Receipt of respiratory vaccines among patients with heart failure in a multicenter health system registry.

Background: Heart failure affects people of all ages and is a leading cause of death for both men and women in most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Infections are common causes of hospitalizations in heart failure, with respiratory infections as the most frequent diagnosis. Vaccinations provide significant protection against preventable respiratory infections.

Shared decision-making for patients with vaccine-related concerns of blood transfusion: A single institution experience.

Background: Some patients express concerns regarding receipt of allogeneic blood transfusions from donors potentially vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). However, limited information exists about patients' expression of these concerns or how to address them during the blood transfusion consent process. In this study, we describe our experience of working collaboratively with patients with vaccine-related transfusion concerns prior to elective surgery, summarizing treatment decisions and clinical outcomes.

Strength and Functional Outcomes Following Achilles Tendon Reconstruction With Hamstring Tendon Autograft Augmentation.

Background: The proposed advantages of hamstring autograft reconstruction when compared to alternative procedures, such as flexor hallucis longus (FHL) transfer, V-Y lengthening, and allograft reconstruction, are improved healing and reproduction of normal tendon biomechanics and reduced morbidity within the foot and ankle. In this study, we examined the effect of Achilles tendon reconstruction using hamstring autografts on strength and functional outcomes.

Methods: Patients who underwent Achilles repair with a hamstring autograft for insertional or midsubstance tendinopathy, delayed diagnosis of rupture, or infection after primary repair were evaluated for inclusion.

Interventions for Optimization of Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Implementation of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in real-world practice remains suboptimal. It is unclear which interventions are most effective at addressing current barriers to GDMT in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Objective: To perform a systematic review to identify which types of system-level initiatives are most effective at improving GDMT use among patients with HFrEF.

Digital Health and the Care of the Patient With Arrhythmia: What Every Electrophysiologist Needs to Know.

The field of cardiac electrophysiology has been on the cutting edge of advanced digital technologies for many years. More recently, medical device development through traditional clinical trials has been supplemented by direct to consumer products with advancement of wearables and health care apps. The rapid growth of innovation along with the mega-data generated has created challenges and opportunities.

MetAP2 inhibition reduces food intake and body weight in a ciliopathy mouse model of obesity.

The ciliopathies Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Alström syndrome are genetically inherited pleiotropic disorders with hyperphagia and obesity as primary clinical features. Methionine aminopeptidase 2 inhibitors (MetAP2i) have been shown in preclinical and clinical studies to reduce food intake, body weight, and adiposity. Here, we investigated the effects of MetAP2i administration in a mouse model of ciliopathy produced by conditional deletion of the Thm1 gene in adulthood.

Electrical control of optical plasmon resonance with graphene.

Surface plasmon has the unique capability to concentrate light into subwavelength volume. Active plasmon devices using electrostatic gating can enable flexible control of the plasmon excitations, which has been demonstrated recently in terahertz plasmonic structures. Controlling plasmon resonance at optical frequencies, however, remains a significant challenge because gate-induced free electrons have very weak responses at optical frequencies.

Nonlinear responses in optical metamaterials: theory and experiment.

We employed both theoretical calculations and experiments to study the nonlinear responses in optical metamaterials. The spectra of second-harmonic generations measured on a fishnet metamaterial are in quantitative agreements with calculations based on full-wave numerical simulations combined with field integrations, both exhibiting ~80 times enhancements at the magnetic resonance frequency. Our calculations explained several interesting features observed experimentally, and suggested an optimal metamaterial structure to yield the strongest nonlinear signals.

Ultrafast modulation of optical metamaterials.

We show by pump-probe spectroscopy that the optical response of a fishnet metamaterial can be modulated on the femtosecond time scale. The modulation dynamics is dominated by pump-induced changes in the constituting dielectric medium, but the strength of modulation is dramatically enhanced through the plasmon resonance. The pump-induced spectral responses of the metamaterial provide understanding on how the resonance is modified by pump excitation.

Observation of excitons in one-dimensional metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Excitons are generally believed not to exist in metals because of strong screening by free carriers. Here we demonstrate that excitonic states can in fact be produced in metallic systems of a one-dimensional character. Using metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes as a model system, we show both experimentally and theoretically that electron-hole pairs form tightly bound excitons.