Characteristics of patients with atrial fibrillation treated with direct oral anticoagulants and new insights into inappropriate dosing: results from the French National Prospective Registry: PAFF.

Aims: Since the introduction of direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) for atrial fibrillation (AF) therapy, inappropriate and/or underdosing of these drugs has been a major clinical challenge. We evaluated the characteristics of patients with AF treated with inappropriate and low-dose DOACs.

Methods And Results: Patients with AF treated with inappropriate and low-dose DOACs from October 2021 to December 2021 were evaluated from the French National Prospective Registry (PAFF).

[Patients insuffisants cardiaques chroniques rarement adressés à un cardiologue libéral ou régulièrement suivis par un médecin généraliste et un cardiologue libéral : étude descriptive transversale (MIRROR-HF)].

Background: French health authorities recommend implementing a strong coordination between general practitioners and office-based cardiologists for the care and management of patients with chronic heart failure. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients with chronic heart failure who were infrequently referred to an office-based cardiologist (either first time referral or last visit more than 12 months before study inclusion) by a general practitioner or other healthcare professional versus those who were regularly followed by a general practitioner and an office-based cardiologist (at least one visit to an office-based cardiologist in the last 12 months).

Methods: This was a non-interventional, cross-sectional study, conducted among office-based cardiologists in France during a single study visit.

Disentangling the chemistry of Australian plant exudates from a unique historical collection.

For thousands of years, the unique physicochemical properties of plant exudates have defined uses in material culture and practical applications. Native Australian plant exudates, including resins, kinos, and gums, have been used and continue to be used by Aboriginal Australians for numerous technical and cultural purposes. A historic collection of well-preserved native Australian plant exudates, assembled a century ago by plant naturalists, gives a rare window into the history and chemical composition of these materials.

Management of antithrombotics in situations with a gap in evidence: A national French survey focusing on patients with coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation.

Background: If several randomized studies allowed to better apprehend what should be the best antithrombotic strategy in patients with concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD) and atrial fibrillation (AF), there are still several clinical situations with a gap of evidence.

Methods: We conducted a national French survey in September-October 2020 among cardiologists in order to assess what are daily practices regarding the antithrombotic management in several specific clinical settings where no or little scientific evidence is available. The questionnaires were built by a committee of 6 cardiologists routinely involved in the field of CAD and/or AF.

Deciphering the Chemistry of Cultural Heritage: Targeting Material Properties by Coupling Spectral Imaging with Image Analysis.

The chemical study of materials from natural history and cultural heritage, which provide information for art history, archeology, or paleontology, presents a series of specific challenges. The complexity of these ancient and historical materials, which are chemically heterogeneous, the product of alteration processes, and inherently not reproducible, is a major obstacle to a thorough understanding of their making and long-term behavior (e.g.

Robust framework and software implementation for fast speciation mapping.

One of the greatest benefits of synchrotron radiation is the ability to perform chemical speciation analysis through X-ray absorption spectroscopies (XAS). XAS imaging of large sample areas can be performed with either full-field or raster-scanning modalities. A common practice to reduce acquisition time while decreasing dose and/or increasing spatial resolution is to compare X-ray fluorescence images collected at a few diagnostic energies.

Determinants of Antithrombotic Treatment for Atrial Fibrillation in Octogenarians: Results of the OCTOFA Study.

Background And Objective: Atrial fibrillation, the most frequent form of arrhythmia, affects 5-15% individuals aged > 80 years. Stroke is a major risk for atrial fibrillation patients. The benefits of anticoagulant therapy clearly outweigh the risk of hemorrhage, even in the elderly.

Synchrotron-Based Phase Mapping in Corroded Metals: Insights from Early Copper-Base Artifacts.

