Investigation of Physical-Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Mortars with Perlite and Thermal-Treated Materials.

This study aimed to obtain and characterize a mortar with perlite aggregate and thermal-treated materials that could substitute for Portland cement. First, the thermally treated materials were obtained by calcinating old Portland cement (OC-tt) and concrete demolition waste (CC-tt) at 550 °C, for 3 h. Second, plastic mortars with a perlite: cement volume ratio of 3:1 were prepared and tested for water absorption, mechanical strength, and thermal conductivity.

Assessment of Properties and Microstructure of Concrete with Cotton Textile Waste and Crushed Bricks.

Cotton textile waste (CW) and crushed bricks (CB) are wastes generated by the textile and construction industries that cause adverse effects on the environment. This paper explores the effect of adding 1, 2, 5, and 10 wt.% of CW and CB, instead of natural sand under 1 mm (50 to 100 vol.

COVID-19 crisis and the incidence of hospital admissions for psychosis in France.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the occurrence of new hospital admissions for cases of psychosis in France.

Method: We conducted a retrospective observational study from the French national PMSI database. We included patients hospitalized between 2018 and 2020 with a principal diagnosis of schizophrenia or delusional disorder with no history of psychosis in the previous 10 years.

Behind the scenes of the healthcare COVID-19 pandemic crisis: potential affecting factors of healthcare work sustainability in Romania during 2020-2022.

Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic represented a great disturbance for medical systems around the world, putting medical personnel on the front lines of the fight against the SARS-Cov2 virus. This fight was particularly impactful in countries with medical systems already facing various challenges, including Romania; where the pandemic unfolded in five waves that severely affected the psychological and physical well-being of medical professionals in terms of overload and continuous exposure to health threats. Against this background, our research aims to identify the mediating role of potential affecting factors of healthcare work sustainability during the change-related uncertainty conditions generated by the COVID 19 crisis.

Prevalence of severe cardiovascular disease in patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of severe cardiovascular (CV) disease requiring hospitalization among patients with schizophrenia in France.

Method: We included patients hospitalized with schizophrenia or psychotic disorder during 2015, in five French psychiatric hospitals. Patients with CV disease were defined as those with a correspondent ICD-10 code during a hospital stay in any general hospital, five years before or three years after the psychiatric hospitalization.

Clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 patients hospitalized for psychiatric disorders: a French multi-centered prospective observational study.

Background: Patients with psychiatric disorders are exposed to high risk of COVID-19 and increased mortality. In this study, we set out to assess the clinical features and outcomes of patients with current psychiatric disorders exposed to COVID-19.

Methods: This multi-center prospective study was conducted in 22 psychiatric wards dedicated to COVID-19 inpatients between 28 February and 30 May 2020.

Antibiotic resistance profiles in cultivable microbiota isolated from some romanian natural fishery lakes included in Natura 2000 network.

Background: The present study aims the characterization of antibiotic resistance phenotypes and encoding genes in bacterial strains isolated from some Romanian aquatic fishery lowland salted lakes.

Material/methods: This study was conducted on 44 bacterial strains, mainly belonging to species used as microbiological indicators of fecal pollution isolated from four natural fishery lakes. All strains were tested for their antibiotic susceptibility by disk diffusion method.

Rate and predictors of interrupted patient follow-up after first-episode psychosis - a retrospective cohort study in France.

Background: Patient adherence to follow-up after a first episode of psychosis (FEP) is currently a major challenge. Patient's early adherence reduces the risk of relapse and improves their prognosis in the short and long term. The primary goal of our study was to determine the incidence of treatment disengagement at 1-year follow-up in patients with first-episode schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder.

Sex differences in circulating proteins in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Background: Many patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are women. Exploring mechanisms underlying the sex differences may improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of HFpEF. Studies focusing on sex differences in circulating proteins in HFpEF patients are scarce.

Enhanced clinical phenotyping by mechanistic bioprofiling in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: insights from the MEDIA-DHF study (The Metabolic Road to Diastolic Heart Failure).

