Synchronous electrical cardioversion is a relatively common procedure in the emergency department (ED), often performed for unstable supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) or unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT). However, it is also used for stable cases resistant to drug therapy, which carry a risk of deterioration. In addition to the inherent risks linked with procedural sedation, there is a possibility of malignant arrhythmias or bradycardia, which could potentially result in cardiac arrest following this procedure. Here, we present a case of complete heart block unresponsive to transcutaneous pacing and positive inotropic and chronotropic drugs for 90 minutes, resulting in multiple cardiac arrests. The repositioning of the transcutaneous cardio-stimulation electrodes, one of them placed in the left latero-sternal position and the other at the level of the apex, led to immediate stabilization of the patient. Extubation of the patient was performed the following day, while full recovery and discharge within 7 days, after insertion of a permanent pacemaker.

(1) Background: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) represents unexplained and sudden deaths during the sleep of infants under one year of age, despite thorough investigation. Screening for prolonged QTc or Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) should be conducted on all newborns to reduce the incidence of SIDS. Neonatal electrocardiogram (ECG) could identify congenital heart defects (CHD) early, especially those not detected at birth. Infants with prolonged QT intervals typically undergo genetic analysis for Long QT Syndrome; (2) Methods: The study involved infants aged 20-40 days, born clinically healthy, with initial ECG screening. Infants with prenatal diagnoses or signs/symptoms of CHD identified immediately after birth, as well as those who underwent ECG or echocardiogram for other clinical or historical indications, were excluded from the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0; (3) Results: Of the 42,200 infants involved, 2,245 were enrolled, with 39.9% being males. Subsequently, 164 children (37.8% males) with prolonged QT intervals underwent further diagnostic investigations. Genetic mutations were identified in 11 out of 18 tested children. The most common mutations were LQT1 (54.5%), LQT2 (36.4%), and LQT3 (1 patient). Medications used included propranolol (39.8%), nadolol (22.2%), inderal (11.1%), metoprolol (11.1%), and no treatment (16.7%). The most common abnormalities were focal right bundle branch block (54.5%), left axis deviation (9.2%), and nonspecific ventricular repolarization abnormalities (7.1%). Multiple anomalies were found in 0.47% of children with focal right bundle branch block. Structural abnormalities were associated with specific features in 267 patients (11.9%), primarily isolated patent foramen ovale (PFO) at 61.4%; (4) Conclusions: The screening has proven effective in early diagnosing Long QT Syndrome and other cardiac rhythm anomalies, with additional benefits in detecting mutations and/or QTc prolongations in family members. Identifying other ECG abnormalities and congenital heart malformations further enhances the benefits of the screening.

Background: Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; left ventricular diastolic dysfunction plays a leading role in this clinical context. Diastolic dysfunction may be predisposed by increased abdominal fat and, consequently, increased pericardial and epicardial adiposity. This study aimed to determine whether pericardial and epicardial fat are associated with left ventricular diastolic function. Methods: 82 patients had their abdominal circumference measured and underwent transthoracic echocardiography to measure the thickness of pericardial and epicardial fat and assess the left ventricular diastolic function. Two groups were created based on mean pericardial fat thickness (4.644 mm) and were related to abdominal circumference and echocardiographic parameters. Results: Subjects in the PF High group showed a significant decrease in septal e' (p<0.0001), lateral e' (p<0.0001) and E/A ratio (p=0.003) and a significant increase in E/e' ratio (p<0. 0001), E wave deceleration time (p=0. 013), left atrial volume (p<0.0001), LV mass (p=0.003), tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (p<0.0001) and LV diameter (p=0.014) compared to the PF Low group. Conclusions: Measurement of abdominal circumference, pericardial and epicardial fat is an early indicator of diastolic changes with transthoracic echocardiography being the gold standard exam.

Introduction: Digitalis use in patients with severe heart failure is controversial. We assessed the effects of digitalis therapy on mortality in a large, observational study in recipients of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Methods: Consecutive patients receiving a CRT-defibrillator in three European tertiary referral centers were enrolled and followed for a median of 28 months. Digitalis use was assessed at the time of CRT implantation. Multivariate Cox-regression model and propensity score matching was used to determine all-cause mortality as primary endpoint. CRT-response (defined as improvement of ≥1 NYHA class), echocardiographic improvement (defined as improvement of LVEF of ≥ 5%), and ICD shocks were assessed as secondary endpoints. Results: The study comprised 552 CRT recipients with standard indications, including 219 patients (40%) treated with digitalis. Compared to patients without digitalis, they had more often atrial fibrillation, poorer LVEF and higher NYHA class (all p ≤ 0.002). Crude analysis of all-cause mortality demonstrated a similar relative risk of death for patients with and without digitalis (HR=1.14; 95% CI 0.88-1.5; p=0.40). After adjustment for independent predictors of mortality, digitalis therapy did not alter the risk for death (adjusted HR=1.04; 95% CI 0.75-1.45; p=0.82). Also, in comparison to 286 propensity score matched patients, mortality was not affected by digitalis intake (propensity adjusted HR=1.11; 95% CI 0.72-1.70; p=0.64). CRT response was predominant in digitalis non-users concerning both improvement of HF symptoms and LVEF (NYHA p<0.01; LVEF p<0.01) while patients on digitalis had more often ventricular tachyarrhythmias requiring ICD shock (p=0.01). Conclusions: Digitalis therapy had no effect on mortality but did negatively affect CRT response and susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias requiring ICD shock treatment.

BACKGROUNDː The so-called Low Cardiac Output Syndrome (LCOS) is one of the most common complications in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease undergoing corrective surgery. LCOS requires high concentrations of inotropes to support cardiac contractility and improve cardiac output, allowing for a better systemic perfusion. To date, serum lactate concentrations and central venous oxygen saturation (ScVO2) are the most commonly used perfusion markers, but they are not completely reliable to identify a state of global tissue hypoxia. The study aims to evaluate whether the venoarterial carbon dioxide difference/arterial-venous oxygen difference ratio [P(v-a)CO2/C(a-v)O2] can be a good index to predict the development of LCOS in the aforemen-tioned patients, so as to treat it promptly. METHODSː This study followed a population of 98 children undergoing corrective cardiac surgery from June 2018 to October 2020 at the Department of Cardiac Surgery of University Hospital Inte-grated Trust and their subsequent admission at the Postoperative Cardiothoracic Surgery Intensive Care Unit. During the study, central arterial and venous blood gas analysis were carried out before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (pre-CPB and post-CPB), at admission to intensive care unit, before and after extubation and at any time of instability or modification of the patient’s clinical and therapeutic conditions. RESULTSː The data analysis shows that 46.9% of the children developed a LCOS (in line with the current literature) but that there is no statistically significant association between the P(v-a)CO2/C(a-v)O2 ratio and LCOS onset. Despite the limits of statistical significance, however, a 31% increase in the ratio emerged from the pre-CPB phase to the post-CPB phase when LCOS is present. CONCLUSIONSː This study confirms a statistically significant association between the most used markers in adult patients (serum lactate concentration, ScVO2 and oxygen extraction ratio-ERO2) measured in the pre-CPB phase and the incidence of LCOS onset, especially in patients with he-modynamic instability before surgery.

(1)Background:The purpose of the study was conducted to investigate the recovery of heart rate according to the performance level and rest interval conditions during 65%1RM bench press exercise;(2)Methods:The subjects of this study were eight healthy male college studentsin their 20 (years) attending University C. 1RM was measured before theexperiment, and the exercise sequence of six rest intervals (30sec, 1, 2, 3, 4,5min) was randomly selected and cross-distribution experiment. The experimental measurement was conducted a total of six times according to the rest interval condition (six conditions) once every 3 days to minimize the learning effect. The data was verified with repeated measures Two-way ANOVA and Contrast's repeated method was applied for post-comparison;(3)Results: First, the amount of exercise and the number of repetitions statistically substantially dropped (p&lt;.001) as the number of sets rose, and a greater decline was shown when the rest periods got shorter. Second, the heart rate after exercise was increased significantly (p&lt;.01) as the set progressed in the long rest interval conditions (4, 5min), and the heart rate after rest was increased statistically significantly (p&lt;,05) as the set progressed in the short rest interval conditions (30sec, 1min). Third, the heart rate recovery rate (%) was able to perform more repetitions than in the short rest interval condition due to the relatively high physiological recovery of the neuromuscular and circulatory system under the long rest interval condition;(4)Conclusions: Therefore, according to the rest conditionduring the 65%1RM bench press exercise conducted in this study, the restinterval condition of 2~3min may be effective in improving muscular endurance,and the rest interval condition of 4~5min may be effective in improving muscular hypertrophy. As a result of this study, there was a significant difference in exercise performance (repetition) and physiological recovery depending on the rest interval condition according to the set progress during the same intensity resistance exercise. Through this, it is judged that it is possible to adjust the amount of exercise appropriate for the purpose of training by adjusting not only the intensity during resistance exercise but also the rest interval between sets.

The use of active video games or exergames has been booming recently, as they are motivating and promote exercise and healthy lifestyle habits for their users, and these immersive virtual reality (IVR) exercise programs could be compared to traditional physical exercise programs. A starting point for this would be to explore the physiological responses that can be generated by its use. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the response across certain physiological parameters (heart rate, blood pressure and stress) after an IVR exergame exposure in a sample of healthy adults, and secondarily to explore its feasibility and usefulness as a tool to facilitate physical exercise. 37 healthy adults (22-54 years, 54.1% women) participated in the study. They carried out one exergaming session with the HTC Vive ProTM hardware. The primary outcome was evaluated using the concentration of cortisol, heart rate and blood pressure. Secondary outcomes were evaluated with safety using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ); usability evaluated with the System Usability Scale (SUS); personal experiences evaluated with Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) and perceived exertion through the Borg perceived effort scale. All participants completed the IVR session without significant adverse effects, and all physiological parameters analysed increased significantly in relation to pre-intervention levels. Perceived exertion corresponded to a moderate to intense exercise (6.30±0.50/10 on the modified Borg scale). All the sample considered the experience as good or very good and would recommend it. These findings support that our IVR session can be compared to a moderate to intense physical activity, as it involved similar perceived exertion with significant increases in heart rate, blood pressure and salivary cortisol levels.

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is part of a clinical syndrome consisting of acute left ventricular failure causing severe hypotension leading to inadequate organ and tissue perfusion. The most com-monly used devices to support patients affected by CS are Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP), Impella 2.5 pump and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The aim of this study is the com-parison between Impella and IABP using CARDIOSIM© software simulator of the cardiovascular system. The results of the simulations included baseline conditions from a virtual patient in CS followed by IABP assistance in synchronized mode with different driving and vacuum pressures. Subsequently, the same baseline conditions were supported by the Impella 2.5 with different ro-tational speeds. The percentage variation with respect to baseline conditions was calculated for hemodynamic and energetic variables during IABP and Impella assistance. Impella pump driven with a rotational speed of 50000 rpm increased the total flow by 4.36% with a reduction in left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) by ≅15% to ≅30%. A reduction in left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV) by ≅10% to ≅18% (≅12% to ≅33%) was observed with IABP (Impella) as-sistance. Taking into account the limitations of a simulation setting, this study highlights that assistance with the Impella device leads to higher reduction in LVESV, LVEDV, left ventricular external work and left atrial pressure-volume loop area compared to IABP support.

This article presents raw data of biaxial tensile measurements of rat heart passive myocardium conducted in lab scale environment. The passive myocardium of the rat was divided into three regions, namely: left ventricle, mid-wall and right ventricle. The biaxial dataset of passive rat myocardia is presented as stress vs strain of the passive rat myocardium in various regions. The determination of valid material properties of the heart plays an important role in the development computational models. These computational models are useful in studying various scenarios and mechanisms of heart diseases. In addition, valid and accurate materials are critical in the development of new therapies. The dataset presented here is useful in the area of soft tissue mechanics including studying the mechanisms of heart diseases such as myocardial infarction. Accordingly, the evaluation of stress and strain in left ventricle, mid-wall and right ventricle was performed.

(1) Background: New sensor technologies in wearables and other consumer health devices open up promising opportunities to collect real-world data. As cardiovascular diseases remain reason number one for disease and mortality worldwide, cardiology offers potent monitoring use-cases with patients in their out-of-hospital daily routine. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to investigate the status quo of studies monitoring patients with cardiovascular risks and patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases in a telemedical setting using not only a smartphone-based app, but also consumer health devices such as wearables and other sensor-based devices. (2) Methods: A literature search was conducted across five databases and the results were examined according to the study protocols, technical approaches and qualitative and quantitative parameters measured. (3) Results: Out of 166 articles, 8 studies were included in this systematic review. These cover interventional and observational monitoring approaches in the area of cardiovascular diseases, heart failure and atrial fibrillation using various app, wearable and health device combination. (4) Conclusions: Depending on the researcher’s motivation a fusion of apps, patient reported outcome measures and non-invasive sensors can be orchestrated in a meaningful way adding major contributions to monitoring concepts for both, individual patients and larger cohorts.

Background: Sacubitril/valsartan has been shown to be superior to enalapril in reducing the risks of death and hospitalization for heart failure (HF). However the effect on cardiac performance remains unknown. We sought to evaluate the effects of sacubitril/valsartan on clinical, bioumoral and echocardiographic parameters in patients with HFrEF. Methods: Sacubitril/valsartan was administered to 205 HFrEF patients. Results: Among 230 patients (mean age 59 ± 10 years, 46% with ischemic heart disease) 205 (89%) completed the study. After a follow–up of 10.49 (2.93±18.44) months, the percentage of patients in NYHA class III changed from 40% to 17% (p<0.001). Median N–Type natriuretic peptide (Nt-proBNP) decreased from 1865 ± 2318 to 1514 ± 2205 pg/mL, (p=0.01). Furosemide dose reduced from 131.3 ± 154.5 to 120 ± 142.5 (p=0.047). Ejection fraction (from 27± 5.9% to 30 ± 7.7% (p<0.001) and E/A ratio (from 1.67 ± 1.21 to 1.42 ± 1.12 (p=0.002)) improved. Moderate to severe mitral regurgitation (from 30.1% to 17.4%; p=0.002) and tricuspid velocity decreased from 2.8 ± 0.55 m/sec to 2.64 ± 0.59 m/sec (p<0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Sacubitril/valsartan induce “hemodynamic reverse remodeling” and in association with Nt-proBNP concentrations lowering improve NYHA class despite a diuretic dose reduction.

