Ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) does not seem to correlate with baseline refractive error among refractive surgery candidates.

Purpose: Ocular residual astigmatism (ORA) is defined as the difference between refractive astigmatism and anterior corneal astigmatism. A high ORA may be correlated with poorer results in patients undergoing corneal-based laser surgery. Is a high baseline refractive error related to a higher degree of ORA?

Methods: This was a retrospective analytical study including 181 right eyes of an equal number of refractive surgery candidates.

The Pentacam® AXL Wave provides a reliable wavefront-based objective refraction when compared to manifest subjective refraction: A prospective study.

Purpose: Accurate refraction is arguably the most important parameter for a successful laser vision correction surgery and is based on a combination of manifest and cycloplegic refraction. Wavefront-based objective refraction may be useful in the evaluation of patients. So far, the reliability of objective refraction as measured using the Pentacam AXL Wave has not been published in the literature.

Both subscales of the Keratoconus End-Points Assessment Questionnaire have excellent test-retest reliability.

Purpose: The keratoconus end-points assessment questionnaire (KEPAQ) is a disease-specific scale designed to evaluate the quality of life in keratoconus patients and provides the measurement of both functional and emotional compromise in keratoconus. It was previously developed, tested, and validated and now we want to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the KEPAQ, in an effort to contribute evidence on its internal consistency and capability of measuring clinical state with minimal inference of random chance.

Methods: This is a prospective analytical study, designed to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the KEPAQ through the repeated application of the questionnaire to a group of clinically stable individuals.

Early results with the EyeCryl Phakic Toric intraocular lens implantation in keratoconus patients.

Refractive management in keratoconus is challenging. Although some kinds of phakic intraocular lenses have been studied in keratoconus so far, no study evaluated the results of EyeCryl Phakic Toric intraocular lenses in this kind of patients. This is a retrospective chart review study, including all keratoconus patients implanted with an EyeCryl Phakic Toric intraocular lens in at least one of their eyes by an experienced cornea surgeon in Colombia.

Both Subjective Emotional Distress and Visual Handicap Correlate with Belin ABCD Classification in the Worse Eye as Measured with the "Keratoconus End-Points Assessment Questionnaire" (KEPAQ).

Background: Keratoconus is a disease characterized by progressive corneal distortion and quality of vision. So far, no study using disease-specific scales has evaluated whether different stages of the disease correlate with higher quality of life (QoL) compromise.

Methods: A total of 114 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Keratoconus were included in this retrospective study.

Both sub-scales of the "Keratoconus End-Points Assessment Questionnaire" (KEPAQ) are unidimensional and reliable.

Background: Measuring quality of life in keratoconus is important and demands for well-constructed instruments and scales. To date, the Keratoconus End-Points Assessment Questionnaire (KEPAQ) is the only disease-specific scale to measure both functional and emotional compromise due to disease. Nevertheless, not much information exists regarding whether both sub-scales of the test show unidimensionality, a necessary condition in well-functioning instruments.

Development and Validation of the "Keratoconus End-Points Assessment Questionnaire" (KEPAQ), a Disease-Specific Instrument for Evaluating Subjective Emotional Distress and Visual Function Through Rasch Analysis.

Background: Keratoconus is a disease characterized by progressive distortion of the corneal anatomy, coupled with a decrease in vision. Assessing quality of life (QoL) in keratoconus is essential. So far, no instrument in the world has been designed to evaluate both visual function and emotional distress in this population.

Complete genome sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of functionally diverse Lysinibacillus sphaericus III(3)7.

Lysinibacillus sphaericus III(3)7 is a native Colombian strain, the first one isolated from soil samples. This strain has shown high levels of pathogenic activity against Culex quinquefaciatus larvae in laboratory assays compared to other members of the same species. Using Pacific Biosciences sequencing technology we sequenced, annotated (de novo) and described the genome of strain III(3)7, achieving a complete genome sequence status.

Complete Genome Sequence of the Larvicidal Bacterium Lysinibacillus sphaericus Strain OT4b.25.

Lysinibacillus sphaericus OT4b.25 is a native Colombian strain isolated from coleopteran larvae in an oak forest near Bogotá D.C.