Unfavorable Patterns Research Articles

Accelerometric assessment of fatigue-induced changes in swimming technique in high performance adolescent athletes

The present study analyzed the kinematic changes under fatigue in highly trained adolescent swimmers during a 50-m all-out front cwal test. Twenty-four girls and fourteen boys aged 12–13 participated in the study. The movement of the hip rim was analyzed using a specialized inertial device equipped with a triaxial gyroscope and accelerometer to measure changes in angular velocity and acceleration. Between the first and second lengths of the pool, the following were observed: a significant (F1.36 = 63.6; p < 0.0001; η2 = 0.64) increase (34%) in maximum pelvic angle, significant (F1,36 = 6.0; p = 0.0193; η2 = 0.14;) increase (12.10%) in angular velocity in rotational motion around a vertical axis, and a significant (F1,36 = 11.29; p = 0.0018; η2 = 0.24) increase (6.86%) in angular velocity in yaw rotation motion around the sagittal axis. Significant (F1,36 = 13.96; p = 0.0006; η2 = 0.28) differences in maximum pelvic angle were observed for lap and side. As unfavourable changes in kinematics are already observed in the second half of the distance, it is therefore suspected that performing frequent high-intensity repetitions may lead to the perpetuation of unfavourable movement patterns. Taking this into account, coaches should limit maximum-speed swimming in adolescent athletes to short distances and an appropriate interval and use training methods to reduce asymmetric work such as training snorkels.

Prevalence of health-related behaviours and associated factors in university students in Ireland: a 4-year repeated cross-sectional study

BackgroundTransitioning to higher education (HE) has been highlighted as a critical time to embed positive health-related behaviours (HRBs). However, there has been a long-standing association between student life and risk-taking....

Assessment of Water Poverty Index (WPI) Under Changing Land Use/Land Cover in a Riverine Ecosystem of Central India

Watershed Development is a very common phenomenon in the river basins in India due to its dynamic and continuously changing nature, which are interconnected via. Land use/land cover (LULC) change and water poverty scenario over time. In the present study, the samples were chosen from seven sampled villages for the Water Poverty Index (WPI) in the upper Tons River Basin. Among them, Ghunwara and Maihar Village exhibit the highest and lowest WPI, i.e., 98.1 and 62.91 out of 100, respectively. This indicates that villages with a high WPI face challenges in their water requirements, regardless of the seasonal river serving the basin area. Conversely, villages with a low WPI can satisfy their water needs solely from the basin. The present analysis of the Upper Tons River Basin suggests that Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) will undergo influences or adjustments at various stages, ultimately affecting agricultural land in the impact region. It also becomes evident that areas with limited land use and land cover (LULC) extensions exhibit lower Water Productivity Index (WPI), primarily due to their reliance on agricultural land. It is observed that alterations, reductions, or modifications in LULC lead to changes in multiple aspects of agricultural land, resulting in noticeable variations in various metrics. The present paper not only evaluates the land use in the Upper Tons River Basin spanning from 2001 to 2021 but also highlights the changing patterns that impact water resources and their utilization capacity. Furthermore, the study estimates the influence of reducing specific features on the distribution of WPI and other LULC parameters. The Upper Tons River Basin faces challenges such as unfavorable rainfall patterns and inadequate planning for irrigation at the fundamental and local levels. Additionally, its geographical location in a rainfed area negatively affects the WPI.

Microsurgeon Development, Attrition, and Hope for the Future: A Qualitative Analysis.

The field of microsurgery continues to grow, yet barriers to practice still exist. This qualitative study aims to elucidate factors both strengthening and threatening this subspecialty through structured interviews with fellowship-trained microsurgeons. An interview guide was designed, and structured interviews were conducted with practicing fellowship-trained microsurgeon members of the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgeons between August 2021 and May 2022. Interviews were transcribed, content-coded, and thematically analyzed by three independent reviewers. Themes and subthemes were discussed and finalized. Twenty-one practicing microsurgeons were interviewed, hailing from all four Census geographical regions of the United States. The most common practice model was academic (43%, n=9). Five overarching themes emerged: a passion for microsurgery, training and mentorship, practical considerations, team support, and hope for the future. Microsurgeons reported early exposure to microsurgery as catalyzing their passion, while a strong training foundation and lifelong mentors sustained it. Practical challenges arose when establishing and maintaining a microsurgery practice, such as poor reimbursement and unfavorable referral patterns. Team support from staff and from other microsurgeons (e.g., a co-surgeon model) was crucial to success. Finally, microsurgeons hoped that future advances would expand access to microsurgerical reconstruction for patients and plastic surgeons alike. This unique, qualitative description of the current landscape of microsurgery revealed that though practical barriers exist, team-based models can alleviate some difficulties. Future advances that increase accessibility may further strengthen this unique and versatile field.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension with an unfavorable prognosis

