Clinical Outcomes After Implantation of 320°-Arc Length Intrastromal Corneal Ring Segments in Keratoconus.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes after implantation of a new 320°-arc length Ferrara intrastromal corneal ring segment (320-ICRS) in eyes of patients with keratoconus.

Methods: A multicentric nonrandomized study was conducted in which a new 320-ICRS was placed in 138 eyes of 130 patients with keratoconus. Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), keratometry, corneal volume, asphericity, lines of vision gain/loss, and vectorial analysis were assessed preoperatively and at the final follow-up visit after the procedure.

Blood and seminal plasma concentrations of selenium, zinc and testosterone and their relationship to sperm quality and testicular biometry in domestic cats.

The aim of this study was to assess seminal plasma (SP) and serum concentrations of zinc (Zn), selenium (Se) and testosterone (T) in domestic cats and determine whether these are related to sperm quality and testicular biometry. Six tomcats were collected using an artificial vagina and sperm analysis included motility by CASA, morphology, plasma membrane integrity, and sperm count. Serum and SP were submitted to total T concentration determination using a solid-phase radioimmunoassay technique while Zn and Se were measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Major complications following total en bloc spondylectomy for giant-cell tumor.

The authors present the case of a 32-year-old Caucasian female with a giant-cell tumor of the eighth thoracic vertebra, causing unremitting pain, segmental kyphosis and imminent local instability. A total en bloc spondylectomy by a posterior-only approach was performed, complemented with anterior-column reconstruction with a titanium mesh and structural allograft, as well as pedicle screw fixation. Despite the surgery being uneventful, several complications developed over the ensuing weeks: bilateral hemothorax, empyema and sepsis, requiring numerous revision surgeries for postoperative infection.

High incidence of 'Dag-like' sperm defect in the domestic cat.

The occurrence of a high incidence of sperm tail defects in a male domestic cat resembling the known 'Dag-like' defect is reported. Sperm analyses were performed in ejaculated samples collected by an artificial vagina and in testicular and epididymal sperm cells after castration. The following alterations were observed using transmission electron microscope: heavily coiled sperm tails containing several axonemal units enclosed in the same common cell membrane; aberrations in the axonemal main structure; and swollen and unevenly distributed mitochondria in the midpiece.

Levels of copper in Nile tilapia from Brazil.

The purpose of this work was to determine the concentration of copper in samples of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) fillets purchased in the city of Botucatu (São Paulo, Brazil) and in fillet and liver samples of Tilapia fed diets supplemented with different concentrations of Cu from the Laboratory of Aquatic Organism Nutrition/FMVZ-UNESP (Botucatu, Brazil). The fillet samples were prepared by lyophilisation and cryogenic grinding into particles smaller than 60 µm, and copper was extracted ultrasonically using 0.

Analytical approach to the metallomic of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) liver tissue by SRXRF and FAAS after 2D-PAGE separation: Preliminary results.

An investigation was made into calcium, iron and zinc in protein spots in samples of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) liver tissue obtained after protein separation by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and subsequent qualitative and quantitative evaluation by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SRXRF) and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). An analysis of the fluorescence spectra indicated the presence of calcium, iron and zinc in 12, 6 and 8 liver protein spots, respectively. The metal ions found were distributed mainly in proteins with a molar mass of less than 40.

Determination of selenium by GFAAS in slurries of fish feces to estimate the bioavailability of this micronutrient in feed used in pisciculture.

This paper presents a simple, fast and sensitive method to determine selenium in samples of feces and of fish feed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) through the direct introduction of slurries of the samples into the spectrometer's graphite tube. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) calculated for 20 readings of the blank of the standard slurries (0.50% m/v of feces or feed devoid of selenium) were 0.