Advances in Electrically and Thermally Conductive Functional Nanocomposites Based on Carbon Nanotubes.

The paper presents a review of CNTs synthesis methods and their application as a functional filler to obtain polymer composites for various technical purposes for strain gauges, electrical heating, anti-static coatings, electrically conductive compounds, etc. Various synthesis methods allow CNTs with different morphology and structural properties to be created, which expands the possibilities of the application of such nanoscale structures. Polymers can provide such effects as 'shape memory' and self-repair of mechanical defects.

Convergent olfactory circuits for courtship in revealed by -Tango.

Animals exhibit sex-specific behaviors that are governed by sexually dimorphic circuits. One such behavior in male , courtship, is regulated by various sensory modalities, including olfaction. Here, we reveal how sexually dimorphic olfactory pathways in male flies converge at the third-order, onto lateral horn output neurons, to regulate courtship.

Emotions and cognition; a promising crossroad for brain tumor diagnosis and prevention.

Cognitive and behavioral neuroscience is essential for understanding brain tumors and their effects. Researchers have realized that an important step is to start looking for cognitive impairment at the time of diagnosis to see what deficits the brain tumor has left the patient with. Then cognitive assessment should be made after the tumor has been removed to see how it changes.

p.D446E Variant as a Risk Allele for Arrhythmogenic Phenotypes: Electrophysiological Characterization Reveals a Complex Phenotype Affecting the Slow Delayed Rectifier Potassium Current (IKs) Voltage Dependence by Causing a Hyperpolarizing Shift and a Lack of Response to Protein Kinase A Activation.

Genetic testing is crucial in inherited arrhythmogenic channelopathies; however, the clinical interpretation of genetic variants remains challenging. Incomplete penetrance, oligogenic, polygenic or multifactorial forms of channelopathies further complicate variant interpretation. We identified the /p.

[Corrected QT interval and GRACE score relationship in patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction].

Background: The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) prediction model stratifies patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Corrected QT interval (QTc) is not considered in this model.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the QTc interval and the GRACE score in patients with NSTEMI.

Clinical Spectrum of Channelopathy in Children with Primary Electrical Disease and Structurally Normal Hearts.

Sodium voltage-gated channel α subunit 5 (-mutations may cause an array of arrhythmogenic syndromes most frequently as an autosomal dominant trait, with incomplete penetrance, variable expressivity and male predominance. In the present study, we retrospectively describe a group of Mexican patients with -disease causing variants in whom the onset of symptoms occurred in the pediatric age range. The study included 17 patients with clinical diagnosis of primary electrical disease, at least one pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation and age of onset <18 years, and all available first- and second-degree relatives.

Compound Heterozygous Mutations Causing Recessive Romano-Ward Syndrome: Functional Characterization by Mutant Co-expression.

Next Generation Sequencing has identified many genetic variants associated with type 1 long QT or Romano-Ward syndrome, most frequently inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, although recessive forms have been reported. Particularly in the case of missense variants, functional studies of mutants are of aid to establish variant pathogenicity and to understand the mechanistic basis of disease. Two compound heterozygous mutations (p.

Diagnostic challenges of Brugada Syndrome in pediatric patients.

Although most cases of Brugada syndrome have been described in adults, pediatric patients with the disease have been reported since the original article from Josep and Pedro Brugada. Herein is presented the case series of Brugada syndrome in pediatric population of the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chavez. One boy and two adolescent males had palpitations as clinical presentation of the disease.

Altering attention to split-belt walking increases the generalization of motor memories across walking contexts.

Little is known about the impact of attention during motor adaptation tasks on how movements adapted in one context generalize to another. We investigated this by manipulating subjects' attention to their movements while exposing them to split-belt walking (i.e.

Cerebral Contribution to the Execution, But Not Recalibration, of Motor Commands in a Novel Walking Environment.

Human movements are flexible as they continuously adapt to changes in the environment. The recalibration of corrective responses to sustained perturbations (e.g.

Corrective Muscle Activity Reveals Subject-Specific Sensorimotor Recalibration.

Recent studies suggest that planned and corrective actions are recalibrated during some forms of motor adaptation. However, corrective (also known as reactive) movements in human locomotion are thought to simply reflect sudden environmental changes independently from sensorimotor recalibration. Thus, we asked whether corrective responses can indicate the motor system's adapted state following prolonged exposure to a novel walking situation inducing sensorimotor adaptation.

Idiopathic Lead Migration: Concept and Variants of an Uncommon Cause of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Dysfunction.

Objectives: This cumulative case study was performed to properly address the possible mechanisms, forms, and consequences of "twiddler's," "reel," and "ratchet" syndromes.

