Publications by authors named "Kunze U"

Objective: Previous analyses reported an unexpected decline of mean age of death of Austrian male lung cancer patients until 1996 and a subsequent turnaround of this epidemiological trend after the mid-1990s until 2007. In light of ongoing changes in smoking behavior of men and women, this study aims to investigate the development of mean age of death from lung cancer in Austria during the past three decades.

Materials And Methods: This study used data about the annual mean age of death from lung cancer, including malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, between 1992 and 2021 obtained from Statistics Austria, Federal Institution under Public Law.

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Background: We previously showed that anticholinergic (ACH) medications contribute to self-reported neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in elderly people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH). The current cross-sectional study further evaluated the effect of ACH and sedative drugs on neurocognitive function in PWH who underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

Methods: A medication review was performed in PWH enrolled in the prospective Neurocognitive Assessment in Metabolic and Aging Cohort within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

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The WHO categorized vaccine hesitancy as one of the greatest threats to global health worldwide. Vaccination of elderly persons is of increasing relevance, given that they represent a growing segment in the population and considering the burden diseases pose to them. Many factors leading to vaccine hesitancy are related to inadequate communication.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to examine neurocognitive course over time among people with well treated HIV.

Design: The Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Aging Cohort (NAMACO) study is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, multicenter and multilingual study within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS). Participants undergo neuropsychological assessment at baseline and two-yearly follow-up.

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Background: Hazardous alcohol consumption and HIV infection increase the risk of neurocognitive impairment (NCI). We examined the association between alcohol consumption and specific neurocognitive domain function in people with HIV (PWH) taking modern antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: The Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Aging Cohort (NAMACO) study is a prospective, longitudinal, multicentre and multilingual (French, German and Italian) study of patients aged ≥45 years old enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS).

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Background: Depression may contribute to neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in people with HIV (PWH). Attributing NCI to depression rather than to HIV is complicated as depression may be both a causal factor and an effect of NCI. This study aimed to determine the association between depressive symptoms and NCI among PWH with well-controlled infection.

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Health care workers (HCWs) are exposed to a high risk of infectious diseases at work, and of transmitting these to their patients and colleagues. Medical students constitute an important, yet neglected, group within HCW because of their contact with patients in the course of compulsory or voluntary practical training courses at health care institutions. The aim of this study was to determine the current vaccination status of medical students at the Medical University of Vienna and assess their attitudes towards occupationally indicated mandatory vaccinations for doctors and other HCW.

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Objectives: Diagnosing neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in HIV infection requires time-consuming neuropsychological assessment. Screening tools are needed to identify when neuropsychological referral is indicated. We examined the positive and negative predictive values (PPVs and NPVs, respectively) of the three European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) screening questions in identifying NCI.

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Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine baseline neurocognitive impairment (NCI) prevalence and factors associated with NCI among patients enrolled in the Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Aging Cohort (NAMACO) study.

Methods: The NAMACO study is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, multicentre and multilingual (German, French and Italian) study within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. Between 1 May 2013 and 30 November 2016, 981 patients ≥ 45 years old were enrolled in the study.

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The 21st Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE) - a group of neurologists, general practitioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, pediatricians, ecologists, and epidemiologists - was held under the theme "TBE - record year 2018″. Several key topics in the field of TBE were extensively discussed, among them current epidemiological developments in different countries, expansion of risk areas, virological and clinical aspects, importance of awareness, traveling and mobility, and latest news on TBE vaccination. The main goals that have been achieved by the ISW-TBE so far are, among others, an increased awareness in endemic and non-endemic countries, an increase of vaccination rates in various countries, getting TBE acknowledged and established as a travel-related risk, and building contact with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

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Antimycotics are substances to treat fungal infections, a frequent cause of death on intensive care units. It is of great importance to administer such drugs only to patients who actually need them, since the unnecessary application leads to the selection of multiresistent fungi, making future therapy more difficult, and represents a significant financial burden for the health care system. Within the scope of a prospective study, which analyses the premature discontinuation of the administration of unnecessary antifungal drugs, two software platforms for recruitment support were implemented and compared at the University Hospital Erlangen.

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Objective: In the Austrian population approximately 350,000-400,000 cases and 1,000-1,200 deaths are observed during an average epidemic, which puts influenza-related deaths on top of the list of vaccine-preventable cases of death. In face of extensive vaccination recommendations, the current vaccination rate of the general population of about 6% is one of the lowest worldwide. The objective of this study was to provide an update regarding the use of influenza vaccination in Austria over the period 1982-2015.

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The 20th Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE) - a group of neurologists, general practitioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, pediatricians, ecologists, and epidemiologists - was held under the theme "ISW-TBE: 20 years of commitment & still challenges ahead". On the occasion of the 20 anniversary of the ISW-TBE several key topics in TBE were extensively discussed, among them current epidemiological developments and investigations, expansion of risk areas, clinical aspects and cases, traveling and mobility, and latest news on TBE vaccination. The main goals that have been achieved by the ISW-TBE so far are, among others, an increased awareness in endemic and non-endemic countries, an increase of vaccination rates in various countries, getting TBE acknowledged and established as a travel-related risk, and building contact with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

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The 19th meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE) - a group of neurologists, general practitioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, pediatricians and epidemiologists-was held under the title "TBE in a changing world". Key topics within virology, current epidemiological developments and investigations, expansion of risk areas, clinical aspects and cases, traveling and mobility, vaccination rates, and latest news on vaccination were presented and extensively discussed. Over the past four decades, TBE has become a growing public health challenge in Europe and parts of Asia.

