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Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment among individuals aged 50 and above, often resulting in irreversible vision loss (1). Currently, antiangiogenic therapy is the primary treatment approach for neovascular AMD (2). The choroid has gained significant attention in recent years due to its involvement in various ocular pathologies (7). The objective of this study was to evaluate visual acuity and correlate pre-treatment variables, such as foveal thickness and choroidal thickness, with post-treatment outcomes., Materials and Methods: This study was designed as a prospective interventional study to investigate the changes in choroidal and macular thickness in patients with neovascular AMD who received intravitreal aflibercept injections. The study utilized medical records and employed Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT-SS) for evaluation. The data was collected from patients treated in Presidente Prudente, Brazil, during a three-month load dose period., Results: The best-corrected mean visual acuity significantly improved from 1.0 logarithm of the minimum resolution angle (logMAR) units to 0.55 logMAR after treatment with aflibercept (p < 0.001). Patients undergoing treatment exhibited a significant decrease in average macular thickness from 323 μm to 232 μm (p = 0.001), as well as a reduction in choroidal thickness from 206 μm to 172 μm (p = 0.031), while maintaining intraocular pressure within the normal range (p = 0.719) without significant variation. Statistically significant associations were found between the difference in pre- and post-treatment choroidal thickness and the pretreatment values of macular thickness (p = 0.005) and choroidal thickness (p = 0.013). There was also a statistically significant correlation between the difference in pre- and post-treatment macular thickness and the pretreatment macular thickness value (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: In this study, aflibercept exhibited remarkable effectiveness in reducing macular and choroidal thickness, as evaluated using OCT-SS, and significantly improved visual acuity in patients with neovascular AMD. The assessment of both choroidal and macular changes, as well as their correlations, can provide valuable insights for clinicians, enabling them to make well-informed therapeutic decisions and effectively monitor treatment outcomes. Notably, this study contributes to the existing body of literature as the first to establish a correlation between pretreatment foveal thickness, variation in choroidal thickness, and post-treatment choroidal thickness., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The aim was to investigate the population structure of eight beef breeds: three local Tuscan breeds under extinction, Calvana (CAL), Mucca Pisana (MUP), and Pontremolese (PON); three local unselected breeds reared in Sardinia, Sarda (SAR), Sardo Bruna (SAB), and Sardo Modicana (SAM); and two cosmopolitan breeds, Charolais (CHA) and Limousine (LIM), reared in the same regions. An effective population size ranges between 14.62 (PON) to 39.79 (SAM) in local breeds, 90.29 for CHA, and 135.65 for LIM. The average inbreeding coefficients were higher in Tuscan breeds (7.25%, 5.10%, and 3.64% for MUP, CAL, and PON, respectively) compared to the Sardinian breeds (1.23%, 1.66%, and 1.90% in SAB, SAM, and SAR, respectively), while for CHA and LIM they were <1%. The highest rates of mating between half-siblings were observed for CAL and MUP (~9% and 6.5%, respectively), while the highest rate of parent-offspring mating was ~8% for MUP. Our findings describe the urgent situation of the three Tuscan breeds and support the application of conservation measures and/or the development of breeding programs. Development of breeding strategies is suggested for the Sardinian breeds.

Objective: To verify the effectiveness of the educational intervention through the evaluation of nurses' knowledge about prevention of pressure injury., Method: A quasi-experimental study with a single group, carried out with 95 nurses from a teaching hospital in the interior of Minas Gerais, in August and September 2017. As a teaching strategy, the active methodology and hybrid teaching were used, based on the reference of the Method of the Arch of Charles Maguerez. Data were collected from a validated instrument, called the Pieper Knowledge Test, and analyzed by descriptive statistics and Student's t-test with significance level of p <0.001., Results: The mean number of correct answers obtained by the nurses was 78.8% in the pre-test and 88.8% in the post-test, and the difference was statistically significant (p <0.001)., Conclusion: The educational intervention developed was effective, since it contributed to the improvement of nurses' knowledge.

