Omicron: What do we know so far?

This policy brief comprehensively gathers and compares the results of studies on the SARS-CoV-2 variant ‘Omicron’ to enable a more conscious argumentation for policy measures. For this purpose, studies and reports were collected by regular screenings of medRxiv, scientific databases and websites of national health authorities. Overall, studies reveal that compared to Delta, the risk of hospitalization is reduced by 50% to 80%, risk of ICU admission by 65% to 85% and risk of fatal course by 65% to 75% but reduced by a lower amount among older adults. VE of two doses against infection is only significant within the first months at 55% to 65% and waning over time while a 3rd dose pushes VE up to 55% to 70% again. On the contrary, VE against hospitalization seems to be more stable at 55% to 80% up to 6 months and might be increased to about 85% with a 3rd dose. Most studies report the number of ICU admissions and deaths after vaccination as too low to estimate VE. Comparing sub-lineage BA.2 to BA.1 studies mention transmission advantages for BA.2 rather than an increased immune escape and the severity of the disease is expected to be similar. Overall, results show lower severity of infection, lower VE compared to Delta variant and importance of a 3rd dose. Nonetheless, vaccination, especially a 3rd dose, is essential to reduce the risk of severe courses and, thus, the level of population immunity is crucial to maintain the stability of health care systems without rigorous non-pharmaceutical interventions. The possibility of relaxing non-pharmaceutical interventions can be attributed to high immunity levels within countries due to vaccination and prior infection and a lower risk of a severe course by Omicron. Nonetheless, immunity levels are expected to wane over time and, thus, a long-term vaccination strategy is necessary. On the one hand, vaccines can be adjusted to new variants that challenge current vaccines, on the other hand, future variants might turn out to be more severe than Omicron again. As data shows that protection is markedly increased by a three-dose regimen, vaccination commission should consider declaring three doses as full vaccination that should be obtained by everyone that can be vaccinated

The development of the würde + infinitive construction in Early Modern German (1650–1800)

This paper presents a corpus-based analysis of the evolution of the würde + infinitive construction in German during the Early Modern period (1650– 1800), using newly available data from the GerManC-corpus. We demonstrate how this construction occupies a unique position orthogonal to both the tense and mood systems of German through an analysis of the syntax and semantics of würde + infinitive clauses, beginning with Modern Standard German and then subsequently with a historical focus on the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through both quantitative and qualitative analyses, we examine the contexts in which the construction occurs and see how, as it came to be used more frequently over the period in question, it encroached more and more into contexts which had been the preserve of the synthetic preterite subjunctive, even being used in some where the latter is still the norm in modern German. Thus, by the end of the eighteenth century it had become difficult to identify a clear difference in meaning and use between these forms, and the reasons why the würde + in- finitive construction may be preferred over the synthetic preterite subjunctive are by no means clear. We conclude our discussion with an overview of how the würde + infinitive construction was received in the prescriptive tradition during this key period in the standardization of German, seeing its stigmatization in some contexts in part as an attempt by prescriptive grammarians to establish an explicit and clearly justified role for it in the language

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Feilke revisited : 60 Stellenbesuche

Weitere Hrsg.: Thorsten Pohl, Sara Rezat, Torsten Steinhoff, Martin SteinseiferAnlässlich des 60. Geburtstags des Linguisten und Sprachdidaktikers Helmuth Feilke wurden Wegbegleiterinnen und Wegbegleiter gebeten, einzelne Stellen in seinen wissenschaftlichen Schriften erneut zu besuchen. Entstanden sind pointierte Kommentare, kurze wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen und Analysen, Varianten auch des kritischen und kontroversen Nach- und Weiterdenkens und Ansätze zur Neu- oder Re-Kontextualisierung. Je nach wissenschaftlicher Vita der Autorinnen und Autoren kann es sich um Stellen handeln, deren Rezeption zeitlich weit zurückliegt, oder um Passagen, die ganz aktuelle Fragen der eigenen Forschungsarbeit tangieren. Abgesehen davon, dass ein kurzes Format für die Beiträge gewählt und die Autorinnen und Autoren gebeten wurden, die ausgewählte Stelle knapp zu verorten und zu erläutern, war die Bearbeitungsform gänzlich freigestellt. So sind Texte in einer Bandbreite von pointierten Kommentaren, kurzen wissenschaftlichen Abhandlungen und Analysen, Varianten des Nach- und Weiterdenkens, Ansätze zur Neu- oder Re-Kontextualisierung bis hin zu Formen des kritischen Hinterfragens und der kontroversen Auseinandersetzung entstanden

Effects of an Information and Communication Technology-Based Fitness Program on Strength and Balance in Female Home Care Service Users

There is evidence that training for strength and balance prevents decline in physical function in old age when the training is personally instructed. It is an open question whether interventions that deliver training via up-to-date technologies can achieve long-term effects. This study examined the effects of an 8-month fitness training program delivered via information and communication technology (ICT) on lower-body strength and balance in female home care users (n = 72) aged 75 years on average. For statistical analysis, the test group was divided into two subgroups, one who used the program at least 8 times per month (n = 26) and another one who used the program less often (n = 17) compared with a control group that received no exercise program (n = 29). It was found that regular ICT-exercisers exhibited positive effects over time on lower-body strength and balance compared to a decrease in both indicators in irregular exercisers and the control group. The authors see potential in offering exercise programs to people of advanced age via ICT to counteract physical decline in old age