The Vision Research Center of Kansas City

Neuroscience - Vision and Functional Brain Imaging Poster SessionThe Vision Research Center was founded as and is a well established collaboration of several of UMKC schools and Kansas City Medical Centers and thus offers an unprecedented interdisciplinary synergy with a unified goal: to better diagnose, prevent, and treat eye disease and vision disorders through translational research in order to make a difference in the lives of tens of millions of people. To this end, the center conducts federally and industry funded basic, translational and clinical research to develop new medical therapies and offers patient care in all subspecialties of ophthalmology. The center's nationally recognized excellence in research, patient care and medical education contribute to UMKC's strengths in the life sciences. Past, present and future objectives of the Vision Research Center: Provide a direct avenue for basic and translational research in eye and related diseases; Transfer basic science findings seamlessly into practical use with patients trough translational research; Develop new therapy approaches urgently needed by physicians in the US and worldwide; Provide educational excellence; Ensure patients receive the most advanced medical treatments available; Become national center of excellence for eye researc

Integrating academic research, clinical research and private practice: a unique opportunity for translational medicine

Translational Vision and Neuroscience ResearchDegeneration or acute damage of nerve cells in the retina due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are the major causes of visual loss and blindness in the United States and worldwide. The determination of the function and effectiveness of new neuroprotective drugs and surgical treatment options has the potential to produce therapy approaches for these chronic degenerative diseases of the eye that focuses on the nerve cells of the retina and that has the potential to be both preventative and therapeutic in nature. With the formation of the new interdisciplinary Vision Research Center Kansas City is well on its way to becoming a national center for eye research where these ocular diseases and others are being researched to develop new therapy approaches urgently needed by physicians in the US and worldwide, transferring basic science findings seamlessly into practical use with patients

Comportamiento de analgesia acupuntural en la sacrolumbalgia. Sala de Rehabilitación. Estado Barinas

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal en el período comprendido entrediciembre del 2005 y Mayo del 2006 en la Sala de Rehabilitación Integral “Felicita deBarazarte” en el municipio Bolívar, Estado Barinas, República Bolivariana de Venezuela, con elobjetivo de valorar el comportamiento de la analgesia acupuntural en la sacrolumbalgia,patología muy frecuente en esta sala. La muestra estuvo representada por 84 pacientes enlos cuales se analizó la distribución de la población según edad y sexo, evidenciándose que elsexo masculino es el más afectado por la enfermedad en la edad comprendida entre 35 y 44años, la osteoartrosis fue la causa más frecuente de esta afección. La mayoría de lospacientes evolucionaron de forma satisfactoria con el método acupuntural, obteniéndose aliviototal del dolor entre las 16 y 20 sesiones de tratamiento. Es más efectivo el método cuandose aplica diariamente, las reacciones adversas fueron mínimas considerándose un métodoeficaz e inocuo

Resilience: New Utopia or New Tyranny? Reflection about the Potentials and Limits of the Concept of Resilience in Relation to Vulnerability Reduction Programmes

Resilience is becoming influential in development and vulnerability reduction sectors such as social protection, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Policy makers, donors and international development agencies are now increasingly referring to the term. In that context, the objective of this paper was to assess in a critical manner the advantages and limits of resilience. While the review highlights some positive elements –in particular the ability of the term to foster integrated approach across sectors– it also shows that resilience has important limitations. In particular it is not a pro-poor concept, and the objective of poverty reduction cannot simply be substituted by resilience building

Nampt/PBEF/visfatin serum levels: a new biomarker for retinal blood vessel occlusions

The main objective of the study was to quantify serum levels of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt/pre-B-Cell colony-enhancing factor 1/visfatin) in subjects with a history of retinal vascular occlusions (RVOs), disease conditions characterized by pronounced ischemia, and metabolic energy deficits. A case–control study of 18 subjects with a history of RVO as well as six healthy volunteers is presented. Serum Nampt levels were quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Serum Nampt levels were 79% lower in patients with a history of RVO compared with that in healthy volunteers (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference among the types of RVOs, specifically branch retinal vein occlusions (n=7), central retinal vein occlusions (n=5), hemiretinal vein occlusions (n=3), and central retinal artery occlusions (n=3; P=0.69). Further studies are needed to establish the temporal kinetics of Nampt expression and to determine whether Nampt may represent a novel biomarker to identify at-risk populations, or whether it is a druggable target with the potential to ameliorate the long-term complications associated with the condition, ie, macular edema, macular ischemia, neovascularization, and permanent loss of vision

Socioeconomic inequalities in health care in England

This paper reviews what is known about socioeconomic inequalities in health care in England, with particular attention to inequalities relative to need that may be considered unfair (‘inequities’). We call inequalities of 5% or less between most and least deprived socioeconomic quintile groups ‘slight’; inequalities of 6-15% ‘moderate’, and inequalities of > 15% ‘substantial’. Overall public health care expenditure is substantially concentrated on poorer people. At any given age, poorer people are more likely to see their family doctor, have a public outpatient appointment, visit accident and emergency, and stay in hospital for publicly funded inpatient treatment. After allowing for current self-assessed health and morbidity, there is slight pro-rich inequity in combined public and private medical specialist visits but not family doctor visits. There are also slight pro-rich inequities in overall indicators of clinical process quality and patient experience from public health care, substantial pro-rich inequalities in bereaved people’s experiences of health and social care for recently deceased relatives, and mostly slight but occasionally substantial pro-rich inequities in the use of preventive care (e.g. dental checkups, eye tests, screening and vaccination) and a few specific treatments (e.g. hip and knee replacement). Studies of population health care outcomes (e.g. avoidable emergency hospitalisation) find substantial pro-rich inequality after adjusting for age and sex only. These findings are all consistent with a broad economic framework that sees health care as just one input into the production of health, alongside many other socioeconomically patterned inputs including environmental factors (e.g. living and working conditions), consumption (e.g. diet, smoking), self care (e.g. seeking medical information) and informal care (e.g. support from family and friends)