Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Europe: The Past and the Future

Purpose Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a frequent, complex disorder in elderly of European ancestry. Risk profiles and treatment options have changed considerably over the years, which may have affected disease prevalence and outcome. We determined the prevalence of early and late AMD in Europe from 1990 to 2013 using the European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium, and made projections for the future. Design Meta-analysis of prevalence data. Participants A total of 42 080 individuals 40 years of age and older participating in 14 population-based cohorts from 10 countries in Europe. Methods AMD was diagnosed based on fundus photographs using the Rotterdam Classification. Prevalence of early and late AMD was calculated using random-effects meta-analysis stratified for age, birth cohort, gender, geographic region, and time period of the study. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was compared between late AMD subtypes; geographic atrophy (GA) and choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Main Outcome Measures Prevalence of early and late AMD, BCVA, and number of AMD cases. Results Prevalence of early AMD increased from 3.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1%–5.0%) in those aged 55–59 years to 17.6% (95%

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Efeito do tempo após a ingestão de leite sobre o equilíbrio ácido-básico de bezerros Effect of the time after milk feeding on the acid-base balance of calves

<abstract language="eng">Blood pH, carbon dioxide and oxygen partial pressures, bicarbonate, total carbon dioxide, base excess, standard bicarbonate and oxygen saturation concentrations were measured by blood gas analyses in a study of assessment of the acid-base status in young calves. Venous blood samples were taken from 80 healthy female Holstein calves, from four to 30 days of age. The calves were divided in two groups based on the interval between the morning milk feeding and the blood sample collection (up to 30 minutes or over two hours). Greater alkali reserve and higher carbon dioxide pressure values were observed later than 2h after milk feeding, supporting the influence of the diet on the acid-base balance of calves during the milk feeding phase

Riqueza e frequência de espécies de fungos micorrízicos arbusculares em genótipos de amendoim forrageiro no Acre, Norte do Brasil

O potencial da cultura do amendoim forrageiro associada aos fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMA) tem sido objeto de alguns estudos, porém a influência do genótipo sobre essa associação é pouco relatada. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a densidade de esporos, riqueza de espécies, a frequência e ocorrência relativa de FMAs associados a genótipos de amendoim forrageiro. Foram coletadas amostras simples de solo de 45 genótipos pertencentes ao Banco Ativo de Germoplasma na Embrapa Acre. As amostras de solo foram coletadas a 5 cm de profundidade, com três repetições em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. As amostras de solo foram levadas para o Laboratório de Micorrizas da Embrapa Agrobiologia, para eterminação da densidade de esporos e identificação das espécies de FMAs. Foi realizada análise de variância e teste de Scott-Knott. Destacaram-se quatro genótipos de A. pintoi e dois híbridos interespecíficos, que apresentaram maior densidade de esporos. Foi verificada a ocorrência de 21 espécies de FMAs nas amostras de solo. A riqueza variou entre três e dez espécies. Três espécies de FMAs apresentaram elevada frequência relativa: Glomus macrocarpum (100,0%), Acaulospora tuberculata (97,8%) e Racocetra verrucosa (88,99%). Conclui-se, assim que: (i) Existe variabilidade genética entre os genótipos de amendoim forrageiro quanto à promoção da esporulação e riqueza de espécies de FMAs nas suas rizosferas; (ii) As espécies de FMAs Glomus macrocarpum, Acaulospora tuberculata, Racocetra verrucosa possuem alta presença na rizosfera dos genótipos de amendoim forrageiro, devendo serem estudadas visando sua introdução na cultura