Health-related qualify of life, angina type and coronary artery disease in patients with stable chest pain.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is impaired in patients with stable angina but patients often present with other forms of chest pain. The aim of this study was to compare the pre-diagnostic HRQoL in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) according to angina type, gender, and presence of obstructive CAD. From the pilot study for the European DISCHARGE trial, we analysed data from 24 sites including 1263 patients (45.9% women, 61.1 ± 11.3 years) who were clinically referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA; 617 patients) or coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA; 646 patients). Prior to the procedures, patients completed HRQoL questionnaires: the Short Form (SF)-12v2, the EuroQoL (EQ-5D-3 L) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Fifty-five percent of ICA and 35% of CTA patients had typical angina, 23 and 33% had atypical angina, 18 and 28% had non-anginal chest discomfort and 5 and 5% had other chest discomfort, respectively. Patients with typical angina had the poorest physical functioning compared to the other angina groups (SF-12 physical component score; 41.2 ± 8.8, 43.3 ± 9.1, 46.2 ± 9.0, 46.4 ± 11.4, respectively, all age and gender-adjusted p < 0.01), and highest anxiety levels (8.3 ± 4.1, 7.5 ± 4.1, 6.5 ± 4.0, 4.7 ± 4.5, respectively, all adjusted p < 0.01). On all other measures, patients with typical or atypical angina had lower HRQoL compared to the two other groups (all adjusted p < 0.05). HRQoL did not differ between patients with and without obstructive CAD while women had worse HRQoL compared with men, irrespective of age and angina type. Prior to a diagnostic procedure for stable chest pain, HRQoL is associated with chest pain characteristics, but not with obstructive CAD, and is significantly lower in women. Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02400229

Comparative effectiveness of initial computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain and suspected coronary artery disease: multicentre randomised trial

To assess the comparative effectiveness of computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain suspected to be caused by coronary artery disease

Health-related qualify of life, angina type and coronary artery disease in patients with stable chest pain

Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is impaired in patients with stable angina but patients often present with other forms of chest pain. The aim of this study was to compare the pre-diagnostic HRQoL in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) according to angina type, gender, and presence of obstructive CAD. Methods From the pilot study for the European DISCHARGE trial, we analysed data from 24 sites including 1263 patients (45.9% women, 61.1 +/- 11.3 years) who were clinically referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA; 617 patients) or coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA; 646 patients). Prior to the procedures, patients completed HRQoL questionnaires: the Short Form (SF)-12v2, the EuroQoL (EQ-5D-3 L) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results Fifty-five percent of ICA and 35% of CTA patients had typical angina, 23 and 33% had atypical angina, 18 and 28% had non-anginal chest discomfort and 5 and 5% had other chest discomfort, respectively. Patients with typical angina had the poorest physical functioning compared to the other angina groups (SF-12 physical component score; 41.2 +/- 8.8, 43.3 +/- 9.1, 46.2 +/- 9.0, 46.4 +/- 11.4, respectively, all age and gender-adjusted p < 0.01), and highest anxiety levels (8.3 +/- 4.1, 7.5 +/- 4.1, 6.5 +/- 4.0, 4.7 +/- 4.5, respectively, all adjusted p < 0.01). On all other measures, patients with typical or atypical angina had lower HRQoL compared to the two other groups (all adjusted p < 0.05). HRQoL did not differ between patients with and without obstructive CAD while women had worse HRQoL compared with men, irrespective of age and angina type. Conclusions Prior to a diagnostic procedure for stable chest pain, HRQoL is associated with chest pain characteristics, but not with obstructive CAD, and is significantly lower in women

