Comparison of Vessel Responses Following Combined Sirolimus-Eluting and Endothelial Progenitor Cell Stent and Ultra-Thin Sirolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation by Serial Optical Coherence Tomography and Coronary Angioscopy: A Multicenter Observational Study.

A dual-therapy sirolimus-eluting and CD34+ antibody-coated Combo Stent (DTS) has been developed to enhance endothelization and capture endothelial progenitor cells; however, vessel responses following DTS implantation remain unclear. Therefore, we evaluated early- and mid-term intravascular characteristics of DTS using intravascular imaging modalities. This multicenter, prospective, observational study enrolled 88 patients (95 lesions) who underwent DTS (43 patients, 48 lesions) or sirolimus-eluting Orsiro stent (SES, 45 patients, 47 lesions) implantation.

Association between body size and atrial myopathy: Investigation using the prevalence of left atrial low-voltage areas.

Background: Left atrial low-voltage areas (LVAs) are known to be associated with atrial myopathy and atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after catheter ablation. However, the association between body size and prevalence of LVAs has not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between body size and the prevalence of LVAs in patients with AF ablation.

Factors associated with recurrence after drug-coated balloon therapy for femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-evaluated tissue morphology on recurrence following drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty for the treatment of femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis (FP-ISR).

Methods: This study was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. Study subjects were 65 FP-ISR lesions (mean lesion length: 165 ± 88 mm, occlusive restenosis: 25%) in 53 patients (age: 76 ± 8, diabetes mellitus: 66%) who underwent DCB angioplasty and whose IVUS data of tissue morphology were available.

Incidence of Angiographic Deterioration Following Inframalleolar Angioplasty and Its Impact on Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia Requiring Repeat Intervention.

Background: Clinical impact of inframalleolar (IM) angioplasty in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is still controversial.

Methods And Results: This single-center, retrospective study included 168 patients with CLTI and tissue loss who underwent angioplasty for IM lesions. Angiographic follow up was performed at reintervention between April 2010 and December 2020.

A hospital lipid-lowering protocol improves 2-year clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Although mortality after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has improved in the acute phase, cardiovascular events occur at a certain frequency in the chronic phase. A hospital lipid-lowering protocol (HLP) could be effective in providing optimal lipid-lowering therapy to improve long-term clinical outcomes after ACS.

Aims: This study investigated the impact of HLP on clinical outcomes in patients with ACS.

Physiological analyses of swallowing changes due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in anesthetized male rats.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was previously known as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It has various main symptoms, such as dyspnea, chronic cough, and sputum, and is often accompanied by dysphagia. Although many published clinical reports have described COPD-related dysphagia, the physiological mechanisms underlying swallowing changes due to COPD remain unclear.

Impact of Cilostazol Administration on Prevention of Aspiration Pneumonia in Patients With Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia.

Background: Cilostazol has reported effectiveness for preventing aspiration pneumonia in patients with ischemic stroke, but whether it is similarly beneficial for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is unclear.

Methods And Results: This retrospective single-center study enrolled 1,368 CLTI patients treated with endovascular therapy (EVT). In the multivariate analysis, predictors for aspiration pneumonia were age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.

Functional involvement of the sternohyoid muscle during breathing and swallowing in rats.

The sternohyoid muscle depresses the hyoid bone, but it is unclear whether the muscle contributes to respiratory and swallowing mechanisms. This study aimed to clarify whether the sternohyoid muscle participates in the respiration and swallowing reflex and how the activity is modulated in two conditions: with airway stenosis and with a fixed sternohyoid muscle length. Electromyographic activity in the sternohyoid, digastric, thyrohyoid, and diaphragm muscles was recorded in anesthetized rats.

Effect of carbonation and thickening on voluntary swallow in healthy humans.

Background: Liquid modification is a widely established strategy of treatment for patients with dysphagia. The modification of liquid particularly by thickening or carbonation is a common approach to promote safe swallowing.

Objective: This study sought to investigate how carbonated and/or thickened water modulates swallowing behaviours during swallowing in healthy young individuals.

Turbulence Transition in Magnetically Confined Hydrogen and Deuterium Plasmas.