The detailed description of corrosion processes in ancient and historical metal artifacts currently relies on the in-depth study of prepared cross sections. The in-plane elemental and phase distributions can be established from a combination of light and electron microscopy characterization. Here, we show that high-resolution virtual sectioning through synchrotron X-ray microcomputed tomography allows a precise noninvasive 3D description of the distribution of both internal and external mineral phases in whole objects.

Intranuclear expression of progesterone receptors in smooth muscle cells of renovascular fibromuscular dysplasia: a pilot study.

Background: The pathogenesis of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) remains poorly understood. Yet, understanding this mechanism has taken on new urgency after recent evidence indicating that FMD is not as rare as previously thought. We speculated that hormonal receptors in the walls of dysplastic renal arteries were implicated in the pathogenesis of FMD.

Trace elemental imaging of rare earth elements discriminates tissues at microscale in flat fossils.

The interpretation of flattened fossils remains a major challenge due to compression of their complex anatomies during fossilization, making critical anatomical features invisible or hardly discernible. Key features are often hidden under greatly preserved decay prone tissues, or an unpreparable sedimentary matrix. A method offering access to such anatomical features is of paramount interest to resolve taxonomic affinities and to study fossils after a least possible invasive preparation.

Automatic rebuilding and optimization of crystallographic structures in the Protein Data Bank.

Motivation: Macromolecular crystal structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) are a key source of structural insight into biological processes. These structures, some >30 years old, were constructed with methods of their era. With PDB_REDO, we aim to automatically optimize these structures to better fit their corresponding experimental data, passing the benefits of new methods in crystallography on to a wide base of non-crystallographer structure users.

Native mass spectrometry provides direct evidence for DNA mismatch-induced regulation of asymmetric nucleotide binding in mismatch repair protein MutS.

The DNA mismatch repair protein MutS recognizes mispaired bases in DNA and initiates repair in an ATP-dependent manner. Understanding of the allosteric coupling between DNA mismatch recognition and two asymmetric nucleotide binding sites at opposing sides of the MutS dimer requires identification of the relevant MutS.mmDNA.

Restenosis is more frequent after carotid stenting than after endarterectomy: the EVA-3S study.

Background And Purpose: Carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) may be more often associated with residual or recurrent stenosis than carotid endarterectomy (CEA). We compared the rates of restenosis in patients treated with CAS or CEA in the EVA-3S trial.

Methods: Five hundred seven patients (242 treated by CAS and 265 by CEA) had carotid ultrasound follow-up (mean carotid ultrasound follow-up, 2.

Identification of the finishing technique of an early eighteenth century musical instrument using FTIR spectromicroscopy.

The study of varnishes from musical instruments presents the difficulty of analysing very thin layers of heterogeneous materials on samples most of which are generally brittle and difficult to prepare. Such study is crucial to the understanding of historical musical instrument varnishing practices since written sources before 1800 are very rare and not precise. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and imaging methods were applied to identify the major chemical components within the build-up of the varnish layers on a cello made by one of the most prominent French violin-makers of the eighteenth century (Jacques Boquay, ca.

Congenital anomalies of inferior vena cava in young patients with iliac deep venous thrombosis.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) in young patients is frequently associated with hereditary biological thrombophilia, autoimmune disorders, or neoplasia. Advances in venous ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography have allowed for the identification of inferior vena cava (IVC) anomalies as newly considered etiologic factor. We present two cases of VTE in young patients: the first case involves left IVC in a 22-year-old man and the second involves IVC atresia in a 39-year-old man.

Conservative treatment of spontaneous and isolated dissection of mesenteric arteries.

Background: Isolated and spontaneous dissection of mesenteric arteries is a rare entity; a little more than 50 cases have been reported in medical literature. There is no therapeutic consensus concerning this type of lesion.

Methods: In this study, we report the results of our treatment based on a conservative approach.

Country-based reference values and impact of cardiovascular risk factors on carotid intima-media thickness in a French population: the 'Paroi Artérielle et Risque Cardio-Vasculaire' (PARC) Study.

