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Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT) originating from the outflow tract (OT) is usually considered a benign condition. However, in some rare cases, patients with the malignant OT-VT suffer from syncope or even sudden cardiac death (SCD). Objectives The purpose of this study was to clarify the long-term clinical outcome of catheter ablation for malignant OT-VT with no sturctural heart disease (no SHD). Methods Fifty two consecutive patients (28 women and 24 men; mean age, 45 years; range, 20-77 years) ablated or implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD) for malignant OT-VT were followed for median 5 years from 2001 to 2019. Primary end point defined recurrent VT/VF episodes. Result All 52 patients underwent electrophysiologic study (EPS). Among these patients, catheter ablation successfully elimiated VT focus in 37 (71.2%), partially suppressed VT in 9 (17.3%), and failed to controll VT in 6 (11.5%) [5 of 6 failed to induce clinical tachcyardia and 1 of 6 failed to ablate VT due to multipe PVC]. There was no acute procedureal complication. ICDs were implanted in 16 patients. 12 of these 16 patients were presented with VF or SCD. One of these 16 patients had recurrent VT in 3 years after ablation and three of 16 patients failed to induce clinical tachcyardia. During a mean follow up 58 months (range, 6-161 months), 19 (36.5%) of 52 patients suffered from recurrent VT/VF episodes. Among the 37 patients with successful ablation, 10 (27.0%) patients reached primary endpoints. More importantly, two patients (with only syncope and no prior VF) experienced SCD, one at 6 years after a successful ablation and the other at 3 years after partially modification of VT focus. Conclusion Catheter ablation for the malignant OT-VT in patients with no SHD showed safe and tolerable outcomes. It may consider as an early treatment option for these patients. However, even after the successful ablation, a periodical follow-up is crucial in some patients for preventing sudden cardiac deaths.

Background The combined use of antiplatelet agents (APT) and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patient with atrial fibrillation (AF) is commonly encountered in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes between combination therapy (NOAC and APT) and monotherapy (NOAC only). Methods and results We analyzed patients who were prescribed NOACs between January 2012 and December 2016. The primary outcome was major or any bleeding events and the secondary outcomes were stroke/systemic embolism (SE) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Of 1,068 participants, there were 264 (24.7%) patients in the combination group. The prevalence of diabetes (p=0.017) and history of stroke and transient ischemic attacks (p Conclusions The combination therapy had higher incidences of any bleeding events compared to the monotherapy. However, there was no difference in stroke/SE and MACE. The bleeding risk in patients taking the combination of NOACs and APT should be carefully evaluated. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1. Primary and secondary outcomes

Aims: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a significant cause of human gastrointestinal disorders and is transmitted through ingestion of raw or undercooked contaminated seafood. We used the groEL gene for the species-specific detection of V. parahaemolyticus from artificially inoculated shellfish, fish and seawater. Methods and Results: The nucleotide sequences of 24 Vibrio and seven non-Vibrio spp. were compared, and less conserved regions were selected for the designing of primer sets. To detect V. parahaemolyticus specifically, PCR conditions were standardized and tested to evaluate the specificity of primers. A 510-bp band was appeared only from V. parahaemolyticus by PCR. Notably, the detection was shown to be functional at high annealing temperature above 68°C. The groEL primers detected 100 pg and 1 ng of DNA purified from V. parahaemolyticus culture and artificially infected oyster tissue, respectively. Conclusions: The groEL gene is a potential marker for the species-specific detection of V. parahaemolyticus and could be used to detect this bacterium in contaminated food by PCR. Significance and Impact of the Study: PCR using primers designed from groEL gene provide an efficient method for the accurate identification of V. parahaemolyticus from contaminated samples.

The pavement network represents a visible and expensive component of a highway agency’s total transportation investment and, thus, requires proper management. Historically, the agencies managing these investments have relied on manual distress surveys carried out by personnel who drive the network and provide subjective condition assessments. Surveys completed by a highly instrumented vehicle driven at standard travel speeds have become a viable alternative. Questions regarding accuracy and consistency with existing survey protocols still remain with these automated survey methods. This paper reports on the findings from a study to evaluate automated distress surveys. Vendors and manual survey teams have evaluated the distresses along a test loop in North Carolina using two survey protocols: (1) an agency’s standard network level survey, and (2) the long-term pavement performance survey. Communication between the vendor and agency is the single most important factor that allows for the proper utilization ...