Aim. To compare clinical and hemodynamic parameters with survival of incident patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) with a prognostically unfavorable pattern of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters.Material and methods. The study included 48 incident cases with a verified diagnosis of IPAH (n=18) and CTEPH (n=30). All patients were examined in accordance with the European Society of Cardiology and the European Respiratory Society guidelines (2015). The inclusion criterion was the ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (CO2) according to the CPET (VE/VCO2) &gt;44, indicating an unfavorable prognosis for patients.Results. VE/VCO2 in the examined patients with IPAH and CTEPH averaged 70,6±0,8 and did not differ in the study groups. Hemodynamic parameters of patients with IPAH and CTEPH also indicated a high risk of adverse events as follows: cardiac index — 1,9±0,1 and 1,8±0,1 l/min/m2, respectively (p=0,3). Peak oxygen consumption, anaerobic threshold level, oxygen delivery to work performed were reduced in both groups. However, patients with IPAH did not have a decrease in dead space ventilation and desaturation severity during exercise was greater than in patients with CTEPH. Patients with CTEPH had better survival compared to patients with IPAH: 1 year — 89 vs 83%, 3 years — 84 vs 65%, 5 years — 73 vs 35%, 7 years — 55 vs 36%.Conclusion. Among patients with IPAH and CTEPH who have an unfavorable prognosis, patients with IPAH demonstrate a more pronounced decrease in cardiovascular and respiratory reserves, which negatively affects patient survival. CPET may be a valuable non-invasive method for death risk stratification in patients with IPAH and CTEPH.

Association of psychosocial state with subsequent risk of dementia: a prospective cohort study based on the UK Biobank

BackgroundMultiple psychosocial factors have been associated with dementia, while the individual or joint effects of various psychosocial states on dementia remain unrevealed due to the complex interplay between those factors. Here, the authors examined the associations of psychosocial factors and patterns with subsequent risk of dementia, and if the associations could be modified by genetic susceptibility to dementia.MethodsUK Biobank dementia-free participants were followed from one year after recruitment (median date: 24 January, 2010) until 31 October, 2022. Psychosocial states were measured by 22 items related to five dimensions, including psychiatric history, recent stressful life events, current psychiatric symptoms, social contact, and individual socioeconomic state. We identified clusters of individuals with distinct psychosocial patterns using latent class analysis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between psychosocial items, as well as psychosocial patterns, and risk of dementia. We further performed stratification analyses by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, polygenic risk score (PRS) of dementia, and family history of dementia.ResultsOf 497,787 included participants, 54.54% were female. During a median follow-up of 12.70 years, we identified 9,858 (1.98%) patients with newly diagnosed dementia. We identified seven clusters with distinct psychosocial patterns. Compared to individuals with a pattern of ‘good state’, individuals with other unfavorable patterns, featured by varying degrees of poor psychological state (‘fair state’ and ‘mildly, moderately, and extremely poor psychological state’), low social contact or socioeconomic state (‘living alone’ and ‘short education years’), were all at an increased risk of dementia (hazard ratios [HR] between 1.29 and 2.63). The observed associations showed no significant differences across individuals with varying APOE genotypes, levels of PRS, and family histories of dementia.ConclusionUnfavorable psychosocial patterns are associated with an increased risk of dementia, independent of genetic susceptibility. The findings highlight the importance of surveillance and prevention of cognitive decline among individuals with suboptimal psychosocial state.

Natural Language Processing for Sentiment Analysis in Social Media Posts to Identify Suspicious Behaviour

This article reports a study on the use of the natural language processing approach in the sentiment analysis of social media posts for detecting suspicious activities involving deep learning methods. The primary objective is to design an automated system capable of identifying unfavourable sentiments and patterns that imply suspicious activity such as cyberbullying, hate speech and disinformation. The methodology involves collecting a diverse data set of 2,000 posts from platforms such as X and Facebook, pre-processed by tokenisation and normalisation. The sentiment analysis model uses a long short-term memory (LSTM) network because it finds that the LSTM network is good for recognising long-term dependencies between texts. Other heuristics are used to give prominence to posts with malicious behavioural profiles to flag them accordingly. The model is designed and tuned to pre-labelled data sets. This work shows considerable improvement over previous techniques at categorising the posts as suspicious by showing higher accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score ratios. In doing so, this research positively impacts the enhancement of paranoid security or the totality of social media safety by offering a strong early detection mechanism for reducing risky behaviours on social networks.

