Endothelial- and Immune Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Regulation of Cardiovascular Health and Disease.

Intercellular signaling by extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a route of cell-cell crosstalk that allows cells to deliver biological messages to specific recipient cells. EVs convey these messages through their distinct cargoes consisting of cytokines, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, which they transport from the donor cell to the recipient cell. In cardiovascular disease (CVD), endothelial- and immune cell-derived EVs are emerging as key players in different stages of disease development.

Information management goals and process failures during home visits for middle-aged and older adults receiving skilled home healthcare services after hospital discharge: a multisite, qualitative study.

Background: Middle-aged and older adults requiring skilled home healthcare ('home health') services following hospital discharge are at high risk of experiencing suboptimal outcomes. Information management (IM) needed to organise and communicate care plans is critical to ensure safety. Little is known about IM during this transition.

Monitoring Antimicrobial Drug Usage in Animals: Methods and Applications.

Monitoring antimicrobial drug usage in animals at the national and international levels is important for identification and tracking if and how often quantities are used. This information can be used for many purposes, including raising awareness, comparing use patterns across countries, identifying trends over time, integrating with antimicrobial resistance data, conducting risk assessment, and evaluating the effectiveness of measures to manage antimicrobial usage. The goal of this article is to describe how monitoring systems for antimicrobial drug usage in animals are set up and conducted, using examples from specific countries as well as international efforts.

Complex PCI procedures: challenges for the interventional cardiologist.

In recent years, the percentage of patients with multivessel disease and multiple complex stenoses have significantly increased. One factor contributing to this increase is the proportion of elderly and very elderly patients who have been turned down by the Heart Team for surgical revascularization (Landes et al. in Catheter Cardiovasc Interv, https://doi.

Antibiotic use on German pig farms - A longitudinal analysis for 2011, 2013 and 2014.

To study antibiotic use in livestock in a temporal context with the development of antimicrobial resistance, long-term changes in antibiotic use must be mapped and their possible causes must be explored. Therefore, the present work assesses the changes in antibiotic use over time in German livestock husbandry. In addition, factors associated with antibiotic use were analyzed to identify possible strategies for further reducing antimicrobial usage.

Interventional treatment of paravalvular regurgitation by plug implantation following prosthetic valve replacement: a single-center experience.

Background: Interventional closure of paravalvular leaks (PVL) by plug implantation has emerged as an alternative to surgical correction, which is associated with high mortality rates for re-operation. To date, data on procedural efficacy and clinical outcome after transcatheter closure is sparse. We present our experience with interventional PVL closure at our site.

Combination of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein with logistic EuroSCORE improves risk stratification in patients undergoing TAVI.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical value of biomarkers to identify TAVI patients at high risk for adverse outcome, to assess whether these biomarkers provide prognostic information beyond that of established clinical risk scores, and to assess whether a combined multi-marker strategy can improve clinical decision making.

Methods And Results: In 683 TAVI patients, biomarkers reflecting various pathophysiologic systems were measured before TAVI. The primary endpoint was one-year all-cause mortality.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of (E)-stilbene derivatives by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.

A general procedure for the stereocontrolled synthesis of (E)-stilbene derivatives by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of (E)-2-phenylethenylboronic acid pinacol ester with aryl bromides was investigated. (E)-2-Phenylethenylboronic acid pinacol ester was prepared by 9-BBN-catalyzed hydroboration of phenylacetylene with pinacolborane. This reagent undergoes facile palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling with a diverse set of aryl bromides to provide the corresponding (E)-stilbene derivatives in moderate to good yield.

International, multicenter evaluation of a new D-dimer assay for the exclusion of venous thromboembolism using standard and age-adjusted cut-offs.

Introduction: We sought to determine the test characteristics of an automated INNOVANCE D-dimer assay for the exclusion of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in emergency department (ED) patients using standard and age-adjusted cut-offs.

Methods: Cross-sectional, international, multicenter study of consecutive patients with suspected DVT or PE in 24 centers (18 USA, 6 Europe). Evaluated patients had low or intermediate Wells PE or DVT scores.

Hitomi X-ray studies of Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab pulsar.

