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Introduction In South Korea, all men at the age of 18 or older are required to serve at military for a certain period as an obligation. These recruits should be able to withstand psychological stress and pressures of rapid adaptation of the unique and new environment in military. The number of military recruits facing adaptation issues has been on the rise, necessitating an evaluation for active service. In our previous study (Park et al., in press 2023), we classified the military recruits with mental issues according to latent profile analysis (LPA) and examined the treatment response during six months. Objectives In this study, we further examined clinical characteristics over the next six months. Methods Ninety-two participants were analyzed with LPA using MMPI-2 clinical profiles in the previous study. The three classes were identified: mild maladjustment (Class 1, n=14), neurotic depression and anxiety (Class 2, n=36), high vulnerability and hypervigilance (Class 3, n=42). At 12 months, Clinical Global Impression-Severity and Global Assessment of Functioning were assessed to test their long-term changes. Results While Class 1 and 2 significantly improved over 6 months, Class 3 showed little or no improvement even with more medications in our previous study. During the 6-month follow-up period, 50% of Class 1, 38.9% of Class 2, and 41.5% of Class 3 were dropped. It was during this period that their level of military service was decided. Class 1 and 2 which showed marked improvement up to initial 6 months, did not demonstrate substantial further improvement during follow-up period with a considerable portion stopped visiting hospital. Subjects in Class 3, who showed little or no improvement during initial 6 months, demonstrated continued improvement in this study, although their symptoms still appeared relatively severe. Conclusions This study suggests clinical implications for treatment plan and intervention of each subgroup classified based on MMPI-2 clinical profiles of military recruits who might show maladjustment to serve. The long-term continuous treatment for Class 3 patients will be needed, even after exemption from active duty. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

In March 2023, the European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airways diseases (EUFOREA) organized its bi-annual Summit in Brussels with expert panel members of EUFOREA, representatives of the EUFOREA patient advisory board, and the EUFOREA board and management teams. Its aim was to define the research, educational and advocacy initiatives to be developed by EUFOREA over the next 2 years until the 10th anniversary in 2025. EUFOREA is an international non-for-profit organization forming an alliance of all stakeholders dedicated to reducing the prevalence and burden of chronic allergic and respiratory diseases via research, education, and advocacy. Based on its medical scientific core competency, EUFOREA offers an evidence-supported platform to introduce innovation and education in healthcare leading to optimal patient care, bridging the gap between latest scientific evidence and daily practice. Aligned with the mission of improving health care, the expert panels of asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) & European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps (EPOS), allergen immunotherapy (AIT) and paediatrics have proposed and elaborated a variety of activities that correspond to major unmet needs in the allergy and respiratory field. The current report provides a concise overview of the achievements, ambitions, and action plan of EUFOREA for the future, allowing all stakeholders in the allergy and respiratory field to be up-dated and inspired to join forces in Europe and beyond.

