Global longitudinal strain is a surrogate marker for time constant of isovolumic relaxation in post-Fontan operation patients with single right ventricle and preserved ejection fraction.

Background: The time constant of isovolumic relaxation is an established index of ventricular relaxation, a major component of diastolic function, even in a single right ventricle. However, the specific echocardiographic parameters for estimating diastolic dysfunction are insufficient for a single right ventricle. This study aimed to investigate the echocardiographic indices associated with time constant of isovolumic relaxation in post-Fontan operation patients with a single right ventricle.

Exploring the Relationship Between Somatisation, Facial Pain and Psychological Distress in East Asian Temporomandibular Disorder Patients.

Objectives: The relationship of somatisation with facial pain duration/intensity, pain-related interference/disability and psychological distress was investigated in East Asian temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. Correlations between somatisation, facial pain and psychological characteristics were also explored alongside the demographic/physical factors associated with moderate-to-severe depression and anxiety.

Methods: Anonymised data were acquired from records of consecutive 'first-time' patients seeking TMD care at a tertiary oral medicine clinic.

Laparoscopic resection for retroperitoneum ganglioneuroma with Supine hypotension syndrome.

Background: Supine hypotension syndrome (SHS) has been reported to occur due to compression by a giant tumor such as ovarian tumor. We herein report a case of retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma with SHS treated with laparoscopic resection.

Case Presentation: The patient was an 11-year-old male with right-sided abdominal pain.

LMT AMI Caused by a Valve-Like Ridge in a 9-Year-Old Boy Successfully Treated With PCI.

A 9-year-old boy was suspected of having acute myocardial infarction and emergency coronary angiogram was performed. No signs of flow limitation in either coronary artery was detected. We performed intravascular ultrasonography from the ascending aorta, which showed a ridge on the left main trunk acting like a valve, resulting in significant stenosis.

Sleeping and waking-state oral behaviors in TMD patients: their correlates with jaw functional limitation and psychological distress.

Objectives: This study investigated oral behaviors in various temporomandibular disorder (TMD) subtypes, assessing their frequency, extent, and associations with both jaw functional status and psychological distress.

Materials And Methods: Anonymized data from consecutive "initial-visit" TMD patients at a university-affiliated oral medicine clinic were obtained. Alongside demographic information, patients completed various questionnaires including the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) Symptom Questionnaire, Oral Behavior Checklist (OBC), Jaw Functional Limitation Scale-20 (JFLS-20), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and General Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7).

Correlates of jaw functional limitation, somatization and psychological distress among different temporomandibular disorder diagnostic subtypes.

Objectives: This study investigated the jaw functional status and severity of somatic/psychological symptoms in different Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD) diagnostic subtypes and established the correlates between jaw functional limitation, somatization, depression and anxiety.

Methods: Data were accrued from consecutive 'first-visit' patients seeking TMD treatment at a university-based oral medicine/diagnosis clinic. Axis I physical TMD diagnoses were derived using the DC/TMD methodology and patients were categorized into pain-related (PT), intra-articular (IT) and combined (CT) TMD groups.

Scaling-Up Insights for Zinc-Air Battery Technologies Realizing Reversible Zinc Anodes.

Zinc-air battery (ZAB) technology is considered one of the promising candidates to complement the existing lithium-ion batteries for future large-scale high-energy-storage demands. The scientific literature reveals many efforts for the ZAB chemistries, materials design, and limited accounts for cell design principles with apparently superior performances for liquid and solid-state electrolytes. However, along with the difficulty of forming robust solid-electrolyte interphases, the discrepancy in testing methods and assessment metrics severely challenges the realistic evaluation/comparison and commercialization of ZABs.

Li, Na, K, Mg, Zn, Al, and Ca Anode Interface Chemistries Developed by Solid-State Electrolytes.

