Quantitative descriptors in myopic eyes

La prevalencia de la miopía ha demostrado ser mayor entre la población con una educación superior. Se cree que el tiempo dedicado a actividades de trabajo cercano tiene un papel en dicha asociación entre la miopía y el nivel educativo alcanzado. De hecho, el tiempo dedicado al trabajo cercano y su intensidad, especialmente la lectura continua, han demostrado aumentar las probabilidades de miopía en niños. Los estudiantes universitarios constituyen un grupo de población joven expuesto a mucho trabajo cercano prolongado por lo que que tiene un riesgo especial de desarrollo y progresión de la miopía durante sus estudios. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo caracterizar el ojo miope mediante descriptores oculares cuantitativos y analizar el cambio de los mismos con el tiempo en relación con la progresión de la miopía en una muestra de jóvenes universitarios. Se diseñó un estudio prospectivo longitudinal para evaluar a estudiantes universitarios miopes y emétropes con un seguimiento de un año. Los ojos miopes mostraron diferencias en algunos de los descriptores cuantitativos evaluados al inicio del estudio. Para la biometría ocular, el grupo miope tuvo una profundidad de cámara anterior (ACD) más profunda, una profundidad de cámara vítrea (VCD) más larga y el espesor de cristalino (LT) tendía ser ligeramente más delgado. Además, la ACD más profunda y LT más delgado se asociaron con una VCD más larga, sin embargo, esta relación lineal no se mantuvo cuando el alargamiento de la VCD excedía los 20 mm. Se encontró una mayor curvatura corneal y astigmatismo en el grupo miope, particularmente en la córnea central, así como una elevación con mayor curvatura en la superficie anterior y posterior corneal. Tanto la curvatura como la elevación corneal mostraron un aplanamiento hasta que la VCD alcanzó los 19-19,5 mm, punto a partir del cual la córnea ya no podía compensar el alargamiento del ojo e incluso se curvaba. De esta forma, se observó mayor AL/CR en miopes que en emétropes, donde los miopes estaban generalmente por encima de 3,00 en esta proporción. Por tanto, la regresión lineal múltiple demostró que el equivalente esférico (SE) se predecía mejor cuando se incluía la curvatura corneal con la biometría ocular (91,5%). Los emétropes obtuvieron una mejor compensación del astigmatismo WTR/ATR Z(2,2) por lo que los miopes manifestaron valores más negativos en el frente de onda ocular. Por el contrario, hubo una mayor proporción de compensación parcial en ojos miopes para la aberración esférica Z(4,0) lo que resultó en una menor raíz cuadrática media (RMS) de la aberración esférica ocular. Además, el coma vertical ocular Z(3,-1) fue más positivo en ojos miopes y se relacionó con una esfera más miope y una VCD más larga. Además, el análisis de regresión múltiple manifestó que el SE y la VCD se predecían incluyendo todos los coeficientes de Zernike, pero no resultó ningún modelo significativo que incluyera solo aberraciones de alto orden (HOA). Tras el seguimiento, el error refractivo experimentó un cambio negativo en una parte de los estudiantes miopes iniciales, aunque fue pequeño, demostrando que la miopía puede seguir progresando durante esta etapa académica. La VCD, ACD y LT cambiaron significativamente, pero solo el cambio de VCD se relacionó con los cambios refractivos. Los miopes mostraron un mayor alargamiento de la VCD coincidiendo con su mayor incremento negativo del SE en comparación con los emétropes. Tanto la curvatura del meridiano más plano como la elevación anterior corneal experimentaron una disminución mayor en los emétropes que no estaba relacionada con el cambio del SE. Estos cambios corneales pueden indicar que la elongación axial aún podría compensarse con el aplanamiento corneal en adultos jóvenes, particularmente en los ojos emétropes. El cambio de la relación AL/CR fue diferente entre los grupos refractivos donde el grupo miope experimentó un aumento mientras que el emétrope una reducción, sin embargo, los cambios de AL/CR no se relacionaron con los cambios SE. Como se esperaba, el desenfoque ocular Z(2,0) tuvo un mayor aumento en el grupo miope y se relacionó con el alargamiento de la VCD. El astigmatismo WTR/ATR Z(2,2) aumentó negativamente en los miopes mientras que se mantuvo estable en los emétropes. Además, los ojos miopes tendían a aumentar positivamente el coma horizontal ocular Z(3,1) y a reducir los valores positivos del trébol ocular Z(3,3). La aberración esférica ocular Z(4,0) sufrió una leve reducción en el grupo miope pero esta no se relacionó con los cambios refractivos ni biométricos. El incremento de VCD fue el principal responsable de los cambios de