Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of triple-DMEK to pseudophakic-DMEK: A cohort study of 95 eyes

Previous comparative studies show that triple Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) (i.e. phacoemulsification followed immediately by DMEK) has either equivalent or better visual outcomes than DMEK in pseudophakic patients. To resolve this discrepancy, a retrospective cohort study was conducted. All consecutive patients with Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy who underwent triple or pseudophakic DMEK in 2015–2019 in a tertiary-care hospital (France) and were followed for >12 months were compared in terms of best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), final refractive outcomes, and endothelial-cell loss at 12 months as well as rebubbling rates. The triple-DMEK (40 eyes, 34 patients) and pseudophakic-DMEK (55 eyes, 43 patients) groups were similar in terms of age and other baseline variables. They also did not differ in final BSCVA (both 0.03 logMAR), final endothelial-cell loss (54% vs. 48%), or astigmatism (-1.25 vs. -1 D). At 12 months, triple-DMEK associated with significantly smaller residual hyperopia (0.75 vs. 1 D; p = 0.04) and spherical equivalence (0 vs. 0.5 D; p = 0.02). Triple-DMEK also tended to associate with more frequent rebubbling (40% vs. 24%, p = 0.09). In conclusion, while triple-DMEK and pseudophakic-DMEK achieved similar visual acuity improvement, triple-DMEK was superior in terms of final sphere and spherical refraction but also tended to have higher complication rates.
Gastrointestinal Toxicities of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Are Associated With Enhanced Tumor Responsiveness and Improved Survival

Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly used to treat advanced malignancies. However, they are associated with the development of multiple gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events (GI-irAEs). We aimed to evaluate the types and severity of GI-irAEs associated with ICI therapy, to identify potential risk factors for developing GI-irAEs and to determine the relationship of GI-irAEs development to tumor responsiveness and overall survival. Methods All patients who received ICIs for advanced malignancies at our center were included. Medical records were reviewed, and data extraction included: baseline demographic characteristics, immunotherapy regimens, development of GI-irAEs, response to treatment, and overall survival. Overall survival was calculated from the date of treatment initiation and estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results Five hundred sixty-seven patients received ICI therapy for stage IV malignancies. Forty-one (7%) patients experienced at least one GI-irAE. Among those experiencing GI-irAEs, 23 (56%) developed hepatitis, 17 (42%) developed colitis, four (10%) developed pancreatitis, and two (5%) developed gastritis. Patients who developed GI-irAEs experienced a better response to ICI therapy compared to patients who did not develop GI-irAEs (41% vs. 27%, P = 0.003). The 2-year overall survival rate of stage IV cancer patients who developed GI-irAEs was 62% (95% confidence interval (CI): 49 - 79) and 36% for those who did not develop GI-irAEs (95% CI: 32 - 41) (P = 0.002). The median follow-up time of surviving patients was 28 months. Twelve (29%) of the patients receiving dual ICI therapy developed GI-irAEs. Conclusion Hepatitis, colitis, and pancreatitis were the most commonly encountered GI-irAEs with ICI therapy. Development of these GI-irAEs was associated with superior tumor responsiveness and better overall survival.
A qualitative exploration of mental health services provided in community pharmacies

The burden of mental health problems continues to grow worldwide. Community pharmacists’, as part of the primary care team, optimise care for people living with mental illness. This study aims to examine the factors that support or hinder the delivery of mental health services delivered in Australian community pharmacies and proposes ideas for improvement. A qualitative study was conducted comprising focus groups with community pharmacists and pharmacy staff across metropolitan, regional, and rural areas of New South Wales, Australia. Data were collected in eight focus groups between December 2020 and June 2021. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Thirty-three community pharmacists and pharmacy staff participated in an initial round of focus groups. Eleven community pharmacists and pharmacy staff participated in a second round of focus groups. Twenty-four factors that enable or hinder the delivery of mental health services in community pharmacy were identified. Participant’s perception of a lack of recognition and integration of community pharmacy within primary care were identified as major barriers, in addition to consumers’ stigma and lack of awareness regarding service offering. Suggestions for improvement to mental health care delivery in community pharmacy included standardised practice through the use of protocols, remuneration and public awareness. A framework detailing the factors moderating pharmacists, pharmacy staff and consumers’ empowerment in mental health care delivery in community pharmacy is proposed. This study has highlighted that policy and funding support for mental health services is needed that complement and expand integrated models, promote access to services led by or are conducted in collaboration with pharmacists and recognise the professional contribution and competencies of community pharmacists in mental health care. The framework proposed may be a step to strengthening mental health support delivered in community pharmacies.
Establishing a framework towards monitoring HCV microelimination among men who have sex with men living with HIV in Germany: A modeling analysis

