Harmonizing Heartbeats: The Mosaic of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Responders-A Comprehensive Exploration of Diverse Criteria and Predictors.

Heart failure (HF) remains a challenging healthcare issue necessitating innovative therapies like cardiac resynchronization-defibrillation therapy (CRT-D). However, the definition of a CRT-D response lacks uniformity, impeding effective clinical evaluation. This study explores diverse CRT-D responder definitions encompassing functional, echocardiographic and laboratory criteria.

Trust in automated vehicles: constructs, psychological processes, and assessment.

There is a growing body of research on trust in driving automation systems. In this paper, we seek to clarify the way trust is conceptualized, calibrated and measured taking into account issues related to specific levels of driving automation. We find that: (1) experience plays a vital role in trust calibration; (2) experience should be measured not just in terms of distance traveled, but in terms of the range of situations encountered; (3) system malfunctions and recovery from such malfunctions is a fundamental part of this experience.

Impact of cavotricuspid isthmus ablation for typical atrial flutter and heart failure in the elderly-results of a retrospective multi-center study.

Introduction: While in the CASTLE-AF trial, in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, interventional therapy using pulmonary vein isolation was associated with outcome improvement, data on cavotricuspid isthmus ablation (CTIA) in atrial flutter (AFL) in the elderly is rare.

Methods: We included 96 patients between 60 and 85 years with typical AFL and heart failure with reduced or mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF/HFmrEF) treated in two medical centers. 48 patients underwent an electrophysiological study with CTIA, whereas 48 patients received rate or rhythm control and guideline-compliant heart failure therapy.

Case report: Short-long-short mechanism triggering sustained ventricular tachycardia in a patient with a single-chamber ICD but inhibiting antitachycardia therapy.

Introduction: Short-long-short (SLS) sequences are an important cause of ICD pro-arrhythmia and can initiate both polymorphic and monomorphic ventricular tachycardias (VT). Depending on the programming of a single-chamber ICD, the interplay between SLS sequences and combined VT detection criteria can be responsible for withholding adequate anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP) or shock therapy.

Methods: A 78-year-old patient with ICD was admitted to our emergency department after external cardioversion of a long-lasting VT with hemodynamic compromise.

Implicit intention communication as a design opportunity for automated vehicles: Understanding drivers' interpretation of vehicle trajectory at narrow passages.

To ensure road safety in mixed traffic, automated vehicles (AVs) must be equipped with distinct and easy-to-understand communication strategies. For this, the communication design of AVs might be oriented toward implicit communication between manually driven vehicles. This research focused on how drivers interpret observable vehicle behavior (vehicle trajectory) to predict vehicle intentions and planned maneuvers.

Gender-Specific Differences in the Intensive Care Treatment of COVID-19 Patients.

Background: Gender-specific differences in the outcome of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care treatment have been reported. However, a potential association with ICU therapy remains elusive.

Methods: A total of 224 consecutive patients (63 women) treated for severe COVID-19 disease requiring mechanical ventilation were screened for the study.

ARGOS: An adaptive refinement goal-oriented solver for the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation.

An adaptive finite element solver for the numerical calculation of the electrostatic coupling between molecules in a solvent environment is developed and tested. At the heart of the solver is a goal-oriented a posteriori error estimate for the electrostatic coupling, derived and implemented in the present work, that gives rise to an orders of magnitude improved precision and a shorter computational time as compared to standard finite difference solvers. The accuracy of the new solver ARGOS is evaluated by numerical experiments on a series of problems with analytically known solutions.

Management of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators during Pregnancy-A Systematic Review.

Background: With the advent of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) technology in recent decades, patients with inherited or congenital cardiomyopathy have a greater chance of survival into adulthood. Women with ICDs in this group are now more likely to reach reproductive age. However, pregnancy represents a challenge for clinicians, as no guidelines for the treatment of pregnant women with an ICD are currently available.

More Than a Feeling-Interrelation of Trust Layers in Human-Robot Interaction and the Role of User Dispositions and State Anxiety.

With service robots becoming more ubiquitous in social life, interaction design needs to adapt to novice users and the associated uncertainty in the first encounter with this technology in new emerging environments. Trust in robots is an essential psychological prerequisite to achieve safe and convenient cooperation between users and robots. This research focuses on psychological processes in which user dispositions and states affect trust in robots, which in turn is expected to impact the behavior and reactions in the interaction with robotic systems.

Development and Testing of Psychological Conflict Resolution Strategies for Assertive Robots to Resolve Human-Robot Goal Conflict.

As service robots become increasingly autonomous and follow their own task-related goals, human-robot conflicts seem inevitable, especially in shared spaces. Goal conflicts can arise from simple trajectory planning to complex task prioritization. For successful human-robot goal-conflict resolution, humans and robots need to negotiate their goals and priorities.

