Very low doses of direct intravenous iron in each session as maintenance therapy in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Intravenous (IV) iron supplementation is widely used in hemodialysis (HD) patients to treat their periodic losses. However, the ideal dose and frequency is unknown. The goal of the study is to see if a 20 mg dose of iron IV at the end of each session of HD as iron maintenance is better than the iron prior therapy.

An automatic weighting system for wild animals based in an artificial neural network: how to weigh wild animals without causing stress.

This paper proposes a novel and autonomous weighing system for wild animals. It allows evaluating changes in the body weight of animals in their natural environment without causing stress. The proposed system comprises a smart scale designed to estimate individual body weights and their temporal evolution in a bird colony.

Leptospirosis outbreaks in Nicaragua: identifying critical areas and exploring drivers for evidence-based planning.

Leptospirosis is an epidemic-prone zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide. In Central America, leptospirosis outbreaks have been reported in almost all countries; Nicaragua in particular has faced several outbreaks. The objective of this study was to stratify the risk and identify "critical areas" for leptospirosis outbreaks in Nicaragua, and to perform an exploratory analysis of potential "drivers".

Corneal shape changes induced by first and second generation silicone hydrogel contact lenses in daily wear.

Purpose: To compare the corneal topographical changes induced by two first and second generation silicone-hydrogel (SiH) contact lenses after 3 months of daily wear (DW).

Methods: Prospective, consecutive case-series in which patients wore one of 3 different contact lenses (either the first generation SiH Focus Night & Day, the second generation SiH Acuvue Oasys or the monthly disposable Soflens 38 hydrogel lens as control group) on a DW basis for 3 months. Over-refraction, visual acuity, mean keratometry, corneal astigmatism, corneal eccentricity, superficial regularity and superficial asymmetry indices were monitored over the 3-month period.

The Nicaraguan Pesticide Poisoning Register: constant underreporting.

This study estimated the level of underreporting of acute pesticide poisonings (APP) in the pesticide surveillance system in Nicaragua in 2000. Data on pesticide exposure and health effects were assessed in a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 3,169 persons aged 15 years and older. The authors found 1,369 cases of APP in the official register for 2000.

Respiratory syncytial virus-related bronchiolitis in Puerto Rico.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of respiratory tract disease in infants and young children. Immunoprophylaxis is available for high-risk infants. This study reviews infants with bronchiolitis at three primary care hospitals to describe the epidemiology of RSV infection in Puerto Rico.

Accommodative intraocular lens tilting.

Purpose: To report an unusual complication of accommodative intraocular lens (IOL) implantation after clear lens extraction for hyperopia correction.

Design: Observational case report.

Method: A 48-year-old woman underwent clear lens exchange for the correction of moderate hyperopia.

High dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma not achieving complete response after induction chemotherapy. The GEL-TAMO experience.

Background And Objectives: Patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) who do not obtain a complete response (CR) after induction chemotherapy have a poor prognosis. However, provided they are sensitive to the first regimen of chemotherapy, 25-40% of them with a B-cell phenotype may achieve long-term survival when treated with high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/ASCT). The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of this therapy in the corresponding patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

Administration of N(omega)-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) impairs endothelium-dependent relaxation in gravid but not nongravid rats.

Objective: To characterize the impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by administration of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N(omega)-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) to gravid rats and to determine whether L-NAME affects nongravid rats in a similar manner.

Methods: Acetylcholine (ACh; 0.01-10 microM) relaxation was studied in aortic segments (contracted with 10 nM norepinephrine) from Wistar rats that were hypertensive after receiving L-NAME (0.

Controlling chaos in unidimensional maps using macroevolutionary algorithms.

We introduce a simple search algorithm that explores the parameter of periodically perturbed discrete maps in order to find desired orbits through chaos control. The method has been applied to one-dimensional maps but is easily extendable to higher-dimensional systems. Here, we consider two types of chaos control involving proportional pulses in the system variables [Phys.

Alterations in phenylephrine-induced contractions and the vascular expression of Na+,K+-ATPase in ouabain-induced hypertension.

Hypertension development, phenylephrine-induced contraction and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase functional activity and protein expression in aorta (AO), tail (TA) and superior mesenteric (SMA) arteries from ouabain- (25 microg day(-1), s.c., 5 weeks) and vehicle-treated rats were evaluated.