Heterogeneity in happiness: A latent profile analysis of single emerging adults.

Whether attending college, entering the workforce, or finding a romantic partner, single emerging adults navigate a pivotal stage of their lives. The present cross-sectional study sought to examine the heterogeneity in happiness of single emerging adults (N = 1,073) with a person-centered, group-differential approach. Using five predictors of life satisfaction (friendship satisfaction, family satisfaction, self-esteem, neuroticism, and extraversion) as indicators in latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five distinct profiles (or groups) of young singles. The profiles, ordered from favorable to unfavorable indicator patterns, presented diverse shape and level differences that corresponded to varying happiness levels. Singles in Profile 1 with the most favorable indicator patterns (e.g., high friendship satisfaction, low neuroticism) were the happiest, while those in Profile 5 with the least favorable indicator patterns (e.g., low friendship satisfaction, high neuroticism) were the unhappiest. In the middle profiles, singles often offset disadvantages in one area (e.g., high neuroticism) with advantages in others (e.g., high friendship satisfaction) to achieve average to somewhat high levels of happiness. Importantly, friendship satisfaction emerged as a vital indicator, often distinguishing which singles were happy or not. Covariate analyses further validated the profiles and revealed additional profile differences (e.g., gender, anxiety, depression). Overall, our findings underscore the essential role of satisfying friendships in promoting the well-being of single emerging adults.

Sleep pattern, genetic risk, and the risk of incident rheumatoid arthritis: A cohort study

ObjectiveTo investigate the associations of sleep behaviors with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, and whether the associations differ among individuals with low, intermediate, or high genetic risk. MethodsWe included participants who were free of rheumatoid arthritis at baseline based the UK Biobank. We evaluated the associations of five sleep behaviors with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis using Cox proportional hazard regression models. We then generated a sleep risk score which combined five sleep behaviors and assessed its association with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. We finally generated a genetic risk score and examined the joint effects of sleep patterns and genetic susceptibility on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. ResultsOf the 375,133 participants at baseline, 4913 incident rheumatoid arthritis cases were identified over a median follow-up of 11.73years. We found that insomnia and daytime sleepiness were associated with a 33% and a 38% increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis. A U-shaped association was observed between sleep duration and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, with a 29% higher risk for those with short sleep and a 30% higher risk for those with long sleep. Participants with unfavorable sleep patterns had a 63% increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis compared with those with favorable sleep patterns. Participants with unfavorable sleep patterns and high genetic risk showed the highest risk of rheumatoid arthritis although no statistically significant multiplicative or additive interaction was found. ConclusionsOur study suggested that insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and short or long sleep duration, as well as sleep risk score were associated with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

Design and Implementation of an IoT- Based Weather Monitoring System forEnhanced Chicken Farm

The goal of the project is to address the difficulties faced by chicken farmers in properly controlling the environmental conditions of their farms through the design and implementation of an Internet of Things- based weather monitoring system. It investigates how Internet of Things (IoT) technology can be used to remotely monitor and regulate weather conditionsthat are critical to the health and productivity of chicken. The overall goals of the initiative are to maximize production efficiency, enhance animal welfare, and improve management methods on poultry farms. Chicken farms are extremely vulnerable to changes in temperature, humidity, and air quality, among other environmental factors. Unpredictable or unfavorable weather patterns can cause stress, lower egg production, and higher bird mortality rates. The goal of the project is to create an affordable, user-friendly weather monitoring system that will enable farmers to keep an eye on, control, and maintain the perfect environment for their chickens. The project's primary design focus is on placing wireless sensors all throughout the chicken farm to continuously monitor important meteorological factors. Through a user- friendly online or mobile application, farmers can obtain real-time weather data and receive alerts thanks to the sensors' connection to a central IoT network. In order to adapt the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems to variations in the weather, the system also includes automated actuators. The Internet of Things (IoT)-based weather monitoring system showed considerable advantages for chicken farmers after undergoing extensive testing and deployment.

Association of Dietary Patterns, Suspected Sarcopenia, and Frailty Syndrome among Older Adults in Poland-A Cross-Sectional Study.

