Quantitative assessment of breast mammographic density with a new objective method.

Women with increased mammographic density (MD) have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The purpose of our study is to evaluate an experimental method to quantify MD using a program (compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7) which measures black areas as 0, white areas as 100 and grey scale areas with intermediate values between 0 and 100, depending on the "density" of the area. Digital screening mammograms were directly estimated with this method. Initial idea and steps of the program were based on a Mac utility used by our research team.

Effect of laser photocoagulation treatment for diabetic macular oedema on patient's vision-related quality of life.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of laser photocoagulation for diabetic macular oedema (DME) on patients' Vision Related Quality Of Life (VR-QOL) and to investigate associations between changes in self reported VR-QOL and changes in visual acuity following application of laser treatment. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 55 subjects who underwent laser treatment for DME. Eligible patients with no history of previous laser photocoagulation self-administered the 51-item field-test version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) prior to treatment and 3 months following the last session of laser application. Visual acuity was measured by means of the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy (ETDRS) chart. Multi-item scales rating different aspects of VR-QOL were compared prior and after photocoagulation and the change in questionnaire's composite score following treatment was correlated to change in visual acuity and other determinants previously reported as risk factors in the diabetic population. RESULTS: Scale scores associated with general vision, near vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, vision-specific social functioning, vision-specific mental health, expectations for visual function and dependency due to vision were significantly improved following laser treatment. Multivariate models revealed that improvement of the NEI-VFQ composite score was significant in subjects younger than 65 years of age (p = 0.04) who received more laser burns (p = 0.02) and had worse vision-related QOL prior to laser treatment as expressed by the baseline NEI- VFQ composite score (p = 0.03). There was no statistically significant association between change in the composite score following laser treatment and stage of diabetic retinopathy, duration of diabetes or laser settings used during photocoagulation. CONCLUSIONS: Photocoagulation for DME has a beneficial effect on patients' subjective perception of visual function. The use of vision-targeted health status questionnaires in conjunction with the clinical examination appears to provide a more comprehensive overview of individuals' daily well- being following laser treatment.

Pleistocene effects on the European freshwater fish fauna: double origin of the cobitid genus Sabanejewia in the Danube basin (Osteichthyes: Cobitidae).

Biogeographical hypotheses of European freshwater fishes were inferred using phylogeographic analysis of the complete cytochrome b and ATP synthase 8 and 6 mitochondrial genes (1982bp). To test the relative importance of drainage origin versus Pleistocene glaciations in the origin of primary freshwater fishes in Europe, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Sabanejewia which is distributed in European waters. The phylogenetic relationships recovered for the genus Sabanejewia (n=75) provide support for the monophyly of six main evolutionary mtDNA lineages: Sabanejewia larvata, Sabanejewia romanica, Sabanejewia aurata/Sabanejewia caucasica, Sabanejewia kubanica, Sabanejewia baltica, and the Danubian-Balkanian complex. The Caucasian-Caspian mtDNA lineages, S. kubanica, S. aurata/S. caucasica, and the Northern European S. baltica represents the sister group of the Danubian-Balkanian complex mtDNAclade, supporting a Caucasian-Northern European origin of most of mtDNA lineages of the Central European freshwater fish fauna. The mtDNA divergence observed between the Danubian Sabanejewia species is too dissimilar to support their contemporary origin. Rather, the mtDNA data suggest that the Danubian Sabanejewia lineages most likely have a double origin, indicating that the European Sabanejewia lineages have experienced different historical processes for the following reasons. First, the origin of the S. larvata and S. romanica mtDNA clades predates the origin of the Danubian-Balkanian complex, and our results showed that the completion of the Alps and the origin of the Danube drainage seem to have promoted the speciation of the earliest Sabanejewia clades in the Miocene. Second, small genetic distances and the geographical pattern found within the Danubian-Balkanian complex clade indicate that the lineages included in this clade spread recently across the Danube and Greek river drainages. The inclusion of the S. balcanica species within all mtDNA lineages suggests that cyclical cold periods during the Pleistocene glaciations have favoured its rapid expansion and genetic homogenisation across Central European and Greek waters.

Phylogenetic relationships of Greek cyprinidae: molecular evidence for at least two origins of the Greek cyprinid fauna.

A phylogeny of the main cyprinid species that live in Greece was based on the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1140 bp). The great diversity of the Greek cyprinid fauna, with at least 4 different lineages of barbins, 1 of gobionins, and 10 of leuciscinids, was confirmed. The validity and composition of the genera Tropidophoxinellus and Pachychilon were demonstrated. Likewise, the close phylogenetic relationships of genera Vimba, Blicca, and Abramis, as well as Telestes, Chondrostoma, and Phoxinellus, were established. Moreover, Pseudophoxinus beoticus was found to be closely related to Phoxinellus rather than to other Pseudophoxinus species. The most interesting outcome of our analyses was the existence of at least two different origins of the Greek cyprinid fauna. Most of the Greek cyprinids were directly related to the Danubian (i.e., central European) ichthyofauna. However, we found at least four cases of a close phylogenetic relationship between Greek and Iberian endemic species.

Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation and phylogeography among Salmo trutta L. (Greek brown trout) populations.

To investigate the phylogenetic relationships and geographical structure among brown trout S. trutta L. Populations from the South Adriatic-Ionian and Aegean sea basins, mitochondrial DNA sequence comparisons were used. A 310-base-pair (bp) segment of the control region (D-loop), and an additional 280-bp segment of the cytochrome beta gene were sequenced from representatives of 13 brown trout populations. Phylogenetic analyses, conducted after combining the data presented with published data from other Eurasian brown trout, revealed four major phylogenetic groups, three of which were found widely distributed within the southern Balkan region. The phylogeographical patterns revealed by mtDNA represent one of the few cases where phylogenetic discontinuity in a gene tree exists without obvious geographical localization within a species' range and has most likely resulted from the differentiation of the major mtDNA clades during Messinian or early Pleistocene times. Finally, the genetic relationships among the populations suggested by mtDNA were generally not in accordance with either allozyme or morphological data.

Management of pseudophakic retinal detachment with various intraocular lens types.

In the last five years, 25 cases of retinal detachment (RD) after intraocular lens implantation were treated in the University Eye Clinic of Thessaloniki. The incidence of RD was lower with posterior chamber intraocular lens (PC-IOL, 0.46%) implantation than in the cases with anterior chamber IOL (AC-IOL, 2.6%) implantation. The successful reattachment rate was higher with PC-IOL (100%) than in cases with AC-IOL where the low success (87%) rate was caused by proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Therefore, the eyes with AC-IOL required reoperation more frequently, and the ultimate failure rate (despite multiple operations) was higher in the AC-IOL group. Conventional surgical techniques were used in the first procedure. In the reoperated cases, the most advanced techniques were used, such as vitrectomy combined with gas or silicone oil injection.