Indirect Measurement of Left Ventricular EndDiastolic Pressure in Congestive Cardiomyopathy and Constrictive Pericarditis

Pulmonary artery diastolic and pulmonary capillary wedge mean pressures were measured in 30 patients with congestive cardiomyopathy and in 30 patients with constrictive pericarditis. These measurements were compared with left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) to assess their value as indirect measurements of left ventricular function. There was close correlation between the indirect measurements and LVEDP in both disorders: a better statistical correlation was achieved using a power curve than with linear regression, since pulmonary artery diastolic pressure increased disproportionately when LVEDP was high.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 540 (1974

Pole Dancing: 3D Morphs for Tree Drawings

We study the question whether a crossing-free 3D morph between two straight-line drawings of an $n$-vertex tree can be constructed consisting of a small number of linear morphing steps. We look both at the case in which the two given drawings are two-dimensional and at the one in which they are three-dimensional. In the former setting we prove that a crossing-free 3D morph always exists with $O(\log n)$ steps, while for the latter $\Theta(n)$ steps are always sufficient and sometimes necessary.Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2018

Generalised left ventricular dysfunction after traumatic right coronary artery - right atrial fistula

A patient with traumatic right coronary artery to right atrial fistula, which was repaired by direct closure and aortocoronary saphenous vein bypass grafting, is described. Cardiac catheterisation and selective cine angiocardiography were performed pre- and postoperatively, and left ventricular (LV) function was studied in detail by invasive and non-invasive techniques. There was regional (diaphragmatic) LV asynergy but also generalised impairment of myocardial function, and these abnormalities persisted after operation.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1829 (1974)

Convexity-Increasing Morphs of Planar Graphs

We study the problem of convexifying drawings of planar graphs. Given any planar straight-line drawing of an internally 3-connected graph, we show how to morph the drawing to one with strictly convex faces while maintaining planarity at all times. Our morph is convexity-increasing, meaning that once an angle is convex, it remains convex. We give an efficient algorithm that constructs such a morph as a composition of a linear number of steps where each step either moves vertices along horizontal lines or moves vertices along vertical lines. Moreover, we show that a linear number of steps is worst-case optimal. To obtain our result, we use a well-known technique by Hong and Nagamochi for finding redrawings with convex faces while preserving y-coordinates. Using a variant of Tutte's graph drawing algorithm, we obtain a new proof of Hong and Nagamochi's result which comes with a better running time. This is of independent interest, as Hong and Nagamochi's technique serves as a building block in existing morphing algorithms.Comment: Preliminary version in Proc. WG 201

Diffractive Higgs Production by AdS Pomeron Fusion

The double diffractive Higgs production at central rapidity is formulated in terms of the fusion of two AdS gravitons/Pomerons first introduced by Brower, Polchinski, Strassler and Tan in elastic scattering. Here we propose a simple self-consistent holographic framework capable of providing phenomenologically compelling estimates of diffractive cross sections at the LHC. As in the traditional weak coupling approach, we anticipate that several phenomenological parameters must be tested and calibrated through factorization for a self-consistent description of other diffractive process such as total cross sections, deep inelastic scattering and heavy quark production in the central region.Comment: 53 pages, 8 figure

As-Rigid-As-Possible Surface Morphing

This paper presents a new morphing method based on the “as-rigid-as-possible” approach. Unlike the original as-rigid-as-possible method, we avoid the need to construct a consistent tetrahedral mesh, but instead require a consistent triangle surface mesh and from it create a tetrahedron for each surface triangle. Our new approach has several significant advantages. It is much easier to create a consistent triangle mesh than to create a consistent tetrahedral mesh. Secondly, the equations arising from our approach can be solved much more efficiently than the corresponding equations for a tetrahedral mesh. Finally, by incorporating the translation vector in the energy functional controlling interpolation, our new method does not need the user to arbitrarily fix any vertex to obtain a solution, allowing artists automatic control of interpolated mesh positions

Cardiovascular disease and the role of oral bacteria

In terms of the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) the focus has traditionally been on dyslipidemia. Over the decades our understanding of the pathogenesis of CVD has increased, and infections, including those caused by oral bacteria, are more likely involved in CVD progression than previously thought. While many studies have now shown an association between periodontal disease and CVD, the mechanisms underpinning this relationship remain unclear. This review gives a brief overview of the host-bacterial interactions in periodontal disease and virulence factors of oral bacteria before discussing the proposed mechanisms by which oral bacterial may facilitate the progression of CVD