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SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID 19, is a new human pathogen that appeared in Wuhan, late December 2019. SARS-CoV-2 is a positive sense RNA virus, having four structural and six accessory proteins including that encoded by ORF8 gene known to be one of the most hypervariable and rapidly evolving genes. Thus, global characterization of mutations in this gene is important for pathogenicity and diagnostics. 240 different nonsynonymous mutations and 2 deletions were identified in 45,400 ORF8 nucleotide sequences during six months pandemic with about half of these variants were deleterious for ORF8, and the quarter of them were located in conserved amino acids. Genetic diversity analysis showed two main regions that harbor L84S and S24L. L84S is by far the most predominant mutation, followed by S24L that appeared first in USA. Phylogenetic analysis of ORF8 variants revealed the appearance of small clades with that of L84S being closer to bats. This is the first study that revealed the global nonsynonymous mutations in ORF8 from January to June 2020.

To analyze en-face optical coherence tomography (OCT) and decorrelation signals on OCT angiography (OCTA) in two cases of macular choroidal macrovessel (MCM).

Case report. Both the 64-year-old and 71-year-old females presented for a routine evaluation, and multimodal imaging analysis, including color fundus photography, indocyanine green angiography (ICG), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and OCTA, was performed to diagnose a MCM. En-face OCT, en-face OCTA and decorrelation signals were analyzed through the MCM. In both reported cases, color fundus photograph revealed a serpiginoid lesion in the temporal macula. Red-free imaging enhanced the appearance of this lesion resembling a dilated choroidal vessel. Cross-sectional OCT showed an enlarged choroidal vessel causing elevation of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) within the fovea. En-face OCTA with segmentation below the choriocapillaris enhanced the MCM delineation. En-face OCT with segmentation below the choriocapillaris showed MCM with a greater distinctness than the en-face OCTA imaging. Decorrelation signals were not observed within MCM on cross-sectional OCTA.

En-face OCT and decorrelation signals on OCTA may have diagnostic value in distinguishing macular choroidal macrovessel from other choroidal vascular diseases.

En-face OCT and decorrelation signals on OCTA may have diagnostic value in distinguishing macular choroidal macrovessel from other choroidal vascular diseases.

To report long term results of two cases treated with topical cyclosporin A 1% for keratitis associated with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS1).

A 25-year-old male and a 17-year-old female were referred from endocrinology as APS1-related autoimmune keratitis. Extended-duration treatment with topical cyclosporin A (CsA) 1% was used for 24 and 18 months, respectively. The first patient had improved best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from 20/200 and 20/300 in right and left eye to 20/60 in both eyes with markedly improved corneal opacification, while the second patient had improved BCVA from 20/400 and 20/300 in right and left eye to 20/160 in both eyes with persistent central stromal scarring in the right eye and discrete areas of stromal scarring in the left eye.

Long-term topical CsA 1% offers a valuable option for treatment of APS1-related autoimmune keratitis.

Long-term topical CsA 1% offers a valuable option for treatment of APS1-related autoimmune keratitis.

To report a rare case of severe capsular phimosis after toric trifocal intraocular lens implantation, in a patient who was already on systemic immunosuppression and to present a modified fixation technique, based on the four-flanged prolene technique, which could be adapted for fixation of intraocular lenses of the double-C-loop design.

A 33 year old gentleman, who underwent uneventful, sequential, bilateral phacoemulsification with implantation of toric trifocal intraocular lenses, presented 6 weeks post-operatively, with severe capsular phimosis, causing decentration of the IOL and deformation of the haptics in both eyes. The left eye was successfully managed by Nd-YAG laser anterior capsulotomy, while the right eye required surgical intervention.

In the present case report, we describe a novel technique to successfully reposition and realign a decentered toric trifocal intraocular lens of the double C-loop haptic design, after severe capsule phimosis.

In the present case report, we describe a novel technique to successfully reposition and realign a decentered toric trifocal intraocular lens of the double C-loop haptic design, after severe capsule phimosis.[This corrects the article DOI 10.1016/j.vas.2020.100100.].Campylobacter fetus is an important animal pathogen that causes infectious infertility, embryonic mortality and abortions in cattle and sheep flocks. There are two recognized subspecies related with reproductive disorders in livestock Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus (Cff) and Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis (Cfv). Rapid and reliable detection of this pathogenic species in bulls is of upmost importance for disease control in dairy and beef herds as they are asymptomatic carriers. The aim of the present work was to assess the performance a real-time PCR (qPCR) method for the diagnosis of Campylobacter fetus in samples from bulls, comparing it with culture and isolation methods. 520 preputial samples were both cultured in Skirrow’s medium and analyzed by qPCR. The estimated sensitivity of qPCR was 90.9% (95% CI, 69.4%-100%), and the specificity was 99.4% (95% CI, 98.6% – 100%). The proportion of C. fetus positive individuals was 2.1% by isolation and 2.5% by qPCR. Isolates were identified by biochemical tests as Cfv (n = 9) and Cff (n = 2). Our findings support the use of qPCR for fast and accurate detection of C. fetus directly from field samples of preputial smegma of bulls. The qPCR method showed to be suitable for massive screenings because it can be performed in pooled samples without losing accuracy and sensitivity.The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different management systems on the postnatal survival and growth of alpaca crias. The study was conducted during the alpaca calving season in the Peruvian Andes. Animals were fed on native pastures; during the day they went out to graze, but at night they were brought into a corral. A total of 150 alpaca singleton neonates were randomly assigned to one of three cria protection strategies immediately after consuming colostrum. The first group consisted of 50 crias who slept in an open-corral (OC) without shelter. The second group was comprised of 50 crias fitted with body vests (BV) who stayed overnight in an open-corral without shelter. The third group spent nights in a semi-open shed (SH). Cria survival was recorded daily, and body weight was recorded weekly. Survival to 12 weeks of age was higher (P = 0.001) for BV (100%) than for SH (76%) or OC (64%) which were not different from each other. read more Daily body weight gain (kg/day) during the first 12 weeks of life was higher (P less then 0.