Relationship of Plaque Features at Coronary CT to Coronary Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Events.

Background Plaque assessments with coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and coronary flow indexes have prognostic implications. Purpose To investigate the association and additive prognostic value of plaque burden and characteristics at CCTA with coronary pressure and flow. Materials and Methods Data of patients with coronary artery disease who underwent CCTA within 90 days before physiologic assessments at tertiary cardiovascular centers between January 2011 and December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, which included fractional flow reserve (FFR), resting distal coronary artery pressure (Pd)-to-aortic pressure (Pa) ratio (hereafter, Pd/Pa), coronary flow reserve (CFR), hyperemic flow (1/hyperemic mean transit time [Tmn]), resting flow (1/resting Tmn), and index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR).

Effects of RAS inhibitors on all-site cancers and mortality in the Hong Kong diabetes surveillance database (2002-2019).

Background: Cancer is replacing cardiovascular-disease as a leading cause of death in type 2 diabetes (T2D). The association of RAS-inhibitors (RASi) and cancer, including differences between angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitor (ACEi) and angiotensin-receptor-blocker (ARBs) as well as their associations independent of blood pressure lowering, remains inconclusive in T2D.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study with new-user design in 253,491 patients in the Hong-Kong-Diabetes-Surveillance-Database (HKDSD) in 2002-2019.

Blood Pressure Fluctuation During Hospitalization and Clinical Outcomes Within 3 Months After Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Increased blood pressure (BP) variability is positively associated with the risks of cerebral small-vessel disease, cardiovascular events and death. However, no large clinical trials have been published to demonstrate the effect of BP fluctuations during hospitalization on clinical outcomes after ischemic stroke.

Methods: A total of 3972 patients with acute ischemic stroke from 26 participating hospitals were included in this study, and BP fluctuations were calculated using BP data collected during the hospitalization.

Association of Nap Frequency With Hypertension or Ischemic Stroke Supported by Prospective Cohort Data and Mendelian Randomization in Predominantly Middle-Aged European Subjects.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between daytime napping frequency and the incidence of essential hypertension or stroke as well as to validate causality in this relationship via Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods: We conducted Cox regression analysis on 358 451 participants free of hypertension or stroke from UK Biobank. To validate the results of the observational analysis, we conducted a 2-sample MR for daytime napping frequency (123 single-nucleotide polymorphisms) with essential hypertension in FinnGen Biobank, stroke, and ischemic stroke in MEGASTROKE consortium and performed a corresponding 1-sample MR on the UK Biobank data.

Wireless Communication Between Paired Leadless Pacemakers for Dual-Chamber Synchrony.

Background: Leadless pacemakers (LPs) can mitigate conventional pacemaker complications related to the transvenous leads and subcutaneous pocket surrounding the pulse generator. Although single-chamber leadless pacing has been established, multichamber pacing requires wireless bidirectional communication across multiple LPs to maintain synchrony. This preclinical study demonstrates the chronic performance of implant-to-implant (i2i) communication that achieves synchronous, dual-chamber pacing with 2 LPs.

Effects of Cuisine-Based Chinese Heart-Healthy Diet in Lowering Blood Pressure Among Adults in China: Multicenter, Single-Blind, Randomized, Parallel Controlled Feeding Trial.

Background: More than one-fifth of the world's population consumes Chinese cuisines regularly, but no evidence-based healthy diets fitting the Chinese food culture are available for implementation.

Methods: A multicenter, patient- and outcome assessor-blind, randomized feeding trial was conducted among 265 participants with 130 to 159 mm Hg baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) for 4 major Chinese cuisines (Shangdong, Huaiyang, Cantonese, Szechuan). After a 7-day run-in period on a control diet matching the usual local diets, participants were randomized to continue with the control diet or the cuisine-based Chinese heart-healthy diet for another 28 days.

Scintillation light detection in the 6-m drift-length ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid argon TPC.

DUNE is a dual-site experiment for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, neutrino astrophysics and nucleon decay searches. ProtoDUNE Dual Phase (DP) is a 6   6   6 m liquid argon time-projection-chamber (LArTPC) that recorded cosmic-muon data at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2019-2020 as a prototype of the DUNE Far Detector. Charged particles propagating through the LArTPC produce ionization and scintillation light.

A roadmap for serum biomarkers for hepatitis B virus: current status and future outlook.

Globally, 296 million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and approximately one million people die annually from HBV-related causes, including liver cancer. Although there is a preventative vaccine and antiviral therapies suppressing HBV replication, there is no cure. Intensive efforts are under way to develop curative HBV therapies.

Material radiopurity control in the XENONnT experiment.

The selection of low-radioactive construction materials is of the utmost importance for rare-event searches and thus critical to the XENONnT experiment. Results of an extensive radioassay program are reported, in which material samples have been screened with gamma-ray spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and Rn emanation measurements. Furthermore, the cleanliness procedures applied to remove or mitigate surface contamination of detector materials are described.

