High-resolution vacuum-ultraviolet and ultraviolet photoionization spectroscopy of krypton

Accurate spectroscopy of krypton is performed on five transitions from the (4

Reperfusion therapy for ST elevation acute myocardial infarction 2010/2011: current status in 37 ESC countries

Aims Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is the preferred reperfusion therapy in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We conducted this study to evaluate the contemporary status on the use and type of reperfusion therapy in patients admitted with STEMI in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) member countries. Methods and results A cross-sectional descriptive study based on aggregated country-level data on the use of reperfusion therapy in patients admitted with STEMI during 2010 or 2011. Thirty-seven ESC countries were able to provide data from existing national or regional registries. In countries where no such registries exist, data were based on best expert estimates. Data were collected on the use of STEMI reperfusion treatment and mortality, the numbers of cardiologists, and the availability of PPCI facilities in each country. Our survey provides a brief data summary of the degree of variation in reperfusion therapy across Europe. The number of PPCI procedures varied between countries, ranging from 23 to 884 per million inhabitants. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention and thrombolysis were the dominant reperfusion strategy in 33 and 4 countries, respectively. The mean population served by a single PPCI centre with a 24-h service 7 days a week ranged from 31 300 inhabitants per centre to 6 533 000 inhabitants per centre. Twenty-seven of the total 37 countries participated in a former survey from 2007, and major increases in PPCI utilization were observed in 13 of these countries. Conclusion Large variations in reperfusion treatment are still present across Europe. Countries in Eastern and Southern Europe reported that a substantial number of STEMI patients are not receiving any reperfusion therapy. Implementation of the best reperfusion therapy as recommended in the guidelines should be encourage

Mitral stenosis and percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty

Rheumatic fever, which is the most common etiology of mitral valve stenosis (MS) is significantly decreased in industrialized countries: however, the mitral stenosis still results in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. MS is a mechanical obstruction of the mitral valve opening  (MVO) causing difficulty in filling the left ventricle (LV) and the only definitive treatment is mechanical removal of the obstruction. Three procedures have proven over time to be effective in providing such therapy. These are: percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV), open commissurotomy and mitral valve prosthesis. As clinical studies found that PBMV excels the surgical commissurotomy, the latter procedure is at a large extend not performed. The purpose of this review is the definition of patient selection and description of percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty as the most popular method for the treatment of MS in most parts of the world

Mitral stenosis and Percutaneus Balloon Mitral valvulopasty

Rheumatic fever, which is the predominant aetiology of mitral stenosis (MS), has greatly decreased in industrialized countries: nevertheless, MS still results in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Because MS is a mechanical obstruction to forward flow, the only definitive therapy is mechanical relief of this obstruction. Three procedures are effective in providing such therapy. These are Percutaneus Balloon Mitral Valvuloplasty(PBMV), open commissurotomy, and mitral valve replacement. Because clinical trials have found PBMV to be superior to closed surgical commissurotomy, the latter procedure has been largely abandoned except in areas where it is less expensive to perform closed commissurotomy than PBMV. Today, therefore, Inoue`s balloon technique has become the most popular method for performing PBMV in most parts of the world. The following is a review of the PBMV with Inoue`s balloon technique as a gold standart in treatment of mitral stenosis.Key words: Mitral stenosis, Inoue`s balloon techniqu

Catches of target and non-target scarab pests in floral-chemical baited color traps in Bulgaria

