The usefulness of optical coherence tomography in a patient on antiplatelet therapy and requiring surgery

Establishing a balance between the risk of stent thrombosis and the risk of perioperative bleeding in patients treatedwith dual antiplatelet therapy remains a major therapeutic challenge. We report a case of 60-year-old man after stent implantation in left main coronary artery and requiring urgent operative treatment. The result of optical coherence tomography helped us to decide about further proceeding and is an example of a very helpful application of this new imaging technique in everyday practice.Establishing a balance between the risk of stent thrombosis and the risk of perioperative bleeding in patients treatedwith dual antiplatelet therapy remains a major therapeutic challenge. We report a case of 60-year-old man after stent implantation in left main coronary artery and requiring urgent operative treatment. The result of optical coherence tomography helped us to decide about further proceeding and is an example of a very helpful application of this new imaging technique in everyday practice

Innovative Turbine Intake Air Cooling Systems and Their Rational Designing

Innovative Turbine Intake Air Cooling Systems and Their Rational Designing / A. Radchenko, E. Trushliakov, K. Kosowski, D. Mikielewicz, M. Radchenko // Energies. – 2020. – № 13 (23). – P. 6201.Abstract: The efficiency of cooling ambient air at the inlet of gas turbines in temperate climatic conditions was analyzed and reserves for its enhancing through deep cooling were revealed. Amethod of logical analysis of the actual operation efficiency of turbine intake air cooling systems in real varying environment, supplemented by the simplest numerical simulation was used to synthesize new solutions. As a result, a novel trend in engine intake air cooling to 7 or 10 ◦C in temperate climatic conditions by two-stage cooling in chillers of combined type, providing an annual fuel saving of practically 50%, surpasses its value gained due to traditional air cooling to about 15 ◦C in absorption lithium-bromide chiller of a simple cycle, and is proposed. On analyzing the actual efficiency of turbine intake air cooling system, the current changes in thermal loads on the system in response to varying ambient air parameters were taken into account and annual fuel reduction was considered to be a primary criterion, as an example. The improved methodology of the engine intake air cooling system designing based on the annual effect due to cooling was developed. It involves determiningtheoptimalvalueofcoolingcapacity,providingtheminimumsystemsizesatmaximum rate of annual effect increment, and its rational value, providing a close to maximum annual effect without system oversizing at the second maximum rate of annual effect increment within the range beyondthefirstmaximumrate. Therationalvalueofdesigncoolingcapacityprovidespracticallythe maximum annual fuel saving but with the sizes of cooling systems reduced by 15 to 20% due to the correspondinglyreduceddesigncoolingcapacityofthesystemsascomparedwiththeirvaluesdefined by traditional designing focused to cover current peaked short-term thermal loads. The optimal value of cooling capacity providing the minimum sizes of cooling system is very reasonable for applyingtheenergysavingtechnologies,forinstance,basedon the thermalstoragewithaccumulating excessive (not consumed) cooling capacities at lowered current thermal loads to cover the peak loads. The application of developed methodology enables revealing the thermal potential for enhancing the efficiency of any combustion engine (gas turbines and engines, internal combustion engines, etc.)

Pathway: a fast and flexible unified stream data processing framework for analytical and Machine Learning applications

We present Pathway, a new unified data processing framework that can run workloads on both bounded and unbounded data streams. The framework was created with the original motivation of resolving challenges faced when analyzing and processing data from the physical economy, including streams of data generated by IoT and enterprise systems. These required rapid reaction while calling for the application of advanced computation paradigms (machinelearning-powered analytics, contextual analysis, and other elements of complex event processing). Pathway is equipped with a Table API tailored for Python and Python/SQL workflows, and is powered by a distributed incremental dataflow in Rust. We describe the system and present benchmarking results which demonstrate its capabilities in both batch and streaming contexts, where it is able to surpass state-of-the-art industry frameworks in both scenarios. We also discuss streaming use cases handled by Pathway which cannot be easily resolved with state-of-the-art industry frameworks, such as streaming iterative graph algorithms (PageRank, etc.)

