Tiio, Roosi, Liiso ja Toomas – maakeelseid luuletusi avaldanud Eestimaa autorite otsinguil

According to Recke and Napiersky, the first poems in Estonian from the pen of a woman were allegedly published in 1779, in the sheet music book Oden und Lieder in Musik gesetzt by Andeas Traugott Grahl, a private tutor in the Governorate of Estonia, but unfortunately it is not preserved. More luckily another sheet music book by him, Lieder und Handsachen für das Klavier und den Gesang, published in Leipzig in 1784, was available to the researchers before World War II. Two poems by Estonian ladies were published there: Tio, tassane ja helde and Liesole. A variant of the Tio-poem (the so-called Rosi-poem) was published in 1787 in the 5th volume of the reader Lesebuch für Ehst- und Livland by Friedrich Gotthilf Findeisen in Oberpahlen (Põltsamaa) in Livonia, and a year later, in 1788, in a longer version in the German literary magazine Der Teutsche Merkur. To the latter, the poem was mediated by Christian Hieronymus Justus Schlegel, a private tutor in Estonia from 1780 to 1782, and then pastor, who left Estonia in 1783. However, he did not ascribe the Rosi-poem to an Estonian lady, but to a gentleman, von Tiesenhausen of Saus, who wrote the poem on the occasion of the passing of his wife. There are several manors called Saus or Sauß in Estonia. Traditionally the Rosi-poem has been ascribed to Ber(e)nd Heinrich von Tiesenhausen of Groß-Sauß (Sausti or Kaarepere). But there was another manor called Sauß (Sauste) near Wesenberg (Rakvere), which belonged to captain Hans Wen(t)zel(l) von Tiesenhausen from 1779 to 1781. Based on several sources, this paper brings forth arguments to support the thesis that the gentleman, von Tiesenhausen, mentioned by Schlegel was actually Hans Wenzel von Tiesenhausen. This man was probably also identical with the captain von Tiesenhausen, whom Grahl has named as his employer in the subscription call of the Lieder und Handsachen. According to Professor Gustav Suits, Grahl acted as a private tutor somewhere near Wesenberg. The paper also suggests that H. W. von Tiesenhausen was the author of the poem Der Client an seinen Sachwalter, published in the muses almanac Estländische poetische Blumenlese for 1780. Earlier this poem has been ascribed to Johann Georg von Tiesenhausen from Northern Latvia. Dirk Sangmeister has guessed that the Albrechts who published the almanac mentioned the name Wesenberg on the cover of the first issue of their periodical (for 1779) in honour of the owner of the Wesenberg manor, judge Jakob Johann von Tiesenhausen and his family, with whom Sangmeister believes the Albrechts stood in a cordial relationship as Sophie Albrecht dedicated several poems to a certain Ottilie von Tiesenhausen. The last one lets us know that on the 9th of June 1781, the news of the death of her beloved friend had reached Sophie Albrecht. The date 9th of June 1781 (due to calendar differences actually 11 days later) can also be found in the archival materials concerning H. W. von Tiesenhausen – on this day his bankruptcy proceedings were started. Already in January 1781 he had sold Sauß; in March 1781 his other manor – Tuddo (Tudu) – was sold too; these are likely the two manors mentioned in his German poem. The bankruptcy proceedings were evoked by a lawsuit, initiated in March 1780 by J. J. von Tiesenhausen, who from 1774 to 1780 rented his Wesenberg manor to his second cousin Hans Wenzel. From 1779 the latter had difficulties in paying the rent. As at the time of the publication of Estländische poetische Blumenlese it was H. W. von Tiesenhausen who was living in the manor of Wesenberg, the recipient of the poems by Sophie Albrecht was very likely his wife. Neither the given nor the maiden name of this woman or her birth date and the exact death date are preserved. H. W. von Tiesenhausen mentions his wife without her name in his report to the court, Demüthigste Anzeige und Unterlegung der wahren Umstände meines gegenwärtigen unglücklichen und betrübten Schicksaals (The humblest report and interpretation of the true circumstances of my current unhappy and sad fate), signed 26 June 1781. It appears that his wife really died shortly before the composing of the report. Frau Capitainin Tiesenhausen has also been mentioned three times in the birth register of the Wesenberg church in 1777 as a godparent, one of the cases being as godmother of a girl, whose mother was the sister of G. W. von Schwengelm, the employer of mister Schlegel, who mediated the Rosi-poem to the Teutsche Merkur! The paper also presumes that the ladies mentioned by Grahl could have been translators and guesses who these women were, but as we lack confirmed proof, the investigation must continue.

