Effects of 3% trehalose as an adjuvant treatment after lasik

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of 3% trehalose as an adjuvant in the standard treatment after laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. Design: Interventional prospective comparative single-blind study. Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Quirón Zaragoza, Spain. Methods: A total of 26 eyes (13 patients) were included, of which 12 eyes (group 1) received conventional treatment with lubricant drops of hyaluronic acid (0.15%) and 14 eyes (group 2) received, additionally, an ophthalmic solution of 3% trehalose. Pre- and postoperative quality-of-life tests and vital stains, tear breakup time, and osmolarity measurements were made. Results: We obtained statistically significant differences between the groups in the Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye test in all visits with respect to severity, and in the postoperative day 1 visit with respect to frequency, in all cases favoring the trehalose treatment. The values of osmolarity were not significantly different between groups. However, we did find significant differences in the Oxford scale in day 90 for the trehalose treatment (P<0.001), and in the National Eye Institute scale in day 30 (P=0.02). Conclusion: The results of this exploratory study indicate that the adjuvant treatment with 3% trehalose could be superior with respect to the standard treatment, with improvements in the objective and subjective parameters of tear quality

Оказание медицинской помощи пациентам с акне. Результаты экспертизы качества медицинской помощи

Goal. To obtain information on typical errors in medical aid rendered to acne patients in dermatovenerology dispensaries in St. Petersburg in order to develop measures to improve the quality of medical aid rendered to this group of patients. Materials and methods. The authors conducted a special expert examination of 55 patients with acne who received treatment at St. Petersburg dermatovenerology dispensaries in 2013. The quality of medical aid was assessed using the Automated Expert Examination Technique (hereinafter referred to as AEET). Major results. The percentage of cases when medical aid of due quality was rendered to acne patients was 49%. Treatment and diagnostics errors prevailed in the structure of errors in medical aid. Errors in treatment were mainly a wrong combination of drugs, simultaneous administration of external and systemic antibacterial drugs, delayed comedolytic therapy and pathogenically infeasible therapy. Errors in diagnostics included absence of indications of the form and/or severity of acne. The most important error in the collection of information was absence of gynecology examinations for women to determine whether peroral contraceptives were necessary including in case of the administration of isotretinoin. Conclusion. The similarity of errors in medical aid rendered for acne as well as high percentage of errors relating to medical aid rendered to patients demand the development of consistent measures to improve the quality of medical aid rendered to such patients and repeated expert examination using preliminary (prompt) control of the quality of medical aid.Цель. Получение информации о типичных ошибках оказания медицинской помощи пациентам с акне в кожно-венерологических диспансерах (КВД) Санкт-Петербурга для разработки мер, направленных на улучшение качества медицинской помощи (КМП) данной группе пациентов. Материал и методы. Проведена тематическая экспертиза КМП 55 наблюдений пациентов с акне, которые получали лечение в КВД Санкт-Петербурга в 2013 г. Изучение КМП проводилось с применением Автоматизированной технологии экспертизы КМП. Результаты. Доля случаев оказания медицинской помощи надлежащего качества пациентам с акне составляла 49%. В структуре ошибок оказания медицинской помощи преобладали ошибки лечения и диагноза. Ошибки лечения были представлены преимущественно неверным сочетанием препаратов, наиболее часто одномоментным назначением антибактериальных препаратов для наружного и системного применения, поздним назначением комедолитической терапии, а также применением патогенетически необоснованной терапии. Ошибками постановки диагноза считали отсутствие указаний на форму и/или степень тяжести акне, наиболее важными ошибками сбора информации - отсутствие обследования женщин у гинеколога для решения вопроса о необходимости применения комбинированных оральных контрацептивов, в том числе и при назначении изотретиноина. Заключение. Сходство характера ошибок медицинской помощи при акне, а также их высокий удельный вес при оказании медицинской помощи пациентам требуют разработки системных мероприятий по улучшению КМП этим больным и повторной экспертизы с применением индикаторов промежуточного (оперативного) контроля КМП

Measurement of CP asymmetries and branching fraction ratios of B− decays to two charm mesons