Upstream Statin Therapy and Long-Term Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation after Cardioversion: A Propensity-Matched Analysis.

The relationship of statin therapy with recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardioversion (CV) has been evaluated by several investigations, which provided conflicting results and particularly long-term data is scarce. We sought to examine whether upstream statin therapy is associated with long-term recurrence of AF after CV. This was a single-center registry study including consecutive AF patients ( = 454) undergoing CV.

Infective endocarditis - A review of current therapy and future challenges.

Etiological, microbiological and epidemiological factors changed over time, but mortality rates remain high in infective endocarditis (IE). Healthcare-associated IE is nowadays responsible for a significant proportion of cases due to increasing numbers of cardiac devices. Cardiac implantable electronic devices, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and percutaneous valve repair are meanwhile used, especially in old and sick patients.

What's Driving Me? Exploration and Validation of a Hierarchical Personality Model for Trust in Automated Driving.

Objective: This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of personality traits related to trust in automated vehicles. A hierarchical personality model based on Mowen's (2000) 3M model is explored in a first and replicated in a second study.

Background: Trust in automation is established in a complex psychological process involving user-, system- and situation-related variables.

Scared to Trust? - Predicting Trust in Highly Automated Driving by Depressiveness, Negative Self-Evaluations and State Anxiety.

The advantages of automated driving can only come fully into play if these systems are used in an appropriate way, which means that they are neither used in situations they are not designed for (misuse) nor used in a too restricted manner (disuse). Trust in automation has been found to be an essential psychological basis for appropriate interaction with automated systems. Well-balanced system use requires a calibrated level of trust in correspondence with the actual ability of an automated system.

Exercise-related T-wave oversensing: an underestimated cause of reduced exercise capacity in a pacemaker-dependent patient-a case report and review of the literature.

A 62-year-old pacemaker-dependent patient presented to our department with a sudden onset of reduced physical capacity. While initial physical and pacemaker evaluations remained without specific findings, Holter-ECG monitoring revealed an abnormal rate response with unusual pauses during physical exercise. Consequently, closer evaluation of the pacemaker system revealed intermittent, exercise-related T-wave oversensing (TWOS).

The More You Know: Trust Dynamics and Calibration in Highly Automated Driving and the Effects of Take-Overs, System Malfunction, and System Transparency.

Objective: This paper presents a theoretical model and two simulator studies on the psychological processes during early trust calibration in automated vehicles.

Background: The positive outcomes of automation can only reach their full potential if a calibrated level of trust is achieved. In this process, information on system capabilities and limitations plays a crucial role.

Potential mechanisms of endothelialisation in individuals implanted with a leadless pacemaker systems: An experimental in vitro study.

Background: Leadless pacemaker technology is a promising upcoming field in clinical rhythmology. Today, the most commonly used system in the clinical setting is the Micra™ leadless pacemaker system (Medtronic). In autopsies of patients who witnessed non-pacemaker associated death, unexpected ingrowth/encapsulation within the wall of the right ventricle was reported.

A comparative analysis of novel cardiovascular biomarkers in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction remains a major therapeutic challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of novel cardiovascular biomarkers, i.e.

Short-term pacemaker dependency after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a less invasive technique for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis in high-risk patients. Occurrence of conduction disturbances requiring permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation after TAVI is frequently observed.

Methods: The retrospective analysis comprised 153 patients (96 women, aged from 65 to 97 years) who underwent TAVI due to high-grade aortic stenosis.

The influence of cavotricuspid isthmus length on total radiofrequency energy to cure right atrial flutter.

Background And Aim: The complexity and success rate of right atrial flutter ablation is highly dependent on anatomical structures.

Methods: The study comprised 35 consecutive patients (33-77 years old; 30 men) who underwent ablation of typical atrial flutter. The linear ablation line was measured offline as a surrogate for the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) length with the help of a three-dimensional mapping and navigation system (Ensite™).

The novel β2-selective proteasome inhibitor LU-102 decreases phosphorylation of I kappa B and induces highly synergistic cytotoxicity in combination with ibrutinib in multiple myeloma cells.

Purpose: Proteasome-inhibiting drugs (PI) are gaining importance in hematologic oncology. The proteasome carries three proteolytically active subunits (β1, β2, β5). All established PI (bortezomib and carfilzomib), as well as experimental drugs in the field (dalanzomib, oprozomib, and ixazomib), by design target the rate-limiting β5 subunit.

Rehospitalization rates after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Aims: Comorbidities pose a major challenge to screening, selection and follow-up of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) patients as well as to the procedure itself. The aim of the present study was to assess cardiac and non-cardiac readmission rates besides clinical endpoint data in the first 50 patients of a single center TAVI programme.

Methods And Results: TAVI was performed using the transfemoral CoreValve system.