Chronic cardiac insufficiency manifests itself in a number of clinical syndromes with signs and symptoms characterized by low specificity and sensitivity. ESC and ACC/AHA experts propose to use brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and/or N-terminal BNP propeptide (NT-proBNP) levels in combination with tissue velocity imaging (TVI) to facilitate diagnostics of this condition. BNP and NT-proBNP levels are highly specific and sensitive indicators of left ventricular myocardium overload while TVI reveals chronic cardiac insufficiency in the asymptomatic phase of its development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova
September 2011
An all-silica photonic bandgap fiber with a cladding index difference of approximately 2 % and diameter-to-pitch ratio (d/wedge) of 0.12 was fabricated and studied. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the properties of photonic bandgap fiber with such a small d/wedge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF