The incidence of infections attributed to antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) pathogens has increased exponentially over the recent decades reaching 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019. Without intervention, these infections are predicted to cause up to 10 million deaths a year and incur costs of up to 100 trillion US dollars globally by 2050.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: High-molecular-weight (HMW) von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimer deficiency occurs in classical low-flow, low-gradient (LF/LG) aortic stenosis (AS) due to shear force-induced proteolysis. The prognostic value of HMW VWF multimer deficiency is unknown. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the impact of HMW VWF multimer deficiency on clinical outcome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Our previous studies have identified that nocturnal hypoxemia causes skeletal muscle loss (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSepsis is a systemic inflammatory response that requires effective macrophage metabolic functions to resolve ongoing inflammation. Previous work showed that the mechanosensitive cation channel, transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), mediates macrophage phagocytosis and cytokine production in response to lung infection. Here, we show that TRPV4 regulates glycolysis in a stiffness-dependent manner by augmenting macrophage glucose uptake by GLUT1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Electrosurgical laceration and stabilization of mitral clips (ELASTA-CLIP) is a bail-out technique to recreate a single-orifice mitral valve after transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) with subsequent transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR). This technique is a novel option for patients with significant residual mitral regurgitation after TEER with high risk for conventional surgery. The original ELASTA CLIP procedure features a transseptal approach, whereas the TMVR with the Tendyne bioprosthesis has a transapical access.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a gram-negative bacterium that is the etiological agent of the tropical disease melioidosis. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine for melioidosis, but numerous candidates are being tested for protective efficacy and characterization of the elicited immune response. Our lab has previously reported the immunogenicity of a Bucl8-protein-based peptide antigen, designated L1-CRM (Cross-reacting material 197).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClindamycin and β-lactam antibiotics have been mainstays for treating invasive group A Streptococcus (iGAS) infection, yet such regimens might be limited for strains displaying MLS phenotypes. We investigated 76 iGAS isolates from 66 patients in West Virginia, USA, during 2020-2021. We performed emm typing using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and assessed resistance both genotypically and phenotypically.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacteria are considered promising hosts for product synthesis directly from CO via photosynthetic carbon assimilation. The introduction of heterologous carbon sinks in terms of product synthesis has been reported to induce the so-called "carbon sink effect," described as the release of unused photosynthetic capacity by the introduction of additional carbon. This effect is thought to arise from a limitation of carbon metabolism that represents a bottleneck in carbon and electron flow, thus enforcing a downregulation of photosynthetic efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscatheter therapy of the mitral valve is more challenging compared to the aortic valve. Interventional therapy with the Mitra-Clip system, mimicking the surgical edge-to-edge repair, was first introduced in 2003 and received the CE mark in 2008. The first implantation of the Tendyne system, which is currently the only commercially available system for mitral valve replacement, was performed in 2014, and routine clinical use was approved in 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the rate and time course of delayed total atrioventricular block (DT-AVB) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using continuous electrocardiographic monitoring by implantable loop recorders and to identify potential predictors.
Background: DT-AVB has been defined as onset more than 2Â days after TAVR or after hospital discharge and is reported in 10% to 15% of patients at 30-day follow-up. To date, there is no standardized diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm to manage TAVR patients at risk for DT-AVB.
