Performance of Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (S-ICD) in Chinese Population with Primary Prevention Indications: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND International studies have shown that use of a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) could reduce lead-related complications while maintaining adequate defibrillation performance; however, data from the Chinese population or other Asian groups are limited. MATERIAL AND METHODS SCOPE is a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study. Two hundred patients with primary prevention indication for sudden cardiac death (SCD), who are candidates for S-ICD, will be enrolled.

Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing versus Right Ventricular Pacing in Patients with Atrioventricular Block: An Observational Cohort Study.

Objective: We aim to conduct a comparison of the safety and effectiveness performance between left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) and right ventricular pacing (RVP) regimens for patients with atrioventricular block (AVB).

Methods: This observational cohort study included patients who underwent pacemaker implantations with LBBAP or RVP for AVB indications from the 1st of January 2018 to the 18th of November 2021 at West China Hospital. The primary composite outcome included all-cause mortality, lead failure, or heart failure hospitalization (HFH).

Clinical use conditions of lead deployment and simulated lead fracture rate in left bundle branch area pacing.

Introduction: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is achieved by advancing the lead tip deep in the septum. Most LBBAP implants are performed using the Medtronic SelectSecure™ MRI SecureScan™ Model 3830 featuring a unique 4 Fr fixed helix lumenless design. Details of lead use conditions and long-term reliability have not been reported.

Computed tomography imaging-identified location and electrocardiographic characteristics of left bundle branch area pacing in bradycardia patients.

Introduction: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is a novel physiological pacing modality. The relationship between the pacing lead tip location and paced electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics remains unclear. The objectives are to determine the lead tip location within the interventricular septum (IVS) and assess the location-based ECG QRS duration (QRSd) and left ventricular activation time (LVAT).

Tectorigenin alleviates intrahepatic cholestasis by inhibiting hepatic inflammation and bile accumulation via activation of PPARγ.

Background And Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests that human cholestasis is closely associated with the accumulation and activation of hepatic macrophages. Research indicates that activation of PPARγ exerts liver protective effects in cholestatic liver disease (CLD), particularly by ameliorating inflammation and fibrosis, thus limiting disease progression. However, existing PPARγ agonists, such as troglitazone and rosiglitazone, have significant side effects that prevent their clinical application in the treatment of CLD.

Multicenter Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Lymph Nodes Using Unsupervised Domain-Adaptation Networks Based on Cross-Domain Confounding Representations.

To achieve the robust high-performance computer-aided diagnosis systems for lymph nodes, CT images may be typically collected from multicenter data, which cause the isolated performance of the model based on different data source centers. The variability adaptation problem of lymph node data which is related to the problem of domain adaptation in deep learning differs from the general domain adaptation problem because of the typically larger CT image size and more complex data distributions. Therefore, domain adaptation for this problem needs to consider the shared feature representation and even the conditioning information of each domain so that the adaptation network can capture significant discriminative representations in a domain-invariant space.

Semisynthesis and insecticidal bioactivities of benzoxazole and benzoxazolone derivatives of honokiol, a naturally occurring neolignan derived from Magnolia officinalis.

Honokiol, a natural bioactive neolignan isolated from the bark and leaf of Magnolia officinalis and Magnolia obovata, exhibits many important biological properties. In continuation of our interest in discovery of the agrochemicals derived from the natural sources, thirty-seven new 8/8'-alkylthiol-benzoxazole and N-alkyl/sulfonyl-benzoxazolone derivatives of honokiol were prepared and their insecticidal activities were evaluated against the larvae of Mythimna separata Walker and Plutella xylostella Linnaeus. The results showed that eleven derivatives exhibited potent insecticidal activity against M.

Natural product-based semisynthesis and biological evaluation of thiol/amino-Michael adducts of xanthatin derived from Xanthium strumarium as potential pesticidal agents.

Xanthatin, a natural sesquiterpene lactone, occurs as one of the major constituents of Xanthium plants (Compositae) and exhibits many important biological properties. To discover natural products-based pesticides, forty-nine Michael-type thiol/amino adducts of xanthatin were synthesized and characterized, while their pesticidal activities were investigated. Among them, compounds 2c, 2h, 2i, and 2t exhibited more potent antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea (IC = 0.

Unpaired Low-Dose CT Denoising Network Based on Cycle-Consistent Generative Adversarial Network with Prior Image Information.

The widespread application of X-ray computed tomography (CT) in clinical diagnosis has led to increasing public concern regarding excessive radiation dose administered to patients. However, reducing the radiation dose will inevitably cause server noise and affect radiologists' judgment and confidence. Hence, progressive low-dose CT (LDCT) image reconstruction methods must be developed to improve image quality.

Semisynthesis and biological evaluation of some novel Mannich base derivatives derived from a natural lignan obovatol as potential antifungal agents.