The $CP$ asymmetries of seven $B^-$ decays to two charm mesons are measured using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\text{fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment. Decays involving a $D^{*0}$ or $D^{*-}_s$ meson are analysed by reconstructing only the $D^0$ or $D^-_s$ decay products. This paper presents the first measurement of $\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^- \rightarrow D^{*-}_s D^0)$ and $\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^- \rightarrow D^{-}_s D^{*0})$, and the most precise measurement of the other five $CP$ asymmetries. There is no evidence of $CP$ violation in any of the analysed decays. Additionally, two ratios between branching fractions of selected decays are measured.The CP asymmetries of seven B$^{−}$ decays to two charm mesons are measured using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{−1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment. Decays involving a D$^{*0}$ or ${D}_s^{\ast -}$ meson are analysed by reconstructing only the D$^{0}$ or ${D}_s^{-}$ decay products. This paper presents the first measurement of $\mathcal{A} ^{CP}$(B$^{−}$→${D}_s^{\ast -}$D$^{0}$) and $\mathcal{A} ^{CP}$(B$^{−}$→${D}_s^{-}$D$^{∗0}$), and the most precise measurement of the other five CP asymmetries. There is no evidence of CP violation in any of the analysed decays. Additionally, two ratios between branching fractions of selected decays are measured.[graphic not available: see fulltext]The $CP$ asymmetries of seven $B^-$ decays to two charm mesons are measured using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\text{ fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment. Decays involving a $D^{*0}$ or $D^{*-}_s$ meson are analysed by reconstructing only the $D^0$ or $D^-_s$ decay products. This paper presents the first measurement of $\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^- \rightarrow D^{*-}_s D^0)$ and $\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^- \rightarrow D^{-}_s D^{*0})$, and the most precise measurement of the other five $CP$ asymmetries. There is no evidence of $CP$ violation in any of the analysed decays. Additionally, two ratios between branching fractions of selected decays are measured

Helium identification with LHCb

The identification of helium nuclei at LHCb is achieved using a method based on measurements of ionisation losses in the silicon sensors and timing measurements in the Outer Tracker drift tubes. The background from photon conversions is reduced using the RICH detectors and an isolation requirement. The method is developed using pp collision data at √(s) = 13 TeV recorded by the LHCb experiment in the years 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.5 fb-1. A total of around 105 helium and antihelium candidates are identified with negligible background contamination. The helium identification efficiency is estimated to be approximately 50% with a corresponding background rejection rate of up to O(10^12). These results demonstrate the feasibility of a rich programme of measurements of QCD and astrophysics interest involving light nuclei

Curvature-bias corrections using a pseudomass method

Momentum measurements for very high momentum charged particles, such as muons from electroweak vector boson decays, are particularly susceptible to charge-dependent curvature biases that arise from misalignments of tracking detectors. Low momentum charged particles used in alignment procedures have limited sensitivity to coherent displacements of such detectors, and therefore are unable to fully constrain these misalignments to the precision necessary for studies of electroweak physics. Additional approaches are therefore required to understand and correct for these effects. In this paper the curvature biases present at the LHCb detector are studied using the pseudomass method in proton-proton collision data recorded at centre of mass energy √(s)=13 TeV during 2016, 2017 and 2018. The biases are determined using Z→μ + μ - decays in intervals defined by the data-taking period, magnet polarity and muon direction. Correcting for these biases, which are typically at the 10-4 GeV-1 level, improves the Z→μ + μ - mass resolution by roughly 18% and eliminates several pathological trends in the kinematic-dependence of the mean dimuon invariant mass

Momentum scale calibration of the LHCb spectrometer

For accurate determination of particle masses accurate knowledge of the momentum scale of the detectors is crucial. The procedure used to calibrate the momentum scale of the LHCb spectrometer is described and illustrated using the performance obtained with an integrated luminosity of 1.6 fb-1 collected during 2016 in pp running. The procedure uses large samples of J/ψ → μ + μ - and B+ → J/ψ K + decays and leads to a relative accuracy of 3 × 10-4 on the momentum scale