Environmental status of marine plastic pollution in Spain

The excessive use of plastic in our society is causing a massive accumulation, since it is a non-biodegradable product and with still poor recycling rates. This effect can be observed in the seas, which more and more plastic waste are accumulating. The present work is a critical review, based on all currently available literature, that reports environmental status of marine plastic pollution, especially microplastic pollution, in Spain. The three Spanish water areas with the highest presence of plastics are the Alboran Sea, the Gulf of Alicante and the vicinity of Barcelona probably related to fishing and industrial activities and high population densities. With regard to microplastic contamination on beaches in Spain, annual monitoring by the Spanish government shows contamination along the entire coast of the country, with particularly high concentrations in the Canary Islands (between 800 and 8800 particles/m2 in spring). Between 40 and 50% of the particles analyzed were pellets and the main factors postulated for the distribution of these particles are marine currents and the geomorphological characteristics. With regards to biota, ingestion of microplastics by fish has been intensely confirmed and, important differences were observed between the locations of the sampling, being bogues (Boops boops) one of the fish species more studied in Spain. Finally, the work includes a revision of European and Spanish legislation about plastics and marine pollution and some strategies to reduce this kind of contamination in Spain

Multi-scale Entropy Evaluates the Proarrhythmic Condition of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Patients Predicting Early Failure of Electrical Cardioversion