Background: Several preventive strategies to reduce dyslipidaemia, have been suggested of which dietary modification features as an important one. Addition of almonds in our daily diets has been proposed to beneficially impact the lipid profile. This review critically examines the available evidence assessing the effect of almonds on dyslipidaemia in the South Asian (particularly Indian) context. Methods: An extensive review comprising of epidemiological studies, clinical trials, meta-analyses and systematic reviews was conducted from published literature from across the world. Studies examining the effect of almonds on different aspects of dyslipidaemia viz. high LDL-C, low HDL-C, triglyceridaemia, high total cholesterol levels have been included. Results: Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and strategies to manage dyslipidaemia have been shown to reduce the incidence of CVD. Although there are proven pharmacological therapies to help manage this condition, there are not many nutritional interventions which can impact dyslipidaemia. Almonds have been shown to reduce LDL-C which is a known risk factor for CHD, in several studies and the effect of almonds has been well documented in systematic reviews and meta-analysis of clinical trials. Conclusions: Addition of almonds in the diet has been shown to not only to reduce LDL-C levels, but also to maintain HDL-C levels. This review informs about the use of this simple nutritional strategy which may help manage known major risk factors for heart disease such as high LDL-C and low HDL-C levels especially in the context of South Asians.

In this study, Portulaca oleracea (purslane) was investigated as a potential antioxidant supplement in cooked sausages, with a focus on its effects on lipid oxidation, fatty acid composition, and antioxidant activity. The fatty acid profile of the sausages enriched with 1.2% of purslane powder, revealed a 1.3-fold increase in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential omega-3 fatty acid. Improved oxidative stability during refrigerated storage was observed, with peroxide values of 10.9 meq/kg in the sausages with purslane by day 10, compared to 12.5 meq/kg in the control sausages. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values, reflecting lipid peroxidation, were also significantly lower in the sausages with purslane. The antioxidant capacity was significantly enhanced in the sausages containing purslane, which demonstrated a Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) of 13.5 mg GAE/g, whereas the control sausages showed undetectable FRAP levels. Additionally, the DPPH radical scavenging activity in the sausages with purslane was 21.70%, compared to 13.73% in the control. These findings suggest that purslane not only improves the nutritional profile of meat products by increasing beneficial fatty acids but also provides substantial protection against oxidative spoilage. Portulaca oleracea offers a promising natural alternative to synthetic antioxidants, enhancing both the shelf life and quality of processed meats.

Mutations in p53 and KRAS are seen in most cases of colon cancer. The impact of these mutations on signaling pathways related to cancer growth has been studied in depth, but relatively less is known on their effects on amino acid transporters in cancer cells. This represents a significant knowledge gap because amino acid nutrition in cancer cells profoundly influences macropinocytosis and ferroptosis, two processes with opposing effects on tumor growth. Here we used isogenic colon cancer cell lines to investigate the effects of p53 loss and KRAS activation on two amino acid transporters relevant to macropinocytosis (SLC38A5) and ferroptosis (SLC7A11). Our studies show that the predominant effect of p53 loss is to induce SLC7A11 with resultant potentiation of antioxidant machinery and protection of cancer cells from ferroptosis whereas KRAS activation induces not only SLC7A11 but also SLC38A5, thus offering protection from ferroptosis as well as improving amino acid nutrition in cancer cells via accelerated macropinocytosis. Niclosamide, an FDA-approved anti-helminthic, blocks the functions of SLC7A11 and SLC38A5, thus inducing ferroptosis and suppressing macropinocytosis with resultant effective reversal of tumor-promoting actions of oncogenic mutations in p53 and KRAS. These findings underscore the potential of this drug in colon cancer treatment.

Prolonged ethanol (EtOH) consumption is associated with male infertility with a decreased spermatogenesis rate as one cause. Defective maturation and development of sperm during their storage in the cauda epididymis and transit in the seminal vesicle can be another cause, possibly occurring before the drastic spermatogenesis disruption. Herein, we demonstrated that the cauda epididymis and seminal vesicle of rats, orally fed with EtOH under a regimen that spermatogenesis was still ongoing, showed histological damage, including lesion and decreased height of the epithelial cells, and increased collagen fibers in the muscle layer, which implicated fibrosis. Lipid peroxidation (shown by malondialdehyde (MDA) levels) was observed, indicating that reactive oxygen species (ROS) was produced along with acetaldehyde during EtOH metabolism by CYP2E1. MDA, acetaldehyde and other lipid peroxidation products could further damage cellular components of the cauda epididymis and seminal vesicle and this was supported by increased apoptosis (shown by TUNEL assay and caspase 9/caspase 3 expression) in these two tissues of EtOH-treated rats. Consequently, functionality of the cauda epididymis and seminal vesicle in EtOH-treated rats was impaired, as demonstrated by decreases in 1H NMR-analyzed metabolites (e.g., carnitine, fructose), which were important for sperm development, metabolism and survival in their lumen.

We have shown that lipid-associated loci discovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have pleiotropic effects on lipid metabolism, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and CAD risk. Here, we investigated the impact of lipid-associated GWAS loci on the efficacy of rosuvastatin therapy in terms of changes in plasma lipid levels and CIMT. The study comprised 116 CAD patients with hypercholesterolemia. CIMT, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) were measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of follow-up, respectively. Genotyping of fifteen lipid-associated GWAS loci was performed by the MassArray-4 System. Linear regression analysis adjusted for sex, age, body mass index, and rosuvastatin dose was used to estimate the phenotypic effects of polymorphisms, and P-values were calculated through adaptive permutation tests. Over one-year therapy, a decrease in CIMT was linked to rs1689800, rs4846914, rs12328675, rs55730499, rs9987289, rs11220463, rs16942887, and rs881844 polymorphisms (Pperm&lt;0.05). TC change was associated with rs55730499, rs11220463, and rs6065906; LDL-C change was linked to the rs55730499, rs1689800, and rs16942887 polymorphisms; and TG change was linked to polymorphisms rs838880 and rs1883025 (Pperm&lt;0.05). In conclusion, the polymorphisms rs1689800, rs55730499, rs11220463, and rs16942887 were found to be predictive markers for multiple antiatherogenic effects of rosuvastatin in CAD patients.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is induced by thiamine deficiency (TD) and mainly related to alcohol consumption. Frontal cortex dysfunction has been associated to impulsivity and disinhibition in WKS patients. The pathophysiology involves oxidative stress, excitotoxicity and inflammatory responses leading to neuronal death, but the relative contributions of each factor (alcohol and TD, isolate or in interaction) to these phenomena are still poorly understood. A rat model was used by forced consumption of 20% (w/v) alcohol for 9 months (CA), TD hit (TD diet + pyrithiamine 0.25 mg/kg, i.p. daily injections the last 12 days of experimentation; TDD), and both combined treatments (CA+TDD). Motor and cognitive performance and cortical damage were examined. CA caused hyperlocomotion as a possible sensitization of ethanol-induced excitatory effects and recognition memory deficits. In addition, CA+TDD animals showed a disinhibited-like behavior, which appears to be dependent on TDD. Also, combined treatment led to more pronounced alterations in nitrosative stress, lipid peroxidation, apoptosis and cell damage markers. Correlations between injury signals and disinhibition suggest that CA+TDD disrupts behaviors dependent on the frontal cortex. Our study sheds light on the potential disease-specific mechanisms, reinforcing the need for neuroprotective therapeutic approaches along with preventive treatments for the nutritional deficiency in WKS.

HIV-1 is a complicated and perplexing virus. It infects T cells, reverse transcribes its RNA into DNA, utilizes its host DNA machinery to replicate its HIV-DNA, translates the HIV-DNA into proteins, assembles itself for a budding escape from the T cell, and rapidly mutates its conformation. Partially, due to its complexity, there remains no cure for HIV or AIDs. However, recently with the discovery of TALENs, the use of zinc fingers, and most of all the applications of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, has given researchers new hope in finding alternative gene therapies and treatments for diseases. With more focus on CRISPR-Cas9, this new and novel technology uses a guiding RNA, sgRNA, to lead a Cas9 nuclease to its target for deletion or to change that DNA site. CRISPR-Cas9 can delete point mutations and multiple DNA sites. Because CRISPR can alter DNA sequences, several scientists have conducted research into CRISPR, possibly treating more diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and even HIV. HIV-1 drew the focus of a researcher named Dr. Ebina in 2013 when he was the first to design and apply CRISPR-Cas9 to genes found in the binding sites of HIV-1, inhibiting HIV-1 gene expression. Since 2013, several other researchers have blocked HIV replication and infection through CRISPR-Cas9 targeting the receptors of T cells called the CC chemokine receptor 5 or CCR5. HIV-1 binds to the CD4 receptor of T cells, which consists of co-receptors CCR5 and CXCR4. If CCR5 expression can be removed, the HIV virus cannot bind to T-cells, blocking the initial attachment stage, and discontinuing the infection. However, there remain obstacles and issues for the CRISPR deletion of CCR5 for treating HIV-1. The issues include: 1) finding new and safe methods of CRISPR-Cas9 delivery, 2) clearing the latent HIV reservoirs, 3) improving the sgRNA design to avoid off-target mutations or deletions, and 4) effectively analyze the viral escape of HIV from CRISPR-Cas9 modifications. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss possible techniques for removing the obstacles that can lessen the potential of CRISPR to delete CCR5, repressing HIV-1 into long-term remission or a functional cure.

The biophysical consequences of nanoscale curvature have been challenging to resolve due to size-dependent membrane behavior and the experimental resolution limits imposed by optical diffraction. Recent advances in nanoengineering and super-resolution techniques have enabled new capabilities for creating and observing curvature. In particular, draping supported lipid bilayers over lithographically patterned substrates provides a model system for endocytic pits. The experiments and simulations presented below describe the possible detection of membrane curvature through fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), single particle tracking (SPT), and polarized localization microscopy (PLM). FRAP and FCS depend on diffraction-limited illumination and detection. In particular, a simulation of FRAP shows no effects on lipids diffusion due to a 50 nm diameter membrane bud at any stage in the budding process. Simulated FCS demonstrated small effects due to a 50 nm radius membrane bud that was amplified with curvature-dependent lipid mobility changes. However, PLM and SPT achieve sub-diffraction-limited resolution of membrane budding and lipid mobility through the identification of the single-lipid positions with ≤15 nm spatial and ≤20 ms temporal resolution. By mapping the single-lipid step lengths to locations on the membrane, the effects of curvature on lipid behavior have been resolved.

We have collected theoretical arguments supporting the functional role of nano-metallic coatings of solar cells, which enhance their efficiency via by plasmon strengthening of absorption of sun-light photons and reduction of binding energy of photo-excitons. The quantum character of plasmonic effect related with the absorption of photons (called as optical plasmonic effect) is described in terms of Fermi golden rule for quantum transitions of semiconductor band electrons induced by plasmons from a nano-metallic coating. The plasmonic effect related with the lowering of exciton binding energy (called as electrical plasmonic effect) is also quantumly characterized with particular significance for metalized perovskite solar cells. Quantum coupling between plasmons in nanoparticles from a coating with band electrons in a semiconductor substrate significantly modifies material properties (dielectric functions) both of particles and of a semiconductor, beyond the ability of a classical electrodynamics description.

Recent algorithmic-based research in the stock market has predominantly focused on ultra-high-frequency trading and index estimation. We developed an improved algorithm to address the need for a low-frequency, real-world trading model to build on the existing high hit-ratio and low maximum drawdown. We utilized established price indicators, Stochastic and Williams %R, and introduced a volume factor to increase the model's safety to enhance the model's performance. This improved algorithm demonstrated superior returns while maintaining high hit-ratio and low maximum drawdown. Specifically, we leveraged the existing algorithm to trade using 2X and 3X signals, incorporating volume data, the 52-week average, standard deviation, and other factors. The data set comprised SPY ETF price and volume from 2010 to 2023, covering over 13 years. Our enhanced algorithmic trading model outperformed both the benchmark and previous results, achieving a hit rate of over 90%, a maximum drawdown of less than 1%, an average of 1.5 trades per year, a total return of +519.3%, and an annualized return (AnnR) of +15.1%. The analysis demonstrates that the model's simplicity, ease of application, and comprehensibility can assist investors in making informed investment decisions albeit the past performance does not guarantee future returns.

The aim of this work was to investigate a new, simple one-pot combustion synthesis technique for creating sulphur-based CuS/ZnS p-n heterojunction nanocomposite photocatalysts. The study examined the photocatalytic activity and reusability of these nanocomposites in removing rhodamine B (RhB) dye under visible light irradiation. Various methods of characterisation were employed to determine the properties of the materials, including particle morphology, crystalline phases and bandgap energy. The intrinsic reaction parameters, such as catalyst loading, pH level of the solution, and initial pollutant concentration, were varied to establish the optimal photo-degradation conditions. The results showed that a binary CuS/ZnS catalyst with a 10 gL-1 loading, at pH 5, degraded 97% of 5 ppm RhB dye after 270 minutes of visible light irradiation. Addition-ally, this composite catalyst exhibited excellent chemical stability and reusability, achieving 83% RhB dye removal after five recycling runs. Scavenger tests identified the photogenerated holes (h+) and superoxide free radicals (•O2) as the primary reactive species responsible for degradation. This study provides valuable insight into the design of highly efficient nanomaterials for removing organopollutants in wastewater, and a possible reaction mechanism is proposed.

