Prognostic Value of E/E′ Ratio in Patients With Unoperated Severe Aortic Stenosis

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the value of clinical and echo-Doppler parameters for the prognosis of unoperated severe aortic stenosis (AS).BackgroundApproximately one-third of severe, symptomatic AS patients are denied surgery. Risk stratification of unoperated AS is important to determine eligibility for percutaneous aortic valve replacement, an evolving treatment option for AS patients deemed suboptimal for surgical aortic valve replacement.MethodsWe retrospectively compared clinical and echo-Doppler parameters between survivors and nonsurvivors of 125 patients with unoperated severe AS.ResultsThe 1-year survival rate was 62.4%. In univariate analysis, survivors compared with nonsurvivors were younger (80.0 ± 10.9 years vs. 84.9 ± 11.1 years, p = 0.02), had a greater left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (55 ± 15% vs. 50 ± 16%, p = 0.042), a higher left ventricular stroke volume (63 ± 19 ml vs. 56 ± 13 ml, p = 0.015), a lower E/E′ ratio (12.19 ± 5.7 vs. 16.87 ± 7.43, p < 0.001), and a lower prevalence of E/E′ >15 (20% vs. 55%, p < 0.001). Symptomatic status was nonsignificantly different between survivors and nonsurvivors. In patients with an LVEF ≥50%, the subgroup with E/E′ ≤15 and with E/E′ >15 had a 73.8% and 47.8% 1-year survival rate, respectively (p = 0.027). In the patients with an LVEF <50%, the patients with E/E′ ≤15 and those with E/E′ >15 demonstrated a 70.6% and 22.3% 1-year survival rate, respectively (p = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of mortality were E/E′ >15 and a combination of E/E′ >15 and B-type natriuretic peptide >300 ng/ml: adjusted mortality risk 2.34 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27 to 4.33, p = 0.0072) and 2.59 (95% CI 1.21 to 5.55, p = 0.014), respectively.ConclusionsThe E/E′ ratio is the single most predictive clinical and echo-Doppler parameter in the assessment of overall prognosis in patients with unoperated severe AS. LVEF was a significant predictor of survival only in the univariate analysis. B-type natriuretic peptide alone was not a predictor of prognosis in the study population. However, the combination of E/E′ and B-type natriuretic peptide is even more predictive of the 1-year prognosis

Project managers' personality and project success : moderating role of external environmental factors

Successful project completion is a challenging phenomenon for project managers. Various factors play an indispensable role in the success of a project. The objective of this study is to examine the role of project managers’ personalities in project success with the moderating role of external environmental factors i.e., political, economic, social. The study includes 145 project managers from 36 large‐scale construction projects, from both the public and private sectors. The big five personality model was used to evaluate the personality traits of project managers and triple constraint criteria (cost, time, and quality) was used to gauge project success. Data has been collected through a well‐structured questionnaire. The analysis of data indicated that personality traits like extraversion and openness are positive predictors of project success, whereas conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism did not have any direct relationship with project success. Importantly, the findings of this study concluded that external environmental factors—like political, economic, and social— moderately influence the link of specific project managers’ personality traits to project success. The role of external environmental factors as moderators has been discussed. The findings indicate the essential personality traits, as well as the role of external factors for achieving project success. The research contributions have relevance to both theory and practice and provide a deeper insight that is useful for individuals, organizations, researchers, practitioners, and decision‐makers

UV- ozone treated graphene oxide/ PEDOT:PSS bilayer as a novel hole transport layer in highly efficient and stable organic solar cells

