A crowdsourced global data set for validating built-up surface layers.

Several global high-resolution built-up surface products have emerged over the last five years, taking full advantage of open sources of satellite data such as Landsat and Sentinel. However, these data sets require validation that is independent of the producers of these products. To fill this gap, we designed a validation sample set of 50 K locations using a stratified sampling approach independent of any existing global built-up surface products.

Clinical Benefits of Stem Cells for Chronic Symptomatic Systolic Heart Failure: A Systematic Review of the Existing Data and Ongoing Trials.

The benefits of stem cell therapy for patients with chronic symptomatic systolic heart failure due to ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM and NICM, respectively) are unclear. We performed a systematic review of major published and ongoing trials of stem cell therapy for systolic heart failure and compared measured clinical outcomes for both types of cardiomyopathy. The majority of the 29 published studies demonstrated clinical benefits of autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs).

Renal biomarkers and outcomes in outpatients with heart failure: The Atlanta cardiomyopathy consortium.

Background/objectives: Cystatin-C and beta-2-microglobulin may be superior to serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF). We compared these renal markers in ambulatory HF patients.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated the association of baseline renal markers and eGFR (by 4 different formulas) with (1) the composite of death or HF-related hospitalization and (2) rates of hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits in 166 outpatients with HF (57.

Echocardiographic assessment of pulmonary artery systolic pressure and outcomes in ambulatory heart failure patients.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with heart failure (HF) is associated with worse outcomes and is rapidly being recognized as a therapeutic target. To facilitate pragmatic research efforts, data regarding the prognostic importance of noninvasively assessed pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) in stable ambulatory patients with HF are needed.

Methods And Results: We examined the association between echocardiographic PASP and outcomes in 417 outpatients with HF (age, 54 ± 13 years; 60.

Prevalence of resistant hypertension and eligibility for catheter-based renal denervation in hypertensive outpatients.

Background: Studies of endovascular renal denervation (RDN) have demonstrated significant blood pressure reduction in eligible patients with resistant hypertension. These trials have used stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria in patient enrollment, potentially selecting for a small subset of patients with resistant hypertension. In this study, we examined the changes in estimated prevalence of resistant hypertension when using increasingly stringent definitions of resistant hypertension in a fixed population and assessed the generalizability of RDN when applying study criteria to a community-based hypertensive population.

Patient-reported selective adherence to heart failure self-care recommendations: a prospective cohort study: the Atlanta Cardiomyopathy Consortium.

Simultaneous adherence with multiple self-care instructions among heart failure (HF) patients is not well described. Patient-reported adherence to 8 recommendations related to exercise, alcohol, medications, smoking, diet, weight, and symptoms was assessed among 308 HF patients using the Medical Outcomes Study Specific Adherence Scale questionnaire (0="never" to 5="always," maximum score=40). A baseline cumulative score of ≥32/40 (average ≥80%) defined good adherence.

Right ventricular function with standard and speckle-tracking echocardiography and clinical events in adults with D-transposition of the great arteries post atrial switch.

Background: The prognostic value of deformation parameters of the systemic right ventricle in adults with D-transposition of the great arteries and prior atrial switch has not been reported.

Methods: Sixty-four adults with D-transposition of the great arteries and prior atrial switch (mean age, 29 ± 6 years; 22 women; mean right ventricular [RV] fractional area change, 22.9 ± 7.