Telemonitoring in Chronic Heart Failure: A Systematic Review

Heart failure (HF) is a growing epidemic with the annual number of hospitalizations constantly increasing over the last decades for HF as a primary or secondary diagnosis. Despite the emergence of novel therapeutic approached that can prolong life and shorten hospital stay, HF patients will be needing rehospitalization and will often have a poor prognosis. Telemonitoring is a novel diagnostic modality that has been suggested to be beneficial for HF patients. Telemonitoring is viewed as a means of recording physiological data, such as body weight, heart rate, arterial blood pressure, and electrocardiogram recordings, by portable devices and transmitting these data remotely (via a telephone line, a mobile phone or a computer) to a server where they can be stored, reviewed and analyzed by the research team. In this systematic review of all randomized clinical trials evaluating telemonitoring in chronic HF, we aim to assess whether telemonitoring provides any substantial benefit in this patient population

Estimation of selectivity parameters for target and bycatch fishes of the trammel net fisheries in the northern Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean Sea)

The size selectivity of trammel nets was investigated in the northern Aegean Sea using 10 different inner-panel mesh sizes ranging from 16 to 70 mm nominal mesh size (bar length). Selectivity estimates were made for the eight most abundant target and bycatch fish species, namely black scorpionfish, Scorpaena porcus Linnaeus, 1758; annular seabream, Diplodus annularis (Linnaeus, 1758); red mullet, Mullus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758; surmullet, Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus, 1758; round sardinella, Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847; European hake, Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758); greater weever, Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758; and blotched picarel, Spicara flexuosum Rafinesque, 1810, which accounted for 51.5% by number and 42.7% by weight of the fish caught with trammel nets in the sea trials. The SELECT method was used to estimate the selectivity parameters. Five different selectivity functions (i.e., normal scale, normal location, gamma, log-normal, and bi-normal) were applied with the bi-normal function providing the best fit as it had the lowest deviance value for all species and the lowest values for the dispersion parameter (D/df). The mesh size of 16 mm in most of the cases retained specimens below the size at first maturity (Lm). The mesh size of 19 mm seems more appropriate for red mullet, surmullet, and blotched picarel, the mesh size of 22 mm for annular seabream and round sardinella, while for European hake and black scorpionfish, the mesh size larger than 26 mm would be more appropriate

Edad y crecimiento de la Alacha (Sardinella aurita) en el Mediterráneo noreste

The round sardinella, Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847, was sampled monthly from commercial purse-seine vessels in Kavala Gulf (northern Aegean Sea, Greece) for two complete year cycles (September 2000-August 2002). Its maximum total length and age were 248 mm and 5 years respectively. The length-weight relationship was W=0.0062TL3.064 for males and W=0.0059TL3.084 for females. The marginal increment analysis on scales (n=1352) confirmed annulus formation during February-March, which coincided with the lowest sea surface temperature prevailing in the study area. The marginal increment ratio for ages 1, 2 and 3 was positively correlated with sea surface temperature (all r >0.4, P0.4, P< 0.05). Los parámetros de la ecuación de crecimiento de von Bertalanffy fueron L?=248.678 mm, K=0.509 años-1 y t0. La comparación de parámetros de crecimiento de la alacha para el Mediterráneo y las aguas del noroeste de África indican diferentes patrones de crecimiento entre las dos áreas

Evaluation of Marine Recreational Fisheries and Their Relation to Sustainability of Fisheries Resources in Greece

During 2019, Greece conducted a nationwide telephone survey in order to estimate the number of marine recreational fishers (MRF), to identify the main fishing methods, to estimate their effort, economic aspects of their activity and to evaluate certain perceptions of marine recreational fishing. MRF are estimated to be 7.93% of the country&rsquo;s resident population. Three main fishing methods were identified, fishing from the shore, fishing by boat and spearfishing. It is estimated that Greek MRF carry out approximately 11,461,765 fishing trips/year, their total catch is 9350 t/year and the total yearly expenditure is 132,186,000 Euros. Marine recreational catches constitute one-third of the reported small scale coastal fisheries&rsquo; catches, with their main catches belonging to the Sparidae family. The majority of MRFs are aware of the rules and limits associated with their activity, however a significant percentage seems to ignore or deny their existence. The results of the study indicate the social and economic importance of the activity in Greece and clearly demonstrates the need for regular monitoring and field work in order to properly evaluate marine recreational fisheries and sustainably manage both the activity and fisheries resources in the country

