Echocardiographic analysis of abdominal aorta dimensions and their associations with demographic characteristics in a healthy population.

Introduction: Determining the normal diameter of the abdominal aorta in different populations and its relationship with other demographic factors is crucial for diagnosing and managing abdominal aortic diseases. This study aimed to assess the size of the abdominal aorta in a healthy Iranian population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included healthy individuals.

Insights into the paradoxical effect of smoking on vasculitis: a comprehensive review.

Vasculitis is a group of uncommon diseases characterized by inflammation of blood vessels, which contributes to the organ ischemia and damage. Cigarette smoke contains a high concentration of various toxins, which have the potential to affect the immune response and development of autoimmune/autoinflammatory rheumatic diseases including vasculitis. Smoking influences both innate and adaptive immune systems and plays binary functions in modulating immunity by either aggravating pathogenic immune responses or attenuating defensive immunity.

Predictors of medications-free and long-term remission in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: Real-world evidence.

Background And Aim: In this study, we report the outcomes of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) in daily practice based on Connective Tissue Diseases Research Center-Vasculitis Registry (CTDRC-VR) data.

Methods: Patients were included if they were 18 years or older, had a diagnosis of the groups of AAV based on 2022 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology Classification Criteria for granulomatosis with polyangiitis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis, and were followed for a period longer than 2 years or were died. Complete clinical remission was defined as granulomatosis with polyangiitis (BVAS/GPA) of 0.

Pregnancy-associated osteoporosis following in vitro fertilization: A case report.

This case report illustrates that in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be a potential risk factor for pregnancy-associated osteoporosis (PAO), highlighting the need for awareness and monitoring of bone health in women undergoing IVF treatments. PAO is a rare disease resulting from an imbalance of calcium in the body during pregnancy and lactation and presenting with fragility fractures. PAO occurs in late pregnancy or early postpartum period.

Cerebral protection in acute type A aortic dissection surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) still challenges physicians and warrants emergent surgical management. Two main methods to reduce cerebrovascular events in ATAAD surgeries are antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) and retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the outcomes of ACP and RCP methods during the ATAAD surgery.

Outcomes of polymyalgia rheumatica in real-world practice: a longitudinal cohort study.

: Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory condition closely linked with giant cell arteritis, which is a large vessel vasculitis. To provide real-world evidence on PMR outcomes and their determinants, we conducted a longitudinal study focusing on symptom relief and acute phase reactant normalization. : We followed patients with PMR who were registered in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Vasculitis Registry (TUOMS-VR) until February 2023.

Determining whether LV filling time contributes to HF symptoms in different widths of QRS in LBBB patients: A clinical study.

Objectives: Accurate assessment of left ventricular (LV) function is essential for managing patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between LV systolic function, left ventricular diastolic filling time (LVFT), QRS duration, and heart failure symptoms in patients with LBBB.

Methods: This study was conducted between June 2021 and June 2022.

Assessing cardiac power output values in a healthy adult population.

Cardiac power output (CPO), which combines pressure and flow capacities, directly measures the heart's pumping capability. It is proposed as a superior alternative to ejection fraction in assessing cardiac function. However, there is a lack of data on CPO in healthy individuals, prompting a study to determine the cardiac power output in healthy adults in the Iranian population.

Serum salusin-β levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) has an important role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Studies on other inflammatory diseases show that salusin-β with various mechanisms may play a role in the promotion of ED and inflammation. The aim of this study was to measure serum salusin-β levels in SLE patients and evaluate it as a potential biomarker in assessing SLE activity and predicting organ involvement.

Conventional and two-dimensional strain echocardiography in predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after heart surgeries. Advances in imaging technologies and an understanding of the pathophysiology of preoperative left atrial (LA) dysfunction can lead to more definitive potential therapeutic approaches. This study aimed to determine the role of conventional echocardiography and LA two-dimensional (2D) strain echocardiography in assessing LA function and predicting POAF after CABG surgery.

Effect of Endothelial Adhesion Molecules on Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

: Endothelial adhesion molecules (EAMs), and more specifically vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), belong to a family of immunoglobulin-like molecules and are found to have increased expression in inflamed microvessels. Due to the growing evidence regarding EAM effects on cardiovascular diseases, we aimed to investigate the link between EAMs and atrial fibrillation (AF) to discover the efficacy of EAMs assessment as predictive markers in high-risk patients. : We searched for articles published from January 1990 to April 2022.

Validity and reliability of the BODI for assessing damage in Behcet's disease.

Objective: In the present study, we aimed to validate the Behçet's syndrome Overall Damage Index (BODI) and compare its performance with that of vasculitis damage index (VDI) in Iranian patients with BD.

Methods: This study included 274 patients with a diagnosis of BD and median follow-up of 40 months. The medical records of the patients were reviewed and the demographic characteristics, disease activity status, clinical manifestations, and data on organs damage were collected from all patients.

In-hospital mortality of patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in Iranian population.

