Weather-monitoring instrumentation for plant disease management programs and epidemiological studies, Station Bulletin, no.519

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Utajona ekstrasystolia z pęczka Hisa przyczyną bloku przedsionkowo-komorowego

We present electrocardiograms of a 37 year-old male with frequent extrasystoles and second-degree atrioventricular block.Electrophysiological study confirmed the initial diagnosis of manifest and concealed His bundle ectopy as the cause of hisbrady- and tachyarrhythmia

Pomiar bronchospastycznych eikozanoidów w przewlekłej obturacyjnej chorobie płuc

Introduction: The aim of the study was to evaluate the concentration of 9a11b prostaglandin F2, a stable metabolite of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and leukotriene E4 (LTE4), in patients with stable and exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Material and methods: The study included 29 COPD patients aged 73 ± 8.34 years, with mean FEV1 = 48.64 ± 15.75% of predicted normal value, and 29 healthy controls aged 57.48 ± 10.86 years, with mean FEV1 = 97.17 ± 13.81% of predicted normal value. Urine and blood samples were taken from COPD patients during exacerbation and in the stable phase of the disease; LTE4 was measured in urine using commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and 9a11b prostaglandin F2 (9a11bPGF2), a stable metabolite of PGD2, was measured in blood and urine using GC/MS. Results: Urine concentrations of LTE4 in urine (677.15 vs. 436.4 pg/mg of creatinine; p = 0.035) and serum levels of 9a11bPGF2 (5.35 vs. 3.07 pg/ml; p = 0.007) were significantly higher in patients with exacerbated COPD than in the control group. There was no difference in LTE4 levels in urine and 9a11bPGF2 in serum between exacerbated and stable COPD. The urinary 9a11bPGF2 concentration did not differ between the studied groups. We found a positive correlation between smoking history and urine LTE4 level (r = 0.395; p = 0.002) as well as blood 9a11bPGF2 concentration (r = 0.603; p = 0.001) in COPD patients. Conclusions: Urine levels of 9a11bPGF2 and LTE4 did not differ between the stable COPD group and the control group. There were no differences between urine LTE4 levels and blood and urine 9a11bPGF2 levels between exacerbated and stable COPD. Finally, LTE4 concentration in urine and 9a11bPGF2 in blood were significantly higher in exacerbated COPD patients than in the control group

Echocardiographic assessment of right ventricular function in responders and non-responders to cardiac resynchronization therapy

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether baseline right ventricular (RV) function assessed by standard echocardiography may indicate patients who will respond to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Material and methods: The data of 57 patients (54 men, 95%), aged 66.4 ±8.7 years with heart failure (HF) having a CRT device implanted were collected. All patients had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35% and QRS complex duration ≥ 120 ms. Echocardiographic examination with tissue Doppler imaging techniques and complex RV evaluation were performed at baseline and three months after CRT onset. Results: Three months after CRT implantation, patients responding to CRT, defined as a reduction of left ventricle end-systolic volume (LVESV) of at least 10% (n = 34), compared to patients with a reduction of LVESV of less than 10% (n = 23), had at baseline a smaller right atrium diameter (47.85 ±11.33 mm vs. 52.65 ±8.69 mm; p = 0.028), higher TAPSE (14.56 ±2.57 mm vs. 13.04 ±2.93 mm; p = 0.030) and lower grade of tricuspid valve regurgitation (1.82 ±0.97 vs. 2.3 ±0.88; p = 0.033). Conclusions: This study showed that there are differences in baseline right ventricular function between responders and non-responders to CRT. Yet in our study, none of the baseline RV parameters provided any value in identifying patients who would respond to CRT

Baseline tissue Doppler imaging-derived echocardiographic parameters and left ventricle reverse remodelling following cardiac resynchronization therapy introduction

Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess the relation of baseline mechanical dyssynchrony with the left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) decrease following cardiac resynchronization (CRT) therapy introduction. Material and methods: Sixty consecutive patients (aged 66.3 ±8.7 years; 57 men) with chronic heart failure (71.7% of ischaemic and 28.3% of non-ischaemic origin) and current indications for CRT were assessed before and 3 months after biventricular heart stimulator implantation. Longitudinal movements of twelve segments of the left ventricle (LV) (6 basal and 6 midlevel) and two segments of the right ventricle (RV) were analysed using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) techniques with time from onset of Q wave in ECG to peak systolic velocity in colour-coded TDI (TTDI ), time to peak strain (Tstrain) and time to peak strain rate (Tstrain rate). Minimal and maximal time differences within LV and between LV and RV walls were calculated. Results: In the study group LVEF and 6-min walk test distance increased, while NYHA class, NT-proBNP level, left ventricular end-diastolic volume and LVESV decreased. Significant correlations between the magnitude of LVESV reduction with maximal time differences between Tstrain of 12 LV segments (r = 0.34, p = 0.017) and time differences between TTDI basal LV-RV segments (r = –0.29, p = 0.041) were found. Conclusions: Only a few TDI-derived parameters such as maximal time differences between Tstrain of 12 LV segments and TTDI difference of LV-RV basal segments can be useful to predict the magnitude of left ventricle reverse remodelling after CRT introduction

On the role of trust in child-robot interaction

In child-robot interaction, the element of trust towards the robot is critical. This is particularly important the first time the child meets the robot, as the trust gained during this interaction can play a decisive role in future interactions. We present an in-the-wild study where Polish kindergartners interacted with a Pepper robot. The videos of this study were analyzed for the issues of trust, anthropomorphization, and reaction to malfunction, with the assumption that the last two factors influence the children’s trust towards Pepper. Our results reveal children’s interest in the robot performing tasks specific for humans, highlight the importance of the conversation scenario and the need for an extended library of answers provided by the robot about its abilities or origin and show how children tend to provoke the robot