In many practical applications, it is more convenient to characterize the quality of production processes or service operations throughout the count of nonconformities. In the context of SPC, nonconformities are usually assumed to appear according to the binomial probability model. The conventional way for monitoring nonconformities involves Shewhart-type control procedures based on both constant and time-varying sample sizes. In this article, an EWMA scheme is proposed for monitoring the fraction of nonconforming items with time-varying sample sizes. The proposed control chart is referred to as the EWMAG-B and can be easily adapted to work with a constant sample size by fixing it at a needed value. By means of simulation, it was found out that the EWMAG-B chart outperforms the conventional p control chart in Phase II while detecting changes in the process level is wanted.

The thermoelectric generator (TEG) stands out in many energy harvesters due to its simple structure, small size, etc. However, previous studies rarely probe into the influence of TEG internal resistances on extracting maximum power from TEG, and tracking efficiency is limited. By analyzing the relationship between the tracking efficiency and the TEG internal resistances, a time exponential rate perturbation and observation (P&amp;O) technology is proposed to achieve maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a wide resistance range of TEG. Using the time exponential rate P&amp;O, the MPPT circuit observes the power change by comparing PMOS on-time and perturbs the power by adjusting NMOS on-time exponentially. The MPPT circuit is implemented in a 110nm CMOS process. The tracking efficiency keeps a high level from 98.9 to 99.5%. The applicable range of the TEG resistance is from 1 to 12Ω, which is enhanced at least 2.2 times.

The cellular stress response corresponds to the molecular changes that cell undergoes in response to various environmental stimuli. It induces drastic changes in the regulation of gene expression, at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Actually, translation is strongly affected with a blockade of the classical cap-dependent mechanism, whereas alternative mechanisms are activated to support translation of specific mRNAs. One of the major mechanisms involved in stress-activated translation is the internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-driven initiation. IRESs, first discovered in viral mRNAs, are present in cellular mRNAs coding for master regulators of cell responses, whose expression must be tightly controlled. IRESs allow translation of these mRNAs in response to different stresses, including DNA damage, amino-acid starvation, hypoxia or endoplasmic reticulum stress, as well as to physiological stimuli such as cell differentiation or synapse network formation. Importantly, cellular mRNA IRESs are regulated by IRES trans-acting factor (ITAFs), exerting their action by at least nine different mechanisms. This review presents an update of the reported ITAFs regulating cellular mRNA translation and of the different mechanisms allowing them to control translation initiation in specific conditions. The impact of ITAFs on coordinated expression of mRNA families and consequences in cell physiology and diseases are also highlighted.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a membrane-bound transporter, can eliminate xenobiotics by transporting them out of the cells or blood-brain barrier (BBB) at the expense of ATP hydrolysis. Thus, P-gp mediated efflux plays a pivotal role in altering the absorption and disposition of a wide range of substrates. Nevertheless, the mechanism of P-gp substrate efflux is rather complex since it can take place through active transport and passive permeability in addition to multiple P-gp substrate binding sites. A nonlinear quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was developed in this study using the novel machine learning-based hierarchical support vector regression (HSVR) scheme to explore the perplexing relationships between descriptors and efflux ratio. The predictions by HSVR were found to be in good agreement with the observed values for the molecules in the training set (n = 50, r² = 0.96, q²_CV = 0.94, RMSE = 0.10, s = 0.10) and test set (n = 13, q² = 0.80–0.87, RMSE = 0.21, s = 0.22). When subjected to a variety of statistical validations, the developed HSVR model consistently met the most stringent criteria. A mock test also asserted the predictivity of HSVR. Consequently, this HSVR model can be adopted to facilitate drug discovery and development.

Early diagnosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) could suggest patients to receive timely interventions in clinical practice. Various PAF onset prediction algorithms might benefit from accurate heart rate variability (HRV) analysis and machine learning classification but to be challenged in real-time monitoring scenarios. The aim of this study is to present an end-to-end deep learning based PAFNet model that integrates a sliding window technique on raw R-R interval of electrocardiogram (ECG) segments to achieve a real-time prediction of PAF onsets. This integration enable the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to be customized as a light-weight architecture that accommodates the size of sliding windows simply by altering the input layer, specifically its effectiveness in making a new prediction with each new heartbeat. Catering to potential influence of input sizes, three CNN models were trained using 50, 100, and 200 R-R intervals, respectively. For each model, the performance of automated algorithms was evaluated for PAF prediction using a ten-fold cross-validation. As a results, a total of 56,381 PAFN-type and 56,900 N-type R-R interval segments was collected from publicly accessible ECG databases, and a promising prediction performance of the automated algorithm with a 100 R-R intervals was achieved in terms of the sensitivity of 97.12%, the specificity of 97.77%, and the accuracy of 97.45%, respectively. Importantly, the automated algorithm with a sliding windows step of 1 could process one sample in only 23.1 milliseconds and identify the onset of PAF at least 45 minutes in advance. The present results suggest that the sliding window technique on raw R-R interval sequences along by deep learning based algorithms may offers the possibility of providing an accurate, real-time, and end-to-end clinical tool for mass monitoring of PAF.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent congenital disorder diagnosed with high frequency, affecting approximately 0.8% to 1.2% of all live births. Research has demonstrated that the use of pulse oximetry and clinical examination as a screening tool for CHD diagnosis has proven extremely valuable. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study over a 3-year period that involved screening 1188 newborns admitted to the NICU during the first 72 hours of life within this timeframe. 201 newborns were diagnosed with CHD. Almost all (n=198) had a positive screening test during the 72-hour period, while 3 had a negative screening test, but were later diagnosed using echocardiography. The prevalence rate was 16.67%. A confusion matrix was constructed with 198 true positives (TP), 3 false negatives (FN), no false positives (FP), and 987 true negatives (TN). The sensitivity of the screening test was 98.51%, while the specificity 100%, with no false positives. In our study, a total of 9 deaths occurred. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, the survival probability appeared to be slightly above 0.9 (95.5%), indicating that almost all patients survived past 72 hours after being diagnosed with CHD. Pulse oximetry is an effective, low cost and easy-to-use method and a useful tool to assess and lead to the diagnosis of CHD.

The treatment of critically ill patients remains an evolving and controversial issue. Mechanical circulatory support through a percutaneous approach for the management of cardiogenic shock has taken place in recent years. The combined use of IABP and Impella 2.5 device may have a role to play for this group of patients. A simulation approach may help with a quantitative as-sessment of the achievable degree of assistance. In this paper, we analyse the interaction be-tween Impella 2.5 pump applied as LVAD and IABP using the numerical simulator of the cardi-ovascular system developed in our laboratory. Starting with pathological conditions reproduced using literature data, the simulations were performed setting different rotational speeds for the LVAD and driving the IABP in full mode (1:1) or partial mode (1:2, 1:3 and 1:4). The effects in-duced by drug administration during the assistance were simulated too. The haemodynamic pa-rameters under investigation were: mean aortic pressure, systolic and diastolic aortic pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, mean left and right atrial pressure, cardiac output, cardiac index, left and right ventricular end-systolic volume, left ventricular end-diastolic volume and mean coronary blood flow. The energetic variables considered in the study were: left and right ventricular external work and left and right atrial pressure-volume area. The outcome of our simulations shows that the combined use of IABP and Impella 2.5 achieves adequate support in the acute phase of cardiogenic shock compared to each standalone device. This would allow fur-ther stabilisation and transfer to a transplant centre should escalation of treatment be required.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) represent the leading cause of global mortality with 1,7 million deaths a year. One of the alternative systems to drug therapy to minimize the risk of CVDs is represented by alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid of the Omega-3 series, known for its cholesterol-lowering effect. The main purpose of this review is to analyze the effects of ALA and investigate the relevant n-6/n-3 ratio in order to maintain functionally beneficial effects. Concerning the lipid-lowering preventive effects, ALA may favorably affect the values of LDL-C and triglycerides in either adult and pediatric populations and it has a positive and protective effect against hypertension, suggesting that ALA is an useful diet-related antihypertensive compound. According to the 2009 EFSA statement, dietary ALA may contribute to reducing the risk of CVDs, thanks to anti-hypertensive, anti-atherosclerotic and cardio-protective effects.

In this work, we developed a highly sensitive multiplexed immunosensor for direct simultaneous detection of both N-terminal Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) and Cortisol in human artificial saliva (AS). The developed biosensor platform based on silicon nitride was composed from four gold working microelectrodes (WEs) and an integrated counter and reference electrode. Gold WEs were biofunctionalized through carboxyl diazonium (4-APA) to immobilize both anti- NT-proBNP and anti-Cortisol antibodies for simultaneous detection. The electroaddressing of the 4-APA onto the gold WE surfaces was realized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), while the interaction between antibodies and antigens in PBS was monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The antigen detection in human AS was realized by EIS combined with the standard addition method. The immunesensor was highly sensitive and selective toward the corresponding biomarkers in both PBS and artificial human saliva as well as in the presence of other potential interfering biomarkers such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). The limit of detection (LOD) was at 0.2pg/mL for NT-proBNP within the range 0.03 to 0.9pg/mL, while the LOD for Cortisol was 0.06 ng/mL within the range 0.02 to 0.6 ng/mL for Cortisol in artificial saliva. The developed immunosensor is very promising for significant detection time reducing as it allows the simultaneous detection of various biomarkers.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) myocarditis is presumed to be rare but associated with ad-verse outcomes. If SLE diagnosis has not previously been established, its clinical presentation is often unspecific and difficult to recognize. Furthermore, there is a lack of data in the scientific literature regarding myocarditis and its treatment in systemic immune-mediated diseases, leading to its late recognition and undertreatment. We present the case of a young woman whose first lupus manifestations included acute perimyocarditis, among other symptoms and signs that provided clues to the diagnosis of SLE. Transthoracic and speckle tracking echocardiography were helpful in detecting early abnormalities in myocardial wall thickness and contractility while waiting for cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Since the patient presented with acute decompensated heart failure (HF), HF treatment was promptly started in parallel with immunosuppressive therapy, with a good response. In the treatment of myocarditis with heart failure, we were guided by the echocardiographic findings, biomarkers for myocardial injury N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and hs-troponin I, biomarkers for systemic inflammation erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP), and biomarkers for SLE disease activity (Complement C)3, C4, and anti-dsDNA levels.

Background and Objectives: Acute Heart Failure (AHF) is a common disease and a cause of high morbidity and mortality, constituting a major health problem. The main purpose of this study was to determine the impact of multiorgan ultrasound in identifying the pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients admitted due to AHF, predict the evolution of the disease during hospitalization and identify areas of improvement in the care of patients with AHF. Materials and Methods: Patients were evaluated with a standard exam of lung ultrasound, echocardiography, inferior vena cava (IVC) and femoral, renal, hepatic, portal venous Doppler flow patterns at admission and on the day of discharge. Results: Thirty patients were enrolled during November 2021. The mean age was seventy-nine years (Standard Deviation – SD 13,4). Seven patients (23.3%) had a renal function worsening. Regarding ultrasound findings, venous excess ultrasonography score (VExUS) score was calculated at admission and at discharge, surprisingly remaining unchanged or even worsened in most of them (21 patients, 70.0%). The area under the curve for the Lung Score was 83.9% (p = 0.008), obtaining a cutoff value of 10 that showed a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 71.4% in the identification of intermediate and high PH. It was possible to monitor significant changes between both exams on the lung score (p &lt;0.001), hepatic vein Doppler (p &lt;0.001), portal vein Doppler (p = 0.030), intra-renal vein Doppler (p = 0.025) and VExUS score (p = 0.023), remaining similar the femoral vein Doppler (p = 0.177) and IVC (p = 0.132). Conclusions: Our study results suggest that performing serial multiorgan Point-of-Care ultrasound can help us to better identify high and intermediate probability of PH patients with AHF. Currently proposed multi-organ, venous Doppler scanning protocols, such as the VExUS score, should be further studied in different populations before expanding its use in AHF patients.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of premature death and disability in humans. Increasing data suggest that CVD is closely related to lipid metabolism and signaling. This study aimed to assess whether circulating lysophospholipids (LPL), lysophosphatidic acids (LPA) and monoacylglycerols (MAG) may be considered as biomarkers of CVD. For this objective, the evolution of the plasma levels of 22 compounds (13 LPL, 6 LPA and 3 MAG) was monitored by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS²) in different rat models of CVD, i.e. angiotensin-II-induced hypertension (HTN), ischemic chronic heart failure (CHF) and sugen/hypoxia(SuHx)-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH). On one hand, there was modest changes on the monitored compounds in HTN (LPA 16:0, 18:1 and 20:4), LPC 16:1) and CHF (LPA 16:0, LPC 18:1 and LPE 16:0 and 18:0) models compared to control rats but these changes were no longer significant after correction for multiple testing. On the other hand, PH was associated with important changes in plasma LPA with a significant increase in the 16:0, 18:1, 18:2, 20:4 and 22:6 species. A deleterious impact of LPA was confirmed on isolated human pulmonary smooth muscle cells with an increase in their proliferation. This study demonstrates that circulating LPA species are increased in rats with PH and may contribute to the pathophysiology of this disease. Additional experiments are needed to assess whether the modulation of LPA signaling in PH may be of interest.

Dictyostelium discoideum is gaining increasing attention as a model organism for the study of calcium binding and calmodulin function in basic biological events as well as human diseases. After a short overview of calcium-binding proteins, the structure of Dictyostelium calmodulin and the conformational changes effected by calcium ion binding to its four EF hands is compared to its human counterpart, emphasizing the highly conserved nature of this central regulatory protein. The calcium-dependent and -independent motifs involved in calmodulin binding to target proteins are discussed with examples of the diversity of calmodulin binding proteins that have been studied in this amoebozoan. The methods used to identify and characterize calmodulin binding proteins is covered followed by the ways Dictyostelium is currently being used as a system to study several neurodegenerative diseases and how it could serve as a model for studying calmodulinopathies such as those associated with specific types of heart arrythmia. Because of its rapid developmental cycles, its genetic tractability, and a richly endowed stock center, Dictyostelium is in a position to become a leader in the field of calmodulin research.