In this study, we discovered a turbulence transition in a large helical device. The turbulence level and turbulence-driven energy transport decrease to a specific transition density and increase above it. The ruling turbulences below and above the transition density were ion-temperature gradient (ITG) and resistive-interchange (RI) turbulences, consistent with the predictions of gyrokinetic theory and two-fluid MHD model, respectively.

Impact of Immunosuppressive Therapy on Lead Dislodgement After Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Implantation.

Backgrounds: Lead dislodgement is a severe complication in cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation. Inflammation after CIED implantation results in the development of adhesions between lead and tissues, resulting in the lead becoming fixed in the body. In patients with immunosuppressive therapy, however, adhesion is inhibited by anti-inflammatory effects.

Left atrial low voltage areas and heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation: Implication of the atrial myopathy.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) affect each other and are often co-morbid. The fact that HF development is not uncommon even after ablation suggests that we need a deeper understanding of the pathology of these conditions. Atrial myocardial degeneration is an underlying factor in AF patients and may be associated with HF development after ablation.

In vitro reconstitution of epigenetic reprogramming in the human germ line.

Epigenetic reprogramming resets parental epigenetic memories and differentiates primordial germ cells (PGCs) into mitotic pro-spermatogonia or oogonia. This process ensures sexually dimorphic germ cell development for totipotency. In vitro reconstitution of epigenetic reprogramming in humans remains a fundamental challenge.

Impact of wall thickness on the tissue cooling effect of cryoballoon ablation.

Aims: Understanding of the tissue cooling properties of cryoballoon ablation during pulmonary vein (PV) isolation is lacking. The purpose of this study was to delineate the depth of the tissue cooling effect during cryoballoon freezing at the pulmonary venous ostium.

Methods And Results: A left atrial-PV model was constructed using a three-dimensional printer with data from a patient to which porcine thigh muscle of various thicknesses could be affixed.

Effect of bolus property on swallowing dynamics in patients with dysphagia.

Background: Modification of foods or liquids is commonly administered as part of dysphagia treatment. However, no consensus exists on the parameters for defining texture-modified food for patients with dysphagia.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of food/liquid material on swallowing physiology in patients with dysphagia and to discuss the optimal food choice for direct swallowing therapy.

Impact of baseline yellow plaque assessed by coronary angioscopy on vascular response after stent implantation.

Background: The relationship between baseline yellow plaque (YP) and vascular response after stent implantation has not been fully investigated.

Methods: This was a sub-analysis of the Collaboration-1 study (multicenter, retrospective, observational study). A total of 88 lesions from 80 patients with chronic coronary syndrome who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention were analyzed.

Nuclear GAPDH in cortical microglia mediates cellular stress-induced cognitive inflexibility.

We report a mechanism that underlies stress-induced cognitive inflexibility at the molecular level. In a mouse model under subacute cellular stress in which deficits in rule shifting tasks were elicited, the nuclear glyceraldehyde dehydrogenase (N-GAPDH) cascade was activated specifically in microglia in the prelimbic cortex. The cognitive deficits were normalized with a pharmacological intervention with a compound (the RR compound) that selectively blocked the initiation of N-GAPDH cascade without affecting glycolytic activity.

Complications including dysphagia following transoral non-robotic surgery for pharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective multicenter study.

Objective: Transoral surgery is a minimally invasive treatment but may cause severe dysphagia at a lower rate than chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: We compared clinical information, surgical complications, and swallowing function in patients who underwent transoral nonrobotic surgery for laryngo-pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma between 2015 and 2021 in a multicenter retrospective study.

Results: Six hundred and forty patients were included.

Chewing Well Modulates Pharyngeal Bolus Transit During Swallowing in Healthy Participants.

Mastication is controlled by central pattern generator in the brainstem and can be modulated by volition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chewing well on swallowing. Twenty-six healthy participants were instructed to eat 8, 12, and/or 16 g of steamed rice with barium sulphate under the following two conditions: chewing freely task (CF; chewing naturally in their usual manner) and chewing well task (CW; chewing the food with a request to "chew well").

Atrial Functional Substrates for the Prediction of Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence After Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

Low-voltage areas have been used as atrial structural substrates in estimating fibrotic degeneration in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The high-resolution maps obtained by recently developed mapping catheters allow the visualization of several functional abnormalities. We investigated the association between left atrial (LA) functional abnormal findings on a high-resolution substrate map and AF recurrence in patients who underwent pulmonary vein isolation without any additional LA substrate ablation.