BACKGROUND: Coronary artery bypass grafting is a commonly used and effective procedure for treating coronary artery disease. Atrial dysrhythmias are common after this surgery, but definitive characteristics that predict the development of such dysrhythmias postoperatively have not been determined. OBJECTIVES: To determine demographic, preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors that are predictive of atrial dysrhythmias that occur after coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: A descriptive design was used to study a convenience sample (N = 162) of adult patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Data were collected via prospective chart review. Patients were grouped according to whether or not atrial dysrhythmias developed after coronary artery bypass grafting. Univariate analyses followed by multivariate analyses were conducted by using forward stepwise logistic regression to determine variables that are predictive of atrial dysrhythmias after coronary artery bypass grafting. RESULTS: Postoperative atrial dysrhythmias developed in 52 patients (32.1%). Univariate predictors of postoperative atrial dysrhythmias included older age (P < .001) and presence of right coronary artery disease (P = .004). Multivariate predictors of postoperative atrial dysrhythmias included age (odds ratio by decade = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.86-2.00, P < .001) and right coronary artery disease (odds ratio = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.14-6.23, P = .02). Hospital stay was significantly longer (P = .003) in patients who had postoperative atrial dysrhythmias than in patients who did have these dysrhythmias. CONCLUSIONS: Age and right coronary artery disease can be used to predict which patients will be at increased risk for atrial dysrhythmias after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Abstract. Seismic protection of structures by means of rocking isolation is becoming increasingly popular, because allowing uplift is an inexpensive

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In urban tunnelling it is essential to predict the performance of surface structures to tunnellinginduced ground movements. Existing methods to assess potential building damage assume that a building located within the hogging and sagging region of the settlement trough can be subdivided into its sagging and hogging parts, which are then analysed separately. Netzel (2009) importantly identified that this splitting of a building can underestimate the structural damage. This paper examines the effects that both the building length perpendicular to the tunnel axis and the building location relative to the tunnel have on the building response to tunnelling in dry sand. A series of centrifuge model tests, performed on 3D printed surface structures with different building stiffness, are discussed. The findings confirm that potential structural damage caused by tunnelling-induced ground movements significantly depends on the building length and the location of the building within the settlement trough. Importantly, structures that span the sagging/hogging transition zone were found to be more vulnerable to building damage (in the form of cracking) than equal length structures wholly located in either the hogging or sagging region. Longer structures that span the sagging/hogging transition zone were found to be even more vulnerable. As a consequence, experimental results indicated that partitioning a structure into its sagging and hogging parts can lead to underestimation of building damage.