In the introductory part of this review, the relevant results of mostly the latest experimental studies on carotenoid absorption and availability in the human body are briefly presented. The subsequent parts summarise such topics as carotenoid carriers, body transport and tissue delivery, before finally reporting on molecular-level studies of carotenoid binding by membrane receptors. The main message of the review is contained in the section describing computational investigations of carotenoid intercalation and dynamic behaviour in lipid bilayers. The relevance of these computational studies lies in showing the direct link between the microscopic behaviour of molecules and the characteristics of their macroscopic ensembles. Furthermore, studying the interactions between carotenoids and lipid bilayers, and certainly proteins, on the molecular- and atomic-level using computational methods facilitates interpretation and explanation of the macroscopic properties of these systems and, hopefully, helps to better understand the biological functions of carotenoids.

The replication of species A rotaviruses (RVAs) and other RNA viruses involves recruitment of and inter-action with the cellular organelles lipid droplets (LDs), both physically and functionally. Inhibition of en-zymes involved in the cellular fatty acid biosynthesis pathway or of cellular lipases that degrade LDs re-duces the functions of ‘viral factories’ (viroplasms for rotaviruses or replication compartments of other RNA viruses) and decreases the production of infectious progeny virus. Similarly, disturbance of the cellular lipid homeostasis in various ways blocks the replication of flaviviruses (hepatitis C viruses, Zikavirus, others), HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2, picornaviruses, noroviruses, influenza viruses and other negative-strand RNA viruses.

Intestinal failure (IF) is characterized by a critical reduction of functional gut mass below the minimum needed for optimal growth in children. It requires parenteral nutrition (PN) and home-PN (HPN) which is challenging in terms of meeting nutritional needs according to age, growth velocity, clinical situation, and rapid changes in fluid and electrolyte requirements. Due to these complex requirements, age-adapted multi-chamber bags (MCBs) are important additions to the nutrition armamentarium. The launch of composite fish oil (FO)-containing intravenous lipid emulsions (ILEs) heralded the development of MCBs containing these ILEs in combination with a crystalline amino acids solution (CAAS) adapted for pediatric use. The safety and efficacy of lipid and amino acid components in this context have been widely documented in numerous published studies. This manuscript includes a review of the articles published in PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar until June 2022, exploring studies in the age groups from term infants to children and adolescents. Preterm infants with their highly specific demands are not included. It aims to offer an overview of the clinical experience regarding the use of a composite FO-based ILE and a specific CAAS developed

Leishmaniases are zoonotic vector-borne diseases caused by a wide variety of Leishmania species with complex transmission cycles involving different reservoirs, potential new hosts and vectors. Similarly, to other eukaryotes, Leishmania use released extracellular vesicles (LEVs) to play important initial interactions that are crucial to modulate the subsequent systemic immune response on the establishment of infection in humans and other important hosts like dogs. Recent studies in endemic areas of Brazil concluded that canine infections were predominantly due to L. amazonensis and not restricted to L. infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi). Under these premises, the diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis needs to be improved, including the identification of current etiological agent, the clinical differential diagnosis and the histopathologic features. In this way, the dual aim of that study is to register collected observations for the diagnosis of natural canine infections and to insert in vitro results in the field of LEVs that still research gaps to be filled to understand the mechanisms and biological aspects involving the parasite-host interactions. Therefore, the future studies of Parasitology research for both of these fields are very important for the interventions for the prevention, control, elimination and eradication worldwide.

Increased platelet activity is a risk factor of thrombotic events in cardiovascular patients. We studied the relationship between platelet function, platelet size and content of reticulated platelets (RP) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD, n = 55) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS, n = 95) receiving acetylsalicylic acid + clopidogrel or ticagrelor respectively. Control group consisted of patients with risk factors for CHD, but no CHD/ACS and free of antiplatelet drugs (n = 66). Platelet function was evaluated by exposure of activated glycoprotein (GP) IIb-IIIa and P-selectin. In the control group, platelets were activated by TRAP (Thrombin Receptor Activating Peptide) 10 µM, ADP 20, 5, 2.5 µM and in CHD/ACS groups, by TRAP 10 µM, ADP 20, 5 µM (+/- epinephrine 20 µM). Platelet size was assessed by mean volume, % large forms and forward scattering. RP were stained by thiazole orange. In the control group activated GP IIb-IIIa and P-selectin correlated with platelet size and RP content after platelet activation by all agonists. Despite the decrease of platelet activity by antiplatelet drugs, most correlations (primarily for activated GP IIb-IIIa) were preserved in CHD/ACS patients. In conclusion, increased platelet size and RP content are associated with increased platelet activity and reduced efficacy of antiplatelet therapy.

To improve the understanding of soil–pile interaction of laterally loaded piles, the quasi-static test of pile group foundation in silty clay with 5 foundation piles arranged in cross shape is carried out. The direct measurement-based p–y curves at different depths showed nonlinear behavior, in which the initial stiffness and ultimate soil reaction increased as the depth increased. The loading displacement amplitude corresponding to the failure of each foundation pile in the high axial compression reinforced concrete pile group foundation is given as follows: the front-end nappe foundation pile (#3 pile) is 6mm, the middle pile is 16mm, the front-end nappe foundation pile is 20mm, and the loading displacement amplitude of side pile is 24mm. In silty clay, due to the existence of pile group effect, the edge effect has little effect on the horizontal foundation bed coefficient of foundation pile in pile group, while the influence of masking effect on the horizontal foundation bed coefficient of each foundation pile in pile group is not related to the position of pile, but only to the existence of masking effect, and the influence of different columns of masking effect on the horizontal foundation bed coefficient is the same.

There is an increasing understanding that some mitral valve pathologies have developmental origins. The time course of valvulogenesis varies by animal model, where in cattle, the branched chordae tendineae architecture becomes fully developed at full term. The mechanism by which chordae tendineae bifurcate during fetal development remains unknown. The current study presents a detailed description of bovine chordae tendineae formation and bifurcation during fetal development. Analysis of Movat Pentachrome-stained histological sections of the developing mitral valve apparatus were accompanied by micro-CT imaging. TEM imaging of chordae branches and common trunks allowed measurement of collagen fibril diameter distributions. We observed a proteoglycan-rich “transition zone” at the junction between the fetal mitral valve anterior leaflet and chordae tendineae with “perforations” lined by MMP1/2 and Ki-67 expressing endothelial cells. This region also contained clusters of proliferating endothelial within the bulk of the tissue. We hypothesize this zone marks a region where chordae tendineae bifurcate during fetal development. In particular, perforations, created by localized MMP activity serve as a site for the initiation of a “split” of a single chordae attachment into two. This is supported by TEM results that suggest a similar population of collagen fibrils runs from the branches into a common trunk. A clear understanding of normal mitral valvulogenesis and it’s signaling mechanisms will be crucial in developing therapeutics and/or tissue-engineered valve replacements.

High-flow oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) is a common rescue treatment in infants and children with respiratory failure. This type of ventilation is an effective technique in numerous diseases that affect a child in the postnatal period, such as ARDS, meconium aspiration syndrome (MIS), postnatal pulmonary bleeding and idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (IPH). Although this ventilation technique is commonly recognized as a valuable therapeutic option in the general pediatric population, this is not the same for children with congenital cardiovascular diseases. The key mechanism of oscillatory ventilation is continuous positive pressure administered within the airways via a small tidal volume at high frequency. Tidal volumes are between 1 and 3 ml/kg delivered at 5 – 15 Hz equivalent to 300 – 900 breaths per minute. Few older studies conducted on humans and animals highlight that HFOV may be dangerous for congenital heart patients. According to these evidences, hemodynamic parameters such as blood pressure, wedge pressure, central venous pressure, heart rate and inotrope level can be dangerously changed for patients with congenital heart disease, therefore oscillatory ventilation should be avoided. Numerous retrospective studies have pointed out how oscillatory ventilation constitutes a valid therapeutic option in children with congenital heart disease. Recently, new evidences have highlighted how hemodynamic parameters are modified in a non-significant way by this type of ventilation, remaining beneficial as in the normal pediatric population. This narrative review aims to describe the mechanisms of oscillatory ventilation and collect all the available evidences to support its use in pediatric patients with congenital heart problems.

Predicting heart disease is crucial for early diagnosis and intervention, significantly improving patient outcomes and reducing mortality rates. This study compares various machine learning models, including Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, using the Cleveland Heart Disease dataset. Comprehensive preprocessing steps were undertaken, such as handling missing values, converting categorical variables to numeric forms, and binarizing the target variable for binary classification. Each model was rigorously evaluated using performance metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were employed to provide insights into feature importance, ensuring model transparency and interpretability. The results indicate that XGBoost outperformed all other models, achieving an accuracy of 90% and an AUC-ROC of 0.94, demonstrating its superior ability to capture complex patterns in the data through advanced optimization techniques and regularization. This study highlights the significant potential of advanced machine learning techniques, particularly ensemble methods like Gradient Boosting and XGBoost, in enhancing heart disease prediction. These models offer higher accuracy and valuable interpretability, making them practical tools for early diagnosis in clinical settings. Future research should focus on integrating these models into healthcare systems and exploring hybrid approaches to further improve predictive performance and clinical applicability.

Single-confinement housing can pose welfare risks to domestic horses. This study investigated horses’ stress responses when confined to single stalls in different stable designs in a tropical savanna region to address a literature gap. In total, 23 horses were assigned to a stable with a central corridor and solid external walls (A) (N = 8), a stable with one side corridor and solid external walls (B) (N = 6) or a stable with a central corridor and no solid external walls (C) (N = 9). Air velocity, relative humidity, air temperature and noxious gases were measured inside the stables, and the heart rate and HRV of the horses were also determined. The relative humidity was lower in stable C than in stable A (p &lt; 0.05), while the air temperature was higher in stable C than in stable B (p &lt; 0.05) during the day. The airflow and ammonia levels were higher in stable C than in stables B and A (p &lt; 0.01–0.0001). Overall, horses’ HRV in stable A was lower than in those in stables B and C (p &lt; 0.05-0.01). Horses in stable A tended to experience more stress than those in other stables.

fibrillation (AF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Join us on a journey that unravels the mysteries of molecular intricacies, delves into advanced imaging techniques, and sheds light on therapeutic pathways. Unveiling the role of cardiac amyloidosis, particularly sub-clinical isolated cardiac amyloidosis (ICA), the narrative unfolds the heightened risk of AF in the elderly. State-of-the-art imaging techniques like cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and molecular imaging step into the spotlight, unraveling diagnostic and prognostic nuances of AF and HFpEF. Embarking on the molecular voyage, the article navigates through next-generation sequencing and comprehensive genomic profiling, shedding light on genetic alterations shaping the AF-HFpEF landscape. This molecular compass lays the groundwork for personalized medicine, illuminating pathways to identify therapeutic bullseyes and biomarkers. In the realm of medical strategies, the discussion homes in on the promising notes struck by SGLT2 inhibitors, particularly dapagliflozin, orchestrating a reduction in AF burden. Characters like spironolactone and dronedarone make appearances, each weaving a distinct tale, revealing their potential roles in steering the ship for AF- HFpEF patients. The subplot involving obesity in HFpEF unfolds, with the LEGACY study portraying the benefits of weight reduction. The pivotal intervention of catheter ablation emerges as the hero, boasting positive outcomes in reducing hospitalization rates and overall mortality for AF-HFpEF patients. However, cautionary tales echo about its impact on left atrial function, adding layers of complexity that beckon careful consideration and monitoring. Amidst the narrative, critical discussions unfold about the limitations of current research, echoing the need to define acute heart failure, refine imaging techniques, and tailor management strategies. The narrative passionately advocates for a personalized touch in addressing AF-HFpEF, recognizing the unique blend of clinical and molecular personas. In essence, this review paints a vivid mural of AF-HFpEF, skillfully bridging the realms of molecular intricacies and the artistry of clinical management.

The single set of electron transporters of the cardiac mitochondrial respiratory chain is organized into three separate supercomplexes. Two of them contain complex I, a dimer of complex III, and two dimers of complex IV. The third supercomplex contains a dimer of complex III and two dimers of complex IV. We also considered two important discoveries. First, the enzymes of β-oxidation of fatty acids are physically associated with respirasome. Second, β-oxidation of fatty acids creates the highest level of QH2 and reverses the flow of electrons from QH2 through complex II, reducing fumarate to succinate. We argue that the respirasome is uniquely adapted for the β-oxidation of fatty acids. The acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex reduces the membrane’s pool of ubiquinone to QH2, which is instantly oxidized by the 2complex III-4complex IV supercomplex, generating high energization of mitochondria and reversing the electrons flow through the complex II, which reverses the electrons flow through the complex I increasing the NADH/NAD+ ratio in the matrix. The mitochondrial nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase catalyzes a hydride (H-, a proton plus two electrons) transfer across the inner mitochondrial membrane, reducing the cytosolic pool of NADP(H), thus providing the heart with ATP for muscle contraction and energy and reducing equivalents for the housekeeping processes.

This review paper presents a flashback on the evolution of the disease throughout the centuries, describes in summary pathophysiologic mechanisms, discusses briefly the mechanism of action of the diuretics, presents their role in decongesting heart failure patients and unfolds the data behind ultrafiltration in the management of acutely or chronically decompensated heart failure (ADHF), focusing on all the available data and advancements in this field. Acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) presents a critical clinical condition characterized by worsening symptoms and signs of heart failure, necessitating prompt intervention to alleviate congestion and improve cardiac function. Diuretics have traditionally been the mainstay for managing fluid overload in ADHF. Mounting evidence suggests that due to numerous causes, such as coexisting renal failure or chronic use of the loop diuretics, an increasing rate of diuretic resistance is noticed and needs to be addressed. There has been a series of trials that combined diuretics of different categories, without the expected results. Emerging evidence suggests that ultrafiltration may offer an alternative or adjunctive approach.

