Peripheral Vascular Disease and Death in Southern European Kidney Transplant Candidates: A Competing Risk Modeling Approach.

Background: The association between peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and survival among kidney transplant (KT) candidates is uncertain.

Methods: We assessed 3851 adult KT candidates from the Andalusian Registry between 1984 and 2012. Whereas 1975 patients received a KT and were censored, 1876 were on the waiting list at any time.

Clinical Implications of Leaks Following Left Atrial Appendage Ligation With the LARIAT Device.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical implications of leaks (acute incomplete occlusion, early and late reopenings) following LAA ligation with the LARIAT device.

Background: Percutaneous LAA ligation with the LARIAT device may represent an alternative for stroke prevention in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation with contraindications to oral anticoagulation.

Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter study of 98 consecutive patients undergoing successful LAA ligation with the LARIAT device.

Ex-vivo characterization of circulating colon cancer cells distinguished in stem and differentiated subset provides useful biomarker for personalized metastatic risk assessment.

Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent one of the most interesting target in improving diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Herein we evaluate the possibility of using an emo-cytometric approach on the evaluation of the heterogeneous population of CTCs to improve personalized metastatic risk assessment. We benchmarked ex vivo behavior of distinct subsets of circulating colon tumor cells with correspondent clinical behavior of patients from which we isolated CTCs.

Acute and Chronic Effects of Noninvasive Ventilation on Left and Right Myocardial Function in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Speckle Tracking Echocardiographic Study.

Background: In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), repetitive hypoxia due to sleep-induced apnea adversely affects the interaction between myocardial oxygen demand and supply, resulting in the development of subclinical cardiac dysfunction. The purpose of the study was to analyze the different involvement of left and right heart myocardial function in patients with OSAS treated with noninvasive ventilation (NIV).

Methods: Conventional Doppler echocardiography, Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI), and two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) of left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) longitudinal and right atrial (RA) deformation were performed in 55 patients with OSAS undergoing NIV (M/F 38/17; mean age 67.

Clinical Impact of Heparin Kinetics During Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.

Introduction: Appropriate activated clotting time (ACT) during catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (CA-AF) is essential to minimize periprocedural complications.

Methods And Results: An electronic search was performed using major databases. Outcomes were thromboembolic (TE) and bleeding complications according to ACT levels (seconds).

Acetylcholine receptors from human muscle as pharmacological targets for ALS therapy.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons that leads to progressive paralysis of skeletal muscle. Studies of ALS have revealed defects in expression of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) in skeletal muscle that occur even in the absence of motor neuron anomalies. The endocannabinoid palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) modified the clinical conditions in one ALS patient, improving muscle force and respiratory efficacy.

Osteopontin is a proximal effector of leptin-mediated non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) fibrosis.

Introduction: Liver fibrosis develops when hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are activated into collagen-producing myofibroblasts. In non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the adipokine leptin is upregulated, and promotes liver fibrosis by directly activating HSC via the hedgehog pathway. We reported that hedgehog-regulated osteopontin (OPN) plays a key role in promoting liver fibrosis.

Enumeration and extension of non-equivalent deterministic update schedules in Boolean networks.

Motivation: Boolean networks (BNs) are commonly used to model genetic regulatory networks (GRNs). Due to the sensibility of the dynamical behavior to changes in the updating scheme (order in which the nodes of a network update their state values), it is increasingly common to use different updating rules in the modeling of GRNs to better capture an observed biological phenomenon and thus to obtain more realistic models.In Aracena et al.

Referral Patterns for Primary Prophylaxis Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy for an Urban US Population.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have been demonstrated to improve survival for both primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest. However, studies suggest that ICD therapy is underused in appropriate candidates. Sex and racial disparities in ICD use have been suggested.

The Prognostic Value of Early Repolarization with ST-Segment Elevation by Age and Gender in the Hispanic Population.

Background: Early repolarization (ER), once thought to be a benign finding on electrocardiograph (ECG), has recently been associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. As there are limited data in the Hispanic population, we investigated possible associations between automated ECG ER readings and overall mortality, using the classic definition involving J-point elevation with ST segment elevation.

Methods: An ECG and electronic medical record (EMR) database from a regional medical center was interrogated.

Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Device and Novel Oral Anticoagulants Versus Warfarin for Stroke Prevention in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia. Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation are at increased risk of stroke; therefore, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of different approaches to prevent this major complication.

Methods And Results: We conducted electronic database searches of phase III randomized controlled trials.

The salinity signature of the cross-shelf exchanges in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean: Numerical simulations.

A high-resolution model is used to characterize the dominant patterns of sea surface salinity (SSS) variability generated by the freshwater discharges of the Rio de la Plata (RdlP) and the Patos/Mirim Lagoon in the southwestern Atlantic region. We identify three dominant modes of SSS variability. The first two, which have been discussed in previous studies, represent the seasonal and the interannual variations of the freshwater plumes over the continental shelf.

