Advances in dose-effect and biomarker studies of uranium-induced kidney injury / 环境与职业医学

With the development of nuclear energy technology and the use of depleted uranium weapons, the uranium exposed population is gradually expanding and the health effects of uranium exposure are of increasing concern. The toxicity of uranium to kidney, a sensitive organ for uranium to enter the body to produce effects, cannot be ignored. As of now, the effects of uranium exposure on the kidney are still not well understood, the threshold of uranium-induced kidney injury has been controversial, and there is a lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers for the diagnosis of early kindey damage, especially in the context of chronic uranium exposure. For these reasons, this paper reviewed the results of research on dose-effect relationships and biomarkers of uranium-induced kidney injury and provided an outlook on future research directions, with the aim of providing a basis for subsequent study on animal experiments and population health effects related to uranium exposure.

Decisiones de los padres que no arriesgan la vida de sus hijos, pero que los exponen a daños serios: no a las vacunas / Parental decisions that do not risk children's lives but place them at significant harm: foregoing vaccination

ResumenLa decisión de los padres de no aplicar vacunas que son "obligatorias" a sus hijos genera dilemas en los médicos y pediatras. ¿Qué debe hacerse cuando los padres no consienten la aplicación de vacunas a sus niños? ¿Esto sitúa a los niños en riesgo suficientemente grave como para que amerite la notificación a los servicios de protección infantil del Estado y que se trate como negligencia de parte de los padres? ¿Qué debe hacerse cuando, por no inmunizar a sus hijos, se pone en riesgo a terceros? El principio del interés superior del menor implica velar por el beneficio del niño sobre cualquier otra situación. Al respecto, los padres antivacunas tienen argumentos para justificar su postura. Los médicos no pueden obligar a los padres a vacunar a sus hijos. Sin embargo, bajo el mismo principio, deben velar por el bienestar del niño y permanecer alerta de que los padres no rebasen el umbral de daño al menor. Si los padres ponen en riesgo de daño grave a su hijo al tomar la decisión de no vacunarlo, entonces estará justificada la intervención legal en la decisión. Este recurso debe ser la última opción, pues los conflictos, en su mayoría, deben resolverse en el seno de la relación del médico con los padres.

AbstractThe decisions of parents to forego vaccines "mandatory" for their children generate in physician and pediatricians some dilemmas and issues such as what to do when parents do not authorize administration of vaccines to their children? Do parents place their children at risk severe enough to notify governmental child protection services and treat this as parental negligence? What to do in the situation where the parental decision to forego immunization of their children affects others? The best interests of the child include ensuring the child's benefit over any other situation. Related to this, parents against vaccines have arguments to justify their position that physicians cannot force parents to immunize their children. By the same principle, physicians must ensure the welfare of children and remain alert, respecting that parental decisions do not exceed the threshold of "no harm to the child" and only if the parental decision in regard to foregoing vaccination places the child at risk of serious harm is government intervention justified. This resource should be left as the last resort because most conflicts must be resolved within the relationship of the physicians with the parents.

Characteristics and impact factors of ocular damage effects induced by transitional near-infrared laser:a review / 军事医学

The transitional near-infrared (NIR) laser was defined as ranging from 1.3μm to 1.4μm, within which the most sensitive tissue to laser damage changed from the retina to the cornea.The ocular damage effect has attracted much attention due to the increased varieties and output power of laser in this spectrum region in recent years.Compared with visible and mid-and-far infrared wavelengths, the ocular damage effect induced by transitional NIR wavelengths has many peculiarities and impact factors due to the bulk absorptionby ocular media.This paper reviews the existing ocular damage threshold data and analyzes the characteristics, impact factors and unresolved issues relating to ocular effects induced by laser radiation over the transition zone.