Excess All-Cause Mortality in 2020 for People Living with Sickle Cell Disease in New York City

Background The COVID pandemic resulted in excess all-cause mortality in 2020 in the United States, especially among people who identify as Black and/or Latino. While many of these deaths were due to COVID-19 infection, others have been attributed to strain on the overburdened health care system and delays in patients seeking medical care due to the pandemic. We sought to examine the overall mortality in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) who received their care at our Sickle Cell Center in Bronx New York in 2020 and investigated whether the number and causes of death in 2020 differed from the previous 3 years. Methods: Death date was collected from electronic medical records (EMR) and death certificates. Clinical variables collected from EMR included age, gender, race, genotype, history of comorbidities, hydroxyurea use, and health care utilization in the 12 months prior to death date. To determine cause of death, two hematologists performed manual review of the EMR blinded from each other and deaths were categorized as due to: sudden death, cardiovascular causes, sepsis, stroke, acute organ failure (including multi organ failure syndrome), chronic organ failure, hemorrhage, and unknown when records of the death event were not available. A third hematologist served as a tie breaker in cases of disagreement. Patients were also categorized as having: 1) sepsis present or absent during the death event, 2) acute (new or newly worsened) renal or liver failure present or absent during the death event, and 3) COVID status at death (acute COVID, past COVID, no COVID, or unknown COVID status). Acute COVID infection was defined by a positive PCR swab during the hospitalization leading to death or in the prior two weeks. Past COVID infection was defined by a negative PCR swab during the hospitalization and a positive PCR swab and/or antibody test more than two weeks before the death event with documented resolution of symptoms. No COVID infection was defined by a negative PCR swab or antibody test documented in the EMR and no positive tests present or noted per patient report. Unknown COVID status was unknown if no testing was present in the EMR. To examine how 2020 decedents differed from decedents in the prior 3 years, we compared clinical variables using the Kruskal Wallis test for continuous variables and chi 2 tests for dichotomous variables. To examine differences between 2020 decedents between known COVID (acute or chronic) vs. no COVID, we repeated similar tests among the 2020 decedents only. Results: In the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, there were 9, 10, 8, and 22 patient deaths respectively. Compared with decedents in the prior 3 years, patients who died in 2020 were more likely to have acute liver failure during the hospitalization, were more likely to have history of stroke, and had more heme clinic visits in the prior 12 months. Otherwise, there was no difference in age, gender, genotype, hydroxyurea use, history of disease morbidity, hospital utilization in the prior 12 months, or sepsis before death (Table 1). Among the 22 who died in 2020, 3 had an acute COVID infection, five had past COVID, 8 had no COVID, and 6 had unknown COVID status. Among 2020 decedents, acute or past covid was associated with acute organ failure (p=0.02) and less hydroxyurea use (p=0.04). (Table 2). Conclusions: SCD deaths at our center more than doubled in 2020 compared to prior years, but fewer than half of the decedents had acute or prior COVID. Compared with prior years, 2020 decedents were more likely to have acute organ failure. This could be explained by COVID infection, delays in seeking care, or changes in care delivery during the COVID pandemic. This study emphasizes the need for further studies on the impact the pandemic had on the health of adults with SCD, as well as the need for prospective studies of patients with SCD who recover from COVID. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Curtis: GBT: Consultancy. Minniti: Forma: Consultancy; GBT: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Novo Nordisk: Consultancy; Chiesi: Consultancy; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Other: Endpoint adjudicator; CSL Behring: Other: Endpoint adjudicator.

Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson and the Making of Modern Nigeria

Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson, popularly known as TOS Benson, a prince from the Lasunwon Royal Family of Ikorodu, was one of the architects of modern Nigeria. A spirited nationalist, a pan–Nigerian nation builder, an inveterate antagonist of ethnic jingoism and a relentless crusader for the under–dog and the less privileged; TOS Benson made imperishable contributions to the growth and development of Nigerian politics and judiciary (law). This paper assesses the contribution of TOS Benson to the making of the Nigerian state right from September 1947 when he returned to the country from London where he had gone to read law. It points out that TOS Benson was a solid political bridgehead that held the ethnic groups in the country together and that, at the risk of incarceration and other forms of intimidation and harassment, he stood up against the colonial administration and certain policies and antics of the military junta following the incursion of the military into Nigerian politics. The paper concludes that the history of the making of modern Nigeria that does not give a prime of place to the contribution of TOS Benson will be riddled with noticeable gaps and embarrassing vacuum and that his sharing the February 13 death–date with General Murtala Ramat Mohammed – who, but for B.S. Dimka’s bullets, could have been Nigeria’s renaissance – is probably not a mere coincidence of history but a testimony of his imperishable contribution to the making of Nigeria.

