RESUMO
Background: Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) experience a high disease-related symptom burden. A specific instrument to evaluate quality of life (QoL), i.e., the MPN Symptom Assessment Form Total Symptom Score (MPN-SAF TSS; MPN-10), was developed. We conducted the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation into Romanian of the MPN-10. Methods: We translated the MPN-10 and tested its psychometric properties. Results: We recruited 180 MPN patients: 66 polycythemia vera (36.67%), 61 essential thrombocythemia (33.89%), 51 primary and secondary myelofibrosis (SMF) (28.33%), and 2 MPN-unclassifiable (1.11%). The mean TSS was 19.51 ± 16.51 points. Fatigue, inactivity, and concentration problems were the most cumbersome symptoms. We detected scoring differences between MPN subtypes regarding weight loss (p < 0.001), fatigue (p = 0.006), early satiety (p = 0.007), night sweats (p = 0.047), pruritus (p = 0.05), and TSS (p = 0.021). There were strong positive associations between TSS and inactivity, fatigue, and concentration problems, and moderate negative correlations between QoL scores and all MPN-10 items. Cronbach's α internal consistency coefficient was 0.855. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin construct validity test result was 0.870 and the Bartlett Sphericity Test was significant (p < 0.001). Symptom scores were loaded into one single factor according to the exploratory factor analysis. Conclusions: The Romanian MPN-10 version displayed excellent psychometric properties and is a reliable instrument for assessing symptom burden and QoL in Romanian MPN patients.
RESUMO
The luminescence properties of erbium and yttrium co-doped cadmium difluoride with three different concentrations of yttrium were investigated. First, we synthesized single crystal samples with good optical quality using the Bridgman technique. From the optical absorption spectra, recorded at room temperature, both in the ultraviolet-visible and infrared spectral ranges, Judd-Ofelt analysis was performed based on yttrium concentrations to predict the radiative properties of Er3+ luminescent ions. For the 10% optimum concentration of yttrium, a detailed photoluminescence investigation was carried out. We mainly explored green, red, and near-infrared fluorescence under different excitation wavelengths and presented their highlight spectroscopic characteristics. The desired transitions had relatively high emission cross-sections both under visible and near-infrared excitation. Optical gain followed a similar trend. Furthermore, the dynamic fluorescence study showed a significant increase in the measured lifetime under an 800 nm infrared excitation. The upconversion process under an 800 nm excitation produced quantum efficiency greater than 100% due to the contribution of more than one energy transfer mechanism.