Method’s and Test Stand for Electronic PID Controller

The paper presents method’s and a testing stand for electronic controller using for this a signal generator and a digital oscilloscope respectively the virtual instrumentation and the signal acquisitions from the controllers input and output through an data acquisition board and an PC on that Lab View program runs

Mihai Gheorghiade, MD-Life and Concepts

How do you capture an idea, shape it, and then bring it into the world? Of his many talents, this ability was a fundamental characteristic of Mihai Gheorghiade. A quick glance through PubMed confirms his prodigious output, likely to overwhelm any novice or even expert scholar. His contribution to heart failure, especially acute heart failure (AHF), is profound, He authored several major concepts in acute heart failure, disseminated further by his students. Most concepts remained indelibly linked to his name: Digoxin trials research(1–3), AHFS (acute heart failure syndromes) definition(4), hemodynamic congestion(5), hospitalized heart failure (HHF) (6), the vulnerable phase(7,8), neutral hemodynamic agents(9), registries(10–12) and pre-trial registries(13), the “6-axis model”(14) and then the “8-axis model”(15). His work shaped the field of AHF

Wigner Ville Distribution in Signal Processing, using Scilab Environment

The Wigner Ville distribution offers a visual display of quantitative information about the way a signal’s energy is distributed in both, time and frequency. Through that, this distribution embodies the fundamentally concepts of the Fourier and time-domain analysis. The energy of the signal is distributed so that specific frequencies are localized in time by the group delay time and at specifics instants in time the frequency is given by the instantaneous frequency. The net positive volum of the Wigner distribution is numerically equal to the signal’s total energy. The paper shows the application of the Wigner Ville distribution, in the field of signal processing, using Scilab environment

Fuzzy Logic Controllers for High Performance in Secondary Cooling

The main target of this paper is to develop and implement structures of fuzzy control in the continuous casting process (in the secondary cooling) capable of eliminating the surface flaws and casting rejects, to increase the quality of continuously cast products and implicitly to increase the productivity of the installation by controlling the water flow rate in the secondary cooling circuit. In order to achieve this objective, a solution will be developed and implemented, meant to control the casting process by a fuzzy system, allowing the control of the water flow rate in the secondary cooling, by appropriate distribution along the cooling area. This necessity is imposed by the fact that actual control systems do not correlate in real time the variations of the multiple variables related to the continuous casting process and stick to a rigid distribution of the water flow rate on each cooling area

Improving Postdischarge Outcomes in Acute Heart Failure

The global burden that acute heart failure (AHF) carries has remained unchanged over the past several decades (1). European registries (2–5) showed that 1-year outcome rates remain unacceptably high (Table 1) and confirm that hospitalization for AHF represents a change in the natural history of the disease process(6). As patients hospitalized for HF have a bad prognosis, it is crucial to utilize hospitalization as an opportunity to: 1) assess the individual components of the cardiac substrate; 2) identify and treat comorbidities; 3) identify early, safe endpoints of therapy to facilitate timely hospital discharge and outpatient follow-up; and 4) implement and begin optimization guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMTs). As outcomes are influenced by many factors, many of which are incompletely understood, a systematic approach is proposed that should start with admission and continues through post-discharge (7)

096 Relationship between obesity and heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction

ObjectiveAssessment of obese patients with heart failure by left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF<40%).MethodsWe included in our study 293 patients with heart failure by left ventricular systolic dysfunction. We analyzed clinical factors (heart failure etiology, functional class, risk factors – hypertension,dyslipidemia, smoking,diabetes mellitus,BMI),electrocardiographic factors (LVH presence,conduction and rhythm disturbances),echocardiographic features (LVEF,diastolic function, LVH, systolic PAP) and laboratory data (Hb,serum creatinine,uric acid,WBC count,serum BNP). Obesity was defined as presence of a BMI>30 kg/m2.ResultsOf the 293 patients included there were 89 obese patients (30.9%)-73 males (82%) and 16 females(18%).Heart failure was ischemic at 163 patients (55.6%). At obese patients we observed a more frequent association with hypertension(78.6% of obese patients versus 55.4% nonobese patients;p=0.001); dyslipidemia (70.8% of obese patients versus 42.6%;p=0001); diabetes mellitus (43.8% vs. 14.7%;p=0,0001). Heart failure was more frequent of ischemic etiology at obese patients (66.3% vs. 50.9%; p=0.015). Likewise, EF was greater at obese patients (32.22 ±6.07% vs. 30.06±6.85%;p=0.011) and sinus rhythm was more frequent, too(78.6% vs. 67.15%; p = 0,047). There were no significant differences between BNP at obese and nonobese patients (860.04±803,97 pg/ml vs. 931.58±881,28 pg/ml;p=0,51,ns),neither between diastolic function,presence of LVH,QRS duration, enal dysfunction and other factors studied.ConclusionsA significant proportion of patients with heart failure by left ventricular systolic dysfunction are obese. At obese patients with heart failure by left ventricular systolic dysfunction there is a more frequent association with other risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus) and ischemic etiology of heart failure. BNP values were not significantly different at obese patients with systolic heart failure versus nonobese patients

Performance of prognostic risk scores in chronic heart failure patients enrolled in the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure long-term registry

[Abstract] Objectives. This study compared the performance of major heart failure (HF) risk models in predicting mortality and examined their utilization using data from a contemporary multinational registry. Background. Several prognostic risk scores have been developed for ambulatory HF patients, but their precision is still inadequate and their use limited. Methods. This registry enrolled patients with HF seen in participating European centers between May 2011 and April 2013. The following scores designed to estimate 1- to 2-year all-cause mortality were calculated in each participant: CHARM (Candesartan in Heart Failure-Assessment of Reduction in Mortality), GISSI-HF (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Streptochinasi nell'Infarto Miocardico-Heart Failure), MAGGIC (Meta-analysis Global Group in Chronic Heart Failure), and SHFM (Seattle Heart Failure Model). Patients with hospitalized HF (n = 6,920) and ambulatory HF patients missing any variable needed to estimate each score (n = 3,267) were excluded, leaving a final sample of 6,161 patients. Results. At 1-year follow-up, 5,653 of 6,161 patients (91.8%) were alive. The observed-to-predicted survival ratios (CHARM: 1.10, GISSI-HF: 1.08, MAGGIC: 1.03, and SHFM: 0.98) suggested some overestimation of mortality by all scores except the SHFM. Overprediction occurred steadily across levels of risk using both the CHARM and the GISSI-HF, whereas the SHFM underpredicted mortality in all risk groups except the highest. The MAGGIC showed the best overall accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.743), similar to the GISSI-HF (AUC = 0.739; p = 0.419) but better than the CHARM (AUC = 0.729; p = 0.068) and particularly better than the SHFM (AUC = 0.714; p = 0.018). Less than 1% of patients received a prognostic estimate from their enrolling physician. Conclusions. Performance of prognostic risk scores is still limited and physicians are reluctant to use them in daily practice. The need for contemporary, more precise prognostic tools should be considered

Dopamine is associated with the worst outcome among inotropes used in acute heart failure: observations from the ESC-HF-LT registry

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