Cardioversion versus ablation versus 'pace and ablate' for persistent atrial fibrillation in older patients.

Our objective was to compare the efficacy of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation versus permanent pacemaker (PPM) with atrioventricular node ablation (AVNA) versus direct current cardioversion (DCCV) for persistent AF in patients ≥65 years old. Seventy-seven patients (aged 66-86, mean 75.4 years) with persistent AF were randomised (1:1:1) to AF ablation + amiodarone (± DCCV), PPM with AVNA (+DCCV) or DCCV + amiodarone.

Vibrational strong coupling in liquid water from cavity molecular dynamics.

We assess the cavity molecular dynamics method for the calculation of vibrational polariton spectra using liquid water as a specific example. We begin by disputing a recent suggestion that nuclear quantum effects may lead to a broadening of polariton bands, finding instead that they merely result in anharmonic red shifts in the polariton frequencies. We go on to show that our simulated cavity spectra can be reproduced to graphical accuracy with a harmonic model that uses just the cavity-free spectrum and the geometry of the cavity as input.

A randomized sham-controlled study of pulmonary vein isolation in symptomatic atrial fibrillation (The SHAM-PVI study): Study design and rationale.

Introduction: Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation has been shown to reduce atrial fibrillation (AF) burden and symptoms in patients. However, to date previous studies have been unblinded raising the possibility of a placebo effect to account for differences in outcomes.

Hypothesis & Methods: The objective of this study is to compare PV isolation to a sham procedure in patients with symptomatic AF.

A randomized comparison of retrograde left-sided versus anterograde right-sided ablation of the atrioventricular junction.

Background: Catheter ablation of the atrioventricular node (AVN) is an effective treatment for patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation. This study compares the success rate, procedure time, radiation time, and complication rates of retrograde left-sided (LSA) and anterograde right-sided (RSA) AVN ablation in a randomised controlled trial.

Methods: Thirty-one patients undergoing AVN ablation were randomized to either LSA (15 patients) or RSA (16 patients).

Phosphorylation sites are evolutionary checkpoints against liquid-solid transition in protein condensates.

Assemblies of multivalent RNA-binding protein fused in sarcoma (FUS) can exist in the functional liquid-like state as well as less dynamic and potentially toxic amyloid- and hydrogel-like states. How could then cells form liquid-like condensates while avoiding their transformation to amyloids? Here, we show how posttranslational phosphorylation can provide a "handle" that prevents liquid-solid transition of intracellular condensates containing FUS. Using residue-specific coarse-grained simulations, for 85 different mammalian FUS sequences, we show how the number of phosphorylation sites and their spatial arrangement affect intracluster dynamics preventing conversion to amyloids.