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Background: Recently, catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) has been verified to be safely used to substantially reduce the levels of blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, sleep apnea severity and norepinephrine spillover, and improve glucose tolerance. All these pathological changes are recognized as independent risk factors for the development and recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF). A randomized, single-blind, parallel-control, multicenter clinical trial is being conducted to compare RSD with antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) in patients with drug-resistant hypertension and symptomatic AF (RSDforAF trial).Methods/design: Patients with drug-resistant hypertension and symptomatic AF will be randomized to RSD and the drug treatment groups. Patients will be followed for 12 months until study closure. Up to 200 patients may be enrolled in six medical centers in China. The primary objective is to study the effects of RSD on AF burden and blood pressure in patients with hypertension and symptomatic AF.Discussion: RSDforAF trial will test the hypothesis that RSD is superior to AAD in reducing AF burden and blood pressure in patients with drug-resistant hypertension and symptomatic AF.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01713270. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the incidence and relative risk factors of post coronary artery bypass grafting (post-CABG) atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: 312 patients with CABG were reviewed and divided into an AF group and a non-AF group. Statistical analysis was used to compare the data between the two groups and screen for risk factors of post-CABG AF. Results: 103/312 (33.01%) patients developed post-CABG AF. Univariate analysis showed that patients in AF group compared with those in non-AF group were more likely to have advanced age (≥70 years), early postoperative withdrawal of β-blockers, hypertension, left atrial enlargement (≥40mm), a history of AF, pro-longed p-wave duration (≥120ms) and increased number of grafts (≥3). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that advanced age (≥70 years), early postoperative withdrawal of β-blockers, hypertension, left atrial enlargement (≥40mm) and a history of AF were highly related to post-CABG AF. Conclusion: The incidence of AF in patients following CABG was 33.01% in this study. Advanced age, early postoperative withdrawal of β-blockers, hypertension, left atrial enlargement and a history of AF were independent risk factors of post-CABG AF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim The reentry circuit of idiopathic left ventricular tachycardia (ILVT) has been demonstrated to be confined to the left posterior Purkinje network. We hypothesized that mapping and linear ablation of the left posterior fascicle (LPF) during sinus rhythm guided by non-contact mapping can effectively modify the arrhythmogenic substrate in patients with ILVT and abolish the tachycardia. Methods Six patients with ILVT, consisting of one case in which conventional mapping failed three times, one recurrent case, one non-inducible case and three common cases, were included in the study. After a three-dimensional endocardial geometry of the left ventricle (LV) was created, the conduction system in the LV was mapped during sinus rhythm using a filter setting of 8 Hz. The His bundle area, left bundle branch, fascicles and sinus breakout point (SBO) were mapped in detail and tagged as special landmarks in the geometry. A linear lesion was placed perpendicular to the wave front propagation direction of the LPF, 1 cm above the SBO. There was a small Purkinje potential preceding the ventricular activation at its starting and ending point. Results The mean tachycardia cycle length of ILVT in this study was 340.3±51.4 ms. After a mean of 5.5±1.6 radiofrequency deliveries, the clinical tachycardias could not be induced and the 12-lead surface ECG showed right QRS axis deviation (mean 39.7±26.0 degrees) in all patients. The total procedure time was 160.0±32.2 min with fluoroscopic time of 26.0±6.8 min. No ILVT was inducible during control stimulation, and none recurred during a mean follow-up of 13.0±4.8 months. Conclusion Mapping and linear ablation of the Purkinje network in LPF area guided by non-contact mapping is an effective and safe treatment of ILVT with radiofrequency energy, especially for those ILVTs which were unsuccessfully treated by conventional means or were non-inducible or non-sustained during the procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Radio frequency (RF) systems utilizing through-silicon vias (TSVs) have been widely used in the aerospace and nuclear industry, which means that studying the total ionizing dose (TID) effect on TSV structures has become necessary. To investigate the TID effect on TSV structures, a 1D TSV capacitance model was established in COMSOL Multiphysics (COMSOL), and the impact of irradiation was simulated. Then, three types of TSV components were designed, and an irradiation experiment based on them was conducted, to validate the simulation results. After irradiation, the S21 degraded for 0.2 dB, 0.6 dB, and 0.8 dB, at the irradiation dose of 30 krad (Si), 90 krad (Si), 150 krad (Si), respectively. The variation trend was consistent with the simulation in the high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS), and the effect of irradiation on the TSV component was nonlinear. With the increase in the irradiation dose, the S21 of TSV components deteriorated, while the variation of S21 decreased. The simulation and irradiation experiment validated a relatively accurate method for assessing the RF systems' performance under an irradiation environment, and the TID effect on structures similar to TSVs in RF systems, such as through-silicon capacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chunbo Kang, Jie Zhang, Shiyang Hou, Jinlei Wang, Xubin Li, Xiaowei Li, Xiaoqian Chi, Haifeng Shan, Qijun Zhang, Tiejun Liu General Surgery Department, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100144, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tiejun Liu, General Surgery Department, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital of Capital Medical University, Xixiazhuang, Badachu Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing, 100144, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 10 5698 1152, Email liutjdoc@163.comObjective: This study aimed to investigate the value of combining percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGD) with gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy (GPC) in high-risk patients with acute calculous cholecystitis.Methods: Clinical data from 74 high-risk patients with acute calculous cholecystitis, admitted to our hospital between October 2018 and September 2021, were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients underwent PTGD, and 59 of them underwent delayed cholecystectomy, while 14 patients were subjected to GPC 8– 12 weeks after the PTGD; one patient, whose life expectancy was fewer than 6 months, was not treated for gallstones after PTGD.Results: In all 74 patients, symptom remission was achieved after the PTGD therapy, and the incidence of catheter-related complications was 10.8%. Among the 59 patients who underwent delayed cholecystectomy (DC) after PTGD, there was a complication incidence of 6.8%. Of the 14 patients who underwent GPC after the PTGD, 13 patients were subjected to the removal of drainage tubes, 1 patient received cholecystostomy catheter draining externally, and two patients (14.3%) had complications. There were no perioperative deaths.Conclusion: Percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage, combined with GPC, is a safe and effective treatment that is suitable for high-risk patients with acute calculous cholecystitis who cannot receive DC. This combined method allows for early acute cholecystitis to settle, helps to remove gallstones at a later stage, and solves the problem of long-term tube drainage after PTGD.Keywords: percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage, PTGD, gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy, GPC, high-risk acute calculous cholecystitis

An abstract of the article "Intracoronary infusion of mesenchymal stem cells reduces proarrhythmogenic risks in swine with myocardial infarction" by Wang Deguo, Jin Yan, Ding Chandong, Zhang Fengxiang, Zhang Minglong, Yang Bing, Shan Qijun, Zou Jiangang, and Cao Kejiang is presented.

This paper presents a novel 3-D capacitive interconnection technology for a 3-D microsystem, which is called through-silicon capacitor (TSC). Two vias similar to through-silicon via (TSV) are bonded vertically by one oxide bonding layer to form the capacitive coupling. Without the adoption of the backside via revealing process, the complicated back-thinning process for TSC will be reduced further, resulting in the lower cost and lower yield loss for 3-D microsystem. Finite-element analysis indicates that under the same dimensions, TSC has much stronger capacitive coupling effect than conventional capacitive coupling interconnect does. Then, SPICE simulation is carried out and demonstrates that a TSC channel with the radius of $2.5~\mu \text{m}$ , the height of 30- $\mu \text{m}$ via, and the thickness of 1- $\mu \text{m}$ bonding layer can achieve 4-Gb/s data rate and consumes only 0.08 mW/(Gb/s). Moreover, the high-frequency analysis shows that the far-end crosstalk induced by TSC is superior to that induced by TSV. Finally, the potential applications, features, advantages, and disadvantages of TSC, TSV, and capacitive coupling interconnection (CCI) technologies are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "The effect of co-culturing with native cardiomyocytes on ascorbic acid-induced cardiomyogenic differentiation in embryonic stem cells" by Ou Dongbo, He Yong, Wang Zikuan, Liu Xiongtao, Lee Jun, Wang Hongtao, Guo Wangang, and Zheng Qiangsun is presented.

An abstract of the article "Effects of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Electrophysiological Function in Rats With Myocardial Infarction" by Wang Deguo and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Transfection of recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 9 to mouse heart in vivo and the effects on cardiac function" by Xiang Yiang, Ma Yitong, Yang Yining, Chen Bangdang, Liu Fen, and Gao Xia is presented.

An abstract of the article "Inhibition of NF-κB attenuates post-infarct left ventricular rupture and remodelling in aged mice by ribozyme gene transfer with adeno-associated virus serotypes 9" by Xiang Yang, Ma Yitong, Yang Yining, Chen Bangdang, Liu Fen, Gao Xia, and Du Lei is presented.