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Effect of Bimekizumab on Patient-Reported Outcomes and Work Productivity in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis:1-Year Results From 2 Phase III Studies
Get PDFObjective. To assess the longer-term effect of bimekizumab up to 1 year on patient-reported symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and work productivity in patients with active PsA who were biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD)-naïve or had inadequate response/intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR). Methods. BE OPTIMAL (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03895203; bDMARD-naïve patients) and BE COMPLETE (NCT03896581; TNFi-IR patients) are phase III studies of subcutaneous bimekizumab 160 mg every 4 weeks. Both studies were double-blind and placebo-controlled to 16 weeks. Patients who completed week 52 of BE OPTIMAL or week 16 of BE COMPLETE were eligible for the open-label extension, BE VITAL (NCT04009499), during which all patients received bimekizumab. Patient-reported pain, fatigue, physical function, HRQOL, and work productivity are reported to week 52 or 40 (52/40) using individual study data for bimekizumab and placebo treatment arms. Results. Bimekizumab-randomized patients demonstrated sustained mean improvements from baseline in patient-reported outcomes to week 52/40, including pain (visual analog scale [0-100 mm]: bDMARD-naïve –30.5; TNFi-IR –31.8), fatigue (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Fatigue scale [0-52]: bDMARD-naïve 5.3; TNFi-IR 6.0), physical function (Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index [0-3]: bDMARD-naïve –0.34; TNFi-IR –0.39), and HRQOL (36-item Short Form Health Survey, physical component summary: bDMARD-naïve 8.1; TNFi-IR 8.4); placebo patients who switched to bimekizumab at week 16 demonstrated comparable levels of improvement from week 16 to week 52/40. Improvements in overall work impairment were sustained among bimekizumab-randomized patients to week 52. Similar trends were observed for absenteeism, presenteeism, and activity impairment. Conclusion. Bimekizumab treatment resulted in sustained improvements in patient-reported symptoms, HRQOL, and work productivity up to 1 year in bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients with active PsA.</p
A systematic review of school governance literature between 2000 and 2023
Get PDFSchool governance is a contested concept due to ongoing disagreements over its meaning and application, particularly in education sub-fields like leadership, management, and administration (ELMA). Aware of global efforts to differentiate ELMA’s knowledge base, this paper critically reviews school governance literature from 2000 to 2023. Using PRISMA guidelines, 361 journal articles were identified from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Employing both statistical and qualitative methods, we explore the volume, geographic distribution and publication outlets of said literature, as well as map the conceptual structures constituting the school governance field. Statistical results point to interesting findings, revealing a consistent upward trend in volume, together with an internationalisation of the ELMA field beyond the Global North, being published more widely in generic education journals including the Global South. A critical narrative synthesis of the 361 publications enabled us to construct a conceptual framework based on five main themes: school participation politics; autonomy and control; policy reform trends; global education confluences and influences; and digital governance. These findings yield important insight for future research relevant to theory, policy, and practice while simultaneously identifying blind spots and gaps in the field, thus laying the groundwork for future knowledge production.</p
Amyloid-beta induces distinct forms of cell death in different neuronal populations
Get PDFRecent FDA approval for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with amyloid-beta (Aβ) immunotherapy is a historic breakthrough, which has rekindled widespread interest in understanding the molecular basis of Aβ toxicity. In this study, we developed a novel Drosophila model to investigate Aβ42-induced pathologies in vivo and in real time. Strikingly, we unveiled compelling evidence that secreted Aβ42 affects different neurons in distinct ways—both in susceptibility to Aβ42 deposition and in the mode of cell death triggered. Additionally, we observed altered larval crawling behaviour which—remarkably—could be recovered by inhibiting ferroptotic cell death with small molecule inhibitors. Collectively these findings showcase this as a powerful new model for investigating Aβ toxicity in AD and identifying novel treatment strategie
Sustaining Research Culture as a Precondition for Research Sustainability of Universities of Technology in South Africa
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Advanced Polymeric Membranes: Sustainable Fabrication and Water Purification Performance
No full textMulti-output shrunken regression trees