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a heterogeneous syndrome for which clear evidence of effective therapies is lacking. Understanding which factors determine this heterogeneity may be helped by better phenotyping. An unsupervised statistical approach applied to a large set of biomarkers may identify distinct HFpEF phenotypes.

Empathy and Burnout - A Cross-Sectional Study Among Mental Healthcare Providers in France.

Previous studies have established a correlation between empathy and burnout among healthcare providers. The aim of this study is to explore whether empathy - the ability to understand what another person is experiencing, was related to mental healthcare staffs' burnout. We performed a descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study among medical and nursing mental healthcare staff working in the district of Moselle, France.

[Identification of abuse/dependence cases by the French addictovigilance network (FAN): A pilot study of the addictovigilance center and the psychotherapeutic center of Nancy (France)].

Objectives: France is the only European country with a dedicated addictovigilance network (French addictovigilance network [FAN]). However, the reporting of cases of abuse/dependence is insufficient. In an attempt to overcome this under-reporting, data from the medical information systems program (PMSI) is regularly used to identify cases.

Heart rate, pulse pressure and mortality in patients with myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure.

Objective: To assess the relationship between heart rate (HR), pulse pressure (PP), and their association with mortality in a population of high-risk patients following acute myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: We performed an analysis in 22,398 patients included in "The High-Risk Myocardial Infarction Database Initiative", a database of clinical trials evaluating pharmacologic interventions in patients with MI complicated by signs of heart failure (HF) or left ventricular dysfunction. We found an interaction between HR and PP.

A history of diabetes predicts outcomes following myocardial infarction: an analysis of the 28 771 patients in the High-Risk MI Database.

Aims: To examine the impact of diabetes mellitus on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by clinical signs of heart failure (HF) or left ventricular dysfunction (LVD).

Methods And Results: The High-Risk MI Database consists of individual data from 28 771 patients and was created by merging four large recent randomized clinical trials (VALIANT, EPHESUS, OPTIMAAL, and CAPRICORN) that each examined the impact of pharmacological interventions following MI in patients with evidence of HF or LVD. The mean age of patients was 65 years, 70% were male, and almost 94% Caucasian.

Incident hyperkalemia may be an independent therapeutic target in low ejection fraction heart failure patients: insights from the HEAAL study.

Background: Angiotensin receptor antagonists (ARBs) improve outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, but may induce hyperkalemia (HK) and/or a worsening of renal function (WRF).

Methods And Results: The incidence and risk factors of HK and its inter-relationship with WRF, as well as associations with clinical outcome (death or admission for HF i.e.

Incidence, determinants, and prognostic significance of hyperkalemia and worsening renal function in patients with heart failure receiving the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist eplerenone or placebo in addition to optimal medical therapy: results from the Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalization and Survival Study in Heart Failure (EMPHASIS-HF).

Background: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists improve outcomes in patients with systolic heart failure but may induce worsening of renal function (WRF) and hyperkalemia (HK). We assessed the risk factors for mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist-related WRF and for HK, as well as the association between HK and WRF with clinical outcomes in the Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalization and Survival Study in Heart Failure (EMPHASIS-HF).

Methods And Results: Serial changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate and in serum potassium were available in 2737 patients during a median 21-month follow-up.

Heart rate: a prognostic factor and therapeutic target in chronic heart failure. The distinct roles of drugs with heart rate-lowering properties.

Heart rate not only predicts outcome but may also be a therapeutic target in patients with chronic heart failure. Several classes of pharmacological agents can be used to modulate heart rate, including beta-blockers, ivabradine, digoxin, amiodarone, and verapamil. Choice of agent will depend on heart rhythm, co-morbidities, and disease phenotype.

Effectiveness of a multidimensional home nurse led heart failure disease management program--a French nationwide time-series comparison.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a disease management program (DMP) in heart failure (HF) on the incidence of HF hospitalizations and related costs in a real-world population-based setting.

