Comparison of the corneal power measurements with the TMS4-topographer, pentacam HR, IOL master, and javal keratometer

Purpose: The aim was to compare the corneal curvature and power measured with a corneal topographer, Scheimpflug camera, optical biometer, and Javal keratometer. Materials and Methods: A total of 76 myopic individuals who were candidates for photorefractive keratectomy were selected in a cross-sectional study. Manual keratometry (Javal Schiotz type; Haag-Streit AG, Koeniz, Switzerland), automated keratometry (IOL Master version 3.02, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany), topography (TMS4, Tomey, Erlangen, Germany), and Pentacam HR (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) were performed for all participants. The 95 limits of agreement (LOAs) were reported to evaluate the agreement between devices. Results: The mean corneal power measurements were 44.3 ± 1.59, 44.25 ± 1.59, 43.68 ± 1.44, and 44.31 ± 1.61 D with a Javal keratometer, TMS4-topographer, the Pentacam and IOL Master respectively. Only the IOL Master showed no significant difference with Javal keratometer in measuring the corneal power (P = 0.965). The correlations of the Javal keratometer with TMS4-topography, Pentacam, and IOL Master was 0.991. 0.982, and 0.993 respectively. The 95 LOAs of the Javal keratometer with TMS4-topography, Pentacam, and IOL Master were - 0.361 to 0.49, -0.01 to 1.14, and - 0.36 to 0.36 D, respectively. Conclusion: Although the correlation of Pentacam, TMS4-topography, IOL Master, and Javal keratometer in measuring keratometry was high, only the IOL Master showed no significant difference with the Javal keratometer. The IOL Master had the best agreement with Javal keratometry

Quantum teleportation with nonclassical correlated states in noninertial frames

Quantum teleportation is studied in noninertial frame, for fermionic case, when Alice and Bob share a general nonclassical correlated state. In noninertial frames two fidelities of teleportation are given. It is found that the average fidelity of teleportation from a separable and nonclassical correlated state is increasing with the amount of nonclassical correlation of the state. However, for any particular nonclassical correlated state, the fidelity of teleportation decreases by increasing the acceleration.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, expanded version to appear in Quantum Inf. Proces

Insulin-Like Growth Factor I and II mRNA Levels in Rumen Wall of Calves Fed with Different Physical Forms of Diets

This study was designed to investigate the effects of physical forms and hay contents of diets on gene expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I and II in rumen epithelium of Holstein calves. Twelve male calves were assigned to 4 treatments: ground (GR), texturized (TX), pellet (PL), and ground+10% forage (GF). Calves were weaned on day 50 of age and then slaughtered on day 70 after birth. Rumen epithelial tissue samples were immediately collected for quantification of mRNA abundance. Results indicated that only IGF I expression was influenced by the dietary treatments. A significant (pIGF I expression and each of histological parameters denoted as length of rumen villi and diameter of keratinocyte layer was observed. No significant correlation between IGF II expression and rumen histological parameters was found (p>0.05). Regarding the results, higher 0.05). Regarding the results, higher IGF I expression in PL and TX treatments despite the low growth rate might be due to the challenging condition of developing rumen in calves. In fact, the rumen tissue attempted to maintain rumen pH at least by induction of a higher IGF I expression

An exactly solvable quantum-lattice model with a tunable degree of nonlocality

An array of N subsequent Laguerre polynomials is interpreted as an eigenvector of a non-Hermitian tridiagonal Hamiltonian $H$ with real spectrum or, better said, of an exactly solvable N-site-lattice cryptohermitian Hamiltonian whose spectrum is known as equal to the set of zeros of the N-th Laguerre polynomial. The two key problems (viz., the one of the ambiguity and the one of the closed-form construction of all of the eligible inner products which make $H$ Hermitian in the respective {\em ad hoc} Hilbert spaces) are discussed. Then, for illustration, the first four simplest, $k-$parametric definitions of inner products with $k=0,k=1,k=2$ and $k=3$ are explicitly displayed. In mathematical terms these alternative inner products may be perceived as alternative Hermitian conjugations of the initial N-plet of Laguerre polynomials. In physical terms the parameter $k$ may be interpreted as a measure of the "smearing of the lattice coordinates" in the model.Comment: 35 p

Echocardiography in takotsubo cardiomyopathy; a useful approach?

Cardiac Dysfunction and Arrhythmia

Assessing drama therapy as an intervention for recovering substance users: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the quality and efficacy of drama therapy interventions used to support and promote the recovery process in substance users. Seven databases plus two journals were searched; three studies met the inclusion criteria. It was found that drama therapy interventions commonly consist of expressive activities such as role-play and improvisation, along with group reflection to improve communication skills, emotional awareness, and metacognition. Findings were encouraging with two studies reporting that participants maintained or improved abstinence goals; quality of life was reported to be significantly higher post-intervention compared to the control group (one study); and social and occupational engagement significantly improved post-intervention and was maintained at a six-week follow up (one study). These results however, should be interpreted with caution. Methodological inadequacies and the small number of published studies available, make it difficult to determine with confidence the efficacy of these interventions

Global investments in pandemic preparedness and COVID-19: development assistance and domestic spending on health between 1990 and 2026

Background The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in health surveillance systems, disease prevention, and treatment globally. Among the many factors that might have led to these gaps is the issue of the financing of national health systems, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as a robust global system for pandemic preparedness. We aimed to provide a comparative assessment of global health spending at the onset of the pandemic; characterise the amount of development assistance for pandemic preparedness and response disbursed in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic; and examine expectations for future health spending and put into context the expected need for investment in pandemic preparedness. Methods In this analysis of global health spending between 1990 and 2021, and prediction from 2021 to 2026, we estimated four sources of health spending: development assistance for health (DAH), government spending, out-of-pocket spending, and prepaid private spending across 204 countries and territories. We used the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database (GHED) to estimate spending. We estimated development assistance for general health, COVID-19 response, and pandemic preparedness and response using a keyword search. Health spending estimates were combined with estimates of resources needed for pandemic prevention and preparedness to analyse future health spending patterns, relative to need. Findings In 2019, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, US$9·2 trillion (95$7·3 trillion (95% UI 7·2–7·4) in 2019; 293·7 times the $24·8 billion (95$43·1 billion in development assistance was provided to maintain or improve health. The pandemic led to an unprecedented increase in development assistance targeted towards health; in 2020 and 2021, $1·8 billion in DAH contributions was provided towards pandemic preparedness in LMICs, and$37·8 billion was provided for the health-related COVID-19 response. Although the support for pandemic preparedness is 12·2% of the recommended target by the High-Level Independent Panel (HLIP), the support provided for the health-related COVID-19 response is 252·2% of the recommended target. Additionally, projected spending estimates suggest that between 2022 and 2026, governments in 17 (95% UI 11–21) of the 137 LMICs will observe an increase in national government health spending equivalent to an addition of 1% of GDP, as recommended by the HLIP. Interpretation There was an unprecedented scale-up in DAH in 2020 and 2021. We have a unique opportunity at this time to sustain funding for crucial global health functions, including pandemic preparedness. However, historical patterns of underfunding of pandemic preparedness suggest that deliberate effort must be made to ensure funding is maintained