Physiologic significance of coronary collaterals in chronic total occlusions.

Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) are commonly found in patients with coronary artery disease, and a system of collateral connections are found in almost all of these patients. These collateral vessels serve to prevent myocardial necrosis but are not sufficient to prevent myocardial ischemia during exercise. Unfortunately, the presence of well-developed collaterals has been used as argument against CTO revascularization.

Branched Polyethylenimine-Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (bPEI-SPIONs) Improve the Immunogenicity of Tumor Antigens and Enhance Th1 Polarization of Dendritic Cells.

Nanoparticles in the field of dendritic cell (DC) research are emerging as a promising method of enhancing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. We investigated the effect of branched polyethylenimine-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (bPEI-SPIONs) on tumor cells loaded onto DCs. The tumor antigens were prepared as follows: (1) apoptotic U266 cells with ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation followed by a 2 h incubation in the absence (2 h postirradiated cells) or (2) presence of bPEI-SPIONs (bPEI-SPION 2 h postirradiated cells) and (3) apoptotic U266 cells with UVB irradiation followed by an overnight 16 h incubation (16 h postirradiated cells).

Generation of potent dendritic cells with improved migration ability through p-cofilin and sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) transport ATPase 2 regulation.

Background Aims: It is important to improve the migratory ability of dendritic cells (DCs) and to increase DC potency for successful DC-based cancer immunotherapy. The intracellular Ca(2+) signaling pathway has an important role on the regulation of DC migration. Our preliminary studies revealed that sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) transport ATPase 2 (SERCA2) expression was inversely related to DC migratory capacity, and the expression level of p-cofilin and SERCA2 on mature DCs showed a counter-trend.

10 years of BAWLing into affective and aesthetic processes in reading: what are the echoes?

Reading is not only "cold" information processing, but involves affective and aesthetic processes that go far beyond what current models of word recognition, sentence processing, or text comprehension can explain. To investigate such "hot" reading processes, standardized instruments that quantify both psycholinguistic and emotional variables at the sublexical, lexical, inter-, and supralexical levels (e.g.

"Tip-in" technique for retrograde chronic total occlusion revascularization.

Use of the retrograde approach significantly improves the success rate of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention. The most commonly applied retrograde technique is placing a guidewire just distal to the distal cap using collateral vessels, with subsequent retrograde crossing of the occlusive segment. This is followed by advancement of a microcatheter and externalization of a long guidewire to allow antegrade delivery of balloons and stents.

Dendritic Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy against Multiple Myeloma: From Bench to Clinic.

Although the introduction of stem cell transplantation and novel agents has improved survival, multiple myeloma (MM) is still difficult to cure. Alternative approaches are clearly needed to prolong the survival of patients with MM. Dendritic cell (DC) therapy is a very promising tool immunologically in MM.

Meta-analysis of clinical outcomes of patients who underwent percutaneous coronary interventions for chronic total occlusions.

Successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusions (CTOs) has been associated with clinical benefit. There are no randomized controlled trials on long-term clinical outcomes after CTO PCI, limiting the available evidence to observational cohort studies. We sought to perform a weighted meta-analysis of the long-term outcomes of successful versus failed CTO PCI.

Adoption of the hybrid CTO approach by a single non-CTO operator: procedural and clinical outcomes.

Background: The feasibility of adopting the "hybrid" approach by a single operator without prior experience in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) has not been described.

Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent CTO-PCI by a single operator using the "hybrid" approach between 2012 and 2013 formed the analytic cohort. No patient was declined on the basis of angiographic findings.

Awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for very high-risk coronary angioplasty.

High-risk angioplasty has been defined as an intervention on an unprotected left main (LM) coronary artery or "last patent coronary conduit" in the context of moderate to severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. We report a case of a patient with severe LV dysfunction, severe aortic valve stenosis, and an occluded right coronary artery requiring elective intervention on a heavily calcified subtotally occluded LM coronary artery while the patient was awake with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Given the added benefit of percutaneous closure, we believe that ECMO support with only conscious sedation is a viable mode of hemodynamic support in high-risk cases.

Comparison of pathogenicity of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus between wild and domestic pigs.

