Abstract
Introduction
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is more common in women who have had pregnancy complications such as spontaneous pregnancy loss. We used cross-sectional data from the UK Biobank ...Imaging Enhancement Study to determine whether pregnancy loss is associated with cardiac or vascular remodelling in later life, which might contribute to this increased risk.
Methods
Pregnancy history was reported by women participating in UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010 at age 40–69 years using a self-completed touch-screen questionnaire. Self-reported pregnancy loss was related to cardiovascular measures collected in those women who had participated in the Imaging Enhancement Study up to the end of 2015. Cardiac structure and function were assessed by magnetic resonance (CMR) steady-state free precession imaging at 1.5 Tesla. Three long axes cines (horizontal, vertical and LV outflow tract) and a complete short axis stack were acquired, covering both ventricles. Tagging was used to measure myocardial strain in basal, midventricular and apical short axes views. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements were taken for both common carotid arteries using a CardioHealth Station. Statistical associations with CMR and carotid measures were adjusted for age, BMI and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Results
Data were available on 2660 women of whom 113 were excluded because of pre-existing CVD and 8 had no pregnancy information available. Of the remaining 2539, 466 were nulligravid and 2073 had a history of pregnancies, of whom 622 reported at least one pregnancy loss (92% miscarriages and 8% stillbirths) and 1451 reported no pregnancy loss. No significant differences in cardiac or carotid parameters were evident in women who reported pregnancy loss compared to other groups (Table 1).
CMR cardiac geometry & CIMT measurements
Variable
Pregnancy History
Adjusted Means ± SE
Effect Size (%)
95% CI
P
LVEDV (ml)
Pregnancy Loss
122.2±1.0
0
–
–
No Pregnancy
124.1±1.4
1.58
(−0.83, 4.05)
0.20
Pregnancy (no loss)
122.2±0.8
0.2
(−1.42, 1.48)
0.97
LVESV (ml)
Pregnancy Loss
47.8±0.6
0
–
–
No Pregnancy
48.0±0.8
0.45
(−3.19, 4.22)
0.81
Pregnancy (no loss)
47.3±0.5
−1.01
(−3.19, 1.22)
0.37
VEF (%)
Pregnancy Loss
60.6±0.3
0
–
–
No Pregnancy
61.0±0.4
0.42
(−0.50, 1.35)
0.37
Pregnancy (no loss)
61.0±0.2
0.43
(−0.14, 0.99)
0.14
LVM (g)
Pregnancy Loss
70.6±0.6
0
–
–
No Pregnancy
70.5±0.8
−0.15
(−2.68, 2.44)
0.91
Pregnancy (no loss)
70.4±0.5
−0.26
(−1.81, 1.30)
0.74
CIMT (μm)
Pregnancy Loss
633.3±6.5
0
–
–
No Pregnancy
619.3±8.4
−2.22
(−5.04, 0.68)
0.13
Pregnancy (no loss)
627.1±4.9
−0.99
(−2.75, 0.81)
0.28
Conclusion
Women who self-report pregnancy loss do not have significant differences in cardiac or carotid structure in later life to explain past epidemiological findings of increased cardiovascular risk in this population. This may be because this risk operates through other disease mechanisms or that self-report is not a sufficiently reliable way to identify pregnancy loss, and thereby allocate women into risk groups.
Background/aim: Primary lens extraction has been advocated for acute primary angle closure (APAC), but it is not known if this is warranted in all cases. The aim of this study was to investigate the ...visual acuity (VA) of APAC eyes shortly after resolution of the acute episode in order to assess the appropriateness of performing such surgery in this condition. Methods: This was a prospective observational case series. As part of a randomised controlled trial comparing phacoemulsification and laser iridotomy, 135 consecutive APAC subjects over a 2 year period underwent subjective refraction and measurement of Snellen VA once the acute episode had resolved with reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) and improved corneal clarity. Results: Subjects were predominantly Chinese (95.6%) and female (79.3%), with a mean age of 63.6 (SD 9.6) years. When assessed 1.7 (2.7) days after presentation, the majority of APAC cases (50.4%) had good VA (6/12 or better), with more than a quarter of cases having VA of 6/7.5 or better. Poor VA was associated with duration of symptoms (p = 0.04, OR = 4.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 15.7) and time taken to resolution of APAC (p = 0.04, OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.02 to 4.6), but not with sex (p = 0.31), age (p = 0.26), duration from presentation to measurement of visual acuity (p = 0.53), or presenting IOP (p = 0.73). Conclusion: Within days after APAC, more than half of APAC affected eyes had good VA (6/12 or better). The role of lens extraction in the management of APAC warrants further debate, especially for eyes with good VA.
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•The impacts of nanospheres and nanorods on light trapping in SM solar cells are compared.•The optimum nanorod concentration is determined by electrical and morphology ...measurements.•Plasmonic effect rather than morphology induced by NPs contributes to the enhanced PCE.•The addition of nanorods in the SM solar cells has little effect on device stability.
Light trapping by gold (Au)-silica nanospheres and nanorods embedded in the active layer of small-molecule (SM) organic solar cell has been systematically compared. Nanorod significantly outperforms nanosphere because of more light scattering and higher quality factor for localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) triggered by nanorods. The optimum concentration of nanorod was characterized by charge carrier transport and morphology of the active layers. At optimum nanorod concentration, almost no change in the morphology of the active layer reveals that LSPR and scattering effects rather than the morphology are mainly responsible for the enhanced power conversion efficiency. In addition, the preliminary lifetime studies of the SM solar cells with and without Au-silica nanorods were conducted by measuring the current density–voltage characteristics over 20days. The results show that plasmonic device with nanorods has no adverse impact on the device stability.
All major rivers in Bhutan depend on snowmelt for discharge. Therefore, changes in snow cover due to climate change can influence distribution and availability of water. However, information about ...distribution of seasonal snow cover in Bhutan is not available. The MODIS snow product was used to study snow cover status and trends in Bhutan. Average snow cover area (SCA) of Bhutan estimated for the period 2002 to 2010 was 9030 sq. km, about 25.5% of the total land area. SCA trend of Bhutan for the period 2002–2010 was found to decrease (−3.27 ± 1.28%). The average SCA for winter was 14,485 sq. km (37.7%), for spring 7411 sq. km (19.3%), for summer 4326 sq. km (11.2%), and for autumn 7788 sq. km (20.2%), mostly distributed in the elevation range 2500–6000 m amsl. Interannual and seasonal SCA trend both showed a decline, although it was not statistically significant for all sub-basins. Pho Chu sub-basin with 19.5% of the total average SCA had the highest average SCA. The rate of increase of SCA for every 100 m elevation was the highest (2.5%) in the Pa Chu sub-basin. The coefficient of variance of 1.27 indicates high variability of SCA in winter.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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