High-density mapping in catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in Asia Pacific region: An observational study.

Background: Few clinical studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) have focused on Asian patients; data are lacking on current mapping and ablation strategies in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).

Objective: The HD Mapping Observational Study (NCT04022954) was designed to characterize electroanatomic mapping (EAM) with market-released high-density mapping (HDM) catheters in subjects with AF in APAC.

Methods: Subjects undergoing HDM and indicated for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to treat AF were prospectively enrolled in APAC.

Relationships of eating behaviors with psychopathology, brain maturation and genetic risk for obesity in an adolescent cohort study.

Unhealthy eating, a risk factor for eating disorders (EDs) and obesity, often coexists with emotional and behavioral problems; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Analyzing data from the longitudinal IMAGEN adolescent cohort, we investigated associations between eating behaviors, genetic predispositions for high body mass index (BMI) using polygenic scores (PGSs), and trajectories (ages 14-23 years) of ED-related psychopathology and brain maturation. Clustering analyses at age 23 years ( = 996) identified 3 eating groups: restrictive, emotional/uncontrolled and healthy eaters.

The Environmental and Public Health Benefits of Offshore Wind Power Deployment in China.

With the rapid decline in the levelized cost, offshore wind power offers a new option for the clean energy transition of the power sector in China's coastal areas. Here, we develop a power system capacity expansion and operation optimization model to simulate the penetration of offshore wind power in China and quantify the associated health effects. We find that offshore wind power has great potential in mitigating the negative impacts of existing coal-fired power emissions.

Echocardiographic phenotypes of diabetic myocardial disorder: evolution over 15 months follow-up in the ARISE-HF trial.

Background: Diabetic myocardial disorder (DbMD, evidenced by abnormal echocardiography or cardiac biomarkers) is a form of stage B heart failure (SBHF) at high risk for progression to overt HF. SBHF is defined by abnormal LV morphology and function and/or abnormal cardiac biomarker concentrations.

Objective: To compare the evolution of four DbMD groups based on biomarkers alone, systolic and diastolic dysfunction alone, or their combination.

Incident Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Oncologic Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with higher rates of incident cancer. Data are scarce regarding the association of incident CVD with oncologic outcomes after a cancer diagnosis.

Objectives: This study sought to determine whether incident myocardial infarction (MI) or heart failure (HF) in breast cancer survivors is associated with oncologic outcomes.

The integration of optimizing train timetables with EMU route plans.

Generally, to address the resource management issues in high-speed railway operations, particularly in the context of large-scale networked high-speed train transportation organizations, a phased optimization approach is introduced. This approach divides the problem into two stages: the high-speed train timetabling and the planning of Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) route. The lack of direct integration between these stages has hindered the flexible and efficient utilization of line capacity and EMU resources based on large-scale network, limiting the potential for mutual compensation and coordination among different types of resources across different regions.

The swelling mechanism of ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer in different solvents molecular dynamics and experimental studies.

Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) film is the predominant encapsulation material in crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules, the efficient and eco-friendly processing of which is essential for the recycling of the modules. Among the various existing techniques, the chemical approach uses solvents to induce swelling and dissolution on the EVA film to facilitate the separation of distinct layers. This method demonstrates the potential for achieving low-energy consumption and minimal-damage retrieval of the diverse materials within the components.

Defect identification of fan blade based on adaptive parameter region growth algorithm.

China's wind power generation is rich in resources and mature technology, but has the problems of harsh power generation environment, high operation and maintenance costs due to complex operating conditions, and serious consequences of failures. For this reason, this paper proposes a more efficient defect identification method for wind turbine blades that have the longest downtime due to faults. Firstly, starting from the characteristics that the blade defects are darker than the surrounding and distributed in block or point shape, the blade images taken by UAV cruise are processed by grey scaling, filtering, histogram equalization and Grab-cut foreground segmentation.

Challenges and opportunities of acquiring cortical recordings for chronic adaptive deep brain stimulation.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a proven treatment for movement disorders, also holds promise for the treatment of psychiatric and cognitive conditions. However, for DBS to be clinically effective, it may require DBS technology that can alter or trigger stimulation in response to changes in biomarkers sensed from the patient's brain. A growing body of evidence suggests that such adaptive DBS is feasible, it might achieve clinical effects that are not possible with standard continuous DBS and that some of the best biomarkers are signals from the cerebral cortex.

Elevator fault diagnosis based on digital twin and PINNs-e-RGCN.

The rapid development of urbanization has led to a continuous rise in number of elevators. This has led to elevator failures from time to time. At present, although there are some studies on elevator fault diagnosis, they are more or less limited by the lack of data to make the research more superficial.

Development of a Tablet-Based Outpatient Care Application for People With Dementia: Interview and Workshop Study.

Background: Dementia management presents a significant challenge for individuals affected by dementia, as well as their families, caregivers, and health care providers. Digital applications may support those living with dementia; however only a few dementia-friendly applications exist.