Get PDFThe analysis of the increasingly complex and interdependent variables used in sectors such as supply chain management, healthcare, and finance requires multi-output regressions using advanced machine learning techniques. Drawing inspiration from Stein's paradox, this study explores the potential of using shrunken estimators to enhance the predictive performance of multi-output regression trees. Stein's paradox suggests that incorporating information from multiple, even unrelated distributions can improve the estimation of multiple means. Our approach diverges from the traditional practice of independently averaging values for each output by integrating closed-form shrunken estimators into each leaf of a multi-output regression tree. The theoretical contributions of our work are twofold: first, we formulate an optimization problem that balances prediction errors with a multi-output regularizer to derive the shrunken estimators; second, we validate the superiority of shrunken estimators over traditional sample means. Our computational experiments on both real-world and synthetic datasets show that our proposed multi-output shrunken regression trees outperform traditional methods, leading to significant improvements in prediction accuracy. Our novel approach to multi-output regression not only provides theoretical insights but also has practical benefits for diverse sectors.</p
In Situ Grown Cs<sub>2</sub>Ag<sub>0.3</sub>Na<sub>0.7</sub>InCl<sub>6</sub> Double Perovskites within a PVDF Matrix for High-Performance Flexible Piezoelectric Nanogenerators
Get PDFIncorporating perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is an effective method to improve the performance of PVDF-based piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs). The conventional techniques are typically performed via a two-step process, namely, the synthesis of PNCs and then introducing them into the PVDF matrix. Here, we report the exploration of flexible PENG with boosted performance by in situ growth of Zr-doped Cs2Ag0.3Na0.7InCl6 double perovskites (ZCDP) within the PVDF matrix (PENGin). The as-constructed PENGin delivers an open-circuit voltage of 44.4 V and a short-circuit current density of 10 μA cm-2, both of which are more than 2 times those of PENGs built by a conventional two-step process and ∼6 and ∼9 times the best ones of in situ grown Cs2InI6@PVDF-based PENGs ever reported, respectively. The enhanced performance could be ascribed to the optimized spontaneous polarization, thanks to the uniform dispersion of PNCs with a solid ZCDP/PVDF interface within the matrix, which collectively facilitates the electron migration and aggregation, thereby establishing a strong built-in electric field to amplify the dipole spontaneous polarizability. Additionally, the PENGin exhibits excellent performance with robust stability in pressure sensing, wearable energy harvesting, and DC power applications, representing its promise toward practical use.</p
Dataset for: Decision-making and acute behavioural disturbance (ABD): a qualitative thematic analysis of perspectives on decision-making by UK ambulance paramedics
No full textAnonymised transcripts of ten semistructured individual interviews and one focus group. This data is from an exploratory study of decision-making by UK ambulance paramedics when managing patients with acute behavioural disturbance who may require restraint
Assessment of the proficiency level of novices in distal intramedullary nail interlocking achieved through training with Digitally Enhanced Hands-on Surgical Training (DEHST)
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Digitally Enhanced Hands-on Surgical Training (DEHST) platform was introduced to overcome the lack of training capabilities for the challenging task of freehand distal interlocking of intramedullary nails. It demonstrates high perceived realism for surgeons, and novices perform significantly better after DEHST training. However, characterization of how performance improves remained unexplored. The aim of this study was to evaluate the training progression of novices in freehand distal interlocking during five training rounds with DEHST and to compare their performance in a simulated operation against experienced surgeons. METHODS: Ten novices (Group 1) underwent five DEHST training sessions (approximately one hour in total) and their performance data was acquired and evaluated. The surgical performance of Group 1 was compared with ten surgical experts (Group 2) by performing distal interlocking of a real tibia nail in an artificial bone model in a simulated operation. Time taken, number of X-rays, accuracy of nail hole roundness, and success rates were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Group 1 achieved comparable performance to Group 2 in number of X-rays 26.0 (range 15-40) versus 22.5 (range 16-34), p = 0.281, and accuracy of hole roundness 95.0% (range 91.1-98.0%) versus 93.3% (range 90.7-95.9%), p = 0.087. However, Group 1 needed significantly longer time compared with Group 2, p = 0.001, and furthermore, one participant in Group 1 (10%) failed to hit the nail hole with the drill bit, while 100% of the participants in Group 2 were successful. CONCLUSIONS: DEHST appears to be a useful tool to gradually improve the proficiency level of novices and to train relevant practical surgical skills needed for distal interlocking of intramedullary nails. However, further investigations are needed to demonstrate the performance under the conditions of a real operation.</p
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