Rapid Improvement in Cardiac Damage Predicts Better Prognosis After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: A staging system based on cardiac damage for severe aortic stenosis (AS) has been validated for prognosis prediction following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Our study aims to investigate whether TAVR can lead to changes in cardiac damage shortly after the procedure and how these changes impact prognosis.

Method: Patients in this retrospective cohort study were classified into five stages (0-4) before TAVR based on the echocardiographic findings of cardiac damage.

Negative Prognostic Factors and Clinical Improvement Prediction Modeling for ESWT in Calcific Shoulder Tendinitis Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

Background: The efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) for treating shoulder calcific tendinitis can be influenced by various prognostic factors. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors associated with the failure of ESWT for symptom relief and to evaluate the predictive capability of the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm of artificial intelligence techniques in this context.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients with persistent shoulder pain attributed to calcific tendinitis who underwent ESWT after failed conservative treatment between January 1998 and December 2022.

Impact of Functional Fluorinated Porphyrins on the Efficiency and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

Additives play a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), and carefully designed additives contribute to major breakthroughs in device performance. In this study, a series of novel A-π-A-type porphyrin derivatives-PPH-1, PPH-2, and PPF-1-are synthesized, each incorporating pyridyl groups, specifically engineered to function as passivation agents for PSCs. The electron-withdrawing properties of fluorine in PPF-1 increase the molecular polarity, thereby strengthening its interaction with the perovskite and enhancing the passivation efficacy.

Efficiency and Safety of Repeated Vertebroplasty for Adjacent Segment Fractures.

To review the outcomes of patients who underwent repeated vertebroplasty (VP) surgery for adjacent segment fractures (ASF), defined as new osteoporotic vertebral fractures occurring at levels immediately above or below a previously treated vertebra. From 1 January 2018, to 31 December 2020, forty-one patients who developed ASF following initial VP and underwent repeated VP were enrolled in our study. Radiographic measurements included single and two-segment kyphotic angles (SKA and TKA), and anterior and mid-vertebral body height (AVH and MVH).

Therapeutic Potential of Hydrogen as a Radioprotective Agent for the Prevention of Radiation Dermatitis.

Radiation dermatitis (RD) is a common side effect in patients receiving radiotherapy. Currently, clinical skincare approaches for acute RD vary widely among institutions and lack consensus. Hydrogen molecules, acting as radioprotective agents by selectively scavenging free radicals, have the potential to protect against RD.