Arbitráže na trhu kryptoměn: analýza potenciálních příležitostí

1 Abstract Cryptocurrency markets have currently a lot of attention both from the public and researchers. This thesis connects the well-documented field of arbitrage with the relatively new bitcoin phenomenon. Thanks to the efforts of cryptocurrencies for decentralization and non-regulation, they are an ideal asset for arbitrage trading. This study tries to answer whether price differences between cryptocurrency exchanges existed during the second and third quartal of 2021 and if it was possible to perform an arbitrage trading with positive profit. It analyzes several trading strategies and ways how to execute these trades. An important part of the study is the involvement of trading fees, which play a crucial role in total profitability but are often omitted in similar research. The findings confirm that price differences existed during the analyzed period, and their values allow for profitable arbitrage trading. The best performing strategy uses stable-coin USDT as a mean of transport money between exchanges, which lowers the time of one trade and allows multiple trades during one price difference spike. This strategy was able to gain 362.60% profit over the analyzed period. On the other hand, the distribution of trades over the analyzed period shows some irregularities, which might have a negative impact...1 Abstrakt Trhy s kryptoměnami mají v současné době velkou pozornost jak veřejnosti, tak odborníků. Tato studie spojuje dobře zdokumentované pole arbitráže s relativně novým fenoménem bitcoinu. Díky decentralizaci kryptoměn a jejich snaze o minimální regulaci jsou ideálním aktivem pro obchodování arbitráže. Tato studie se snaží odpovědět, zda během druhého a třetího čtvrtletí roku 2021 existovaly cenové rozdíly mezi kryptoměnovými burzami a zda bylo možné provádět arbitráž se ziskem. Toho se snaží dosáhnout analýzou několika obchodních strategií a způsobů, jak tyto obchody provádět. Důležitou součástí studie je i započítání obchodních poplatků, které hrají zásadní roli v celkové ziskovosti, ale v obdobných výzkumech jsou často opomíjeny. Výsledky studie potvrzují, že během analyzovaného období existovaly cenové rozdíly napříč jednotlivými burzami a jejich velikost umožňuje provádění ziskové arbitráže. Strategie s nejvyšší ziskovostí využívá stable-coin USDT jako prostředek k převodu peněz mezi burzami, což snižuje čas jednoho obchodu a umožňuje více obchodů během jednoho delšího výkyvu v rozdílu cen. Zisk této strategie dosáhl za analyzované období 362,60 %. Časové rozložení obchodů za analyzované období je však výrazně nerovnoměrné, což by mohlo mít negativní dopad na dlouhodobou konzistenci ziskovosti.Institut ekonomických studiíInstitute of Economic StudiesFaculty of Social SciencesFakulta sociálních vě

Arbitrage on the Cryptocurrency Markets: An Analysis of Potential Opportunities

1 Abstract Cryptocurrency markets have currently a lot of attention both from the public and researchers. This thesis connects the well-documented field of arbitrage with the relatively new bitcoin phenomenon. Thanks to the efforts of cryptocurrencies for decentralization and non-regulation, they are an ideal asset for arbitrage trading. This study tries to answer whether price differences between cryptocurrency exchanges existed during the second and third quartal of 2021 and if it was possible to perform an arbitrage trading with positive profit. It analyzes several trading strategies and ways how to execute these trades. An important part of the study is the involvement of trading fees, which play a crucial role in total profitability but are often omitted in similar research. The findings confirm that price differences existed during the analyzed period, and their values allow for profitable arbitrage trading. The best performing strategy uses stable-coin USDT as a mean of transport money between exchanges, which lowers the time of one trade and allows multiple trades during one price difference spike. This strategy was able to gain 362.60% profit over the analyzed period. On the other hand, the distribution of trades over the analyzed period shows some irregularities, which might have a negative impact..

Clinical Question Influence on Radiation Dose of Cardiac CT Scan in Children

Background: To assess the impact of different clinical questions on radiation doses acquired during cardiac computed tomography in children. Methods: A total of 116 children who underwent cardiac CT on a third-generation dual-source CT scanner were included. The clinical questions were divided into three main categories: the extent of scanning in the z-axis, coronary artery assessment and cardiac function assessment. Radiation dose values represented as a dose-length product (DLP) in mGy*cm were recorded from the CT scanner protocols. Results: There were significantly higher doses in cases with cardiac function assessment (median DLP 348 versus 59 mGy*cm, p p < 0.01). Conclusion: The most important factor was the assessment of cardiac function, where the median radiation dose was 4.3× higher in patients with a request for cardiac function assessment. We strongly recommend that clinical requests for cardiac CT should be carefully considered in the paediatric population

Comparative effectiveness of initial computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain and suspected coronary artery disease:Multicentre randomised trial

Objective: To assess the comparative effectiveness of computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain suspected to be caused by coronary artery disease. Design: Prospective, multicentre, randomised pragmatic trial. Setting: Hospitals at 26 sites in 16 European countries. Participants: 2002 (56.2%) women and 1559 (43.8%) men (total of 3561 patients) with suspected coronary artery disease referred for invasive coronary angiography on the basis of stable chest pain and a pre-test probability of obstructive coronary artery disease of 10-60%. Intervention: Both women and men were randomised 1:1 (with stratification by gender and centre) to a strategy of either computed tomography or invasive coronary angiography as the initial diagnostic test (1019 and 983 women, and 789 and 770 men, respectively), and an intention-to-treat analysis was performed. Randomised allocation could not be blinded, but outcomes were assessed by investigators blinded to randomisation group. Main outcome measures: The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or non-fatal stroke). Key secondary endpoints were an expanded MACE composite (cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, transient ischaemic attack, or major procedure related complication) and major procedure related complications. Results: Follow-up at a median of 3.5 years was available in 98.9% (1979/2002) of women and in 99.0% (1544/1559) of men. No statistically significant gender interaction was found for MACE (P=0.29), the expanded MACE composite (P=0.45), or major procedure related complications (P=0.11). In both genders, the rate of MACE did not differ between the computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography groups. In men, the expanded MACE composite endpoint occurred less frequently in the computed tomography group than in the invasive coronary angiography group (22 (2.8%) v 41 (5.3%); hazard ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 0.87). In women, the risk of having a major procedure related complication was lower in the computed tomography group than in the invasive coronary angiography group (3 (0.3%) v 21 (2.1%); hazard ratio 0.14, 0.04 to 0.46). Conclusion: This study found no evidence for a difference between women and men in the benefit of using computed tomography rather than invasive coronary angiography as the initial diagnostic test for the management of stable chest pain in patients with an intermediate pre-test probability of coronary artery disease. An initial computed tomography scan was associated with fewer major procedure related complications in women and a lower frequency of the expanded MACE composite in men. Trial registration: NCT02400229ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02400229.</p

Computed tomography versus invasive coronary angiography:design and methods of the pragmatic randomised multicentre DISCHARGE trial

Objectives: More than 3.5 million invasive coronary angiographies (ICA) are performed in Europe annually. Approximately 2 million of these invasive procedures might be reduced by noninvasive tests because no coronary intervention is performed. Computed tomography (CT) is the most accurate noninvasive test for detection and exclusion of coronary artery disease (CAD). To investigate the comparative effectiveness of CT and ICA, we designed the European pragmatic multicentre DISCHARGE trial funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union (EC-GA 603266). Methods: In this trial, patients with a low-to-intermediate pretest probability (10–60 %) of suspected CAD and a clinical indication for ICA because of stable chest pain will be randomised in a 1-to-1 ratio to CT or ICA. CT and ICA findings guide subsequent management decisions by the local heart teams according to current evidence and European guidelines. Results: Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and stroke as a composite endpoint will be the primary outcome measure. Secondary and other outcomes include cost-effectiveness, radiation exposure, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), socioeconomic status, lifestyle, adverse events related to CT/ICA, and gender differences. Conclusions: The DISCHARGE trial will assess the comparative effectiveness of CT and ICA. Key Points: • Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. • Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is the reference standard for detection of CAD. • Noninvasive computed tomography angiography excludes CAD with high sensitivity. • CT may effectively reduce the approximately 2 million negative ICAs in Europe. • DISCHARGE addresses this hypothesis in patients with low-to-intermediate pretest probability for CAD.</p