Objective. Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenol, which possesses chemotherapeutic potential through its ability to trigger apoptosis. The objective of this study was to investigate the major determinant for the apoptotic cell death induction by resveratrol in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) derived from patients with RA. Methods. The effect of resveratrol on apoptotic cell death was quantified in a population of subG1 in RA FLS by flow cytometry. The underlying signalling mechanism for apoptotic death was examined by analysing mitochondrial membrane potential, activation of the caspase cascade and translocation of Bid. Results. We show that activation of caspase-8 is essential for triggering resveratrol-induced apoptotic signalling via the involvement of the mitochondrial pathway in RA FLS. Our findings also suggest that this enhanced apoptosis caused by resveratrol occurred in RA FLS irrespective of p53 status. Exposure to resveratrol caused extensive apoptotic cell death, along with a caspase-dependent (activation of caspase-9 and -3, poly ADPribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage and mitochondrial cytochrome c release) or caspase-independent [translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) to the nucleus] signalling pathway. Analysis of upstream signalling events affected by resveratrol revealed that the activated caspase-8 triggered mitochondrial apoptotic events by inducing Bid cleavage without any alteration in the levels of Bax, Bcl-xL or Bcl2. The caspase-8 inhibitor or over-expression of crmA abrogated cell death induced by resveratrol and prevented processing of the downstream cascade. Conclusion. The results suggest that resveratrol causes activation of caspase-8, which in turn results in modulation of mitochondrial apoptotic machinery to promote apoptosis of RA FLS.

Stroke studies employ experimental models of cerebral ischemic and reperfusion injury in rodents. MRI provides valuable supravital data of cerebral blood flow and brain tissue damage. This paper presents MRI applications for cerebral blood flow research in mice lines with impaired nitric oxide production by endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Our data demonstrates that specific modifications of MRI methodology in transgenic mouse models help to evaluate the role of eNOS in the brain-blood barrier function.

An efficient method of fitting Prony-series models to viscoelastic experimental data with power-law presmoothing is presented. A direct fitting of a Prony-series function to experimental data without appropriate presmoothing is difficult when the data have significant variance. A power-law series comprising multiple power-law terms is found capable of portraying a globally smooth, broadband viscoelastic behavior with minimal impact from local variance in the data. However, from a computational point of view, a Prony series representation is preferred to a power-law series representation because of the computational efficiency associated with the exponential basis functions of a Prony series. In this paper, a procedure involving presmoothing of experimental data via power-law-series representation followed by fitting of a Prony-series model to the presmoothed data is discussed and illustrated. Discussion focuses on how experimental data with significant variance can be effectively presmoothed through power...

Methods of interconversion between relaxation modulus and creep compliance for linear viscoelastic materials are discussed and illustrated using data from asphalt concrete. Existing methods of approximate interconversion are reviewed and compared for their approximating schemes. A new approximate interconversion scheme that uses the local log-log slope of the source function is introduced. The new scheme is based on the concept of equivalent time determined by rescaling the physical time. The rescaling factor, which can be interpreted as a shift factor on a logarithmic time axis, is dictated by the local slope of the source function on log-log scales. The unknown target function at a given time is obtained by taking the reciprocal of the source function evaluated at an equivalent time. Although the method is developed using a mathematical relationship based on the power-law representations of relaxation modulus and creep compliance, the method is not limited to material functions characterized by power-laws but can be applied to general, non-power-law material functions as long as the relevant material behaviors are broadband and smooth on logarithmic scales. The new method renders good results especially when the log-log slope of the source function varies smoothly with logarithmic time.

Dielectric properties of baked dough samples of various moisture contents, temperatures and densities were measured at 27 MHz with a parallel plate capacitor connected to an Impedance Analyzer (HP 4194A). As a basis for the dielectric prediction model, statistical equations were developed from measurements of the solid density and the solid dielectric properties of flour-water mixtures at various moistures between 2% and 100% moisture. A square root dielectric mixture equation was selected and combined with the regression equations to give modified prediction equations for the dielectric properties of baked dough as functions of moisture content and bulk density at room temperature. These prediction models were further developed by introducing temperature correction terms. These developed models successfully predicted the dielectric properties ofbaked dough at different moisture content, density and high temperature.

