Muon spin rotation and relaxation in the superconducting ferromagnet UCoGe

We report zero-field muon spin rotation and relaxation measurements on the superconducting ferromagnet UCoGe. Weak itinerant ferromagnetic order is detected by a spontaneous muon spin precession frequency below the Curie temperature $T_C = 3$ K. The $\mu^+$ precession frequency persists below the bulk superconducting transition temperature $T_{sc} = 0.5$ K, where it measures a local magnetic field $B_{loc} = 0.015$ T. The amplitude of the $\mu$SR signal provides unambiguous proof for ferromagnetism present in the whole sample volume. We conclude ferromagnetism coexists with superconductivity on the microscopic scale.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Magnetic Order in the 2D Heavy-Fermion System CePt2In7 studied by muSR

The low-temperature microscopic magnetic properties of the quasi-2D heavyfermion compound, CePt2In7 are investigated by using a positive muon-spin rotation and relaxation (?muSR) technique. Clear evidence for the formation of a commensurate antiferromagnetic order below TN=5.40 K is presented. The magnetic order parameter is shown to fit well to a modified BSC gap-energy function in a strong-coupling scenario.Comment: Accepted in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (2014

Impact of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations on sustained virologic response in HCV-infected patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort

Background: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. Methods: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. Results: SVR24 rates were 46.1 % (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1,2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced 651 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with 651 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not 655. Conclusions: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginter-feron alfa-2a/ribavirin

Impact of Safety-Related Dose Reductions or Discontinuations on Sustained Virologic Response in HCV-Infected Patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced ≥1 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with ≥1 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not ≥5. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin.This study was sponsored by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland. Support for third-party writing assistance for this manuscript, furnished by Blair Jarvis MSc, ELS, of Health Interactions, was provided by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland

Systematic Review of Medicine-Related Problems in Adult Patients with Atrial Fibrillation on Direct Oral Anticoagulants

New oral anticoagulant agents continue to emerge on the market and their safety requires assessment to provide evidence of their suitability for clinical use. There-fore, we searched standard databases to summarize the English language literature on medicine-related problems (MRPs) of direct oral anticoagulants DOACs (dabigtran, rivaroxban, apixban, and edoxban) in the treatment of adults with atri-al fibrillation. Electronic databases including Medline, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstract (IPA), Scopus, CINAHL, the Web of Science and Cochrane were searched from 2008 through 2016 for original articles. Studies pub-lished in English reporting MRPs of DOACs in adult patients with AF were in-cluded. Seventeen studies were identified using standardized protocols, and two reviewers serially abstracted data from each article. Most articles were inconclusive on major safety end points including major bleeding. Data on major safety end points were combined with efficacy. Most studies inconsistently reported adverse drug reactions and not adverse events or medication error, and no definitions were consistent across studies. Some harmful drug effects were not assessed in studies and may have been overlooked. Little evidence is provided on MRPs of DOACs in patients with AF and, therefore, further studies are needed to establish the safety of DOACs in real-life clinical practice

Role of macroeconomic variables on firms’ performance: Evidence from the UK

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of macroeconomic conditions and predict the base performance of a firm as represented by Return on Asset (ROA) and macroeconomic variables. The predictor variables used in the construction of the models were selected using PCA. For the full sample and the industry-specific sample of data, the regression model evaluated the significance of macroeconomic factors based on t-statistics and the R2 test. The results of the study are promising. The full sample and five out of six industry variable models incorporating lead-lag relationships have an R2 between 0.79 and 0.95. For the full sample, the results of this study indicate that macroeconomic conditions should be incorporated when predicting firms' performance. For the industry-specific models, the empirical results present a mixed picture of the effect of macroeconomic factors and the lagged ROA on firm performance and the same conclusion for full sample cannot be reached easily when looking at the industry specific results. The results of this paper provide a compelling argument that firm performance is a function of the prior year ROA, and macro-economic variables and that macroeconomic variables and prior year ROA can have impact on future firm performance measure by ROA

Medical Interpreting – A Race against Time

There are several factors that make medical interpreting particularly difficult, ranging from the emotional burden interpreters have to bear to terminological problems, from ethical issues to role confusion and relational complications. Interpreting tasks are made even more complicated by time constraints. In emergency situations time may even be a matter of life and death, so finding ways to avoid the wasting time is essential. This paper looks at ways new technologies are currently used to improve medical interpreters’ reaction times in the most advanced countries in this field (US, UK, Australia and Canada) and in the three countries participating in the ReACTMe project: Spain, Romania and Italy. The situation is examined from the point of view of the advantages and risks of using remote interpreting in medical settings, of the availability and efficiency of existing tools, and, last but not least, of the possible improvements in the countries of our project. The aim is to identify and disseminate methods and practices that can aid healthcare institutions and provide the basis for new training programmes that make full use of the different modes of remote interpreting

Household Attitudes and Behavior towards the Food Waste Generation before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania

Food waste represents an important aspect with social, economic, and environmental implications. As previous studies underlined, the COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in the food consumption patterns among consumers. The aim of the study was to investigate the main changes in household food waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania compared with the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors affecting food waste were also analyzed. Data were collected among Romanian households using an online administrated questionnaire. The 784 usable questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Cluster analysis. Consumers&rsquo; food shopping habits have become more sustainable during the pandemic, with a positive impact on waste management. The amount of the food losses decreased, people found ways to valorize the food scraps. The Cluster analysis of 25 food waste behavior factors lead to a 3 clusters solution: &ldquo;wasters&rdquo; (n = 264), &ldquo;careless consumers&rdquo; (n = 227), &ldquo;careful consumers&rdquo; (n = 359). While the &ldquo;wasters&rdquo; group was represented by consumers who chose to plan the shopping and the menu for the next period, were represented mainly by males with a lower level of education, the &ldquo;careless consumers&rdquo; did not choose to plan before going shopping, they discharge lower quantities of food compared with the first group. The &ldquo;careful consumers&rdquo; proved to be the most organized one, being preoccupied about the menu planning and reuse of leftovers. People became more conscious about their shopping habits; however, not all groups greatly improved their habits. The results indicate that more actions are needed to increase the awareness at the household level regarding food waste management and sustainable consumption during changing times