Background: Historically, coronary artery bypass grafting is associated with a higher mortality rate in patients with severe heart failure. This study aimed to assess the in-hospital mortality of CABG in patients with severe heart failure in Iranian patients and to identify factors associated with adverse outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective descriptive study enrolled patients with severe heart failure who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery from 2015 to 2020 in Madani Hospital, affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

Incomplete Removal and Accidental Retention of Temporary Epicardial Pacing Wires in the Chest after Heart Surgery: A Case Report.

Temporary pacemaker wires are commonly used for the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias in the acute postoperative period. We herein describe a 65-year-old woman with a history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery who was referred to the hospital with a purulent discharge in the lower third of the sternal region while on antibiotics. Two years later, following treatment failure, 2 sternal wires were removed.

On the role of dauer in the adaptation of nematodes to a parasitic lifestyle.

Nematodes are presumably the most abundant Metazoa on Earth, and can even be found in some of the most hostile environments of our planet. Various types of hypobiosis evolved to adapt their life cycles to such harsh environmental conditions. The five most distal major clades of the phylum Nematoda (Clades 8-12), formerly referred to as the Secernentea, contain many economically relevant parasitic nematodes.

The relationship between preoperative serum vitamin D deficiency and postoperative atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common arrhythmia seen in the first days following cardiac surgeries. Recently, there is a growing discussion regarding the link between vitamin D deficiency and POAF development. This systematic review and meta-analysis of the observational studies aimed at evaluating the association between preoperative vitamin D deficiency and Postoperative atrial fibrillation.

An Independent Evolutionary Origin for Insect Deterrent Cucurbitacins in Iberis amara.

Pieris rapae and Phyllotreta nemorum are Brassicaceae specialists, but do not feed on Iberis amara spp. that contain cucurbitacins. The cucurbitacins are highly oxygenated triterpenoid, occurring widespread in cucurbitaceous species and in a few other plant families.

Adaptation of the parasitic plant lifecycle: germination is controlled by essential host signaling molecules.

Parasitic plants are plants that connect with a haustorium to the vasculature of another, host, plant from which they absorb water, assimilates, and nutrients. Because of this parasitic lifestyle, parasitic plants need to coordinate their lifecycle with that of their host. Parasitic plants have evolved a number of host detection/host response mechanisms of which the germination in response to chemical host signals in one of the major families of parasitic plants, the Orobanchaceae, is a striking example.

Are sesquiterpene lactones the elusive KARRIKIN-INSENSITIVE2 ligand?

The sunflower sesquiterpene lactones 8-epixanthatin and tomentosin can bind to the hydrophobic pocket of sunflower KAI2 with an affinity much higher than for the exogenous ligand KAR. Sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) are secondary plant metabolites with a wide range of biological, such as anti-microbial, activities. Intriguingly, the STLs have also been implicated in plant development: in several Asteraceae, STL levels correlate with the photo-inhibition of hypocotyl elongation.

Predictors of ST Depression Resolution in STEMI Patients Undergoing Primary PCI and Its Clinical Significance.

Purpose: ST depression resolution (STD-R) in ECG is a prognostic factor indicative of successful fibrinolysis or angioplasty in the treatment of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and subsequent mortality. We conducted this study to determine the clinical significance of STD-R and its predictors in patients with anterior STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous intervention (PPCI).

Methods: Admission documents of all patients with diagnosis of anterior STEMI who were admitted to a specialty heart center and underwent PPCI since July 2018 until July 2019 were examined.

The negative regulator SMAX1 controls mycorrhizal symbiosis and strigolactone biosynthesis in rice.

Most plants associate with beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that facilitate soil nutrient acquisition. Prior to contact, partner recognition triggers reciprocal genetic remodelling to enable colonisation. The plant Dwarf14-Like (D14L) receptor conditions pre-symbiotic perception of AM fungi, and also detects the smoke constituent karrikin.

Engineering a Promiscuous Tautomerase into a More Efficient Aldolase for Self-Condensations of Linear Aliphatic Aldehydes.

The enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT) from Pseudomonas putida mt-2 takes part in a catabolic pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons, where it catalyzes the conversion of 2hydroxyhexa-2,4-dienedioate into 2-oxohexa-3-enedioate. This tautomerase can also promiscuously catalyze carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, including various types of aldol reactions, by using its amino-terminal proline as a key catalytic residue. Here, we used systematic mutagenesis to identify two hotspots in 4-OT (Met45 and Phe50) at which single mutations give marked improvements in aldolase activity for the self-condensation of propanal.

Inter- and intramolecular aldol reactions promiscuously catalyzed by a proline-based tautomerase.

The enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT), which in nature catalyzes a tautomerization step as part of a catabolic pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons, was found to promiscuously catalyze different types of aldol reactions. These include the self-condensation of propanal, the cross-coupling of propanal and benzaldehyde, the cross-coupling of propanal and pyruvate, and the intramolecular cyclizations of hexanedial and heptanedial. Mutation of the catalytic amino-terminal proline (P1A) greatly reduces 4-OT's aldolase activities, whereas mutation of another active site residue (F50A) strongly enhances 4-OT's aldolase activities, indicating that aldolization is an active site process.