Background: Twiddler's, reel, and ratchet syndromes are rare entities responsible for lead displacement of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED).

Methods: From 2007 to 2012, 1,472 CIED were implanted at our center.

Postintervention Dyspnea after Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation: Think of a Phrenic Nerve Injury.

Phrenic nerve injury (PNI) is a rare complication of catheter ablation therapy, most commonly observed in cryoablation of the right side pulmonary veins. We present a case of PNI after radiofrequency catheter ablation that developed acute dyspnea 24 hours after the intervention. Dyspnea is the main symptom of PNI, so the diagnosis should always be suspected if it appears after any type of catheter ablation involving the trajectory of the phrenic nerve.

Association between premature ventricular complexes during exercise, long-term occurrence of life-threatening arrhythmia and mortality.

Objective: Exercise-induced premature ventricular complexes (EiPVCs) are often considered as benign arrhythmias, although they are associated with a high risk of all-cause death in the general healthy population. However, an intermediate pathophysiological process remains unclear, particularly in patients with known cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to find an association between EiPVCs, the occurrence of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias (LACO), and all-cause mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease.

The relevance of looking for right bundle branch block in catheter ablation of Ebstein's anomaly.

Introduction: Ebstein's anomaly is the most commonly occurring congenital defect associated with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In patients with Ebstein's anomaly and supraventricular tachycardia, the absence of right bundle branch block (RBBB) in sinus rhythm is a highly sensitive and specific indicator of the presence of an ipsilateral accessory AP.

Case: We present an electrophysiology case of a patient with Ebstein's anomaly and 3 ipsilateral accessory pathways.

[Cardiology in the Morgagni's anatomo pathological work].

In the XVIII century, under the influence of the "systematic spirit", characteristic of the Enlightenment age, pathological anatomy was systematized in the Morgagni's fundamental treatise De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis, published as letters in 1761. Certain biographical data of the author are reported here as well as some his more important contributions to cardiology such as the Morgagni's, Adams', Stokes' syndrome. His points of view on sudden death and his observations on post-infarct myocardial rupture, are related also.

Reuse of pacemakers: comparison of short and long-term performance.

Background: In developing economies, there are patients in whom pacemaker implantation is delayed because they cannot afford one. Reused devices have been a solution. To address concerns about safety, a cohort of consecutive patients implanted with a reused pacemaker was compared with a control group.

Long-term efficacy of low doses of quinidine on malignant arrhythmias in Brugada syndrome with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: a case series and literature review.

Background: To prevent the recurrence of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) in Brugada syndrome (BrS), only quinidine has been consistently reported to have a beneficial effect. Recommended doses are ≥ 1 g/d. The efficacy of lower doses of quinidine has been suggested on the basis of a few isolated experiences.

Electrocardiographic manifestation of the middle fibers/septal fascicle block: a consensus report.

There are fibers in the left ventricle (LV) (LV middle network) that in around one third of cases may be considered a true septal fascicle that arises from the common left bundle. Its presence and the evidence that there are 3 points of activation onset in the LV favor the quadrifascicular theory of the intraventricular activation of both ventricles. Since the 70s, different authors have suggested that the block of the left middle fibers (MS)/left septal fascicle may explain different electrocardiographic (ECG) patterns.

[Clinical predictors of ventricular arrhythmia storms in Chagas cardiomyopathy patients with implantable defibrillators].

Objectives: To define the predictive factors of electrical storm (ES) in patients with Chronic Chagas Heart Disease (CCh) with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Material And Methods: We retrospectively studied 21 consecutive patients with CCh in whom an ICD was implanted between April 2005 and December 2008, with a mean follow up of 867 days. Patients were classified into two groups according to the presence of electrical storm episodes.

Peripheral heart blocks associated with myocardial infarcts: clinical diagnosis based on experimental findings.

Septal necrosis + peripheral left blocks. Because of an extensive septal necrosis, the manifestation of the initial ventricular activation forces decreases in the precordial leads. With left bifascicular block (LASB + LPSB), the first ventricular activation forces become more evident and the electrical signs of septal necrosis can be concealed.

[On the electrical manifestations of some heart diseases associated with ventricular preexcitation].

Electro-Vectorcardiographic curves, corresponding some heart diseases, must be analyzed in the light of the ventricular depolarization sequence, as well as on the heart's position and rotation. A more than 30-msec interval between the end of the initial slurring (delta) and the vertex of the R wave in the left unipolar leads or the main axis of the vectorcardiographic ventricular curves, allows us to infer the coexistence of left ventricular hypertrophy. On the other hand, segmental irregularities or distorsions of the electric curves suggest the presence of a limited myocardial zone unable to be activated.