Previous studies have shown that timing of sensory stimulation during the cardiac cycle interacts with perception. Given the natural coupling of respiration and cardiac activity, we investigated here their joint effects on tactile perception. Forty-one healthy female and male human participants reported conscious perception of finger near-threshold electrical pulses (33% null trials) and decision confidence while electrocardiography, respiratory activity, and finger photoplethysmography were recorded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis an infectious bacterium of clinical and biodefense concern, and is the causative agent of melioidosis. The mortality rate can reach up to 50% and affects 165,000 people per year; however, there is currently no vaccine available. In this study, we examine the antigen-specific immune response to a vaccine formulated with antigens derived from an outer membrane protein in , Bucl8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitral regurgitation (MR) recurrence after annuloplasty can lead to high-risk reoperations affecting long-term outcome. Transcatheter, transapical mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is an alternative method to treat severe MR without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. This report describes the case of an 80-year old man who had undergone a mitral annuloplasty in 2006 and who now presented with severe recurrent MR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis position statement is an update to the 2011 consensus statement of the Austrian Society of Cardiology (ÖKG) and the Austrian Society of Cardiac Surgery (ÖGTHG) for transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation.Due to a number of recently published studies, broadening of indications and recommendations of medical societies and our own national developments, the ÖKG and the ÖGHTG wish to combine the 2017 ESC/EACTS guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease with a national position paper and to focus on certain details for the application in Austria. Thus, this position statement serves as a supplement and further interpretation of the international guidelines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreasing antimicrobial resistance due to misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, as well as a lack of new and innovative antibiotics in development has become an alarming global threat. Preventative therapeutics, like vaccines, are combative measures that aim to stop infections at the source, thereby decreasing the overall use of antibiotics. Infections due to Gram-negative pathogens pose a significant treatment challenge because of substantial multidrug resistance that is acquired and spread throughout the bacterial population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Classical low-flow, low-gradient (LF/LG) aortic stenosis (AS) is subclassified into a true-severe (TS) and a pseudo-severe (PS) subform using low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). In clinical practice a resting peak jet velocity (Vmax) >3.5 m/s or a mean transvalvular gradient (MPG) >35 mmHg suggests the presence of TS classical LF/LG AS, but there is no data to support this.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacteria play an important role in photobiotechnology. Yet, one of their key central metabolic pathways, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, has a unique architecture compared to most heterotrophs and still remains largely unexploited. The conversion of 2-oxoglutarate to succinate via succinyl-CoA is absent but is by-passed by several other reactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscatheter aortic valve replacement is a well-established therapy for severe aortic stenosis in patients with high surgical risk. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement just recently emerged as a novel modality to treat severe mitral regurgitation. We present the first case of a transcatheter, transapical native double valve replacement for severe aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established treatment for patients with severe aortic stenosis and high to intermediate surgical risk. However, the proximity of the conduction system to the prosthesis landing zone bears the risk of atrioventricular conduction disorders. The underlying pathophysiology is not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial efflux pumps are an important pathogenicity trait because they extrude a variety of xenobiotics. Our laboratory previously identified in silico Burkholderia collagen-like protein 8 (Bucl8) in the hazardous pathogens Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei. We hypothesize that Bucl8, which contains two predicted tandem outer membrane efflux pump domains, is a component of a putative efflux pump.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTheories of human consciousness substantially vary in the proposed spatial extent of brain activity associated with conscious perception as well as in the assumed functional alterations within the involved brain regions. Here, we investigate which local and global changes in brain activity accompany conscious somatosensory perception following electrical finger nerve stimulation, and whether there are whole-brain functional network alterations by means of graph metrics. Thirty-eight healthy participants performed a somatosensory detection task and reported their decision confidence during fMRI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Upon high wall shear stress, high-molecular-weight (HMW) von Willebrand Factor (VWF) multimers are degraded, thus, HMW VWF multimer deficiency mirrors haemodynamics at the site of aortic stenosis (AS). The aim of the present study was to analyse the role of HMW VWF multimer ratio for subcategorization of classical low-flow, low-gradient (LF/LG) AS.
Methods And Results: Eighty-three patients with classical LF/LG AS were prospectively recruited and HMW VWF multimer pattern was analysed using a densitometric quantification of western blot bands.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
May 2020
Even though humans are mostly not aware of their heartbeats, several heartbeat-related effects have been reported to influence conscious perception. It is not clear whether these effects are distinct or related phenomena, or whether they are early sensory effects or late decisional processes. Combining electroencephalography and electrocardiography, along with signal detection theory analyses, we identify two distinct heartbeat-related influences on conscious perception differentially related to early vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluctuations in the heart's activity can modulate the access of external stimuli to consciousness. The link between perceptual awareness and cardiac signals has been investigated mainly in the visual and auditory domain. Here, we investigated whether the phase of the cardiac cycle and the prestimulus heart rate influence conscious somatosensory perception.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cyanobacteria are ideal model organisms to exploit photosynthetically derived electrons or fixed carbon for the biotechnological synthesis of high value compounds and energy carriers. Much effort is spent on the rational design of heterologous pathways to produce value-added chemicals. Much less focus is drawn on the basic physiological responses and potentials of phototrophs to deal with natural or artificial electron and carbon sinks.
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