Impaired coronary flow reserve as a marker of microvascular dysfunction to predict long-term cardiovascular outcomes, acute coronary syndrome and the development of heart failure.

Background: In the absence of obstructive coronary narrowing, impaired coronary flow reserve (CFR) represents coronary microvascular dysfunction. Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) allows non-invasive measurement of CFR in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of TTDE-derived CFR (as a marker of microvascular function) in predicting long-term cardiovascular events, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events, and the development of heart failure (HF).

Comparison of coronary microcirculation in female nurses after day-time versus night-time shifts.

Nightshift work, which is known to cause mental stress and disrupt normal biological diurnal rhythms, leads to endothelial dysfunction resulting in increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the acute effect of night-shift work on coronary microcirculation through assessment of coronary flow reserve (CFR) by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography. This study consisted of 36 women nurses who underwent transthoracic Doppler echocardiographic examinations after working a nightshift and on a regular day without previous nightshift work.

Circadian variation in coronary flow velocity reserve and its relation to α1-sympathetic activity in humans.

Background: The circadian change in coronary microvascular function has not been directly assessed in human beings. Recent advances in transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) provide noninvasive, physiological assessment of coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR).

Methods: This study consisted of 20 young healthy subjects (24 ± 2 years, 20 men) who underwent CFVR examinations at 3 different times; early morning (6AM), late morning (11AM) and late evening (10PM).

Aromatherapy alleviates endothelial dysfunction of medical staff after night-shift work: preliminary observations.

Night-shift work causes mental stress and lifestyle changes, and is recognized as a risk of cardiovascular diseases associated with impaired endothelial function. Aromatherapy is becoming popular as a complementary therapy that is beneficial for mental relaxation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy on the endothelial function of medical staff after night-shift work.

"Passive exercise" using whole body periodic acceleration: effects on coronary microcirculation.

Background: The whole body periodic acceleration (WBPA) system has recently been developed as a "passive exercise" device by providing increased pulsatile shear stress for improvement of endothelial function. This study aimed to investigate the short-term effect of WBPA on coronary flow reserve (CFR) through transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) in healthy subjects and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: This study consisted of 15 healthy subjects and 20 patients with CAD who underwent CFR examination before and immediately after WBPA.

Transnasal transesophageal echocardiography in the detection of left atrial thrombus.

Background: The widespread use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is limited by disadvantages, including patient intolerance and increased medical costs. We aimed to investigate the feasibility and safety of transnasal TEE in the detection of possible embolic sources in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and/or stroke, using an ultrathin TEE probe.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with AF and/or stroke underwent transnasal TEE without conscious sedation.

Direct measurement of wall stiffness for carotid arteries by ultrasound strain imaging.

Objective: The elastic properties of the carotid arterial wall have not been directly characterized in the clinical setting. Strain rate (SR) imaging is a newly developed echocardiographic method developed for imaging the tissue motion of the myocardium. The purpose of this study was to directly estimate the elastic properties of the carotid artery by using SR imaging in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Pocket-sized transthoracic echocardiography device for the measurement of cardiac chamber size and function.

Background: A pocket-sized portable transthoracic echocardiographic (pTTE) imaging device is commercially available, but its feasibility and accuracy in the assessment of cardiac chamber size and function has not been fully compared with the results of standard TTE (sTTE) examination.

Methods And Results: The target population comprised 125 unselected patients who underwent sTTE and pTTE examinations. The left ventricular (LV) diastolic and systolic dimensions, fractional shortening (FS), the thickness of the interventricular septum (IVS) and of the LV posterior wall (PWT), left atrial (LA) dimension, and ascending aorta diameter were measured.

Microbial contamination of fruit and vegetables and their disinfection.

We evaluated the microbial contamination of 17 types of vegetable and 10 types of fruit after 30-s washing with tap water with and without subsequent disinfection by 10-min immersion in 0.01% (100 ppm) sodium hypochlorite. The mean microbial contamination level of 9 types of leafy vegetable was 2.

Antimicrobial effects of drugs against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

We evaluated the effects of antimicrobial drugs on four strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are resistant to eight widely used antipseudomonal drugs (piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, imipenem, meropenem, ceftazidime, aztreonam, amikacin, ciprofloxacin) and colistin. In the killing test, colistin (2 microg/ml) was the most effective, followed by aztreonam (48 microg/ml), piperacillin-tazobactam (192-4 microg/ml), piperacillin (192 microg/ml), and a three drug combination of azetreonam (16 microg/ml), ceftazidime (16 microg/ml), and amikacin (4 microg/ml). Six hours after drug addition, colistin (2 microg/ml), aztreonam (48 microg/ml), piperacillin-tazobactam (192-4 microg/ml), piperacillin (192 microg/ml), and the above three drug combination had bacteriostatic effects on all four strains.

Genetic approach to study the relationship between penicillin-binding protein 3 mutations and Haemophilus influenzae beta-lactam resistance by using site-directed mutagenesis and gene recombinants.

To clarify the relationship between mutations commonly found for penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP 3) of beta-lactamase-nonproducing ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) Haemophilus influenzae isolates and beta-lactam resistance, single and multiple amino acid mutations at positions 377, 385, 389, 517, and 526 were introduced into PBP 3 of a beta-lactam-susceptible Rd strain by site-directed mutagenesis. Twelve isogenic recombinant strains were challenged with nine beta-lactam antibiotics. Replacement of the asparagine at position 526 with lysine (N526K) increased the resistance to imipenem eightfold and increased the resistance to various cephalosporins two- to eightfold.

Comparison of activities of beta-lactam antibiotics against Streptococcus pneumoniae with recombinant penicillin-binding protein genes from a penicillin-resistant strain.

We investigated the antibacterial activities of 19 beta-lactams against three recombinant bacterial strains, in which three penicillin-binding protein genes, pbp2x, pbp1a, and pbp2b, from penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), were transformed to a penicillin-susceptible strain. By the acquisition of the pbp2x gene from PRSP, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of third-generation cephalosporins were increased more than eight fold. When the strain acquired the PRSP pbp1a gene in addition to pbp2x, the MICs of all tested beta-lactams increased 2- to 16-fold.