The incidence of infections caused by the complex (MAC) has risen significantly, posing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This study analyzed 134 clinical isolates of the complex from southern Spain, performing in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing using a commercial microdilution technique to generate additional data, refine treatment strategies, and improve patient outcomes. Phenotypic susceptibility testing revealed clarithromycin and amikacin as the most effective antibiotics, with susceptibility rates exceeding 90%, while linezolid and moxifloxacin exhibited limited activity, with resistance rates of 49.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Lung physiology and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathophysiology differ between sexes. This post hoc analysis investigated the InforMing the Pathway of COPD Treatment (IMPACT) trial outcomes by patient sex.
Methods: IMPACT was a double-blind, 52-week trial.
High-density multielectrode catheters are becoming increasingly popular in cardiac electrophysiology for advanced characterisation of the cardiac tissue, due to their potential to identify impaired sites. These are often characterised by abnormal electrical conduction, which may cause locally disorganised propagation wavefronts. To quantify it, a novel heterogeneity parameter based on vector field analysis is proposed, utilising finite differences to measure direction changes between adjacent cliques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolic syndrome (MetS) has been linked to a higher prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias, the most frequent being atrial fibrillation, but the mechanisms are not well understood. One possible underlying mechanism may be an abnormal modulation of autonomic nervous system activity, which can be quantified by analysing heart rate variability (HRV). Our aim was to investigate the modifications of long-term HRV in an experimental model of diet-induced MetS to identify the early changes in HRV and the link between autonomic dysregulation and MetS components.
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