Background There is consensus that Heart Rate Variability is associated with the risk of vascular events. However, Heart Rate Variability predictive value for vascular events is not completely clear. The aim of this study is to develop novel predictive models based on data-mining algorithms to provide an automatic risk stratification tool for hypertensive patients. Methods A database of 139 Holter recordings with clinical data of hypertensive patients followed up for at least 12 months were collected ad hoc. Subjects who experienced a vascular event (i.e., myocardial infarction, stroke, syncopal event) were considered as high-risk subjects. Several data-mining algorithms (such as support vector machine, tree-based classifier, artificial neural network) were used to develop automatic classifiers and their accuracy was tested by assessing the receiver-operator characteristics curve. Moreover, we tested the echographic parameters, which have been showed as powerful predictors of future vascular events. Results The best predictive model was based on random forest and enabled to identify high-risk hypertensive patients with sensitivity and specificity rates of 71.4% and 87.8%, respectively. The Heart Rate Variability based classifier showed higher predictive values than the conventional echographic parameters, which are considered as significant cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions Combination of Heart Rate Variability measures, analyzed with data-mining algorithm, could be a reliable tool for identifying hypertensive patients at high risk to develop future vascular events.

We consider high-order above-threshold ionization (HATI) of polyatomic molecules ionized by a strong linearly polarized laser field. Improved molecular strong-field approximation by which the HATI process on polyatomic molecular species can be described is developed. Using this theory we calculate photoelectron angular-energy spectra for different triatomic molecules. Special attention is devoted to the minima that are observed in the calculated high-energy electron spectra of the ozone and carbon dioxide molecules. A key difference between these minima and minima that are observed in the corresponding spectra of diatomic molecules are presented.

Introduction/Aim. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most frequent diseases in men older than 50 years, and it is closely linked to ageing process. Considering rising life expectancy, further increase in prevalence of BPH could be expected.  The aim of our study was to analyze costs of treating patients with BPH in Montenegro, in order to estimate their impact on health budget. М ethods . The BPH treatment costs were analyzed in a random sample of 47 male patients, 50 years of age or older, taken from the population of patients with BPH treated in Hospital Niksic, Montenegro, during year 2013. The patients were in one of the five health states: mild symptoms of BPH, moderate symptoms of BPH, severe symptoms of BPH, acute urinary retention , and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Only direct medical costs were taken into account when calculating costs of each health state. The costs were calculated on the basis of utilization of services, drugs and materials, taken from the patients’ medical records, and utilization figures were multiplied with prices recognized by the Health Insurance Fund, Montenegro. Total number of patients with BPH in Montenegro was taken from the database of Institute for Public Health, Montenegro. The costs are expressed in euros (EUR). Results. Average annual costs of treating a patient with certain BPH health state were: mild BPH - 266,63 ЕUR, moderate BPH - 343,26 EUR, severe BPH - 413,51 EUR, acute urinary retention - 493,93 ЕUR and  TURP - 1.013,16 ЕUR. Total costs of treating all patients with BPH in Montenegro are 2.338.008,66 ЕUR; this amount makes 1,43% of total Montenegrian health budget. The largest part of the costs make medication acquisition costs, especially those spent for finasteride (196.341,11 ЕUR) and antimicrobials. According to the data generated by Montenegrian Drug Agency, annual turnover of all drugs indicated for treatment of BPH in 2011 was 595.948,74 ЕUR, and from this amount, 251.157,66 ЕUR was paid by Montenegrian Health Insurance Fund. During the period 2006 – 2011, number of patients with BPH increased for 370%, and the annual amount spent for BPH drugs increased for 373%. Conclusion. Costs of treating BPH in Montenegro make significant percent of total healthcare costs, and there is trend of increase in costs due to constant increase in number of patients with BPH in Montenegro.