The utilization of UV-ozone (UVO) treated graphene oxide (GO)/PEDOT:PSS bilayer as hole transport layer (HTL) in solution processed organic solar cells (OSCs) is demonstrated. The HTLs were treated with UVO for 0, 5, 10 and 15 min. The 10 min treated OSC showed the best performance and displayed power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.24%, much higher than the untreated OSC device. This enhanced performance is mainly driven by improvements in the short circuit current (∼10.82 mA/cm2) as well as the fill factor (∼57%) that is ascribed to the moderate reduction of GO and increased work function (WF) of PEDOT:PSS after UVO treatment, which improved the contact conditions between the HTL and photoactive layer. Consequently, extraction efficiency of the photogenerated holes is increased, while recombination probability of holes and electrons in the photoactive layer is decreased. Moreover, the UVO-reduction of GO and consequently increased conductivity of reduced-GO (r-GO) has been modeled and proved using the density functional theory (DFT) simulation. Meanwhile, the 15 min UVO-treated OSC device showed severe reduction in the PCE that dropped to 2.11%, possibly due to couple of factors such as decomposition of chemical bonds, significant increase in the series resistance and pronounced drop in the photovoltaic performance parameters

Echo-driven V-V optimization determines clinical improvement in non responders to cardiac resynchronization treatment

Echocardiography plays an integral role in the detection of mechanical dyssynchrony in patients with congestive heart failure and in predicting beneficial response to cardiac resynchronization treatment. In patients who derive sup-optimal benefit from biventricular pacing, optimization of atrioventricular delay post cardiac resynchronization treatment has been shown to improve cardiac output. Some recent reports suggest that sequential ventricular pacing may further improve cardiac output. The mechanism whereby sequential ventricular pacing improves cardiac output is likely improved inter and possibly intraventricular synchrony, however these speculations have not been confirmed. In this report we describe the beneficial effect of sequential V-V pacing on inter and intraventricular synchrony, cardiac output and mitral regurgitation severity as the mechanisms whereby sequential biventricular pacing improves cardiac output and functional class in 8 patients who had derived no benefit or had deteriorated after CRT. Online tissue Doppler imaging including tissue velocity imaging, tissue synchronization imaging and strain and strain rate imaging were used in addition to conventional pulsed wave and color Doppler during sequential biventricular pacemaker programming

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Intestinal Parasitic Infection among Children in an Urban Slum of Karachi

Background:Intestinal parasitic infections are endemic worldwide and have been described as constituting the greatest single worldwide cause of illness and disease. Poverty, illiteracy, poor hygiene, lack of access to potable water and hot and humid tropical climate are the factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections. The study aimed to estimate prevalence and identify factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections among 1 to 5 years old children residing in an urban slum of Karachi Pakistan. Methods And PrincipalFindings:A cross sectional survey was conducted from February to June 2006 in Ghosia Colony Gulshan Town Karachi, Pakistan. A simple random sample of 350 children aged 1-5 years was collected. The study used structured pre-tested questionnaire, anthropometric tools and stool tests to obtain epidemiological and disease data. Data were analyzed using appropriate descriptive, univariate and multivariable logistic regression methods. The mean age of participants was 2.8 years and 53% were male. The proportions of wasted, stunted and underweight children were 10.4%, 58.9% and 32.7% respectively. The prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infections was estimated to be 52.8% (95% CI: 46.1, 59.4). Giardia lamblia was the most common parasite followed by Ascaris lumbricoides, Blastocystis hominis and Hymenolepis nana. About 43% children were infected with single parasite and 10% with multiple parasites. Age {Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.9}, living in rented households (aOR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0, 3.9) and history of excessive crying (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0, 3.4) were significantly associated with intestinal parasitic infections.Conclusion:Intestinal parasites are highly prevalent in this setting and poverty was implicated as an important risk factor for infection. Effective poverty reduction programmes and promotion of deworming could reduce intestinal parasite carriage. There is a need for mass scale campaigns to create awareness about health and hygiene

Star Footwear: Production Capacity Analysis

Basit Ali glanced at his watch. It was 3 p.m. on 17 March 2014, and only two hours were left before he would meet with CEO Amjad Raheem about production capacity analysis. Due to the excellent product quality of Star Footwear, the CEO was anticipating a significant increase in demand for one of its most famous articles, SF-119, in the next quarter. Historically, the demand for SF-119 fluctuated between 300 and 400 pairs per day. Although the existing production capacity was sufficient to fulfil the current demand of SF-119, the CEO was concerned about the future increase in demand that could be justified using current resources