[Participatory development of indicators for assessing mental health].

The specialized literature frequently cites the inclusion of different interest groups in evaluative research, referred to generically as "participatory evaluation". However, there is a lack of an empirical basis for discussion on ways to operate and (especially) qualify such participation. This article discusses the participatory development of mental health indicators for use in the Centers for Psychosocial Care (CAPS) in Brazil.

B cell elimination in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder with a worldwide distribution, potentially life-threatening with considerable morbidity. The elimination of pathogenic B cells has emerged as a rational therapeutic option. Many open label studies have reported encouraging results in which clinical and serological remission have invariably been described, often enabling the reduction of steroid and immunosuppressive treatment.

Risk factors for blindness in patients with open-angle glaucoma followed-up for at least 15 years.

Purpose: To determine the proportion of blindness and investigate the relationships between risk factors based on clinical characteristics and development of blindness in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) treated for at least 15 years.

Methods: A retrospective observational chart review was performed with 403 patients referred to a tertiary level hospital, each with a diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma, treated for at least 15 years. Blindness attributable to glaucoma was defined based on visual acuity and/or visual field tests.

Apolipoprotein C-III as a Potential Modulator of the Association Between HDL-Cholesterol and Incident Coronary Heart Disease.

Background: High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are structurally and metabolically heterogeneous and subclasses with differential effects on coronary heart disease (CHD) might exist. Apolipoprotein (apo) C-III, a small proinflammatory protein that resides on the surface of lipoproteins, enhances the atherogenicity of VLDL and LDL particles, but little is known about the role apoC-III on HDL. We investigated whether the presence or absence of apoC-III differentiates HDL into subtypes with nonprotective or protective associations with risk of future CHD.

Conjunctival inflammation in patients under topical glaucoma treatment with indication to surgery.

Purpose: To compare the frequency of conjunctival HLA-DR expression (a surrogate marker for inflammation) in eyes treated with topical prostaglandin analogues versus eyes treated with other topical antiglaucomatous drugs.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma presenting indication for trabeculectomy were divided in groups according to the use or not of prostaglandin analogues. All subjects were treated with the maximum tolerated dose of antiglaucomatous drugs until the date of the surgery.

Migration of toxoplasma gondii-infected dendritic cells across human retinal vascular endothelium.

Purpose: Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite responsible for ocular toxoplasmosis, accesses the retina from the bloodstream. We investigated the dendritic cell as a potential taxi for T. gondii tachyzoites moving across the human retinal endothelium, and examined the participation of adhesion molecules and chemokines in this process.

Training of an ophthalmologist in concepts and practice of community eye health.

Training in community eye health (CEH; public health applied to ophthalmology) complements clinical ophthalmology knowledge and enhances the physician's ability to meet the needs at the individual and community level in the context of VISION 2020. The upcoming version of the ophthalmological residency curriculum that was developed by the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) includes a new, specific section on CEH. It has basic, standard, advanced and very advanced levels of goals (the last one is exclusively for fellows/master students), and provides a public health approach to the main causes of blindness and low vision.

Facilitating Minima Search for Large Water Clusters at the MP2 Level via Molecular Tailoring.

Water clusters (H2O)20 and (H2O)25 are explored at the Møller-Plesset second-order perturbation (MP2) level of theory. Geometry optimization is carried out on favorable structures, initially generated by the temperature basin paving (TBP) method, utilizing the fragment-based molecular tailoring approach (MTA). MTA-based stabilization energies at the complete basis set limit are accurately estimated by grafting the energy correction using a smaller basis set.

Ocular toxoplasmosis II: clinical features, pathology and management.

The term, ocular toxoplasmosis, refers to eye disease related to infection with the parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. Recurrent posterior uveitis is the typical form of this disease, characterized by unilateral, necrotizing retinitis with secondary choroiditis, occurring adjacent to a pigmented retinochoroidal scar and associated with retinal vasculitis and vitritis. Multiple atypical presentations are also described, and severe inflammation is observed in immunocompromised patients.

Ocular toxoplasmosis I: parasitology, epidemiology and public health.

Ocular toxoplasmosis results from retinal infection with the protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite, which exists as multiple clonal subpopulations and in three stages, is capable of replication in any nucleated cell of its primary feline or multiple paratenic hosts. Human seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis is high across the globe, but with geographic variation.

Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites cross retinal endothelium assisted by intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in vitro.

Retinal infection is the most common clinical manifestation of toxoplasmosis. The route by which circulating Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites cross the vascular endothelium to enter the human retina is unknown. Convincing studies using murine encephalitis models have strongly implicated leukocyte taxis as one pathway used by the parasite to access target organs.

[Parameters and paradigms for meta-evaluation: an exploratory and reflective review].

