Premature atrial contraction Premature atrial contraction Premature atrial contractions (PACs), also known as atrial premature complexes (APC) or atrial premature beats (APB), are a common cardiac dysrhythmia characterized by premature heartbeats originating in the atria. While the sinoatrial node typically regulates the heartbeat during normal sinus rhythm, PACs occur when another region of the atria depolarizes before the sinoatrial node and thus triggers a premature heartbeat. The exact cause of PACs is unclear; while several predisposing conditions exist, PACs commonly occur in healthy young and elderly people. Elderly people that get PACs usually don't need any further attention besides follow ups due to
Longitude of the ascending node it is not possible to tell which node is ascending and which is descending. In this case the orbital parameter which is recorded is the longitude of the node, Ω, which is the longitude of whichever node has a longitude between 0 and 180 degrees. In astrodynamics, the longitude of the ascending node can be calculated from the specific relative angular momentum vector h as follows: Here, n=<"n", "n", "n"> is a vector pointing towards the ascending node. The reference plane is assumed to be the "xy"-plane, and the origin of longitude is taken to be the positive "x"-axis. k