SE tanto en la miopía como en la emetropía. Además, solo una pequeña parte de la varianza (26,8%) del cambio de SE fue explicada por HOA. Por lo tanto, el cambio negativo del SE se relacionó con un cambio negativo de trébol Z(3,-3) y Z(3,3) mientras que un cambio positivo del coma horizontal Z(3,1).Myopia prevalence has demonstrated to be greater among the population with the highest education. The time spent in near work activities is thought to have a role in such association between myopia and the educational level achieved. Indeed, the time spent in near work and its intensity, especially continuous reading, have shown to increase the myopia odds in children. Students at university constitute a young population group exposed to high prolonged near work which is at special risk of myopia development and progression during their studies. The purpose of this research was to characterise the myopic eye by means of quantitative ocular descriptors and to analyse the change of them over time in connection with myopia progression in a sample of young university students. A prospective longitudinal study was designed to evaluate myopic and emmetropic university students with a one-year follow-up. Myopic eyes exhibited differences in some of the quantitative descriptors evaluated at baseline. For ocular biometry, the myopic group had deeper anterior chamber depth (ACD), longer vitreous chamber depth (VCD) and tended to have slightly thinner lens thickness (LT). Further, deeper ACD and thinner LT associated with longer VCD, however, this linear relationship was not maintained when the VCD elongation exceeded 20 mm. Greater corneal curvature and astigmatism, particularly in central cornea, was found in the myopic group as well as steeper elevation for anterior and posterior corneal surface. Both corneal curvature and elevation showed to flatten until the VCD reached 19-19.5 mm, point from which cornea could no longer compensate the eye enlargement and it even steepened. Therefore, higher AL/CR ratio was seen in myopes than in emmetropes, where myopes were mostly above 3.00 in this ratio. Accordingly, multiple linear regression proved that the spherical equivalent (SE) was better predicted when the corneal curvature was included with the ocular biometry (91.5%). Emmetropes obtained better compensation of the WTR/ATR astigmatism Z(2,2) so that myopic manifested more negative values in the ocular wavefront. In contrast, there was more proportion of partial compensation in myopic eyes for spherical aberration Z(4,0), resulting in lower ocular spherical aberration root mean square (RMS). Besides, ocular vertical coma Z(3,-1) was more positive in myopic eyes and was related to more myopic sphere and longer VCD. Moreover, multiple regression analysis manifested that the SE and VCD were predicted including all Zernike coefficients but no significant model resulted including only high order aberrations (HOA). After the follow-up, the refractive error experienced a negative shift in some part of the initial myopic students, though small, demonstrating that myopia may keep progressing during this academic stage. The VCD, ACD and LT changed significantly but only the VCD change was related to the refractive changes. Myopic students showed higher VCD elongation agreeing with their greater negative SE shift compared to the emmetropes. The curvature of the flat meridian as well as the anterior BFS experienced a decrease that was greater in emmetropes and not related to the SE change. These corneal changes may indicate that axial elongation still may be compensated by corneal flattening in young adults, particularly among emmetropic eyes. The change of the AL/CR ratio differed among refractive groups where the myopic group experienced an increase whereas the emmetropic a reduction, however, AL/CR changes were not related to the SE changes. As expected, ocular defocus Z(2,0) had a greater increase in the myopic group and was related to the VCD elongation. WTR/ATR astigmatism Z(2,2) increased negatively in myopes whereas it remained stable in emmetropes. Moreover, myopic eyes tended to increase positively the ocular horizontal coma Z(3,1) and reduce the positive values of ocular trefoil Z(3,3). Ocular spherical aberration Z(4,0) underwent a slight reduction in the myopic group but this was not related with the refractive nor biometric changes. The VCD increment was the main responsible for the SE changes in both myopia and emmetropia. Furthermore, only a small part of the variance (26.8%) of the SE change was explained by HOA. Thus, negative SE shift was related to a negative change of trefoil Z(3,-3) and Z(3,3) while a positive change of horizontal coma Z(3,1)

