Nifedipine outperforms labetalol: A comparative analysis of hypertension management in black pregnancies.

Background: Nifedipine has previously exhibited superior efficacy to labetalol in managing hypertension in the non-pregnant Black population, establishing itself as a first-line treatment option. However, the unique challenges of hypertension during pregnancy, especially prevalent in Black individuals, remain underexplored in terms of effective medication choices. This gap highlights the need for targeted research on antihypertensive efficacy specifically within this population.

Special Issue on Solitons in Quantum Physics.

This is an Editorial for the Special Issue on Solitons in Quantum Physics.

Alginate-encapsulated biochar as an effective soil ameliorant for reducing Pb phytoavailability to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).

The alginate-biochar formulation for metal removal from aquatic environments has been widely tried but its use for lowering phytoavailability of metals in the soil-crop continuum is limited. Biochar has been increasingly used as a soil amendment due to its potential for soil carbon sequestration and sorption capacity. Handling of powdery biochar as a soil top-dressing material is, however, cumbersome and vulnerable to loss by water and wind.

Cytosolic domain regulates the calcium sensitivity and surface expression of BEST1 channels in the HEK293 cells.

BEST family is a class of Ca-activated Cl- channels evolutionary well conserved from bacteria to human. The human BEST paralogs (BEST1-BEST4) share significant amino acid sequence homology in the N-terminal region, which forms the transmembrane helicases and contains the direct calcium-binding site, Ca-clasp. But the cytosolic C-terminal region is less conserved in the paralogs.

A Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies of Youth Cannabis Use: Alterations in Executive Control, Social Cognition/Emotion Processing, and Reward Processing in Cannabis Using Youth.

: Adolescent cannabis use (CU) is associated with adverse health outcomes and may be increasing in response to changing cannabis laws. Recent imaging studies have identified differences in brain activity between adult CU and controls that are more prominent in early onset users. Whether these differences are present in adolescent CU and relate to age/developmental stage, sex, or cannabis exposure is unknown.

Alzheimer's Disease: Key Insights from Two Decades of Clinical Trial Failures.

Given the acknowledged lack of success in Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug development over the past two decades, the objective of this review was to derive key insights from the myriad failures to inform future drug development. A systematic and exhaustive review was performed on all failed AD compounds for dementia (interventional phase II and III clinical trials from ClinicalTrials.gov) from 2004 to the present.

Age- and Sex-Related Cortical Gray Matter Volume Differences in Adolescent Cannabis Users: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Morphometry Studies.

Adolescent-onset cannabis use is rising in the era of marijuana legalization. Recent imaging studies have identified neuroanatomical differences between adult cannabis users and controls that are more prominent in early-onset users. Other studies point to sex-dependent effects of cannabis.

Personalised three-dimensional printed transparent kidney model for robot-assisted partial nephrectomy in patients with complex renal tumours (R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score ≥7): a prospective case-matched study.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a three-dimensional (3D) printed transparent kidney model as a surgical navigator for robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN) in patients with complex renal tumours, defined by a R.E.N.

Reduced Coronary Flow Reserve Is Associated with Impaired Ventricular-vascular Interaction in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background And Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cardiac and arterial damage and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. We aimed to determine whether coronary flow reserve (CFR), which represents microvascular dysfunction, might be associated with the ventricular-vascular coupling index (VVI), which represents the afterload-adjusted contractility in patients with OSA.

Methods: We enrolled 281 patients (257 males; mean age, 43±11 years) with newly diagnosed OSA.

Conformational Dynamics and Functional Implications of Phosphorylated β-Arrestins.

Arrestins desensitize and/or internalize G-protein-coupled receptors by interacting with phosphorylated receptors. A few studies have reported that arrestins themselves can be phosphorylated, and the phosphorylation status modulates their cellular functions. However, the effects of phosphorylation on arrestin structure have not been studied.

Prognostic Utility of Troponin I and N Terminal-ProBNP among Patients with Heart Failure due to Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy and Important Correlations.

Background: Heart Failure (HF) is accompanied by a high cost of care and gloomy prognosis despite recent advances in its management. Therefore, efforts to minimize HF rehospitalizations is a major focus of several studies.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 140 patients 18 years and above who had baseline clinical parameters, echocardiography, NT-ProBNP, troponin I and other laboratory parameters following a 3-year electronic medical record review.

Low Skeletal Muscle Mass Independently Predicts Mortality in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure after an Acute Hospitalization.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome associated with exercise intolerance, and its symptoms are more common in patients with low skeletal muscle mass (SMM). Estimation of muscle mass can be cumbersome and unreliable, particularly in patients with varying body weight. The psoas muscle area (PMA) can be used as a surrogate of sarcopenia and has been associated with poor outcomes in other populations.