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) have received significant attention due to their high energy density, reversible cycle life, and safe operations relative to commercial Li-ion batteries using flammable liquid electrolytes. This review presents the fundamentals, structures, thermodynamics, chemistries, and electrochemical kinetics of desirable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) required to meet the practical requirements of reversible anodes. Theoretical and experimental insights for metal nucleation, deposition, and stripping for the reversible cycling of metal anodes are provided.

Supramolecular Polymer Intertwined Free-Standing Bifunctional Membrane Catalysts for All-Temperature Flexible Zn-Air Batteries.

Rational construction of flexible free-standing electrocatalysts featuring long-lasting durability, high efficiency, and wide temperature tolerance under harsh practical operations are fundamentally significant for commercial zinc-air batteries. Here, 3D flexible free-standing bifunctional membrane electrocatalysts composed of covalently cross-linked supramolecular polymer networks with nitrogen-deficient carbon nitride nanotubes are fabricated (referred to as PEMAC@NDCN) by a facile self-templated approach. PEMAC@NDCN demonstrates the lowest reversible oxygen bifunctional activity of 0.

Practice and Safety of Static Balloon Atrial Septostomy Based on a Nationwide Registry Data.

Background: Balloon atrial septostomy (BAS) is an essential catheterization procedure for congenital heart lesions. Recently, a balloon catheter for static BAS was approved for the first time in Japan as an alternative to the conventional pull-through BAS. Despite the expected increase in the use of static BAS, reports on its safety are scarce worldwide.

Catheter Intervention for Flow Regulatory Clips on Palliative Shunts and Conduits in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease.

Catheter intervention (CI) for a Blalock-Taussig shunt (BTS) or a ventricle-to-pulmonary artery conduit (VPC) is often required after a palliative surgery for congenital heart disease. Flow regulatory clips help improve interstage mortality; their use necessitates CIs to prevent cyanosis. To study the CI outcomes in patients who underwent palliative surgery with either BTSs or VPCs with flow regulatory clips.

Heuristic Iron-Cobalt-Mediated Robust pH-Universal Oxygen Bifunctional Lusters for Reversible Aqueous and Flexible Solid-State Zn-Air Cells.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-air cells (ZACs) promise an extremely safe and high energy technology. However, they are still significantly limited by sluggish electrochemical kinetics and irreversibility originating from the parasitic reactions of the bifunctional catalysts and electrolytes. Here, we report the preferential building of interfacial structures featuring the edge sites constituted by FeCo single/dual atoms with the integration of Co sites in the nitrogenized graphitic carbon frameworks (FeCo SAs@Co/N-GC) by electronic structure modulation approach.

Angiographic diagnosis for accurate assessment of congenital porto-systemic shunt and extrahepatic portal vein obstruction in children.

Background: Congenital porto-systemic shunt (CPSS) is a rare disease and can cause fatal complications. Accurate angiographic assessment is mandatory for proper treatment. Although technically difficult, we developed assessment techniques and assessed their accuracy.

Pediatric Medical Devices - Survey of Pediatric Cardiologists and Cardiovascular Surgeons in Japan.

In Japan, the choice of pediatric medical devices is limited because of 2 "device lag" problems: Japan lags behind the USA and Europe in device development, and development of pediatric devices lags behind that of adult devices. We aimed to identify the problems with and impediments to pediatric medical device development as recognized by pediatric physicians in Japan. A voluntary survey of pediatric medical devices for all council members of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery was conducted in 2019.

Stent Implantation for Congenital Heart Diseases in Japan - Comprehensive Analysis From the Japanese Society of Congenital Interventional Cardiology Registry.

Background: Stent implantation for vascular stenosis associated with congenital heart diseases is commonly performed as an off-label procedure in Japan because there is no officially approved stent for any congenital heart disease.

Methods and results: We analyzed data from the Japanese Society of Congenital Interventional Cardiology Registry collected from January 2016 to December 2018. Patients who underwent stent implantation were enrolled in the present analysis.

Training in congenital interventional cardiology: interviews with experts from around the globe - part one.

