Diving into the Past: A Paleo Data–Model Comparison Workshop on the Late Glacial and Holocene
Understanding changes in the climate of the late Pleistocene and the Holocene has long been a research topic. Studies rely on different sources of information, ranging from terrestrial and marine archives to a hierarchy of climate modeling activities. In contrast to the climate of the last millennium, novel approaches are necessary to bridge the different temporal and spatial representations of the various archives and the climate models, and to achieve a robust understanding of climate variability and climate processes on centennial-to-millennial time scales.
The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2
The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to…
The effect of radiofrequency catheter ablation of frequent premature ventricular complexes and arrhythmia burden on left ventricular function
Background: Frequent premature ventricular complexes (PVC) are related to reversible tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy. However, the role of arrhythmia burden on the outcome of the catheter ablation has not been fully recognised. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of catheter ablation and PVC burden in patients with and without structural heart disease (SHD) on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods: Transthoracic echocardiography was done before and six months after radiofrequency catheter ablation in 109 consecutive patients (61 men, age 55 ± 17 years) with frequent PVCs. Sixty-five (59.6%) patients had underlying SHD. Results: The catheter ablation procedure…
Does the origin of ablated premature ventricular contractions determine the level of left ventricular function improvement?
Background: Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are associated with tachycardiomyopathy and high mortality rate. The treatment depends on the engaged ventricle. For PVCs originating from the right outflow tract (OT), radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is recommended (class IB‑R recommendation) in preference to pharmacotherapy. In those originating from the left ventricle, ablation is a class IIa B‑NR recommendation. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the success of RFCA of PVCs based on arrhythmia origin. Methods: A total of 110 consecutive patients with monomorphic PVCs referred for ablation were enrolled and divided according to the site of ablation to the OT group and th…