Temporal expression and spatial distribution of the proteoglycan versican during cardiac fibrosis development.

Cardiac fibrosis is a central pathological feature in several cardiac diseases, but the underlying molecular players are insufficiently understood. The extracellular matrix proteoglycan versican is elevated in heart failure and suggested to be a target for treatment. However, the temporal expression and spatial distribution of versican and the versican cleavage fragment containing the neoepitope DPEAAE in cardiac fibrosis remains to be elucidated.

Agricultural and innovation policies aimed at mitigating climate change.

The EU supports agricultural policies to help farmers meet the challenges of climate change (CC) by promoting more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. This study focuses on the European primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fisheries), productive activities that meet humanity's basic needs, although this sector does not account for a dominant share of GDP. The analysis uses a panel data sample of 22 European countries for the period 2012-2019, and seeks to answer the following research questions: Is there a direct relationship between agricultural innovation efficiency and the technological advances implemented? What effect do GHG emissions and innovation efficiency have on CC? Which agricultural practices have the greatest effect on the volume of GHG emissions? The results indicate that the European primary sector has registered an average rise in productivity of 4%, mainly driven by technological improvements.

Link between structural risk factors for adverse impacts of COVID-19 and food insecurity in developed and developing countries.

COVID-19 has had serious consequences for world food security; lockdowns and social distancing have led to changes in global food value chains, primarily affecting the poorest of the planet. The aim of this research is to analyse the relationship between food insecurity and the structural risk factors for adverse impacts of COVID-19. To that end, 12 contingency tables are constructed to identify the association between the pillars of the food insecurity index and the INFORM COVID-19 Risk Index.

Long-Term Safety and Outcomes of β-radiation for Trabeculectomy.

Prcis: β-radiation is a neglected antiscarring therapy with past concerns for safety. This report found it safe and efficacious when used as an adjuvant to trabeculectomy surgery in 101 people (135 eyes) over 20 years.

Purpose: β-radiation has been used as an adjunct to prevent scarring in trabeculectomy surgery for many decades.

Renewable energy production capacity and consumption in Europe.

Faced with the prospect of achieving 32 % renewable energy (RE) consumption by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050, Europe has embarked on a path of promoting the use of clean energy through policies and investments essential to its development. Against this backdrop, the aim of the present article is to analyse both RE production capacity and the determinants of RE consumption in a sample of 30 European countries for the period 2010-2019. Through the construction of a synthetic measure by the zero unitarization method, the four types of RE (hydro, wind, solar and biofuels) are jointly assessed, yielding a ranking of countries categorized as being in a favourable, fairly favourable, rather unfavourable, or unfavourable situation.

Identification of Cx43 variants predisposing to ventricular fibrillation in the acute phase of ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Aims: Ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurring in the acute phase of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death worldwide. Several studies showed that reduced connexin 43 (Cx43) expression and reduced conduction velocity increase the risk of VF in acute myocardial infarction (MI). Furthermore, genetic background might predispose individuals to primary VF (PVF).

Environmental policies for the treatment of waste generated by COVID-19: Text mining review.

The rapid transmission of COVID-19 has meant that all economic and human efforts have been focused on confronting it, ignoring environmental aspects whose consequences are causing adverse situations all over the planet. The saturation of the sanitary system and confinement measures have multiplied the waste generated, which implies the need to adapt environmental policies to this new situation caused by the pandemic. It is a review article whose objective was to identify the environmental policies that would facilitate an adequate treatment of the waste generated by the pandemic.

Research lines on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business. A text mining analysis.

COVID-19 has brought about a marked slowdown in global economic development. Companies have been forced to adopt new managerial guidelines to adapt to the difficult conditions and to survive in this "new normal". The recent and still scarce literature in this field seeks to provide suitable solutions to prevent irreparable disruption and help strengthen business, but does not apply advanced statistical methods to that end.

Influence of environmental policies on waste treatment.

Countries' growth along with the need to protect the environment has made waste management a major global concern. In this study, a detailed analysis is carried out of the current situation in 41 countries belonging to the OECD and/or the European Union, in order to identify the most sustainable practices that could be successfully implemented in other nations with similar characteristics. Cluster analysis is used to detect homogeneous groups, shedding light on the possible connection between environmental policies and waste treatment.

The effects on European importers' food safety controls in the time of COVID-19.

COVID-19 has highlighted the fragility of the global economic system. In just a few months, the consequences of the pandemic have left their mark on the affected countries at all levels and without exception. This article analyses the profile of food safety notifications reported by European countries in the first five months of 2020.