Response of the aging eye to first day of modern material contact lens wear

Objectives: To investigate the ocular surface of an aged population wearing a daily disposable contact lens over their first day of wear. Methods: Forty eyes from forty presbyopic subjects were fitted a daily CL (Delefilcon A). Tear osmolarity, tear meniscus area (TMA) and ocular surface aberrations (total higher order root means square (RMS)) were assessed at baseline (t0), at 20 minutes (t1) and after 8 hours (t2) of wear. Fluorescein corneal and conjunctival staining and tear break up time (TBUT) were performed at t0 and t2. Results: No statistically significant changes were found between t0, t1 and t2 for TMA, and between t0 and t2 for fluorescein corneal and conjunctival staining. TBUT worsened by the end of the day from 10.4±0.4 seconds t0 to 9.0±0.3 seconds t2 (P <0.05). Osmolarity showed significant changes between t0 306.9±2.3 mOsm/L and t1 312.4±2.4 mOsmol/L (P = 0.02), but returned to baseline values at 8 hours (310.40±2.26 mOsm/L; P = 0.09). Total higher order root means square (RMS) showed significant changes between t0 0.38±0.02 μm and t1 0.61±0.04 μm (P ≤ 0.001) and between t0 and t2 0.64±0.41 μm (P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: Delefilcon A may induce measures changes (osmolarity and TBUT values) in a presbyopic population, however TMA and vital staining were maintained at the baseline level over the day

Safety and preliminary efficacy on cognitive performance and adaptive functionality of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in children with Down syndrome. A randomized phase Ib clinical trial (PERSEUS study)

Purpose: Although some caregivers are using epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) off label in hopes of improving cognition in young adults with Down syndrome (DS), nothing is known about its safety, tolerability, and efficacy in the DS pediatric population. We aimed to evaluate safety and tolerability of a dietary supplement containing EGCG and if EGCG improves cognitive and functional performance. Methods: A total of 73 children with DS (aged 6-12 years) were randomized. Participants received 0.5% EGCG (10 mg/kg daily dose) or placebo for 6 months with 3 months follow up after treatment discontinuation. Results: In total, 72 children were treated and 66 completed the study. A total of 38 participants were included in the EGCG group and 35 in the placebo group. Of 72 treated participants, 62 (86%) had 229 treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs). Of 37 participants in the EGCG group, 13 (35%) had 18 drug-related treatment-emergent AEs and 12 of 35 (34%) from the placebo group had 22 events. In the EGCG group, neither severe AEs nor increase in the incidence of AEs related to safety biomarkers were observed. Cognition and functionality were not improved compared with placebo. Secondary efficacy outcomes in girls point to a need for future work. Conclusion: The use of EGCG is safe and well-tolerated in children with DS, but efficacy results do not support its use in this population. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Jardins per a la salut

Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmàcia. Assignatura: Botànica farmacèutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, Cèsar Blanché i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquí es presenten són el recull de les fitxes botàniques de 128 espècies presents en el Jardí Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici Històric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura Botànica Farmacèutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’Innovació Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a través de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autònom i col·laboratiu en Botànica farmacèutica. També s’ha pretès motivar els estudiants a través del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a través d’una experiència d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a través d’una Web pública amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardí mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

SARS-CoV-2 Delta-variant breakthrough infections in nursing home residents at midterm after Comirnaty® COVID-19 vaccination

