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A new, simple method for the synthesis of N,N-diethyl-m-methylbenzamide (DEET) from m-toluic acid and diethylamine using 1,1'-carbonyl-di-(1,2,4-triazole) (CDT) as a coupling agent has been performed. The basic principles of activated carbonyls have been explored with the ability to prepare new amides easily. All reaction by-products are water-soluble as well as removed by filtration, the reaction could be purified easily in an aqueous solution by liquid-liquid extraction, and the product DEET was high purity. This experimental efficiency is about 94-95%, purity (HPLC): 97-98%.

κ-Oligocarrgeenan (OC) is well known as an effective and green plant growth promoter and elicitor. However, its effect on coffee plant has not been investigated so far. This study aimed to examine the impacts of OC on biophysical activity, vegetative growth and productivity of coffee plant (Coffea robusta). OC with average molecular weight (AMW) of 4.0 kDa was prepared by depolymerization of carrageenan using ascorbic acid. Field experiments were conducted by foliar spray four times per year at various OC concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 ppm) for three years (2017-2019). The results showed that OC promoted growth of coffee plant in all tested concentrations, and an optimized concentration was found at 150 ppm which showed a significant increase compared to the control plant in total chlorophyll (24.79%), carotenoid (31.65%), uptakes of N (15.66%), P (15.81%), and K (22.25%) minerals in leaves, crop yield (19.80%) and bean size (13.10%). Therefore, OC is potentially promising to apply as a promoter to enhance yield of crops for sustainable coffee plantation.

Background: Restoring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a therapeutic goal for older patients with advanced heart failure. We aimed to describe change in HRQOL in older patients (60–80 years) awaiting heart transplantation (HT) with or without pretransplant mechanical circulatory support (MCS) or scheduled for long-term MCS, if ineligible for HT, from before to 6 months after these surgeries and identify factors associated with change. Methods: Patients from 13 US sites completed the EuroQol 5-dimension 3L questionnaire and Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 at baseline and 3 and 6 months after HT or long-term MCS. Analyses included univariate comparisons and multivariable linear regression. Results: Among 305 participants (cohort mean age=66.2±4.7 years, 78% male, 84% White, 55% New York Heart Association class IV), 161 underwent HT (n=68 with and n=93 without pretransplant MCS), and 144 received long-term MCS. From baseline to 3 months, EuroQol 5-dimension visual analog scale scores improved in HT patients without pretransplant MCS (54.5±24.3 versus 75.9±16.0, P P P P P =0.002). No further HRQOL improvement was found from 3 to 6 months. Factors most significantly associated with change in HRQOL, baseline 3 months, were right heart failure and 3-month New York Heart Association class, and 3 to 6 months, were 6-month New York Heart Association class and major bleeding. Conclusions: In older heart failure patients, HRQOL improved from before to early after HT and long-term MCS. At 6 postoperative months, HRQOL of long-term MCS patients was lower than one or both HT groups. Understanding change in HRQOL from before to early after these surgeries may enhance decision-making and guide patient care. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02568930.

BACKGROUND Limb ischemia is a major complication of femoral venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Use of ankle-brachial index (ABI) to monitor limb perfusion in VA-ECMO has not been described. We report our experience monitoring femoral VA-ECMO patients with serial ABI and the relationships between ABI and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). METHODS This is a retrospective single-center review of consecutive adult patients placed on femoral VA-ECMO between January 2019 and October 2019. Data were collected on patients with paired ABI and NIRS values. Relationships between NIRS and ABI of the cannulated (E-NIRS and E-ABI) and non-cannulated legs (N-NIRS and N-ABI) along with the difference between legs (d-NIRS and d-ABI) were determined using Pearson correlation. RESULTS Overall, 22 patients (mean age 56.5 ± 14.0 years, 72.7% male) were assessed with 295 E-ABI and E-NIRS measurements, and 273 N-ABI and N-NIRS measurements. Mean duration of ECMO support was 129.8 ± 78.3 h. ECMO-mortality was 13.6% and in-hospital mortality was 45.5%. N-ABI and N-NIRS were significantly higher than their ECMO counterparts (ABI mean difference 0.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-0.19, p

