A minimally invasive approach to induce myocardial infarction in mice without thoracotomy.

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Traditional method to induce MI by left coronary artery (LCA) ligation is typically performed by an invasive approach that requires ventilation and thoracotomy, causing serious injuries in animals undergoing this surgery. We attempted to develop a minimally invasive method (MIM) to induce MI in mice.

Solvothermal Synthesis and Formation Mechanism of Potassium Sodium Niobate Mesocrystals Under Low Alkaline Conditions.

Pure-phase (K, Na)NbO3 (KNN) powders with orthorhombic symmetry were successfully synthesized by solvothermal method using isopropanol as solvent, without the addition of water. The as-prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry to show the variation of phase, morphology, size distribution and chemical composition under different synthetic conditions, such as fill factors (FF) of the solvothermal system and alkalinity of the starting solution. Compared with the traditional hydrothermal method and the so-called solvothermal method (water aided in fact), small grains with well crystallinity were obtained using 100% isopropanol as reaction medium.