The use of rotational atherectomy in high-risk patients: results from a high-volume centre

Background: Rotational atherectomy (RA) is indicated for fibrocalcified lesions when traditional percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) could not be successfully performed. In some of the high-risk patients the RA procedure is the last resort for successful revascularisation. Such patients are, among others, those in whom coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is not feasible.Aim: The aim of the study was to assess in-hospital and one-year outcomes of PCI with RA in high-risk patients without other revascularisation options (RA-only group), in comparison to lower-risk patients undergoing RA.Methods: We evaluated data of 207 consecutive patients who underwent PCI with RA. Primary endpoints were one-year all-cause mortality and one-year major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). Secondary endpoints were in-hospital outcomes.Results: During the study 35% of patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria to the high-risk group. Those patients had significantly lower left ventricular ejection fraction, more often prior CABG, higher admission glucose level, and higher EuroSCORE II and Syntax Score. Procedural success was similar in both groups (85% in RA-only group vs. 91% in remaining patients, p = 0.18). In-hospital outcomes were similar, except more frequent no/slow-flow phenomenon in the RA-only group. The MACE and mortality rates in one-year follow-up were not statistically different in both groups (19% vs. 18%, p = 0.82 and 11% vs. 9%, p = 0.64, respectively).Conclusions: Despite the high-risk characteristics of the study subgroup, no significant differences between in-hospital and one-year outcomes were found in comparison to lower-risk RA patients. Complex PCI with RA in patients without other revascularisation options should be taken into consideration

Could an analysis of mean corpuscular volume help to improve risk stratification in non-anemic patients with acute myocardial infarction?

Background: Nowadays, when the majority of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention and modern pharmacotherapy, risk stratification becomes a challenge. Simple and easily accessible parameters that would help in a better determination of prognosis are needed. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of high mean corpuscular volume (MCV, defined as MCV > 92 fL) and to establish its prognostic value in non-anemic patients with AMI. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 248 consecutive non-anemic patients hospitalized due to AMI (median age: 65 [59–76] years, men: 63%, ST segment elevation myocardial infarction: 31%, and median left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF]: 50%). Results: The prevalence of high MCV was 39 ± 6% (± 95% confidence interval) in the entire AMI population. High MCV was more prevalent in males, patients with low body mass index, non-diabetics and cigarette smokers (all p < 0.05). During the 180-day follow-up, there were 38 (15%) events, defined as another AMI or death. In a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model, female gender (p < 0.01), low LVEF (p < 0.001), previous AMI (p < 0.05), arterial hypertension (p < 0.05), and high MCV (p < 0.001) were prognosticators of pre-defined events. Conclusions: In non-anemic patients with AMI, high MCV is an independent prognostic factor of poor outcome defined as another AMI or death.

Państwo, gospodarka, społeczeństwo w integrującej się Europie TOM 1

Ze wstępu: "III Międzynarodowa Konferencja Naukowa, jaką w pierwszych dniach czerwca 2003 roku zorganizowała Krakowska Szkoła Wyższa, poświęcona była uczczeniu wyjątkowego jubileuszu 500-lecia urodzin jej patrona - Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego. Jednak to nie myśl polityczna tego wielkiego Polaka i reformatora stała się wiodącym tematem konferencji. W centrum zainteresowań znalazły się zagadnienia 0 wiele bardziej aktualne, dotyczące bowiem integracji europejskiej. Problematyka tym bardziej żywotna, gdyż dotykająca bieżącego życia politycznego - zwłaszcza w kontekście referendum akcesyjnego, które odbyło się w równy tydzień po konferencji. Tak więc jej uczestnicy mieli doskonałą okazję do podjęcia interesujących rozważań związanych z perspektywą rozwoju państwa, gospodarki i społeczeństwa w warunkach integracji europejskiej."(...