Advancement of the Dragon Heart 7-Series for Pediatric Patients With Heart Failure.

Background: Safe and effective pediatric blood pumps continue to lag far behind those developed for adults. To address this growing unmet clinical need, we are developing a hybrid, continuous-flow, magnetically levitated, pediatric total artificial heart (TAH). Our hybrid TAH design, the Dragon Heart (DH), integrates both an axial flow and centrifugal flow blood pump within a single, compact housing.

Improving ICSI success rates following root cause analysis and use of system behaviour charts: the devil is in the detail!

A fertility clinic observed a reduction in its fresh intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) implantation rate key performance indicator (KPI) below benchmark threshold which was further monitored but did not improve. The clinic had been performing ICSI successfully for >16 years with good ICSI implantation rates meeting benchmark level. A root cause analysis (RCA) was conducted, including the input from an external observer, reviewing all systems and processes.

Sperm Selection Technology in ART.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a commonly used in vitro fertilization technique. Selection of sperm for injection is currently done using subjective assessment of morphology, which may not accurately identify the best-quality sperm. Hyaluronic acid receptors on sperm plasma membranes are a marker of maturity, and sperms which are capable of binding immobilized hyaluronic acid in vitro are of higher quality.

Embryo Glue: The Use of Hyaluronan in Embryo Transfer Media.

EmbryoGlue is available to patients at many in vitro fertilization clinics, usually at an additional cost. The efficacy of hyaluronan-enriched transfer medium (HETM) is supported by moderate quality evidence that indicates a significant improvement in clinical outcomes such as live birth rates for patients, including poorer prognosis women (i.e.

Microbial ecology of the equine hindgut during oligofructose-induced laminitis.

Alimentary carbohydrate overload is a significant cause of laminitis in horses and is correlated with drastic shifts in the composition of hindgut microbiota. Equine hindgut streptococcal species (EHSS), predominantly Streptococcus lutetiensis, have been shown to be the most common microorganisms culturable from the equine caecum prior to the onset of laminitis. However, the inherent biases of culture-based methods are estimated to preclude up to 70% of the normal caecal microbiota.