Food Supply without Risk: Multicriteria Analysis of Institutional Conditions of Exporters.

International trade in food knows no borders, hence the need for prevention systems to avoid the consumption of products that are harmful to health. This paper proposes the use of multicriteria risk prevention tools that consider the socioeconomic and institutional conditions of food exporters. We propose the use of three decision-making methods-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), (ELECTRE), and Cross-Efficiency (CE)-to establish a ranking of countries that export cereals to the European Union, based on structural criteria related to the detection of potential associated risks (notifications, food quality, corruption, environmental sustainability in agriculture, and logistics).

Analysis of the efficiency of African countries through their Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity.

Population inequality and climate change are two of the factors that are most disruptive to the ecological balance; accordingly, there have been countless studies in recent years focusing on analysing the Ecological Footprint (EF) and Biocapacity (BC). The markedly disparate characteristics of African countries have motivated the choice of this geographic area as the focus of the research. First, this study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate the efficiency of 45 African countries, taking their EF and country size as determinants of the level of production.

Altered adrenergic response in myocytes bordering a chronic myocardial infarction underlies in vivo triggered activity and repolarization instability.

Key Points: Ventricular arrhythmias are a major complication after myocardial infarction (MI), associated with sympathetic activation. The structurally heterogeneous peri-infarct zone is a known substrate, but the functional role of the myocytes is less well known. Recordings of monophasic action potentials in vivo reveal that the peri-infarct zone is a source of delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) and has a high beat-to-beat variability of repolarization (BVR) during adrenergic stimulation (isoproterenol, ISO).

Calcium Signaling in Cardiomyocyte Function.

Rhythmic increases in intracellular Ca concentration underlie the contractile function of the heart. These heart muscle-wide changes in intracellular Ca are induced and coordinated by electrical depolarization of the cardiomyocyte sarcolemma by the action potential. Originating at the sinoatrial node, conduction of this electrical signal throughout the heart ensures synchronization of individual myocytes into an effective cardiac pump.

Age-dependent ventricular arrhythmias risk, structural and molecular remodeling in systemic arterial hypertension.

Introduction: The left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)-ventricular arrhythmias relationship associated with arterial hypertension and aging remains controversial. We aimed to assess the age-dependency of ventricular arrhythmias in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and the corresponding ventricular structural and molecular remodeling.

Materials And Methods: Ventricular arrhythmias were quantified using 24-h radiotelemetry ECG monitoring in eight SHRs and four Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at 14 (young), 24 (adult), and 48 (aging) weeks of age.

Screening of alcohol use disorders in psychiatric outpatients: influence of gender, age, and psychiatric diagnosis.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are 2 times higher among psychiatric patients than in the general population. The under-recognition of this dual diagnosis can entail several negative outcomes. Early assessment with a screening tool like the CAGE questionnaire could be an opportunity to improve patients' prognoses.

Virtual clinics in glaucoma care: face-to-face versus remote decision-making.

Background/aims: To examine the agreement in clinical decisions of glaucoma status made in a virtual glaucoma clinic with those made during a face-to-face consultation.

Methods: A trained nurse and technicians entered data prospectively for 204 patients into a proforma. A subsequent face-to-face clinical assessment was completed by either a glaucoma consultant or fellow.

Comparison of handheld rebound tonometry with Goldmann applanation tonometry in children with glaucoma: a cohort study.

Objective: To test agreement of two methods to measure intraocular pressure (IOP): rebound tonometry (RBT) and gold standard Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) in children with glaucoma.

Design: Observational prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary paediatric glaucoma clinic at a single centre.

Prenatal exposure to mirex impairs neurodevelopment at age of 4 years.

Background: Some studies have suggested that certain organochlorine (OC) compounds may impair neurodevelopment in animals and humans. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to an OC pesticide, mirex, and cognitive development in children at age of 4 years.

Methods: A population-based birth cohort in Granada (Spain) recruited between 2000 and 2002 was studied between 2005 and 2006, when the children were 4 years old.

Association of traffic-related air pollution with cognitive development in children.

Background: Air pollution from traffic has been associated with cardiorespiratory diseases in children and adults, but there is little information on its potential neurotoxic effects. This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), as a marker of traffic-related air pollution, and cognitive development in children.

Methods: A population-based birth cohort from southern Spain was followed from the age of 4 years for 1 year.