One year follow-up of the multi-centre European PARTNER transcatheter heart valve study

BackgroundTranscatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a new therapeutic option in high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis.AimsPARTNER EU is the first study to evaluate prospectively the procedural and mid-term outcomes of transfemoral (TF) or transapical (TA) implantation of the Edwards SAPIEN® valve involving a multi-disciplinary approach.Methods and resultsPrimary safety endpoints were 30 days and 6 months mortality. Primary efficacy endpoints were haemodynamic and functional improvement at 12 months. One hundred and thirty patients (61 TF, 69 TA), aged 82.1 ± 5.5 years were included. TA patients had higher logistic EuroSCORE (33.8 vs. 25.7, P <0.0005) and more peripheral disease (49.3 vs. 16.4, P< 0.0001). Procedures were aborted in four TA (5.8) and six TF cases (9.8). Valve implantation was successful in the remaining patients in 95.4 and 96.4, respectively. Thirty days and 6 months survival were 81.2 and 58.0 (TA) and 91.8 and 90.2 (TF). In both groups, mean aortic gradient decreased from 46.9 ± 18.1 to 10.9 ± 5.4 mmHg 6 months post-TAVI. In total, 78.1 and 84.8 of patients experienced significant improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, whereas 73.9 and 72.7 had improved Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) scores in TA and TF cohorts, respectively.ConclusionThis first team-based multi-centre European TAVI registry shows promising results in high-risk patients treated by TF or TA delivery. Survival rates differ significantly between TF and TA groups and probably reflect the higher risk profile of the TA cohort. Optimal patient screening, approach selection, and device refinement may improve outcomes

Effects of treated wastewater irrigation on the establishment of young grapevines

Irrigation with treated wastewater could produce excessive accumulations within the plant and soil, negatively affecting the yield and production quality. In addition, the presence of biological and chemical contaminants could harm the agricultural environment, as well as the health of farmers and consumers. During this work, the suitability of secondary and tertiary treated wastewater for use in young grapevines was evaluated by studying the effect of the wastewater irrigation on the soil-plant system, crop yield, fruit quality and the presence of inorganic chemical contamination (salts, elements and heavy metals), organic chemical contamination (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and microbial contamination (E. coli, total coliforms). The results show that tertiary treated wastewater had positive impact on plant growth and yield while secondary treated wastewater had negative impact on fruit safety in comparison with tap water. Sodium levels in soils irrigated with treated wastewater increased at the end of the irrigation period while decreased during the wet season. The total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the soils ranged from 363 μg/kg to 374 μg/kg at the end of the experiment for all irrigation treatments applied. The use of tertiary treated wastewater was recommended for the irrigation of young grapevines as an alternative water source secured protection of environment, plant health and fruit quality

Vampires in the village Žrnovo on the island of Korčula: following an archival document from the 18th century

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu spisa pohranjenog u Državnom arhivu u Mlecima (fond: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) koji se odnosi na događaj iz 1748. godine u korčulanskom selu Žrnovo, kada su mještani – vjerujući da su se pojavili vampiri – oskvrnuli nekoliko mjesnih grobova. U radu se podrobno iznose osnovni podaci iz spisa te rečeni događaj analizira u širem društvenom kontekstu i prate se lokalna vjerovanja.The main interest of this essay is the analysis of the document from the State Archive in Venice (file: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) which is connected with the episode from 1748 when the inhabitants of the village Žrnove on the island of Korčula in Croatia opened tombs on the local cemetery in the fear of the vampires treating. This essay try to show some social circumstances connected with this event as well as a local vernacular tradition concerning superstitions

On the green roof system. Selection, state of the art and energy potential investigation of a system installed in an office building in Athens, Greece

A detailed and integrated presentation of the green roof systems is provided in the present paper. Aiming to analyse a specific urban case study, we describe the basic architectural and scientific principles that characterize its performance and efficiency. Furthermore, a state of the art presentation of the system is provided, including the presentation of several case studies as well as a selection and description of plants that usually are extensively used in the green roof system all over the world. Energy and environmental investigation data of the green roof system performance in an office building located in the greater Athens area are provided. The energy efficiency was examined by calculating the energy savings through an accurate dynamic mathematical model. The thermal performance investigation showed a significant reduction of the building&apos;s cooling load during the summer period arriving at approximately 40%. Moreover, the influence of the green roof system in the building&apos;s heating load was fount insignificant, and this can be regarded as a great advantage of the system as any interference in the building shell for the reduction of cooling load leads usually to an increase of its heating load. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

SiN-assisted flip-chip adiabatic coupler between SiPh and Glass OPCBs

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a SiN-assisted in-plane adiabatic coupler between SiPh and onboard glass waveguides. Our numerical study is founded on an actual graded index glass waveguide developed by Fraunhofer-IZM. The Silicon taper profile and the optimal length are extracted employing the supermode theory and the adiabatic theorem. Fabrication and assembly issues are investigated, resulting to an optimized coupler design that exhibits a theoretical Si-to-glass loss below 0.1dB over the entire C-band. The proposed solution can be realized utilizing standard passive flip-chip assembly equipment and is, therefore, cost-effective, easy to be fabricated, and well-suited for compact packaging

Application of novel composite materials as sediment capping agents: Column experiments and modelling

The research objective of the study is the estimation of Phoslock™ as a P&amp;N-inactivation agent in the overlying water and sediment cores under oxic and anoxic conditions from a polluted pond. Phoslock™ was compared with ferrihydrite, unmodified bentonite (N-Bentonite), natural Zeolite (N-Zeolite), Alum and commercial Z2G1™. Under oxic conditions, the maximum sorption capacities (qm) calculated from the Langmuir model were 14.1, 12.4, 11.2, 9.1 and 3.7 mg g–1 for ferrihydrite, Phoslock™, alum, Z2G1, and natural bentonite, respectively. However, under anoxic conditions the maximum sorption capacities followed the order: Phoslock™ &gt; alum &gt; Z2G1&gt;ferrihydrite &gt; N-bent onite. Moreover, Phoslock™ as a P-inactivation agent resulted in about ~81% and ~82% reduction of the phosphate flux from oxic and anoxic sediments respectively. Also, the effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on phosphate sorption capacity (PAC) of Phoslock™ and Z2G1 was studied experimentally and theoretically, simulating natural eutrophic waters. At both P-sorption agents by increasing the concentration of DOM, the sorption capacity is declined. However, it is noteworthy that in the case of Phoslock™ application the PAC is retarded, whereas in the case of Z2G1 is sharp. Furthermore, the results unveiled that Phoslock™ restrained P release from the sediments, therefore a portion of P-mobile is reduced in sediments and undergone transformation to non-reactive species. Finally, in economic terms the research outcomes of this study were verified by literature, where we reported that the concentration of 20.53 mg mobile P kg–1 can be feasibly treated for $30.53 kg–1 of Phoslock™ applied