[EN] Atrial fibrillation (AF) is nowadays the most common cardiac arrhythmia, being associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. When AF lasts for more than seven days, it is classified as persistent AF and external interventions are required for its termination. A well-established alternative for that purpose is electrical cardioversion (ECV). While ECV is able to initially restore sinus rhythm (SR) in more than 90% of patients, rates of AF recurrence as high as 20-30% have been found after only a few weeks of follow-up. Hence, new methods for evaluating the proarrhythmic condition of a patient before the intervention can serve as efficient predictors about the high risk of early failure of ECV, thus facilitating optimal management of AF patients. Among the wide variety of predictors that have been proposed to date, those based on estimating organization of the fibrillatory (f-) waves from the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) have reported very promising results. However, the existing methods are based on traditional entropy measures, which only assess a single time scale and often are unable to fully characterize the dynamics generated by highly complex systems, such as the heart during AF. The present work then explores whether a multi-scale entropy (MSE) analysis of thef-waves may provide early prediction of AF recurrence after ECV. In addition to the common MSE, two improved versions have also been analyzed, composite MSE (CMSE) and refined MSE (RMSE). When analyzing 70 patients under ECV, of which 31 maintained SR and 39 relapsed to AF after a four week follow-up, the three methods provided similar performance. However, RMSE reported a slightly better discriminant ability of 86%, thus improving the other multi-scale-based outcomes by 3-9% and other previously proposed predictors of ECV by 15-30%. This outcome suggests that investigation of dynamics at large time scales yields novel insights about the underlying complex processes generatingf-waves, which could provide individual proarrhythmic condition estimation, thus improving preoperative predictions of ECV early failure.This research has been supported by grants DPI2007-83952-C3 from MINECO/AEI/FEDER EU, SBPLY/17/180501000411 from Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha and AICO/2019/036 from Generalitat Valenciana.Cirugeda Roldan, EM.; Calero, S.; Hidalgo, VM.; Enero, J.; Rieta, JJ.; Alcaraz, R. (2020). Multi-scale Entropy Evaluates the Proarrhythmic Condition of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Patients Predicting Early Failure of Electrical Cardioversion. Entropy. 22(7):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/e22070748S117227Lippi, G., Sanchis-Gomar, F., & Cervellin, G. (2020). Global epidemiology of atrial fibrillation: An increasing epidemic and public health challenge. International Journal of Stroke, 16(2), 217-221. doi:10.1177/1747493019897870Lane, D. A., Skjøth, F., Lip, G. Y. H., Larsen, T. B., & Kotecha, D. (2017). Temporal Trends in Incidence, Prevalence, and Mortality of Atrial Fibrillation in Primary Care. Journal of the American Heart Association, 6(5). doi:10.1161/jaha.116.005155Duarte, R. C. F., Rios, D. R. A., Figueiredo, E. L., Caiaffa, J. R. S., Silveira, F. R., Lanna, R., … das Graças Carvalho, M. (2020). Thrombin Generation and other hemostatic parameters in patients with atrial fibrillation in use of warfarin or rivaroxaban. Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, 51(1), 47-57. doi:10.1007/s11239-020-02126-3Khoo, C. W., Krishnamoorthy, S., Lim, H. S., & Lip, G. Y. H. (2012). Atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia burden and thrombogenesis. International Journal of Cardiology, 157(3), 318-323. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2011.06.088Zoni-Berisso, M., Lercari, F., Carazza, T., & Domenicucci, S. (2014). Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation: European perspective. Clinical Epidemiology, 213. doi:10.2147/clep.s47385Dietzel, J., Haeusler, K. G., & Endres, M. (2017). Does atrial fibrillation cause cognitive decline and dementia? EP Europace, 20(3), 408-419. doi:10.1093/europace/eux031Aliot, E., Botto, G. L., Crijns, H. J., & Kirchhof, P. (2014). Quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation: how to assess it and how to improve it. Europace, 16(6), 787-796. doi:10.1093/europace/eut369Miyazawa, K., & Lip, G. Y. (2018). Atrial fibrillation. Medicine, 46(10), 627-631. doi:10.1016/j.mpmed.2018.07.009Blum, S., Meyre, P., Aeschbacher, S., Berger, S., Auberson, C., Briel, M., … Conen, D. (2019). Incidence and predictors of atrial fibrillation progression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart Rhythm, 16(4), 502-510. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2018.10.022Berger, W. R., Meulendijks, E. R., Limpens, J., van den Berg, N. W. E., Neefs, J., Driessen, A. H. G., … de Groot, J. R. (2019). Persistent atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of invasive strategies. International Journal of Cardiology, 278, 137-143. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.11.127Nattel, S., Guasch, E., Savelieva, I., Cosio, F. G., Valverde, I., Halperin, J. L., … Camm, A. J. (2014). Early management of atrial fibrillation to prevent cardiovascular complications. European Heart Journal, 35(22), 1448-1456. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehu028Kirchhof, P., Benussi, S., Kotecha, D., Ahlsson, A., Atar, D., Casadei, B., … Zeppenfeld, K. (2016). 2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS. European Heart Journal, 37(38), 2893-2962. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw210Scheuermeyer, F. X., Andolfatto, G., Christenson, J., Villa‐Roel, C., & Rowe, B. (2019). A Multicenter Randomized Trial to Evaluate a Chemical‐first or Electrical‐first Cardioversion Strategy for Patients With Uncomplicated Acute Atrial Fibrillation. Academic Emergency Medicine, 26(9), 969-981. doi:10.1111/acem.13669Fried, A. M., Strout, T. D., & Perron, A. D. (2021). Electrical cardioversion for atrial fibrillation in the emergency department: A large single-center experience. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 42, 115-120. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2020.02.001Brandes, A., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Rienstra, M., Kirchhof, P., Grove, E. L., Pedersen, K. B., & Van Gelder, I. C. (2020). Cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter revisited: current evidence and practical guidance for a common procedure. EP Europace, 22(8), 1149-1161. doi:10.1093/europace/euaa057Alegret, J. M., Viñolas, X., Tajes, H., Valdovinos, P., Palomares, R., Arias, M. A., & Bazán, V. (2020). Utility of Amiodarone Pre-Treatment as a Facilitator of the Acute Success of Electrical Cardioversion in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation. Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy, 34(1), 89-94. doi:10.1007/s10557-019-06934-5Piccini, J. P., & Fauchier, L. (2016). Rhythm control in atrial fibrillation. The Lancet, 388(10046), 829-840. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31277-6Jaakkola, S., Lip, G. Y. H., Biancari, F., Nuotio, I., Hartikainen, J. E. K., Ylitalo, A., & Airaksinen, K. E. J. (2017). Predicting Unsuccessful Electrical Cardioversion for Acute Atrial Fibrillation (from the AF-CVS Score). The American Journal of Cardiology, 119(5), 749-752. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.11.026Fujimoto, Y., Yodogawa, K., Maru, Y., Oka, E., Hayashi, H., Yamamoto, T., … Shimizu, W. (2018). Advanced interatrial block is an electrocardiographic marker for recurrence of atrial fibrillation after electrical cardioversion. International Journal of Cardiology, 272, 113-117. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.07.135GRÖNBERG, T., HARTIKAINEN, J. E. K., NUOTIO, I., BIANCARI, F., VASANKARI, T., NIKKINEN, M., … AIRAKSINEN, K. E. J. (2014). Can We Predict the Failure of Electrical Cardioversion of Acute Atrial Fibrillation? The FinCV Study. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, 38(3), 368-375. doi:10.1111/pace.12561Doruchowska, A., Wita, K., Bochenek, T., Szydło, K., Filipecki, A., Staroń, A., … Trusz-Gluza, M. (2014). Role of left atrial speckle tracking echocardiography in predicting persistent atrial fibrillation electrical cardioversion success and sinus rhythm maintenance at 6 months. Advances in Medical Sciences, 59(1), 120-125. doi:10.1016/j.advms.2013.10.003Luong, C. L., Thompson, D. J. S., Gin, K. G., Jue, J., Nair, P., Lee, P.-K., … Tsang, T. S. M. (2016). Usefulness of the Atrial Emptying Fraction to Predict Maintenance of Sinus Rhythm After Direct Current Cardioversion for Atrial Fibrillation. The American Journal of Cardiology, 118(9), 1345-1349. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.07.066Wałek, P., Sielski, J., Gorczyca, I., Roskal-Wałek, J., Starzyk, K., Jaskulska-Niedziela, E., … Wożakowska-Kapłon, B. (2020). Left atrial mechanical remodelling assessed as the velocity of left atrium appendage wall motion during atrial fibrillation is associated with maintenance of sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. PLOS ONE, 15(1), e0228239. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228239Zhao, T. X., Martin, C. A., Cooper, J. P., & Gajendragadkar, P. R. (2017). Coarse fibrillatory waves in atrial fibrillation predict success of electrical cardioversion. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, 23(4), e12528. doi:10.1111/anec.12528Lombardi, F., Colombo, A., Basilico, B., Ravaglia, R., Garbin, M., Vergani, D., … Fiorentini, C. (2001). Heart rate variability and early recurrence of atrial fibrillation after electrical cardioversion. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 37(1), 157-162. doi:10.1016/s0735-1097(00)01039-1Vikman, S., Mäkikallio, T. H., Yli‐Mäyry, S., Nurmi, M., Juhani Airaksinen, K., & Huikuri, H. V. (2003). Heart rate variability and recurrence of atrial fibrillation after electrical cardioversion. Annals of Medicine, 35(1), 36-42. doi:10.1080/07853890310004110VAN DEN BERG, M. P., VAN NOORD, T., BROUWER, J., HAAKSMA, J., VAN VELDHUISEN, D. J., CRIJNS, H. J. G. M., & VAN GELDER, I. C. (2004). Clustering of RR Intervals Predicts Effective Electrical Cardioversion for Atrial Fibrillation. Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, 15(9), 1027-1033. doi:10.1046/j.1540-8167.2004.03686.xZOHAR, P., KOVACIC, M., BREZOCNIK, M., & PODBREGAR, M. (2005). Prediction of maintenance of sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion of atrial fibrillation by non-deterministic modelling. Europace, 7(5), 500-507. doi:10.1016/j.eupc.2005.04.007Seeck, A., Rademacher, W., Fischer, C., Haueisen, J., Surber, R., & Voss, A. (2013). Prediction of atrial fibrillation recurrence after cardioversion—Interaction analysis of cardiac autonomic regulation. Medical Engineering & Physics, 35(3), 376-382. doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2012.06.002Eren, H., Kaya, Ü., Öcal, L., Şenbaş, A., & Kalçık, M. (2019). The presence of fragmented QRS may predict the recurrence of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation after successful electrical cardioversion. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, 25(1). doi:10.1111/anec.12700Langberg, J. J., Burnette, J. C., & McTeague, K. K. (1998). Spectral analysis of the electrocardiogram predicts recurrence of atrial fibrillation after cardioversion. Journal of Electrocardiology, 31, 80-84. doi:10.1016/s0022-0736(98)90297-7Watson, J. N., Addison, P. S., Uchaipichat, N., Shah, A. S., & Grubb, N. R. (2007). Wavelet transform analysis predicts outcome of DC cardioversion for atrial fibrillation patients. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 37(4), 517-523. doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2006.08.003Cervigón, R., Sánchez, C., Castells, F., Blas, J. M., & Millet, J. (2007). Wavelet analysis of electrocardiograms to characterize recurrent atrial fibrillation. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 344(3-4), 196-211. doi:10.1016/j.jfranklin.2006.10.005Alcaraz, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2008). A non-invasive method to predict electrical cardioversion outcome of persistent atrial fibrillation. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 46(7), 625-635. doi:10.1007/s11517-008-0348-5Alcaraz, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2009). Time and frequency recurrence analysis of persistent atrial fibrillation after electrical cardioversion. Physiological Measurement, 30(5), 479-489. doi:10.1088/0967-3334/30/5/005Lankveld, T., de Vos, C. B., Limantoro, I., Zeemering, S., Dudink, E., Crijns, H. J., & Schotten, U. (2016). Systematic analysis of ECG predictors of sinus rhythm maintenance after electrical cardioversion for persistent atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm, 13(5), 1020-1027. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2016.01.004ALCARAZ, R., HORNERO, F., & RIETA, J. J. (2011). Noninvasive Time and Frequency Predictors of Long-Standing Atrial Fibrillation Early Recurrence after Electrical Cardioversion. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, 34(10), 1241-1250. doi:10.1111/j.1540-8159.2011.03125.xCosta, M., Goldberger, A. L., & Peng, C.-K. (2002). Multiscale Entropy Analysis of Complex Physiologic Time Series. Physical Review Letters, 89(6). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.89.068102Humeau-Heurtier, A. (2015). The Multiscale Entropy Algorithm and Its Variants: A Review. Entropy, 17(5), 3110-3123. doi:10.3390/e17053110Wu, S.-D., Wu, C.-W., Lin, S.-G., Wang, C.-C., & Lee, K.-Y. (2013). Time Series Analysis Using Composite Multiscale Entropy. Entropy, 15(3), 1069-1084. doi:10.3390/e15031069Valencia, J. F., Porta, A., Vallverdu, M., Claria, F., Baranowski, R., Orlowska-Baranowska, E., & Caminal, P. (2009). Refined Multiscale Entropy: Application to 24-h Holter Recordings of Heart Period Variability in Healthy and Aortic Stenosis Subjects. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 56(9), 2202-2213. doi:10.1109/tbme.2009.2021986Alcaraz, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2008). Adaptive singular value cancelation of ventricular activity in single-lead atrial fibrillation electrocardiograms. Physiological Measurement, 29(12), 1351-1369. doi:10.1088/0967-3334/29/12/001Vest, A. N., Da Poian, G., Li, Q., Liu, C., Nemati, S., Shah, A. J., & Clifford, G. D. (2018). An open source benchmarked toolbox for cardiovascular waveform and interval analysis. Physiological Measurement, 39(10), 105004. doi:10.1088/1361-6579/aae021Nabil, D., & Bereksi Reguig, F. (2015). Ectopic beats detection and correction methods: A review. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 18, 228-244. doi:10.1016/j.bspc.2015.01.008Martínez, A., Alcaraz, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2013). Ventricular activity morphological characterization: Ectopic beats removal in long term atrial fibrillation recordings. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 109(3), 283-292. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2012.10.011Alcaraz Martínez, R. (2013). Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, 33(5), 455. doi:10.5405/jmbe.1069Corino, V. D. A., Sassi, R., Mainardi, L. T., & Cerutti, S. (2006). Signal processing methods for information enhancement in atrial fibrillation: Spectral analysis and non-linear parameters. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 1(4), 271-281. doi:10.1016/j.bspc.2006.12.003Alcaraz, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2009). Sample entropy of the main atrial wave predicts spontaneous termination of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Medical Engineering & Physics, 31(8), 917-922. doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2009.05.002Richman, J. S., & Moorman, J. R. (2000). Physiological time-series analysis using approximate entropy and sample entropy. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 278(6), H2039-H2049. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.2000.278.6.h2039Alcaraz, R., Abásolo, D., Hornero, R., & Rieta, J. J. (2010). Optimal parameters study for sample entropy-based atrial fibrillation organization analysis. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 99(1), 124-132. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2010.02.009Costa, M., Peng, C.-K., L. Goldberger, A., & Hausdorff, J. M. (2003). Multiscale entropy analysis of human gait dynamics. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 330(1-2), 53-60. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2003.08.022Pincus, S. M., & Goldberger, A. L. (1994). Physiological time-series analysis: what does regularity quantify? American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 266(4), H1643-H1656. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.1994.266.4.h1643Maturana-Candelas, A., Gómez, C., Poza, J., Pinto, N., & Hornero, R. (2019). 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Chaos in the genesis and maintenance of cardiac arrhythmias. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 105(3), 247-257. doi:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2010.11.001Qu, Z., Hu, G., Garfinkel, A., & Weiss, J. N. (2014). Nonlinear and stochastic dynamics in the heart. Physics Reports, 543(2), 61-162. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2014.05.002Qu, Z., Garfinkel, A., Chen, P.-S., & Weiss, J. N. (2000). Mechanisms of Discordant Alternans and Induction of Reentry in Simulated Cardiac Tissue. Circulation, 102(14), 1664-1670. doi:10.1161/01.cir.102.14.1664Dharmaprani, D., Dykes, L., McGavigan, A. D., Kuklik, P., Pope, K., & Ganesan, A. N. (2018). Information Theory and Atrial Fibrillation (AF): A Review. Frontiers in Physiology, 9. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00957Schotten, U., Dobrev, D., Platonov, P. G., Kottkamp, H., & Hindricks, G. (2016). Current controversies in determining the main mechanisms of atrial fibrillation. 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Benefits of Adding an Aquatic Resistance Interval Training to a Nutritional Education on Body Composition, Body Image Perception and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Older Women