The foundation of wisdom is rooted in experience, and thus we reflexively call upon our senior leaders, mentors, coaches, and family members for guidance in our personal and professional lives. Witnessing the weathered perspectives of others allows for an internal audit of one's own strengths and deficiencies, which ultimately inspires personal growth. This experience is heightened when both the mentor and the mentee, for example, share a common goal.

Successful transcatheter closure of coronary artery fistula in a patient with anomalous aortic origin of the left main coronary artery from the right aortic sinus.

Transcatheter closure is an established method to treat coronary artery fistula (CAF). We present transcatheter closure in a 6-year-old girl with CAF and anomalous aortic origin of the left main coronary artery from the right aortic sinus. The CAF originated from the left coronary artery (LCA), coursed through the interventricular septum (intraseptal course) with prominent dilation, and drained into the right ventricular outflow tract.

Partnership Between Japan and the United States for Early Development of Pediatric Medical Devices - Harmonization By Doing for Children.

Background: The Harmonization By Doing (HBD) program was established in 2003 as a partnership among stakeholders of academia, industry and regulatory agencies in Japan and the United States, with a primary focus on streamlining processes of global medical device development for cardiovascular medical devices. While HBD has traditionally focused on development of devices intended to treat conditions prevalent in adults, in 2016, HBD established the "HBD-for-Children" program, which focuses on the development of pediatric devices as the development of medical devices for pediatric use lags behind that of medical devices for adults in both countries.

Methods and results: Activities of the program have included: (1) conducting a survey with industry to better understand the challenges that constrain the development of pediatric medical devices; (2) categorizing pediatric medical devices into five categories based on global availability and exploring concrete solutions for the early application and regulatory approval in both geographies; and (3) facilitating global clinical trials of pediatric medical devices in both countries.

Bipolar Energetics and Bifunctional Catalytic Activity of a Nanocrystalline Ru Thin-Film Enable High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction and Oxidation.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells, which represent a promising technology for the production of hydrogen fuel through water splitting reactions, must meet two criteria to achieve high-performance operation: (i) a high thermodynamic open-circuit potential and (ii) a low kinetic overpotential. Herein, we achieved these criteria in both an oxygen-evolving n-Si photoanode and hydrogen-evolving p-Si photocathode by simple electrodeposition of a nanocrystalline thin film of Ru. The bifunctional electrocatalytic activity of the nanocrystalline Ru led to low overpotentials in both the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (0.

A semiconductor junction photoelectrochemical device without a depletion region.

Semiconductor junctions are believed to form a depletion region at the band edge of the semiconductor as the chemical potentials for electrons (work functions) are aligned to the same level. Here, we demonstrated that ultrathin Ni film (less than 4 nm thick)/Si junction-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices have no depletion region due to three distinct phenomena: (i) the electrostatic or electrochemical potential extrinsically charged to the electrolytic-capacitive Ni surface dominates rather than the chemical potential of electrons (work function) of the bulk Ni, (ii) the charged potential is dynamically variable depending on the reaction and is rapidly volatile so as not to be constant; therefore, (iii) the charged potential is misaligned with the chemical potential of Si under equivalent circuit conditions. Such junction PEC devices were shown to follow a novel operating principle in which the output voltage (open circuit potential) is generated by the electrochemical potential charged at the Ni surface, and not by the light-induced potential (photovoltage) in Si.

Unmet needs of people with Parkinson's disease: A cross-sectional study.

Aims: To identify the type and extent of unmet needs in people with Parkinson's disease and to examine the impact of health locus of control and family support on these needs.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Methods: This study was conducted from October 2015 - February 2016 in Korea.

Morphological and Hemodynamic Effectiveness of Stenting for Pulmonary Artery Stenosis - Subanalysis of JPIC Stent Survey.

Background: Percutaneous stenting for branch pulmonary artery stenosis is an established interventional choice in congenital heart disease. The apparent morphologic change in the vessel diameter often differs from the hemodynamic result.

Methods and results: We performed a subanalysis of the data from the Japanese Society of Pediatric Interventional Cardiology (JPIC) stent survey.