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A responsive polymer was synthesized from polymeric chain coatings with N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) and Ethylene glycol dimethyl acrylate (EGDMA) groups (MP@ p (EGDMA-co-HPMA)) and was used to adsorption/release of Cefpodoxime (CPD) from its liquid dispersions. The results revealed that magnetic polymer could effectively adsorb CPD at pH =8 at about 30 °C. Also, the adsorption of CPD on magnetic polymer was best fitted to the Langmuir model. The drug release results indicated the thermo and pH sensitivity behavior of magnetic polymer with 35% of CPD release at acidic (pH = 1.2) and 62% at alkaline (pH = 7.4) solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is increasingly used as an alternative to oral anticoagulation (OAC) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Feasibility and safety of left atrial (LA) catheter ablation (CA) in patients with previously implanted LAAC devices have not been well studied. We report on the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of LA CA in the presence of a previously implanted LAAC device.Methods and Results: In this prospective cohort study consecutive patients that underwent LA CA with a previously implanted Watchman device were included. Periprocedural characteristics and long-term clinical follow-up were evaluated. Twenty-three LA CA procedures were performed in 19/162 AF patients with previously implanted Watchman devices [47% male, age 63.9 ± 6.2 years, CHA2DS2-VASc 4.0 (3.0-5.0); HASBLED 3.0 (2.0-4.0); 63% paroxysmal]. Left atrial CA was performed with irrigated radiofrequency (RF; n = 20, 87%) or phased RF (n = 3, 13%) in a mean of 18 months after LAAC implantation (range 4-80 months). Targets of CA consisted of pulmonary vein isolation (n = 19, 83%), superior vena cava isolation (n = 13, 57%), and additional linear lesions (n = 8, 35%). Procedures were carried out under vitamin K antagonist (VKA; n = 6, 26%), non-VKA OAC (NOAC; n = 8, 35%), or single antiplatelet therapy alone (n = 9, 39%). Left atrial CA was successful without any signs of interference from the device. Procedure-related complications were not observed. During a mean follow-up of 28 months, 11 patients (58%) had AF recurrence.Conclusion: Left atrial CA after LAAC appears to be feasible, effective, and safe in this single centre cohort. Previously implanted Watchman device should not be a reason to relinquish CA in symptomatic AF patients, even in patients on single antiplatelet therapy alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leukocyte activation has been linked to atherogenesis, but there is little in vivo evidence for its role in the progression of atherosclerosis. We evaluated the predictive value for progression of coronary artery disease (CAD) of leukocyte activation markers in the coronary circulation. Monocyte and neutrophil CD11b, neutrophil CD66b expression and intracellular neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO) in the coronary arteries were determined by flow cytometry in patients undergoing coronary angiography. The primary outcome included fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction or arterial vascular intervention due to unstable angina pectoris. In total 99 subjects who were included, 70 had CAD at inclusion (26 patients had single-vessel disease, 18 patients had twovessel disease and 26 patients had three-vessel disease). The median follow-up duration was 2242 days (interquartile range: 2142-2358). During follow-up, 13 patients (13%) developed progression of CAD. Monocyte CD11b, neutrophil CD11b and CD66b expression and intracellular MPO measured in blood obtained from the coronary arteries were not associated with the progression of CAD. These data indicate that coronary monocyte CD11b, neutrophil CD11b and CD66b expression and intracellular MPO do not predict the risk of progression of CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cisterns are ancient building having two main tasks. First task is storing water in raining seasons for using in dry seasons and the second task is decreasing water temperature, which happens because of the air flow above water surface and evaporating water. It can be stated that by increasing fluid flow above the surface, evaporating increase so increasing in heat transfer happens and decreasing of water temperature is the result. This paper has investigated fluid flow around and inside cisterns with FLUENT software results. Increasing in air flow demand to the cistern is the primary purpose of this study, by changing main parameters of cistern geometry like increasing or decreasing of doom hale diameter, inlet and outlet of wind catcher, elevation of wind catcher and also wind speed. This study introduces the best geometry for cisterns according to maximum air flow demand and minimum volume. Considering that, there is a direct relation between heat transfer and airflow rate in cisterns, so in this study, the influence of mentioned parameters are investigated to reach optimum design for the best performance of cisterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors comments on a study by V. Y. Reddy & others regarding comparison of left atrial appendage (LAA) closure & anticoagulant warfarin for atrial fibrillation, published in a 2014 issue of the journal "Journal of the American Medical Association." They mentions that the study reveals LAA-closure as a viable alternative to warfarin for stroke reduction. Also they reports that increasing operator experience increases safety which may improve the results for the LAA-closure.