The human population is increasing due to lengthening life expectancy, but the quality of life and health of people is moving in the opposite direction. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how aquatic resistance interval training can influence body composition, body image perception and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in older women participants in a nutrition education program and to study the relation between these variables. Thirty-four participants aged 69 ± 4 years were randomly assigned into two groups: experimental (aquatic resistance interval training plus nutritional intervention) and control (nutritional intervention). The intervention consisted of resistance training in an aquatic environment carried out for 14 weeks (three sessions per week; 60 min each). Body composition, body image perception and adherence to MD diet were evaluated at baseline and 14 weeks. No significant differences were found between groups regarding body image perception and adherence to the MD. There was a significant increase in muscle mass (kg) (p < 0.001) and a significant decrease in fat mass (kg) (p < 0.001) in the intervention group when compared to the control group. The addition of aquatic resistance interval training to a nutritional intervention was not sufficient to change body image perception and adherence to MD but produced improvement in body composition (through an increase in muscle mass and decrease on fat mass) in older women

Effect of Supplements on Endurance Exercise in the Older Population: Systematic Review

Background: Ageing is associated with changes of physical and physiological parameters, but there is evidence that regular physical activity could minimize these effects. Additionally, the older population presents a great risk of suboptimal nutrition. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the evidence of nutritional strategies and endurance exercises in the older population. Methods: A systematic review was performed based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. The search was carried out in three different databases: PubMed, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus. Results: Eight studies were included in the present review. The use of caffeine and beta-alanine supplementation with proteins have been found to be beneficial in both sexes. In older women, a balanced diet, an increase in protein, supplementation with beta hydroxy methyl butyrate, and supplementation with sodium bicarbonate have been favorable. However, no benefit has been seen in older men with sodium bicarbonate or ubiquinone supplementation. Nevertheless, the use of supplements should be prescribed according to individual characteristics and physical activity. Conclusions: Caffeine and high protein supplement with beta-alanine may provide positive effects in the older population. In addition, in older women, bicarbonate supplementation and beta-hydroxyethyl butyrate (HMB), lysine, and arginine supplementation have shown positive effects on exercise performance

