The prognostic value of arterial stiffness in systolic heart failure

Background: Increased arterial stiffness is an indicator of mortality. This study consists of an 18-month follow-up of the mortality in advanced heart failure patients with increased arterial stiffness.Methods: The study followed up 98 patients with a diagnosis of heart failure in NYHA class III and IV (76 males, 22 females and mean age of 60 ± 12 years) with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35% as determined by the Simpson method. Augmentation index (Aix) and pulse wave propagation velocity (PWV) parameters were used as indicators of arterial stiffness. Aix and PWV values were measured by arteriography.Results: 36 patients died. Both Aix and PWV were powerful determinants of mortality, independent of other prognostic variables (p = 0.013, OR: 0.805; p = 0.025, OR: 0.853). A cutoff value for Aix of –14.33 gave 91.2%, 80.3% sensitivity and specificity. A cutoff value for PWVof 11.06 gave 82.4%, 65.4% sensitivity and specificity mortality was predicted. Left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.008, OR: 0.859) and B-type natriuretic peptide (p = 0.01, OR: 0.833) was the other independent determinant of mortality. A significant difference was found inboth Aix and PWV between the compensated measurements and decompensated heart failure measurements made in 70 patients (p = 0.035, p = 0.048).Conclusions: Measurement of arterial stiffness is a convenient, inexpensive and reliable method for predicting mortality in patients with advanced heart failure

Domain dependent wordnet for real estate

Kelime ağı, anlamlarına göre organize edilmiş kelimeleri barındıran bir veritabanıdır. Bir kelime ağı, sahip olduğu kelimelerin anlamlarını, bilişsel eş anlamlılarını, türlerini, diğer anlamlar ile arasındaki ilişkilerini ve bu anlamların tanımlarını temsil eder. Bu çalışma ile, emlak alanına özgü bir sözlük oluşturmak ve bu yeni sözlüğü kullanarak daha küçük bir kelime ağı tasarlamak yoluyla biçimbilimsel çözümleme ve anlam belirsizliği giderme gibi Doğal Dil İşleme görevlerini kolaylaştıracak bir yöntem öneriyoruz. Ön çalışma olarak, emlak alanına özgü 7,000 kelime içeren bir sözlük ve yaklaşık 11,000 eş anlam kümesinden oluşan bir kelime ağı oluşturuldu ve bunlar çeşitli görevlerle doğrulandı.WordNet is a thesaurus which represents word senses, meanings of lemmas, relations between senses, and definitions of these senses. In this paper, we propose a method to simplify the morphological analysis and disambiguation tasks performed in a specific domain by creating a subset of original Turkish dictionary and WordNet. As a preliminary study, we create a dictionary for the estate domain with 7,000 words and a WordNet with 11,000 synsets, then validate them on simple tasks.We would like to thank Mehmet Gallen for discussions. This work has been supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in the framework of the Young Scientist Award Program (EA-TUBA-GEBIP/2001-1-1), Bogazici University Scientific Research Project 05HA101 and Turkish Scientific Technical Research Council TUBITAK EEEAG 104E079Publisher's Versio

МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ГОРОДСКИХ ПАССАЖИРСКИХ ПЕРЕВОЗОК

WOS: 000393490700003The association of Helicobacter pylori (HP) with cardiovascular disease remain inconclusive. Studies regarding arterial-stiffness (AS) in patients with HP infection are limited. We aimed to evaluate AS and QTc dispersion in patients with HP infection and the effect of eradication treatment on these outcomes. We enrolled patients with HP infection and healthy subjects. We measured AS and QTc dispersion in the baseline visit and after eradication treatment. We compared baseline measurements between the patients and controls. We compared baseline and follow-up variables to observe the effect of eradication treatment on AS and QTc dispersion. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. There was no significant difference in AS measures between the groups. QTc dispersion was significantly higher in the HP group compared with controls. After eradication, QTc dispersion tended to normalize. There was also a statistically significant improvement in augmentation index and a tendency towards improvement in pulse wave velocity. The findings of this study indicate possible influence of HP infection on ventricular repolarization and a potential benefit of eradication on ventricular repolarization and measures of arterial stiffness

Genç erişkin heterozigot orak hücre taşıyıcılarında arteryel sertlik ve Nabız dalga yansıması

