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Background and Aims: This study aimed to compare real-world clinical effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab, an α4β7-integrin inhibitor, and anti-tumour necrosis factor-α [anti-TNFα] agents in biologic-naïve ulcerative colitis [UC] and Crohn's disease [CD] patients., Methods: This was a 24-month retrospective medical chart study in adult UC and CD patients treated with vedolizumab or anti-TNFα in Canada, Greece and the USA. Inverse probability weighting was used to account for differences between groups. Primary outcomes were cumulative rates of clinical effectiveness [clinical response, clinical remission, mucosal healing] and incidence rates of serious adverse events [SAEs] and serious infections [SIs]. Secondary outcomes included cumulative rates of treatment persistence [patients who did not discontinue index treatment during follow-up] and dose escalation and incidence rates of disease exacerbations and disease-related surgeries. Adjusted analyses were performed using inverse probability weighting., Results: A total of 1095 patients [604 UC, 491 CD] were included. By 24 months, rates of clinical effectiveness were similar between groups, but incidence rates of SAEs (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.42 [0.28-0.62]) and SIs (HR = 0.40 [0.19-0.85]) were significantly lower in vedolizumab vs anti-TNFα patients. Rates of treatment persistence [p < 0.01] by 24 months were higher in vedolizumab patients with UC. Incidence rates of disease exacerbations were lower in vedolizumab patients with UC (HR = 0.58 [0.45-0.76]). Other outcomes did not significantly differ between groups., Conclusion: In this real-world setting, first-line biologic therapy in biologic-naïve patients with UC and CD demonstrated that vedolizumab and anti-TNFα treatments were equally effective at controlling disease symptoms, but vedolizumab has a more favourable safety profile., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation.)

The sub-picosecond response of amorphous germanium telluride thin film to a femtosecond laser excitation is investigated using frequency-domain interferometry and ab initio molecular dynamics. The time-resolved measurement of the surface dynamics reveals a shrinkage of the film with a dielectric properties' response faster than 300 fs. The systematic ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in non-equilibrium conditions allow the atomic configurations to be retrieved for ionic temperature from 300 to 1100 K and width of the electron distribution from 0.001 to 1.0 eV. Local order of the structures is characterized by in-depth analysis of the angle distribution, phonon modes, and pair distribution function, which evidence a transition toward a new amorphous electronic excited state close in bonding/structure to the liquid state. The results shed a new light on the optically highly excited states in chalcogenide materials involved in both important processes: phase-change materials in memory devices and ovonic threshold switching phenomenon induced by a static field., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)