The association of sarcopenia and frailty syndrome with dietary patterns is not yet well recognized. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association among dietary patterns, suspected sarcopenia, and frailty syndrome among older people in Poland. The study was conducted in 2022 and 2023 among people aged 55 and older. The sample was chosen arbitrarily. The following questionnaires were used in the study: the KomPAN (assessment of frequency of food intake and sociodemographic characteristics), the SARC-F (assessment of risk of sarcopenia), and the EFS (diagnosis of frailty syndrome). To confirm the suspicion of sarcopenia, muscle strength was assessed using the HGS and FTSST, and physical fitness was assessed using the GST. Based on the frequency of food consumption, 11 DPs (factors) were selected using PCA analysis. SARC-F, HGS, FTSST, and GST results were used to identify homogeneous groups (clusters) using cluster analysis, a k-means method. Two clusters were identified: cluster 1 (the non-sarcopenic cluster, or nSC) and cluster 2 (the sarcopenic cluster, or SC). Associations between variables were assessed using logistic regression. Suspected sarcopenia was found in 32.0% of respondents, more in men than women, and more among those either over 75 or 65 and under. EFS results showed that the risk (22.1%) or presence of frailty syndrome (23.8%) was more common in men than women and more common in those aged 75 and older than in other age groups. Male gender; older age; and unfavorable dietary patterns, i.e., consumption of white bread and bakery products, white rice and pasta, butter, and potatoes (factor 1) and cheese, cured meat, smoked sausages, and hot dogs (factor 9), increased the likelihood of sarcopenia and frailty syndrome, while the pattern associated with fruit and water consumption (factor 7) had the opposite effect. Confirmation of the importance of dietary patterns in the etiology and pathogenesis of sarcopenia and frailty syndrome should be documented in prospective cohort studies.

Latent Trajectories of Cerebral Perfusion Pressure and Risk Prediction Models Among Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: Based on an Interpretable Artificial Neural Network

This study aimed to characterize long-term cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) trajectory in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and construct an interpretable prediction model to assess the risk of unfavorable CPP evolution patterns. TBI patients with CPP records were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-IV 2.1, eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD) 2.0, and HiRID dataset 1.1.1. The research process consisted of 2 stages. First, group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) was used to identify different CPP trajectories. Second, different artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms were used to predict the trajectories of CPP. A total of 331 eligible patients' records from MIMIC-IV 2.1 and eICU-CRD 2.0 were used for trajectory analysis and model development. Additionally, 310 patients' data from HiRID were used for external validation. The GBTM identified 5 CPP trajectory groups, group 1 and group 5 were merged into class 1 based on unfavorable in-hospital mortality. The best 6 predictors were invasive systolic blood pressure coefficient of variation, venous blood chloride ion concentration, PaCO2, prothrombin time, CPP coefficient of variation, and mean CPP. Compared with other algorithms, Scaled Conjugate Gradient performed relatively better in identifying class1. This study identified 2 CPP trajectory groups associated with elevated risk and 3 with reduced risk. PaCO2 might be a strong predictor for the unfavorable CPP class. The ANN model achieved the primary goal of risk stratification, which is conducive to early intervention and individualized treatment.

Predicting dryland winter wheat yield in cold regions of Iran

AbstractWheat is a crucial staple worldwide, serving both human and animal needs. In Iran, where climate conditions vary widely, wheat farming faces significant challenges, especially in areas facing freezing winters and unfavorable temperatures during reproductive stages. Unfortunately, existing models often fail to account these extreme and specific climate conditions, leading to inaccurate predictions, notably in cold areas. To address this issue, wheat dryland farming (WDF) model was evaluated in predicting dryland winter wheat yields in five distinct areas including Shahrekord, Borujen, Koohrang, Farsan, Lordegan, and Ardal in Chahar‐Mahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran. The results showed that changes in precipitation and temperature significantly impacted dryland wheat production. While higher precipitation generally associates with higher yields, this relationship is not always straightforward due to factors like unfavorable precipitation patterns and types (i.e., rainfall or snow). Likewise, unfavorable temperatures, particularly during crucial growth stages and winter freezes, pose significant challenges to wheat growth and yield modeling. The WDF model's performance was evaluated across various temperature conditions in the study area, and it was more accurate in regions with certain minimum and maximum temperature values above thresholds. However, the model performance was poor in colder areas, where freezing temperatures were occurred in winter duration (Shahrekord, Borujen, Koohrang, and Farsan). In order to improve the model's accuracy, a correction factor based on the minimum and maximum air temperatures was incorporated in the model. The findings emphasized the importance of considering both precipitation and temperature dynamics when modeling winter wheat yields, especially in regions with diverse climates. By refining models like WDF, agricultural planners can better forecast the yield fluctuations and address the impacts of climate variability on food security in Iran and similar regions worldwide.