Ultrahigh-density spin-polarized hydrogen isotopes from the photodissociation of hydrogen halides: new applications for laser-ion acceleration, magnetometry, and polarized nuclear fusion

Recently, our group produced spin-polarized hydrogen (SPH) atoms at densities of at least 10^19 cm^−3 from the photodissociation of hydrogen halide molecules with circularly polarized UV light and measured them via magnetization-quantum beats with a pickup coil. These densities are approximately 7 orders of magnitude higher than those produced using conventional methods, opening up new fields of application, such as ultrafast magnetometry, the production of polarized MeV and GeV particle beams, such as electron beams with intensities approximately 10^4 higher than current sources, and the study of polarized nuclear fusion, for which the reaction cross sections of D–T and D–3He reactions are expected to increase by 50% for fully polarized nuclear spins. We review the production, detection, depolarization mechanisms, and potential applications of high-density SPH

Efficacy and safety of high dose versus low dose furosemide with or without dopamine infusion: The Dopamine in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure II (DAD-HF II) Trial

Aims: The role of low-dose dopamine infusion in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remains controversial. We aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-versus low-dose furosemide with or without low-dose dopamine infusion in this patient population. Methods and results: 161 ADHF patients (78 years; 46% female; ejection fraction 31%) were randomized to 8-hour continuous infusions of: a) high-dose furosemide (HDF, n = 50, 20 mg/h), b) low-dose furosemide and low-dose dopamine (LDFD, n = 56, 5 mg/h and 5 mu g kg(-1) min(-1) respectively), or c) low-dose furosemide (LDF, n = 55, furosemide 5 mg/h). The main outcomes were 60-day and one-year all-cause mortality (ACM) and hospitalization for HF (HHF). Dyspnea relief (Borg index), worsening renal function (WRF, rise in serum creatinine (sCr) >= 0.3 mg/dL), and length of stay (LOS) were also assessed. The urinary output at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h was not significantly different in the three groups. Neither the ACM at day 60 (4.0%, 7.1%, and 7.2%; P = 0.74) or at one year (38.1%, 33.9% and 32.7%, P = 0.84) nor the HHF at day 60 (22.0%, 21.4%, and 14.5%, P = 0.55) or one year (60.0%, 50.0%, and 47%, P = 0.40) differed between HDF, LDFD, and LDF groups, respectively. No differences in the Borg index or LOS were noted. WRF was higher in the HDF than in LDFD and LDF groups at day 1 (24% vs. 11% vs. 7%, P < 0.0001) but not at sCr peak (44% vs. 38% vs. 29%, P = 0.27). No significant differences in adverse events were noted. Conclusions: In ADHF patients, there were no significant differences in the in-hospital and post-discharge outcomes between high-vs. low-dose furosemide infusion; the addition of low-dose dopamine infusion was not associated with any beneficial effects. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Spawning period of Mediterranean marine fishes

We collected all available information (i.e. international and local journals, conference proceedings, theses, technical reports) on the spawning season (n = 511 stocks, 168 species), gonadosomatic index (n = 237 stocks, 81 species) and sex ratio (n = 97 stocks, 68 species) of Mediterranean marine fish. The 511 stocks represented 20 orders (most were Perciformes, 283 stocks) and 65 families (most were Sparidae: 17 species and 63 stocks). Overall, 346 stocks (128 species) spawned between April and August, 139 stocks (60 species) between September and March, while the remaining 26 stocks (13 species) were all-year-round spawners. In addition, 174 stocks (34.1%) were characterised by an extended (> 4 months) spawning season, but, for most stocks (332 stocks, 64.4%), spawning duration ranged from 2 to 4 months inclusive. Regardless of the onset and the duration of spawning, the spawning period of 284 and 287 stocks included June and July, respectively, indicating that most Mediterranean species are summer spawners. Female gonadosomatic index ranged between 0.06 and 37 (mean +/- A SE = 8.55 +/- A 0.647, n = 95) and was significantly higher (t-test: t = 5.58, P < 0.001) than the corresponding male one, which ranged between 0.06 and 30 (mean +/- A SE = 4.21 +/- A 0.431, n = 95). Congeneric species that occupied the same area and share the same requirements exhibited successive and non-overlapping spawning (e.g. Sparidae in the Adriatic Sea, Mugilidae in the Ionian Sea and Tunisian waters). The knowledge of the spawning period coupled with information on spawning and nursery grounds and detailed knowledge of mating systems, social interactions, maturity and fecundity may be very useful for fisheries management