Do animal health models meet the needs of organic and conventional dairy farmers in Spain and the UK on disease prevention?

Modelling plays an important role in assessing disease risks and the efficacy of preventative actions. However, the extent to which existing models meet the needs of different groups of dairy farmers around disease prevention is unclear. A questionnaire gathered information on disease prevention actions undertaken by organic and conventional dairy farmers in Spain and the UK, and on their information preferences and needs in relation to such actions.

Safety and Efficacy of Cryoballoon Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in relation to the Patients' Age: Results from a Large Real-World Multicenter Observational Project.

Background: The real-world efficacy and safety of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in particularly young and elderly patients are still under debate. The aim of the analysis was to investigate the effect of age on the efficacy and safety of cryoballoon ablation (CBA).

Methods: 2,534 patients underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) by way of CBA for paroxysmal or persistent drug-resistant and symptomatic AF.

Factors for severe outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in people with cystic fibrosis in Europe.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF) can lead to severe outcomes.

Methods: In this observational study, the European Cystic Fibrosis Society Patient Registry collected data on pwCF and SARS-CoV-2 infection to estimate incidence, describe clinical presentation and investigate factors associated with severe outcomes using multivariable analysis.

Results: Up to December 31, 2020, 26 countries reported information on 828 pwCF and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Some take-home messages from the 9th International Meeting on Pulmonary Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs.

https://bit.ly/3rq7b95

Problem Gambling and Problem Gaming in Elite Athletes: a Literature Review.

Researchers have raised concerns about mental health in elite athletes, including problem gambling, where research hitherto is scarce. While gambling has been assessed in the younger student-athlete population, neither gambling nor the recently recognized behavioral addiction of gaming disorder has been sufficiently addressed in the elite athlete population. The present systematic literature review aimed to summarize research knowledge on the prevalence and correlates of problem gambling and problem gaming in elite athletes.

A Predictive Model of Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Meniere Disease Using Clinical Data.

Objectives: Meniere disease (MD) is defined by a clinical syndrome of recurrent attacks of spontaneous vertigo associated with tinnitus, aural fullness, and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Most patients have unilateral SNHL, but some of them will develop contralateral SNHL during the course of the disease. Several studies have reported a frequency of 2 to 73% SNHL in the second ear, according to the duration of disease and the period of follow-up.

Results from a prospective, randomised study on (accelerated) preoperative versus (conventional) postoperative radiotherapy in treatment of patients with resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity - The ARTSCAN 2 study.

Background And Purpose: An earlier prospective randomised multicentre study (ARTSCAN) in head and neck cancer patients that compared conventionally fractionated radiotherapy (CF) with accelerated radiotherapy (AF) was inconclusive. In the subgroup of oral cavity squamous cell cancer (OCSCC) a large absolute, but not statistically significant, difference in local control was seen in favour of AF. This difference was more pronounced in resectable tumours.

Wastage of gonadotropins during IVF cycles: Real life data from two Italian infertility centers.

Background: Gonadotropins represent an important component of IVF costs. In order to reduce costs, much attention was given to the type of gonadotropins (recombinant versus urinary) and the daily dose. In this study, we decided to focus on gonadotropin wastage, a neglected aspect that may harbor a relevant source of useless economic expenditure.

Bulging of the Oval Window in Common Cavity Deformity: A Possible Predictor of Meningitis.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence-rate of oval window bulging in the common cavity and its association with bacterial meningitis.

Patients: CT and clinical files of 29 children with preliminary diagnosis of common cavity deformity were collected from 13 Italian centers.

Intervention: A retrospective case review study was conducted with a centralized evaluation of the temporal bone CT imaging was performed at Azienda Ospedale - Università Padova, Padova, Italy.

Life's a gas: saturation should not be used for prescription of long-term oxygen therapy.

https://bit.ly/3CPZXOS.

Health service utilisation associated with chronic breathlessness: random population sample.

Background: Most health service utilisation studies are of people with specific diagnoses or demographic characteristics, and rarely of specific chronic symptoms. The aim of this study was to establish whether population-level health service utilisation increases in people with chronic breathlessness.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out of the South Australian Health Omnibus Survey 2017, a multi-stage, clustered area, systematic sampling survey of adults where questions are administered face-to-face in respondents' homes.