Methionine oxidation activates pyruvate kinase M2 to promote pancreatic cancer metastasis.

Cancer mortality is primarily a consequence of its metastatic spread. Here, we report that methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MSRA), which can reduce oxidized methionine residues, acts as a suppressor of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) metastasis. MSRA expression is decreased in the metastatic tumors of PDA patients, whereas MSRA loss in primary PDA cells promotes migration and invasion.

Effects of Coronary Artery Disease-Associated Variants on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified many genetic loci that are robustly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the underlying biological mechanisms are still unknown for most of these loci, hindering the progress to medical translation. Evidence suggests that the genetic influence on CAD susceptibility may act partly through vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

Race, Genotype, and Azathioprine Discontinuation : A Cohort Study.

Background: Thiopurines are an important class of immunosuppressants despite their risk for hematopoietic toxicity and narrow therapeutic indices. Benign neutropenia related to an variant (rs2814778-CC) is common among persons of African ancestries.

Objective: To test whether rs2814778-CC was associated with azathioprine discontinuation attributed to hematopoietic toxicity and lower thiopurine dosing.

Observation of B (2S)K and B (2S)K decays.

Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2017 and 2018 with an integrated luminosity of , the and decays are observed with significances exceeding 5 standard deviations. The resulting branching fraction ratios, measured for the first time, correspond to and , where the last uncertainty in the first ratio is related to the uncertainty in the ratio of production cross sections of and mesons, .

Endovascular Treatment Versus Best Medical Management in Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Strokes: Results From the ATTENTION Multicenter Registry.

Background: The authors compare the effectiveness and safety of endovascular treatment (EVT) versus best medical management (BMM) in strokes attributable to acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO).

Methods: The present analysis was based on the ongoing, prospective, multicenter ATTENTION (Endovascular Treatment for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion) trial registry in China. Our analytic sample comprised 2134 patients recruited at 48 sites between 2017 and 2021 and included 462 patients who received BMM and 1672 patients who received EVT.

Plasma Thrombomodulin Levels and Ischemic Stroke: A Population-Based Prognostic Cohort Study.

Background And Objectives: Thrombomodulin has been suggested to be implicated in ischemic stroke because of its anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and cytoprotective properties. We aimed to investigate the associations of plasma thrombomodulin levels with clinical outcomes after ischemic stroke in a multicenter prognostic cohort study.

Methods: Our multicenter prognostic cohort study included 3,532 Chinese ischemic stroke patients from the China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Repression of Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide (OATP) 1B Expression and Increase of Plasma Coproporphyrin Level as Evidence for OATP1B Downregulation in Cynomolgus Monkeys Treated with Chenodeoxycholic Acid.

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear receptor known to markedly alter expression of major transporters and enzymes in the liver. However, its effects toward organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATP) 1B1 and 1B3 remain poorly characterized. Therefore, the present study was aimed at determining the effects of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), a naturally occurring FXR agonist, on OATP1B expression in cynomolgus monkeys.

Hemorrhage and Recurrence of Obliterated Brain Arteriovenous Malformations Treated With Stereotactic Radiosurgery.

Background: Although complete nidal obliteration of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM) is generally presumed to represent durable cure, postobliteration hemorrhage, and AVM recurrence have become increasingly recognized phenomena. The goal of the study was to define hemorrhage and nidal recurrence risks of obliterated AVMs treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study from the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation comprising AVM patients treated between 1987 and 2020.

Impact of Intraprocedural Sedation on Adrenal Vein Sampling without Corticotropin Stimulation.

See also the editorial by Georgiades in this issue.

Reversible lysine-targeted probes reveal residence time-based kinase selectivity.

The expansion of the target landscape of covalent inhibitors requires the engagement of nucleophiles beyond cysteine. Although the conserved catalytic lysine in protein kinases is an attractive candidate for a covalent approach, selectivity remains an obvious challenge. Moreover, few covalent inhibitors have been shown to engage the kinase catalytic lysine in animals.

Directed evolution of nonheme iron enzymes to access abiological radical-relay C(sp)-H azidation.

We report the reprogramming of nonheme iron enzymes to catalyze an abiological C(sp)‒H azidation reaction through iron-catalyzed radical relay. This biocatalytic transformation uses amidyl radicals as hydrogen atom abstractors and Fe(III)‒N intermediates as radical trapping agents. We established a high-throughput screening platform based on click chemistry for rapid evolution of the catalytic performance of identified enzymes.

LY-CoV1404 (bebtelovimab) potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can reduce the risk of hospitalization from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) when administered early. However, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have negatively affected therapeutic use of some authorized mAbs. Using a high-throughput B cell screening pipeline, we isolated LY-CoV1404 (bebtelovimab), a highly potent SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein receptor binding domain (RBD)-specific antibody.