Carotid total plaque area as an independent predictor of short-term subclinical polyvascular atherosclerosis progression and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events.

BACKGROUND: The use of ultrasound-based methods for imaging of subclinical atherosclerosis, including measurement of carotid plaque burden (cPB), is a promising direction for further improvement of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) prediction. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to research the prognostic values' significance of cPB indicators with regard to the short-term progression of polyvascular subclinical atherosclerosis and the long-term onset of MACCE. DESIGN: Single-center prospective cohort study. METHODS: The study included patients 40-64 years of age. All patients underwent duplex scanning (DS) of the carotid and lower limb arteries. The following cPB indicators were determined: carotid plaque score (cPS), maximum carotid plaque thickness (cPTmax), and carotid total plaque area (cTPA). The combined endpoint included the following components: cardiovascular death; nonfatal myocardial infarction; nonfatal stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA); revascularization of the coronary and/or peripheral arteries. RESULTS: The study included 387 patients, among whom 142 (36.7%) patients underwent repeated DS after 12-24 months. The median follow-up time was 20.0 (13.0; 36.5) months. MACCE were recorded in 33 (8.52%) of patients. cTPA and cPTmax, but not cPS, were independently associated with the progression of subclinical polyvascular atherosclerosis over a period of 13.9 months of follow-up. cTPA, but not cPTmax and cPS, was independently associated with the development of MACCE over a period of 20.0 months of follow-up. Only a cTPA > 42.0 mm2 proved to be an independent predictor of both the progression of subclinical polyvascular atherosclerosis and MACCE. CONCLUSION: In patients from 40 to 64 years of age with various cardiovascular risks, among the indicators of the cPB, only an increase in cTPA > 42.0 mm2 was shown to be independently associated with an increase in the relative risk (RR) of progression of subclinical polyvascular atherosclerosis by 2.38 (1.08-5.25) times, as well as with the development of MACCE by 3.10 (1.54-6.26) times.

Achilles tendon thickness normalized to body surface area as a marker of asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease.

OBJECTIVES: The normalisation of Achilles tendon thickness (ATT) to anthropometric parameters may increase the diagnostic efficiency of the assessment of ATT. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of AT dimensions depending on their normalization to body surface area (BSA) in patients with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD). METHODS: All patients underwent duplex scanning of the carotid arteries and the lower limb arteries. Asymptomatic PAD was defined as the presence of ≥50% stenosis in the carotid and/or lower limb arteries. ATT was measured using a longitudinal scan, width (ATW) and cross-sectional area (AT CSA), which was determined during a cross-sectional scan. RESULTS: The study included 369 patients, among whom asymptomatic PAD was detected in 18 (4.88%) patients. Only the ATT demonstrated diagnostic value for asymptomatic PAD. After normalizing the size of the AT to the BSA, the diagnostic performance of ATT, ATW and AT CSA became statistically significant. Among the studied parameters, only an increase in ATT/BSA >0.29 cm/m2 was associated with a significant increase in the odds ratio (OR) of asymptomatic PAD by 4.11 times (95% CI 1.08-15.7; p = .038) after adjustments. CONCLUSION: An increase in ATT/BSA >0.29 cm/m2 predicted the presence of asymptomatic PAD with a sensitivity of 61.1% and a specificity of 77.9%. ATT/BSA values of less than 0.29 cm/m2 made it possible to exclude asymptomatic PAD with a probability of 97.5%. An increase in ATT/BSA >0.29 cm/m2 was associated with a 4.11-fold increase in the OR of asymptomatic PAD (95% CI 1.08-15.7).

A Cellular Automata Approach for the Modeling of a Polyamide and Carbon Aerogel Structure and Its Properties.

In this work, a cellular automata (CA) approach was used to generate 3D structures of polyamide and carbon aerogels. Experimental results are used as initial data for materials' digital representations and to verify the developed CA models. Based on the generated digital structures, a computer study of aerogels' mechanical properties was conducted. The offered CA models can be applied for the development of new nanoporous materials such as aerogels of different nature and allow for a reduction in the amount of required full-scale experiments, consequently decreasing development time and costs of new material formulations.

Cellular Automata in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

We review the modern state of cellular automata (CA) applications for solving practical problems in chemistry and chemical technology. We consider the problems of material structure modeling and prediction of materials' morphology-dependent properties. We review the use of the CA approach for modeling diffusion, crystallization, dissolution, erosion, corrosion, adsorption, and hydration processes. We also consider examples of hybrid CA-based models, which are combinations of various CA with other computational approaches and modeling methods. Finally, we discuss the use of high-performance parallel computing to increase the efficiency of CA.