Snare-Assisted Flexion of 27-French Leadless Pacemaker Delivery Sheath: A Case Report.

Introduction: A leadless pacemaker (LLPM) was recommended for a patient with intermittent complete heart block and near-syncope.

Methods And Results: Delivery of LLPM is through a large sheath that has limited deflection and steerability. This report describes the successful deployment of a ventricular LLPM in a patient with prior surgical correction of AV septal defect with subsequent significant right atrial enlargement.

Innovative Method for Reliable Measurement of PEM Water Electrolyzer Component Resistances.

Understanding the sheet resistance of porous electrodes is essential for improving the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers and related technologies. Despite its importance, existing methods often fail to provide reliable and comprehensive data, especially for porous materials with complex morphologies and non-uniform thicknesses. This study introduces a robust and straightforward method for determining the sheet resistance of porous electrodes using a novel probe concept based on industrial printed circuit board (PCB) technology.

Solution Blow Spinning: An Emerging Nanomaterials-Based Wound-Care Technology.

Application of one-dimensional nanofibers have witnessed exponential growth over the past few decades and are still emerging with their excellent physicochemical and electrical properties. The driving force behind this intriguing transition lies in their unique high surface-to-volume ratio, ubiquitous nanodomains, improved tensile strength, and flexibility to incorporate deliberate functionalities required for specific and advanced applications. Besides numerous benefits, nanomaterials may adversely interact with biological tissues and potentially be cytotoxic and carcinogenic.

Direct Observation of Substantial Phonon Nonequilibrium Near Nanoscale Hotspots in Gallium Nitride.

Phonon modal nonequilibrium is believed to widely exist around nanoscale hotspots, which can significantly affect the performance of nano-electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, such a phenomenon has not been explicitly observed in 3D device semiconductors at the nanoscale. Here, by employing a tip-enhanced Raman thermal measurement approach, substantial phonon nonequilibrium in gallium nitride near sub-10 nm laser-excited hotspots is directly revealed for the first time.

Deciphering the Neural Effects of Emotional, Motivational, and Cognitive Challenges on Inhibitory Control Processes.

Converging lines of research indicate that inhibitory control is likely to be compromised in contexts that place competing demands on emotional, motivational, and cognitive systems, potentially leading to damaging impulsive behavior. The objective of this study was to identify the neural impact of three challenging contexts that typically compromise self-regulation and weaken impulse control. Participants included 66 healthy adults (M/SD = 29.

Regulatory B-Cells Are Associated Negatively With Regulatory T-Cells and Positively With Cytokines in Peripheral Blood of Pregnant Women.

Problem: Regulatory B-cells (Bregs, CD19CD24CD38) are a specialized B-cell subset that suppresses immune responses and potentially contribute to the maintenance of an immune-privileged environment for fetal development during pregnancy. However, little is known about the surrounding immunological environment of Bregs in gestational physiology. The relationship of regulatory T-cells (Tregs, CD4CD25CD127FoxP3) to Bregs in coordinating immunoregulation during pregnancy is unknown.

Lifetime age-related changes in clinical laboratory results, aging clocks and mortality predictors in 2412 Golden Retrievers.

In this study, we investigated age-related changes in clinical laboratory data and their association with mortality in dogs from the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. By analyzing complete blood count (CBC) and biochemistry data from 2'412 Golden Retrievers over 16,678 visits, we observed significant changes during the first 2 years of life and throughout aging. Based on these observations, we developed a biological aging clock using a LASSO model to predict age based on blood markers, achieving an accuracy of R = 0.

Permanent Left Bundle Branch Area DF-4 Defibrillator Lead Implantation-Feasibility, Procedural Caveats, Safety, and Follow-Up.

Introduction: Permanent implantation of a DF-4 implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) lead in the left bundle branch area (LBBA-ICD) is the next paradigm in amalgamating cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and defibrillation. We systematically investigated feasibility/success rate, procedural caveats, and complications associated with a permanent DF-4 LBBA ICD implant and pertinent data at short-term follow-up.

Methods: We prospectively attempted implantation of 7 Fr Durata (Abbott, Chicago, IL, USA) single coil DF-4 ICD lead at the LBBA using a fixed-curve non-deflectable CPS locator delivery sheath.

Association of Influenza Vaccination During Pregnancy with Health Outcomes in Mothers and Children: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Immunization rates of maternal influenza vaccination during pregnancy remain suboptimal, with concerns about potential harm to the mothers and their offspring. We conducted a population-based cohort study, using mother-child linked database in Korea: (a) maternal cohort between December 2019, and March 2022; (b) neonatal cohort between September 2020, and June 2021. Exposure was defined as influenza vaccination during pregnancy.

Oxidative stress in critically ill neonatal foals.

Background: Oxidative injury occurs in septic people, but the role of oxidative stress and antioxidants has rarely been evaluated in foals.

Objectives/hypothesis: To measure reactive oxygen species (ROS), biomarkers of oxidative injury, and antioxidants in neonatal foals. We hypothesized that ill foals would have higher blood concentrations of ROS and biomarkers of oxidative injury and lower concentrations of antioxidants compared to healthy foals.

Factoring fu Variability Into Estimates of Unbound Drug Concentrations Negatively Biases the MIC Versus % Probability of Target Attainment Relationship of Antimicrobial Agents.