Objective: This paper emphasizes the necessity of considering multiple perspectives to ensure the high-quality development of supportive health care applications.

Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on daily function and quality of life in markedly treatment-resistant major depression: Findings from a one-year, randomized, sham-controlled trial.

Background: Depression treatments aim to minimize symptom burden and optimize quality of life (QoL) and psychosocial function.

Objective: Compare the effects of adjunctive versus sham vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on QoL and function in markedly treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, sham-controlled trial, 493 adults with TRD and ≥4 adequate but unsuccessful antidepressant treatment trials (current episode) were randomized to active (n = 249) or sham (n = 244) VNS (plus treatment as usual) over a 12-month observation period.

Relationship Between Severity of Ischemia and Coronary Artery Disease for Different Stress Test Modalities in the ISCHEMIA Trial.

Background: The relationship between the extent and severity of stress-induced ischemia and the extent and severity of anatomic coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with obstructive CAD is multifactorial and includes the intensity of stress achieved, type of testing used, presence and extent of prior infarction, collateral blood flow, plaque characteristics, microvascular disease, coronary vasomotor tone, and genetic factors. Among chronic coronary disease participants with site-determined moderate or severe ischemia, we investigated associations between ischemia severity on stress testing and the extent of CAD on coronary computed tomography angiography.

Methods: Clinically indicated stress testing included nuclear imaging, echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, or nonimaging exercise tolerance test.

Contrastive Clustering-Based Patient Normalization to Improve Automated In Vivo Oral Cancer Diagnosis from Multispectral Autofluorescence Lifetime Images.

Multispectral autofluorescence lifetime imaging systems have recently been developed to quickly and non-invasively assess tissue properties for applications in oral cancer diagnosis. As a non-traditional imaging modality, the autofluorescence signal collected from the system cannot be directly visually assessed by a clinician and a model is needed to generate a diagnosis for each image. However, training a deep learning model from scratch on small multispectral autofluorescence datasets can fail due to inter-patient variability, poor initialization, and overfitting.

Cardiovascular PET imaging of fibroblast activation A review of the current literature.

Fibrosis is one of the key healing responses to injury, especially within the heart where it helps to maintain structural integrity following acute insults such as myocardial infarction. However, if it becomes dysregulated then fibrosis can become maladaptive leading to adverse remodelling, impaired cardiac function and heart failure. Fibroblast activation protein is exclusively expressed by activated fibroblasts, the key effector cells of fibrogenesis, and has a unique extracellular domain that is an ideal ligand for novel molecular imaging probes.

Analysis of the key component puff-by-puff transport in special segments and aerosol for electrical heated tobacco product.

Understanding the puff-by-puff delivery mechanisms of key components of heated tobacco products is critical to developing product designs. This study investigates the puff-by-puff release patterns of key components in Natural Smoke Cigarettes (NSCs), which are designed to deliver nicotine without combustion by reducing oxygen content, utilizing a 30-s puff interval, a 2-s puff duration, and a 55 mL puff volume to simulate realistic smoking conditions. By establishing models to analyze the variation of nicotine, glycerol, 1,2-propylene glycol (PG), and water in different functional sections of the cigarette under controlled smoking conditions.

Anti-integrin αvβ6 antibody as a biomarker for diagnosing ulcerative colitis: a nationwide multicenter validation study.

Background: A serum biomarker for diagnosing ulcerative colitis (UC) remains to be established. Although we recently reported an anti-integrin αvβ6 antibody (V6 Ab) for diagnosing UC with high sensitivity and specificity, no large-scale validation study exists. This study aimed to validate the diagnostic value of V6 Ab for UC using a nationwide multicenter cohort study.

Direct and Gradual Electrical Testicular Shocks Stimulate Spermatogenesis and Activate Sperms in Infertile Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Infertility was reported in approximately 15% of all heterozygous couples, with the male factor accounting for nearly half of the cases. This typically occurs due to low sperm production, sperm dysfunction, and sperm delivery obstruction. In this randomized controlled single-blind clinical trial, 90 infertile male subjects diagnosed with oligospermia, hypospermia, asthenozoospermia, or necrozoospermia were recruited.

The updated prevalence and risk factors of dementia in old adults in China: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The continuously increasing aging population and life expectancy have led to an inconsistent and underestimated dementia prevalence in China. An updated epidemiologic study is urgently needed.

Objective: To update the prevalence rate and risk factors of dementia in China.

Differential effects of imeglimin and metformin on insulin and incretin secretion-An exploratory randomized controlled trial.

Aims: Imeglimin is a new oral anti-diabetic drug with a similar structure to that of metformin; however, unlike metformin, clinical trials indicate that imeglimin elicits its glucose-lowering effect mainly by enhancement of insulin secretion. The comparative effects of the two drugs on incretin secretion remains to be elucidated.

Materials And Methods: A single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial was conducted in patients with type 2 diabetes who were drug-naïve or were on a single oral hypoglycaemic agent (OHA).