Corneal Endothelial Changes Following Early Capsulotomy Using Neodymium:Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet Laser

We aimed to survey whether the timing of neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser capsulotomy would alter the corneal endothelial morphology and density. A retrospective cohort study was conducted, and 48 patients with unilateral posterior capsular opacity (PCO) and Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy performance were enrolled. The participants were divided into the early Nd:YAG group (timing ≤ 12 months, n = 20) and late Nd:YAG group (timing > 12 months, n= 28) depending on elapsed months between phacoemulsification and Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. Endothelial cell density (ECD), coefficient of variant (CV), hexagonality (HEX), and central corneal thickness (CCT) between the two groups were collected. A generalized estimate equation was conducted to evaluate the corneal endothelial parameters between the two groups with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The CDVA was improved after treatment in both groups (both p < 0.001). Chronically, ECD in the early group was significantly decreased one week after treatment (2221.50 ± 327.73/mm2 vs. 2441.55 ± 321.80/mm2, p < 0.001), which recovered to 2369.95 ± 76.37/mm2 four weeks after the treatment but was still lower than the preoperative status (p < 0.001). In addition, the HEX percentage showed a significant reduction at four weeks after treatment (p = 0.028). The ECD in the early group was significantly lower than that in the late group (aOR: 0.167, 95% CI: 0.079–0.356, p = 0.003) in both week 1 (p < 0.001) and week 4 (p = 0.004) after laser treatment. In conclusion, the early application of Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy within one year after cataract surgery may be the reason for postoperative ECD decrement without known etiology.

Efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma therapy for severe COVID-19 patients：case series study and literature review

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new acute respiratory infectious disease which can lead to multiple organ dysfunction in severe patients. However, it is still a lack of effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19. Herein we investigated the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma (CP) in the treatment of severe COVID-19, with an attempt to explore new therapeutic method. Methods Clinical data of three imported severe COVID-19 patients with CP treatment, who were under quarantine and treated in a designated COVID-19 hospital from March 2020 to April 2020, were collected and analyzed. Results The three patients were clinically classified as severe type, including one male and two females, aged 57, 59 and 65 years old, respectively. The main underling diseases included hypertension, diabetes, sequela of cerebral infarction and postoperative thyroid adenoma. The common symptoms included cough, fever and short of breath. All the patients received antiviral drugs and other supportive treatments. Additionally, CP treatment was also administrated for them. Forty-eight to seventy-two hours after CP transfusion, all the patients improved with alleviated symptoms, elevated arterial oxygen saturation, decreased C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 markers. And the total lymphocytes, T lymphocytes (CD3+) and their subsets (CD4+, CD8+) also obviously increased. Repeated chest CTs also showed obvious absorption of lesions in bilateral lung. Only one patient had mild allergic reaction during CP infusion, but no severe adverse reactions were found. Conclusions The early application of CP for severe COVID-19 patients can improve the condition rapidly, and the therapy is generally effective and safe.

Enhancing Functional Recovery Through Intralesional Application of Extracellular Vesicles in a Rat Model of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Local inflammation plays a pivotal role in the process of secondary damage after spinal cord injury. We recently reported that acute intravenous application of extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells dampens the induction of inflammatory processes following traumatic spinal cord injury. However, systemic application of EVs is associated with delayed delivery to the site of injury and the necessity for high doses to reach therapeutic levels locally. To resolve these two constraints, we injected EVs directly at the lesion site acutely after spinal cord injury. We report here that intralesional application of EVs resulted in a more robust improvement of motor recovery, assessed with the BBB score and sub-score, as compared to the intravenous delivery. Moreover, the intralesional application was more potent in reducing inflammation and scarring after spinal cord injury than intravenous administration. Hence, the development of EV-based therapy for spinal cord injury should aim at an early application of vesicles close to the lesion.

Business Intelligence for IT Governance of a Technology Company

Managers are required to make fast, reliable, and fact-based decisions to encompass the dynamicity of modern business environments. Data visualization and reporting are thus crucial activities to ensure a systematic organizational intelligence especially for technological companies operating in a fast-moving context. As such, this paper presents case-study research for the definition of a business intelligence model and related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to support risk-related decision making. The study firstly comprises a literature review on approaches for governance management, which confirm a disconnection between theory and practice. It then progresses to mapping the main business areas and suggesting exemplary KPIs to fill this gap. Finally, it documents the design and usage of a BI dashboard, as emerged via a validation with four managers. This early application shows the advantages of BI for both business operators and governance managers.

Kinetic Evolution of Laser Ablating Alloy Materials

Through the theoretical simulation and analysis of the whole process of laser ablating target and producing plasma with high spatio-temporal resolution, it is helpful for people to gain a more complete understanding of the ablation process of target and the evolution process of plasma parameters, which has an important guiding role for the improvement and optimization of laser ablation technology. Alloys are commonly used in daily life, but there are few researches on laser-induced alloy targets at present. Therefore, based on the thermal model of laser ablation and the two-dimensional axisymmetric multi-species hydrodynamic model, the process of laser ablating Al-Mg alloy under atmospheric pressure argon is theoretically simulated, and the ablation process of alloy target and the spatio-temporal evolution results of plasma parameters under different laser irradiances are compared. At high laser irradiance, the melt and evaporation depth, laser energy absorption and plasma characterization parameters are much greater than those at low laser irradiance, and the species energy distribution at different laser irradiance also presents different trends. In addition, the velocity of different species is calculated according to the position-time diagram of the maximum emission intensity, and they expand at a constant speed during the studied time. These results can provide some theoretical guidance for the early application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in metallurgy.