Background Prior to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), HCV incidence rose among men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV infection in Germany despite high hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment rates. We establish a HCV elimination modeling framework to evaluate whether existing treatment rates can achieve the World Health Organization (WHO) incidence target among MSM living with HIV in Germany. Methods To evaluate progress towards HCV elimination in Germany, we adapted a previously published HCV transmission model among MSM living with diagnosed HIV. We modelled HCV incidence and prevalence until 2030 (relative to 2015) under existing treatment and DAA scale-up and explored potential impacts of disruptions in treatment and behavioral risk reduction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Continuing current treatment rates will result in stable HCV incidence among MSM living with HIV in Germany between 2015–2030. The WHO HCV incidence target is achievable under DAA scale-up to 100% treatment combined with treatment of those previously diagnosed and untreated (at a rate of 15%/year) and would result in greater reductions with early treatment (3 vs 6 months) reducing incidence from 4.0/100person-years to 0.8/100person-years by 2030. A 12-month disruption to HCV treatment (20% reduction) and risk behaviors (25%,50%,75% reduction) during the COVID-19 pandemic would result in a 15% relative increase in total HCV incidence in 2030 compared to that expected under the status quo. Conclusions HCV elimination among MSM living with HIV in Germany requires further DAA scale-up among those newly diagnosed combined with efforts to treat those previously diagnosed but untreated. Prospective monitoring will establish whether Germany is on track for HCV microelimination.
Prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 after one year of pandemic in Jakarta and neighbouring areas, Indonesia: A single center study

We determined the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Jakarta and neighboring areas, Indonesia from March 2020 to February 2021, based on nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal (NP/OP) swab specimens that were tested at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Jakarta. NP/OP swab specimens were collected from COVID-19 suspects or individuals in contact tracing programs from primary healthcare centers (PHC) and hospitals. The specimens were screened for the SARS-CoV-2 by qRT-PCR. Demography data and clinical symptoms were collected using national standardized laboratory form. Of 64,364 specimens, 10,130 (15.7%) were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2, with the peak prevalence of infection in March 2020 (26.3%) follow by in January 2021 (23.9%) and February 2021 (21.8%). We found that the positivity rate of the specimens from Jakarta, West Java, and Banten was 16.3%, 13.3%, and 16.8%, respectively. Positivity rate was higher in specimens from hospitals (16.9%) than PHC (9.4%). Of the positive specimens, 29.6% were from individuals aged >60 years old, followed by individuals aged 41–60 years old (24.2%). Among symptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2, the most common symptoms were cough, fever, and a combination of both cough & fever. In conclusion, this study illustrates the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics from one COVID-19 diagnostic center in Jakarta and neighbouring areas in Indonesia.
Factors associated with change in adherence to COVID-19 personal protection measures in the Metropolitan Region, Chile

Personal protective measures such use of face masks, hand washing and physical distancing have proven to be effective in controlling the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, adherence to these measures may have been relaxed over time. The objective of this work is to assess the change in adherence to these measures and to find factors that explain the change For this purpose, we conducted a survey in the Metropolitan Region of Chile in which we asked the adherence to these measures in August-September 2021 and retrospectively for 2020. With the answers obtained we fit a logistic regression model in which the response variable is the relaxation of each of the self-care preventive actions. The explanatory variables used are socio-demographic characteristics such as the age, sex, income, and vaccination status of the respondents. The results obtained show that there has been a significant decrease in adherence to the three personal protection measures in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. In addition, it was observed that younger people are more likely to relax these measures. The results show the importance of generating new incentives for maintaining adherence to personal protection measures.
Serum Amino Acid Profiles Predict the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Chronic HBV Infection

Background: The study aimed to find out the alterations in serum amino acid (AA) profiles and to detect their relationship with carcinoma formation. Methods: Targeted metabolomics based on ultraperformance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to quantitatively analyze serum AA levels in 136 hepatitis B (CHB) patients and 93 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Results: It was shown that decreased serum levels of leucine, lysine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, serotonin, and taurine were observed in more HCC patients than CHB patients, but the serum phenylalanine level was increased. Serum valine and serotonin were lower in Class C than Class A and Class B in HCC patients. Accompanied with the higher score of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, serum phenylalanine was increased not only in CHB patients but also in HCC patients. The serum level of phenylalanine increased in the decompensated stage more than in the compensated stage, while serum leucine and serotonin significantly decreased. Serum serotonin still had significant differences between CHB and HCC both in the HBV desoxyribonucleic acid (HBV-DNA) negative group and in the HBV-DNA positive group. Furthermore, it was shown that the tryptophan ratio, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA)/aromatic amino acids ratio, BCAAs/tyrosine ratio, Fischer’s ratio, and serotonin-to-tryptophan ratio significantly decreased, while the tyrosine ratio and the kynurenine-to-tryptophan ratio increased in HCC patients more than those in CHB. Conclusions: A distinct metabolite signature of some specific serum amino acids was found between CHB and HCC patients, which may help predict the development of HCC at an early stage.
Job Demands-Resources Interventions

