Baseline Characteristics of 1976 Patients With Ectatic Corneal Disorders at a Single Center From 2010 to 2021: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Homburg Keratoconus Center.

Objectives: The study objective was to analyze the baseline characteristics of keratoconus (KC) patients at the Homburg Keratoconus Center from 2010 to 2021.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 3,674 eyes, with analysis of demographics, clinical findings, visual function, endothelial measurements, and topographic, tomographic, and corneal biomechanical data from the first visit.

Results: Mean patient age was 36.

Risk Factors for Keratoconus Progression in Children Compared with Young and Middle-aged Adults.

Background: To investigate the risk factors for keratoconus progression in children (10 - 18 years old; age group 1) compared to young adults (19 - 35 years old; age group 2) and middle-aged adults (36 - 55 years old; age group 3).

Patients/methods: Ninety-seven children, 445 young adults, and 342 middle-aged adults underwent total ophthalmic examination including clinical refraction, slit lamp examination, corneal tomography, eye biometry, and biomechanical properties measurements. Comparisons were assessed among three age groups and between progressive and nonprogressive eyes.

Contact Lens Fitting in Patients with Keratoconus - A Retrospective Assessment of 200 Patients.

Background And Purpose: Nowadays, keratoconus (KC) is very well treatable in a stage-oriented manner. A wide range of designs and materials of contact lenses (CL) are available for the treatment of KC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibilities, the possible challenges and the visual outcome of lens fitting in KC eyes.

Keratoconus staging by decades: a baseline ABCD classification of 1000 patients in the Homburg Keratoconus Center.

Background: This retrospective cross-sectional study aims to analyse the keratoconus (KC) stage distribution at different ages within the Homburg Keratoconus Center (HKC).

Methods: 1917 corneae (1000 patients) were allocated to decades of age, classified according to Belin's ABCD KC grading system and the stage distribution was analysed.

Results: 73 per cent (n=728) of the patients were males, 27% (n=272) were females.

Gate fidelity and coherence of an electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot with micromagnet.

The gate fidelity and the coherence time of a quantum bit (qubit) are important benchmarks for quantum computation. We construct a qubit using a single electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot and control it electrically via an artificial spin-orbit field from a micromagnet. We measure an average single-qubit gate fidelity of ∼99% using randomized benchmarking, which is consistent with dephasing from the slowly evolving nuclear spins in the substrate.

Harvesting dissipated energy with a mesoscopic ratchet.

The search for new efficient thermoelectric devices converting waste heat into electrical energy is of major importance. The physics of mesoscopic electronic transport offers the possibility to develop a new generation of nanoengines with high efficiency. Here we describe an all-electrical heat engine harvesting and converting dissipated power into an electrical current.

Detecting noise with shot noise using on-chip photon detector.

The high-frequency radiation emitted by a quantum conductor presents a rising interest in quantum physics and condensed matter. However, its detection with microwave circuits is challenging. Here, we propose to use the photon-assisted shot noise for on-chip radiation detection.

Early invasive strategy in high-risk acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation. The Sisca randomized trial.

Background: The optimal therapeutic strategy for patients with high-risk acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation (NSTE-ACS) remains unclear.

Objective: Our aim was to compare the effectiveness of an early invasive strategy and a delayed invasive strategy in the management of high-risk NSTE-ACS patients.

Methods: This randomized clinical trial in a primarily pre-hospital setting enrolled patients with chest pain, electrocardiographic criteria for an NSTE-ACS, and at least one criterion of severity (ESC criterion or TIMI score >5).

Quantum tomography of an electron.

The complete knowledge of a quantum state allows the prediction of the probability of all possible measurement outcomes, a crucial step in quantum mechanics. It can be provided by tomographic methods which have been applied to atomic, molecular, spin and photonic states. For optical or microwave photons, standard tomography is obtained by mixing the unknown state with a large-amplitude coherent photon field.

Minimal-excitation states for electron quantum optics using levitons.

The on-demand generation of pure quantum excitations is important for the operation of quantum systems, but it is particularly difficult for a system of fermions. This is because any perturbation affects all states below the Fermi energy, resulting in a complex superposition of particle and hole excitations. However, it was predicted nearly 20 years ago that a Lorentzian time-dependent potential with quantized flux generates a minimal excitation with only one particle and no hole.