Heart disease is a global health concern of paramount importance, causing a significant number of fatalities and disabilities. Precise and timely diagnosis of heart disease is pivotal in pre-venting adverse outcomes and improving patient well-being, thereby creating a growing demand for intelligent approaches to predict heart disease effectively. This paper introduces an Ensemble Heuristic-Metaheuristic Feature Fusion Learning (EHMFFL) algorithm for heart disease diagnosis. Within the EHMFFL algorithm, a diverse ensemble learning model is crafted, featuring different feature subsets for each heterogeneous base learner, including support vector machine, K-nearest neighbors, logistic regression, random forest, naive bayes, decision tree, and XGBoost. The primary objective is to identify the most pertinent features for each base learner, leveraging a combined heuristic-metaheuristic approach that integrates the heuristic knowledge of Pearson correlation coefficient with the metaheuristic-driven grey wolf optimizer. The second objective is to aggregate the decision outcomes of the various base learners through ensemble learning, aimed at constructing a robust prediction model. The performance of the EHMFFL algorithm is rigorously assessed using the Cleveland and Statlog datasets yielding remarkable results with an accuracy of 91.8% and 88.9%, respectively, surpassing state-of-the-art machine learning, ensemble learning, and feature selection techniques in heart disease diagnosis. These findings underscore the potential of the EHMFFL algorithm in enhancing diagnostic accuracy for heart disease and providing valuable support to clinicians in making more informed decisions regarding patient care.

Individuals diagnosed with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) are considered risk groups for COVID-19 severity. This study assessed differences in cardiac autonomic function (CAF) and functional capacity (CF) in SAH individuals without COVID-19 infection compared to SAH individuals post-COVID-19. Participants comprised 40 SAH individuals aged 31 to 80 years old, grouped as SAH with COVID-19 (G1; n=21) and SAH without COVID-19 (G2; n=19). CAF was assessed via heart rate variability (HRV), measuring R-R intervals during a 10-minute supine period. Four HRV indices were analyzed through symbolic analysis: 0V%, 1V%, 2LV%, and 2UV%. FC assessment was performed by a 6-minute walk test (6MWT). G1 and G2 showed no difference between significant age, anthropometric, clinical and medication. G2 exhibited superior 6MWT performance, covering more distance (522±78 vs. 465±59 meters, p&lt;0.05). Specifically, G2 demonstrated a moderate, positive correlation between 6MWT and the 2LV% index (r=0.58; p&lt;0.05). Shorter walking distances were observed during 6MWT in SAH individuals post-COVID-19. However, the study did not find impaired cardiac autonomic function in SAH individuals post-COVID-19 compared to those without. This suggests that while COVID-19 impacted FC, CAF remained relatively stable in this population.

Despite the efforts to deliver the best evidence-based care, in-hospital death is an inevitable event among some patients hospitalized in cardiology departments. We retrospectively evaluated mortality events from inpatient admissions to Cardiology Department between 2010-2019. Data were collected from morbidity &amp; mortality meeting presentations which evaluated comorbidities, medical history, treatments, and causes of death for the overall cohort and according to age group and sex. There were 1,182 registered deaths. The most common causes of death among patients were acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (53.0%), heart failure (HF, 11.7%), cardiac arrest (CA, 6.6%), HF with complication/defined cardiomyopathy (6.3%) and sepsis (4.4%). We observed a decline in deaths from AMI from 61.9% in 2010 to 46.7% in 2019 while there was an apparent increase in deaths from HF (11.1% in 2010 to 25.9% in 2019). Compared to patients ≥65 years, younger patients were more likely to have died from CA (15.7% vs. 4.3%, p&lt;0.001) and other cardiac reasons (3.0% vs. 0.4%, p&lt;0.001). The majority of deaths were due to AMI, HF, and CA. We observed a significant decline in the proportion of deaths due to AMI in recent years with an increase in deaths due to HF.

Pathological aseptic calcification is the most common form of structural valvular degeneration (SVD), leading to premature failure of heart valve bioprostheses (BHVs). The processing methods used to obtain GA-fixed pericardium-based biomaterials determine the hemodynamic characteristics and durability of BHVs. This article presents a comparative study of the effects of several processing methods on the degree of damage to the ECM of GA-fixed pericardium-based biomaterials as well as on their biostability, biocompatibility, and resistance to calcification. Based on the assumption that preservation of the native ECM structure will enable the creation of calcinosis-resistant materials, this study provides a soft biomimetic approach for the manufacture of GA-fixed biomaterials using gentle decellularization and washing methods. It has been shown that the use of soft methods for preimplantation processing of materials, ensuring maximum preservation of the intactness of the pericardial ECM, radically increases the resistance of biomaterials to calcification. The data obtained are of interest for the development of new calcinosis-resistant biomaterials for the manufacture of BHVs.

Circulating extracellular microvesicles (cEVs) are characterised by presenting surface antigens of parental cells. Since their biogenesis involves the translocation of phosphatidylserine (PS) from the inner to the outer-leaflet of the plasma membrane, exposed PS has been considered as a recognition hallmark of cEVs. However, not all cEVs externalise PS. In this study we have phenotypically and quantitatively characterised cEVs by flow cytometry with special attention to the proportions of PS in chronic heart failure patients (cHF; n=119) and reference non-HF group (n=21). PS─-cEVs were predominantly found in both groups. Parental markers showed differential pattern depending on PS exposure. Endothelium-derived and connexin 43-rich cEVs were mainly PS─-cEVs and significantly increased in cHF. On the contrary, platelet-derived cEVs were mostly PS+ and were increased in non-HF. We observed similar levels of PS+- and PS─-cEVs in non-HF subjects when analysing immune cell-derived EVs, but there was a subset-specific difference in cHF patients. Indeed, those cEVs carrying CD45+, CD29+, CD11b+ and CD15+ were mainly PS+-cEVs, while those carrying CD14+, CD3+ and CD56+ were mainly PS─-cEVs. In conclusion, endothelial and red blood cells are stressed in cHF patients as detected by a high shedding of cEVs. Despite PS+-cEVs and PS─-cEVs represent two distinct cEV populations, their release and potential function as both biomarkers and shuttles for cell communication seem unrelated to PS content.

The wavelet spectral characteristics of three respiratory muscle signals (Scalenus (SC), Parasternal intercostal (IC) and Rectus abdominis (RA)) and one locomotor muscle Brachioradialis (BR) were analyzed in the time-frequency (T-F) domain during breath-holding (BH). Study was performed for an end-expiratory BH maneuver on twelve healthy, physically active, naive apneists (6 professional athletes; 6 recreational athletes, two in the post-COVID-19 period) using surface electromyography (sEMG). We observe individual effects dependent on muscle oxygenation and person’s fitness, consistent with the mechanism of motor unit (MU) recruitment and the transition of slow-twitch oxidative (type 1) to fast-twitch (oxidative) glycolytic (type 2) muscle fibers. Professional athletes had longer BH duration (BHD) and strong hypercapnic response on expiratory RA, which is activated abruptly at higher BHDs in a person-specific range below 250 Hz and dependent on BHD. This is in contrast with recreational athletes, who had strong hypoxic response on inspiratory IC, which is activated faster and gradually in the frequency range of 250-450 Hz (independent of the apneist and BHD). This pilot study preliminarily indicates that it is possible to non-invasively assess the physiological characteristics of skeletal muscles, especially oxygenation, and improve physical fitness tests by determining T-F features of elevated myoelectric IC and RA activity during BH.

The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is a multisystemic disorder characterized by a marked variability of phenotypic features making the diagnosis challenging for clinicians. The wide spectrum of clinical manifestations includes congenital heart defects, most frequently conotruncal cardiac anomalies, thymic hypoplasia and predominating cellular immune deficiency, laryngeal developmental defects, midline anomalies with cleft palate and velar insufficiency, structural airway defects, facial dysmorphism, parathyroid and thyroid gland hormonal dysfunctions, speech delay, developmental delay, neurocognitive and psychiatric disorders. Significant progress has been made in understanding the complex molecular genetic etiology of the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome underpinning the heterogeneity of clinical manifestations. The deletion is caused by chromosomal rearrangements in meiosis and is mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination events between low copy repeats or segmental duplications in the 22q11.2 region. A range of genetic modifiers, environmental factors as well as the impact of hemizygosity on the remaining allele contribute to the intricate genotype-phenotype relationships. This comprehensive review has been aimed at highlighting the molecular genetic background of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome in correlation with a clinical multidisciplinary approach.

A critical aspect of coronary heart disease (CHD) care and secondary prevention is ensuring patients have access to evidence-based information. The purpose of this review is to summarise the guiding principles, content, context and timing of information and education that is beneficial for supporting people with CHD and potential communication strategies including digital interventions. We conducted a scoping review involving searching four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, Medline) for articles published from January 2000 to August 2022. Literature was identified through title and abstract screening by expert reviewers. Evidence was synthesised according to the review aims. Results demonstrated that information-sharing, decision-making, goal-setting, positivity and practicality are important aspects of secondary prevention and should be patient-centred and evidenced based with consideration of patient need and preference. Initiation and duration of education is highly variable between and within people, but hence communication and support should be regular and ongoing. In conclusion, text messaging programs, smartphone applications and wearable devices are examples of digital health strategies that facilitate education and support for patients with heart disease. There is no one size fits all approach that suits all patients at all stages and hence flexibility and a suite of resources and strategies is optimal.

Covid-19 pandemic affected outcome in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients in majority of countries. We aimed to assess retrospectively admissions, treatments, complications and mortality of STEMI patients in the northeast of Slovenia in the first (March-May 2020) and the second wave (October-December 2020) of Covid-19 pandemic and compare them with the data from 2019 (March-October). Comparing 2019 and both waves of Covid-19 pandemic we observed nonsignificant differences in the number of STEMI admissions, in baseline characteristics, in the use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), either within the first 3 (40.5%* vs 30.2% vs 25%*, *p = 0.074) and 6 hours, nonsignificant differences in TIMI III flow after primary PCI and in hospital complications, except for significant increase in hospital heart failure (23.3% vs 42%, p = 0.015) and mitral regurgitation in the second wave (10% vs 26.9%, p = 0.008) of the pandemic with nonsignificant increase in hospital mortality (8.9% vs 9.4% vs 13.6%) in both waves of the pandemic. We conclude, that with increased severity of Covid-19 pandemic in the second wave there was a longer delay to primary PCI in STEMI patients, resulting in significantly increased hospital heart failure and nonsignificantly increased hospital mortality

Decades of research identified numerous gene biomarkers of cardiac diseases whose restored sequence or/and expression level was hoped to recover the normal cardiac function. However, each human has unique and dynamic pathophysiological characteristics resulting from the unrepeatable combination of favoring factors such are: race, sex, age, medical history, diet, stress, exposure to toxins, habits etc. As such, no treatment fits everybody and finding personalized solutions is a top priority for medicine of 21st century. The Genomic Fabric Paradigm (GFP) provides the most theoretically possible comprehensive characterization of the transcriptome, its alterations in disease and recovery following a treatment. By attaching to each gene the independent average expression level, expression variation and expression coordination with each other gene, GFP delivers thousands times more information than the traditional analysis. This report presents the theoretical bases of the GFP and some applications to our microarray data from mouse models of post ischemic, and constant and intermittent hypoxia-induced heart failure. The GFP analyses revealed novel transcriptomic aspects of the gene expression control and networking under ischemic conditions. Through all-inclusive characterization of the transcriptome and the unrepeatable gene hierarchy in each condition, GFP is an essential avenue towards development of a truly personalized cardiogenomic therapy.

miRNAs have recently attracted investigators' interest as regulators of valvular diseases pathogenesis, diagnostic biomarkers, and therapeutical targets. Evidence from in-vivo and in-vitro studies demonstrated stimulatory or inhibitory roles in mitral valve prolapse development, aortic leaflet fusion, and calcification pathways, specifically osteoblastic differentiation and transcription factors modulation. Tissue expression assessment and comparison between physiological and pathological phenotypes of different disease entities, including mitral valve prolapse and mitral chordae tendineae rupture, emerged as the best strategies to address miRNAs over or under-representation and thus, their impact on pathogeneses. In this review, we discuss the fundamental intra- and intercellular signals regulated by miRNAs leading to defects in mitral and aortic valves, congenital heart diseases, and the possible therapeutic strategies targeting them. These miRNAs inhibitors comprise of antisense oligonucleotides and sponge vectors. The miRNA mimics, miRNA expression vectors, and small molecules are instead possible practical strategies to increase specific miRNA activity. Advantages and technical limitations of these new drugs, including instability and complex pharmacokinetics, are also presented. Novel delivery strategies, such as nanoparticles and liposomes, are described to improve knowledge on future personalized treatment directions.

Heart disease is one of the most common diseases in middle-aged citizens. Among the vast number of heart diseases, coronary artery disease (CAD) is considered a common cardiovascular disease with a high death rate. The most popular tool for diagnosing CAD is the use of medical imaging, e.g., angiography. However, angiography is known for being costly and also associated with a number of side effects. Hence, the purpose of this study is to increase the accuracy of coronary heart disease diagnosis by selecting significant predictive features in order of their ranking. In this study, we propose an integrated method using machine learning. The machine learning methods of random trees (RTs), the decision tree of C5.0, support vector machine (SVM), the decision tree of Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) are used in this study. The proposed method shows promising results and the study confirms that the RTs model outperforms other models.

SIRT6 is a NAD+ dependent enzyme and stress response protein that has sparked the curiosity of a plethora of researchers in different branches of the biomedical sciences. A unique member of the known Sirtuin family, SIRT6 has several different functions in several different molecular pathways related to DNA repair, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, tumorigenesis, neurodegeneration, cardiac hypertrophic responses and so on. Only in recent times however did the potential usefulness of SIRT6 come to light as we learned more about its biochemical activity, regulation, biological roles and structure [1]. Even until very recently, SIRT6 was known more for chromatin signaling but being a nascent topic of study, more information has been ascertained and its potential involvement in major human diseases namely, diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart disease has been demonstrated. It is pivotal to explore the mechanistic workings of SIRT6 since future research may hold the key to engendering strategies, involving SIRT6, that may have significant implications for human health and expand upon possible treatment options. In this review, we are primarily concerned with exploring the latest understanding of SIRT6 and how it can alter the course of several life-threatening diseases that cripple today’s society such as processes related to aging, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease and diabetes. In addition, SIRT6 has shown to be involved in liver disease, inflammation and bone related issues but more emphasis is given to the former. Lastly, any recent promising pharmacological investigations and study of potential therapeutic targets are also delineated in this review.

