Ultrasonic characterization of the pulmonary venous wall: echographic and histological correlation

Background: Pulmonary vein isolation with radiofrequency catheter ablation techniques is used to prevent recurrences of human atrial fibrillation. Visualization of the architecture at the venoatrial junction could be crucial for these ablative techniques. Our study assesses the potential for intravascular ultrasound to provide this information. Methods and Results: We retrieved 32 pulmonary veins from 8 patients dying from noncardiac causes. We obtained cross-sectional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images with a 3.2F, 30-MHz ultrasound catheter at intervals on each vein. Histological cross-sections at the intervals allowed comparisons with ultrasonic images. The pulmonary venous wall at the venoatrial junction revealed a 3-layered ultrasonic pattern. The inner echogenic layer represents both endothelium and connective tissue of the media (mean maximal thickness, 1.4±0.3 mm). The middle hypoechogenic stratum corresponds to the sleeves of left atrial myocardium surrounding the external aspect of the venous media. This layer was thickest at the venoatrial junction (mean maximal thickness, 2.6±0.8 mm) and decreased toward the lung hilum. The outer echodense layer corresponds to fibro-fatty adventitial tissue (mean maximal thickness, 2.15±0.36 mm). We found a close agreement among the IVUS and histological measurements for maximal luminal diameter (mean difference, -0.12±1.3 mm) and maximal muscular thickness (mean difference, 0.17±0.13 mm) using the Bland and Altman method. Conclusions: Our experimental study demonstrates for the first time that IVUS images of the pulmonary veins can provide information on the distal limits and thickness of the myocardial sleeves and can be a valuable tool to help accurate targeting during ablative procedures

A software tool for monitoring legal minimum lenght of landings: Case study of a fishery in sourthern Spain

Herramienta de interés para el control y la gestión de pesqueríasThe regulation of minimum legal size(MLS) of catches is a tool widely applied in the management of fisheries resources, although the MLS does not always coincide with the length at first maturit(LFM). The optimization of this management tool requires a series of quality control in fish markets and transportation. A software application has been developed to make the control of the landings of several target species easier and faster. In order to test and make this tool operational,six species of commercial interest were selected: four species of fish hand two species of bivalves. It is proposed to estimate the proportion of illegal specimens in the studied lot from the proportion of illegal individuals found in the samples taken from this lot.The input data for the application are the minimum legal size(MLS) of the species and the total length(TL)of each specimen sampled. The out put data is a statistical summary of the percentage of specimens of size less than the legal minimum(TL<=MLS)within different confidence intervals(90%,95% and 99%). The software developed will serve as a fast,efficient and easy to manage tool that allows inspectors to determine the degree of compliance on MLS control and to make a decision supported by statistical proof on fishing goods

Study of the antioxidant potential of Arbequina extra virgin olive oils from Brazil and Spain applying combined models of simulated digestion and cell culture markers

A physiological approach to assessing the antioxidant potential of Arbequina EVOO from different zones of Brazil and Spain was performed, applying a combined model of simulated digestion and cell cultures, using the Caco-2 cell line. Our results showed an increasing of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant properties promoted by the in vitro digestion. Preincubating Caco-2 cells with bioaccessible fractions of oils counteracted the cytotoxic effect promoted by an oxidising agent (t-BOOH), preserving cell viability and reducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The protective effect on ROS production was associated with the antioxidant activity (DPPH assay), but no relation with the TPC of the digested samples was found. Differences in the parameters evaluated were observed among the samples, which were related to climatic characteristics of the production zones. It was concluded that transformations during the digestive process are important for establishing the antioxidant potential of the oils.We are grateful to the CAPES Foundation, (Ministry of Education, Brazil), for scholarship support provided to the first author (Grant number 6073/13-1). This work is part of the doctoral thesis of Thays Helena Borges, Ph.D. student from the Official Doctoral Program ‘‘Nutrition and Food Sciences” of the Granada University. The authors also would like to thank Consejo Regulador de Denominación de Origen (DOP) Estepa and DOP Les Garrigues; Casas Hualdo, Castillo Canena, Cortijo de Jara, Quaryat Dillara, EPAMIG and Olivas do Sul for the donation of samples. We would like to dedicate to the memory of Carmen Cabrera-Vique.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bayesian approach and Naturalness in MSSM analyses for the LHC