The evaluation of an evaluation is not a mere play on words or simply an investigation into the person who evaluates the evaluation. It is far more than that. It is about how to evaluate the diverse components of the evaluation process and the evaluators per se.

Dietary fat and semen quality among men attending a fertility clinic.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine the relation between dietary fats and semen quality parameters.

Methods: Data from 99 men with complete dietary and semen quality data were analyzed. Fatty acid levels in sperm and seminal plasma were measured using gas chromatography in a subgroup of men (n = 23).

Antisense inhibition of apoB synthesis with mipomersen reduces plasma apoC-III and apoC-III-containing lipoproteins.

Mipomersen, an antisense oligonucleotide that reduces hepatic production of apoB, has been shown in phase 2 studies to decrease plasma apoB, LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides. ApoC-III inhibits VLDL and LDL clearance, and it stimulates inflammatory responses in vascular cells. Concentrations of VLDL or LDL with apoC-III independently predict cardiovascular disease.

Imaging Retinal Vascular Changes in the Mouse Model of Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy.

Purpose: Oxygen-induced retinopathy in the mouse is the standard experimental model of retinopathy of prematurity. Assessment of the pathology involves in vitro analysis of retinal vaso-obliteration and retinal neovascularization. The authors studied the clinical features of oxygen-induced retinopathy in vivo using topical endoscopy fundus imaging (TEFI), in comparison to standard investigations, and evaluated a system for grading these features.

Local and systemic biochemical alterations induced by Bothrops atrox snake venom in mice.

The local and systemic alterations induced by Bothrops atrox snake venom (BaV) injection in mice were studied. BaV induced superoxide production by migrated neutrophils, mast cell degranulation and phagocytosis by macrophages. Moreover, BaV caused hemorrhage in dorsum of mice after 2hr post- injection.

Causes of blindness and visual impairment in Latin America.

We review what is known in each country of the Latin American region with regards to blindness and visual impairment and make some comparisons to Hispanic populations in the United States. Prevalence of blindness varied from 1.1% in Argentina to 4.

Low-density lipoproteins containing apolipoprotein C-III and the risk of coronary heart disease.

Background: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that contains apolipoprotein (apo) C-III makes up only 10% to 20% of plasma LDL but has a markedly altered metabolism and proatherogenic effects on vascular cells.

Methods And Results: We examined the association between plasma LDL with apoC-III and coronary heart disease in 320 women and 419 men initially free of cardiovascular disease who developed a fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction during 10 to 14 years of follow-up and matched controls who remained free of coronary heart disease. Concentrations of LDL with apoC-III (measured as apoB in this fraction) were associated with risk of coronary heart disease in multivariable analysis that included the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apoB, triglycerides, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and other risk factors.

Clinical and regulatory protocols for the management of impaired vision in the public health care network.

Purpose: To describe the procedures used in developing Clinical and Regulatory Protocols for primary care teams to use in the management of the most common scenarios of impaired vision in Southern Brazil.

Methods: A retrospective review of 1.333 referral forms from all primary care practitioners was performed in Ribeirão Preto city, during a 30-day period.

Toxoplasmosis: a global threat.

Toxoplasmosis, a disease described worldwide, which is caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, commonly involves the retina. The disease has a higher impact in immunocompromised individuals and in congenital infection because of the severity of central nervous system involvement. Although simple prophylactic measures could reduce transmission, T.

River blindness: an old disease on the brink of elimination and control.

For decades, onchocerciasis (or river blindness) was one of the most common infectious causes of blindness in the world. Primarily an infection of Africa, with limited distribution in the new world, disease due to the nematode Onchocerca volvulus is rapidly diminishing as a result of large public health campaigns targeting at risk populations in Africa and the Americas. Existing and newly-developed treatment strategies offer the chance to eliminate onchocercal ocular morbidity in some parts of the world.

Molecular and cytogenetic abnormalities in acute myeloid leukemia: review and case studies.

Objective: To study the frequency of mutations that may lead to a good or bad prognosis, as well as their relation with the karyotype and immunophenotype in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Methods: Thirty samples of patients with acute myeloid leukemia were studied, in which FLT3-ITD, FLT3-TKD and NPM1 mutations were investigated. All samples were submitted to immunophenotyping and 25 to karyotyping.

Clinical and microbiological characterization of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in Brazil.

In 2008 isolates of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-KPN) were detected for the first time at Hospital Heliópolis, São Paulo, Brazil. The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical and microbiological outcomes of infections caused by KPC-KPN. A historical cohort of patients from whom KPC-KPN strains were isolated was performed.

Trans-fatty acid levels in sperm are associated with sperm concentration among men from an infertility clinic.

We measured the sperm fatty acid composition using gas chromatography in anonymized semen samples of 33 men undergoing infertility evaluation at an academic medical center. Trans-fatty acids were present in human sperm and were related inversely to sperm concentration (r = -0.44).