Cardiac dynamics are traditionally linked to a left ventricle, right ventricle and septum morphology, a topography that differs from the heart’s 5-century-old anatomic description of containing a helix and circumferential wrap architectural configuration. Torrent Guasp’s helical ventricular myocardial band (HVMB) defines this anatomy and its structure, explains why the heart’s 6 dynamic actions of narrowing, shortening, lengthening, widening, twisting and uncoiling happen. This database raises questions about deductions behind “accepted cardiac mechanics”, and its functional aspects will challenge and overturn them. These suppositions include the LV, RV, and septum description, timing of mitral valve opening, isovolumic relaxation period, reasons for torsion/twisting, untwisting, reasons for longitudinal and circumferential strain, echocardiographic sub segmentation, resynchronization, RV function dynamics, and diastolic dysfunction’s cause and unrecognized septum impairment. Torrent Guasp’s revolutionary contributions may alter future understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease.

The liver health of Gilthead sea bream and European sea bass fed fishmeal-free diets including various proportions of plant proteins, insect and poultry by-product meals, was investigated through biochemical and histological analyses using a new Liver Index (LI) formula. Four isoproteic (45% DM) and isolipidic (20% DM) diets were compared: a control, plant-based diet (CV) and other three test ones where 40% of a plant protein-rich ingredient mixture was replaced by Hermetia illucens (H40) or poultry by-product (P40) meals alone or in combination (H10P30). The trials lasted 12 and 18 weeks for sea bream and sea bass, respectively. The results so far ob-tained highlighted species-specific differences in the physiological response to dietary changes. In sea bream, the biochemical and histological responses suggest favorable physiological status and liver health, with higher serum cholesterol (CHO) and triglyceride (TAG) levels and moderate hepatocyte lipid accumulation with the H10P30 diet compared to CV (p<0.05). In sea bass, all diets resulted in elevated serum TAG levels and liver lipid accumulation particularly in fish fed the P40 one (p<0.05) which resulted in the highest LI, coupled with higher frequency of severe lipid accumulation, hypertrophy, cord loss, peripheral nuclei displacement and pyknosis. In conclusion sea bream well adapted to the test diets, while sea bass exhibited altered hepatic lipid metabolism leading to incipient liver steatosis, likely due to the high lipid content of the diets including the insect and poultry meals. The LI developed in this study proved to be a reliable tool for assessing the effects of dietary changes on liver health of sea bream and sea bass, consistent with biochemical and histological findings.

In this work, we studied light-output properties, efficiency function as well as PSD capability of p-Terphenyl scintillator. The selected solid cylindrical scintillation detector has a size of (45 x 45) mm with PSD properties. Recently presented studies of light-output functions have been meas-ured only for low neutron energies. Our motivation has been to determine more accurate the light output function for p-Terphenyl scintillator over a wider neutron energy range. The measurements have been carried out with mono-energetic neutron beams in the wide energy range from 2.5 to 19 MeV. The neutron-gamma spectrometric system, which we developed has been used for the measurement. The input analogue signal from the detector is digitized with fast 12-bits analogue to digital converter with sampling frequency of 1 GHz. Measured data from the detector are processed into gamma and neutron spectra. The light output function for protons has been determined by finding the position of the protons for given neutron energies. The more accurate light output function for p-Therphenyl scintillator has been calculated. The pulse-shape discrimination capability as well as efficiency of p-Terphenyl scintillator in comparison with NE-213 equivalent detector is lower.

Silica aerogels and their derivatives have outstanding thermal properties with exceptional values in the thermal insulation industry. However, the brittle nature restricts its large-scale commercialization. Thus, enhancing their mechanical strength without affecting their thermal insulating properties is essential. Therefore, for the first time, highly thermally stable Poly(acrylamide-Co-acrylic acid) partial sodium salt is used as a reinforcing polymer to synthesize hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogels via epoxy ring-opening polymerization in the present study. Functional groups in P(AAm-CO-AAc) partial sodium salts, such as CONH2 and COOH, acted as nucleophiles for the epoxy ring-opening reaction with (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane, which resulted in a seven-fold enhancement in mechanical strength compared to that of a pristine silica aerogel while maintaining the thermal conductivity at less than 30.6 mW/mK and porosity of more than 93.68%. Moreover, the hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogel demonstrated improved thermal stability up to 343 ⁰C owing to the synergetic effect between P(AAm-CO-AAc) and the silica aerogel, corresponding to thermal stability and strong covalent bonding among them. These excellent results illustrate that this new synthetic approach for producing hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogels is useful for enhancing the mechanical strength of a pristine silica aerogel without impairing its thermal insulating property and shows potential as an industrial heat insulation material.

In this paper, a study of modeling PV cell (solar cell), PV module (solar modules) and PV array solar array) using Matlab/Simulink software is presented. This study is focused on the study to design photovoltaic cell, photovoltaic modules, photovoltaic panels and PV array (solar array) and to analyze the change in PV performance according to changes in different parameters such temperature, solar irradiation, reverse saturation current, series resistance and shunt resistance. This study shows the PV and IV characteristics curve for each model from which MPP (maximum power point) is determined. In this study, different PV and IV characteristic curves are gained for varying temperatures with specified solar irradiation conditions,s and then the MPP is tracked. The highest power output is also compared between the designed PV module and the selected PV module (MX Solar USA MX60-245)

The main goal of the present paper is to construct some families of the Carlitz’s q-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers. We firstly introduce the modified Carlitz’s q-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers with weight (α, β) and investigate their some explicit properties and identities arising from the bosonic q-Volkenborn integral on ℤ_p. We then define the modified degenerate Carlitz’s q-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers with weight (α, β) and obtain some recurrence relations and other identities. Moreover, we derive some correlations with the modified Carlitz’s q-Bernoulli polynomials with weight (α, β), the modified degenerate Carlitz’s q-Bernoulli polynomials with weight (α, β), the Stirling numbers of the first kind and second kind.

Many children on the autism spectrum engage in challenging behaviors, like aggression, due to difficulties communicating and regulating their stress. Identifying effective intervention strategies is often subjective and time-consuming. Utilizing unobservable internal physiological data to predict strategy effectiveness may help simplify this process for teachers and parents. This study examined whether heart rate data can predict strategy effectiveness. Teachers and coders from the research team recorded behavioral and heart rate data over three months for each participating student on the autism spectrum using the KeepCalm app, a platform that provides in-the-moment strategy suggestions based on heart rate and past behavioral data, across 226 instances of strategy interventions. A binary logistic regression was performed to assess whether heart rate reduction, time to return to heart rate baseline, and documented skills and challenging behaviors predicted strategy effectiveness. Results suggested that heart rate reduction may be a significant predictor, and supported the existing practice of using behavioral patterns as proxies for strategy effectiveness. Additional analyses indicate proactive strategies are more effective and are associated with greater reduction in heart rate, relative to reactive strategies. Further exploration of how internal physiological data can complement observable behaviors in assessing intervention strategy effectiveness is warranted given the novelty of our findings.

Background/Objectives: Prospective cohort studies are useful for studying how biomolecular status affects risk of adverse health outcomes. Less well known is that the longer the follow-up time, the lower the apparent effect due to “regression dilution.” Here we evaluate how follow-up time affects the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concen-tration and incidence of stroke and major cardiovascular events (MCEs). Methods: Findings re-garding the relative risk (RR) of stroke and MCEs with respect to serum 25(OH)D concentrations at baseline from prospective cohort studies were plotted against mean follow-up time. Fifteen studies from mainly European countries and the United States were used for stroke, with nine studies for MCEs. Linear regression analyses were performed for follow-up periods of up to 10 years. Results: For stroke, the linear regression fit for 1–10 years is RR = 0.34 + (0.065 × follow-up [years]), r = 0.84, adjusted r2 = 0.67, p <0.001. No significant change was evident for studies with follow-up periods of 10–20 years. For MCEs, the linear fir for 1–8.1 years is RR = 1.61 ‒ (0.074 × follow-up [years]), r = 0.75, adjusted r2 = 0.49, p = 0.03. Discussion: The shorter the follow-up period, the greater the apparent effect of vitamin D in reducing risk of stroke and MCEs. In addition, the apparent effect of higher 25(OH)D concentration found for the shortest follow-up time is more than twice as high as the estimate based on averaging the results for all studies without considering follow-up time. Mechanisms have been found to explain how higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations could reduce risk of stroke and MCEs. Randomized controlled trials have not shown that vitamin D supplementation significantly reduces risk of either stroke or MCE, probably because risk of both outcomes increases rapidly below 15 ng/mL (38 nmol/L) and it is difficult in Western developed countries to enroll enough participants with concentrations that low. Nonetheless, vitamin D’s role in reducing risk of stroke and MCE can be considered causal on the basis of an evaluation of the evidence with respect to Hill’s criteria for causality in a biological system. Conclusions: Serum 25(OH)D concentrations above 20 ng/mL are associated with significantly reduced risk of stroke and MCEs in an apparent causal manner. Raising serum 25(OH)D concentrations to >20 ng/mL should be recommended for everyone likely to be at risk for stroke or MCE and indeed in the general population.

Background: Systemic-to pulmonary collaterals (SPC) are common in congenital heart disease (CHD). Particularly in single ventricle anatomy and Fontan circulation, SPC can both complicate the postoperative course and lead to clinical deterioration in the long term. Treatment of SPC is controversial. The aim of our study was (1) to analyze retrospectively patients who underwent SPC embolization using Concerto™ Helix nylon-fibred microcoils (CHM) and (2) to describe the interventional technique. Methods: In this a single-center retrospective observational cohort study, we analyzed clinical and imaging data of all patients who underwent transcatheter embolization of SPC using CHM from January 2016 to December 2023. Results: In 38 consecutive patients (65.8 % male, median age 41 months, range 2 – 490), a total number of 141 CHM had been implanted into 64 SPC in 49 procedures. The majority were arterial SPC (n = 59/64) originating from the thoracic aorta or its branches; 5/64 were veno-venous SPC. Primary closure succeeded in all procedures. The CHM diameters ranged from 3 to 8 mm, with 5 mm being the most commonly used diameter. The mean coil / SPC ratio was 2.6 (range 1.3 – 5.3). CHM implantation was performed via 4 French sheaths. Both detachment and stable positioning was simple and safe. Neither non-target embolization nor coil migration occurred. One complication occurred with a minor vascular injury without clinical relevance. Conclusion: CHM are easy to use and appropriate for SPC embolization in all age groups, including infants, with a low complication rate. The coils are particularly suitable for closure of collaterals with small diameter or tortuous course.

Bicuspid Aortic valve Stenosis (BCAS) with an incidence of 3% of the world's population constitutes the most frequent Congenital Heart Disease whereas all other subtypes collectively constitute 1% of all life births. Most and the extreme severity spectrum of valvular Aortic Stenosis (VAS) in adulthood are cases of congenital bicuspid aortic valve. It seems that the congenital occurrence of the bicuspid aortic valve is a major prerequisite of the pathological calcifications and fibrosis seen in adults. Those progressive changes can't be explained by sole hemodynamic destructive forces but other factors inherent to the bicuspid valve tissue are also contributing. Therapeutic options of (VAS) are relatively stagnant and have been limited to invasive and surgical options. Prudent observation of the risk factors of some CHDs including BCAS was the epigenetic effect of planetary electromagnetic field on the delicate process of endothelial mesenchymal transformation (EndoMT). The incidence of BCAS is progressively increasing as we depart north from the equator to the north pole. A deeper understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying EndoMT in congenital as well as acquired heart diseases is expected to open a new era in reversing heart disease in the human species. The potential to manipulate EndoMT and its signaling pathways or to reverse it with external electromagnetic power is an exciting therapeutic option for a wide array of congenital and acquired heart diseases including bicuspid aortic stenosis (BCAS) in the human species.

Bioactive peptides are sequences of amino acids, cut from the parent protein with en-zymes or high pressure processing that can impart a tertiary health benefit to the con-sumer that goes beyond basic human nutrition. This study explores mesopelagic fish in-cluding Maurolicus muelleri and Benthosema glaciale as sources of peptides with an-ti-inflammatory, heart health beneficial, antioxidant and other bioactivities. Bioactive peptides were generated post-catch using different enzymatic hydrolysis processes ap-plied to mesopelagic species caught from experimental cruises targeting these fish. Maurolicus muelleri and Benthosema glaciale were the dominant species processed. Bi-oactive hydrolysates included a Maurolicus muelleri Alcalase hydrolysate and a Maurolicus muelleri autolysis. Hundreds of peptide sequences were identified using mass spectrome-try from active hydrolysates. In silico analysis was used to rank identified peptide se-quences in terms of overall bioactivity using Peptide Ranker, anti-inflammatory activity using PrepAIP, ability to impart Umami flavours with Umami-MRNN and dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitory potential using AntiDMPpred . Thirty peptides were selected fol-lowing in silico analysis. Several of the selected peptides had sequence homology with peptides derived from other fish proteins including Atlantic salmon (peptide QCPLHR-PWAL) and thin-lipped mullet (peptide FDAFLPM). Seven peptides predicted to have an-ti-inflammatory, anti-type 2 diabetes or Umami potential using in silico strategies were chemically synthesized and their anti-inflammatory activities confirmed using in vitro bioassays with COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The peptide QCPLHRPWAL inhibited COX-1 and COX-2 by 82.90% (+/-0.54) and 53.84% respectively and had a selectivity index greater than 10. This peptide warrant further research as a novel anti-inflammatory/pain relief peptide. Other bioactivities associated with DPP-IV inhibition and Umami flavours de-velopment are discussed. Identified peptides offer potential for use in functional foods or topical agents to prevent pain and inflammation associated with diseases like psoriasis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, however further research in vivo is required.