Introduction In South Korea, all men at the age of 18 or older are required to serve at military for a certain period as an obligation. These recruits should be able to withstand psychological stress and pressures of rapid adaptation of the unique and new environment in military. Objectives The current study attempted to identify distinct subgroups of patients referred for military service suitability and further to investigate whether there is a difference in clinical features such as treatment responsiveness and prognosis among those subgroups. Methods Subjects were male patients aged 18 to 28 years who visited the department of psychiatry at the University Hospital for evaluating mental health problems related to military service. We conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) using 10 clinical scales of MMPI-2 as an indicator variable to investigate the subgroups of subjects. The clinical state of subjects was assessed with CGI-S and GAF scale for three time point (0, 3, and 6 month). Results The results showed that the best fitting model corresponded to a three-class model: each class was named ‘Class 1: mild maladjustment’, ‘Class 2: neurotic depression and anxiety’, and ‘Class 3: highly vulnerable and hypervigilant’ respectively. Subsequent analysis was also carried out to identify changes in clinical symptoms and functional level across treatment time of each subgroup identified in LPA. We demonstrated that the three subgroups displayed differential characteristics in treatment responsiveness and clinical course evaluated by CGI-S and GAF over a treatment period of 6 months. Three subgroups indicated significant differences in the number of medications prescribed as well. Class 3 had more antidepressants and anxiolytics on use than Class 1 and 2. Antipsychotic agents and a combination of three antidepressants were prescribed more frequently in Class 3 than in Class 1 and 2. Conclusions While Class 1 and 2 significantly improved over 6 months, Class 3 showed little or no improvement in our clinical parameters even with more medications. This study has a clinical significance that it has classified qualitatively different subgroups within the sample by conducting LPA with clinical profiles of MMPI-2 and provides a basis for comprehensively understanding their differentiated clinical features. This study suggests clinical implications for treatment plan and intervention of each subgroup classified based on MMPI-2 clinical profiles of military recruits who might show maladjustment to serve. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Introduction Suicide is a complex problem in which individual, family social factors are interrelated. The 1997 Asian financial crisis caused a major economic crisis in Korea, and Korea received bailout support from the International Monetary Funds(IMF) from December 23, 1997 to August 23, 1997. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the suicide rate of children and adolescents who grew up during this economic crisis in Korea. Methods Suicide rates are calculated according to gender, region, and age of 5 years (10-14 years old, 15-19 years old, 20-24 years old) using suicide death data from the Korea National Statistical Office from 2000 to 2017. The cohort of interest in the study is the group that was in childhood and early adolescence between 1997-2000 and corresponds to 1986-1995 in terms of birth year. Cohorts are divided into 1986-1989 (G1), 1990-1992 (G2), and 1993-1995 (G3) according to birth year. These groups were 8-14 years old for G1 and 5-10 years old for G2, 2-7 years old for G3 during 1997-2000, during the economic crisis. The Age-Period-Cohort analysis and linear mixed-effects regression models are used and the moderating effect on region and age is also analyzed. Results The 10-24 year-old suicide rate was higher in males than females, in older age groups, earlier in birth years in the birth cohort, and in rural than urban areas. Suicide rates between the ages of 20-24 years were particularly high among men living in rural areas. During the national economic crisis, the suicide rate was higher among adolescents than preschoolers (G3 < G1) (p

The grounding zone of Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica, exhibits an abrupt transition in basal properties from the grounded ice to the ocean cavity over distances of less than 0.5–1 km. Active-source seismic methods reveal the downglacier-most grounded portion of the ice stream is underlain by a relatively stiff substrate (relatively high shear wave velocities of 1100±430 m s−1) compared to the deformable till found elsewhere beneath the ice stream. Changes in basal reflectivity in our study area cannot be explained by the stage of the tide. Several kilometres upstream of the grounding zone, layers of subglacial water are detected, as are regions that appear to be water layers but are less than the thickness resolvable by our technique. The presence of stiff subglacial sediment and thin water layers upstream of the grounding zone supports previous studies that have proposed the dewatering of sediment within the grounding zone and the trapping of subglacial water upstream of the ocean cavity. The setting enables calibration of our methodology using returns from the floating ice shelf. This allows a comparison of different techniques used to estimate the sizes of the seismic sources, a constraint essential for the accurate recovery of subglacial properties. We find a strong correlation (coefficient of determination=0.46) between our calibrated method and a commonly used multiple-bounce method, but our results also highlight the incomplete knowledge of other factors affecting the amplitude of seismic sources and reflections in the cryosphere.

To resolve the bed elevation of Antarctica, we present DeepBedMap – a novel machine learning method that can produce Antarctic bed topography with adequate surface roughness from multiple remote sensing data inputs. The super-resolution deep convolutional neural network model is trained on scattered regions in Antarctica where high-resolution (250 m) ground-truth bed elevation grids are available. This model is then used to generate high-resolution bed topography in less surveyed areas. DeepBedMap improves on previous interpolation methods by not restricting itself to a low-spatial-resolution (1000 m) BEDMAP2 raster image as its prior image. It takes in additional high-spatial-resolution datasets, such as ice surface elevation, velocity and snow accumulation, to better inform the bed topography even in the absence of ice thickness data from direct ice-penetrating-radar surveys. The DeepBedMap model is based on an adapted architecture of the Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network, chosen to minimize per-pixel elevation errors while producing realistic topography. The final product is a four-times-upsampled (250 m) bed elevation model of Antarctica that can be used by glaciologists interested in the subglacial terrain and by ice sheet modellers wanting to run catchment- or continent-scale ice sheet model simulations. We show that DeepBedMap offers a rougher topographic profile compared to the standard bicubically interpolated BEDMAP2 and BedMachine Antarctica and envision it being used where a high-resolution bed elevation model is required.