Objective:: analyze related factors and the level of adherence to standard precautions of nursing professionals from the clinical medical division of a teaching hospital., Method:: a quantitative, cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted with 54 nursing professionals using the Psychometric Scale of Adherence to Standard Precautions, translated and validated to Brazilian Portuguese., Results:: the global score of adherence was intermediate (4.41); no statistically significant correlation was observed between adherence and professional category (p=0.404) and length of professional practice (p= 0.612). A correlation was observed between 'Washes hands after removing disposable gloves' (p=0.026) and professionals with nursing practice above 10 years., Conclusion:: adherence to standard precautions by the nursing team was intermediate, with no statistically significant difference in relation to the professional category and length of professional practice.

The Polar® RS800G3™ rate monitor was released in the market to replace the Polar® S810i™, and few studies have assessed that the RR series obtained by this equipment is reliable for analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). We compared HRV indexes among the devices Polar® RS800G3™, Polar® S810i™ and eletrocardiogram (ECG) to know whether the series of Polar® RS800G3™ are as reliable as those devices already validated. We analysed data from 30 healthy young adults, male, with an average age of 20·66 ± 1·40 years, which had captured the heart rate beat to beat in the three devices simultaneously with spontaneously breathing, first in the supine position and subsequently sit both for 30 min. The obtained series of RR intervals was used to calculate the indexes of HRV in the time domain (SDNN and RMSSD) and in the frequency domain (LF, HF and LF/HF). There were no significant differences in HRV indexes calculated from series obtained by the three devices, regardless of the position analysed, and a high correlation coefficient was observed. The results suggest that the Polar® RS800G3™ is able to capture series of RR intervals for analysis of HRV indexes as reliable as those obtained by ECG and Polar® S810i™., (© 2014 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Gather and describe general characteristics of different protocols of risk stratification for cardiac patients undergoing exercise., Methods: We conducted searches in LILACS, IBECS, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and SciELO electronic databases, using the following descriptors: Cardiovascular Disease, Rehabilitation Centers, Practice Guideline, Exercise and Risk Stratification in the past 20 years., Results: Were selected eight studies addressing methods of risk stratification in patients undergoing exercise., Conclusion: None of the methods described could cover every situation the patient can be subjected to; however, they are essential to exercise prescription.

Retinitis pigmentosa denotes a heterogeneous group of rare genetic diseases in which both rods and cones eye are damaged. It is a disease of poor prognosis. We describe the case of a 22 years old woman successfully treated with intravitreal implant of dexamentasone (OZURDEX®, Allergan, USA) for the treatment of macular edema due to retinitis pigmentosa.

Purpose: To assess the epidemiologic profile and level of knowledge of diabetic patients about diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR)., Methods: Cross-sectional study with patients seen at Retina and Vitreous sector of Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual de São Paulo. The subjects were assigned into two groups: diabetic patients sent for first ophthalmologic evaluation (G1) and patient already followed in the sector (G2). The patients answered a questionnaire and were submitted to ophthalmologic examination. It had been used chi-square (x²), exact of Fisher and non-parametric of Mann-Whitney tests, with level of significance of 5%., Results: The total sample was composed for 357 patients (109 in G1 and 248 in G2). The majority of the patients were female, married, with incomplete basic education, age average of 63.3 years and affirmed to know what it is diabetes. However, 53.2% did not know their type of diabetes. The visual complications of diabetes are most known. Less of one third of the patients had heard of DR and 77.3% did not know if they had it. The majority of the patients had never received any explanation or lecture about diabetes or DR. Only 3.6% of the patients had participated of programs of education on diabetes. The visual acuity, in logMAR scale, was of 0.57 in OD and 0.51 in the OS. Half of the patients did not have DR., Conclusion: The majority of the patients have low knowledge about diabetes and its complications.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in patients with diffuse diabetic macular edema on the visual acuity and intraocular pressure. To report the potential adverse events and to analyze the potential relationship between age and visual acuity and intraocular pressure variability., Methods: This clinical controlled study included 14 patients (28 eyes), 14 of the eyes received an intravitreal injection of 4 mg triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. The study group was compared to a control group of 14 eyes, without diabetic macular edema. The follow-up period was of 3 months., Results: Pressure spikes >21 mmHg occurred in 28.7% of eyes, with a significant difference of intraocular pressure between the study group and the control group in the first week after treatment. Visual acuity showed a significant improvement when compared with the control group since the second day after the treatment. There was no association between age and variability of visual acuity and intraocular pressure., Conclusion: Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide showed to be effective for improving visual acuity in patients with diabetic macular edema, in the first three months of treatment. The incidence of intraocular hypertension was 28.7%, easily manageable.