Critical yield-point model to estimate damage caused by brown spot and powdery mildew in barley / Modelo do ponto crítico para estimar danos causados pela mancha-marrom e oídio em cevada

Barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.) is the second most important winter crop in Southern Brazil. The excessive rainfall in this region during the crop-growing season increases the frequency and intensity of foliar fungal diseases. The research aimed to determine the damage function equations (DFE) for the multiple pathosystem of barley brown spot and powdery mildew based on the relationship between grain yield and diseases intensity at different 'BRS Cauê' cultivar growth stages (GS) during 2009 and 2010 growing seasons in Southern Brazil. The experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and four replicates. The disease gradients were generated by strobilurins and triazols fungicides rates and number of applications on barley cv. Cauê. The fungicide applications and disease incidence and severity assessments were performed at the 22, 31, 39, 45 and 56 plant GS. The DFE were obtained by variance analysis and linear regression between grain yield and diseases intensity. Significant and negative DFE were obtained and the damage coefficients (DC) varied from 29.48 to 100.08 (2009) and from 36.08 to 113.57kg ha-1 (2010) for incidence, and from 219.5 to 6,276.6 (2009) and 102.3 to 5,292.5kg ha-1 (2010) for severity. The largest damage coefficients were obtained when diseases assessments were made on GS 22 and 31 on both growing seasons evaluated. DFE were used to calculate the economic damage threshold (EDT) as a criterion to indicate the fungicide application moment to control the diseases in cultivars similar to 'BRS Cauê' in Southern Brazil.

A cevada (Hordeum vulgaris L.) é a segunda mais importante cultura de inverno no Sul do Brasil. Nessa região, o excesso de chuvas durante a estação de crescimento da cultura favorece o aumento na frequência e intensidade de doenças foliares. O trabalho objetivou determinar as equações de função de dano (EFD) para o patossistema múltiplo mancha-marrom e oídio da cevada pela relação entre rendimento de grãos e intensidade foliar das doenças em diferentes estádios fenológicos da cultivar de cevada 'BRS Cauê', nas safras 2009 e 2010 no sul do Brasil. O delineamento foi em blocos casualizados com nove tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos de diferentes doses e número de aplicações dos fungicidas triazóis e estrobilurinas para gerar os gradientes de intensidade das doenças. As aplicações de fungicidas e as avaliações da incidência e severidade foliar foram realizadas nos estádios fenológicos (EF) 22, 31, 39, 45 e 56. As equações foram obtidas pela análise de variância e regressão linear entre rendimento de grãos e intensidade das doenças. As EFD foram significativas e negativas e os coeficientes de danos variaram de 29,48 a 100,08kg ha-1 (2009) e 36,08 a 113,57kg ha-1 ( 2010) para a incidência e de 219,5 a 6.276,6kg ha-1 ( 2009) e 102,3 a 5.292,5kg ha-1 (2010). Os maiores coeficientes de dano foram obtidos nos estádios EF 22 e 31em ambas as safras. As EFD foram usadas para calcular o limiar de dano econômico, que é um critério que indica o correto momento de aplicação de fungicidas para o controle das doenças em cultivares similares a 'BRS Cauê' no sul do Brasil.

Susceptibility of Various Intraocular Lenses to Nd: YAG Laser In Vitro

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of various intraocular lenses(IOLs) of different optic material to Nd:YAG laser in vitro. Four models of IOLs manufactured by different companies were selected and ten IOLs for each model were used for this study. Two models had lathe-cut polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA) optic, one silicone compound optic, and one acrylate/methacrylate copolymer optic. Q-switched Nd: YAG laser(7901 Nd-YAG laser, Coherent, Palo Alto, CA, USA) was used. The He-Ne aiming beam was focused on the posterior surface of optic, 2mm apart from the center of optic, and sixteen shots were applied to each optic with energy levels ranging from 0.3 to 2.0mJ with increment of 0.1 or 0.2mJ in a circular pattern. The spots were examined under phase contrast microscope and scanning electron microscope. The averages(+/-SD) of energy threshold at which damage was detected were 0.49+/-0.12mJ in silicone compound optic, 0.67+/-0.19mJ in acrylate/methacrylate copolyer optic, and 0.72+/-0.11mJ and 0.89+/-0.09mJ in lathe-cut PMMA optics. All interclass differences were statistically significant except the difference between lathe-cut PMMA optic with lower damage threshold and acrylate/methacrylate copolymer optic(Mann-Whitney test, p<.05). In conclusion, silicone compound and acrylate/methacrylate copolymer optics are more susceptible to Nd:YAG laser than PMMA optic in vitro and this suggests that in patients with high risk of developing severe posterior capsular opacification after cataract surgery, implantation of IOLs with PMMA optic is preferable and early Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy with low energy is recommended in cases of implantation of foldable IOLs.