The start of LHC has motivated an effort to determine the relative probability of the different regions of the MSSM parameter space, taking into account the present, theoretical and experimental, wisdom about the model. Since the present experimental data are not powerful enough to select a small region of the MSSM parameter space, the choice of a judicious prior probability for the parameters becomes most relevant. Previous studies have proposed theoretical priors that incorporate some (conventional) measure of the fine-tuning, to penalize unnatural possibilities. However, we show that such penalization arises from the Bayesian analysis itself (with no ad hoc assumptions), upon the marginalization of the mu-parameter. Furthermore the resulting effective prior contains precisely the Barbieri-Giudice measure, which is very satisfactory. On the other hand we carry on a rigorous treatment of the Yukawa couplings, showing in particular that the usual practice of taking the Yukawas "as required", approximately corresponds to taking logarithmically flat priors in the Yukawa couplings. Finally, we use an efficient set of variables to scan the MSSM parameter space, trading in particular B by tan beta, giving the effective prior in the new parameters. Beside the numerical results, we give accurate analytic expressions for the effective priors in all cases. Whatever experimental information one may use in the future, it is to be weighted by the Bayesian factors worked out here.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 3 figure

Chiral Symmetry and light resonances in hot and dense matter

We present a study of the $\pi\pi$ scattering amplitude in the $\sigma$ and $\rho$ channels at finite temperature and nuclear density within a chiral unitary framework. Meson resonances are dynamically generated in our approach, which allows us to analyze the behavior of their associated scattering poles when the system is driven towards chiral symmetry restoration. Medium effects are incorporated in three ways: (a) by thermal corrections of the unitarized scattering amplitudes, (b) by finite nuclear density effects associated to a renormalization of the pion decay constant, and complementarily (c) by extending our calculation of the scalar-isoscalar channel to account for finite nuclear density and temperature effects in a microscopic many-body implementation of pion dynamics. Our results are discussed in connection with several phenomenological aspects relevant for nuclear matter and Heavy-Ion Collision experiments, such as $\rho$ mass scaling vs broadening from dilepton spectra and chiral restoration signals in the $\sigma$ channel. We also elaborate on the molecular nature of $\pi\pi$ resonances.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. Contribution to Hard Probes 2008, Illa de A Toxa, Spain, June 8th-14th 200

Comparative analysis of minor bioactive constituents (CoQ10, tocopherols and phenolic compounds) in Arbequina extra virgin olive oils from Brazil and Spain

There is currently an emerging production of olive oil in Brazil but it is still poorly characterized. In this study, we performed a comparative analysis of minor bioactive constituents (CoQ 10 tocopherols and phenolic compounds) in extra virgin olive oil from different regions of Brazil and Spain, of Arbequina cultivar. Significant variations (P < 0.05) in the concentration of the compounds analyzed were observed among oils from the different growing areas, not only between Spanish and Brazilian samples but also within zones of the same country. All the oils analyzed showed a high content of CoQ 10 , which ranged from 48 to 85 mg/L. The α − tocopherol was the major isomer quantified and three main groups of phenolic compounds were identified: flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin), phenolic acids (naringenin, p-coumaric acid, vanillic acid) and phenolic alcohols (hydroxytyrosol). Climatic and geographic factors of the production zones greatly influenced the minor fraction composition; positive relationships between altitude and the level of CoQ 10 , tocopherols and phenolic compounds of the oils were observed, whereas a negative correlation with rainfalls was found. Chemometric analyses demonstrated that oils were differentiated by the chemical composition and origin area and that polyphenols (particularly hydroxytyrosol) held the major weight in the oil classification.We are grateful to the CAPES Foundation, (Ministry of Education) Brazil, for scholarship support provided to the first author. LCL is supported by the “Ramón y Cajal” National Programme (RYC-2011- 07643) and the grants SAF2013-47761-R and SAF2015-65786-R, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work is part of the doctoral thesis of Thays Helena Borges, Ph.D. student from the Official Doctoral Program “Nutrition and Food Sciences” of the Granada University. The authors also would like to thank Consejo Regulador de Denominación de Origen (DOP) Estepa and DOP Les Garrigues; Casas Hualdo, Castillo Canena, Cortijo de Jara, Quaryat Dilar and Olivas do Sul for the donation of samples. We would like to dedicate to the memory of Carmen Cabrera-Vique.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microstructure and mechanical properties of AA6082-T6 by ECAP under warm processing

An AA6082 alloy deformed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was studied. The evolution of microstructure as a function of the strain imparted was evaluated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with an electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) detector, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). XRD showed that MgSi2 precipitates developed in the ECAPed specimens. Texture analysis showed the apparition of two types of textures, one associated with shearing deformation and the second due to the recrystallization phenomena. Mechanical strength properties measured by tensile tests increased in the first ECAP pass, and then progressively diminished. This phenomenon was associated to the activation of continuous softening phenomena. Calorimetric analysis indicated a slightly rise in the recrystallization temperature of the deformed specimens. Also, the stored energy increased with rising ECAP passes due to the production of new dislocations. The average geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density, measured by EBSD, increased with increasing ECAP passes. However, the rate of increase slows down with the progress of ECAP passes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft