Simulation and Analysis of Transient Processes in Open Axially-symmetrical Structures: Method of Exact Absorbing Boundary Conditions

18 page(s

Predictors of Resistance Hypertension and Achievement of Target Blood Pressure Levels in Patients with Resistant Hypertension

Uncontrolled arterial pressure is associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular events compared to patients with hypertension who have reached the target blood pressure level. The aim of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of patients with resistant arterial hypertension undergoing inpatient treatment at the Department of Symptomatic Hypertension and assess the prevalence of true resistant hypertension in a cohort of patients who take 3 and more antihypertensive agents, the clinical predictors of resistant hypertension. The study included 1146 patients with resistant AH who received 3 or more antihypertensive drugs with the level of office blood pressure at admission ≥140/90 mm Hg. Patients were followed by the next examinations: body height and body measurements, office blood pressure, echocardiography, sleep apnea determination, blood biochemical analysis, determination of levels of TTH, T3, T4, blood renin, blood aldosterone, metanephrine urine, and cortisol. Our data showed that 31% of patients who received 3 or more antihypertensive drugs had true resistant hypertension. Fixed combinations were taken by 71.9% of patients. We have found which factors were significantly associated with the treatment regimen with ≥3 or 4 drugs. Also we have demonstrated predictors for blood pressure reduction

Аналіз фізичної підготовленості студентів на основі результатів тестів і нормативів щорічного оцінювання

У статті розглянуто проблему фізичної підготовленості студентської молоді вищих навчальних закладів різних рівнів акредитації. Серед студентів Львівського національного університету імені Івана Франка (n=4636) і Медичного коледжу ЛНМУ імені Данила Галицького (n=327) проведено тести й нормативи щорічного оцінювання фізичної підготовленості, що відповідають їхньому віковому цензу. Проаналізовано рівень фізичної підготовленості студентів зазначених ВНЗ за гендерною ознакою, віком та курсами навчання. Дослідження дало змогу виявити що студенти-першокурсники Львівського національного університету імені Івана Франка мають нижчий рівень фізичної підготовленості, порівняно зі студентами старших курсів. Фізична підготовленість 34,47 % досліджуваних чоловічої статі та 42,55 % студентів жіночої статі університету перебуває на низькому рівні. Серед студентів Медичного коледжу ЛНМУ імені Данила Галицького встановлено зниження кількості студентів із достатнім рівнем ФП на 27 % і зростання на 30 % – із середнім рівнем від І по ІV курс. Отримано зниження якісної оцінки в тестових вправах на гнучкість та в бігу на короткі дистанції. Визначено низькі результати в студенток усіх курсів навчання у вправах «стрибок у довжину з місця й згинання-розгинання рук в упорі лежачи». Установлено, що малорухомий спосіб життя студентів університету та медичного коледжу, який спостерігаємо в студентської молоді, котра часто обмежується лише заняттями фізичним вихованням у ВНЗ (2 год на тиждень), що є значно нижчим від потреб молодого організму та негативно відображається на показниках фізичної підготовленості. Одержані результати ФП студентів мають стати важливим чинником у підвищенні мотивації студентів до систематичних занять фізичною культурою й спортом та оптимізації фізичного виховання у ВНЗ

Strategical development of agri-food corporations in the competitive economic space of Ukraine

This paper reports a study into the historical and economic preconditions for the strategical development of agri-food corporations in the competitive economic space of Ukraine. Agri-food corporations are determined by us as corporations with a developed system of integration relations that are a non-agricultural enterprise, which produces agricultural products. It has been substantiated that their emergence is not a natural phenomenon but a systematic process of changing the phases of differentiation and integration in the national economy. In this case, the development of agri-food corporations was contributed to by the lack of institutions of effective antitrust control, the diversification of industrial and financial groups, the liberalization of foreign trade, as well as a rent-oriented behavior of economic agents. It has been shown that agri-food corporations currently utilize about a third of agricultural land while the size of some of them exceeds the land-use area of entire regions. At the same time, in terms of agricultural production efficiency, agri-food corporations outperform farms and disintegrated agricultural enterprises, as well as family-owned farms; they have more resources for the innovative development of agricultural production and for investment. Strategical development of agri-food corporations needs to develop its social responsibility in rural areas, intensification of public control over the impact on the agrarian sector, institutional system of state support of export. Under the conditions of the state regulation of monopolies and excessive corporatization of agrarian sector, agri-food corporations should constitute the core of food security in Ukraine, as well as form its competitiveness in foreign agricultural markets

Rigorous 2D Model for Study of Pulsed and Monochromatic Waves Propagation Near the Earth’s Surface

A model problem considered in the paper allows solving rather complex 2D problems of the electromagnetic wave propagation with a required accuracy using conventional personal computers. The problems are of great importance for the theory and practical applications. The association of FDTD schemes with exact absorbing conditions makes up the basis for constructing models of the kind. This approach reduces the original open initial boundary value problems to the equivalent closed problems which can be solved numerically using the standard grid methods

Skuteczność i bezpieczeństwo walsartanu oraz połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorotiazydem w leczeniu pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym łagodnego do umiarkowanego stopnia — analiza podgrup dotycząca wpływu walsartanu i połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorot

Background and aim: The aim of the study was to establish the effect of valsartan and combination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), in a wide population of patients with mild to moderate arterial hypertension, on pulse wave velocity (PWV) and central blood pressure (CBP). Methods: International, multicentre, open-labelled, prospective trial. After one week of washout in previously treated patients, the patients were treated for 16 weeks according to the protocol. Naïve patients received the treatment immediately. During the active treatment, 4 visits were planned for each patient to obtain data for the primary and secondary efficacy. At the beginning and at the end of the study PWV and CBP were performed with central arterial pressure waveform analysis (SphygmoCor®, Atcor Medical). This study is registered with clinicaltrialsregister.eu, EudraCT number 2012-005129-57. Results: The results of the present VICTORY trial showed that valsartan and combination of valsartan and HCTZ effectively reduced the brachial blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate arterial hypertension as well as PWV, augmentation index (AIx, although not statistically significant), central systolic blood pressure and central diastolic blood pressure. Conclusions: Valsartan and valsartan/HCTZ improve arterial stiffness in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.Wstęp i cel: Celem badania była ocena wpływu walsartanu i połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorotiazydem (HCTZ) na pręd­kość fali tętna (PWV) i centralne ciśnienie tętnicze (CBP) w dużej grupie pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego. Metody: Przeprowadzono międzynarodowe, wieloośrodkowe, otwarte, prospektywne badanie. Po okresie eliminacji leku z organizmu wynoszącym 1 tydzień pacjentów wcześniej leczonych przez 16 tygodni poddawano terapii zgodnie z protokołem. U osób dotąd nieleczonych natychmiast rozpoczynano leczenie. U każdego pacjenta w okresie aktywnej terapii zaplanowano przeprowadzenie 4 wizyt w celu uzyskania danych do analizy pierwszorzędowych i drugorzędowych punktów końcowych. Na początku i na końcu badania oszacowywano PWV i CBP z analizą kształtu fali CBP (SphygmoCor®, Atcor Medical). Niniejsze badanie umieszczono w rejestrze na stronie: clinicaltrialregister.eu, numer w EudraCT: 2012-005129-57. Wyniki: Wyniki uzyskane w badaniu VICTORY potwierdziły, że walsartan i połączenie walsartanu z HCTZ skutecznie obniżały ciśnienie tętnicze mierzone na ramieniu u pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego, a także PWV, współczynnik wzmocnienia (AIx; choć nie była to zmiana istotna statystycznie), centralne skurczowe ciśnienie tętnicze i centralne rozkurczowe ciśnienie tętnicze. Wnioski: Walsartan i walstartan/HCTZ powodują zmniejszenie sztywności tętnic u pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego

Effects of metabolic syndrome on arterial function in different age groups: the Advanced Approach to Arterial Stiffness study

Objective: The aim of the Advanced Approach to Arterial Stiffness study was to compare arterial stiffness measured simultaneously with two different methods in different age groups of middle-aged and older adults with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS). The specific effects of the different MetS components on arterial stiffness were also studied. Methods: This prospective, multicentre, international study included 2224 patients aged 40 years and older, 1664 with and 560 without MetS. Patients were enrolled in 32 centres from 18 European countries affiliated to the International Society of Vascular Health & Aging. Arterial stiffness was evaluated using the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) in four prespecified age groups: 40-49, 50-59, 60-74, 75-90 years. In this report, we present the baseline data of this study. Results: Both CF-PWV and CAVI increased with age, with a higher correlation coefficient for CAVI (comparison of coefficients P < 0.001). Age-adjusted and sex-adjusted values of CF-PWV and CAVI were weakly intercorrelated (r 2 = 0.06, P < 0.001). Age-adjusted and sex-adjusted values for CF-PWV but not CAVI were higher in presence of MetS (CF-PWV: 9.57 ± 0.06 vs. 8.65 ± 0.10, P < 0.001; CAVI: 8.34 ± 0.03 vs. 8.29 ± 0.04, P = 0.40; mean ± SEM; MetS vs. no MetS). The absence of an overall effect of MetS on CAVI was related to the heterogeneous effects of the components of MetS on this parameter: CAVI was positively associated with the high glycaemia and high blood pressure components, whereas lacked significant associations with the HDL and triglycerides components while exhibiting a negative association with the overweight component. In contrast, all five MetS components showed positive associations with CF-PWV. Conclusion: This large European multicentre study reveals a differential impact of MetS and age on CAVI and CF-PWV and suggests that age may have a more pronounced effect on CAVI, whereas MetS increases CF-PWV but not CAVI. This important finding may be due to heterogeneous effects of MetS components on CAVI. The clinical significance of these original results will be assessed during the longitudinal phase of the study

Synthesis of Ultra-Wide Bandgaps for 2-D Photonic Crystals of Finite Thickness

The synthesis problem of 2-D photonic crystals of finite thickness providing the ultra-wide stopbands for the plane incident waves is solved on the base of EAC-method (method of exact absorbing conditions)

Electromagnetic waves in complex systems: selected theoretical and applied problems

This book gives guidance to solve problems in electromagnetics, providing both examples of solving serious research problems as well as the original results to encourage further investigations. The book contains seven chapters on various aspects of resonant wave scattering, each solving one original problem. All of them are unified by the authors’ desire to show advantages of rigorous approaches at all stages, from the formulation of a problem and the selection of a method to the interpretation of results. The book reveals a range of problems associated with wave propagation and scattering in natural and artificial environments or with the design of antennas elements. The authors invoke both theoretical (analytical and numerical) and experimental techniques for handling the problems. Attention is given to mathematical simulations, computational efficiency, and physical interpretation of the experimental results. The book is written for students, graduate students and young researchers.