The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly modified Earth's social-ecological systems in many ways; here we study its impacts on human-nature interactions. We conducted an online survey focused on peoples' ...relationships with the non-human world during the pandemic and received valid responses from 3,204 adult residents of the state of Vermont (U.S.A.). We analyzed reported changes in outdoor activities and the values associated with human-nature relationships across geographic areas and demographic characteristics. We find that participation increased on average for some activities (foraging, gardening, hiking, jogging, photography and other art, relaxing alone, walking, and watching wildlife), and decreased for others (camping, relaxing with others). The values respondents ranked as more important during the pandemic factored into two groups, which we label as "Nurture and Recreation values" and "Inspiration and Nourishment values." Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that respondents' preferences for changes in activity engagement and value factors are statistically associated with some demographic characteristics, including geography, gender, income, and employment status during the pandemic. Our results suggest that nature may play an important role in coping during times of crisis, but that the specific interactions and associated values that people perceive as most important may vary between populations. Our findings emphasize for both emergency and natural resources planning the importance of understanding variation in how and why people interact with and benefit from nature during crises.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Angina with no angiographic stenosis, commonly called "microvascular angina," encompasses a wide continuum of coronary pathophysiology in conflicting published reports. Comprehensive quantitative ...myocardial perfusion offers new insights beyond overly simplistic coronary flow reserve. Integrating regional absolute stress flow, relative stress flow, coronary flow reserve, and qualitative subendocardial perfusion gradient on tomograms of relative images, provides correct diagnosis, quantitative physiological classification, and potential treatment. Angina without angiographic stenosis is associated with abnormal quantitative perfusion with rare, but instructive, exceptions. However, microvascular dysfunction without angina is common, particularly associated with risk factors. Reduced subendocardial/epicardial relative activity is common with diffuse coronary artery disease without focal stenosis with or without angina depending on the severity of reduced subendocardial perfusion. Precision quantitative myocardial perfusion in 5,900 cases objectively classifies angina with no angiographic stenosis into 4 categories: subendocardial ischemia due to diffuse coronary artery disease (most common), overlooked stenosis, diffuse microvascular dysfunction due to risk factors or specific microvasculopathies, and nonischemic cardiac pain mechanisms (rare), or some mix of these prototypes, of which 95% associate with risk factors, or subclinical or clinically manifest coronary atherosclerosis needing vigorous risk factor treatment.
Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine whether observed discordance between coronary flow reserve (CFR) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) is due to methodology or reflects basic ...coronary pathophysiology. Background Despite the clinical importance of coronary physiological assessment, relationships between its 2 most common tools, CFR and FFR, remain poorly defined. Methods The worst CFR and stress relative uptake were recorded from 1,500 sequential cardiac positron emission tomography cases from our center. From the literature, we assembled all combined, invasive CFR-FFR measurements, including a subset before and after angioplasty. Both datasets were compared with a fluid dynamic model of the coronary circulation predicting relationships between CFR and FFR for variable diffuse and focal narrowing. Results A modest but significant linear relationship exists between CFR and FFR both invasively (r = 0.34, p < 0.001) and using positron emission tomography (r = 0.36, p < 0.001). Most clinical patients undergoing CFR or FFR measurements have diffusely reduced CFR consistent with diffuse atherosclerosis or small-vessel disease. The theoretical model predicts linear relationships between CFR and FFR for progressive stenosis with slopes dependent on diffuse narrowing, matching observed data. Reported changes in CFR and FFR with angioplasty agree with model predictions of removing focal stenosis but leaving diffuse disease. Although CFR-FFR concordance is common, discordance is due to dominant or absent diffuse versus focal disease, reflecting basic pathophysiology. Conclusions CFR is linearly related to FFR for progressive stenosis superimposed on diffuse narrowing. The relative contributions of focal and diffuse disease define the slope and values along the linear CFR and FFR relationship. Discordant CFR and FFR values reflect divergent extremes of focal and diffuse disease, not failure of either tool. With such discordance observed by invasive and noninvasive techniques and also fitting fluid dynamic predictions, it reflects clinically relevant basic coronary pathophysiology, not methodology.
•Targeted anti-cytokine agents, tocilizumab and anakinra, used to treat COVID-19 related cytokine storm, yield mixed results•Early identification of cytokine storm using laboratory abnormalities can ...detect patients prior to mechanical ventilation•Early identification and treatment of cytokine storm with anakinra and corticosteroids led to improved outcomes compared to initiating tocilizumab shortly after mechanical ventilation.•Early identification and treatment of cytokine storm may be more important than which anti-inflammatory treatment is chosen•Our results provide additional support for the use of corticosteroid treatment of COVID19 cytokine storm
To examine outcomes among patients who were treated with the targeted anti-cytokine agents, anakinra or tocilizumab, for COVID-19 -related cytokine storm (COVID19-CS).
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all SARS-coV2-RNA-positive patients treated with tocilizumab or anakinra in Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Local experts developed and implemented criteria to define COVID19-CS. All variables were extracted from electronic health records.
At tocilizumab initiation (n = 52), 50 (96.2%) were intubated, and only seven (13.5%) received concomitant corticosteroids. At anakinra initiation (n = 41), 23 (56.1%) were intubated, and all received concomitant corticosteroids. Fewer anakinra-treated patients died (n = 9, 22%) and more were extubated/never intubated (n = 26, 63.4%) compared to tocilizumab-treated patients (n = 24, 46.2% dead, n = 22, 42.3% extubated/never intubated). Patients who died had more severe sepsis and respiratory failure and met COVID-CS laboratory criteria longer (median = 3 days) compared to those extubated/never intubated (median = 1 day). After accounting for differences in disease severity at treatment initiation, this apparent superiority of anakinra over tocilizumab was no longer statistically significant (propensity score-adjusted hazards ratio 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.18–1.20).
Prompt identification and treatment of COVID19-CS before intubation may be more important than the specific type of anti-inflammatory treatment. Randomized controlled trials of targeted anti-cytokine treatments and corticosteroids should report the duration of cytokine storm in addition to clinical severity at randomization.
Because randomized coronary revascularization trials in stable coronary artery disease (CAD) have shown no reduced myocardial infarction (MI) or mortality, the threshold of quantitative myocardial ...perfusion severity was analyzed for association with reduced death, MI, or stroke after revascularization within 90 d after PET.
In a prospective long-term cohort of stable CAD, regional, artery-specific, quantitative myocardial perfusion by PET, coronary revascularization within 90 d after PET, and all-cause death, MI, and stroke (DMS) at 9-y follow-up (mean ± SD, 3.0 ± 2.3 y) were analyzed by multivariate Cox regression models and propensity analysis.
For 3,774 sequential rest-stress PET scans, regional, artery-specific, severely reduced coronary flow capacity (CFC) (coronary flow reserve ≤ 1.27 and stress perfusion ≤ 0.83 cc/min/g) associated with 60% increased hazard ratio for major adverse cardiovascular events and 30% increased hazard of DMS that was significantly reduced by 54% associated with revascularization within 90 d after PET (
= 0.0369), compared with moderate or mild CFC, coronary flow reserve, other PET metrics or medical treatment alone. Depending on severity threshold for statistical certainty, up to 19% of this clinical cohort had CFC severity associated with reduced DMS after revascularization.
CFC by PET provides objective, regional, artery-specific, size-severity physiologic quantification of CAD severity associated with high risk of DMS that is significantly reduced after revascularization within 90 d after PET, an association not seen for moderate to mild perfusion abnormalities or medical treatment alone.