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Vaccinations belong to the ten most effective public health achievements worldwide. While immunization programms for children are installed in Europe, vaccinations for adults are not established. However, adult vaccination is extremely meaningful: increasing age means a higher susceptibility to infectious diseases, health problems and multimorbidity will increase.

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The 18th meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE)-a group of neurologists, general practitioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, pediatricians and epidemiologists-was held under the title 'Tick-borne encephalitis-still on the map'. The conference agenda was divided into six sessions: 'National Implementation of EU notifiable disease status', 'Virology', 'Epidemiology and Risk areas & Poster Walk Epidemiological Update', 'Clinic', 'Environmental Factors' and 'New Findings and Diagnosis'. Key topics such as 'TBE as a notifiable disease-results of the third European survey', 'TBE vaccines over the years', 'Overview of flaviviruses', 'TBE virus phylogenetics', 'Current epidemiological developments and investigations', 'Clinical aspects', 'TBE in veterinary medicine', 'Laboratory diagnostic', 'Occupational risk', 'Allergy, obesity, and vaccination' were presented and extensively discussed.

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Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has been a growing public health problem in Europe and other parts of the world for the past 20 years. In 1999, in order to encourage the control of TBE, international experts created a new body: The International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE). This Working Group has been composed of internationally recognized scientific experts from tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEv)-endemic and non-endemic regions with extensive personal expertise in the field and a high level of commitment to improve the knowledge of TBE and to increase the public awareness of TBE.

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This paper describes a paradoxical situation in Austria. The vaccination rate against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in the general population is 82%, which is the highest worldwide, whereas the vaccination rate against influenza is about 8% and is among the lowest worldwide. A high awareness of TBE among the Austrian population achieved by an annual social marketing programme and the wide use of effective and well-tolerated vaccines have led to a successful containment of that disease.

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The interaction between intersubband resonances (ISRs) and metamaterial microcavities constitutes a strongly coupled system where new resonances form that depend on the coupling strength. Here we present experimental evidence of strong coupling between the cavity resonance of a terahertz metamaterial and the ISR in a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure. The device is electrically switched from an uncoupled to a strongly coupled regime by tuning the ISR with epitaxially grown transparent gate.

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TBE is a public health problem well under control in Austria because of a mass vaccination programme. There have been 50-100 registered cases per year for many years, the vaccination rate of the population is currently 85 %. Special attention has to be given to the "older" generation 40 plus as this is the segment of the population where the majority of cases are observed annually.

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A silicon oxide gate dielectric was synthesized by a facile sol-gel reaction and applied to solution-processed indium oxide based thin-film transistors (TFTs). The SiOx sol-gel was spin-coated on highly doped silicon substrates and converted to a dense dielectric film with a smooth surface at a maximum processing temperature of T = 350 °C. The synthesis was systematically improved, so that the solution-processed silicon oxide finally achieved comparable break downfield strength (7 MV/cm) and leakage current densities (<10 nA/cm(2) at 1 MV/cm) to thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO2).

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The 17th meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE), a group of neurologists, general practicioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, pediatricians, and epidemiologists, was held under the title "Tick-borne encephalitis as a notifiable disease--status quo and the way forward". The conference agenda was divided into three parts on the first day: "Epidemiology & Risk areas", "Poster Walk: Epidemiological Update in Europe", and "News in TBE Research". On the second day, a World Café Working Session took place where the participants could choose three tables out of six to join for discussion.

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The 16th Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE) - a group of neurologists, general practitioners, clinicians, travel physicians, virologists, paediatricians, and epidemiologists - was held under the title "Tick-borne Encephalitis - a Notifiable Disease, a Review after One Year". With the inclusion of TBE in the list of notifiable diseases in 2012, an important measure was established to continue improving the level of evidence on TBE in Europe to better help guide policies and methods to lower the burden of this disease. The conference agenda was divided into six parts concerning Travel Medicine, Epidemiology & Risk Areas, Poster Session with an Epidemiological Update in Europe, Interactive Debate, Cases, and Social Communication and Recommendations.

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Background: We aimed to evaluate the accuracy and acceptability of a short screening test battery for mild neurocognitive deficits.

Methods: HIV-infected individuals with a suppressed viral load were examined at the University Hospital Basel with a screening test consisting of a questionnaire and selected cognitive tests, administered by trained nurses, followed by an in-depth neuropsychological examination. Test acceptance was evaluated with a questionnaire.

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Background: Austria's position on influenza vaccination is unique. Generally it is recommended for everyone, and specifically for those over the age of 50 years and all children between 6 months and 5 years. However, the vaccination rate among the general public is one of the lowest in the world (<10%).

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