Highly sensitive resistance spectroscopy technique for online monitoring of biofilm growth on metallic surfaces.

Online techniques for monitoring biofilm formation and evolution are limited, especially as regards its application in flowing water systems. This is chiefly due to the absence of efficient non-destructive and non-invasive sensing methods. In this study, a sensitive electrical resistance spectroscopy technique is developed to monitor non-invasively and in real time the growth of biofilms over metallic surfaces inside water flow systems.

Accumulation of microvascular target organ damage in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

Early identification of hypertensive target organ damage (TOD) emerges as important for global cardiovascular risk assessment. Retinal vascular alterations, capillary rarefaction, and microalbuminuria represent different forms of microvascular TOD. However, data regarding their concomitant presence in the early stages of hypertension, the association of the number of affected organs with cardiovascular risk, and aldosterone effect on multiple TOD are lacking.

Divergent retinal vascular abnormalities in normotensive persons and patients with never-treated, masked, white coat hypertension.

Background: Hypertensive patients with retinal arteriolar abnormalities are at increased risk for cardiovascular events. However, the extent of retinal microvascular changes in naïve, never-treated patients with hypertension of short duration has not been established. In addition to this, the lack of relevant data about other phenotypes of hypertension (masked and white-coat hypertension) determined by ambulatory blood-pressure measurement (ABPM) is notable, despite their relationship to increased cardiovascular risk mediated by underlying target-organ and vascular damage.