Match-Fixing Causing Harm to Athletes on a COVID-19-Influenced Gambling Market: A Call for Research During the Pandemic and Beyond.

Match-fixing, although not a new problem, has received growing attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been reported in the media to have increased the risk of match-fixing events. Gambling is a well-documented addictive behavior, and gambling-related fraud, match-fixing, is a challenge to the world of sports. Most research on match-fixing has a judicial or institutional perspective, and few studies focus on its individual consequences.

Bedaquiline can act as core drug in a standardised treatment regimen for fluoroquinolone-resistant rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis.

https://bit.ly/3gWuf9z

ERS/EAACI statement on adherence to international adult asthma guidelines.

Guidelines aim to standardise and optimise asthma diagnosis and management. Nevertheless, adherence to guidelines is suboptimal and may vary across different healthcare professional (HCP) groups.Further to these concerns, this European Respiratory Society (ERS)/European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) statement aims to: 1) evaluate the understanding of and adherence to international asthma guidelines by HCPs of different specialties an international online survey; and 2) assess strategies focused at improving implementation of guideline-recommended interventions, and compare process and clinical outcomes in patients managed by HCPs of different specialties systematic reviews.

Association between short-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution and outcomes of assisted reproduction technology in Lombardy, Italy: A retrospective cohort study.

The harmful effect of polluted air on spontaneous fertility has been consistently reported. However, the specific pollutants involved in determining this effect are still to be clarified. The study of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) populations is particularly helpful in this context since it allows to monitor the key events of the reproductive process.

Development of a patient-centered core domain set for prospective observational longitudinal outcome studies in rheumatoid arthritis: an OMERACT initiative.

Objectives: To identify patient-centered core domains for prospective longitudinal observational studies (LOS) in rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: Our working group held a virtual meeting in November 2020 to review data from a literature review and patient qualitative interviews, and to discuss strategies to move forward on domain identification and selection using the OMERACT 2.1 domain selection process.

Predictors of severe COVID-19 in a registry-based Swedish cohort of patients with COPD.

https://bit.ly/2VHZIEm

Air pollution and COVID-19: clearing the air and charting a post-pandemic course: a joint workshop report of ERS, ISEE, HEI and WHO.

https://bit.ly/3hmbaya

Early risk prediction in idiopathic connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: call for a refined assessment.

Despite systematic screening and improved treatment strategies, the prognosis remains worse in patients with connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (CTD-PAH) compared to patients with idiopathic/hereditary pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). We aimed to investigate differences in clinical characteristics, outcome and performance of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/ European Respiratory Society (ERS) risk stratification tool in these patient groups.  This retrospective analysis included incident patients with CTD-PAH (n=197, of which 64 had interstitial lung disease, ILD) or IPAH (n=305) enrolled in the Swedish PAH Register (SPAHR) 2008-2019.

Particle flow rate from the airways as fingerprint diagnostics in mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit: a randomised controlled study.

Introduction: Mechanical ventilation can be monitored by analysing particles in exhaled air as measured by particle flow rate (PFR). This could be a potential method of detecting ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) before changes in conventional parameters can be detected. The aim of this study was to investigate PFR during different ventilation modes in patients without lung pathology.

Upregulation of interleukin-19 in severe asthma: a potential saliva biomarker for asthma severity.

Interleukin (IL)-19, a designated IL-20 subfamily cytokine, has been implicated in inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and, lately, asthma. Here, through the analysis of transcriptomic datasets of lung tissue of large asthma cohorts, we report that IL-19 expression is upregulated in asthma and correlates with disease severity. The gene expression of IL-19 was significantly higher in lung tissue from patients with severe and mild/moderate asthma compared to healthy controls.

Are changes in meniscus volume and extrusion associated to knee osteoarthritis development? A structural equation model.

Objective: To explore the interplay between (changes in) medial meniscus volume, meniscus extrusion and radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) development over 30 months follow-up (FU).

Methods: Data from the PRevention of knee Osteoarthritis in Overweight Females study were used. This cohort included 407 middle-aged women with a body mass index ≥27 kg/m, who were free of knee OA at baseline.