The 'peptide for life' initiative in the emergency department study.

AIMS: Natriuretic peptide (NP) uptake varies in Emergency Departments (EDs) across Europe. The 'Peptide for Life' (P4L) initiative, led by Heart Failure Association, aims to enhance NP utilization for early diagnosis of heart failure (HF). We tested the hypothesis that implementing an educational campaign in Western Balkan countries would significantly increase NP adoption rates in the ED. METHODS AND RESULTS: This registry examined NP adoption before and after implementing the P4L-ED study across 10 centres in five countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. A train-the-trainer programme was implemented to enhance awareness of NP testing in the ED, and centres without access received point-of-care instruments. Differences in NP testing between the pre-P4L-ED and post-P4L-ED phases were evaluated. A total of 2519 patients were enrolled in the study: 1224 (48.6%) in the pre-P4L-ED phase and 1295 (51.4%) in the post-P4L-ED phase. NP testing was performed in the ED on 684 patients (55.9%) during the pre-P4L-ED phase and on 1039 patients (80.3%) during the post-P4L-ED phase, indicating a significant absolute difference of 24.4% (95% CI: 20.8% to 27.9%, P < 0.001). The use of both NPs and echocardiography significantly increased from 37.7% in the pre-P4L-ED phase to 61.3% in the post-P4L-ED phase. There was an increased prescription of diuretics and SGLT2 inhibitors during the post-P4L-ED phase. CONCLUSIONS: By increasing awareness and providing resources, the utilization of NPs increased in the ED, leading to improved diagnostic accuracy and enhanced patient care

Genetic diversity of the pine pathogen Lecanosticta acicola in Slovenia and Croatia

Brown spot needle blight (BSNB), a disease of pine trees caused by the fungus Lecanosticta acicola, has been known in Slovenia since 2008 and in Croatia since 1975. Recent outbreaks in Slovenia prompted this study to compare L. acicola populations in these two neighbouring European countries. Sixty-nine isolates collected from three pine species (Pinus mugo, P. halepensis and P. nigra) were used to determine the phylogenetic relationships, genetic structure, and reproductive strategy of the pathogen. EF1-a sequences showed that Slovenian and Croatian isolates share a common ancestry with individuals from Central and Northern Europe. Population structure analysis revealed four distinct population clusters of L. acicola in these two countries, generally corresponding to their respective geographic location and host. An unequal ratio of mating types and a low overall genetic diversity in the population indicated a strong influence of asexual reproduction. Although some of the oldest recorded European occurrences of BSNB are from Croatia, this study provided no evidence that the population studied in Croatia was the source of the sampled outbreaks in Slovenia. Recent outbreaks of L. acicola in Slovenia are most likely due to introductions from other, yet to be identified, sources

Effects of dealcoholized red and white wines on human tumour and normal cells proliferation

Recent studies performed on some tumour cell lines have given proof to the antiproliferative activity of compounds isolated from red wines against tumours. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential cytotoxic activity of different concentrations of selected Croatian red and white wines on the growth of human normal and tumour cells in vitro. Effects on growth of cervical carcinoma (HeLa), colon carcinoma (Caco-2, HT-29), poorly differentiated cells from lymph node metastasis of colon carcinoma (SW-620), larynx carcinoma cells (HEp-2) and normal fibroblasts (WI38) were tested by MTT-assay. Radioactive substrate incorporation tests were used for assessing effects on DNA, RNAs and proteins syntheses. Concentration of polyphenols in wines was assessed according to the method of Singleton and Rossi. Ethanol in the wine concentrates was determined by MS-GC method. Results of the cytotoxicity test showed that colon carcinoma cells (Caco-2, HT-29), as well as colon carcinoma metastasis (SW620) were the most affected by dealcoholized red wines in concentrations 25% and 12.5% v/v. Amount of total phenols in the red wines was significantly higher (5-10 times) compared to the white wines. The red wine with the greatest polyphenol content was shown to be the most effective. Red wine samples in concentration 25% v/v statistically significantly inhibited the growth of all tested cell lines, including fibroblasts. Tested white wines showed no or negligible growth inhibitory effect against tumour and normal cells. Tumour cells, HeLa and Hep-2, treated by red wine V3 (12.5% v/v) and Hep-2 cells treated by red wine V4 (12.5% v/v) exhibited slightly growth-stimulatory effects. Biosynthesis assay of DNA, RNA and proteins indicated a standstill in the growth of treated cells. Our results indicate that polyphenol-rich domestic wine might have potential pro-therapeutic effect on transformed colonic cells

Search-based refactoring: Metrics are not enough

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. Search-based Software Engineering (SBSE) techniques have been applied extensively to refactor software, often based on metrics that describe the object-oriented structure of an application. Recent work shows that in some cases applying popular SBSE tools to open-source software does not necessarily lead to an improved version of the software as assessed by some subjective criteria. Through a survey of professionals, we investigate the relationship between popular SBSE refactoring metrics and the subjective opinions of software engineers. We find little or no correlation between the two. Through qualitative analysis, we find that a simple static view of software is insufficient to assess software quality, and that software quality is dependent on factors that are not amenable to measurement via metrics. We recommend that future SBSE refactoring research should incorporate information about the dynamic behaviour of software, and conclude that a human-in-the-loop approach may be the only way to refactor software in a manner helpful to an engineer