Amyloid cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a progressive and life-threatening disease caused by abnormal protein deposits within cardiac tissue. The most common forms of ACM are caused by immunoglobulin derived light chains (AL) and transthyretin (TTR). Orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) remains the definitive treatment for patients with end stage heart failure. In this study, we perform a contemporary multicenter analysis evaluating post OHT survival in patients with ACM.We conducted a multicenter analysis of 40,044 adult OHT recipients captured in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) registry from 1987-2018. Patients were characterized as ACM or non-ACM. Baseline characteristics were obtained, and summary characteristics were calculated. Outcomes of interest included post-transplant survival, infection, treated rejection, and the ability to return to work. Racial differences in OHT survival were also analyzed. Unadjusted associations between ACM and non-ACM survival were determined using the Kaplan-Meier estimations and confounding was addressed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models.Three hundred ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of ACM were identified of which 313 underwent heart only OHT. ACM patients were older (61 vs 53; P.0001) and had a higher proportion of African Americans (30.7% vs 17.6%; P.0001). Median survival for ACM was 10.2 years vs 12.5 years in non-ACM (P = .01). After adjusting for confounding, ACM patients had a higher likelihood of death post-OHT (HR 1.39 CI: 1.14, 1.70; P = .001). African American ACM patients had a higher likelihood of survival compared to White ACM patients (HR 0.51 CI 0.31-0.85; P = .01). No difference was observed in episodes of treated rejection (OR 0.63 CI 0.23, 1.78; P = .39), hospitalizations for infections (OR 1.24 CI: 0.85, 1.81; P = .26), or likelihood of returning to work for income (OR 1.23 CI: 0.84, 1.80; P = .30).In this analysis of OHT in ACM, ACM was associated with a higher likelihood of post-OHT mortality. Racial differences in post-OHT were observed with African American patients with ACM having higher likelihood of survival compared to White patients with ACM. No differences were observed in episodes of treated rejection, hospitalization for infection, or likelihood to return to work for income.

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) has gained considerable attention in Vietnam due to its potential to increase food security and farming system resilience while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, several CSA practices have been introduced in rice production, the most important sub-sector of Vietnam’s agriculture. However, few studies have been done in Vietnam to produce comprehensive assessments of CSA performance in the rice sector. This research proposes a comprehensive approach to assess CSA practices through a new set of evaluation indicators. A case study in An Giang province of the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta was implemented to evaluate the performance of five CSA models versus that of the triple rice crop system (i.e., benchmarking model). Results show that rice-shrimp and rice-lotus rotations are most profitable, low-risk, and applicable at a larger scale. Given that the current study analyzed and calculated only a small number of indicators and types of CSA practices, further research is necessary to test all indicators and diversified types of CSA models.

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating complication for patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs). The safety of emergent anticoagulation reversal with four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) and optimal timing of anticoagulation resumption are not clear. In addition, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is used as a biomarker for thromboembolic risk, but its utility in guiding anticoagulation management after reversal with PCC has not be described. We retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of patients with VADs presenting with ICH between 2014 and 2020 who received four-factor PCC for rapid anticoagulation reversal. We collected the timing of PCC administration, timing of resumption of anticoagulation, survival, occurrence of thromboembolic events, and LDH levels throughout hospitalization. We identified 16 ICH events in 14 patients with VADs treated with rapid anticoagulation reversal using four-factor PCC (11 intraparenchymal, 4 subdural, 1 subarachnoid hemorrhage). PCC was administered at a mean of 3.3 ± 0.3 h after imaging diagnosis of ICH. Overall mortality was 63%. Survivors had higher presenting Glasgow Coma Scale (median 15, interquartile range [IQR] 15–15 versus 14, IQR 8–14.7, P = 0.041). In all six instances where the patient survived, anticoagulation was resumed on average 9.16 ± 1.62 days after reversal. There were no thromboembolic events prior to resumption of anticoagulation. Three events occurred after anticoagulation resumption and within 3 months of reversal: VAD thrombosis in a patient with thrombosis at the time of reversal, ischemic stroke, and readmission for elevated LDH in the setting of subtherapeutic international normalized ratio. Our limited series found no thromboembolic complications immediately following anticoagulation reversal with PCC prior to resumption of anticoagulation. LDH trends may be useful to monitor thromboembolic risk after reversal.

Alginate lyase is an enzyme that degrades alginate to create bioactive oligoalginate for application in medicine, industry, agriculture... In this study, cultural conditions of marine bacteria, Bacillus velezensis AlgSm1 have been investigated for producing alginate lyase with high content and activity. The nutritional components such as carbon source, nitrogen source, initial pH value, and cultural time were investigated. The results showed that the cultural conditions of B. velezensis AlgSm1 to biosynthesize alginate lyase with high activity were 5 mg/ml alginate, 0.8 mg/ml yeast extract; pH 5.5 and 18-hours fermentation at 28-30°C.

