How robust are recommended waiting times to pacing after cardiac surgery that are derived from observational data?

Aims: For bradycardic patients after cardiac surgery, it is unknown how long to wait before implanting a permanent pacemaker (PPM). Current recommendations vary and are based on observational studies. This study aims to examine why this variation may exist.

Variation in optimal hemodynamic atrio-ventricular delay of biventricular pacing with different endocardial left ventricular lead locations using precision hemodynamics.

Introduction: It is not known whether the optimal atrioventricular (AV ) delay varies between left ventricular (LV) pacing site during endocardial biventricular pacing (BiVP) and may therefore needs consideration.

Methods: We assessed the hemodynamic AV in patients with chronic heart failure undergoing endocardial LV lead implantation. AV was assessed during atrio-BiVP with a "roving LV lead.

The digital MIQE guidelines: Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Digital PCR Experiments.

There is growing interest in digital PCR (dPCR) because technological progress makes it a practical and increasingly affordable technology. dPCR allows the precise quantification of nucleic acids, facilitating the measurement of small percentage differences and quantification of rare variants. dPCR may also be more reproducible and less susceptible to inhibition than quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR).

Standard reference material 2366 for measurement of human cytomegalovirus DNA.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV), classified as human herpesvirus 5, is ubiquitous in human populations. Infection generally causes little illness in healthy individuals, but can cause life-threatening disease in those who are immunocompromised or in newborns through complications arising from congenital CMV infection. An important aspect in diagnosis and treatment is to track circulating viral load with molecular methods, particularly with quantitative PCR.

The relative roles of collagen adhesive receptor DDR2 activation and matrix stiffness on the downregulation of focal adhesion kinase in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Cells within tissues derive mechanical anchorage and specific molecular signals from the insoluble extracellular matrix (ECM) that surrounds them. Understanding the role of different cues that extracellular matrices provide cells is critical for controlling and predicting cell response to scaffolding materials. Using an engineered extracellular matrix of Type I collagen we examined how the stiffness, supramolecular structure, and glycosylation of collagen matrices influence the protein levels of cellular FAK and the activation of myosin II.

Factors affecting quantification of total DNA by UV spectroscopy and PicoGreen fluorescence.

The total amount of DNA in a preparation extracted from tissues can be measured in several ways, each method offering advantages and disadvantages. For the sake of accuracy in quantitation, it is of interest to compare these methodologies and determine if good correlation can be achieved between them. Different answers can also be clues to the physical state of the DNA.

Antifungal therapy for central nervous system histoplasmosis, using a newly developed intracranial model of infection.

The outcome of central nervous system (CNS) histoplasmosis is often unfavorable. Although fluconazole plays an integral role in treatment of fungal meningitis, its role in the treatment of histoplasmosis is hampered by reduced activity and potential development of resistance. A murine model of CNS histoplasmosis was used to evaluate the hypothesis that a combination of amphotericin B and fluconazole therapy would be superior to amphotericin B monotherapy.