Refractory Coats’ Disease of Adult Onset

Purpose: We present the case of an 18-year-old Caucasian male with a unilateral macular star and retinal vascular anomalies compatible with adult onset Coats’ disease. Methods: Diagnosis was based on fundoscopic, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography findings. Results: The patient presented to our emergency department with complaints of low vision in his left eye (LE) detected 10 days before. The best-corrected visual acuity in the LE was 20/50. Fundoscopy of the LE evidenced a complete macular star. Optical coherence tomography showed increased retinal thickness, infiltration of the retinal wall, and detachment of the neuroepithelium. Angiography revealed no appreciable diffusion in the macula. Above the superior temporal (ST) arcade, anomalies in the retinal vasculature were found, with interruption of the peripheral vessels and vessels which were ‘sausage’-like. After 1 month, the LE vision evolved to hand movements. Laser photocoagulation was performed in the ST quadrant. Intravitreal injection of bevacizumab 1.25 mg/0.05 ml and photodynamic therapy were performed without any significant changes, progression of ST serous detachment of the neuroepithelium, and finally progression to macular fibrosis. Discussion: Coats’ disease is usually diagnosed in childhood, but rare cases may occur in adults. Those cases usually have a more indolent course which was not observed in our patient. When there is macular involvement, prognosis is more guarded, despite treatment

Influence of duration of treatment with medroxyprogesterone acetate sponge on reproductive parameters of Santa Inês ewes subjected to estrus synchronization.

Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Embryo Technology Society (SBTE), August, 2014, Natal, RN, Brazil. Abstracts

Genotype imputation strategies for Portuguese Holstein cattle using different SNP panels.

Abstract: Although several studies have investigated the factors affecting imputation accuracy, most of these studies involved a large number of genotyped animals. Thus, results from these studies cannot be directly applied to small populations, since the population structure affects imputation accuracy. In addition, factors affecting imputation accuracy may also be intensified in small populations. Therefore, we aimed to compare different imputation strate-gies for the Portuguese Holstein cattle population considering several commercially available single nucleotide poly-morphism (SNP) panels in a relatively small number of genotyped animals. Data from 1359 genotyped animals were used to evaluate imputation in 7 different scenarios. In the S1 to S6 scenarios, imputations were performed from LDv1, 50Kv1, 57K, 77K, HDv3 and Ax58K panels to 50Kv2 panel. In these scenarios, the bulls in 50Kv2 were divided into reference (352) and validation (101) populations based on the year of birth. In the S7 scenario, the validation population consisted of 566 cows genotyped with the Ax58K panel with theirgenotypes masked to LDv1. In general, all sample imputation accuracies were high with correlations ranging from 0.94 to 0.99 and concordance rate rang-ing from 92.59 to 98.18%. SNP-specific accuracy was consistent with that of sample imputation. S4 (40.32% of SNPs imputed) had higher accuracy than S2 and S3, both with less than 7.59% of SNPs imputed. Most probably, this was due to the high number of imputed SNPs with minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.05 in S2 and S3 (by 18.43% and 16.06% higher than in S4, respectively). Therefore, for these two scenarios, MAF was more relevant than the panel density. These results suggest that genotype imputation using several commercially available SNP panels is feasible for the Portuguese national genomic evaluation

Intravitreal ranibizumab for myopic choroidal neovascularization: 12-month results

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab after 12 months in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to pathologic myopia. METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter, consecutive, nonrandomized, interventional case series. The study included 34 eyes of 32 patients with choroidal neovascularization secondary to pathologic myopia; 13 eyes had previous photodynamic therapy, and 21 eyes had no previous treatment. The patients were followed for > or = 12 months. Best-corrected visual acuity, optical coherence tomography, and the presence of metamorphopsia were assessed monthly. RESULTS: Mean visual acuity improved 8 letters from baseline to 12-month follow-up, and the difference was statistically significant (P or = 3 lines, 44% improved > or = 2 lines, 65% improved > or = 1 line, and 79% improved > or = 0 lines. Central retinal thickness decreased significantly from baseline to the 12-month follow-up (P < 0.01). A mean of 3.6 treatments were performed during the 12-month follow-up, and no systemic or ocular side effects were registered during that time. CONCLUSION: One-year results of intravitreal ranibizumab for myopic choroidal neovascularization are very promising. Additional prospective studies are necessary to better determine long-term efficacy and safety

GnRH use in different times on estrus synchronization and ovulation in Santa Inês ewes.

Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Embryo Technology Society (SBTE), August, 2014, Natal, RN, Brazil. Abstracts

GnRH potential to synchronize follicular emergence and ovulation prior to superovulatory day 0 protocol in sheep.

The role of GnRH to synchronize ovulation and follicular emergence previous to superovulatory protocol, started on the first day of the estrous cycle (Day 0), was assessed in Santa Inês ewes. For estrus synchronization, 60 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate sponges were used for 6 d plus 37.5 ?g d-cloprostenol and 300 IU eCG at fifth day. After sponge removal, ewes were assigned to three treatments: GControl ? saline at 12 h (n = 10); G24h ? GnRH at 24 h (n = 10); or G36h ? GnRH at 36 h (n = 9). In conclusion, considering the beneficial effects of G36h in synchronizing ovulation and to promote the absence of dominant follicles in the first days of estrous cycle. According to data obtained, the best time to start the superovulatory treatment, known as "Day 0", could be 80 h after sponge removal (56 h for the occurrence of ovulation plus 24 h to reset dominant follicles), in the induction of synchronized estrus, for Santa Inês ewes.Proceedings of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Embryo Technology Society (SBTE); Gramado, RS, Brazil, August 20th to 23rd, 2015, and 31st Meeting of the European Embryo Transfer Association (AETE); Ghent, Belgium, September 11th and 12th, 2015

Valorization of brewery waste through Polyhydroxyalkanoates production supported by a metabolic specialized microbiome

Raw brewers’ spent grain (BSG), a by-product of beer production and produced at a large scale, presents a composition that has been shown to have potential as feedstock for several biological processes, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production. Although the high interest in the PHA production from waste, the bioconversion of BSG into PHA using microbial mixed cultures (MMC) has not yet been explored. This study explored the feasibility to produce PHA from BSG through the enrichment of a mixed microbial culture in PHA-storing organisms. The increase in organic loading rate (OLR) was shown to have only a slight influence on the process performance, although a high selectivity in PHA-storing microorganisms accumulation was reached. The culture was enriched on various PHA-storing microorganisms, such as bacteria belonging to the Meganema, Carnobacterium, Leucobacter, and Paracocccus genera. The enrichment process led to specialization of the microbiome, but the high diversity in PHA-storing microorganisms could have contributed to the process stability and efficiency, allowing for achieving a maximum PHA content of 35.2 ± 5.5 wt.% (VSS basis) and a yield of 0.61 ± 0.09 CmmolPHA/CmmolVFA in the accumulation assays. Overall, the production of PHA from fermented BSG is a feasible process confirming the valorization potential of the feedstock through the production of added-value products.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potencial do GnRH em sincronizar a emergência folicular e ovulação em protocolo superovulatório "dia 0" em ovinos.

O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o papel do GnRH para sincronizar a ovulação e emergência folicular previamente a protocolo superovulatório iniciado no primeiro dia do ciclo estral (Dia 0) em ovelhas da raça Santa Inês. Em conclusão, a aplicação de GnRH 36 horas após a retirada da esponja foi eficiente em sincronizar a ovulação e promover a ausência de folículos dominantes nos primeiros dias do ciclo estral. De acordo com os dados obtidos, o melhor horário para iniciar o tratamento superovulatório, conhecido como ?Dia 0?, seria 80 h após a retirada da esponja (56 h para ocorrência da ovulação mais 24 h para a ausência de folículos dominantes), na indução do estro sincronizado, em ovelhas da raça Santa Inês