Organic.Edunet Web Portal: User Satisfaction Analysis

The Organic.Edunet Web portal is a multilingual federation of educational repositories, developed in order to enhance the availability and retrieval of quality educational resources about Organic Agriculture (OA) and Agroecology (AE). This paper presents the results of an online survey that took place from March to August 2010 in order to evaluate the user satisfaction from the Organic.Edunet Web portal. A standard methodology was followed in this survey, which was based on the WebQual questionnaire with the required modifications. The collected results were analyzed and statistically processed in order to lead to the corresponding conclusions

Naxos Disease

Since 1995, according to the World Health Organisation’s classification of cardiomyopathies, Naxos disease has been considered as the recessive form of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C).1 It is a stereotype association of ARVD/C with a cutaneous phenotype, characterised by woolly hair and palmoplantar keratoderma.2 Epidemiology Naxos disease was first reported in 1986 by Protonotarios et al in patients originating from the Hellenic island of Naxos.2,3 Apart from Naxos, cases have also been reported from other Hellenic islands, as well as from Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia.4 The prevalence of the disease in Hellenic islands reaches 1:1000. A variety of Naxos disease presenting at a younger age with more pronounced left ventricular involvement has been described in families from India and Ecuador (Carvajal syndrome)

Naxos disease: Cardiocutaneous syndrome due to cell adhesion defect

Naxos disease is a recessively inherited condition with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) and a cutaneous phenotype, characterised by peculiar woolly hair and palmoplantar keratoderma. The disease was first described in families originating from the Greek island of Naxos. Moreover, affected families have been identified in other Aegean islands, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia. A syndrome with the same cutaneous phenotype and predominantly left ventricular involvement has been described in families from India and Ecuador (Carvajal syndrome). Woolly hair appears from birth, palmoplantar keratoderma develop during the first year of life and cardiomyopathy is clinically manifested by adolescence with 100% penetrance. Patients present with syncope, sustained ventricular tachycardia or sudden death. Symptoms of right heart failure appear during the end stages of the disease. In the Carvajal variant the cardiomyopathy is clinically manifested during childhood leading more frequently to heart failure. Mutations in the genes encoding the desmosomal proteins plakoglobin and desmoplakin have been identified as the cause of Naxos disease. Defects in the linking sites of these proteins can interrupt the contiguous chain of cell adhesion, particularly under conditions of increased mechanical stress or stretch, leading to cell death, progressive loss of myocardium and fibro-fatty replacement. Implantation of an automatic cardioverter defibrillator is indicated for prevention of sudden cardiac death. Antiarrhythmic drugs are used for preventing recurrences of episodes of sustained ventricular tachycardia and classical pharmacological treatment for congestive heart failure, while heart transplantation is considered at the end stages

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia on the basis of the revised diagnostic criteria in affected families with desmosomal mutations

Aims To evaluate arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC/D) in affected families with desmosome mutations on the basis of the recently revised Task Force Criteria (TFC).Methods and results One hundred and three consecutive carriers of pathogenic desmosome mutations and 102 mutation-negative relatives belonging to 22 families with dominant and 14 families with recessive ARVC/D were evaluated according to the original and revised TFC. Serial cardiac assessment with 12-lead, signal-averaged, and 24 h ambulatory ECG and two-dimensional echocardiography was performed. Clinical events and outcome were prospectively analysed up to 24 years (median 4 years). With the revised criteria, 16 carriers were newly diagnosed on the basis of ECG abnormalities in 100%, ventricular arrhythmias in 79%, and functional/structural alterations in 31%, increasing diagnostic sensitivity from 57 to 71% (P=0.001). Task Force Criteria specificity improved from 92 to 99% (P=0.016). In dominant mutation carriers, penetrance changed significantly (61 vs. 42%, P=0.001); no changes were observed in recessive homozygous carriers (97 vs. 97%, P=1.00). Affected carriers according to the revised TFC (n=73) had 12-lead ECG abnormalities in 96%, ventricular arrhythmias in 91%, and functional/structural alterations fulfilling echocardiographic criteria in 76%. Cumulative and event-free survival did not differ significantly between dominant and recessive affected carriers, being at 78.6 vs. 76 and 51.7 vs. 55.4%, respectively, by the age of 40 years.Conclusion Revised TFC increased diagnostic sensitivity particularly in dominant ARVC/D. Serial family evaluation may rely on electrocardiography which seems to have the best diagnostic utility particularly in early disease that is not detectable by two-dimensional echocardiography

Mechanistic insights into arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy caused by desmocollin-2 mutations

Aims: Recent immunohistochemical studies observed the loss of plakoglobin (PG) from the intercalated disc (ID) as a hallmark of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), suggesting a final common pathway for this disease. However, the underlying molecular processes are poorly understood. Methods and results: We have identified novel mutations in the desmosomal cadherin desmocollin 2 (DSC2 R203C, L229X, T275M, and G371fsX378). The two missense mutations (DSC2 R203C and T275M) have been functionally characterized, together with a previously reported frameshift variant (DSC2 A897fsX900), to examine their pathogenic potential towards PG's functions at the ID. The three mutant proteins were transiently expressed in various cellular systems and assayed for expression, processing, localization, and binding to other desmosomal components in comparison to wild-type DSC2a protein. The two missense mutations showed defects in proteolytic cleavage, a process which is required for the functional activation of mature cadherins. In both cases, this is thought to cause a reduction of functional DSC2 at the desmosomes in cardiac cells. In contrast, the frameshift variant was incorporated into cardiac desmosomes; however, it showed reduced binding to PG. Conclusion: Despite different modes of action, for all three variants, the reduced ability to provide a ligand for PG at the desmosomes was observed. This is in agreement with the reduced intensity of PG at these structures observed in ARVC patients