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Background: The effectiveness of statin treatment to reduce coronary events and mortality has been hardly examined considering goals of LDL‐C. We aimed to analyse such association in secondary cardiovascular prevention. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of electronic health records from the SIDIAP database, Catalonia‐Spain. Recruitment period was from 2006 to 2017 and study period finished at the end of 2018. We included 54,175 people aged ≥35 years in cardiovascular secondary prevention starting statin treatment. We analysed the association of achieved LDL‐C goals after statin initiation with coronary heart disease and all‐cause mortality. Results: Mean age was 69 years and 20,146 (37.2%) were women. Coronary heart disease occurred in 5687 (10.5%) participants, and 10,676 (19.7%) persons passed away. Median follow‐up lasted 5.7 years (interquartile range, 3.4–8.1). The coronary heart disease HRs (95% CI) for the LDL‐C goals of 70–100, <70–55 and <55 mg/dL were.86 (.81–.92),.83 (.76–.9) and.8 (.72–.88), respectively. They were.89 (.83–.96) in the group with 30%–40% reduction and.86 (.8–.93) in the groups with 40%–50% and ≥50% reduction. We observed no association with mortality. We observed no relevant differences by sex or age. Conclusions: This population‐level retrospective analysis of real‐world data observed that treatment with statins is effective to achieve certain LDL‐C goals and CHD reduction. The lack of significant difference between LDL‐C goals needs confirmation in additional studies with real‐world data. The LDL‐C target should consider the magnitude of the decrease in coronary events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-generation pedigree involving 519 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) plus trees (at clonal archives) and their open-pollinated (OP) progenies was studied with the aim to evaluate the potential of plus-tree selection based on phenotype data scored on the plus trees. Two wood properties (wood density and modulus of elasticity, MOE) and one fiber property (microfibril angle, MFA) were measured with a SilviScan instrument on samples from one ramet per plus tree and 12 OP progenies per plus tree (total of 6288 trees). Three ramets per plus tree and their OP progenies were also assessed for Pilodyn penetration depth and Hitman acoustic velocity, which were used to estimate MOE. The narrow-sense heritability ([h.sup.2]) estimates based on parent-offspring regression were marginally higher than those based on half-sib correlation when three ramets per plus tree were included. For SilviScan data, estimates of the correlation between half-sib, progeny-based breeding values (BVs) and plus-tree phenotypes, as well as repeatability estimates, were highest for wood density, followed by MOE and MFA. Considering that the repeatability estimates from the clonal archive trees were higher than any [h.sup.2] estimate, selection of the best clones from clonal archives would be an effective alternative. Key words: solid wood, Norway spruce, parent-offspring regression, heritability, repeatability. Une population pedigree de deux generations comprenant 519 arbres plus d'epicea commun (Picea abies (L.) Karst.; d'archives clonales) et leurs descendants issus de pollinisation libre (OP) ont ete etudies conjointement dans le but d'evaluer le potentiel de selection d'arbres plus en fonction de donnees phenotypiques prises sur ces derniers. Deux proprietes du bois (densite du bois et module d'elasticite, MOE) et une propriete des fibres (angle des microfibrilles, MFA) ont ete mesurees avec un instrument SilviScan sur les echantillons d'un ramet par arbre plus et 12 descendants issus d'OP par arbre plus (total de 6288 arbres). Trois ramets par arbre plus et leur descendants d'OP ont egalement ete evalues pour la profondeur de penetration du Pilodyn et la vitesse acoustique a l'aide d'un appareil Hitman, afin d'estimer le MOE. Les valeurs d'heritabilite au sens strict ([h.sup.2]) basees sur la relation parents-progeniture etaient marginalement plus elevees que celles basees sur la correlation de demi-fratries, lorsque trois ramets par arbre plus etaient consideres. Pour les donnees de SilviScan, les estimations de la correlation entre les valeurs en croisement (BV) decoulant de l'analyse des demi-fratries et les phenotypes d'arbres plus, ainsi que les estimations de repetabilite, etaient les plus elevees pour la densite de bois, suivie par MOE et MFA. Considerant que les estimations de repetabilite decoulant des arbres d'archives clonales etaient plus elevees que toutes les valeurs de [h.sup.2], la selection des meilleurs clones a partir d'archives clonales apparait comme une alternative efficace. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: bois massif, epicea commun, regression parents-progeniture, heritabilite, repetabilite., Introduction Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is one of the most important conifer species in Europe for both economic and ecological aspects (Spiecker 2000). Higher volume production, vitality, and [...]