markdownabstractThe main aim of this dissertation was to examine whether positive organizational interventions based on JD-R theory can enhance employees’ work engagement and performance. This thesis presented five empirical intervention studies from different perspectives; (a) a personal resources intervention aimed at increasing personal resources, based on a top-down approach; (b) job crafting interventions aimed at optimizing job demands and resources, designed with a bottom-up approach; and (c) JD-R interventions aimed at optimizing both personal resources and job demands and resources, combining both a top-down and bottom-up approach. These studies were conducted to test whether JD-R theory can successfully be turned into practice. In the overall, these five intervention studies shed light on the effectiveness of positive organizational interventions. The results presented in this dissertation strengthen JD-R theory by revealing that interventions based on the principles of JD-R theory can increase employees’ work engagement and performance. In addition, this dissertation offers insight into the underling process revealing how job crafting contributes to work engagement. Employees become engaged through job crafting because by crafting their job, employees can satisfy their need for competence, autonomy and relatedness. Thus, employees who proactively craft their job by adapting their job demands and resources engage in self-determination and consequently satisfy their basic needs. By satisfying their basic needs, employees become engaged at work, which subsequently leads to improved performance. Our findings also contribute to Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2001) by showing that basic need satisfaction can be enhanced when employees themselves adapt their own work environment instead of their managers. Thus, proactively adapting job demands and resources may lead to real self-determination. In sum, the thesis showed that JD-R theory can be successfully turned in to practice using JD-R interventions with both a bottom-up and top-down approach.
Some directions for the systematic investigation of the acquisition of Cypriot Greek: A new perspective on production abilities from object clitic placement

Cypriot Greek is an understudied variety of Modern Greek, certainly as concerns the morphosyntactic grammatical system and developmental stages in young learners. This chapter lays out the beginnings of a larger research agenda currently undertaken by the Cyprus Acquisition Team and presents a first systematic foray into the first language acquisition of Cypriot Greek. One interesting contrast with Standard Modern Greek, and its relevance for young learners, is particularly highlighted: direct object clitic placement. The results from the pilot study presented here are capitalized on by formulating the tender beginnings of the Socio-Syntax of Development Hypothesis for language acquisition in ‘bi-x environments’ – that is, first language development in linguistic environments, such as that of Greek-speaking Cyprus, that are variably characterized as diglossic, bidialectal, or bilingual.
Moisture balance assessment at room scale for four cases based on numerical simulations of heat–air–moisture transfers for a realistic occupancy scenario

The moisture balance at room scale is influenced by the air change rate, moisture production and vapour transfer with the envelope. However, results may differ strongly from one study to another depending on the sizing of the ventilation system, the boundary conditions and the modelling of vapour transfer in the walls. This paper aims to provide a realistic comparison of usual construction techniques based on energy consumption, indoor comfort and durability. To achieve this objective, an existing whole-building heat–air–moisture simulation tool was selected to compute coupled transfer at room scale over an entire year. Moisture production due to occupancy was modelled using a stochastic approach. Four cases were selected to emphasize the differences of both a vapour-permeable wall assembly and a relative humidity sensitive ventilation system compared to common practices.
Standing horse posture: a longer stance is more stable

ABSTRACT Horses stand for most of each day. Although they can use various leg configurations (postures), they usually stand with vertical legs. Why? We addressed this question with a 2D quasi-static model having three rigid parts: a trunk, massless fore-limbs and massless rear limbs, with hinges at the shoulders, hips, and hooves. The postural parameter we varied was ℓg, the distance between the hooves. For a given ℓg, statics finds an equilibrium configuration which, with no muscle stabilization (i.e. using minimal effort) is unstable. We assume a horse uses that configuration. To measure the neuromuscular effort needed to stabilize this equilibrium, we added springs at the shoulder and hip; the larger the springs needed to stabilize the model (kmin), the more neuromuscular effort needed to stabilize the posture. A canted-in posture (small ℓg), observed habitually in some domestic horses, needs about twice the spring stiffness (representing twice the effort) as is needed with vertical or slightly splayed-out (large ℓg) legs. This relationship of posture and stability might explain the prevalence of vertical or slightly splayed-out legs in wild and healthy domestic horses and leaves as a puzzle why some horses stand canted-in.
Assessing the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 transmission in Spain, 30 August 2020 to 31 January 2021

