Different profiles of advanced heart failure among patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Findings from the EPICTER study.

Aim: This work aims to compare the characteristics of advanced heart failure (HF) in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and to determine the relevance of variables used to define advanced HF.

Patients And Methods: This cross-sectional, multicenter study included patients hospitalized for HF. They were classified into four groups according to presence/absence of advanced HF, determined based on general and cardiac criteria, and presence/absence of DM.

Dynamic factor models: Does the specification matter?

Dynamic factor models (DFMs), which assume the existence of a small number of unobserved underlying factors common to a large number of variables, are very popular among empirical macroeconomists. Factors can be extracted using either nonparametric principal components or parametric Kalman filter and smoothing procedures, with the former being computationally simpler and robust against misspecification and the latter coping in a natural way with missing and mixed-frequency data, time-varying parameters, nonlinearities and non-stationarity, among many other stylized facts often observed in real systems of economic variables. This paper analyses the empirical consequences on factor estimation, in-sample predictions and out-of-sample forecasting of using alternative estimators of the DFM under various sources of potential misspecification.

Role of systolic blood pressureon the progression of kidney damage in an experimental model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypertension (Zucker rats).

Background: Hypertension is the main risk factor for the progression of kidney damage in diabetes mellitus. The aim of the present work is to compare the effect of the treatment with irbesartan (IRBE) and omapatrilat (OMA), in obese Zucker rats (OZR).

Methods: A group of 45 OZR were uninephrectomized to accelerate renal damage, and divided into three groups: two experimental groups (IRBE and OMA) treated with 50 and 40 mg/kg/d, respectively; and the control group (CG).

Application of a Chemical Mass Balance Receptor Model to Respirable Particulate Matter in Mexico City.

Mexico City frequently experiences high levels of air pollution. This is due mainly to its topography and meteorology that suppress pollutant diffusion and dispersion. The atmospheric mixing is extremely poor, especially during the dry winter months.