In this paper, Schapery’s nonlinear elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle based on pseudostrain concept is introduced as a means of separately evaluating important mechanisms of asphalt concrete under cyclic loading, including time dependence, damage growth, and fracture healing. Earlier work by Kim and Little and the findings from the present study have demonstrated that the correspondence principle can be applied to most of the testing conditions encountered in testing of asphalt concrete. The importance of using proper analytical representation of relaxation modulus in course of calculating pseudostrain is demonstrated using the cyclic data. At the loading frequencies typically used in asphalt-concrete testing (faster than 10Hz), the creep or relaxation data must be represented in a form that can accurately describe the short time behavior, such as the modified power law. It is concluded that the correspondence principle provides a means of more accurately modeling the damage growth and fracture healing of asphalt concrete under complex cyclic loading.

Aims To develop an effective multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the simultaneous detection of three important Vibrio species, Vibrio cholerae (Vc), V. parahaemolyticus (Vp) and V. vulnificus (Vv) using the groEL gene, a potential phylogenetic marker. Methods and Results Three species-specific primer sets were designed to target Vc, Vp and Vv. A total of 131 Vibrio and non-Vibrio strains were used to determine the specificity and sensitivity of primers. The primers produced specific PCR fragments from all target species strains and did not cross-react with other Vibrio and non-Vibrio species. This PCR method showed good efficiency in detecting coexisting target species in the same sample with a detection limit of 100 pg of Vc, Vp and Vv from mixed purified DNA. Detection of three target species was also possible from artificially inoculated shellfish, flounder and sea water. Conclusions The groEL gene is a potential marker for accurate simultaneous detection of Vc, Vp and Vv and could be used to detect these species in environmental and clinical samples. Significance and Impact of the Study This newly developed multiplex PCR is a useful and cost-effective method that is applicable in a disease-outbreak prediction system and may provide an effective tool for both the epidemiologist and ecologist.

We report on time-correlated single photon counting studies of the sigma conjugated polysilane, poly(di-n-hexylsilane), at 2 K. The emission processes of Raman and dephased flourescence are distinguished. It is shown that the risetime of flourescence and the decay time of the Raman polarization are similar and that energy transfer occurs on a tens of picosecond timescale. Simultaneous depolarization of the emission suggests energy transfer along a twisted chain. The energy transfer time is several times longer than the ( T 1 ) dephasing time derived from hole burning studies of the polymer.

The vibrational energy relaxation times (T1) of the antisymmetric stretch (ν3) of the azide ion (N−3) in various protic solvents have been measured to be 3 ps using transient two-color infrared spectroscopy.

Various ways in which the anisotropy can be used to understand ultrafast processes are presented and discussed. Examples include molecular reorientation, energy transfer between identical systems, excitation dynamics in polymers, reactant product alignment, protein dynamics and internal motions in fluxional molecules.

Engineered single-chain monellin (SCM) proteins were constructed by recombinant technology without disrupting the topology and sweet activity of native protein. Data from 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid fluorescence, size-exclusion chromatography, and heteronuclear NMR strongly suggest the presence of a folding intermediate at 1.5 m GdnHCl for SCM protein. The structural feature of the folding intermediate from NMR data reveals that the secondary structures became mostly unstable, and protein experiences a dynamic equilibrium between native and unfolded state. All backbone amide protons exchange within 10 min, which imply that no stable hydrogen bonds exist in the secondary structural regions in the folding intermediate. From equilibrium unfolding and mutagenesis studies, the unfolding transition midpoints of mutant proteins gradually shifted toward lower denaturant concentration, indicating stability reductions of mutant proteins. Our results suggest that stability and folding pathways of SCM proteins could be regulated by a combined study of spectroscopy and mutagenesis, and these studies will provide useful information for understanding the folding kinetics of novel engineered proteins.