Milling Process of Petroleum Coke for Sintered Steel Applications

The effect of milling on different properties of a petroleum coke has been evaluated. The material was subjected to planetary milling at two different rates (400 and 600 rev min-1) for different times up to 48 h. The milled material was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, sieve analysis, thermal analysis, chemical analysis, specific surface area and compressibility has been undertaken. The results show that the milling produces a very quick loss of the crystal structure of the coke and a rapid comminution, which lead to large increases in specific surface area and compressibility losses. The coke has shown a high activity through the milling process, absorbing a great quantity of oxygen. The increase in milling time shifts its thermal decomposition to lower temperatures.Authors want to acknowledge the financial support of Spanish Education Ministry, through Project PTR1995-0724-OP.Publicad

Procedimiento post-síntesis de modificación de la superficie de nanopartículas superparamagnéticas de óxidos de hierro

La presente invención se refiere a un procedimiento post-síntesis de modificación de la superficie de nanopartículas superparamagnéticas de óxidos de hierro con grupos hidroxilo, sin espaciador, a las nanopartículas de superficie modificada obtenidas por el mismo, así como el uso de estas nanopartículas de superficie modificada en terapia, diagnóstico y en técnicas de concentración y separación de muestras químicas y biológicas.Peer reviewedUniversidad Pablo de Olavide Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)B1 Patente sin examen previ

Clinical Validation of a 3-Dimensional Ultrafast Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Protocol Including Single Breath-Hold 3-Dimensional Sequences

Objectives: This study sought to clinically validate a novel 3-dimensional (3D) ultrafast cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) protocol including cine (anatomy and function) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), each in a single breath-hold. Background: CMR is the reference tool for cardiac imaging but is time-consuming. Methods: A protocol comprising isotropic 3D cine (Enhanced sensitivity encoding [SENSE] by Static Outer volume Subtraction [ESSOS]) and isotropic 3D LGE sequences was compared with a standard cine&#43;LGE protocol in a prospective study of 107 patients (age 58 ± 11 years; 24% female). Left ventricular (LV) mass, volumes, and LV and right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (LVEF, RVEF) were assessed by 3D ESSOS and 2D cine CMR. LGE (% LV) was assessed using 3D and 2D sequences. Results: Three-dimensional and LGE acquisitions lasted 24 and 22 s, respectively. Three-dimensional and LGE images were of good quality and allowed quantification in all cases. Mean LVEF by 3D and 2D CMR were 51 ± 12% and 52 ± 12%, respectively, with excellent intermethod agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]: 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94 to 0.97) and insignificant bias. Mean RVEF 3D and 2D CMR were 60.4 ± 5.4% and 59.7 ± 5.2%, respectively, with acceptable intermethod agreement (ICC: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.81) and insignificant bias. Both 2D and 3D LGE showed excellent agreement, and intraobserver and interobserver agreement were excellent for 3D LGE. Conclusions: ESSOS single breath-hold 3D CMR allows accurate assessment of heart anatomy and function. Combining ESSOS with 3D LGE allows complete cardiac examination in less than 1 min of acquisition time. This protocol expands the indication for CMR, reduces costs, and increases patient comfort. (J Am Coll Cardiol Img 2021;14:1742–1754)Funding included Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Grants DTS17/00136 to Dr. Ibáñez and PI19/01704 to Dr. Fernandez-Jimenez; Spanish Society of Cardiology Translational Research Grant 2016 to Dr. Ibáñez; European Research Council ERC-CoG 819775-MATRIX to Dr. Ibáñez; Comunidad de Madrid S2017/BMD-3867-RENIM-CM to Drs. Desco and Ibáñez; and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) RETOS2019-107332RB-I00 to Dr. Ibáñez. Dr. Fernandez-Jimenez received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Hrant Agreement No. 707642. The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the MICINN, and the Pro CNIC Foundation. Drs. Fernandez-Jimenez, Nothnagel, Fuster, Ibáñez, and Javier Sánchez-González are inventors of a joint patent (Philips/CNIC) for the new cine imaging method here described and validated/protected under the IP #2014P00960EP. Drs. Nothnagel, Kouwenhoven, Clemence, and Javier Sánchez-González are Philips employees. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose

Role of vascular mechanisms involved in the acute gastric mucosal injury induced by droxicam and piroxicam in rats

We describe the formation of severe gastric erosions produced in fasted rats by intragastric administration of droxicam and its active species piroxicam, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs of the oxicam group. The time course of gastric damage and the possible role of mucus secretion, changes of gastric vascular permeability, and neutrophil activation in the development of droxicam- and piroxicam-induced astric lesions, were also investigated. Both drugs dose-dependently (1-25-20 mg kg - ) caused acute gastric haemorrhagic erosions in the rat. These lesions were significantly greater with piroxicam treatment 6 h after dosing. Only the lower doses of droxicam and piroxicam (1.25 mg kg-') induced a significant increase of mucus gel production at different times (3 and 6 h). However, there was no increase in the concentration of its components. Oral pretreatment of the animals with either agent did not induce any changes on the values of mucosal vascular permeability. In contrast, myeloperoxidase activity as an index of neutrophil infiltration was significantly increased. A marked relationship was found between the lesion index and myeloperoxidase activity. These results suggest that neutrophil infiltration could play an important role in the pathogenesis of gastric mucosal injury induced by these oxicam agent

Parasites of the Reintroduced Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Sympatric Mesocarnivores in Extremadura, Spain.

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is one of the most endangered felid species in the world. Conservation efforts have increased its population size and distribution and reinforced their genetic diversity through captive breeding and reintroduction programmes. Among several threats that the Iberian lynx faces, infectious and parasitic diseases have underlined effects on the health of their newly reintroduced populations, being essential to identify the primary sources of these agents and assess populations health status. To achieve this, 79 fresh faecal samples from Iberian lynx and sympatric mesocarnivores were collected in the reintroduction area of Extremadura, Spain. Samples were submitted to copromicroscopic analyses to assess parasite diversity, prevalence, and mean intensity of parasite burden. Overall, 19 (24.1%, ±15.1-35.0) samples were positive for at least one enteric parasite species. Parasite diversity and prevalence were higher in the Iberian lynx (43.8%) compared with the others mesocarnivores under study (e.g., the red fox Vulpes vulpes and the Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon). Ancylostomatidae and Toxocara cati were the most prevalent (15.6%) parasites. Obtained results revealed that Iberian lynx role as predator control might have reduced parasite cross-transmission between this felid and mesocarnivores due to their decreasing abundances. Surveillance programs must include regular monitoring of this endangered felid, comprising mesocarnivores, but also domestic/feral and wild cat communities.This research was funded by the European Union through its LIFE project Life + IBERLINCE (LIFE + 10NAT/ES/570) “Recuperación de la distribución histórica del lince ibérico (Lynx pardinus) en España y Portugal”. R. T. Torres is funded by national funds (OE), through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of 29 August, changed by Law 57/2017, of 19 July. Thanks are due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020) and CIISA Project UIDB/00276/2020 through national funds.S