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

THE TRANSFORMATION BEHAVIOUR OF SOME DILUTE URANIUM ALLOYS

Metallographic and dilatometric studies of the heat treatment behavior of technical uranium and certain alloys of interest for use in natural-uranium fuelled reactors are described. The micro-structure and secondary phases present in high purity and technical purity uranium are first discussed and the time- temperature-transformation data presented. Results on binary alloys comprising U/ Al, U/Cr, U/Fe, U/Mo, U/Nb, U/Ti, U/V, and U/Zr, containing up to about 2 at.% of the alloying element, are described. Cr, Fe, and Zr were found to be the most effective grain refining agents. Al and V were satisfactory under some conditions whereas Mo, Nb, and Ti were ineffective. The grain-size results together with the time-temperaturetransformation curves indicated that grain refinement is associated with depression of the temperature of transformation on heat treatment, the extent of this depression for a given cooling rate being dependent on the alloy content. In practice it was found that alloys such as U/ Zr and U/Fe responded to water quenching treatments, and optimum refinement of others (e.k., U/Cr) resulted from isothermal treatment at 500 to 600 deg C. (auth

A new approach to evaluating on-road public transport priority projects: balancing the demand for limited road-space

Despite widespread growth in on-road public transport priority schemes, road management authorities have few tools to evaluate the impacts of these schemes on all road users. This paper describes a methodology developed in Melbourne, Australia to assist the road management authority, VicRoads, evaluate trade-offs in the use of its limited road-space for new bus and tram priority projects. The approach employs traffic micro-simulation modelling to assess road-space re-allocation impacts, travel behaviour modelling to assess changes in travel patterns and a social cost benefit framework to evaluate impacts. The evaluation considers a comprehensive range of impacts including the environmental benefits of improved public transport services. Impacts on public transport reliability improvements are also considered. Although improved bus and tram reliability is a major rationale for traffic priority its use in previous evaluations is rare. The paper critiques previous approaches, describes the proposed method and explores some of the results found in its application. A major finding is that despite a more comprehensive approach to measuring the benefits of bus and tram priority, road-space reallocation is difficult to economically justify in road networks where public transport usage is low and car usage high. Strategies involving the balanced deployment of bus and tram priority measures where the allocation of time and space to PT minimises negative traffic impacts is shown to improve the overall management of road-space. A discussion of the approach is also provided including suggestions for further methodology development. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Bus priority, Economic evaluation, Road space management, Traffic simulation, Traffic planning, Tram priority,