Beach litter in the European Arctic: Accumulation patterns, likely sources and pathways.

Patterns of beach litter accumulation in the European Arctic was investigated by sampling beaches on the Norwegian mainland in the southern Barents Sea, on northern Novaya Zemlya (Russia), and the southern shore of the Svalbard archipelago. The coast of Finnmark county on the Norwegian mainland was considerably more polluted than the other regions. More than half the surveyed beaches there were more polluted than the "very clean" designation from the Clean Coast Index, compared to <20 % in the other regions.

Beach litter deposition and turnover, effects of tides and weather, and implications for cleanup strategies: A case study in the Lofoten archipelago, Norway.

Plastic pollution is ubiquitous in the marine environment. Beach cleanups are considered a cost-effective mitigative measure with generally few negative environmental impacts. Beached litter is not static, however, and may wash back out to sea or be buried, meaning it is only temporarily available for cleanup.

Use of an implantable loop recorder: initial experience.

Objective: Retrospective analysis of the initial experience at our department with an implantable loop recorder (ILR) for the evaluation of patients with recurrent syncope, palpitations or dizziness.

Methods: We studied ten patients aged 31-65 (52.3) years referred to our center after an inconclusive evaluation that included ECG, Holter monitoring, events recorder, stress test, echocardiogram and electrophysiological study.

The worse hospital outcome of diabetic patients is not explained by the severity of underlying coronary artery disease.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus has a high prevalence in developed countries and is associated with high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates. In this study we evaluated in-hospital evolution of diabetic patients admitted to a cardiac care unit with acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation.

Methods: We analyzed a population of 176 consecutive patients, 36 (21%) with diabetes, admitted with chest pain at rest, elevated biological markers for myocardial necrosis and/or ST segment/T wave changes suggestive of myocardial ischemia.