Amaç: Nabız dalga hızı ve aort artırma indeksi arteryel sertliğin belirleyicileridir. Nabız dalga yansıması ve arteryel sertlik kardiyovasküler olaylar ve orak hücre hastalığı ile ilişkilidir. Ancak bu belirteçlerin heterozigot orak hücre taşıyıcılarına (HbAS) olan etkisi bilinmemektedir. Çalışmanın amacı genç erişkin heterozigot orak hücre taşıyıcılarında arteryel sertlik ve dalga yansımasını değerlendirmektir. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmaya 18-40 yaşlar arası 40 gönüllü (20 Hemoglobin AS, 20 Hemoglobin AA) dahil edildi. Arttırma indeksi ve nabız dalga hızı arteriyografi ile ölçüldü. Bulgular: Orak hücre taşıyıcılarında aort kan basıncı, aort artırma indeksi, brakiyal artırma indeksi değerleri kontrol grubuna (HbAA) göre anlamlı yüksek saptandı (p=0,033, 0.011, 0,011). Tüm çalışma popülasyonunda aort nabız dalga hızı, ortalama arter basıncı, yaş, aort artırma indeksi, brakiyal arttırma indeksi, kilo ve düşük yoğunluklu lipoprotein arasında istatistiksel pozitif anlamlı korelasyon saptandı (p=0,000, 0,017, 0,000, 0,000, 0,034, 0,05). Aort artırma indeksi ve yaş arasında anlamlı korelasyon bulundu (p=0,026). Orak hücre taşıyıcılarında aort nabız dalga hızı ve sistolik kan basıncı ile aort arttırma indeksi ve ortalama arter basıncı arasında anlamlı pozitif korelasyonlar saptandı (p=0,027, 0,009). Çalışmamızda ortalama arter basıncı ve kalp hızının aort artırma indeksi için, ortalama arter basıncı ve yaşın ise aort nabız dalga hızı için en önemli bağımsız belirleyiciler olduğu görüldü. Sonuç: Arteryel sertlik ölçümü HbAS taşıyıcılarında erken kardiyovasküler hastalık tanısı için kolay, ucuz ve uygun bir yöntemdir. Bu sonuçlar kırmızı kan hücrelerindeki hemoglobin S miktarına bağlı olabilir. Heterozigot orak hücre taşıyıcılarında, vasküler yaşlanma mekanizmasını açıklayabilmek için kan basıncı değişimlerinin arter sertliği üzerine olan etkilerini inceleyen daha çok çalışmaya ihtiyaç vardır.Objective: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and aortic augmentation index (AI) are indicators of arterial stiffness. Pulse wave reflection and arterial stiffness are related to cardiovascular events and sickle cell disease. However, the effect of these parameters on the heterozygous sickle cell trait (HbAS) is unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the arterial stiffness and wave reflection in young adult heterozygous sickle cell carriers. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 40 volunteers (20 HbAS cases, 20 hemoglobin AA [HbAA] cases) aged between 18 and 40 years. AI and PWV values were measured by arteriography. Results: Aortic blood pressure, aortic AI, and brachial AI values were significantly higher in HbAS cases compared to the control group (HbAA) (p=0.033, 0.011, and 0.011, respectively). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between aortic pulse wave velocity and mean arterial pressure, age, aortic AI, brachial AI, weight, and low-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.000, 0.017, 0.000, 0.000, 0.034, and 0.05, respectively) in the whole study population. Aortic AI and age were also significantly correlated (p=0.026). In addition, a positive correlation between aortic PWV and systolic blood pressure and a positive correlation between aortic AI and mean arterial pressure (p=0.027 and 0.009, respectively) were found in HbAS individuals. Our study reveals that mean arterial pressure and heart rate are independent determinants for the aortic AI. Mean arterial pressure and age are independent determinants for aortic PWV. Conclusion: Arterial stiffness measurement is an easy, cheap, and reliable method in the early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease in heterozygous sickle cell carriers. These results may depend on the amount of hemoglobin S in red blood cells. Further studies are required to investigate the blood pressure changes and its effects on arterial stiffness in order to explain the vascular aging mechanism in the HbAS trait population

Arterial Stiffness and Pulse Wave Reflection in Young Adult Heterozygous Sickle Cell Carriers