Ascorbyl free-radical reductase was purified 1143-fold with an overall yield of 9.9% from the cytosolic fraction of Pleurotus ostreatus. The native enzyme had a molecular mass of 127 kDa and SDS/PAGE revealed that the enzyme consists of two subunits, each with a molecular mass of 62 kDa. The enzyme utilized only NADH as an electron donor. The enzyme was highly specific for ascorbyl free radical as an electron acceptor and capable of catalysing the reduction of ferricyanide and 2,6-dichloroindophenol as artificial electron acceptors. The apparent K(m) values of the enzyme towards NADH and ascorbyl free radical were 35+/-0.22 and 2.1+/-0.03 microM, respectively. The catalytic mechanism of this enzyme is of Ping Pong type. The enzyme contained FMN as a prosthetic group and showed the characteristic absorption spectrum ascribed to the charge-transfer interaction of thiolate anion with FMN. The enzyme contained eight cysteine residues per monomer and was inactivated more rapidly by mercurials than by thiol-alkylating reagents. Kinetic analysis of the inactivation process revealed that the enzyme had 1 mol of thiol group/mol of subunit in the active site with a pK(a) of 6.9. The modification of the thiol group of the enzyme caused the loss of charge-transfer absorbance centred at 540 nm and blocked the electron-transfer process from NADH to FMN. The modification of lysine, arginine and histidine residues led to the loss of its activity. Unlike the active enzyme, the fluorescence quenching of NADH was not observed in the lysine-modified enzyme, which implies that lysine residues can participate in the interaction with NADH.

Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) in East Asian subjects.Method:Two sets of case-control comparisons were conducted, in which 33 women with lifetime AN from Seoul, S. Korea, were compared with 42 women with lifetime AN from the UK and also with 90 Korean healthy controls in terms of their childhood risk factors. A questionnaire designed to conduct retrospective assessments of the childhood risk factors was administered to all participants.Results:There were no overall differences in the childhood risk factors between the Korean and British women with AN. The Korean AN patients were more likely to report premorbid anxiety, perfectionism and emotional undereating and were less likely to report having supportive figures in their childhood than the healthy controls.Conclusion:Our findings support the theory that AN is not a culture-bound syndrome. Larger epidemiologically based studies would be needed to validate these preliminary findings.

Lymphocyte subpopulations in a whole-blood sample can be detected by adapting mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7) labeling to a flow cytometer equipped with a tungsten-halogen light source and scatter/absorption optics (Technicon H6000). In the optimized cytochemical conditions each cell population generates a distinct, well-separated cluster, for accurate "thresholding" of the surface-antigen negative and positive lymphocyte populations in the presence of other leukocytes. After reaction with MAb, the erythrocytes are lysed, and the lymphocytes and other leukocytes are fixed. Biotinylated anti-mouse IgG, used as a bridge, amplifies the response from the avidin-peroxidase label. Granulocytes and monocytes, which have high endogenous peroxidase activity, and the labeled lymphocytes are stained in a specific amount of hydrogen peroxide plus 4-chloro-1-naphthol in 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine-ethanesulfonic acid buffer. Accuracy and precision are equivalent to those of flow cytometers that measure immunofluorescence (e.g., Ortho Spectrum III), as demonstrated with OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, OKT11, and Leu 12 MAbs.

Cell volume (MCV) and hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are the red cell indices used to characterize the blood of patients with anemia. Since the introduction of flow cytometric methods for the measurement of these indices, it has generally been assumed that the values derived by these instruments are accurate. However, it has recently been shown that a number of cellular factors, including alterations in cellular deformability, can lead to inaccurate measurement of cell volume by these automated instruments. Because cell hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit are computed from the measured values of cell volume, accuracy of these indices is also compromised by inaccurate determination of cell volume. A recently developed experimental flow cytometric method based on laser light scattering, which can independently measure volume and hemoglobin concentration, has been used in the present study to measure MCV and MCHC of density-fractionated normal and sickle red cells, hydrated and dehydrated normal red cells, and various pathologic cells. We found that the new method accurately measures both volume and hemoglobin concentrations over a wide range of MCV (30 to 120 fL) and MCHC (27 to 45 g/dL) values. This is in contrast to currently available methods in which hemoglobin concentration values are accurately measured over a more limited range (27 to 35 g/dL). In addition, as the experimental method independently measures volume and hemoglobin concentration of individual red cells, it allowed us to generate histograms of volume and hemoglobin concentration distribution and derive coefficient of variation for volume distribution and standard deviation of hemoglobin concentration distribution. We have been able to document that volume and hemoglobin concentration distributions can vary independently of each other in pathologic red cell samples.