Obovatol, a novel lignan isolated from the leaf and stem bark of Magnolia obovata Thunb exhibits many important biological activities. To discover natural-product-based potential fungicides with novel structural skeletons, a series of Mannich base derivatives were prepared by the C-4-aminomethylated modification of obovatol and all synthesized compounds were evaluated for antifungal activities in vitro against several phytopathogenic fungi using the spore germination method and the mycelium growth rate method. Furthermore, their structures were also characterized by H NMR, C NMR, and HR-MS, and compound 2k was further analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

DHEA improves the antioxidant capacity of endometrial stromal cells and improves endometrium receptivity via androgen receptor.

Objective: To investigate the effect of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on mouse decidual endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) and to explore mechanisms regulating endometrial receptivity.

Study Design: Mouse ESCs were incubated with increasing concentrations of DHEA during decidualization. Treatment with flutamide (FLU), a specific androgen receptor (AR) antagonist, was also performed.

Compression of the ostium of left main coronary artery caused by aortic root intramural hematoma after blunt thoracic trauma.

We reported a case of compression of the ostium of left main coronary artery caused by aortic root intramural hematoma after blunt thoracic trauma treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A 46-year-old man visited our hospital because of exertional chest discomfort and dyspnea for 4 months. He was diagnosed as compression of the ostium of left main coronary artery caused by aortic root intramural hematoma, severe stenosis in the ostium of the left main coronary artery.

The relationship between visfatin and HOMA-IR in hypertensive patients, and the effect of antihypertensive drugs on visfatin and HOMA-IR in hypertensive patients with insulin resistance.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between serum visfatin and insulin resistance (IR) in non-diabetic essential hypertensive (EH) patients with and without IR, and to evaluate the effect of antihypertensive treatment on serum visfatin and IR in these patients.

Methods: A total of 81 non-diabetic EH patients, including 54 with IR and 27 without IR, were enrolled. After two weeks wash-out, patients with IR were randomly assigned to telmisartan (group T) or amlodipine (group A) for 6 months.

Higher ratio of triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol may predispose to diabetes mellitus: 15-year prospective study in a general population.

The aims of the study were to examine whether the triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C) could predict future diabetes mellitus (DM) in a general population during a 15-year follow-up. The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 711 individuals. Because 24 of them were found to be diabetic in 1992, our analysis was eventually based on the usable data collected from the remaining 687 individuals (male, 58.

[Association between serum uric acid and early kidney damage in middle-aged and elderly].

Objective: To investigate the association between serum uric acid (UA) and early kidney damage and the prevalence of early kidney damage [89 >or= GFR >or= 60 ml * min(-1) * (1.73m(2))(-1)] in the middle-aged and elders with normal serum creatinine.

Methods: A survey of cardiovascular risk factors, including serum UA and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) [according to MDRD (modification of diet in renal disease) equation], was carried out in a local general population of Chengdu.

Relationship between high density lipoprotein antioxidant activity and carotid arterial intima-media thickness in patients with essential hypertension.

The objective of this study was to evaluate high-density lipoprotein (HDL) antioxidative activity and its possible influencing factors in patients with essential hypertension and to investigate the correlations between HDL antioxidative activity and the carotid arterial intima-media thickness (CIMT). Thirty-three patients with essential hypertension and 32 healthy people as control were included. High- and low-density lipoprotein in plasma were isolated by one-step density gradient ultracentrifugation, and induced oxidation with external Cu(2+).

[Intermedin (IMD) gene expression in hypertrophic cardiac myocyte of renal vascular hypertension rats and the intervention of Valsartan, Amlodipine and Enalapril in the expression].

This experiment on rats was aimed to investigate the expression of intermedin (IMD) in hypertrophic cardiac myoctye of renal vascular hypertension induced by incomplete ligation of the left renal artery, and so to detect and compare the changes of the expression after administration of Valsartan, Amlodipine and Enalapril respectively. The criterion for standard modeling was systolic pressure > or = 140 mmHg. At 4 weeks after successful modeling, 60 SD male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, namely the hypertrophy group, the 3 drug-treatment groups, and the sham-operation group as control.

[Relationship between apolipoprotein E polymorphism and cognitive function in patients with primary hypertension].

To explore the relationship between apolipoprotein E polymorphism and cognitive function in primary hypertension patients, we collected 200 Chinese primary hypertensive patients. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), height, body weight, waistline, hip circumference were measured. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was applied to test the cognitive function and compute score.

Downregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma expression in hypertensive atrial fibrillation.

Background: Numerous evidence has suggested that either hypertension or atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with systemic inflammation. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) has been proved to have anti-inflammatory effects and is implicated as a molecular pathway involved in many cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension. The correlation between PPARgamma inflammation and AF is still unknown.

[Relationship between microalbuminuria and cognition in primary hypertension patients].

Objective: To study the relationship between microalbuminuria and cognitive impairment in primary hypertensive patients.

Methods: A total of 200 hypertensive patients were included in this study. Blood pressure, body height and weight, total cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, 2 hour-postprandial blood sugar, insulin level and urine protein were measured.