Pattern of reading eye movements during monovision contact lens wear in presbyopes

Monovision can be used as a method to correct presbyopia with contact lenses (CL) but its effect on reading behavior is still poorly understood. In this study eye movements (EM) were recorded in fifteen presbyopic participants, naïve to monovision, whilst they read arrays of words, non-words, and text passages to assess whether monovision affected their reading. Three conditions were compared, using daily disposable CLs: baseline (near correction in both eyes), conventional monovision (distance correction in the dominant eye, near correction in the non-dominant eye), and crossed monovision (the reversal of conventional monovision). Behavioral measures (reading speed and accuracy) and EM parameters (single fixation duration, number of fixations, dwell time per item, percentage of regressions, and percentage of skipped items) were analyzed. When reading passages, no differences in behavioral and EM measures were seen in any comparison of the three conditions. The number of fixations and dwell time significantly increased for both monovision and crossed monovision with respect to baseline only with word and non-word arrays. It appears that monovision did not appreciably alter visual processing when reading meaningful texts but some limited stress of the EM pattern was observed only with arrays of unrelated or meaningless items under monovision, which require the reader to have more in-depth controlled visual processing

Party rules, party resources, and the politics of parliamentary democracies: how parties organize in the 21st Century

This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database (PPDB) project, a major survey of party organizations in parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies. The project’s first round of data covers 122 parties in 19 countries. In this paper we describe the scope of the database, then investigate what it tells us about contemporary party organization in these countries, focussing on parties’ resources, structures and internal decision-making. We examine organizational patterns by country and party family, and where possible we make temporal comparisons with older datasets. Our analyses suggest a remarkable coexistence of uniformity and diversity. In terms of the major organizational resources on which parties can draw, such as members, staff and finance, the new evidence largely confirms the continuation of trends identified in previous research: i.e., declining membership, but enhanced financial resources and more paid staff. We also find remarkable uniformity regarding the core architecture of party organizations. At the same time, however, we find substantial variation between countries and party families in terms of their internal processes, with particular regard to how internally democratic they are, and in the forms that this democratization takes

IMI : global trends in myopia management attitudes and strategies in clinical practice : 2022 update

PURPOSE. Surveys in 2015 and 2019 identified a high level of eye care practitioner concern/activity about myopia, but the majority still prescribed single vision interventions to young myopes. This research aimed to provide updated information. METHODS. A self-administered, internet-based questionnaire was distributed in 13 languages, through professional bodies to eye care practitioners globally. The questions examined awareness of increasing myopia prevalence, perceived efficacy and adoption of available strategies, and reasons for not adopting specific strategies. RESULTS. Of the 3195 respondents, practitioners’ concern about the increasing frequency of pediatric myopia in their practices differed between continents (P < 0.001), being significantly higher in Asia (9.0 ± 1.5 of 10) than other continents (range 7.7–8.2; P ≤ 0.001). Overall, combination therapy was perceived by practitioners to be the most effective method of myopia control, followed by orthokeratology and pharmaceutical approaches. The least effective perceived methods were single vision distance undercorrection, spectacles and contact lenses, as well as bifocal spectacles. Practitioners rated their activity in myopia control between (6.6 ± 2.9 in South America to 7.9 ± 1.2/2.2 in Australasia and Asia). Single-vision spectacles are still the most prescribed option for progressing young myopia (32.2%), but this has decreased since 2019, and myopia control spectacles (15.2%), myopia control contact lenses (8.7%) and combination therapy (4.0%) are growing in popularity. CONCLUSIONS. More practitioners across the globe are practicing myopia control, but there are still significant differences between and within continents. Practitioners reported that embracing myopia control enhanced patient loyalty, increasing practice revenue and improving job satisfaction

