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OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine whether the association of small label size of the surgical valve with increased mortality after transcatheter valve-in-valve (ViV) implantation is, at least in part, related to pre-existing prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) (i.e., a bioprosthesis that is too small in relation to body size).\ud BACKGROUND Transcatheter ViV implantation is an alternative for the treatment of patients with degenerated bioprostheses. Small label size of the surgical valve has been associated with increased mortality after ViV implantation.\ud METHODS Data from 1,168 patients included in the VIVID (Valve-in-Valve International Data) registry were analyzed. Pre-existing PPM of the surgical valve was determined using a reference value of effective orifice area for each given model and size of implanted prosthetic valve indexed for body surface area. Severe PPM was defined according to the criteria proposed by the Valve Academic Research Consortium 2: indexed effective orifice area

Dynamics of hydrogen accumulation in plastically strained specimens of titanium and stainless steel has been investigated with the help of the methods of thermo-stimulated desorption and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The introduction of hydrogen was made by the technique of cathode electrolysis in 0,1 M solution of LiOD in D2O. On the base of the results obtained the possible mechanisms of hydrogen penetration into metals ans effect of structure defects on efficiency of hydrogen capture in metals have been discussed.

By the means of electron-positron annihilation method, defects formation in titanium under electrolytic hydrogen charging from LiOH+H2O solution has been studied. Effects of thermal annealing and electron irradiation of defect structure of hydrogen-containing titanium were investigated. Mean positron lifetime and F-parameter were found to be decreased after electron irradiation of hydrogen-charged specimens. Effects observed are connected with defect structure modification induced by rapid hydrogen migration and defects annihilation.

The contribution shows the role of nondestructive testing within the framework of quality management of industrial production processes and how quality management is performed in the Fraunhofer-Institut for Nondestructive Testing. It demonstrates the state-of-the-art achieved by science and technology with examples from process-integrated nondestructive testing (PINT).

In the past five years were carried out SANS (Small-Angle Neutron Scattering) measurements in the JINR to investigate latent and short etched tracks in SSNTD. The results demonstrate the suitability of the method to study not etched and short etched tracks to analyse the etching process, e.g. for nuclear track filter production. The reuslts are in good agreement with other methods as conductivity measurements.

The ability of materials to generate radio pulses during deformation and fracture has been known since the 1960s. Electromagnetic emission is generally related to processes of the separation, movement, and relaxation of charges in the gap between the walls of cracks occuring or developing. An electromagnetic signal usually arises already at early stages of loading. The kinetics of its change reflects the main stages of fracture of a solid. The relation between electromagnetic fields and processes of the formation of a crack and failure determines the expediency of using the phenomena of electromagnetic emission for evaluationg the strength properties and flaw detection of nonmetallic materials. The possibilities of nondestructive evaluation of the strength of silicate glasses and optical articles were analyzed. The prospects of using electromagnetic emission for checking processes of the failure and for evaluationg the bearing of concretes were investigated in the present.

The article reports for an application of acoustic and electric methods to investigations of destruction process in materials. The following two methods were used: electric conductivity method correlated with acoustic emission and electromagnetic emission method, also with the acosutic emission records. In the both cases the measuremnts were conducted during the three-point bending. The acoustic emission method (AE) has been used as an indicator of starting of the cracking process, and its further growth. The objective of the research was to find out the interrelation between AE, being immediately identified with cracking, and the conductivity as well as electromagnetic emission during the failure process. The other aim of the work was an attempt to develop new non-destructive methods for the evaluations of cracking, and behaviour of the brittle materials under load.

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with periods of remission and relapse. As discontinuation of antipsychotic medication is the most important reason for relapse, long-term maintenance treatment is key. Whether intramuscular long-acting (depot) antipsychotics are more efficacious than oral medication in preventing medication discontinuation is still unresolved. We aimed to compare time to all-cause discontinuation in patients randomly allocated to long-acting injectable (LAI) versus oral medication. Methods: EULAST was a pragmatic, randomised, open-label trial conducted at 50 general hospitals and psychiatric specialty clinics in 15 European countries and Israel. Patients aged 18 years and older, with DSM-IV schizophrenia (as confirmed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5 plus) and having experienced their first psychotic episode from 6 months to 7 years before screening, were randomly allocated (1:1:1:1) using block randomisation to LAI paliperidone, LAI aripiprazole, or the respective oral formulations of these antipsychotics. Randomisation was stratified by country and duration of illness (6 months up to 3 years vs 4 to 7 years). Patients were followed up for up to 19 months. The primary endpoint was discontinuation, regardless of the reason, during 19 months of treatment. We used survival analysis to assess the time until all-cause discontinuation in the intention-to-treat (ITT) group, and per protocol analyses were also done. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02146547, and is complete. Findings: Between Feb 24, 2015, and Dec 15, 2018, 533 individuals were recruited and assessed for eligibility. The ITT population included 511 participants, with 171 (33%) women and 340 (67%) men, and a mean age of 30·5 (SD 9·6) years. 410 (80%) of 511 participants were White, 35 (7%) were Black, 20 (4%) were Asian, and 46 (9%) were other ethnicity. In the combined oral antipsychotics treatment group of 247 patients, 72 (29%) patients completed the study and 175 (71%) met all-cause discontinuation criteria. In the combined LAI treatment arm of 264 patients, 95 (36%) completed the study and 169 (64%) met the all-cause discontinuation criteria. Cox regression analyses showed that treatment discontinuation for any cause did not differ between the two combined treatment groups (hazard ration [HR] 1·16, 95% CI 0·94–1·43, p=0·18). No significant difference was found in the time to all-cause discontinuation between the combined oral and combined LAI treatment groups (log rank test χ 2=1·87 [df 1]; p=0·17). During the study, 121 psychiatric hospitalisations occurred in 103 patients, and one patient from each of the LAI groups died; the death of the patient assigned to paliperidone was assessed to be unrelated to the medication, but the cause of other patient's death was not shared with the study team. 86 (25%) of 350 participants with available data met akathisia criteria and 70 (20%) met parkinsonism criteria at some point during the study. Interpretation: We found no substantial advantage for LAI antipsychotic treatment over oral treatment regarding time to discontinuation in patients with early-phase schizophrenia, indicating that there is no reason to prescribe LAIs instead of oral antipsychotics if the goal is to prevent discontinuation of antipsychotic medication in daily clinical practice. Funding: Lundbeck and Otsuka.