Methods: Insuffisance CArdiaque en LORraine (ICALOR), a DMP for HF was established in 2006 in the French region of Lorraine. Patients were enrolled after an index HF hospitalization.

Association between resting heart rate, chronotropic index, and long-term outcomes in patients with heart failure receiving β-blocker therapy: data from the HF-ACTION trial.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the association between resting heart rate (HR), chronotropic index (CI), and clinical outcomes in optimally treated chronic heart failure (HF) patients on β-blocker therapy.

Methods And Results: We performed a sub-study in 1118 patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction (EF < 35%) included in the HF-ACTION trial. Patients in sinus rhythm who received a β-blocker and who performed with maximal effort on the exercise test were included.

Statin therapy and clinical outcomes in myocardial infarction patients complicated by acute heart failure: insights from the EPHESUS trial.

Aims: Several clinical trials have shown that in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI), statin therapy improves cardiovascular (CV) outcomes, but in these trials patients with acute heart failure (HF) were excluded or only a few were included. In patients with chronic HF, statin therapy does not reduce all-cause or CV mortality. We aimed to assess the association between statin therapy and clinical outcomes in the setting of acute HF with systolic dysfunction complicating acute MI.

Hypo- and hyperglycemia predict outcome in patients with left ventricular dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction: data from EPHESUS.

Background: Hyperglycemia predicts death in cardiovascular disease, but intensive glucose-lowering strategies increase mortality rates in diabetes. The present analysis investigated the prognostic value of postadmission blood glucose (BG) concentration on clinical outcomes in high-risk patients with heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.

Methods And Results: A total of 6,496 patients from the Eplerenone Post-Acute Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure Efficacy and Survival Study (EPHESUS) were categorized into 4 groups by plasma glucose concentration: ≤4.

Determinants and consequences of renal function variations with aldosterone blocker therapy in heart failure patients after myocardial infarction: insights from the Eplerenone Post-Acute Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure Efficacy and Survival Study.

Background: We evaluated the effect of the selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist eplerenone on renal function and the interaction between changes in renal function and subsequent cardiovascular outcomes in patients with heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction after an acute myocardial infarction in the Eplerenone Post-Acute Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure Efficacy and Survival Study (EPHESUS).

Methods And Results: Serial changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were available in 5792 patients during a 24-month follow-up. Patients assigned to eplerenone had a decline in eGFR with an adjusted mean difference of -1.

Comparing adverse event rates of oral blood glucose-lowering drugs reported by patients and healthcare providers: a post-hoc analysis of observational studies published between 1999 and 2011.

Background: Non-serious symptomatic adverse drug events (ADEs) affect the real benefit-risk ratio of a drug. Currently, such ADEs are quantified in different ways, often using reports from a healthcare provider or patients, resulting in large variations in estimated rates. Several studies showed that patients report bothersome or symptomatic ADEs more frequently than providers, but no comparisons to an external reference or gold standard have been made.

A review of methods used in assessing non-serious adverse drug events in observational studies among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Clinical drug trials are often conducted in selective patient populations, with relatively small numbers of patients, and a short duration of follow-up. Observational studies are therefore important for collecting additional information on adverse drug events (ADEs). Currently, there is no guidance regarding the methodology for measuring ADEs in such studies.

Influence of the recommendations on the implementation of home blood pressure measurement by French general practitioners: a 2004-2009 longitudinal survey.

Objectives: To assess the implementation of home blood pressure measurement (HBPM) by French general practitioners (GPs) in current practice in 2009 and to assess the evolution of practices between 2004 and 2009; the perceived benefits and limitations of the method; and the adherence to methodological European [European Society of Hypertension (ESH) 2007] or French [La Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) 2005] recommendations.

Method: Two phone surveys on a representative random sample of French GPs in 2004 and then in 2009.

Results: Five hundred and forty and 801 GPs were contacted in 2004 and 2009, respectively, in which 511 and 500 participated, including the same 214 in both surveys.