Two-Color Radiation Generated in a Seeded Free-Electron Laser with Two Electron Beams.

We present the experimental evidence of the generation of coherent and statistically stable two-color free-electron laser radiation obtained by seeding an electron beam double peaked in energy with a laser pulse single spiked in frequency. The radiation presents two neat spectral lines, with time delay, frequency separation, and relative intensity that can be accurately controlled. The analysis of the emitted radiation shows a temporal coherence and a shot-to-shot regularity in frequency significantly enhanced with respect to the self-amplified spontaneous emission.

GABAA currents are decreased by IL-1β in epileptogenic tissue of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: implications for ictogenesis.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent form of adult focal onset epilepsy often associated with drug-resistant seizures. Numerous studies suggest that neuroinflammatory processes are pathologic hallmarks of both experimental and human epilepsy. In particular, the interleukin (IL)-1β/IL-1 receptor type 1 (R1) axis is activated in epileptogenic tissue, where it contributes significantly to the generation and recurrence of seizures in animal models.

Restoring vaginal microbiota: biological control of bacterial vaginosis. A prospective case-control study using Lactobacillus rhamnosus BMX 54 as adjuvant treatment against bacterial vaginosis.

Purpose: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent lower genital tract infection in reproductive-age women worldwide. BV is an ecological disorder of the vaginal microbiota characterized microbiologically by replacement of the lactobacilli, predominant vaginal microbiota. It is characterized by a high rate of relapse in sexual active women, and these patients show three or more relapses each year.

Right Ventricular Structure and Function in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis with or without Pulmonary Hypertension.

Aims: To elucidate right ventricular (RV) function in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with and without pulmonary hypertension (PH) and its relation to other features of the disease.

Methods And Results: Clinical evaluation, standard Doppler echo, Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI), and 2D strain echocardiography (STE) of RV septal and lateral walls were performed in 52 IPF patients (66.5 ± 8.

Increased extracellular levels of glutamate in the hippocampus of chronically epileptic rats.

An increase in the release of excitatory amino acids has consistently been observed in the hippocampus during seizures, both in humans and animals. However, very little or nothing is known about the extracellular levels of glutamate and aspartate during epileptogenesis and in the interictal chronic period of established epilepsy. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the relationship between seizure activity and changes in hippocampal glutamate and aspartate extracellular levels under basal and high K(+)-evoked conditions, at various time-points in the natural history of experimental temporal lobe epilepsy, using in vivo microdialysis.

Orthodontic management of bilateral maxillary canine-first premolar transposition and bilateral agenesis of maxillary lateral incisors: a case report.

Introduction: Maxillary canine-first premolar transposition (Mx.C.P1) is an uncommon dental positional anomaly that may create many orthodontic problems from both esthetic and functional points of view.

Altimeter-derived seasonal circulation on the southwest Atlantic shelf: 27°-43°S.

Altimeter sea surface height (SSH) fields are analyzed to define and discuss the seasonal circulation over the wide continental shelf in the SW Atlantic Ocean (27°-43°S) during 2001-2012. Seasonal variability is low south of the Rio de la Plata (RdlP), where winds and currents remain equatorward for most of the year. Winds and currents in the central and northern parts of our domain are also equatorward during autumn and winter but reverse to become poleward during spring and summer.

Maternal Caregiving Demands for Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors.

Purpose/objectives: To examine the daily maternal caregiving demands for adolescent and young adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors who live with their families.

Design: A secondary analysis was conducted on interview data gathered during a large mixed-methods study that focused on perceived maternal caregiver competency and survivor health-related quality of life.

Setting: Home interviews.

Isostructural Re(I)/(99m)Tc(I) tricarbonyl complexes for cancer theranostics.

Merging classical organic anticancer drugs with metal-based compounds in one single molecule offers the possibility of exploring new approaches for cancer theranostics, i.e. the combination of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Methadone Therapy in Underserved Urban Community: QTc Prolongation and Life-Threatening Ventricular Arrhythmias.

Aims: Methadone has been associated with QTc prolongation and ventricular arrhythmias but the prevalence of QTc prolongation and association with ventricular arrhythmias remains unclear. We investigated this in our inner city urban community (Bronx, New York) that has a large number of patients on methadone.

Methods: Telemetry records, nursing documentation and electronic charts of 291 patients spanning856 encounters were evaluated.

Oxidized LDL attenuates protective autophagy and induces apoptotic cell death of endothelial cells: Role of oxidative stress and LOX-1 receptor expression.

Background: Overproduction of oxidized-low density lipoproteins (oxyLDLs) has been found to contribute in endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction thereby leading to atherosclerosis development and progression. In particular, oxyLDLs lead to apoptotic cell death of EC via oxidative stress production, mostly subsequent to the overexpression of the scavenger receptor LOX-1. Here, we hypothesize that LOX-1 expression in EC represents a crucial event which attenuates protective autophagic response, thereby enhancing programmed endothelial cell death.