Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Strength, behavior, and failure mode of hollow concrete masonry constructed with mortars of different strengths

This study reports the failure modes of hollow concrete masonry prisms, taking into account the block and mortar stress-strain behavior. An extensive and detailed experimental program has been conducted on three-block high stack-bonded prisms, built using a combination of one hollow block type and three mortars with different strengths. Based on the results of the experiments, masonry failure was assessed. The main conclusion of this is that the mortar in all cases governs the Masonry failure mechanism.The ratio between the masonry and block moduli of elasticity, which can be used as a measure of loss of stiffness, indicates that masonry built with a strong mortar behaves almost as a homogenous material. The typical failure mode observed during testing for this type of masonry was due to tensile stresses developed in the block. A crack developed at and propagated instantly through the block face until reaching the mortar bed joint; the crack then propagated through the head joint causing a localized split at the interface between block and mortar. For masonry built with two different weak mortars, as the stress/strength ratio increased, the ratio between the masonry and mortar moduli of elasticity decreased to 0.32 and 0.55, for the weak and the weaker mortar respectively. The observed failure mode, however, was independent of how weak the mortar was since, for both cases, the masonry failed due to localized mortar crushing.Another conclusion from the study presented herein is that a robust and reliable prediction of the masonry compressive strength requires the use of the nonlinear stress-strain relationship of the component materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The author would like to thank the "Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior" (CAPES - Brazil) for the financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comportamento de monta e características seminais de suínos jovens landrace e large white Mating behavior and seminal characteristics in young landrace and large white boars

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o comportamento de monta e as características seminais de machos Landrace (LD) e Large White (LW) dos 143 aos 232 dias de idade. A partir dos 143 dias de idade, 62 machos suínos foram avaliados quanto ao comportamento de monta. A partir dos 150 dias de idade, o sêmen foi coletado de 33 desses machos durante onze semanas para avaliar a produção e qualidade espermáticas. Não houve diferenças entre as raças em relação ao comportamento de monta (p=0,105). Durante o período de coletas de sêmen, houve aumento do volume de sêmen, da concentração espermática, do número de espermatozóides (SPTZ) ejaculados e da liberação diária de SPTZ (LDE). O percentual de células espermáticas anormais diminuiu durante o período e não houve diferença entre as raças (P=0,523). Os machos LD ejacularam maior volume de sêmen (P=0,016), de espermatozóides totais por ejaculado (P=0,070) e apresentaram maior LDE (P=0,042). Esses dados indicam que machos LD apresentam maior produção espermática e maior potencial para produzir doses de sêmen no período pós-púbere.<br>The aim of this work was to evaluate mating behavior and seminal characteristics of Landrace (LD) and Large White (LW) boars from 143 to 232 days of age. With 143 days of age, LD (n=28) and LW (n=34) boars were evaluated in relation to mating behavior. Being 150 days of age, semen was collected from 33 of these males during eleven weeks to evaluate sperm production and quality. No difference was observed between breeds in relation to mating behavior. During the period of semen collection, there was an increase in semen volume, sperm concentration and motility, total sperm in ejaculate, and in daily sperm output (DSO). The percent of abnormal sperm cells decreased during the period and there was no difference between breeds (P=0.523). The LD boars ejaculated higher semen volume (P=0,016), total sperm in ejaculate (P=0.070), and showed higher DSO (P=0.042). These data indicate that LD boars show higher sperm production, and higher potential to produce semen doses in post pubertal period

Degree of conversion of Z250 composite determined by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: comparison of techniques, storage periods and photo-activation methods

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of conversion (DC) of the Z250 composite, using six photo-activation methods, two storage periods and two preparation techniques of the FTIR specimens (n = 3). For the KBr pellet technique, the composite was placed into a metallic mold and photo-activated as follows: continuous light, exponential light, intermittent light, stepped light, PAC and LED. The measurements were made after 24 h and 20 days. For the resin film technique, approximately 0.07 g of the composite was pressed between two polyester strips, photo-activated as above described and analyzed. The DC was calculated by the standard technique and submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha = 5%). Independently of the storage period and specimen preparation technique, there were no significant differences among photo-activation methods. No statistical difference was observed between the time periods used. The specimens analyzed under the KBr pellet technique presented higher DC values than those analyzed by the resin film technique