-2700 and 4000-4300Mt CO2-eq.yr-1 at carbon prices of up to 20, up to 50 and up to 100 US$ t CO2-eq.-1, respectively. In addition, GHG emissions could be reduced by substitution of fossil fuels for energy production by agricultural feedstocks (e.g. crop residues, dung and dedicated energy crops). The economic mitigation potential of biomass energy from agriculture is estimated to be 640, 2240 and 16 000Mt CO2-eq.yr-1 at 0-20, 0-50 and 0-100 US$ t CO2-eq.-1, respectively.

Clinical results of topical fluconazole for the treatment of filamentous fungal keratitis.

BACKGROUND: Fungal keratitis is a rare but serious condition that may result in loss of vision. The potentially poor prognosis might be due to a delay in diagnosis and/or to limited treatment options. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcome of patients treated with topical fluconazole 0.2% for the treatment of filamentous fungal keratitis. METHODS: Retrospective case series. A chart review of all patients evaluated at the Ophthalmology Department of the Hospital de Clínicas in Paraguay from January 1997 to December 2000 identified 25 cases of fungal keratitis. Among these cases, one patient discontinued the treatment and another received amphotericin as the first line drug, resulting in 23 cases available for data analysis. Twelve patients were treated with topical fluconazole 0.2% alone (Group I) and 11 patients received a combination of topical fluconazole 0.2% and oral ketoconazole 200 mg twice daily (Group II). RESULTS: Sixteen of 23 cases showed resolution of the keratitis, 9/12 (75%) in Group I and 7/11 (64%) in Group II. Seven patients (30%) did not respond to medical treatment and required a surgical procedure to preserve eye integrity. Superficial and small ulcers have a significantly better prognosis than do lrge and deep ulcers. Concomitant oral ketoconazole (400 mg/day) did not improve the clinical results. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings of study suggest that topical fluconazole 0.2% is a safe and effective antifungal drug for the management of filamentous mycotic keratitis, particularly in cases that are not severe. The addition of oral ketoconazole to topical fluconazole did not improve the clinical outcome.

Estudo prospectivo comparativo de duas técnicas cirúrgicas de extraçäo extra-capsular planejada de catarata com implante de lente intra-ocular: incisäo limbar e incisäo escleral tunelizada / Prospective comparative study of two techniques of planned extracapsular cataract extraction with implantation of intraocular lens: limbal incision and scleral tunnel incision

Introduçäo: A catarata é responsável por 50 por cento da cegueira no mundo, com um número estimado de 15 milhöes de casos que necessitariam cirurgia. Diferentes técnicas para a extraçäo extra-capsular da catarata com implante de lente intra-ocular foram propostas. Objetivo: Comparar as técnicas para extraçäo extra-capsular de catarata com implante de lente intra-ocular utilizando incisäo limbar e incisäo escleral tunelizada. Métodos: Foram avaliados, prospectivamente, 59 olhos de 54 pacientes com acompanhamento pós-operatório de 6 meses. Aleatoriamente, os pacientes foram divididos em dois grupos. No Grupo I (n=30), a técnica realizada foi a de extraçäo extra-capsular com implante de lente intra-ocular com incisäo limbar e no Grupo II (n=29), com incisäo tunelizada. Foram avaliadas as medidas da acuidade visual corrigida, inflamaçäo intra-ocular (células e "flare"), tempo de cirurgia, microscopia especular, astigmatismo ceratométrico induzido e paquimetria. Resultados: O tempo de cirurgia, a perda de células endoteliais e o astigmatismo ceratométrico induzido foram estatisticamente maiores no Grupo I que no Grupo II. Näo houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos I e II quanto à acuidade visual, a quantidade de células na câmara anterior, a quantidade de "flare" na câmara anterior e paquimetria. Conclusäo: A técnica para extraçäo extra-capsular de catarata com incisäo tunelizada apresentou vantagens quanto ao tempo de cirurgia, perda de células endoteliais e astigmatismo induzido em relaçäo à técnica com incisäo limbar. Os passos utilizados nessa técnica visam facilitar a extraçäo da catarata, além de treinar o cirurgiäo para uma transiçäo mais segura para facoemulsificaçäo, sem aumentar o custo da cirurgia.

Introduçäo de duas lentes intra-oculares de câmara posterior na mesma cirurgia de catarata: relato de um caso / Insertion of two posterior chamber IOL in a primary cataract surgery: a case report

Apresentou-se um caso clínico de uma paciente que foi submetida à facectomia, com introduçäo de uma segunda LIO após luxaçäo da primeira para a cavidade vítrea. Discutiu-se as possíveis complicaçöes relativas à dupla pseudo-fascia, e a conduta em relaçäo ao caso