(1) Background: The proportion of fully mechanized harvesting systems in Austria is constantly increasing especially because of the technological development of the machines, which allows them to drive on increasingly steep terrain. This leads to additional challenges and potential hazards for the operators, which may also cause higher stress levels. The purpose of this study is to develop and debate a new set of methodologies for determining time and space resolved psychophysiology data to analyze stressful and non-stressful work situations for harvester and forwarder operators; (2) Methods: we suggest a study protocol to analyze a) tasks performed by the driver, b) environmental factors, like slope gradient, c) the psychophysiological response of experts during these tasks, and d) evaluate the worker´s subjective stress and fatigue before and after a harvest operation. (3) Results: Within this manuscript we present a study protocol based on quantitative and qualitative methods, like time and space resolved psychophysiology, questionnaires, qualitative interviews, as well as video and sensor-based analysis of environmental and machine data. The first results from real measurements of a forwarder driver are presented; (4) Conclusions: This multimodal research protocol serves to explore the relationship between stress, fatigue, and performed tasks. Through our quantitative and qualitative methodology, researchers can improve the health and safety of forest workers at work, improve their productivity and reduce damage to remaining trees.

Overhydration (OH) is a prevalent medical problem occuring in patients with kidney failure, but a specific marker has still not been found. Currently, clinicians employ techniques such as bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS), ultrasound (US) markers of fluid overload or markers of heart and kidney function such as NT-pro-BNP, GFR or creatinine levels. New serum markers, including but not limited to Ca-125, Galectin-3 (Gal-3), Adrenomedullin (AMD) and Urocortin-2 (UCN-2), are presently under research, displaying promising results. The necessity to ascertain a more precise marker of overhydration is urgent mainly because physical examination is exceptionally imprecise. Signs and symptoms of fluid overload, like edema or gradual increase of body mass, are not always present, notably in patients with chronic kidney disease. This review paper summarizes actual knowledge of a patient's hydration status estimation, focusing specifically on kidney diseases.

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is considered a major healthcare problem with frequent decompensations, high hospitalization and mortality rates. In severe heart failure (HF), the symptoms are refractory to medical treatment and require advanced therapeutic strategies. Early recognition of HF sub- and decompensation is the cornerstone of the timely treatment intensification and, therefore, improvement of the prognosis. Echocardiography is the gold standard for the assessment of systolic and diastolic functions. It allows to obtain accurate and non-invasive measurements of the ventricular function in HF. In severely compromised HF patients, advanced cardiovascular ultrasound modalities may provide a better assessment of intracardiac hemodynamic changes and subclinical congestion. Particularly, cardiovascular and lung ultrasound allow to make a more accurate diagnosis of subclinical congestion in HFrEF. The aim of this review is to summarize the advantages and limitations of currently available ultrasound modalities in the ambulatory monitoring of patients with HFrEF.

This review is devoted to present the history of CARDIOSIM© software simulator platform, which was developed in Italy to simulate the human cardiovascular and respiratory system. The first version of CARDIOSIM© was developed at the Institute of Biomedical Technologies of the National Research Council in Rome. The first platform version published in 1991 ran on PC with disk operating system (MS-DOS) and was developed using the Turbo Basic language. The last version runs on PC with Microsoft Windows 10 operating system; it is implemented in Visual Basic and C++ languages. The platform has a modular structure consisting of seven different general sections, which can be assembled to reproduce different pathophysiological conditions. The software simulator can reproduce the most important circulatory phenomena in terms of pressure and volume relationships. It represents the whole circulation using a lumped-parameter model and enables the simulation of different cardiovascular conditions according to Starling’s law of the heart and a modified time-varying elastance model. Different mechanical ventilatory and circulatory devices have been implemented in the platform including thoracic artificial lung, ECMO, IABP, pulsatile and continuous right and left ventricular assist devices, biventricular pacemaker and biventricular assist devices. CARDIOSIM© is used in clinical and educational environment.

A large body of evidence reports about the positive effects of physical activity in pathophysiological conditions associated with aging. Physical exercise, alone or in combination with other medical therapies, unquestionably causes reduction of symptoms in chronic non-transmissible diseases often leading to significant amelioration or complete healing. The molecular basis of this exciting outcome, however, remain largely obscure. Epigenetics, exploring at the interface between environmental signals and the remodelling of chromatin structure, promises to shed light on this intriguing matter possibly contributing to the identification of novel therapeutic targets. In this review, we shall focalize on the role of sirtuins (Sirts) a class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) which function has been frequently associated, often with a controversial role, to the pathogenesis of aging-associated pathophysiological conditions including cancer, cardiovascular, muscular, neurodegenerative, bones and respiratory diseases. Numerous studies, in fact, demonstrate that Sirt-dependent pathways are activated upon physical and cognitive exercises linking mitochondrial function, DNA structure remodelling and gene expression regulation to designed medical therapies leading to tangible beneficial outcomes. However, in similar conditions, other studies assign to sirtuins a negative pathophysiological role. In spite of this controversial effect, it is doubtless that studying sirtuins in chronic diseases might lead to an unprecedented improvement of life quality in the elderly.

Myocardial infarction, more commonly known as heart attack, is a huge health problem around the world. It is a result of inadequate blood supply to certain parts of the heart and death of heart muscle cells in that region. Although it has been around for a long time, newer and newer ways of probing myocardial infarction is being followed. Bioinformatics and Systems Biology are relatively recent fields to try to give new insights into myocardial infarction. Following the footsteps of others, this in silico study has tried to chime in on the investigation into myocardial infarction. The study began with the gene expression omnibus dataset uploaded to the NCBI from a whole-genome gene expression analysis carried out at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. From the dataset, differentially expressed genes following first-time myocardial infarction were identified and classified into up-regulated and down-regulated ones. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was carried out on the up-regulated genes which were statistically significant and corresponded with the NCBI generated annotations. Protein-Protein Interaction Network for these genes was constructed. GSEA revealed 5 transcription factors, 5 microRNAs and 3 pathways significantly associated with them. From the Protein-Protein Interaction Network, 6 key proteins (hub nodes) have been identified. These 6 proteins may open a new window of opportunity for the discovery/design of new drugs for mitigating the damage caused by myocardial infarction.

The cytoplasmic membrane is the fundamental component of all living cells, which participates in various physiological processes, such as material exchange, stress response, cell recognition, signal transduction, cellular immunity, apoptosis, pathogenicity, etc. The normal function of a cytoplasmic membrane requires stable organization of transmembrane protein-lipid microdomains, transmembrane protein-cell wall microdomains, and cytoskeleton-transmembrane protein microdomains. Here, we review the mechanisms and functions of various membrane lipid components, fatty acid content and saturation, membrane curvature, and cell wall and cytoskeleton in plasma membrane homeostasis affecting the pathogenicity of pathogenic fungi. Pathogenic fungi maintains plasma membrane homeostasis and contributes to fungal virulence by maintaining plasma membrane assembly, structural and functional integrity of pathogenic fungi at various stages of cell development through interactions among lipid components of cytoplasmic membranes, transmembrane proteins, cytoskeleton and cell wall components, etc.

Epigenetic mechanisms, including histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), play a critical role in regulating pain perception and the pathophysiology of burn injury. However, the epigenetic regulation and molecular mechanisms underlying burn injury-induced pain remain insufficiently explored. Spinal dynorphinergic (Pdyn) neurons contribute to heat hyperalgesia induced by severe scalding-type burn injury through p-S10H3-dependent signaling. Beyond p-S10H3, burn injury may impact various other histone H3 PTMs. Double immunofluorescent staining and histone H3 protein analyses demonstrated significant hypermethylation at H3K4me1 and H3K4me3 sites and hyperphosphorylation at S10H3 within the spinal cord. By analyzing Pdyn neurons in the spinal dorsal horn, we found evidence of chromatin activation with a significant elevation in p-S10H3 immunoreactivity. We used RNA-seq analysis to compare the effects of burn injury and forma-lin-induced inflammatory pain on spinal cord transcriptomic profiles. We identified 98 DEGs for burn injury and 86 DEGs for formalin-induced inflammatory pain. A limited number of shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) suggest distinct central pain processing mechanisms between burn injury and formalin models. KEGG pathway analysis supported this divergence, with burn injury activating Wnt signaling. This study enhances our understanding of burn injury mechanisms and uncovers converging and diverging pathways in pain models with different origins.

Alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (AMPT; also referred as metyrosine) is an approved medication for the treatment of pheochromocytoma. As a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor AMPT may be a potential candidate for the treatment of diseases involving catecholamine alterations. However, only small-scale clinical trials have tested AMPT repurposing in few other illnesses. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an heterogenous disorder with genetically associated vulnerability of catecholamine metabolism (e.g. catechol O-methyltransferase polymorphisms) holding an important impact of environmental factors. The current case report compiles genetic and longitudinal biochemical data for over a year follow-up of one patient sequentially diagnosed with sustained overstress, neurasthenia, CFS, and POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) over a 10-year period, and reports patient’s symptom improvement in response to low-medium doses of AMPT.

Motivated by Kurt's work [Filomat 30 (4) 921-927, 2016], we first consider a class of a new generating function for (p, q)-analog of Apostol type polynomials of order a including Apostol-Bernoulli, Apostol-Euler and Apostol-Genocchi polynomials of order a. By making use of their generating function, we derive some useful identities. We also introduce (p, q)-analog of Stirling numbers of second kind of order v by which we construct a relation including aforementioned polynomials.

Depression is the commonest mental disorder worldwide. Both antidepressants and psychotherapy are effective in treating depression, but response to these treatments is often incomplete. Yoga-based interventions (YBIs) have emerged as a promising adjunctive treatment for depression. Recent research has attempted to identify the biological mechanisms associated with the antidepressant actions of YBIs. In this scoping review, conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the PubMed and Scopus databases were searched to retrieve research on biomarkers of response to YBIs in patients with depression. Eleven studies were included in the review. Based on these studies, YBIs may improve depression through beneficial effects on systemic inflammation, stress axis regulation, cardiac autonomic functioning, and possibly reductions in oxidative stress-related cellular damage. Increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may represent a final common pathway upon which these processes converge. Though these results are theoretically plausible, they should be interpreted with caution due to certain methodological limitations in the existing research. Replication of these results and improvements in study methodology, and the evaluation of other biomarkers relevant to the pathophysiology of depression, could further elucidate the mechanism of action of YBIs in this disorder, and identify which patients would benefit most from this treatment approach.

Many countries are facing the advent of super-aging societies, where sarcopenia and frailty will become emerging problems. Elderly people suffer from various diseases, such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and dementia. The prevalence of comorbidities is a major problem in countries with aged populations. Underlying diseases, such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and also dementia are associated with sarcopenia and frailty, and they are frequent causes of falls, fractures, and a decline in activities of daily living. Fractures in the elderly people are associated with bone fragility, which is influenced by diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Nutritional support for chronic disease patients and sarcopenic individuals with adequate energy and protein intake, vitamin D supplementation, blood-glucose-level management for individuals with diabetes, obesity prevention, nutritional education for healthy individuals, and the enlightenment of society could be crucial to solving the problems in super-aging societies.

Many countries are facing the advent of super-aging societies, where sarcopenia and frailty will become emerging problems. Elderly people suffer from various diseases, such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and dementia. The prevalence of comorbidities is a major problem in countries with aged populations. Underlying diseases, such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and also dementia are associated with sarcopenia and frailty, and they are frequent causes of falls, fractures, and a decline in ADL. Fractures in the elderly people are associated with bone fragility. Diabetes and chronic kidney disease are associated with bone fragility. Nutritional support for chronic disease patients and sarcopenic individuals with adequate energy and protein intake, vitamin D supplementation, blood-glucose-level management for individuals with diabetes, obesity prevention, nutritional education for healthy individuals, and the enlightenment of society could be crucial to solving the problems in super-aging societies.

Persistence of symptoms beyond three months after COVID-19 infection, often referred to as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), is commonly experienced. It is hypothesized that PCC results from autonomic dysfunction with decreased vagal nerve activity, which can be indexed by low heart rate variability (HRV). The aim of this study was to assess the association of HRV upon admission with pulmonary function impairment and number of reported symptoms beyond three months after initial hospitalization for COVID-19 between February and December 2020. Follow-up took place three to five months after discharge and included pulmonary function tests and the assessment of persistent symptoms. HRV analysis was performed on one 10s electrocardiogram obtained upon admission. Analyses were performed using multivariable and multinomial logistic regression models. Among 171 patients who received follow-up, and with an electrocardiogram at admission, decreased diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (41%) was most frequently found. After a median of 119 days (IQR 101-141), 81% of the participants reported at least one symptom. HRV was not associated with pulmonary function impairment or persistent symptoms three to five months after hospitalization for COVID-19.

