Association of electrocardiographic markers with myocardial fibrosis as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance in different clinical settings

BACKGROUND Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a unique tool for non-invasive tissue characterization, especially for identifying fibrosis. AIM To present the existing data regarding the association of electrocardiographic (ECG) markers with myocardial fibrosis identified by CMR - late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). METHODS A systematic search was performed for identifying the relevant studies in Medline and Cochrane databases through February 2021. In addition, we conducted a relevant search by Reference Citation Analysis (RCA) (https://www.referencecitationanalysis.com). RESULTS A total of 32 studies were included. In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), fragmented QRS (fQRS) is related to the presence and extent of myocardial fibrosis. fQRS and abnormal Q waves are associated with LGE in ischemic cardiomyopathy patients, while fQRS has also been related to fibrosis in myocarditis. Selvester score, abnormal Q waves, and notched QRS have also been associated with LGE. Repolarization abnormalities as reflected by increased Tp-Te, negative T-waves, and higher QT dispersion are related to myocardial fibrosis in HCM patients. In patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a significant correlation between fQRS and the amount of myocardial fibrosis as assessed by LGE-CMR was observed. In atrial fibrillation patients, advanced inter-atrial block is defined as P-wave duration ≥ 120 ms, and biphasic morphology in inferior leads is related to left atrial fibrosis. CONCLUSION Myocardial fibrosis, a reliable marker of prognosis in a broad spectrum of cardiovascular diseases, can be easily understood with an easily applicable ECG. However, more data is needed on a specific disease basis to study the association of ECG markers and myocardial fibrosis as depicted by CMR

Electronic ballast design

This report illustrates the design of a high frequency electronic ballast prototype for a 26 W compact fluorescent lamp. This design makes use of a specific integrated chip, IR2520D, which is used as a ballast control IC. Computer modeling was used as a proof of concept and its validity was proved by the good agreement among the simulations and the experimental measurements. The luminous flux output of this CFL was observed, evaluated and compared with an equivalent incandescent light bulb

Electrochemical and photovoltaic properties of highly efficient solar cells with cobalt/zinc phthalocyanine sensitizers

The cyclic voltammetry studies indicated that the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of three sensitized metallophthalocyanines could ensure efficient electron injection and thermodynamically favorable dye regeneration. The S-bridged 4-mercaptobenzoic acid substituted cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (4-MKBa-CoPc) sensitized solar cell devices possessed a short-circuit photocurrent density of 9.70 mA/cm(2), an open-circuit voltage of 0.88 V, and a fill factor of 0.49, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.18% under standard AM 1.5 sun light. The present results demonstrated that the cobalt(II) phthalocyanine derivative had dramatically higher solar cell efficiency value as compared to zinc(II) phthalocyanine and as a linker atom, instead of oxygen linker, sulfur atoms slightly improved solar cell efficiency. The above results indicated that a low cost sensitizer made up of symmetrically substituted phthalocyanine with an earth abundant metal at the inner core can reach sufficiently high solar cell efficiency when compared with the alternative sensitizers for DSSCs applications

Factors affecting epilepsy development and epilepsy prognosis in cerebral palsy

PubMedID: 21763948A study was conducted between November 2006 and October 2009 to determine the factors predicting the presence and prognosis of epilepsy in patients with cerebral palsy. We enrolled 2 groups of patients: 42 with cerebral palsy in group 1 and 56 patients with cerebral palsy and epilepsy in group 2. The subjects in group 2 were considered to have good epilepsy prognosis if they were free of seizures for the previous year; otherwise they were considered to have poor epilepsy prognosis. In group 2, neonatal epilepsy, family history of epilepsy, and moderate to severe mental retardation were significantly higher than in group 1 (P < 0.05). In univariate analysis, neonatal seizures, epileptic activity as measured by electroencephalography, and polytherapy were found to be predictors of poor epilepsy prognosis. Additionally, the need for long-term medication to control seizures unfavorably affects prognosis. In logistic regression analysis, neonatal seizure and interictal epileptic activity in electroencephalography were found to be independent predictors of poor epilepsy outcome. In addition, logistic regression analysis revealed that increasing age reduces the success of epilepsy treatment. Neonatal seizures, family history of epilepsy, and mental retardation were found to be important and independent predictors of development of epilepsy in patients with cerebral palsy. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Psoriasiform Drug Eruption Associated with Sodium Valproate

As psoriasis is a common skin disorder, knowledge of the factors that may induce, trigger, or exacerbate the disease is of primary importance in clinical practice. Drug intake is a major concern in this respect, as new drugs are constantly being added to the list of factors that may influence the course of the disease. We report a patient with a psoriasiform drug eruption associated with the use of sodium valproate. Physicians should be aware of this type of reaction. Early detection of these cases has practical importance since the identification and elimination of the causative drug are essential for therapy success

Impact of climate change and land cover dynamics on nitrate transport to surface waters.

The study investigated the impact of climate and land cover change on water quality. The novel contribution of the study was to investigate the individual and combined impacts of climate and land cover change on water quality with high spatial and temporal resolution in a basin in Turkey. The global circulation model MPI-ESM-MR was dynamically downscaled to 10-km resolution under the RCP8.5 emission scenario. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to model stream flow and nitrate loads. The land cover model outputs that were produced by the Land Change Modeler (LCM) were used for these simulation studies. Results revealed that decreasing precipitation intensity driven by climate change could significantly reduce nitrate transport to surface waters. In the 2075–2100 period, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) loads transported to surface water decreased by more than 75%. Furthermore, the transition predominantly from forestry to pastoral farming systems increased loads by about 6%. The study results indicated that fine-resolution land use and climate data lead to better model performance. Environmental managers can also benefit greatly from the LCM-based forecast of land use changes and the SWAT model’s attribution of changes in water quality to land use changes.</p