Posthypoxic encephalopathy in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery: clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging aspects

Posthypoxic encephalopathy is a frequent complication after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), which includes stroke, early postoperative delirium, and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (PCD). The more pronounced prevalence and severity of the latter during surgery using extracorporeal circulation are currently being discussed.Objective: to analyze various types of cerebral dysfunction in patients undergoing CABG and to determine the role of perioperative factors in its development.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 53 patients who had undergone elective CABG for coronary heart disease. Group 1 included 20 patients who had undergone beating-heart surgery; Group 2 comprised 33 patients, in whom CABG had been performed using extracorporeal circulation (ECC). Neuropsychological testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (structural and functional techniques) were carried out.Results and discussion. Posthypoxic encephalopathy was diagnosed in 10 and 67% of patients in Group 1 and 2, respectively (p=0.05); these were precisely all the three types of brain dysfunction which were observed in Group 2 patients. Factors, such as over 70 years of age; median level of education; smoking; body mass index >30 kg/m2 ; ejection fraction <50%; class III effort angina; >210-min surgery duration; >55-min aortic ligation; and >115-min ECC, showed a statistically significant association with the onset of PCD (p<0.05). In Group 2, MRI revealed a weaker positive functional relationship of the medial prefrontal cortex with the posterior cingulate gyrus (<0.005); 18% of patients were found to have acute ischemic zones.Conclusion. Surgical myocardial revascularization using ECC is associated with a greater likelihood of PCD than beating-heart CABG. The factors that favored the development of PCD, such as increased age, low preoperative cognitive status, smoking, and long-term use of ECC, were identified when applying ECC

Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats

Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m2 and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology

Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats

Abstract Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m² and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology