Innovation, simplification, and adherence to real life, 2024 ESC guidelines of elevated blood pressure and hypertension claimed for.

Some relevant key messages from the first presentation of the 2024 ESC Guidelines for the management of elevated blood pressure (BP) and hypertension.Image 1.

Body and skull morphometric variations between two shovel-headed species of Amphisbaenia (Reptilia: Squamata) with morphofunctional inferences on burrowing.

Background: Morphological descriptions comparing and have been made previously. However, these taxa lack a formal quantitative morphological characterization, and comparative studies suggest that morphology and burrowing performance are be related. The excavatory movements of have been described in detail.

Natriuretic peptide B plasma concentration increases in the first 12 h of pulmonary edema recovery.

Background: According to guidelines, single determination of B-type Natriuretic peptide (BNP) should be used for distinguishing between cardiac and non-cardiac acute dyspnea at the emergency room. BNP measurement is also recommended before hospital discharge in patients hospitalized for heart failure to assess prognosis and to evaluate treatment efficacy. In acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema, BNP is measured using a single BNP determination, but the temporal behavior of BNP during pulmonary edema recovery is unknown.

Prognostic value of dipyridamole stress cardiac magnetic resonance in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease: a mid-term follow-up study.

Objectives: Dipyridamole stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) evaluates the key phases (perfusion and wall motion) of the ischemic cascade. We sought to determine the prognostic value of dipyridamole stress-CMR in consecutive patients symptomatic for chest pain.

Methods: Seven hundred and ninety-three consecutive patients symptomatic for chest pain underwent dipyridamole stress-CMR and were followed up for 810 ± 665 days.

Impact of an intra-cycle motion correction algorithm on overall evaluability and diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography coronary angiography.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a novel intra-cycle motion correction algorithm (MCA) on overall evaluability and diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography coronary angiography (CCT).

Methods: From a cohort of 900 consecutive patients referred for CCT for suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), we enrolled 160 (18 %) patients (mean age 65.3 ± 11.

Underwater turning movement during foraging in Hydromedusa maximiliani (Testudines, Chelidae) from southeastern Brazil.

A type of locomotor behavior observed in animals with rigid bodies, that can be found in many animals with exoskeletons, shells, or other forms of body armor, to change direction, is the turning behavior. Aquatic floated-turning behavior among rigid bodies animals have been studied in whirligig beetles, boxfish, and more recently in freshwater turtle, Chrysemys picta. In the laboratory we observed a different kind of turning movement that consists in an underwater turning movement during foraging, wherein the animal pivoted its body, using one of the hindlimbs as the fixed-point support in the substratum.

Comparison of cardiac computed tomography versus cardiac magnetic resonance for characterization of left atrium anatomy before radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Background: The outcome of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) has been improved by the pivotal role of cardiovascular imaging such as cardiac computed tomography (CCT) or cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for the characterization of left atrium (LA) anatomy before RFCA. The aim of this study is to compare the procedural characteristics, overall radiation exposure and clinical outcomes between RFCA guided by image integration with CCT versus CMR.

Methods: Four-hundred patients with drug-refractory paroxysmal or persistent AF referred to RCFA were matched with the propensity score matching analysis to CCT (n: 200) or CMR (n: 200) for evaluation of LA before RFCA procedure.

Coronary artery disease: diagnostic accuracy of CT coronary angiography--a comparison of high and standard spatial resolution scanning.

Purpose: To compare the image quality, evaluability, diagnostic accuracy, and radiation exposure of high-spatial-resolution (HR, 0.23-mm) computed tomographic (CT) coronary angiography with standard spatial resolution (SR, 0.625-mm) 64-section imaging in patients at high risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) by using invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as the reference method.

Comparison of accuracy of aortic root annulus assessment with cardiac magnetic resonance versus echocardiography and multidetector computed tomography in patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

The evaluation of the aortic root in patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation is crucial. The aim of the present study was to compare the accuracy of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) evaluation of the aortic annulus (AoA) with transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. In 50 patients, maximum diameter, minimum diameter and AoA, length of the left coronary, right coronary, and noncoronary aortic leaflets, degree (grades 1 to 4) of aortic leaflet calcification, and distance between AoA and coronary artery ostia were assessed.

Penial morphology in three species of Brazilian tuco-tucos, Ctenomys torquatus, C. minutus, and C. flamarioni (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae).

The present study analyses the glans penis and baculum morphology of three Brazilian tuco-tucos, Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein, 1830, Ctenomys minutus Nehring, 1887 and Ctenomys flamarioni Travi, 1981, in order to identify possible variations and understand some more about this taxonomically complex group. We used fixed penis from 15 previously listed adult specimens. For a more detailed baculum analysis, the penis underwent dissection and diaphanisation, whereas to analyse the glans penis surface we used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Multiparametric comparison of CARvedilol, vs. NEbivolol, vs. BIsoprolol in moderate heart failure: the CARNEBI trial.

Background: Several β-blockers, with different pharmacological characteristics, are available for heart failure (HF) treatment. We compared Carvedilol (β1-β2-α-blocker), Bisoprolol (β1-blocker), and Nebivolol (β1-blocker, NO-releasing activity).

Methods: Sixty-one moderate HF patients completed a cross-over randomized trial, receiving, for 2 months each, Carvedilol, Nebivolol, Bisoprolol (25.

Bipedal locomotion in Tropidurus torquatus (Wied, 1820) and Liolaemus lutzae Mertens, 1938.

Bipedalism has evolved on numerous occasions in phylogenetically diverse lizard families. In this paper we describe, for the first time, bipedal locomotion on South American lizards, the sand-dweller Liolaemus lutzae and the generalist Tropidurus torquatus. The lizards were videotaped running on a racetrack and the sequences were analyzed frame by frame.

Genetic variations at the endocannabinoid type 1 receptor gene (CNR1) are associated with obesity phenotypes in men.

Context: The endocannabinoid system modulates food intake and body weight in animal models. Treatment with the cannabinoid type 1 receptor blocker, rimonabant, reduces body weight in obese individuals.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms of the gene encoding cannabinoid type 1 receptor, CNR1, are associated with body fat mass and distribution in two independent samples of white European adult men.

-344C/T Variant in the promoter of the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) is associated with metabolic syndrome in men.

Background: The -344C/T variant in the promoter of the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) has been associated with hypertension and may influence glucose homeostasis and body mass in humans. We assessed the association between this genetic variant and metabolic syndrome in a large sample of European population.

Methods: Eight hundred two male/female couples, recruited in the framework of the IMMIDIET study, a survey on cardiovascular risk in Italy, UK, and Belgium, had standardized measurements of body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure (BP), serum total and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose and were genotyped for the -344C/T variant of CYP11B2.

Comparative study on the forefoot and hindfoot intrinsic muscles of some cavioidea rodents (Mammalia, Rodentia).

The present study compares the forefoot and hindfoot musculature of five representative species of Cavioidea rodents. In all species, the musculature of both forefeet and hindfeet have the same array regardless of the absence of digit I in the manus of Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris and Cavia porcellus. Our results suggest a tendency in these species towards a three-digit system, with a functional loss of digit V and a predominance of digit III in their forefeet.

[Acute intermittent porphyria in childhood].

OBJECTIVE: Porphyries are metabolic disorders of the haem biosynthetic pathway. They result from excessive accumulation of neurotoxic porphyrin precursors. Unlike the majority of Inherited Metabolic Diseases, the porphyries manifest after puberty, and their occurrence in childhood is very rare.