OBJECTIVE: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and aortic augmentation index (AI) are indicators of arterial stiffness. Pulse wave reflection and arterial stiffness are related to cardiovascular events and sickle cell disease. However, the effect of these parameters on the heterozygous sickle cell trait (HbAS) is unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the arterial stiffness and wave reflection in young adult heterozygous sickle cell carriers. METHODS: We enrolled 40 volunteers (20 HbAS cases, 20 hemoglobin AA [HbAA] cases) aged between 18 and 40 years. AI and PWV values were measured by arteriography. RESULTS: Aortic blood pressure, aortic AI, and brachial AI values were significantly higher in HbAS cases compared to the control group (HbAA) (p=0.033, 0.011, and 0.011, respectively). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between aortic pulse wave velocity and mean arterial pressure, age, aortic AI, brachial AI, weight, and low-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.000, 0.017, 0.000, 0.000, 0.034, and 0.05, respectively) in the whole study population. Aortic AI and age were also significantly correlated (p=0.026). In addition, a positive correlation between aortic PWV and systolic blood pressure and a positive correlation between aortic AI and mean arterial pressure (p=0.027 and 0.009, respectively) were found in HbAS individuals. Our study reveals that mean arterial pressure and heart rate are independent determinants for the aortic AI. Mean arterial pressure and age are independent determinants for aortic PWV. CONCLUSION: Arterial stiffness measurement is an easy, cheap, and reliable method in the early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease in heterozygous sickle cell carriers. These results may depend on the amount of hemoglobin S in red blood cells. Further studies are required to investigate the blood pressure changes and its effects on arterial stiffness in order to explain the vascular aging mechanism in the HbAS trait population

The prognostic value of arterial stiffness in systolic heart failure

Background: Increased arterial stiffness is an indicator of mortality. This study consists of an 18-month follow-up of the mortality in advanced heart failure patients with increased arterial stiffness. Methods: The study followed up 98 patients with a diagnosis of heart failure in NYHA class III and IV (76 males, 22 females and mean age of 60 ± 12 years) with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35% as determined by the Simpson method. Augmentation index (Aix) and pulse wave propagation velocity (PWV) parameters were used as indicators of arterial stiffness. Aix and PWV values were measured by arteriography. Results: 36 patients died. Both Aix and PWV were powerful determinants of mortality, independent of other prognostic variables (p = 0.013, OR: 0.805; p = 0.025, OR: 0.853). A cutoff value for Aix of –14.33 gave 91.2%, 80.3% sensitivity and specificity. A cutoff value for PWV of 11.06 gave 82.4%, 65.4% sensitivity and specificity mortality was predicted. Left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.008, OR: 0.859) and B-type natriuretic peptide (p = 0.01, OR: 0.833) was the other independent determinant of mortality. A significant difference was found in both Aix and PWV between the compensated measurements and decompensated heart failure measurements made in 70 patients (p = 0.035, p = 0.048). Conclusions: Measurement of arterial stiffness is a convenient, inexpensive and reliable method for predicting mortality in patients with advanced heart failure

Evaluation of Arterial Stiffness for Predicting Future Cardiovascular Events in Patients with ST Segment Elevation and Non-ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background. Arterial stiffness parameters in patients who experienced MACE after acute MI have not been studied sufficiently. We investigated arterial stiffness parameters in patients with ST segment elevation (STEMI) and non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Methods. Ninety-four patients with acute MI (45 STEMI and 49 NSTEMI) were included in the study. Arterial stiffness was assessed noninvasively by using TensioMed Arteriograph. Results. Arterial stiffness parameters were found to be higher in NSTEMI group but did not achieve statistical significance apart from pulse pressure (P=0.007). There was no significant difference at MACE rates between two groups. Pulse pressure and heart rate were also significantly higher in MACE observed group. Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), aortic augmentation index (AI), systolic area index (SAI), heart rate, and pulse pressure were higher; ejection fraction, the return time (RT), diastolic reflex area (DRA), and diastolic area index (DAI) were significantly lower in patients with major cardiovascular events. However, PWV, heart rate, and ejection fraction were independent indicators at development of MACE. Conclusions. Parameters of arterial stiffness and MACE rates were similar in patients with STEMI and NSTEMI in one year followup. The independent prognostic indicator aortic PWV may be an easy and reliable method for determining the risk of future events in patients hospitalized with acute MI

Cystatin C is better than albuminuria as a predictor of pulse wave velocity in hypertensive patients

Introduction: Arterial stiffness is important in the evaluation of the cardiovascular risk in both general population and hypertensive patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the associations of both serum cystatin C levels and albuminuria with arterial stiffness in healthy controls and hypertensive patients