The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management.

Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced.

Seasonality of mean flows as a potential tool for the assessment of ecological processes: Mountain rivers, Polish Carpathians.

The classification of river catchments according to their hydrological regime is crucial elements of regionalisation. In absence of hydrological data, the regionalisation of catchment method may be used to asses many flows characteristics like regime or design flow and thus provide help in the analysis of hydrological and ecological processes and also in the management of water resources. Correct clarification of catchments requires knowledge about the main factors that influence on river regime, like meteorologic conditions, land cover/land use, geology, soil properties terrain features, human activities.

Cardiac transplantation as a treatment option for the heart failure patient.

Cardiac transplantation is an effective therapy for a select group of heart failure patients. Timely referral of these patients is paramount to optimal patient care. After an extensive evaluation, suitable candidates are added to the national transplant waiting list and prioritized based on medical urgency.

Impact of beta-blocker therapy on functional capacity criteria for heart transplant listing.

Background: Peak exercise oxygen consumption is a widely used parameter to determine the need for transplant listing in patients with severe heart failure. Currently, beta-blocker therapy is known to benefit patients with severe heart failure, although it has minimal or no effects on peak exercise oxygen consumption. This raises the hypothesis that peak exercise oxygen consumption transplant-listing criteria are not valid for patients with heart failure who receive beta-blocker therapy.

Controlled trial of intravenous immune globulin in recent-onset dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: This prospective placebo-controlled trial was designed to determine whether intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) improves left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in adults with recent onset of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis.

Methods And Results: Sixty-two patients (37 men, 25 women; mean age +/-SD 43.0+/-12.