Questioning policy-making as problem-solving. A Bacchian examination of how paid parental leave was problematized in New Zealand and Norway

<p>This thesis adopts Carol Bacchi’s Foucault-influenced poststructuralist perspective to investigate how the concept of gender equality was conceptualized in the paid parental leave (PPL) policies in New Zealand and Norway. Poststructuralism is concerned with how we ‘know’ things, and with language, and the Foucauldian influence brings a focus on discourse as knowledge. Poststructuralism is also concerned with subjectification, how subject positions are created by the discourse, and the way in which some people are excluded from certain subject positions. The research investigates changes to the PPL policies in New Zealand and Norway and how gender equality was conceptualized in each country. This research is conducted using two closely-related poststructuralist methodologies for two different types of data. The first data consist of historical documents from prior to and including the time that the PPL policies were changed and Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ or ‘WPR’ framework is used to analyse them. The second data consist of interviews with people involved in the PPL policies and Bacchi and Bonham’s Poststructural Interview Analysis or ‘PIA’ framework is used to analyse them. For both data sets, the analysis consists of thematic coding, followed by answering the series of WPR questions or the PIA processes. Three common themes of payment rate, eligibility, and rights were identified in the analysis of the historical data and they provided a focus for the interview data analysis. Different conceptions of gender equality were identified in each country. The research makes a number of contributions. It provides an original insight into the design of PPL policy from a critical perspective and brings a gender lens to policy analysis. It offers a unique comparison between New Zealand and Norway, and provides a further methodological example of the established WPR framework, as well as an early application of the new PIA approach. The research also challenges policy-makers to makers to adopt and maintain a critical perspective in their work, and to recognise that people are subjects, and that policies are problems constituted by the discourse.</p>

Questioning policy-making as problem-solving. A Bacchian examination of how paid parental leave was problematized in New Zealand and Norway

<p>This thesis adopts Carol Bacchi’s Foucault-influenced poststructuralist perspective to investigate how the concept of gender equality was conceptualized in the paid parental leave (PPL) policies in New Zealand and Norway. Poststructuralism is concerned with how we ‘know’ things, and with language, and the Foucauldian influence brings a focus on discourse as knowledge. Poststructuralism is also concerned with subjectification, how subject positions are created by the discourse, and the way in which some people are excluded from certain subject positions. The research investigates changes to the PPL policies in New Zealand and Norway and how gender equality was conceptualized in each country. This research is conducted using two closely-related poststructuralist methodologies for two different types of data. The first data consist of historical documents from prior to and including the time that the PPL policies were changed and Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ or ‘WPR’ framework is used to analyse them. The second data consist of interviews with people involved in the PPL policies and Bacchi and Bonham’s Poststructural Interview Analysis or ‘PIA’ framework is used to analyse them. For both data sets, the analysis consists of thematic coding, followed by answering the series of WPR questions or the PIA processes. Three common themes of payment rate, eligibility, and rights were identified in the analysis of the historical data and they provided a focus for the interview data analysis. Different conceptions of gender equality were identified in each country. The research makes a number of contributions. It provides an original insight into the design of PPL policy from a critical perspective and brings a gender lens to policy analysis. It offers a unique comparison between New Zealand and Norway, and provides a further methodological example of the established WPR framework, as well as an early application of the new PIA approach. The research also challenges policy-makers to makers to adopt and maintain a critical perspective in their work, and to recognise that people are subjects, and that policies are problems constituted by the discourse.</p>

Effectiveness of Emollients in the Prevention of Atopic Dermatitis in Infants: A Meta-Analysis

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease characterized by dry skin, severe itching, inflammation and impaired quality of life. Moisturizing is an integral part of treatment for AD, but its potential for prevention of AD is unclear. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To evaluate whether the early use of emollients in infancy can prevent later development of AD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library and other databases to collect randomized controlled trials on early use of emollients in infants for a meta-analysis. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Nine articles were included. The OR value for incidence rate was 0.7 (95% CI: 0.48–1.01). No significant publication bias was found by Egger’s test. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the final conclusion was reliable. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> We found that the difference in incidence rate of AD between the experimental and control groups was not statistically significant. However, due to different methods of using emollients, different follow-up times and different sample sizes included in this meta-analysis, a definitive conclusion could not be reached in this study. In the future, it is still necessary to carry out randomized controlled, multicenter, large-sample trials with an excellent study design and high methodological quality on early application of emollients in high-risk infants to prevent AD.

Using of Amniotic Membrane Derivatives for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds

Amniotic membrane grafts have some therapeutic potential for wounds healing. Early application of amniotic membrane turned out as beneficial in healing ulcers, burns, and dermal injuries. Since the second half of the 20th century, the autotransplants of amniotic/chorion tissue have been also used for the treatment of chronic neuropathic wounds, cornea surface injuries, pterygium and conjunctivochalasis, and dental and neurosurgical applications. The aim of this publication is to prepare a coherent overview of amniotic membrane derivatives use in the field of wound healing and also its efficacy. In total 60 publications and 39 posters from 2000–2020 were examined. In these examined publications of case studies with known study results was an assemblage of 1141 patients, and from this assemblage 977 were successfully cured. In case of posters, the assemblage is 570 patients and 513 successfully cured. From the investigated data it is clear that the treatment efficacy is very high—86% and 90%, respectively. Based on this information the use of the amniotic membrane for chronic wounds can be considered highly effective.