Vascular risk factors in glaucoma: the results of a national survey

Background The role of vascular risk factors in glaucoma is still being debated. To assess the importance of vascular risk factors in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), data from the medical history of 2,879 POAG patients and 973 age-matched controls were collected and analyzed. Methods Design: observational survey. Setting: 35 Italian academic centers. Study population: POAG patients and age-matched controls. In order to reduce bias consecutive patients were included. Observation procedures: data concerning vascular risk factors were collected for all patients with a detailed questionnaire. A complete ophthalmological examination with assessment of intraocular pressure (IOP), visual field, optic disc, and systemic blood pressure was performed. Main outcome measures: the ESH-ESC (European Society of Hypertension-European Society of Cardiology) guidelines were used to calculate the level of cardiovascular risk. Crude and adjusted estimates of the odds ratios (OR) were calculated for all cardiovascular risk factors in POAG and controls. Results The study included 2,879 POAG patients and 973 controls. POAG cases had a significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.001) and systolic perfusion pressure (p=0.02) as compared with controls. Also mean IOP was significantly higher in the POAG group (p=0.01), while diastolic perfusion pressure was not significantly different in the two groups. Myopia was more prevalent in the POAG group (23 vs 18%, p=0.005) as well as a positive family history for glaucoma (26 vs 12%, p= 0.004). POAG patients tended to have a higher cardiovascular risk than controls: 63% of glaucoma cases vs 55% of controls (OR: 1.38, p=0.005) had a “high” or “very high” cardiovascular risk. Conclusions The level of cardiovascular risk was significantly higher in glaucoma patients than in controls

Anti- Sporothrix spp. activity of medicinal plants

ABSTRACT Cases of sporotrichosis in humans and animals without satisfactory clinical response have increased, a warning sign of strains resistant to conventional antifungal agents. The urgent search for alternative therapies was an incentive for research on medicinal plants with anti-Sporothrix spp. properties. A bibliographic survey was performed based on scientific papers about in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity of essential oils and extracts of plants in differents solvents against the fungal of the Sporothrix schenckii complex. The study methodology consisted of a literature review in Google Scholar, Science Direct, Pubmed, Bireme and Springer link with papers from 1986 to 2015. We found 141 species of plants that were investigated, of which 100 species were concentrated in 39 botanical families that had confirmed anti-Sporothrix activity. Combretaceae, Asteraceae and Lamiaceae represented the botanical families with the greatest number of plants species with antifungal potential, using different methodologies. However, there are few studies with medicinal plants in experimental infection in animals that prove their activity in the treatment of sporotrichosis. It reinforces the need for further research related to standardization of in vitro methodologies and in vivo studies related to safety and to toxicity potential of these plants with anti-Sporothrix spp. activity

A needs assessment for DOE`s packaging and transportation activities - a look into the twenty-first century

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has performed a department-wide scoping of its packaging and transportation needs and has arrived at a projection of these needs for well into the twenty-first century. The assessment, known as the Transportation Needs Assessment (TNA) was initiated during August 1994 and completed in December 1994. The TNA will allow DOE to better prepare for changes in its transportation requirements in the future. The TNA focused on projected, quantified shipping needs based on forecasts of inventories of materials which will ultimately require transport by the DOE for storage, treatment and/or disposal. In addition, experts provided input on the growing needs throughout DOE resulting from changes in regulations, in DOE`s mission, and in the sociopolitical structure of the United States. Through the assessment, DOE`s transportation needs have been identified for a time period extending from the present through the first three decades of the twenty-first century. The needs assessment was accomplished in three phases: (1) defining current packaging, shipping, resource utilization, and methods of managing packaging and transportation activities; (2) establishing the inventory of materials which DOE will need to transport on into the next century and scenarios which project when, from where, and to where these materials will need to be transported; and (3) developing requirements and projected changes for DOE to accomplish the necessary transport safely and economically

Remediation of perchloroethylene contaminated groundwater using Fe0/ZnS embedded in a highly porous polymer: Experimental results on pilot-scale photoreactor and kinetic modeling analysis for industrial scale-up

Perchloroethylene (PCE) is a pollutant toxic to aquatic life and suspected of being a human carcinogen. It is also recalcitrant to degradation. Therefore remediation of PCE-contaminated groundwater is currently still a challenging task. In this work, the efficiency of a UV-assisted oxidation process exploiting a photocatalyst composed of zero-valent iron supported on commercial zinc sulfide (Fe/ZnS) and incorporated in a highly porous polymer, is investigated. The experimental studies were carried out, for about six months, on a pilot-scale photoreactor operating in continuous mode at the Solofra (Campania, Italy) wastewater plant, to evaluate the effectiveness and stability of the photocatalytic system. The results show that it is possible to reach a PCE degradation in natural groundwater in the range of 85-95%%. Furthermore, a kinetic model is developed and compared with collected experimental data. The mathematical model well describes the experimental data of the photocatalytic system operating both in batch and continuous mode and therefore it can be potentially used for further scale-up of photocatalytic systems devoted to PCE degradation, allowing to estimate the catalyst weight required for total PCE removal as a function of the liquid flow rate to be treated and inlet PCE concentration

Targeting of the Peritumoral Adipose Tissue Microenvironment as an Innovative Antitumor Therapeutic Strategy

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in promoting and sustaining cancer growth. Adipose tissue (AT), due to its anatomical distribution, is a prevalent component of TME, and contributes to cancer development and progression. Cancer-associated adipocytes (CAAs), reprogrammed by cancer stem cells (CSCs), drive cancer progression by releasing metabolites and inflammatory adipokines. In this review, we highlight the mechanisms underlying the bidirec-tional crosstalk among CAAs, CSCs, and stromal cells. Moreover, we focus on the recent advances in the therapeutic targeting of adipocyte-released factors as an innovative strategy to counteract cancer progression