To search for giant X-ray pulses correlated with the giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar, we performed a simultaneous observation of the Crab pulsar with the X-ray satellite Hitomi in the 2 - 300 keV band and the Kashima NICT radio observatory in the 1.4 - 1.7 GHz band with a net exposure of about 2 ks on 25 March 2016, just before the loss of the Hitomi mission.

[Transmission pathways for resistant bacteria between animals and humans: antibiotics resistance in the One Health context].

People and animals share the same environment and antibiotics are used in both. Thus, antibiotics resistance is a major common issue for human and veterinary medicine. The potential impact of antibiotics use in animals on resistance in humans is frequently the focus of debate.

Effects of an artificial placenta on brain development and injury in premature lambs.

Purpose: We evaluated whether brain development continues and brain injury is prevented during Artificial Placenta (AP) support utilizing extracorporeal life support (ECLS).

Methods: Lambs at EGA 118days (term=145; n=4) were placed on AP support (venovenous ECLS with jugular drainage and umbilical vein reinfusion) for 7days and sacrificed. Early (EGA 118; n=4) and late (EGA 127; n=4) mechanical ventilation (MV) lambs underwent conventional MV for up to 48h and were sacrificed, and early (n=5) and late (n=5) tissue control (TC) lambs were sacrificed at delivery.

Performing and Interpreting Fractional Flow Reserve Measurements in Clinical Practice: An Expert Consensus Document.

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements can determine the haemodynamic relevance of coronary artery stenoses. Current guidelines recommend their use in lesions in the absence of non-invasive proof of ischaemia. The prognostic impact of FFR has been evaluated in randomised trials, and it has been shown that revascularisation can be safely deferred if FFR is >0.

Indication and short-term clinical outcomes of high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention with microaxial Impella® pump: results from the German Impella® registry.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an alternative strategy to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with high perioperative risk. The microaxial Impella pump (Abiomed, Danvers, MA, USA), used as prophylactic and temporary support, is currently the most common device for "protected high-risk PCI" to ensure hemodynamic stability during complex coronary intervention.

Methods: The study is an observational, retrospective multi-center registry.

Home is where the head is: a distributed cognition account of personal health information management in the home among those with chronic illness.

Managing chronic illness requires personal health information management (PHIM) to be performed by lay individuals. Paramount to understanding the PHIM process is understanding the sociotechnical system in which it frequently occurs: the home environment. We combined distributed cognition theory and the patient work system model to investigate how characteristics of the home interact with the cognitive work of PHIM.

Performance-Shaping Factors Affecting Older Adults' Hospital-to-Home Transition Success: A Systems Approach.

Background And Objectives: Facilitating older adults' successful hospital-to-home transitions remains a persistent challenge. To address this challenge, we applied a systems lens to identify and understand the performance-shaping factors (PSFs) related older adults' hospital-to-home transition success.

Research Design And Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews from older adults (N = 31) recently discharged from a hospital and their informal caregivers (N = 13).

Underreporting of Gender and Race/Ethnicity Differences in NIH-Funded Dementia Caregiver Support Interventions.

Women and racial/ethnic minority dementia caregivers have unique caregiving experiences and support needs. To ensure the identification of potentially important differences in outcomes within these groups, the amended National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy on Inclusion of Women and Minorities mandates reporting by gender and race/ethnicity. The objective of this study was to determine the inclusion and reporting rates among NIH-funded dementia caregiver support interventions.

Prediabetes is associated with lower brain gray matter volume in the general population. The Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP).

Background And Aims: We investigated the associations of fasting (FG) and 2-h postload (2HG) plasma glucose from oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with gray (GMV) and white (WMV) matter volume.

Methods And Results: We analyzed data from 1330 subjects without known diabetes mellitus, aged 21 to 81, from the second cohort (SHIP-Trend-0) of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Following the OGTT, individuals were classified in five groups (according to the American Diabetes Association criteria): normal glucose tolerance (NGT), isolated impaired fasting glucose (i-IFG), isolated impaired glucose tolerance (i-IGT), combined IFG and IGT (IFG + IGT) and unknown type 2 diabetes mellitus (UDM).