Field investigations with CSALOMON® floral-chemical baited color traps for scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidoidaea) were organized in eight sites in different regions in Bulgaria during 2009–2010. As a result data about distribution and seasonal flight were obtained for the target species Cetonia aurata L. and Protaetia cuprea (Fabricius) and two other non-target species, Valgus hemipterus L. and Blitopertha lineolata (Fischer von Waldheim). Catches of C. aurata were recorded in all of the sites where observations were organized but the number of the beetles caught was relatively low. The earliest catches of this pest were registered in the middle-end of April and the latest ones in early August. Single catches of P. cuprea, not allowing doing conclusions about seasonal flight for this species, were recorded only in Dryanovo, Knezha, Plovdiv and Troyan. Catches of V. hemipterus, were registered in all of the sites with the exception of Petrich. The flight period of this species, as established by catches in the traps, was middle-end of April — early June. Significant number of B. lineolata was caught in Dryanovo in 2009 and single catches in Plovdiv in 2009 and Kyustendil in 2009 and 2010. The earliest catches for the two years in Dryanovo were registered in the middle-end of May and the latest ones in the middle of June. This is the first report about floral-chemical attractant for this species. For all four species the relative catches in traps for C. aurata/P. cuprea, Tropinota (Epicometis) hirta (Poda) and Oxythyrea funesta (Poda), operating simultaneously in the investigated sites, were presented and analyzed

Lifetime measurements on the c '(1)(4)Sigma(+)(u), v=0, 1 and 2 states of molecular nitrogen

Excited state lifetimes of c(4)('1)Sigma (+)(u), upsilon = 0-2 states of molecular nitrogen have been determined in a laboratory investigation using a picosecond XUV laser in a pump-probe configuration. For c(4)('1)Sigma (+)(u) upsilon = 0 the lifetime is tau = 740 +/- 50 ps, for the lowest rotational states. For higher rotational states a gradual shift towards tau = 495 ps is found in agreement with previous findings that these states are subject to predissociation. For c(4)(') Sigma (+)(u) upsilon = 1 no J-dependence is found and values for two isotopomers are reported: tau = 240 ps for (NN)-N-14-N-15 = 240 ps for (NN)-N-14-N-15. For c(4)('1)Sigma (+)(u) upsilon = 2 a lifetime for the lowest rotational states (J = 0-3) was derived: tau = 675 +/- 50 ps; for J = 11 a lifetime of tau less than or equal to 120 ps is deduced. All values for the lifetimes including the J-dependences are explained in a model based on Rydberg-valence interaction. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

What can we learn about ship emission inventories from measurements of air pollutants over the Mediterranean Sea?

Ship emission estimates diverge widely for all chemical compounds for several reasons: use of different methodologies (bottom-up or top-down), activity data and emission factors can easily result in a difference ranging from a factor of 1.5 to even an order of magnitude. Combining three sets of observational data – ozone and black carbon measurements sampled at three coastal sites and on board of a Mediterranean cruise ship, as well as satellite observations of atmospheric NO<sub>2</sub> column concentration over the same area – we assess the accuracy of the three most commonly used ship emission inventories, EDGAR FT (Olivier et al., 2005), emissions described by Eyring et al. (2005) and emissions reported by EMEP (Vestreng et al., 2007). Our tool is a global atmospheric chemistry transport model which simulates the chemical state of the Mediterranean atmosphere applying different ship emission inventories. The simulated contributions of ships to air pollutant levels in the Mediterranean atmosphere are significant but strongly depend on the inventory applied. Close to the major shipping routes relative contributions vary from 10 to 50% for black carbon and from 2 to 12% for ozone in the surface layer, as well as from 5 to 20% for nitrogen dioxide atmospheric column burden. The relative contributions are still significant over the North African coast, but less so over the South European coast because densely populated regions with significant human activity contribute relatively more to air pollution than ships, even if these regions attract a lot of ship traffic. The observations poorly constrain the ship emission inventories in the Eastern Mediterranean where the influence of uncertain land based emissions, the model transport and wet deposition are at least as important as the signal from ships. In the Western Mediterranean, the regional EMEP emission inventory gives the best match with most measurements, followed by Eyring for NO<sub>2</sub> and ozone and by EDGAR for black carbon. Given the uncertainty of the measurements and the model, each of the three emission inventories could actually be right, implying that large uncertainties in ship emissions need to be considered for future scenario analysis