HAEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE DURING EXERCISE TESTING IN PATIENTS WITH CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE UNDERGOING A CARDIAC REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

Haemodynamic monitoring during exercise testing is seldom used during cardiac rehabilitation. The aim was to evaluate haemodynamic changes using the cardiac impedance method during exercise testing in patients after percutaneous coronary interventions and coronary artery bypass grafting during cardiac rehabilitation. Thirty (25 M; 5 F) patients were included in the programme. The group was divided according to ejection fraction (EF): low – below 50% normal – equal to or above 50%. The exercise test was performed simultaneously with a four-electrode impedance cardiogram before and after rehabilitation. ECG, blood pressure, thoracic impedance, first derivative dz/dt, stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output were recorded. Contractility index (Heather index – HI) and vascular peripheral resistance were calculated. The pattern of haemodynamic changes was normal in 24 patients. The deflection points for HI and SV trend patterns were observed among patients with low EF. The contractility index decreased 90 s before maximal exercise and after the next 30-60 s a deflection point was observed in SV curve trends. In 24 patients with normal EF the contractility index trends did not decrease and SV trends increased until the end of exercise or a deflection point was not noted. The deflection points of the contractility index and SV curves were observed before the clinical indications for exercise test termination appeared in patients with a low ejection fraction. Impedance cardiography may indicate the threshold of the workload during real-time exercise testing

‘Other’ Posts in ‘Other’ Places: Poland through a Postcolonial Lens?

Postcolonial theory has tended to focus on those spaces where European colonialism has had a territorial and political history. This is unsurprising, as much of the world is in this sense ‘postcolonial’. But not all of it. This article focuses on Poland, often theorised as peripheral to ‘old Europe’, and explores the application of postcolonial analyses to this ‘other’ place. The article draws upon reflections arising from a study of responses to ethnic diversity in Warsaw, Poland. In doing so we conclude that postcolonialism does indeed offer some important insights into understanding Polish attitudes to other nationalities, and yet more work also needs to be done to make the theoretical bridge. In the case of Poland we propose the ‘triple relation’ be the starting point for such work

Molecular snapshot of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from the Plateau State, Nigeria.

Nigeria ranks 1st in Africa and 6th globally with the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB). However, only a relatively few studies have addressed the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in this country. The aim of this work was to analyze the genetic structure of drug-resistant (DR) M. tuberculosis population in the Plateau State (central Nigeria), with the results placed in the broader context of West Africa. The study sample included 67 DR M. tuberculosis isolates, recovered from as many TB patients between November 2015 and January 2016, in the Plateau State. The isolates were subjected to spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing. A total of 20 distinct spoligotypes were obtained, split into 3 clusters (n = 50, 74.6%, 2-33 isolates per cluster) and 17 (25.4%) unique patterns. The Cameroon clade was the largest lineage (62.7%) followed by T (28.3%), LAM (3%), and Haarlem (3%) clades. Upon MIRU-VNTR typing, the isolates produced 31 profiles, i.e. 7 clusters (n = 43, 64.2%, 2-17 isolates per cluster) and 24 singletons. A combined spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing analysis showed 20.9% of the cases clustered and estimated the recent transmission rate at 11.9%. In conclusion, two lineages, namely Cameroon, and T accounted for the majority (91%) of cases. No association was observed between the most prevalent Cameroon lineage and drug resistance, including multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotype, or any of the patient demographic characteristics

Results of the first GPS measurement campaign for the determination of absolute vertical and horizontal deformations in the Main and Old City of Gdansk

The results of GPS static measurements, conducted in the first measurement campaign at the reference and check points should be adopted as the values of reference for future observation results. The measurement procedures, developed for the first campaign, should be followed in further measurements. The measurement equipment (pole for forced centring of a GPS aerial, GPS aerial, GPS receiver) assigned to each point during the first campaign, should be used each time at the check points. The same calculation procedure should be followed in the analysis of the GPS observation data in future measurement campaigns. If the need to change the calculation procedure is justified, the calculations from previous measurement campaigns should be absolutely redone

Determination of coordinates of control points in the Wieruszów District area

W pracy przedstawiono metodykę pomiaru i opracowania osnowy szczegółowej GPS III na obszarze powiatu wieruszowskiego. Pomiary 988 punktów wykonano metodą statyczną w ciągu dziesięciu dni z wykorzystaniem 12 odbiorników GPS Ashtech Z-XII, Z-Surveyor, Z-Xtreme. W pracy przedstawiono także analizy wyrównania i transformacji z układu ETRF-89 do państwowych układów współrzędnych: "1965" i "2000". Z uwagi na liczne zasłony drzew nad wyznaczanymi punktami, obserwacje GPS powtórzono na około trzydziestu punktach, aby uzyskać wymaganą dokładność i niezależną kontrolę pomiarów. Dodatkowo przy takiej liczbie odbiorników bardzo skuteczne okazały się analizy zamknięć przyrostów w trójkątach jak również warunki geometryczne nieoznaczoności pomiarów fazowych stosowane przy rozwiązaniach multistacyjnych.The paper presents the methodology of GPS measurements and data elaboration for control points in the Wieruszów District area. GPS measurements of 988 points were executed with the use of static method during ten days of measurements and twelve GPS receivers of Ashtech company i.e. Z-XII, Z-Surveyor, Z-Xtreme. The results and analyses of adjustment and transformation from ETRF-89 to the national coordinate systems: ,,1965" and ,,2000" were also presented. Due to bad observational conditions of GPS measurements there were about thirty points on which GPS measurements were repeated in order to achieve reliable and accurate results. Additionally, loop closures of baselines and geometric conditions of ambiguity network solutions were successfully useful before final adjustment