The Impact Analysis on Productivity Enhancement of Blackgram through Front Line Demonstration in Chandel District of Manipur State

Background: Blackgram is the major pulse crop cultivated all over the India. The crop is resistant to unfavourable weather patterns and helps in enhancing soil fertility. It is a significant component of the Indian diet since it provides vegetable protein and balances the diet. About 26 per cent of it is protein, which is nearly three times more than cereal and other vitamins and minerals. In addition, it is utilised as nutrient-rich fodder, particularly for dairy cattle. A significant obstacle to expanding blackgram production in Chandel district, Manipur State is the technology gap. Frontline demonstration (FLD), is one of the most significant and effective methods for technology transfer. By using the newest technologies, Krishi Vigyan Kendra Chandel’s interventions aim to boost productivity and production. Methods: The study on Blackgram var. PU-31 under rainfed farming situations of Chandel district, Manipur was carried out by ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Chandel, during Kharif 2017 to 2022 with the objectives to increase production and productivity of pulse in the district conducted in the farmers’ field for 118 hectares of land with all the scientific package of practices. Result: The average grain yield of 776.50 kg/ha was obtained in the demonstration plot with 38.13 per cent increase in yield over farmers practices. The technological and extension gap were 723.50 kg/ha and 214.33 kg/ha respectively. Similarly, technological index was decreased from 50.33 percent to 44.53 percent during the study period, revealing satisfactory performance of technological interventions which can further be improved by bridging the gaps with more efficient research and extension services.

Disease Modules Associated with Unfavorable Sleep Patterns and Their Genetic Determinants: A Prospective Cohort Study of the UK Biobank.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43657-023-00144-8.

Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorates high-fat diet-induced memory impairment in mice.

Gut dysbiosis is linked to metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases and comprises a plausible link between high-fat diet (HFD) and brain dysfunction. Here we show that gut microbiota modulation by either antibiotic treatment for 5 weeks or a brief 3-day fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) regimen from low-fat (control) diet-fed mice decreased weight gain, adipose tissue hypertrophy, and glucose intolerance induced by HFD in C57BL/6 male mice. Notably, gut microbiota modulation by FMT completely reversed impaired recognition memory induced by HFD, whereas modulation by antibiotics had less pronounced effect. Improvement in recognition memory by FMT was accompanied by decreased HFD-induced astrogliosis in the hippocampal cornu ammonis region. Gut microbiome composition analysis indicated that HFD diminished microbiota diversity compared to control diet, whereas FMT partially restored the phyla diversity. Our findings reinforce the role of the gut microbiota on HFD-induced cognitive impairment and suggest that modulating the gut microbiota may be an effective strategy to prevent metabolic and cognitive dysfunction associated with unfavorable dietary patterns.

Biomechanical and biological factors of sexual dimorphism in anterior knee pain: Current concepts

Female gender is one of the commonly mentioned risk factors for anterior knee pain (AKP), among a spectrum of other factors including anatomical, biomechanical, hormonal, behavioral and psychological elements contributing to its development. Despite the focus on individual risk factors, there's a notable gap in comprehending how gender influences and interacts with other risk factors. The objective of this review was to identify and emphasize the connections between these interactions, gender-related risk factors for AKP, and the potential mechanisms that explain their associations with other risk factors, aiming to aid in the creation of precise prevention and treatment approaches. Gender influences the majority of risk factors for AKP, including anatomical, biomechanical, hormonal, behavioral and psychological factors. Women have on average smaller patellae, higher patellofemoral cartilage stress and for AKP, disadvantageous trochlear morphology, ligament and muscle composition and unfavorable neuromuscular control pattern. In contrast, men show on average an increased ability to strengthen their hip external rotators, which are both protective against AKP. Particularly in kinetic and kinematic analysis, men have been shown to have a distinctly different risk factor profile than women. Sex hormones may also play a role in the risk of AKP, with estrogen potentially influencing ligamentous laxity, increasing midfoot loading and affecting neuromuscular control of the lower extremities and testosterone positively affecting muscle mass and strength. The higher incidence of AKP in women is likely due to a combination of slightly increased risk factors. Although all risk factors can be present in both men and women and the holistic evaluation of each individual's risk factor composition is imperative regardless of gender, knowing distinctive risk factors may help with focused evaluation, treatment and implementing preventive measures of AKP.