Shorter length of stay (LOS) is a welcome consequence of optimized perioperative care. However, accelerated hospital discharge may have unintended consequences. Before implementing an institutional enhanced recovery after surgery protocol, we evaluated the safety of shorter LOS and compared outcomes of patients with shorter LOS (LOS ≤ 3 days) to those with longer LOS (LOS 3 days).We identified all patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass between July 2004 and June 2017. Transcatheter approaches, ventricular assist devices, transplants, and traumas were excluded. Patients were divided into two cohorts, one with shorter hospitalizations (LOS ≤ 3 days) and one with longer hospitalizations (LOS 3 days). Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed and differences between the two groups were compared.A total of 5,987 patients (63.0 ± 13.8 years old, 34% female) were identified and 131 (2.2%) patients were LOS ≤ 3 days; median STS Risk score was 1.2 (0.6-2.4). PSM resulted in a total of 478 patients (357 LOS 3 and 121 LOS ≤ 3 days); median STS Risk score was 0.4 (0.3-0.9). LOS ≤ 3 days had lower rates of postoperative atrial fibrillation (2% vs. 19%; p .001) and major in-hospital complications (0% vs. 9%; p = .001); however, 30-day readmissions (8% LOS ≤ 3 vs. 6% LOS 3 days; p = .66) and mortality rates (0% vs. 0%) were comparable between the two groups.LOS ≤ 3 days was associated with less postoperative atrial fibrillation and fewer major in-hospital complications. LOS ≤ 3 days was not associated with rehospitalization or mortality. Shorter LOS after elective cardiac surgery appears to be a safe practice with favorable outcomes, especially in low operative risk patients.

Acute limb ischemia (ALI) and cannulation site bleeding are frequent complications of venoarterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and are associated with worse outcomes. The goals of this study were to assess our rates of ECMO-related ALI and bleeding and to evaluate the efficacy of strategies to prevent them, such as distal perfusion cannula (DPC) and ultrasound-guided cannulation.This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of adult patients placed on peripheral VA-ECMO at a tertiary medical center between 2014 and 2018. ALI was defined as new ischemia of the extremity ipsilateral to arterial cannulation. Significant cannulation site bleeding was defined as excessive bleeding requiring intervention (eg, transfusion or reoperation). Univariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with ALI, bleeding, and in-hospital mortality.During the study period, 105 patients were placed on peripheral VA-ECMO (61.3% female; mean age, 54.9 ± 14.8 years). Nearly half (46.6%) had ECMO implantation in an extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation setting and 37 (44.0%) had a DPC. Average duration of support was 5.6 ± 5.0 days. Overall in-hospital mortality and death on ECMO support were 65.1% and 50%, respectively. ALI occurred in 21 (20%) and cannulation-related bleeding occurred in 24 (22.9%) patients who were treated with a total of 27 procedures, including thromboembolectomy (22.2%), vascular repair (18.5%), and fasciotomy (25.9%). On univariate analysis, cannulation in the operating room (odds ratio [OR], 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08-0.77; P = .02) was associated with decreased risk of ALI, whereas cannulation in the operating room (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.09-6.45; P = .03) and cutdown approach (OR, 4.96; 95% CI, 2.32-10.61; P .0001) were associated with increased risk of bleeding. Ultrasound-guided placement was associated with decreased risk of bleeding (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.04-0.84; P = .03). DPC was not associated with either ALI (P = .47) or bleeding (P = .06). ALI (OR, 2.68; 95% CI 1.03-6.98; P = .04), age (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.03-3.69; P = .04), and worse baseline heart failure (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.02-3.97; P = .04) were associated with greater risk of in-hospital mortality. Ultrasound-guided cannulation (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20-0.87; P = .02) was associated with decreased risk of in-hospital mortality.ALI and significant bleeding are common occurrences after peripheral VA-ECMO cannulation. Whereas DPC placement did not significantly decrease risk of ALI, ultrasound-guided cannulation decreased the risk of bleeding. Cannulation in the operating room is associated with decreased risk of ALI at the expense of increased risk of bleeding. ALI, older age (≥65 years), and worse heart failure increased risk of in-hospital mortality.

Aims Chronic total occlusion (CTO) has been linked to worse survival. While controversial and limited to observational data, successful CTO percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been associated with improved left ventricular (LV) function and mortality. However, the role of CTO PCI prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is not clear. We sought to explore the prognostic impact of a pre-TAVR CTO on post-TAVR outcomes. Methods and results We retrospectively reviewed 783 consecutive TAVR cases performed at a single tertiary care medical center. Pre-TAVR angiograms were analyzed for the presence of a CTO. At the time of TAVR, 12.6% (n = 99) patients had a CTO. At one-year post-TAVR, there was no significant association between the presence of a CTO and death (14.2% vs 13.1%, p = 0.75), functional status, quality of life, or adverse events. There was also no difference in long-term survival (4.1 years vs 4.1 years, p = 0.55). LV ejection fraction was lower in the CTO group at baseline and one year (p Conclusions The presence of a CTO did not have any prognostic impact on mortality, change in LV function, or improvement in functional status and angina scores following TAVR in our cohort of elderly, high-risk patients. CTO before TAVR was associated with decreased ejection fraction at baseline and at one year.

