Measurement of left ventricular (LV) filling pressure is useful in decision making and prediction of outcomes in various cardiovascular diseases. Invasive cardiac catheterization has been the gold standard in LV filling pressure measurement, but carries the risk of complications and has a similar predictive value for clinical outcomes compared with non-invasive LV filling pressure estimation by...

BACKGROUND The ratio of early transmitral flow velocity to early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (E/e') correlates with left ventricular (LV) filling pressure. In particular, an E/e' ratio more than 15 is an excellent predictor of increased LV filling pressure. The authors evaluated the prognostic implications of preoperative estimated LV filling pressure, assessed by E/e' ratio, in pa...

In this study an analytical model for open loop pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) is presented. The model predicts the effect of different parameters such as evaporator temperature, length of evaporator, filling ratio, number of turn and tube diameter on PHP's performance. The governing equations in two phase flow including mass, momentum and energy equations are solved for both one dimensional liqu...

OBJECTIVES To investigate right ventricular diastolic function in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its relation to clinical features of the disease. METHODS Seventy seven unselected SSc patients and 33 healthy subjects were submitted to echocardiography and echo Doppler study to assess left and right systolic as well diastolic function and to estimate maximal arterial systolic pulmonary pressure ...

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the interaction between abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene may be involved in mediating the post-anthesis development of spikelets in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Two rice genotypes were field-grown, and the changes of ABA, ethylene, and 1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) levels in spikelets during grain filling and their relationships ...

The compressive strength of five different amalgams was measured at one hour, six hours, 24 hours, and seven days, and X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out for each amalgam at the same times in order to investigate the early strength characteristics of the amalgams in relation to the formation of different phases. At 24 hours all tested amalgams reached about 90% or more of their seven-da...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the occupational exposure to gasoline of men employed at filling stations affects the sex of their children. Altogether 115 offspring (47 males, 68 females) were identified within families of 49 men working in filling stations in Shiraz (Fars province, south of Iran) and 345 offspring (178 males, 167 females) from 147 families of unexposed person...

OBJECTIVE To identify the effects of altered ventricular activation during dobutamine stress on left ventricular function in normal subjects and in patients with coronary artery disease, and to distinguish these from an inotropic response. DESIGN Prospective analysis of 12 lead ECG and echocardiogram at rest and at peak stress. SETTING Tertiary referral centre for cardiac disease equipped w...