In this paper, a novel method is investigated for the extraction, determination, and delivery of ceftazidime in simulated gastric and real biological fluids such as serum plasma and urine in in vitro drug delivery systems. A new polymer as a nano-sorbent was synthesized by the surface grafting of [ N -isopropylacrylamide- co -3-allyloxy-1,2-propanediol] onto modified magnetic nano-particles by 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and it was characterized by FT-IR, CHN, SEM, TEM, VSM, TGA, and zeta potential analyses. The effects of main parameters such as pH, reaction time, temperature, and solvents were evaluated for ceftazidime removal. The results indicate that the newly synthesized polymer can be successfully applied for biomedical applications and drug delivery., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Aims: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is increasingly used as an alternative to oral anticoagulation (OAC) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Feasibility and safety of left atrial (LA) catheter ablation (CA) in patients with previously implanted LAAC devices have not been well studied. We report on the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of LA CA in the presence of a previously implanted LAAC device., Methods and Results: In this prospective cohort study consecutive patients that underwent LA CA with a previously implanted Watchman device were included. Periprocedural characteristics and long-term clinical follow-up were evaluated. Twenty-three LA CA procedures were performed in 19/162 AF patients with previously implanted Watchman devices [47% male, age 63.9 ± 6.2 years, CHA2DS2-VASc 4.0 (3.0-5.0); HASBLED 3.0 (2.0-4.0); 63% paroxysmal]. Left atrial CA was performed with irrigated radiofrequency (RF; n = 20, 87%) or phased RF (n = 3, 13%) in a mean of 18 months after LAAC implantation (range 4-80 months). Targets of CA consisted of pulmonary vein isolation (n = 19, 83%), superior vena cava isolation (n = 13, 57%), and additional linear lesions (n = 8, 35%). Procedures were carried out under vitamin K antagonist (VKA; n = 6, 26%), non-VKA OAC (NOAC; n = 8, 35%), or single antiplatelet therapy alone (n = 9, 39%). Left atrial CA was successful without any signs of interference from the device. Procedure-related complications were not observed. During a mean follow-up of 28 months, 11 patients (58%) had AF recurrence., Conclusion: Left atrial CA after LAAC appears to be feasible, effective, and safe in this single centre cohort. Previously implanted Watchman device should not be a reason to relinquish CA in symptomatic AF patients, even in patients on single antiplatelet therapy alone., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2018. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aims: After the introduction of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) in 2009, prophylaxis for patients at risk became less strict. We hypothesize that there will be a rise in IE after the introduction of the guideline update., Methods and Results: We performed a nationwide retrospective trend study using segmented regression analysis of the interrupted time series. The patient data were obtained via the national healthcare insurance database, which collects all the diagnoses nationwide. We compared the data before and after the introduction of the 2009 ESC guideline. Between 2005 and 2011, a total of 5213 patients were hospitalized with IE in the Netherlands. During this period, there was a significant increase in IE from 30.2 new cases per 1 000 000 in 2005 to 62.9 cases per 1 000 000 in 2011 (P < 0.001). In 2009, the incidence of IE increased significantly above the projected historical trend (rate ratio: 1.327, 95% CI: 1.205-1.462; P < 0.001). This coincides with the introduction of the 2009 ESC guideline. After the introduction of the ESC guideline, the streptococci-positive cultures increased significantly in the following years 2010-11 from 31.1 to 53.2% (P = 0.0031)., Conclusion: This observational study shows that there has been a steady increase in the IE incidence between 2005 and 2011. After the introduction of the 2009 ESC guidelines, the incidence increased more than expected from previous historical trends. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in streptococci-related IE cases., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia treated in the clinical practice. One of the major complications of AF is a thromboembolic cerebral ischemic event. Up to 20% of all strokes are caused by AF. Thromboembolic cerebral ischemic event in patients with AF occurs due to atrial thrombi, mainly from the left atrial appendage (LAA). Prevention of clot formation with antiplatelet agents and especially oral anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists or newer oral anticoagulants) has been shown to be effective in reducing the stroke risk in patients with AF but has several drawbacks with (major) bleedings as the most important disadvantage. Therefore, physical elimination of the LAA, which excludes the site of clot formation by surgical or percutaneous techniques, might be a good alternative. In this review, we discuss the safety, efficacy, and clinical utility of the Watchman™ LAA closure device.