Aim: To define reference values for mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCAIMT(mean)) from subjects without conventional cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: This nationwide study involved cardiologists at 246 centres in France. A total of 5,433 subjects with and without conventional cardiovascular risk factors participated.

"Conditional Restraints": Restraining the Free Atoms in ARP/wARP.

The automated building of a protein model into an electron density map remains a challenging problem. In the ARP/wARP approach, model building is facilitated by initially interpreting a density map with free atoms of unknown chemical identity; all structural information for such chemically unassigned atoms is discarded. Here, this is remedied by applying restraints between free atoms, and between free atoms and a partial protein model.

Insights into the DNA cleavage mechanism of human LINE-1 retrotransposon endonuclease.

The human LINE-1 endonuclease (L1-EN) contributes in defining the genomic integration sites of the abundant human L1 and Alu retrotransposons. LINEs have been considered as possible vehicles for gene delivery and understanding the mechanism of L1-EN could help engineering them as genetic tools. We tested the in vitro activity of point mutants in three L1-EN residues--Asp145, Arg155, Ile204--that are key for DNA cleavage, and determined their crystal structures.

Automated macromolecular model building for X-ray crystallography using ARP/wARP version 7.

ARP/wARP is a software suite to build macromolecular models in X-ray crystallography electron density maps. Structural genomics initiatives and the study of complex macromolecular assemblies and membrane proteins all rely on advanced methods for 3D structure determination. ARP/wARP meets these needs by providing the tools to obtain a macromolecular model automatically, with a reproducible computational procedure.

A knowledge-driven approach for crystallographic protein model completion.

One of the most cumbersome and time-demanding tasks in completing a protein model is building short missing regions or ;loops'. A method is presented that uses structural and electron-density information to build the most likely conformations of such loops. Using the distribution of angles and dihedral angles in pentapeptides as the driving parameters, a set of possible conformations for the C(alpha) backbone of loops was generated.

ARP/wARP and molecular replacement: the next generation.

Automatic iterative model (re-)building, as implemented in ARP/wARP and its new control system flex-wARP, is particularly well suited to follow structure solution by molecular replacement. More than 100 molecular-replacement solutions automatically solved by the BALBES software were submitted to three standard protocols in flex-wARP and the results were compared with final models from the PDB. Standard metrics were gathered in a systematic way and enabled the drawing of statistical conclusions on the advantages of each protocol.

Co-expression of protein complexes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts: experimental procedures, database tracking and case studies.

Structure determination and functional characterization of macromolecular complexes requires the purification of the different subunits in large quantities and their assembly into a functional entity. Although isolation and structure determination of endogenous complexes has been reported, much progress has to be made to make this technology easily accessible. Co-expression of subunits within hosts such as Escherichia coli and insect cells has become more and more amenable, even at the level of high-throughput projects.

Correlation between the Framingham risk score and intima media thickness: the Paroi Artérielle et Risque Cardio-vasculaire (PARC) study.

Aims: Carotid intima media thickness (IMT) is associated with an increased risk of cardio-vascular events, but its correlation with the absolute cardio-vascular risk is not well known in large populations. The Paroi Artérielle et Risque Cardio-vasculaire (PARC) study was designed to evaluate the relationship between conventional assessment of the global cardio-vascular risk by means of the Framimgham score and measurement of IMT of the common carotid artery (CCAIMT).

Methods And Results: About 246 French cardiologists selected 6416 subjects.

Developments in the CCP4 molecular-graphics project.

Progress towards structure determination that is both high-throughput and high-value is dependent on the development of integrated and automatic tools for electron-density map interpretation and for the analysis of the resulting atomic models. Advances in map-interpretation algorithms are extending the resolution regime in which fully automatic tools can work reliably, but at present human intervention is required to interpret poor regions of macromolecular electron density, particularly where crystallographic data is only available to modest resolution [for example, I/sigma(I) < 2.0 for minimum resolution 2.