Abstract Background Over the past decades, the number of older workers has increased tremendously. This study examines trends from 1993 to 2013 in physical, cognitive and psychological functioning among three successive cohorts of Dutch older workers. The contribution of the changes in physical and psychosocial work demands and psychosocial work resources to change in functioning is examined. Insight in health of the older working population, and in potential explanatory variables, is relevant in order to reach sustainable employability. Methods Data from three cohorts (observations in 1993, 2003 and 2013) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used. Individuals aged 55–65 with a paid job were included (N = 1307). Physical functioning was measured using the Timed Chair Stand Test, cognitive functioning by a Coding Task and psychological functioning by the positive affect scale from the CES-D. Working conditions were deduced from a general population job exposure matrix. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed. Results From 1993 to 2013, time needed to perform the Timed Chair Stand Test increased with 1.3 s (95%CI = 0.89–1.71), to a mean of 11.5 s. Coding Task scores increased with 1.7 points (95%CI = 0.81–2.59), to a mean of 31 points. The proportion of workers with low positive affect increased non-significantly from 15 to 20% (p = 0.088). Only the improvement in cognitive functioning was associated with the change in working conditions. The observed decrease of physically demanding jobs and increase of jobs with higher psychosocial resources explained 8% of the improvement. Conclusions Changes in working conditions may not contribute to improved physical and psychological functioning, but do contribute to improved cognitive functioning to some extent. Further adjustment of physical work demands and psychosocial work resources may help to reach sustainable employability of older workers.

Four different methods for measuring droplet size distributions are evaluated: the Image Analysis VisiSizer technique, a stroboscopic imaging method developed in-house, phase Doppler particle analysis (PDPA), and laser diffraction (Malvern Spraytec). We find that the larger the droplets, the bigger the differences between the results obtained by the different methods. The Image Analysis VisiSizer technique yields results that are comparable with those of the stroboscopic imaging method, provided that the raw Visisizer data are used, as the VisiSizer software makes corrections that can skew the results. Our measurements confirm how the limitations of PDPA can influence its outcomes; the presence of air bubbles inside droplets will cause PDPA to mistake them for smaller droplets. The fact that PDPA reports no droplets larger than 1200 μm might be caused by large drops often not being spherical. The results of the laser diffraction technique are influenced by its fitting method to obtain the droplet size distribution and by overestimation of the number of small droplets due to their low velocity and thus higher concentration in the sample volume. Our results emphasize the need for selecting the size measurement technique to fit the physical nature and expected range of droplet parameters.

According to the relevant literature, prosthetic joint infections caused by Listeria monocytogenes require two stage revision surgery or prosthesis removal for a successful outcome. We present the case of a patient who suffered such an infection after Total Knee Replacement surgery and was successfully treated with antibiotics, joint lavage, debridement and retention of the prosthesis.

Reconstructive surgery after trauma of the head and neck is a wide field in ENT surgery. The repair of bony defects often requires implantation of engineered prostheses. We present the case of a 48-year-old male patient who had suffered a major crush injury to his head resulting in a complex bony defect. A computer-assisted designed (CAD/CAM) Titanium implant was used for reconstruction. Direct prefabrication of the individually designed implant led to an excellent coverage of the bony defect and easy adaptation to the defect margins. Results. Treatment plan and surgery as well as implant design and manufacturing were performed in a multidisciplinary team. Skin expander implantation prior to reconstructive surgery ensured a tension-free closure. This team approach led to a satisfactory outcome for this patient. This case illustrates the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach for the optimum management of complex head and neck injuries.