Linking Registry Data with Australian Medicare And Medication Dispensing Claims Data: Feasibility, Benefits and Limitations

IntroductionRecent advances in Australia mean that it is possible to link national clinical registries with government held administrative datasets. However, formal evaluations of such activities and the potential impact for research are lacking. Objectives and ApproachWe aimed to assess the feasibility and accuracy of linking registrants from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) with the Medicare enrolment file. Following data custodian and ethics approvals, personal linkage identifiers were submitted to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). De-identified data from AuSCR and the AIHW were submitted into the Secure Unified Research Environment and merged using project specific person-based IDs. We calculated the proportion of patients linked with the Medicare enrolment file that were present in the associated Medicare and medication dispensing datasets and the proportion with claims after their date of death. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with a non-merged patient. Results17,980 AuSCR registrants (January 2010-July 2014) were submitted for linkage (median age 76 years; 46% female; 67% ischaemic stroke; 16% TIA). Of these, 93% were merged with Medicare (N=16,648) and 95% with subsidised medication dispensing claims data (N=17,079). In those who died, 127 (0.8%) had one or more Medicare claim and 411 (2.4%) had one or more medications dispensed after their death date. Asian born registrants were less likely to be merged with Medicare (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]: 0.54; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.40, 0.72) than Australian born registrants. Those aged ≥85 years were less likely to be merged with Medicare data than those aged <65 years (aOR 0.24; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.29) but were more likely to be merged with dispensing data (aOR: 2.22 (95% CI: 1.73, 2.84). Conclusion/ImplicationsLinkage between a national clinical quality registry and the Medicare spine is feasible. These linkages will provide novel insights into post-stroke care.

Real-World Survival Among Patients with Intermediate- to High-Risk Myelofibrosis in the United States: Impact of Ruxolitinib Approval

Background The myeloproliferative neoplasm myelofibrosis (MF) is associated with reduced overall survival (OS) compared with the general population (Hultcrantz M, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2012;30[24]:2995-3001; Price GL, et al. PLoS One. 2014;9[3]:e90299). The Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor ruxolitinib (RUX) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in November 2011 for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate- or high-risk MF based on data from the phase 3 COMFORT trials, which showed significantly improved OS in patients who received RUX (Verstovsek S, et al. J Hematol Oncol. 2017;10:156). Understanding the clinical benefit of RUX in real-world practice requires an understanding of changes in patient outcomes for those exposed to RUX compared with those never exposed to RUX, both before and after approval. The aim of this analysis was to assess the OS of patients newly diagnosed with intermediate- to high-risk MF before RUX approval, and for those who were RUX-unexposed vs -exposed in the post-RUX approval time frame. Study Design and Methods All data from the Medicare Fee-for-Service claims database (Parts A/B/D) from January 2010 to December 2017 were used to identify patients who were ≥65 years old (intermediate-1 or higher risk MF due to age) with ≥1 inpatient claim or ≥2 outpatient claims with a documented MF diagnosis. The index date was the date of the first qualifying MF claim; ≥12 months of pre-index continuous medical and pharmacy enrollment was required. Patients with evidence of an MF diagnosis ≤12 months before the index date were excluded. Patients with a diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome, hematologic malignancies (leukemias, multiple myeloma, and lymphomas), or solid tumors either ≤12 months before, on, or any time after index were also excluded in a stepwise manner. The study sample was classified into 3 groups: patients diagnosed with MF pre-RUX approval (index year 2010-2011; no post-index exposure to RUX); those diagnosed with MF post-RUX approval and unexposed to RUX (index year 2012-2017); and those diagnosed with MF post-RUX approval and exposed to RUX (index year 2012-2017). One-year survival rate and risk of mortality were estimated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, adjusting for baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. OS was measured from the index date until death or end of follow-up. Patients without a death date were censored at disenrollment or the end of the study period, whichever occurred first. Results Among eligible patients with an MF diagnosis (N=1677), median age was 78 years, 39.8% were male, and 84.1% were white. The analysis included 278 patients diagnosed pre-RUX approval (all RUX-unexposed) and 1399 diagnosed post-RUX approval (RUX-unexposed, n=1127; RUX-exposed, n=272). Median follow-up for the pre- and post-RUX approval groups was 12.5 and 11.3 mo (RUX-unexposed, 10.2 mo; RUX-exposed, 14.0 mo), respectively. In the pre-RUX approval group, 119 (42.8%) patients had a valid death date compared with 436 (31.2%) in the post-RUX approval group (RUX unexposed, n=382 [33.9%]; RUX exposed, n=54 [19.9%]). The 1-year survival rate (95% CI) was 55.6% (49.4%-61.3%) for the pre-RUX approval group, 72.5% (69.5%-75.2%) for the post-RUX approval RUX-unexposed group, and 82.3% (76.7%-86.7%) for the post-RUX approval RUX-exposed group (Figure). The risk of mortality was lowest among RUX-exposed patients (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.36; 95% CI, 0.26-0.50; P&lt;0.0001 vs the pre-RUX approval group). Patients in the post-RUX approval group who had never been exposed to RUX also had a lower risk of mortality, although less pronounced than RUX-exposed patients, compared with the pre-RUX approval group (adjusted HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56-0.80; P&lt;0.0001). Conclusions In this real-world study of US patients diagnosed with intermediate- or high-risk MF, 1-year OS was improved in patients diagnosed after RUX approval compared with before RUX approval. Notably, in the post-RUX approval time frame, 1-year OS was greater for those who received RUX than for those who did not receive RUX. These findings complement the survival benefit results demonstrated in the COMFORT studies using real-world data. Disclosures Verstovsek: Gilead: Research Funding; NS Pharma: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding; CTI Biopharma Corp: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sierra Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; ItalPharma: Research Funding; Protagonist Therapeutics: Research Funding; PharmaEssentia: Research Funding; Blueprint Medicines Corp: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Promedior: Research Funding. Parasuraman:Incyte Corporation: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Yu:Incyte Corporation: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Shah:Avalere Health: Current Employment. Kumar:Avalere Health: Current Employment; Incyte Corporation: Other: Avalere Health is a paid consultant of Incyte Corporation. Xi:Avalere Health: Current Employment; Incyte Corporation: Other: Avalere Health is a paid consultant of Incyte Corporation. Harrison:Gilead Sciences: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; CTI Biopharma Corp: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Shire: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Honoraria; Sierra Oncology: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Incyte Corporation: Speakers Bureau; AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Promedior: Honoraria.

