The Benefits of Using Active Remote Patient Management for Enhanced Heart Failure Outcomes in Rural Cardiology Practice: Single-Site Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Rural populations have a disproportionate burden of heart failure (HF) morbidity and mortality, associated with socioeconomic and racial inequities. Multiple randomized controlled trials of remote patient monitoring (RPM) using both direct patient contact and device-based monitoring have been conducted to assess improvement in HF outcomes, with mixed results.

Objective: We aimed to assess whether a novel digital health care platform designed to proactively assess and manage patients with HF improved patient outcomes by preventing HF re-exacerbations, thus reducing emergency room visits and HF hospitalizations.

Comparative analysis of the interactions of different Streptococcus suis strains with monocytes, granulocytes and the complement system in porcine blood.

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is an important porcine pathogen causing meningitis, arthritis, and septicemia. Serotypes 2 and 14 are the most common zoonotic ones worldwide, whereas serotypes 2, 9, and 7 are very important in pigs in Europe.

Time-resolved plasmon-assisted generation of optical-vortex pulses.

The microscopic mechanism of the light-matter interactions that induce orbital angular momentum (OAM) in electromagnetic fields is not thoroughly understood. In this work, we employ Archimedean spiral vortex generators in time-resolved numerical simulations using the Octopus code to observe the behind-the-scenes of OAM generation. We send a perfect circularly-polarized plane-wave light onto plasmonic optical vortex generators and observe the resulting twisted light formation with complete spatio-temporal information.

d-Alanylation of Lipoteichoic Acids in Reduces Association With Leukocytes in Porcine Blood.

() is a common swine pathogen but also poses a threat to human health in causing meningitis and severe cases of streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome (STSLS). Therefore, it is crucial to understand how interacts with the host immune system during bacteremia. As has the ability to introduce d-alanine into its lipoteichoic acids (LTAs), we investigated the working hypothesis that cell wall modification by LTA d-alanylation influences the interaction of with porcine blood immune cells.

Porcine iucA+ but rmpA- Klebsiella pneumoniae strains proliferate in blood of young piglets but are killed by IgM and complement dependent opsonophagocytosis when these piglets get older.

Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae causes different diseases in humans and animals including the life-threatening liver abscess syndrome and septicemia, respectively. However, host-pathogen interactions of K.

Proline-rich antimicrobial peptide Api137 is bactericidal in porcine blood infected ex vivo with a porcine or human Klebsiella pneumoniae strain.

Objectives: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an emerging invasive pathogen in humans and pigs. Resistance against multiple antibiotics in this species is a major health concern and the development of new antibiotics is urgently needed. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) on the survival of K.

Role of Bacterial and Host DNases on Host-Pathogen Interaction during Meningitis.

is a zoonotic agent causing meningitis in pigs and humans. Neutrophils, as the first line of defense against infections, release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to entrap pathogens. In this study, we investigated the role of the secreted nuclease A of (SsnA) as a NET-evasion factor in vivo and in vitro.

Octopus, a computational framework for exploring light-driven phenomena and quantum dynamics in extended and finite systems.

Over the last few years, extraordinary advances in experimental and theoretical tools have allowed us to monitor and control matter at short time and atomic scales with a high degree of precision. An appealing and challenging route toward engineering materials with tailored properties is to find ways to design or selectively manipulate materials, especially at the quantum level. To this end, having a state-of-the-art ab initio computer simulation tool that enables a reliable and accurate simulation of light-induced changes in the physical and chemical properties of complex systems is of utmost importance.

Discovery of an Exceptionally Strong β-Decay Transition of ^{20}F and Implications for the Fate of Intermediate-Mass Stars.

A significant fraction of stars between 7 and 11 solar masses are thought to become supernovae, but the explosion mechanism is unclear. The answer depends critically on the rate of electron capture on ^{20}Ne in the degenerate oxygen-neon stellar core. However, because of the unknown strength of the transition between the ground states of ^{20}Ne and ^{20}F, it has not previously been possible to fully constrain the rate.

Survival of Streptococcus suis in Porcine Blood Is Limited by the Antibody- and Complement-Dependent Oxidative Burst Response of Granulocytes.

Bacteremia is a hallmark of invasive infections of pigs, often leading to septicemia, meningitis, or arthritis. An important defense mechanism of neutrophils is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we report high levels of ROS production by blood granulocytes after intravenous infection of a pig with high levels of -specific antibodies and comparatively low levels of bacteremia.

Stellar mergers as the origin of magnetic massive stars.

About ten per cent of 'massive' stars (those of more than 1.5 solar masses) have strong, large-scale surface magnetic fields. It has been suggested that merging of main-sequence and pre-main-sequence stars could produce such strong fields, and the predicted fraction of merged massive stars is also about ten per cent.

[Refined staging in Hilar bronchial neoplasms with ECG-gated multislice-CT---case report].

Equivocal initial CT-based staging in 2 patients with hilar bronchial neoplasms was reassessed with retrospective ECG-gated Multislice-CT and optimized examination parameters prior to definition of treatment. An initially suspected irresectable T4 tumor with mediastinal infiltration was downstaged to T2 in one case, while tumor infiltration into the left atrium could be confirmed in the other case. In doubtful conditions, ECG-gated multislice CT with optimized examination parameters may be helpful for refined staging in patients with hilar bronchial neoplasms, thus possibly influencing treatment strategies.