Prognostic value of exercise longitudinal right ventricular free wall strain in patients with sickle cell disease.

Longitudinal right ventricular free wall strain (RVFWS) has been identified as an independent prognostic marker in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Little is known however about the prognostic value of RVFWS in patients with sickle cell (SC) disease, particularly during exercise. We therefore examined the prognostic significance of RVFWS both at rest and with exercise in patients with SC disease and normal resting systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP).

Characteristics of Ischemic Stroke Despite Oral Anticoagulant Use For Atrial Fibrillation.

Oral anticoagulation (OAC) prevents stroke in atrial fibrillation, yet a residual stroke risk remains. In this single-center retrospective analysis of acute ischemic stroke patients despite OAC, suboptimal OAC treatment is common (30%: inappropriate dosing (17%); patient non-adherence (13%)). Other causes of stroke included OAC interruption (14.

CO2-mineralization and carbonation reactor rig: Design and validation for in situ neutron scattering experiments-Engineering and lessons learned.

CO2 mineralization via aqueous Mg/Ca/Na-carbonate (MgCO3/CaCO3/Na2CO3) formation represents a huge opportunity for the utilization of captured CO2. However, large-scale mineralization is hindered by slow kinetics due to the highly hydrated character of the cations in aqueous solutions (Mg2+ in particular). Reaction conditions can be optimized to accelerate carbonation kinetics, for example, by the inclusion of additives that promote competitive dehydration of Mg2+ and subsequent agglomeration, nucleation, and crystallization.

Characterization of Conductive Carbon Nanotubes/Polymer Composites for Stretchable Sensors and Transducers.

The increasing interest in stretchable conductive composite materials, that can be versatile and suitable for wide-ranging application, has sparked a growing demand for studies of scalable fabrication techniques and specifically tailored geometries. Thanks to the combination of the conductivity and robustness of carbon nanotube (CNT) materials with the viscoelastic properties of polymer films, in particular their stretchability, "surface composites" made of a CNT on polymeric films are a promising way to obtain a low-cost, conductive, elastic, moldable, and patternable material. The use of polymers selected for specific applications, however, requires targeted studies to deeply understand the interface interactions between a CNT and the surface of such polymer films, and in particular the stability and durability of a CNT grafting onto the polymer itself.

Closing the door in front of a torrential mitral regurgitation.

Background: Treatment of symptomatic severe mitral regurgitation (MR) is challenging in patients who are not candidates for surgical intervention.

Case Description: We report the case of a 64-year-old female with multiple comorbidities who was found to have severe MR due to a large mitral valve non coaptation.

Conclusions: In this case report, we show the potential of transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair using MitraClip for the treatment of torrential MR due to a large mitral valve non-coaptation in a patient with no prior history of coronary artery disease and in whom surgical intervention was not an option.

Glass Transition in Rice Pasta as Observed by Combined Neutron Scattering and Time-Domain NMR.

Experimental protocols aiming at the characterisation of glass transition often suffer from ambiguity. The ambition of the present study is to describe the glass transition in a complex, micro heterogeneous system, the dry rice pasta, in a most unambiguous manner, minimising the influence of technique-specific bias. To this end, we apply an unprecedented combination of experimental techniques.

The impact of a perceptual learning module on novices' ability to visually estimate left ventricular ejection fraction by transesophageal echocardiography: a randomized controlled study.

Purpose: Echocardiography is a difficult tool to master. Competency requires the supervised interpretation of hundreds of exams. Perceptual learning modules (PLMs) are novel learning tools that aim to speed up this learning process by enabling learners to go online and interpret numerous clinical images, followed systematically by expert feedback.

Looking for Minor Phenolic Compounds in Extra Virgin Olive Oils Using Neutron and Raman Spectroscopies.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is defined as a functional food as it contains numerous phenolic components with well-recognized health-beneficial properties, such as high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity. These characteristics depend on their structural/conformational behavior, which is largely determined by intra- and intermolecular H-bond interactions. While the vibrational dynamics of isolated compounds have been studied in a number of recent investigations, their signal in a real-life sample of EVOO is overwhelmed by the major constituent acids.

Proton Dynamics in Palladium-Silver: An Inelastic Neutron Scattering Investigation.

Proton dynamics in PdAg membranes is investigated by means of various neutron spectroscopic techniques, namely Quasi Elastic Neutron Scattering, Incoherent Inelastic Neutron Scattering, Neutron Transmission, and Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering. Measurements carried out at the ISIS spallation neutron source using OSIRIS, MARI and VESUVIO spectrometers were performed at pressures of 1, 2, and 4 bar, and temperatures in the 330-673 K range. The energy interval spanned by the different instruments provides information on the proton dynamics in a time scale ranging from about 10 to 10 ps.

Left ventricular structural and functional changes in Friedreich ataxia - Relationship with body size, sex, age and genetic severity.

Introduction: Although a concentric pattern of left ventricular (LV) geometry appears to be common in Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), there is no accepted method for diagnosing LV abnormalities in FRDA, sex and body size have often not been taken into consideration, and it has not been clear whether children and adults should be classified using the same criteria. The aim of this study was to better define the LV geometric changes in FRDA with respect to sex, body size and subject age, and to investigate the relationship of LV changes with genetic severity, as assessed by GAA repeat length within the shorter allele of the FXN gene (GAA1).

Methods: Echocardiography was performed in 216 subjects (68 children, 148 adults), measurements were made at end-diastole of LV internal diameter (LVEDID), septal wall thickness (SWT), LV length (LVEDL) and LV volume (LVEDV), and calculations were made of relative wall thickness (RWT), LV mass and LV ejection fraction (LVEF).

Non-destructive quantitation of hydrogen via mass-resolved neutron spectroscopy.

This work introduces the use of mass-selective neutron spectroscopy as an analytical tool for the quantitative and non-destructive detection of hydrogen in bulk media. To this end, systematic measurements have been performed on a series of polyethylene standards of known thickness and density, in order to establish optimal data-acquisition protocols as well as associated limits of detection and quantitation. From this analysis, we conclude that state-of-the-art epithermal-neutron instrumentation enables the detection of aeral molar densities of bulk hydrogen in the μmol cm range.

An Unusual Case of Rise in Pulmonary Arterial Pressure and Right Ventricular Dysfunction.

• SVG aneurysm is a rare complication of CABG surgery. • Giant aneurysms can cause mechanical compression of the surrounding structures. • Compression of the pulmonary trunk may be confused with a pulmonary embolism.

Nuclear dynamics and phase polymorphism in solid formic acid.

We apply a unique sequence of structural and dynamical neutron-scattering techniques, augmented with density-functional electronic-structure calculations, to establish the degree of polymorphism in an archetypal hydrogen-bonded system - crystalline formic acid. Using this combination of experimental and theoretical techniques, the hypothesis by Zelsmann on the coexistence of the β and β phases above 220 K is tested. Contrary to the postulated scenario of proton-transfer-driven phase coexistence, the emerging picture is one of a quantitatively different structural change over this temperature range, whereby the loosening of crystal packing promotes temperature-induced shearing of the hydrogen-bonded chains.