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Conventional LASIK significantly increases ocular higher-order aberrations, which compromise the postoperative contrast sensitivity function.

Health communication consists of interpersonal or mass communication activities focused on improving the health of individuals and populations. Skills in understanding and applying information about health issues are critical to this process and may have a substantial impact on health behaviors and health outcomes. These skills have recently been conceptualized in terms of health literacy (HL). This article introduces current concepts and measurements of HL, and discusses the role of HL in health communication, as well as future research directions in this domain. Studies of HL have increased dramatically during the past few years, but a gap between the conceptual definition of HL and its application remains. None of the existing instruments appears to completely measure the concept of HL. In particular, studies on communication/interaction and HL remain limited. Furthermore, HL should be considered not only in terms of the characteristics of individuals, but also in terms of the interactional processes between individuals and their health and social environments. Improved HL may enhance the ability and motivation of individuals to find solutions to both personal and public health problems, and these skills could be used to address various health problems throughout life. The process underpinning HL involves empowerment, one of the major goals of health communication.

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Objectives To evaluate the ability of tacrolimus to reduce the corticosteroid dose in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and the drug's safety in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study. Methods Patients being treated with oral prednisolone at doses equivalent to 10e20 mg/day, and with stable symptoms, were randomised to tacrolimus or placebo in a 28-week double-blind study. The dose of corticosteroid was tapered with the procedures specified in the protocol. The primary efficacy endpoint was the mean daily prednisolone dose given in the last 12 weeks of the study.Results Eighty patients received the study drug (40 patients in each group) and were included in the full analysis set. In the full analysis set, there was no significant difference in the primary efficacy endpoint between the two groups (p¼0.078). However, some secondary analyses suggested the steroid-sparing effect of tacrolimus. Tacrolimus was well tolerated, and no safety concerns were noted. Conclusions This study suggests that tacrolimus has a potential advantage as a steroid-sparing agent in the treatment of MG patients. Clinical trial registration number NCT00309088. Name of the trial registry: FK506 Phase 3 Study: A Study for Steroid Non-Resistant MG Patients.