The clinical breakpoint for a drug-pathogen combination reflects the drug susceptibility of the pathogen wild-type population, the location of the infection, the integrity of the host immune response, and the drug-pathogen pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) relationship. That PK/PD relationship, along with the population variability in drug exposure, is used to determine the probability of target attainment (PTA) of the PK/PD index at a specified minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for a selected target value. The PTA is used to identify the pharmacodynamic cutoff value (CO), which is one of the three components used to establish the clinical breakpoint.

Disco-Interacting Protein 2 Homolog B CGG Repeat Expansion in Siblings with Neurodevelopmental Disability and Progressive Movement Disorder.

Background: Trinucleotide repeat expansions are an emerging class of genetic variants associated with various movement disorders. Unbiased genome-wide analyses can reveal novel genotype-phenotype associations and provide a diagnosis for patients and families.

Objective: The aim was to identify the genetic cause of a severe progressive movement disorder phenotype in 2 affected brothers.

Vegetation Types Shift Physiological and Phenological Controls on Carbon Sink Strength in a Coastal Zone.

The carbon sink function performed by the different vegetation types along the environmental gradient in coastal zones plays a vital role in mitigating climate change. However, inadequate understanding of its spatiotemporal variations across different vegetation types and associated regulatory mechanisms hampers determining its potential shifts in a changing climate. Here, we present long-term (2011-2022) eddy covariance measurements of the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO at three sites with different vegetation types (tidal wetland, nontidal wetland, and cropland) in a coastal zone to examine the role of vegetation type on annual carbon sink strength.

Examining the influence of encoding and retrieval contexts on 2- to 4-year-olds' acquisition of nouns and verbs.

This study investigates whether the context in which a word is learnt affects noun and verb learning. There is mixed evidence in studies of noun learning, and no studies of background perceptual context in verb learning. Two-, three-, and four-year-olds (n = 162) saw a novel object moved in a novel way while hearing four novel words, either nouns or verbs.

Testing One Primary and Two Secondary Endpoints in a Two-Stage Group Sequential Trial With Extensions.

We study the problem of testing multiple secondary endpoints conditional on a primary endpoint being significant in a two-stage group sequential procedure, focusing on two secondary endpoints. This extends our previous work with one secondary endpoint. The test for the secondary null hypotheses is a closed procedure.

Non-Ablative Fractional 1940-nm Diode Laser for Skin Resurfacing and Treatment of Benign Pigmented Lesions.

Background: The non-ablative 1940-nm laser induces controlled thermal damage at superficial depths without ablating the epidermis.

Objective: We evaluated a new 1940-nm fractional diode laser for improving pigmentation and skin texture.

Materials And Methods: Participants with mild to severe benign pigmented lesions received up to three laser treatments.

Iodinated Contrast Adsorption in Cartridges With Styrene-Divinylbenzene Sorbent.

Background: Contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) is frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease who are submitted to cardiac endovascular procedures using iodinated contrast. In hemoadsorption, cartridges containing styrene-divinylbenzene sorbent resin are applied to remove substances from the blood through an extracorporeal circuit. Importantly, iodinated contrast is also removed via adsorption.

Sex-specific activation of platelet purinergic signaling is key in local cytokine release and phagocytosis in the peritoneal cavity in intra-abdominal sepsis.

Intra-abdominal sepsis is a life-threatening complex syndrome caused by microbes in the gut microbiota invading the peritoneal cavity. It is one of the major complications of intra-abdominal surgery. To date, only supportive therapies are available.

Stand density and local climate drive allocation of GPP to aboveground woody biomass.

The partitioning of photosynthate among various forest carbon pools is a key process regulating long-term carbon sequestration, with allocation to aboveground woody biomass carbon (AGBC) in particular playing an outsized role in the global carbon cycle due to its slow residence time. However, directly estimating the fraction of gross primary productivity (GPP) that goes to AGBC has historically been difficult and time-consuming, leaving us with persistent uncertainties. We used an extensive dataset of tree-ring chronologies co-located at flux towers to assess the coupling between AGBC and GPP, calculate the fraction of fixed carbon that is allocated to AGBC, and understand the drivers of variability in this fraction.

Cognitive impairment and limited health literacy are associated with poor health outcomes among patients with heart failure residing in rural areas.

Background: Cognitive impairment and limited health literacy are prevalent among patients with heart failure, particularly those residing in rural areas, and are linked to poor health outcomes. Little is known about the intricate relationships among cognitive function, health literacy, and rehospitalization and death in rural patients with heart failure.

Objectives: To determine the relationships among cognitive function, health literacy, and cardiac event-free survival (ie, heart failure hospitalizations and cardiac mortality) in rural patients with heart failure.

Clinical outcomes of conversion prosthesis in immediately loaded implants: A retrospective study.

Purpose: The primary objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the survival outcomes of immediately loaded acrylic resin complete arch fixed implant-supported prosthesis (CAFIP) fabricated from the denture conversion protocol. The secondary objective was to evaluate the early implant survival outcomes associated with these prostheses.

Material And Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to study the clinical outcomes data of immediately loaded conversion prostheses and immediately loaded implants.

Rejunctive Moves Toward Systemic Healing: A Contextual Family Therapy Approach to Father's Absence.

The phenomena of father's absence and the disruption of a family unit due to social justice issues like incarceration and mental health/substance misuse challenges are widely documented, and their effects on the whole family are well established in the literature. This paper specifically examines how systemic inequities like racism contribute to destructive entitlements that can occur transgenerationally within families affected by father's absence. The consideration of racial trauma is crucial, as father's absence and family disruption are not limited to any one racial or ethnic group, but the effects are often exacerbated for families of color due to the intersecting impacts of systemic racism.