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) Delta variant break-through infections in nursing home residents following vaccination with Comirnaty®COVID‐19 vaccine were characterized. In total, 201 participants (median age, 87 years;range, 64–100; 133 female) from two nursing homes in the Valencian community (Spain)were included. SARS‐CoV‐2‐Spike (S) antibody responses were determined by a lateralflow immunocromatography (LFIC) assay and by quantitative electrochemiluminescentassay in LFIC‐negative participants. SARS‐CoV‐2‐S‐IFNγT cells were enumerated by flowcytometry in 10 participants. Nasopharyngeal SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA loads were quantified byreal‐time polymerase chain reaction assays. Vaccine breakthrough COVID‐19 due to theDelta variant occurred in 39 residents (median age, 87 years; range, 69–96; 31 female) ata median of 6.5 months after vaccination (nine requiring hospitalization). Breakthroughinfections occurred at a higher rate(p< 0.0001) in residents who had not been previouslyinfected with SARS‐CoV‐2 (naïve) (33/108; 18%) than in those with prior diagnosis ofSARS‐CoV‐2 infection (experienced) (6/93; 6.4%), and were more likely (p< 0.0001) todevelop in residents who tested negative by LFIC (20/49) at 3 months after vaccinationas compared to their LFIC‐positive counterparts (19/142). Among LFIC‐negativeresidents, a trend towards lower plasma anti‐RBD antibody levels was noticed in thosedeveloping breakthrough infection (p=0.16).SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA loads in nasopharyngealspecimens were lower in SARS‐CoV‐2‐experienced residents (p< 0.001) and in thosetesting positive by LFIC (p=0.13). The frequency of SARS‐CoV‐2‐S‐reactive T cells at3monthswassimilarinLFIC‐negative residents with (n=7) or without (n=3)breakthrough infection. Prior history of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and detection ofS‐reactive antibodies by LFIC at 3 months is associated with a lower risk of Delta‐variant breakthrough infection in nursing home residents at midterm after Comirnaty®COVID‐19 vaccination.We are grateful to the Vice‐presidency and Ministry of Equality andInclusive Policies of the Valencia Community, the Corporate Associationof Residences and Services for People with Dependency of the ValencianCommunity (AERTE), the Valencia Health System nursing homedepartmental committees, and the staff and residents of the participantnursing homes for their collaboration in developing the ProVaVacprogram. We would also like to thank Ana Berenguer, General Directorof Analysis and Public Policies of the Presidency of the Generalitat.Ignacio Torres (Río Hortega Contract; CM20/00090) and Eliseo Albert(Juan Rodés Contract; JR20/00011) hold contracts funded by the HealthInstitute Carlos III (co‐financed by the European Regional DevelopmentFund, ERDF/FEDER). This study received no public or private funds.Peer reviewe

Sin / Sense

Sexto desafío por la erradicación de la violencia contra las mujeres del Institut Universitari d’Estudis Feministes i de Gènere «Purificación Escribano» de la Universitat Jaume

Ahora / Ara

La cinquena edició del microrelatari per l’eradicació de la violència contra les dones de l’Institut Universitari d’Estudis Feministes i de Gènere «Purificación Escribano» de la Universitat Jaume I vol ser una declaració d’esperança. Aquest és el moment en el qual les dones (i els homes) hem de fer un pas endavant i eliminar la violència sistèmica contra les dones. Ara és el moment de denunciar el masclisme i els micromasclismes començant a construir una societat més igualitària. Cadascun dels relats del llibre és una denúncia i una declaració que ens encamina cap a un món millor

Handbook of Active Ageing and Quality of Life: From Concepts to Applications

La edición de este libro estuvo a cargo de Fermina Rojo-Pérez y Gloria Fernández-Mayoralas.El documento adjunto contiene la cubierta, portada e índice del libro.This handbook presents an overview of studies on the relationship of active ageing and quality of life. It addresses the new challenges of ageing from the paradigm of positive ageing (active, healthy and successful) for a better quality of life. It provides theoretical perspectives and empirical studies, including scientific knowledge as well as practical experiences about the good ageing and the quality of later life around the world, in order to respond to the challenges of an aged population. The handbook is structured in 4 sections covering theoretical and conceptual perspectives, social policy issues and research agenda, methods, measurement instrument-scales and evaluations, and lastly application studies including domains and geographical contexts.Peer reviewe

Adelante / Endavant

Séptimo desafío por la erradicación de la violencia contra las mujeres del Institut Universitari d’Estudis Feministes i de Gènere "Purificación Escribano" de la Universitat Jaume