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the association of physical activity and its intensity with arterial stiffness and vascular aging and differences by sex in a Spanish population with intermediate cardiovascular risk. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A total of 2475 individuals aged 35–75 years participated in the study. Brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured using a VaSera VS-1500® device. Based on the age and sex percentile presented by the participants, the latter were classified as follows: those with a percentile above 90 and presenting established cardiovascular disease were classified as early vascular aging (EVA); those with a percentile between 10 and 90 were classified as normal vascular aging (NVA) and those with a percentile below 10 were classified as healthy vascular aging (HVA). Physical activity was analyzed through the short version of the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (MLTPAQ). Results: The mean age of the participants was 61.34 ± 7.70 years, with 61.60% men. Of the total sample, 86% were sedentary (83% men vs 90% women). The total physical activity showed a negative association with baPWV (β = − 0.045; 95% CI − 0.080 to − 0.009). Intense physical activity showed a negative relationship with baPWV (β = − 0.084; 95% CI − 0.136 to − 0.032). The OR of the total physical activity and the intense physical activity carried out by the subjects classified as NVA with respect to those classified as HVA was OR = 0.946; (95% CI 0.898 to 0.997) and OR = 0.903; (95% CI 0.840 to 0.971), and of those classified as EVA it was OR = 0.916; (95% CI 0.852 to 0.986) and OR = 0.905; (95% CI 0.818 to 1.000). No association was found with moderate- or low-intensity physical activity. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that, when intense physical activity is performed, the probability of presenting vascular aging is lower. In the analysis by sex, this association is only observed in men. Highlights: This study is the first to find a negative association between total physical activity and arterial stiffness and vascular aging in adults with intermediate cardiovascular risk. This study also shows that the association of physical activity with arterial stiffness and vascular aging in adults with intermediate cardiovascular risk varies depending on its intensity, with a negative association being found only with intense physical activity. In the analysis by sex, the results found suggest that the association is greater in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Cardiovascular risk functions fail to identify more than 50% of patients who develop cardiovascular disease. This is especially evident in the intermediate-risk patients in which clinical management becomes difficult. Our purpose is to analyze if ankle-brachial index (ABI), measures of arterial stiffness, postprandial glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, self-measured blood pressure and presence of comorbidity are independently associated to incidence of vascular events and whether they can improve the predictive capacity of current risk equations in the intermediate-risk population. Methods/Design This project involves 3 groups belonging to REDIAPP (RETICS RD06/0018) from 3 Spanish regions. We will recruit a multicenter cohort of 2688 patients at intermediate risk (coronary risk between 5 and 15% or vascular death risk between 3-5% over 10 years) and no history of atherosclerotic disease, selected at random. We will record socio-demographic data, information on diet, physical activity, comorbidity and intermittent claudication. We will measure ABI, pulse wave velocity and cardio ankle vascular index at rest and after a light intensity exercise. Blood pressure and anthropometric data will be also recorded. We will also quantify lipids, glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in a fasting blood sample and postprandial capillary glucose. Eighteen months after the recruitment, patients will be followed up to determine the incidence of vascular events (later follow-ups are planned at 5 and 10 years). We will analyze whether the new proposed risk factors contribute to improve the risk functions based on classic risk factors. Discussion Primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases is a priority in public health policy of developed and developing countries. The fundamental strategy consists in identifying people in a high risk situation in which preventive measures are effective and efficient. Improvement of these predictions in our country will have an immediate, clinical and welfare impact and a short term public health effect. Trial Registration Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01428934