Nowadays, wearable devices for human health monitoring are increasingly become popular and widely used. Typically, the wearable device is small size and operates with batteries. Therefore, the wearable device acquires bio-signals and transfers to smartphones or personal computers (PC) via WiFi/ Bluetooth for processing data. To reduce power consumption is one of the most important challenges of designing wearable devices. To solve this problem, the proposed signal quality valuation (SQV) method can be select the high-quality signal and reduce the transfer time to other devices. In this paper, the proposed SQV and data compression method rely on real-time PPG signals analysis to retain important information of PPG signal, improve performance and power consumption of PPG devices. Besides, we also proposed Heuristic rules for heart rate (HR) estimation with compression data. The experimental results show that the highest compression ratio (CR) is 387.8 with BIDMC Physionet database (sampling frequencies of 125 Hz) and HR error as 1.43 bpm for averaging absolute error (avAE), the standard deviation absolute error (sdAE as 0.4) and relative error mean (avRE as 0.019). The proposed real-time PPG measurement system (sampling frequency as 100/ 200/ 400 Hz) reduce power consumption and open the new structure for healthcare application systems

Background: our purpose is to assess the effectiveness and safety of sacubitril/valsartan (SV) in “real-world” patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), including a broader spectrum of patients than those in clinical trials and evaluating variables not previously described in the literature. Methods: real-world study in HFrEF patients (N:204), both in and out-patients, who started SV between October 2017 and December 2018. We performed a prospective analysis with a 12-month follow-up. The study outcomes were effectiveness and safety, measured by individual parameters and combined endpoints, comparing the pre and post practice periods. Results: at the end of follow-up, an improvement of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF): 29.8% vs 33.7; p<0.0001, a decrease in NT-proBNP levels (3928 pg/mL vs 2902 pg/mL; p=0.012), number of hospital admissions (141 vs 35; p<0.0001) and percentage of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) indication (79.9% vs 49.5%; p<0.0001) were observed. Of our population, 81.3% met a combined efficacy endpoint (defined by increase of LVEF, reduction of hospital admission or improvement in functional class). No differences were observed in parameters regarding safety. Conclusions: Sacubitril/valsartan has brought about a revolution in the therapeutic management of HFrEF patients and its use may raise questions about what is considered "optimal medical therapy" prior to implantation of cardiac devices.

Gender recognition is trivial for physiotherapist, but it is considered a challenge for computers. The electromyography (EMG) and heart rate variability (HRV) were utilized in this work for gender recognition during the stepping exercise using a stepper. The relevant features were extracted and selected. The selected features were then fused to automatically predict gender recognition. However, the feature selection for gender classification became a challenge to ensure better accuracy. Thus, in this paper, a feature selection approach based on both the performance and the diversity between the two features from the rank-score characteristic (RSC) function in a combinatorial fusion approach (CFA) was employed. Then, the features from the selected feature sets were fused using a CFA. The results were then compared with other fusion techniques such as naive bayes (NB), decision tree (J48), k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SMO). Besides, the results were also compared with previous researches in gender recognition. The experimental results showed that the CFA was efficient for feature selection. The fusion method was also able to improve the accuracy of the gender recognition rate. The CFA provides much better gender classification results which is 94.51% compared to Nazarloo's work (90.34%) and other classifiers.

This is a brief critique of the functions—particularly olfactory functions—specified for the “Chemosensory Protein” (CSPs) molecule family. On the basis of these proteins’ presence in the sensory antennal lymph of locusts, odor chemosensory ligand binding functions have been hypothesized. According to this hypothesis, the entire protein molecule superfamily is referred to as “CSPs”. However, new information and developments in the field of CSP molecular research, such as the expression of CSP genes in the gut, brain, fat body, epidermis, and pheromone gland, as well as gene expression profiling from most early developmental stages—that is, CSP expression well in advance of the appearance of chemical sense nerve cells—strongly suggest that the protein molecule has other roles that are unrelated to chemosensing. Moreover, CSPs are found in bacterial microbial prokaryote organisms in addition to insects. Thus, we examine the molecule’s name, definition, RNA editing, protein structure, lipid binding properties, DNA interaction, and evolutionary characteristics in brief before referring to this protein family as “Chemosensory Proteins”. This article tries to compel and discuss the most recent information as a way to rename this protein family. Because of its highly conserved molecular distinctive feature (four adjacent cysteines), we propose renaming “CSPs” as “4CSPs” (4 Cysteines Soluble Proteins).

Maintenance of integrity and function of the gastric mucosa (GM) requires a high regeneration rate of epithelial cells during the whole life span. The health of the gastric epithelium highly depends on redox homeostasis, antioxidant defense and activity of detoxifying systems within the cells as well as robustness of blood supply. Bioactive products of lipid peroxidation, in particular second messengers of free radicals, the bellwether of which is 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), are important mediators in physiological adaptive reactions and signaling but they are also thought to be implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous gastric diseases. Molecular mechanisms and consequences of increased production of HNE and its protein adducts in response to stressors during acute and chronic gastric injury are well studied. However, several important issues related to the role of HNE in gastric carcinogenesis, tumor growth and progression, the condition of GM after eradication of Helicobacter pylori, or the relevance of antioxidants for HNE-related redox homeostasis in GM still need more studies and new comprehensive approaches. In this regard, preclinical studies and clinical intervention trials are required, which should also include the use of state-of-the-art analytical techniques such as HNE determination by immunohistochemistry and ELISA as well as modern mass-spectroscopy methods.

The goal of the manuscript is to design a relatively best control structure for the noise suppression of a drone’s camera gimbal action. The gimbal’s movement can be simplified as a rest-to-rest reorientation system that can achieve the boundary result of a dynamic system. Six different control architectures are proposed and evaluated based on their ability to control the trajectory of the dynamic-system position and speed, their running time, and quadratic cost. The robustness of the control architecture to uncertainties in inertia and sensor noise is also analyzed. Monte Carlo figures are used to assess the performance of the six control systems. The conditions for applying different architectures are identified through this analysis. The analysis and experimental tests reveal the most suitable control of the drone’s camera gimbal rotation.

All severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections are characterized by a high risk of disease progression towards ARDS, leading to bad outcome. Respiratory symptoms in COVID-19 patients often do not correspond to disease’s worsening. A dysregulated host response to the large viral load could play a key role in the disease progression. In our sample median age was 74 years (72-75) and 54% were men. Median period of hospitalization was 9 days. Firstly, we observed an asynchronous trend of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in 764 selected among 963 patients who were consecutively recruited in two hospitals (Cannizzaro, S. Marco) in Catania, Italy. NLR values in deceased patients showed an increase from baseline over time. By contrast, CRP tended to fall from baseline to median day of hospitalization in all four subgroups, but steeply increased at the end of hospitalization only in ICU-admitted patients. Then we evaluated the relationships between NLR and CRP as continuous variables with PaO2/FiO2 ratio (P/F). Finally, we made mediation and moderation analyses to determine the link between inflammation (CRP), immune system (neutrophils and lymphocytes) and respiratory failure (P/F). CRP, neutrophils and P/F are linked in the same pathogenetic chain leading to respiratory failure.

This article analyzes and compares the integration of two different maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control methods, which are tested under partial shading and fast ramp conditions. These MPPT methods are designed by Improved Particle Swarm Optimization (IPSO) and a combination technique between Neural Network and Perturb & Observe method (NN_P&O). These two methods are implemented and simulated for photovoltaic systems (PV), where various system responses, such as: voltage and power are obtained. The MPPT techniques were simulated using Matlab/Simulink environment. A comparison of the performance of IPSO and NN_P&O algorithms is carried out to confirm the best accomplishment of the two methods in terms of speed, accuracy and simplicity.

Heart transplantation (HT) represents the mainstream therapy of end-stage heart failure for selected patients with a median survival of more than 10 years after surgery and substantial improvement in quality of life. Current guidelines suggest a variety of examinations including invasive (coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy (EBM) and non-invasive methods (echocardiography, stress echocardiography, computed tomography, PET and MRI) to monitor HT patients. Guidelines do not specify the timing of echocardiographic evaluations and do not recommend echocardiography as an alternative to serial EMB in rejection monitoring [2]. They still recommend as gold standard coronary angiography to be done 1 year after surgery and every 2 years after. In this review we will discuss the advantages of non-invasive techniques over the invasive ones for an adequate follow-up of HT patients.

Preeclampsia is a multifactorial cardiovascular disorder diagnosed after 20 weeks of gestation that is the leading cause of death for both mothers and babies in pregnancy. The pathophysiology remains poorly understood due to variability and unpredictability of disease manifestation when studied in animal models. After preeclampsia, both mothers and offspring have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) including myocardial infarction or heart attack and heart failure (HF). Myocardial infarction is an acute myocardial damage that can be treated through reperfusion, however, that therapeutic approach leads to ischemic/reperfusion injury (IRI) often leading to HF. In this review, we compared the current in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo model systems used to study preeclampsia, IRI and HF. Future studies aiming at evaluating CVD in preeclampsia patients could benefit from novel models that better mimic the complex scenario described in this article.

Protein import into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the first step in the biogenesis of about 10,000 different soluble and membrane proteins in humans. It involves co- or post-translational targeting of precursor polypeptides to the ER and their subsequent membrane insertion or translocation. So far, three pathways for ER targeting of precursor polypeptides plus four pathways for ER targeting of mRNAs were described. Typically, these pathways deliver their substrates to the Sec61 polypeptide-conducting channel in the ER membrane. Next, the precursor polypeptides are inserted into the ER membrane or translocated into the ER lumen, which may involve auxiliary translocation components, such as the TRAP and Sec62/Sec63 complexes, or auxiliary membrane protein insertases, such as EMC and the TMCO1 complex. Recently, the PEX19/PEX3-dependent pathway, which has a well-known function in targeting and inserting various peroxisomal membrane proteins into pre-existent peroxisomal membranes, was also found to act in targeting and, putatively, inserting monotopic hairpin proteins into the ER. These either remain in the ER as resident ER membrane proteins or are pinched off from the ER as components of new lipid droplets. Therefore, the question arose if this pathway may play a more general role in ER protein targeting, i.e. represents a fourth pathway for ER targeting of precursor polypeptides. Thus, we addressed the client spectrum of the PEX19/PEX3-dependent pathway in both PEX3-depleted HeLa cells and PEX3-deficient Zellweger patient fibroblasts by an established approach, which involves label-free quantitative mass spectrometry of the total proteome of depleted or deficient cells and differential protein abundance analysis. The negatively affected proteins included twelve peroxisomal proteins and two hairpin proteins of the ER, thus confirming two previously identified classes of putative PEX19/PEX3-clients in human cells. Interestingly, fourteen collagen-related proteins with signal peptides or N-terminal transmembrane helices and belonging to the secretory pathway were also negatively affected by PEX3-deficiency, which may suggest compromised collagen biogenesis as a hitherto unknown contributor to organ failures in the respective Zellweger patients.

Glycosyl inositol phospho ceramides (GIPCs) are the major sphingolipids on earth as they account for a considerable fraction of the total lipids in plants and fungi which in turn represent a large portion of the biomass on earth. Despite their obvious importance, GIPC analysis remains challenging due to the lack of commercial standards and automated annotation software. In this work, we introduce a novel GIPC glycolipidomics workflow based on reversed-phase ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry. For the first time, automated GIPC assignment was performed using the open-source software Lipid Data Analyzer based on platform-independent decision rules. Four different plant samples (salad, spinach, raspberry, strawberry) were analyzed and revealed 64 GIPCs based on accurate mass, characteristic MS2 fragments and matching retention times. Relative quantification using lactosyl ceramide for internal standardization revealed GIPC t18:1/h24:0 as the most abundant species in all plants. Depending on the plant sample, GIPCs contained mainly amine, N-acetylamine or hydroxyl residues. Most GIPCs revealed a Hex-HexA-IPC core and contained a ceramide part with a trihydroxylated t18:0 or t18:1 long chain base and hydroxylated fatty acid chains ranging from 16 to 26 carbon atoms in length (h16:0 – h26:0). Interestingly, six GIPCs containing t18:2 were observed in raspberry, which was not reported so far. The presented workflow supports the characterization of different plant samples by automatic GIPC assignment potentially leading to the identification of new GIPCs. For the first time, automated high‑throughput profiling of these complex glycolipids is possible by liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry and subsequent automated glycolipid annotation based on decision rules.

Materials based on platinum metals with very good catalytic activity were tested in the reduction of p–nitrophenol (pNP) to p–aminophenol (pAP). The majority of presented catalytic materials are based on the adsorption of p–nitrophenol on the surface of the catalyst simultaneously with molecular hydrogen, coming from sodium borohydride in an aqueous medium, which reduces it. In the present paper, a catalytic material based on osmium dispersed in n–decanol or n–dodecanol is presented, which also works as an emulsion membrane, for the absorption of p–nitrophenol and molecular hydrogen at the n–alcohol aqueous solution interface. The hydrogenation of p–nitrophenol is carried out in a reaction and separation column in which the acid receiving phase emulsion is dispersed in the osmium nanodispersion, in n–alcohols. This emulsion circulates from the base of the column to its upper part in co-current or counter-current with the source phase consisting of p–nitrophenol and sodium borohydride. Experiments show that the circulation of counter-current phases is superior to that in co-current, and the emulsion based on n–decanol is more efficient than the one based on n–dodecanol. The increase in the pH difference between the source and receiving phases leads to the increase in the conversion of p–nitrophenol to p–aminophenol. The efficiency of separation of the reaction product in the receiving phase is lower than the conversion at the same operating time. The apparent catalytic rate constant (kapp) of the new catalytic material based on the emulsion membrane with nanodispersion of osmium nanoparticles (0.1×10−3 for n–dodecanol and 0.9×10−3 for n-decanol) is lower by an order of magnitude compared to those based on adsorption on catalysts from platinum metal group. The advantage of the tested membrane catalytic material is that it extracts p–aminophenol in the acid receiving phase. The paper proposes a mechanism of the studied reduction system.

The development of mineral resources in China has gradually entered the stage of deep mining. Rock burst, collapse and other ground pressure disasters caused by deep high stress have become major hidden dangers restricting mine safety production. Microseismic monitoring technology is an important means of ground pressure risk prediction. In this paper, the wavelet coefficient threshold denoising method in time-frequency domain, STA/LTA method, AIC method, Skew and Kurtosis method are studied, and the automatic P-phase onset time picking model based on noise reduction and multiple detection indexes is established. Through the effect analysis of microseismic signals collected by microseismic monitoring system of coral Tungsten Mine in Guangxi, automatic P-phase onset time picking is realized. the reliability of the P-phase onset time picking method proposed in this paper based on noise reduction and multiple detection indexes is verified. The picking accuracy can still be guaranteed under the severe signal interference of background noise, power frequency interference and manual activity underground mine, Which is of great significance to the data processing and analysis of microseismic monitoring.