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

Changes in some water quality conditions in recycling water using three types of biofiltration systems during the production of the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell): Part I: Relative efficiency in the breakdown of nitrogenous wastes by the different biofiltration units

A comparison is made of the relative efficiencies in the breakdown of nitrogenous wastes of three types of water recirculation biofiltration units used during the production of the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell). Two types of trickling filters were employed. One contained PVC shavings with a calculated surface contact area of 1 220 m2. The second is a more sophisticated biofilter unit made up with Siporax porous sintered glass cylinders with a total surface water contact area of 32 000 m2. The third filter consisted of a rotating biological contactor unit with a water contact surface area of 271.2 m2. Investigations showed that the PVC shavings filter unit was clearly the most efficient of the three by transforming more than 96% of the NH3-N into NO3-N. This was followed by the rotating biological contactor with a 93% efficiency and lastly by the Siporax filter with an almost 93% efficiency. The outcome of the section on the production of Clarias gariepinus follows in Part 2 of this series.Articl

Changes in some water quality conditions in recycling water using three types of biofiltration systems during the production of the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell): Part II: Growth and production of sharptooth catfish over a period of 78 days

An investigation into the growth and production of the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell) was conducted over a period of 75 d in recirculating water, using three types of biofiltration systems. Yields fluctuating between 195.2 kg and 242.1 kg were obtained with the mean fish mass per m3 of water ranging between 19.5 and 22.5 kg. A biofilter system using PVC shavings was not only found to be the most efficient in the transformation of nitrogenous wastes, but also produced the highest growth and production of catfish as well as the best feed conversion ratio of the three biofiltration systems used.Articl