Transendocardial injection of expanded autologous CD34+ cells after myocardial infarction: Design of the EXCELLENT trial.

Aims: The extent of irreversible cardiomyocyte necrosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major determinant of residual left ventricular (LV) function and clinical outcome. Cell therapy based on CD34+ cells has emerged as an option to help repair the myocardium and to improve outcomes. The dose of CD34+ cells and the route of administration are two important factors that will determine the clinical effectiveness of the approach, provided it is robust and feasible.

Early wave reflection of carotid artery is associated with 18 F-FDG PET hypometabolism in Alzheimer's brain areas of cognitively normal adults.

Introduction: Arterial stiffening likely plays a role in Alzheimer disease (AD) pathogenesis. The current study investigated whether inter-individual variations in arterial stiffness and pressure wave parameters were associated with 18 F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) metabolism in AD-associated brain areas throughout adulthood, independently of age and before the onset of any neuropsychological disorders.

Methods: A prospective, large age-range population of 67 patients (17 young, 16 middle-aged, and 34 older adults; 37 women) underwent a: brain 18 F-FDG PET, blood pressure recording, and carotid/femoral pulse wave-based measurements, including the time-to-peak of the reflected backward carotid pulse wave (bT), on the same day.

Factors Associated with Myocardial Uptake on Oncologic Somatostatin PET Investigations and Differentiation from Myocardial Uptake of Acute Myocarditis.

Myocardial somatostatin PET uptake is observed not only in most patients with acute myocarditis (AM) but also in some oncology patients referred for routine somatostatin PET. This raises concerns about the specificity of somatostatin PET for detecting myocarditis. The current study aims to identify factors associated with the detection of myocardial uptake on somatostatin PET scans recorded for oncology indications and differential PET criteria that characterize myocardial uptake in AM patients.

Antibacterial Zirconia Surfaces from Organocatalyzed Atom-Transfer Radical Polymerization.

Antibacterial coatings are becoming increasingly attractive for application in the field of biomaterials. In this framework, we developed polymer coating zirconia with antibacterial activity using the "grafting from" methodology. First, 1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-3-butylimidazolium chloride monomer was synthesized.

Assessment of health literacy in a French emergency department.

Background: Health literacy (HL) has become a subject of major interest in public health worldwide. It is known to be linked to self-efficacy in care use and to global health status, and a non-negligible frequency of problematic or inadequate levels of HL in populations worldwide is reported. As this has yet to be evaluated in France, the present study aimed to evaluate the HL level of patients in a French emergency department (ED).