Electroacupuncture prevents endothelial dysfunction induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury via a cyclooxygenase-2-dependent mechanism: A randomized controlled crossover trial.

Objective: Exploring clinically effective methods to reduce ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in humans is critical. Several drugs have shown protective effects, but studies using other interventions have been rare. Electroacupuncture (EA) has induced similar protection in several animal studies but no study has investigated how the effects could be translated and reproduced in humans.

Comparison of anterior cruciate ligament volume after anatomic double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Backgroud: To determine whether anatomic double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (DB-ACLR) can restore the native ACL volume, and whether the volume change after reconstruction affects clinical outcomes and re-rupture rates following the contemporary techniques.

Methods: Eighty patients undergoing anatomic DB-ACLR using transportal or outside-in technique were prospectively evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after surgery. The ACL volumes were determined from 3-D models constructed by applying reverse engineering software.

The pharmacodynamics of low and standard doses of ticagrelor in patients with end stage renal disease on hemodialysis.

Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) respond poorly to clopidogrel. We assessed the utility of low-dose ticagrelor in ESRD patients on maintenance HD.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective, randomized pharmacodynamic study, 52 ESRD patients on HD were prescribed clopidogrel (300mg loading dose [LD], then 75mg daily), standard-dose ticagrelor (180mg LD, then 90mg twice daily), or low-dose ticagrelor (90mg LD, then 90mg daily) for 14days.

Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Deferred Coronary Lesions according to Disease Severity Assessed by Fractional Flow Reserve.

Data on the clinical outcomes in deferred coronary lesions according to functional severity have been limited. This study evaluated the clinical outcomes of deferred lesions according to fractional flow reserve (FFR) grade using Korean FFR registry data. Among 1,294 patients and 1,628 lesions in Korean FFR registry, 665 patients with 781 deferred lesions were included in this study.

Evaluation of the vascular protective effects of new oral anticoagulants in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation (PREFER-AF): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is known to be associated with several pathophysiological mechanisms including endothelial dysfunction of the heart and arterial vessels. Recent evidence suggests that new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) treatment may improve endothelial function and the inflammatory process involved in atherosclerosis in AF patients. This study is designed to determine the efficacy of NOAC therapy in the prevention of endothelial dysfunction and the progression of atherosclerosis of AF subjects.

Layer-specific analysis of dobutamine stress echocardiography for the evaluation of coronary artery disease.

Although dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is a well-defined tool for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), false-negative and false-positive results still occur. This study investigated the diagnostic role of layer-specific analysis using 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) during DSE.A total of 121 patients who underwent DSE and showed normal wall motion and ejection fraction during baseline echocardiography were enrolled.

Aortic arch calcification on chest X-ray combined with coronary calcium score show additional benefit for diagnosis and outcome in patients with angina.

Background: The coronary artery calcium (CAC) and aortic arch calcification (AoAC) are individually associated with cardiovascular disease and outcome. This study investigated the predictive value of AoAC combined with CAC for cardiovascular diagnosis and outcome in patients with angina.

Methods: A total of 2018 stable angina patients who underwent chest X-ray and cardiac multi-detector computed tomography were followed up for four years to assess adverse events, which were categorized as cardiac death, stroke, myocardial infarction, or repeated revascularization.

Effects of Statin Therapy on Clinical Outcomes of Survivors of Acute Myocardial Infarction with Severe Systolic Heart Failure.

Objective: Large randomized trials have failed to show a beneficial effect of statin treatment in chronic HF. The investigators tried to evaluate the long-term effects of statin therapy in patients with new onset heart failure (HF) following acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2011, a total of 13,616 AMI patients were enrolled in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR) which was a prospective, multi-center, nationwide, web-based database of AMI in Korea.

Early prediction of myocardial viability after acute myocardial infarction by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging.

Background: Identifying the transmural extent of myocardial necrosis and the degree of myocardial viability in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is important clinically. The aim of this study was to assess myocardial viability using two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) in patients with AMI.

Methods: 2D-STI was performed at initial presentation, three days, and six months after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in 30 patients with AMI, who had a left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) culprit lesion.

Effects of electroacupuncture on endothelial function and circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with cerebral infarction.

This study evaluated the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on endothelial function and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in patients with cerebral infarction. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 20 patients with cerebral infarction were randomized into two treatment groups: EA or placebo. Before and after each intervention, pulse amplitude tonometry (PAT) was used to assess endothelial function and peripheral blood was analyzed for the number of EPCs.

Platelet reactivity after receiving clopidogrel compared with ticagrelor in patients with kidney failure treated with hemodialysis: a randomized crossover study.

Background: Patients with kidney failure treated with maintenance hemodialysis (HD) are poor responders to clopidogrel. More beneficial platelet-inhibiting strategies in HD patients therefore are required.

Study Design: Single-center, prospective, randomized, crossover study.