The prevalence of myopia is increasing globally, and the outdoor light environment is considered as a possible factor that can retard myopia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of myopia and the light environment in Aracati, equatorial Brazil. We surveyed 421 children (421 right eyes; mean age, 10.6 years) and performed ocular examinations that included non-cycloplegic refraction and axial length (AL). Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify factors affecting myopia such as time spent outdoors and in near work. We measured illuminance and violet light irradiance in Aracati. The mean spherical equivalent (SE) and AL were −0.44 ± 1.38 diopters (D) and 22.98 ± 0.87 mm, respectively. The prevalence of myopia (SE ≤ −0.75 D) and high myopia (SE ≤ −6.0 D/AL ≥ 26.0 mm) was 20.4 and 1.4/0.48%, respectively. Multiple regression analyses showed that myopia was not associated with lifestyle factors. The average illuminance in Aracati was about 100,000 lux from morning to evening. The current results reflect the ALs and the prevalence of myopia among Brazilian schoolchildren. There is a possibility that the light environment in addition to other confounding factors including racial differences affects the ALs and refractive errors.

No abstract

The strong association of acute guttate psoriasis and streptococcal throat infection, together with the preferential use of T cells expressing a particular T-cell receptor, has suggested a role for bacterial superantigens in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. We examined the proliferative responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), obtained from patients with psoriasis and from healthy controls, to streptococcal superantigens, cytoplasmic membrane-associated protein (CAP) and secretion-type CAP (SCAP), isolated from group A, beta-haemolytic streptococci. PBLs from patients with psoriasis showed significantly less response to SCAP and CAP than those from healthy controls. Because there was no difference between psoriatic patients and controls in the proliferative response of PBLs to staphylococcal enterotoxin A or E (SEA, SEE) or the mitogen phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), these findings strongly suggest that the reduced reactivity to the streptococcal superantigens seems to reflect anergy of a population of PBLs to the superantigens. As the CAP used in the present study stimulates V beta 8 T cells selectively, we further examined the proliferation of V beta 8 T cells after such stimulation using flow cytometry. V beta 8 T cells obtained from three of four psoriatic patients failed to proliferate in the presence of CAP, whereas they proliferated vigorously in the presence of SEE, which activates V beta 8 T cells, confirming the specific hyporesponsiveness of PBLs from psoriatic patients to streptococcal superantigens. We then determined the effects of serum factors on the suppressed response of PBLs to the streptococcal superantigens with SCAP or CAP. It was partially restored when PBLs were cultured with sera obtained from healthy subjects, although the responses were still significantly lower than those of the healthy controls. In contrast, psoriatic sera markedly suppressed the proliferative response of PBLs from healthy controls to CAP or SCAP, but showed no suppression of the proliferative response of PBLs to SEA. Because these findings suggest the presence of specific inhibitory factors in psoriatic sera, we examined whether the inhibitory effect was caused by antisuperantigen antibody. However, no significant increase was detected in antibody titre to CAP in psoriatic sera, as has been noted in sera from patients with poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. The present results show for the first time the hyporesponsiveness of PBLs to streptococcal superantigens and the presence of serum inhibitors that specifically inhibit T-cell response to the superantigens in psoriatic patients. These findings suggest a pathological role for streptococcal infections in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

The isolate from urine of a dog with cystitis was molecularly identified Candida tropicalis and its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by a microdilution method. The 25S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis indicated that the clinical isolate was essentially identical to that of C. tropicalis and distinct from other Candida species. The MIC(50) and the MIC(90) of fluconazole (FLZ) for the clinical isolate of C. tropicalis was 6.25 and 25 microg/ml, respectively, indicating that susceptibility of the clinical isolate of C. tropicalis to FLZ was less than for other strains of C. tropicalis as well as C. albicans. The molecular analysis as presented in this study assisted the diagnosis of candidiasis by identifying the yeasts in urine samples within 2 days. The patient dog, a 10-year-old male Shih Tzu dog (7.0 kg) referred for examination of cystitis was successfully treated with itraconazole.

We describe two patients with pregnancy-associated pigmentary demarcation lines overlapped by erythematous changes. In both cases, there was a symmetrical well-defined erythematous pigmentation involving the buttocks and flexor aspects of the legs. After normal delivery the erythema disappeared within 7–10 days, follwed by slow resolution of the pigmentation. Compression by the enlarged uterus of peripheral nerves issuing at S₁––S₂ is proposed as a mechanism of these changes.