A study on the speed of governments’ healthcare response to COVID-19; cases: China, Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, the US, and Iran

Background The spread of the novel COVID-19 virus has raised many questions on the performance of the national and global healthcare systems. Methods In this paper, we present the results of a study on how the decision-making speed at the national and city levels on dealing with the spread of the Corona virus has impacted the rate of mortality by means of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Bubble chart. Results We considered variables such as the level of infrastructures in health, Information Technology, and human development in China and 5 other countries as all these factors could affect the rate of mortality in those countries as well. For each country, the data has been collected and analyzed starting with the time when the first patient was detected as a positive case up to three weeks later. For the time of decision-making, the data which could be used to illustrate the delay or promptitude of decisions included date of first death, date of quarantine, and the date of aviation suspension. Conclusion Our findings support the hypothesis that the timing of a government’s decision, either proactive or preemptive, along with its level of sophistication in urban and social infrastructures, can impact the mortality rate of contagious diseases such as COVID-19.

On the use of real-time reported mortality data in modelling and analysis during an epidemic outbreak

Background: For diseases like Covid-19, where it has been difficult to identify the true number of infected people, or where the number of known cases is heavily influenced by the number of tests performed, hospitalizations and deaths play a significant role in understanding the epidemic and in determining the appropriate response. However, the Covid-19 deaths data reported by some countries display a significant weekly variability, which can make the interpretation and use of the death data in analysis and modeling difficult. Methods: We derive the mathematical relationship between the series of new daily deaths by reporting date and the series of deaths by death date. We then apply this formalism to the corresponding time-series reported by Sweden during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results: The practice of reporting new deaths daily, as is standard procedure during an outbreak in most countries and regions, should be viewed as a time-dependent filter, modulating the underlying true death curve. After having characterized the Swedish reporting process, we show how smoothing of the Swedish reported daily deaths series results in a curve distinctly different from the true death curve. We also comment on the use of nowcasting methods. Conclusions: Modelers and analysts using the series of new daily deaths by reporting date should take extra care when it is highly variable and when there is a significant reporting delay. It might be appropriate to instead use the series of deaths by death date combined with a nowcasting algorithm as basis for their analysis.

Impact of Fundamental Diseases on Patients With COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objectives: In December 2019, a new type of coronavirus, called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), appeared in Wuhan, China. Serious outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, have occurred throughout China and the world. Therefore, we intend to shed light on its potential clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Methods: In this retrospective study, we included 50 confirmed fatal cases of SARS-CoV-2 reported on Chinese official media networks from January 16, 2020, to February 5, 2020. All the cases were confirmed by local qualified medical and health institutions. Specific information has been released through official channels. According to the contents of the reports, we recorded in detail the gender, age, first symptom date, death date, primary symptoms, chronic fundamental diseases, and other data of the patients, and carried out analyses and discussion. Results: In total, 50 fatal cases were reported: median age was 70 y old, and males were 2.33 times more likely to die than females. The median number of days from the first symptom to death was 13, and that length of time tended to be shorter among people aged 65 and older compared with those younger than 65 (12 days vs 17 days; P = 0.046). Therefore, the older patients had fewer number of days from the first symptom to death (r = -0.40; P = 0.012). Conclusions: In our study, we found that most of the deaths were elderly men with chronic fundamental diseases, and their COVID-19 progression to death time was shorter. At the same time, we demonstrated that older men are more likely to become infected with COVID-19, and the risk of death is positively correlated with age.