1,721,015 research outputs found
Novel strategies in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension
No full textPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a pathophysiological condition characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), initially due to abnormal pulmonary vasoconstriction in response to endothelial injury. Recent studies confirmed the key role of endothelin (ET)-1 in the vasoconstriction and remodeling of pulmonary microcirculation during PAH. In responders patients, classical treatments for PAH are prostanoids, phosphodiesterase (PDE)-5 inhibitors and endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs), which target prostaglandin I2, nitric oxide and endothelin pathways, respectively. Randomised, placebo-controlled trials have shown that ERAs improves haemodynamic parameters of the pulmonary circulation, functional capacity and clinical outcome in patients affected by PAH. Here, we will review the definition, classification and pathophysiology of PH. Furthermore, we will provide an up-to-date overview of currently recommended diagnostic and therapeutic work-up in PAH
Pathways and Drugs in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – Focus on the Role of Endothelin Receptor Antagonists
No full textPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a group of diseases characterized by a progressive increase of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), initially due to abnormal pulmonary vasoconstriction in response to endothelial injury. Recent studies have here confirmed the prominent role of endothelin (ET)-1 in vasoconstriction and remodelling of the pulmonary microcirculation. In patients who are acute-vasoreactive, classical treatments for PAH are calcium channels blockers (CCBs), while drugs targeting the prostacyclin, nitric oxide and endothelin pathways, i.e., prostanoids, phosphodiesterase (PDE)-5 inhibitors and endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs), respectively, are indicated in non-vasoreactive patients or in vasoreactive patients not responding to initial CCB therapy. Randomised, placebo-controlled trials have shown that ERAs improve pulmonary haemodynamics, exercise capacity, functional status and clinical outcome in patients with PAH. Here we provide an overview of the currently recommended diagnostic and therapeutic work-up in PAH, with special emphasis on ERAs
An unexpected complication of a percutaneous coronary angioplasty
Full text linkTakotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is characterized by transient ventricular dysfunction, classically in its apical and mid segments in the absence of coronary lesions, and is often observed after intense stressful events and occasionally associated to an acute medical illness. We describe a case of TCM associated with coronary artery disease and triggered by a percutaneous coronary angioplasty. This case highlights the concept that a medical procedure can lead, in certain conditions, to TCM and provides new interesting insights on the pathophysiology of coronary syndromes
Pathways and Drugs in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – Focus on the Role of Endothelin Receptor Antagonists
No full textHot-wire measurement procedures and their appraisal through a simulation technique
No full textThe general response equations for a hot wire arbitrarily placed in a moderately three-dimensional turbulent flow are derived. These equations are then used to develop two procedures to evaluate the mean velocity vector and the whole Reynolds stress tensor through digital processing of the signals from single or x-wire probes successively positioned at different orientations relative to a fixed frame of reference. The accuracy of these and other available procedures is then assessed by means of a technique based upon computer generation of signals simulating the outputs from hot wires placed in flow fields of given characteristics
Multimodality imaging for pre-clinical assessment of Fabry's cardiomyopathy
No full textAnderson Fabry's disease (AFD) is a rare but underdiagnosed intracellular lipid disorder which can cause left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Pre-clinical diagnosis of Fabry's disease is important as it permits early stratification for enzyme replacement therapy, improving the patient's long-term prognosis, avoiding progression to irreversible fibrosis, and preventing cardiovascular complications.Combinations of imagingmodalities that integrate the strengths of each modality and at the same time eliminate weaknesses of an individual modality can offer improved diagnostics, therapeutic monitoring, and pre-clinical assessment of Fabry's disease. This reviewdiscusses the advantages and challenges in developingmultimodality imaging systems of Fabry's cardiomyopathy, highlights somesuccessful combinations that are nowroutinely used in the clinic and in research, and discusses recent advances in multimodality instrumentation that may offer new opportunities for pre-clinical assessment of this disease
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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