Achievements, difficulties and future challenges for the FARMING network.

The EC FARMING network (Food and Agriculture Restoration Management Involving Networked Groups) was set up to bring together the many and diverse stakeholders who would be involved in intervention following wide scale radioactive contamination of the food chain, so that acceptable strategies can be developed for maintaining agricultural production and safe food supply. The network comprises stakeholder panels in the UK, Finland, Belgium, France and Greece that have met regularly since 2001 to debate, discuss and exchange opinion on the acceptability, constraints and impact of various countermeasure options and strategies. The objectives of this paper are to consolidate the main achievements of the FARMING project over the period 2000-2004, to highlight the various difficulties that were encountered and to discuss the challenges for engaging stakeholders in off-site emergency management and long-term rehabilitation in the future.

Variation in stakeholder opinion on countermeasures across Europe.

A compendium of agricultural countermeasures and rural waste disposal options has been compiled as part of the EC STRATEGY (Sustainable Restoration and Long-Term Management of Contaminated Rural, Urban and Industrial Ecosystems) project. The compendium was discussed by the FARMING (Food and Agriculture Restoration Management Involving Networked Groups) network of stakeholders during meetings of national panels in the UK, Finland, Belgium, Greece and France in 2002. Their preliminary feedback has been summarised in terms of whether an option is generally acceptable, unacceptable or only acceptable under specific circumstances.

The FARMING approach: main results and perspectives of the French FARMING groups.

The Chernobyl accident led to a long-term crisis that affected agriculture, food and living conditions in complex ways, and that modified the usual economical, political and social relations between public and private stakeholders at local, national and international level. The EC FARMING project aims to create a European stakeholder network to consider possible rehabilitation strategies for rural areas contaminated after a nuclear accident. The Institute of Patrimonial Strategies of the National Institute on Agronomy had responsibility for setting up the French stakeholder group.

[Pre-hospitalization treatment with Abciximab in the preparation of patients for primary angioplasty in the acute phase of myocardial infarct. Immediate and long-term (one month) results].

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is an alternative to fibrinolysis in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, after balloon PTCA, the rate of early re-occlusion, of re-infarctus and of restenosis remains high. Stent implantation with antiplatelet drug regimen (aspirin, ticlid) limits these risks.

Incidence of tricuspid regurgitation and vena caval backward flow in mechanically ventilated patients. A color Doppler and contrast echocardiographic study.

In 40 patients requiring mechanical ventilation for an episode of respiratory failure of various causes, prevalence of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) or other cause of vena caval backward flow (VCBF) was systematically investigated using transthoracic Doppler echocardiography. Quantification of TR was obtained from planimetry of the regurgitant jet during color Doppler examination. The influence of cyclic mechanical lung inflation was examined by contrast echography of the inferior vena cava and hepatic veins.

Age-dependent differences in energetic status, electrical and mechanical performance of rat myocardium.

Transmembrane action potential (AP), isotonic contraction and biochemical measurements were performed in 12-day, 1-, 3-, 14- and 24-month-old rat hearts. The major findings of this study are: (1) the AP and contraction duration decrease between 12 days and 1 month of age (growth period) and increase between 1 month and 24 months of age; (2) as compared with 1 month and 14 months, respectively, isotonic contraction peak shortening is lower at 12 days and 24 months of age; (3) the phosphorylation potential is higher during the postnatal period and decreases in an age-correlated manner; (4) the inorganic phosphate and glycogen contents are higher in the senescent heart. We conclude that, during the postnatal period the particular AP and the lower mechanical performances could be the result of immature sarcolemma and sarcoplasmic reticulum properties rather than modifications in the oxidative phosphorylation mechanism and by contrast, in senescent heart, that AP and contraction modifications could result from metabolic modifications.

Tyrosine protein kinase activity of the EGF receptor is required to induce activation of receptor-operated calcium channels.

We have investigated the effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on calcium ion channels in A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells. We have found that: -1- EGF stimulates Ca2+ channels. -2- EGF stimulated Ca2+ channels are voltage independent, exhibit a low conductance (8 pS) and a bursting multichannels activity (BMC).

Comparative electrophysiological response of young and old rat myocardium to pharmacological agents.

1. Age-related changes in electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of rat ventricular cells have been investigated. 2.