Disturbo bipolare e comorbidità

Bipolar Disorder is a psychiatric illness with a lifetime prevalence of about 2% in the general population and a recurrent course. Bipolar Disorder is one of the most frequent, severe and costly psychiatric diseases, and is associated with high rates of disability and suicidally and with multiple medical and psychiatric comorbilities. It is estimated that at least 50% of patients with Bipolar Disorder meets the criteria for other mental or organic disorders. Patients with bipolar disorder suffer a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular and endocrine illness compared the general population. While the exact pathogenesis of this excess morbid ocrine illness compared the general population. While the exact pathogenesis of this excess morbidity is not completely known, biologic, behavioral, and sociodemographic factors have been identified. A growing body of evidence suggests that several of the medications that are commonly used to treat bipolar disorder may contribute to comorbid medical illness. While the balance between risks and benefits of medication treatment in bipolar disorder is usually favorable, a thorough knowledge of such risks is imperative. It is paramount to monitor the possible side effects induced by medication treatment, and to prioritize, whenever possible, the use of medications with lower medical risk

I processi di liberalizzazione in Georgia

Liberalizzazioni, siamo ad una svolta ? Questo è l’interrogativo che si pone il decimo Rapporto del tink tank liberale. Per sottolineare la validità dell’analisi che Società Libera ha condotto in questi anni, nel volume si confrontano le misure governative con le posizioni e le indicazioni espresse nei rapporti precedenti. Il quadro complessivo che ne scaturisce non è esaltante, a dimostrazione che ancora tanta strada occorre percorrere affinché nel Paese si affermi una società libera e aperta. Il Paese sconta un grosso deficit di cultura liberale che unitamente a fenomeni endemici, quali corruzione, criminalità organizzata e vischiosità procedurali ostacolano e frenano lo sviluppo economico e sociale

Disasters and corruption, corruption as disaster

This chapter analyzes the role played by corruption in post-disaster contexts. Data show growth in both natural and man-made disasters and in humanitarian response provided by bilateral and multilateral donors. These events have become more frequent and also cause more deaths. Moreover, the data demonstrate a strong relation between the impact of these disasters on the standards of living and the prior level of corruption of the country. The severity of disasters is a consequence of corruption, but the opportunities for corruption are also increased in post-disaster situations. Several factors contribute to frustrating the transparency and accountability of decision-making processes during humanitarian crises. We include all these factors in a ‘‘formula of corruption’’. Despite the growing importance of this issue, the international community has responded to these crucial problems only tentatively. We review those international treaties that have addressed the issue of corruption at the international level. These treaties are preliminary instruments to fight corruption, even if they are not specifically designed to fight this plague in post-disaster contexts. This lack of institutional response has caused civil society and NGOs to take independent measures. For this reason, several NGOs have recommended the implementation of further action in order to map and prevent corruption

SSRIs vs. SNRIs: Personalized treatment of depression and decision algorithms for choosing antidepressant medications [SSRIs vs. SNRIs: Trattamento personalizzato della depressione ed algoritmi decisionali per la scelta del farmaco antidepressivo]

Introduction: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a major cause of morbidity worldwide. Lifetime prevalence varies widely by country, and is estimated around 17% in the United States. MDD is currently the leading cause of disease burden in North America and other high-income countries, and is the fourth-leading cause of disease burden worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, by the year 2030, MDD is predicted to become the secondleading cause of disease burden worldwide after HIV. MDD is usually recurrent and national practice guidelines recommend maintenance pharmacotherapy for most patients with a history of major depressive episodes, owing to their favorable risk/benefit ratio. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly endorsed as a first line treatment for MDD. Indeed, SSRI have enjoyed wide popularity as a result of their selective pharmacology and the consequently better tolerability and lesser toxicity than the first-generation antidepressants. However, a high percentage of patients fail to achieve complete remission when treated with a SSRI. Among the symptoms that fail to improve are often included fatigue, low energy and loss of interests, i.e. those symptoms that may be associated with dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems dysfunction. Such symptoms may respond to medications with a noradrenergic and/or dopaminergic component to their pharmacology, such as bupropion and duloxetine. Conclusions: This paper briefly reviews and comments on the heterogeneity of depression, on the pharmacodynamics differences among the various available antidepressants and on the need to personalize the treatment of depression based on the symptom presentation