The objective of this study was to compare the pathogenicity of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV) infection between wild and domestic pigs based on clinical, immunological, and pathological evaluation. Upon challenge with HP-PRRSV, five wild pigs died compared to none of the domestic. Anti-PRRSV antibody titers were significantly (P < 0.

Carbon-limited fed-batch production of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates by a phaZ-knockout strain of Pseudomonas putida KT2440.

A medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanote (MCL-PHA) depolymerase knockout mutant of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 was produced by double homologous recombination. A carbon-limited shake-flask study confirmed that depolymerase activity was eliminated. Lysis of both mutant and wild-type strains occurred under these conditions.

Deficiencies in tRNA synthetase editing activity cause cardioproteinopathy.

Misfolded proteins are an emerging hallmark of cardiac diseases. Although some misfolded proteins, such as desmin, are associated with mutations in the genes encoding these disease-associated proteins, little is known regarding more general mechanisms that contribute to the generation of misfolded proteins in the heart. Reduced translational fidelity, caused by a hypomorphic mutation in the editing domain of alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS), resulted in accumulation of misfolded proteins in specific mouse neurons.

Non-invasive bedside assessment of central venous pressure: scanning into the future.

Background: Noninvasive evaluation of central venous pressure (CVP) can be achieved by assessing the Jugular Venous Pressure (JVP), Peripheral Venous Collapse (PVC), and ultrasound visualization of the inferior vena cava. The relative accuracy of these techniques compared to one another and their application by trainees of varying experience remains uncertain. We compare the application and utility of the JVP, PVC, and handheld Mini Echo amongst trainees of varying experience including a medical student, internal medicine resident, and cardiology fellow.

Subintimal space plaque modification for "balloon-uncrossable" chronic total occlusions.

Novel techniques for percutaneous revascularization of chronic total occlusions or other complex coronary lesions utilize the subintimal space to safely and efficiently traverse the occluded coronary segment. Antegrade and retrograde dissection reentry is gaining popularity, and is an elegant method to successfully cross coronary chronic total occlusions. We describe a "subintimal space plaque modification" that involves use of antegrade and retrograde dissection reentry techniques to treat "balloon-uncrossable" coronary lesions.

Novel Use of the GuideLiner Catheter to Deliver Rotational Atherectomy Burrs in Tortuous Vessels.

Rotational atherectomy (RA) for heavily calcified lesions is essential for improved stent delivery and stent expansion. In tortuous vessels it is often difficult to advance the burr without rotation and possible injury to the endothelium of healthy vessel. The GuideLiner catheter, a child in mother catheter, has recently been used to allow for increased support for delivery of stents through tortuous vessels.

Comparison of 2-limb versus 3-limb electrodiagnostic studies in the evaluation of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Introduction: European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society electrodiagnostic (EDx) criteria for the definite diagnosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) require the presence of demyelinating findings (DF) in at least 2 nerves. Data are lacking, however, regarding the optimal number of nerves to test.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed EDx data from 53 patients with CIDP and compared the number of DF found on 2- and 3-limb testing.

Seek and you shall remember: scene semantics interact with visual search to build better memories.

Memorizing critical objects and their locations is an essential part of everyday life. In the present study, incidental encoding of objects in naturalistic scenes during search was compared to explicit memorization of those scenes. To investigate if prior knowledge of scene structure influences these two types of encoding differently, we used meaningless arrays of objects as well as objects in real-world, semantically meaningful images.

Optimization of troglitazone derivatives as potent anti-proliferative agents: towards more active and less toxic compounds.

Δ2-Troglitazone derivatives were shown to exhibit anti-proliferative activity in a PPARγ-independent manner. We prepared various compounds in order to increase their potency and decrease their toxicity towards non-malignant primary cultured hepatocytes. Many compounds induced viabilities less than 20% at 10 μM on various cancer cell lines.

Radiation dose reduction in the cardiac catheterization laboratory utilizing a novel protocol.

Objectives: This study reports the results a novel radiation reduction protocol (RRP) system for coronary angiography and interventional procedures and the determinants of radiation dose.

Background: The cardiac catheterization laboratory is an important source of radiation and should be kept in good working order with dose-reduction and monitoring capabilities.

Methods: All diagnostic coronary angiograms and percutaneous coronary interventions from a single catheterization laboratory were analyzed 2 months before and after RRP implementation.