Implementing the EU accounting directives in Sweden — practitioners' views

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00207063 Copyright University of Illinois. DOI: 10.1016/S0020-7063(99)00023-0 [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]Sweden legislated in 1995 to implement the European Union (EU) directives relating to harmonization of accounting. This article reports the results of an empirical study, based upon interviews and a questionnaire survey, on the attitudes of Swedish practitioners to the harmonizing legislation and to the current state of Swedish accounting. The research finds that the Germanic influence on Swedish accounting is lessening in importance, with a likely weakening of the close link between taxation and accounting and a perception amongst practitioners of the increasing importance of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and US influences.Peer reviewe

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Endophthalmitis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and visual acuity outcomes of patients who presented with endophthalmitis prior to and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: This multicenter retrospective case series with historical controls included consecutive patients presenting with any form of endophthalmitis from March 1, 2019 to September 1, 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and from March 1, 2020 to September 1, 2020 (COVID-19) at Mayo Clinic Rochester (MCR), Health System (MCHS), Arizona (MCA), and Florida (MCF) sites. Cases were divided into “pre-COVID-19” versus “COVID-19” groups depending on when they first presented with endophthalmitis. Results: Twenty-eight cases of endophthalmitis presented to all Mayo Clinic sites during the study period. Of these, 10 patients presented during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the same six-month period the year prior, 18 patients presented with endophthalmitis. Endophthalmitis etiology (post-injection, post-cataract extraction, post-glaucoma filtering surgery, post-pars plana vitrectomy, endogenous, and others) was similar between both groups (P = 0.34), as was post-injection endophthalmitis rate (P = 0.69), days to presentation (P = 0.07), initial management (P = 0.11), culture-positivity rate (P = 0.70), and need for subsequent pars plana vitrectomy (P = 1). Visual acuity outcomes were similar between both groups at six months, however, the mean LogMAR visual acuity at presentation was worse in the COVID-19 group compared to the pre-COVID-19 group (2.44 vs 1.82; P = 0.026). Conclusion: Clinical characteristics and the post-injection endophthalmitis rate were similar during both periods, however, patients presented with worse vision during the pandemic suggesting that the pandemic may have contributed to delayed presentation, regardless, outcomes are still poor

Diurnal variation of optical coherence tomography–based macular fluid in exudative age-related macular degeneration

Abstract Background Significant diurnal fluctuation of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based macular fluid occurs in patients with several macular conditions including diabetic macular edema (DME) and cystoid macular edema due to retinal venous occlusion (RVO). OCT imaging and analysis of macular fluid status plays a central role in clinical management of exudative age-related macular degeneration (eAMD), however diurnal variation of eAMD OCT findings has not yet been formally studied. Herein, we investigate whether clinically meaningful fluctuation of OCT-based macular fluid occurs in patients with eAMD. Methods Prospective observational study. Patients with eAMD and intra- and/or sub-retinal fluid on early AM OCT were enrolled to receive two consecutive OCT scans at least four hours later. Retinal layers were manually segmented on all OCT rasters and AM-to-PM and PM-to-PM image pairs were analyzed for total retinal and neurosensory retinal volume changes within the central 1 and 3 mm ETDRS subfields. Finally, two masked retinal specialists analyzed all OCT image pairs for qualitative differences that may impact clinical management. Results 21 patients with eAMD and fluid on OCT were recruited between January 2020 and November 2021. There was no mean difference between AM and PM central 3 mm total retinal volume (p = 0.56), central 3 mm neurosensory retinal volume (p = 0.25), central 1 mm total retinal mean thickness (p = 0.96), or central 1 mm neurosensory retinal mean thickness (p = 0.63), nor were any differences identified in PM-to-PM control comparisons. Qualitative analysis by two masked experts identified no clinically significant differences between any AM-to-PM OCT image pairs. Conclusions No significant diurnal variation in OCT-based macular fluid or thickness was identified in patients with eAMD, either quantitatively or qualitatively

Cardiovascular Efficacy and Safety of Bococizumab in High-Risk Patients

BACKGROUN

Cardiovascular Efficacy and Safety of Bococizumab in High-Risk Patients

Bococizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits proprotein convertase subtilisin- kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of bococizumab in patients at high cardiovascular risk. METHODS In two parallel, multinational trials with different entry criteria for LDL cholesterol levels, we randomly assigned the 27,438 patients in the combined trials to receive bococizumab (at a dose of 150 mg) subcutaneously every 2 weeks or placebo. The primary end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina requiring urgent revascularization, or cardiovascular death; 93% of the patients were receiving statin therapy at baseline. The trials were stopped early after the sponsor elected to discontinue the development of bococizumab owing in part to the development of high rates of antidrug antibodies, as seen in data from other studies in the program. The median follow-up was 10 months. RESULTS At 14 weeks, patients in the combined trials had a mean change from baseline in LDL cholesterol levels of -56.0% in the bococizumab group and +2.9% in the placebo group, for a between-group difference of -59.0 percentage points (P<0.001) and a median reduction from baseline of 64.2% (P<0.001). In the lower-risk, shorter-duration trial (in which the patients had a baseline LDL cholesterol level of ≥70 mg per deciliter [1.8 mmol per liter] and the median follow-up was 7 months), major cardiovascular events occurred in 173 patients each in the bococizumab group and the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.22; P = 0.94). In the higher-risk, longer-duration trial (in which the patients had a baseline LDL cholesterol level of ≥100 mg per deciliter [2.6 mmol per liter] and the median follow-up was 12 months), major cardiovascular events occurred in 179 and 224 patients, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.97; P = 0.02). The hazard ratio for the primary end point in the combined trials was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.76 to 1.02; P = 0.08). Injection-site reactions were more common in the bococizumab group than in the placebo group (10.4% vs. 1.3%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS In two randomized trials comparing the PCSK9 inhibitor bococizumab with placebo, bococizumab had no benefit with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events in the trial involving lower-risk patients but did have a significant benefit in the trial involving higher-risk patients