Sleep patterns, genetic susceptibility, and risk of cirrhosis among individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

The associations between sleep patterns or behaviors and the risk of cirrhosis and the influence of genetic susceptibility on these associations among NAFLD participants remain inadequately elucidated. This study conducted a prospective follow-up of 112,196 NAFLD participants diagnosed at baseline from the UK Biobank cohort study. Five sleep behaviors were collected to measure a healthy sleep score. Five genetic variants were used to construct a polygenic risk score. We used Cox proportional hazard model to assess hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incidence of cirrhosis. During the follow-up, 592 incident cirrhosis cases were documented. Healthy sleep pattern was associated with reduced risk of cirrhosis in a dose-response manner (ptrend < 0.001). Participants with favourable sleep score (versus unfavourable sleep score) had an HR of 0.55 for cirrhosis risk (95% CI 0.39-0.78). Multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) of cirrhosis incidence for NAFLDs with no frequent insomnia, sleeping for 7-8h per day, and no excessive daytime dozing behaviors were 0.73 (0.61-0.87), 0.79 (0.66-0.93), and 0.69 (0.50-0.95), respectively. Compared with participants with favourable sleep pattern and low genetic risk, those with unfavourable sleep pattern and high genetic risk had higher risks of cirrhosis incidence (HR 3.16, 95% CI 1.88-5.33). In addition, a significant interaction between chronotype and genetic risk was detected for the incidence of cirrhosis (p for multiplicative interaction = 0.004). An association was observed between healthy sleep pattern and decreased risk of cirrhosis among NAFLD participants, regardless of low or high genetic risk.

An unfavorable dietary pattern is associated with symptomatic peripheral artery disease

Background and aimsDiet has an essential role in primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention by modulating various cardiovascular risk factors. The need to have easily useable tools seems essential to facilitate the daily practice of clinicians in order to propose the most optimal management of their patients' diet. The aim of this study was to compare the diet assessed with a simple food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) between patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) and healthy subjects. Materials and resultsIn this ancillary study (ELECTRO-PAD study), we included symptomatic PAD patients and healthy participants. All participants filled a FFQ previously validated called Cardiovascular-Dietary-Questionnaire 2 (CDQ-2). CDQ-2 allows the calculation of different scores: global food score, saturated fatty acids score (SFA), unsaturated fatty acids score (UFA), fruit and vegetable score. The higher the score, the better the diet. We compared the different scores between PAD patients and healthy participants. We included 37 PAD patients and 40 healthy subjects. Mean global score was significantly lower in PAD patients compared to the healthy participants (5.35 ± 7.65 vs 10.60 ± 5.81; p = 0.0011). Similarly, the sub-scores concerning unsaturated fatty acids and fruits-vegetables were significantly lower in PAD patients (p < 0.010). Only the sub-score concerning saturated fatty acids was not significantly different (p = 0.8803) between PAD patients and healthy participants. ConclusionCDQ-2 highlights that PAD patients have an unfavorable diet compared with healthy participants. CDQ-2 is a tool of interest to help the clinicians for dietary advice of PAD patients.

Atrial fibrillation increases thrombogenicity of LVAD therapy.

This study investigates the hypothesis that presence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in LVAD patients increases thrombogenicity in the left ventricle (LV) and exacerbates stroke risk. Using an anatomical LV model implanted with an LVAD inflow cannula, we analyze thrombogenic risk and blood flow patterns in either AF or sinus rhythm (SR) using unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To analyze platelet activation and thrombogenesis in the LV, hundreds of thousands of platelets are individually tracked to quantify platelet residence time (RT) and shear stress accumulation history (SH). The irregular and chaotic mitral inflow associated with AF results in markedly different intraventricular flow patterns, with profoundly negative impact on blood flow-induced stimuli experienced by platelets as they traverse the LV. Twice as many platelets accumulated very high SH in the LVAD + AF case, resulting in a 36% increase in thrombogenic potential score, relative to the LVAD + SR case. This supports the hypothesis that AF results in unfavorable blood flow patterns in the LV adding to an increased stroke risk for LVAD + AF patients. Quantification of thrombogenic risk associated with AF for LVAD patients may help guide clinical decision-making on interventions to mitigate the increased risk of thromboembolic events.