Background After a national lockdown during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, regional governments implemented different non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the second wave. Aim To analyse which implemented NPIs significantly impacted effective reproduction number (Rt) in seven Spanish provinces during 30 August 2020–31 January 2021. Methods We coded each NPI and levels of stringency with a ‘severity index’ (SI) and computed a global SI (mean of SIs per six included interventions). We performed a Bayesian change point analysis on the Rt curve of each province to identify possible associations with global SI variations. We fitted and compared several generalised additive models using multimodel inference, to quantify the statistical effect on Rt of the global SI (stringency) and the individual SIs (separate effect of NPIs). Results The global SI had a significant lowering effect on the Rt (mean: 0.16 ± 0.05 units for full stringency). Mandatory closing times for non-essential businesses, limited gatherings, and restricted outdoors seating capacities (negative) as well as curfews (positive) were the only NPIs with a significant effect. Regional mobility restrictions and limited indoors seating capacity showed no effect. Our results were consistent with a 1- to 3-week-delayed Rt as a response variable. Conclusion While response measures implemented during the second COVID-19 wave contributed substantially to a decreased reproduction number, the effectiveness of measures varied considerably. Our findings should be considered for future interventions, as social and economic consequences could be minimised by considering only measures proven effective.
The effect of ulnar variance on the pisotriquetral joint

Background Pisotriquetral joint (PTJ) disorders are an important cause of ulnar-sided wrist pain but are often underrecognized. Ulnar variance (UV) has been associated with several wrist pathologies. Purpose To determine the effect of UV on PTJ in patients with trauma. Material and Methods A total of 143 patients (77 men, 66 women; mean age=41.64 ± 18.07 years) were included. Patients with fractures, severe and high-energy trauma, arthritic conditions, avascular necrosis, congenital deformity, bone and soft-tissue tumors, suboptimal image quality, and incorrect joint position were excluded. UV and the amount of PTJ subluxation were evaluated using coronal and sagittal computed tomography images. Results PTJ subluxation was divided into five grades. A statistically significant difference was found between the presence of PTJ subluxation and sex (P = 0.045). PTJ subluxation was more common in men (46.8%) than in women (30.3%). There was no significant difference between the presence of PTJ subluxation and age (P = 0.758). The patients were also divided into three groups as positive, neutral, and negative UV. A statistically significant relationship was found between the UV and presence of PTJ subluxation (P = 0.01). PTJ subluxation was significantly less in the neutral (none=51.1%, present=48.9%; P < 0.05) and negative (none=77.8%, present=22.2%; P < 0.05) groups. Conclusion PTJ subluxation was found to be less among the groups with neutral and negative UV in our study population. PTJ subluxation is more common in men while there is no relationship with age. UV and gender may be risk factors for PTJ subluxation by affecting force dynamics at the wrist joint.
Analysis of Suicide Cases from Ankara Province: A 3-year Emergency Medical Services Experience

Aim: While the term “completed suicide” refers to suicides that have resulted in death,”suicide attempts” refers to all attempts that do not result in death. Analyzing EMS cases is a reliable method of obtaining data on suicide attempts and completed suicides. We aimed to determine the relationship between the occurrences of cases on weekdays, weekends, public holidays or long holidays and case characteristics. Methodology: We evaluated EMS data of Ankara Province on completed suicide and suicide attempts including the date range 01.01. 2017- 31.12. 2019. We evaluated the data in terms of age, gender, mortality at the scene, and suicide method. In addition, we evaluated the data according to the hour, day, month, season, and year of the cases. We classified the suicide cases according to their occurrence on weekdays, weekends, public holidays or long holidays. Results: During the 3-year period included in the study, Ankara EMS assigned ambulances to a total of 940,546 cases. Of these cases, 8231 (0.875%) were suicide attempts and completed suicides. Suicide attempts were most frequent in males, in the 20-24 age group, in summer, in July, on Sundays, and between the hours 18:00 and 24:00. Completed suicides were most frequent in males, in the 30-34 age group, in spring, in May, on Mondays and Tuesdays, and between the hours 18:00 and 24:00. Conclusion: We evaluated different characteristics of suicide cases of EMS, namely differences among gender, age, days of the week, months, and the various methods used by suicide victims. Of all suicide attempts, more than half were male, and male patients were much more likely to face completed suicides. Both suicide attempts and completed suicides were seen in younger adults, namely between ages 20 to 34. The most common method in suicide attempts was self-poisoning by drugs Considering completed suicides, the most frequent methods used by patients were self-harm by hanging, by use of firearms, and by jumping from a high place, respectively. Suicide attempts and completed suicides have peaked on weekends, public holidays, and religious holidays. In Turkey, there are only a few studies in the EMS field on this topic. Therefore, we believe that this study will contribute to the epidemiological evaluation of suicides and lead to better preparedness by the EMS teams. We hope that results of this study will help to prevent both suicides and suicide attempts.