Tricuspid valve (TV) degeneration after surgical repair with an annuloplasty ring is problematic as redo operation carries high mortality. This can be addressed with transcatheter therapies to implant a valve within in prior ring (tricuspid valve-in-ring). When an incomplete ring is present, paravalvular leak is commonly encountered after tricuspid valve-in-ring (TViR) implant; however, this can be addressed with paravalvular leak closure devices. Multimodality imaging including cardiac computed tomography and three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) are important for successful TViR implant. We report a case of tricuspid regurgitation after tricuspid repair with an incomplete annuloplasty ring and subsequent paravalvular leak closure.

Infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with ventricular assist devices (VAD). The impact of colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) on outcomes in this cohort is unknown. Patients on VAD support from July 2008 to September 2018 at a single site were evaluated for MDRO colonization after implantation. MDROs included methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus species, and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing gram-negative bacteria. 378 patients with 433 VADs were included. 42.6% (n = 161) of patients were colonized with an MDRO throughout the duration of VAD support. Eighty-two VAD infections occurred, 74.4% (n = 61) of whom were MDRO colonized before infection. MDRO colonization was associated with an increased risk of a subsequent VAD infection (hazard ratio 3.704, p0.001). MDRO colonization is common after VAD implantation and is associated with future VAD infections. Further study is needed to determine best management strategies for VAD recipients with MDRO colonization given this increased risk.

To determine the prevalence of concomitant aortic regurgitation (AR) in cardiac surgery and the outcomes of treatment options.Between April 2004 and June 2018, 3289 patients underwent coronary artery bypass, mitral valve, or aortic aneurysm surgery without aortic stenosis. AR was graded none/trivial (score = 0), mild (score = 1+), or moderate (score = 2+). Patients with untreated 2+ AR were compared with those with 0 or 1+ AR, and to those with 2+ AR who had aortic valve surgery. Thirty-day and late survival, echocardiography, and clinical outcomes were compared using propensity score matching.One hundred thirty-eight patients (4.2%) had 2+ AR; and 45 (33%) received aortic valve repair (n = 9) or replacement (n = 36) in the treated group and were compared with 2765 untreated patients with 0 AR and 386 patients with 1+ AR. Valve surgery was more common with anatomic leaflet abnormalities: bicuspid aortic valve (9% vs 0%; P lt; .01), rheumatic valve disease (16% vs 3%; P lt; .01), and calcification (47% vs 27%; P = .021). In unadjusted analysis, lower preoperative AR grade was associated with increased 10-year survival (P lt; .001). At year 10, progression to more-than-moderate AR among moderate AR patients was 2.6% and late intervention rate was 3.1%. In the untreated 2+ AR group, on last follow-up echocardiogram, 58% had improvement in AR, 41% remained 2+, and only 1% progressed to severe AR.Aortic valve surgery in select patients with concomitant moderate AR can be added with minimal added risk, but untreated AR does not influence long-term survival after cardiac surgery and rarely required late intervention.

Graphical abstract

In the last decade, machine learning is increasingly attracting researchers in several scientific areas and, in particular, in the additive manufacturing field. Meanwhile, this technique remains as a black box technique for many researchers. Indeed, it allows obtaining novel insights to overcome the limitation of classical methods, such as the finite element method, and to take into account multi-physical complex phenomena occurring during the manufacturing process. This work presents a comprehensive study for implementing a machine learning technique (artificial neural network) to predict the thermal field evolution during the direct energy deposition of 316L stainless steel and tungsten carbides. The framework consists of a finite element thermal model and a neural network. The influence of the number of hidden layers and the number of nodes in each layer was also investigated. The results showed that an architecture based on 3 or 4 hidden layers and the rectified linear unit as the activation function lead to obtaining a high fidelity prediction with an accuracy exceeding 99%. The impact of the chosen architecture on the model accuracy and CPU usage was also highlighted. The proposed framework can be used to predict the thermal field when simulating multi-layer deposition.

In this study, a data-driven deep learning model for fast and accurate prediction of temperature evolution and melting pool size of metallic additive manufacturing processes are developed. The study focuses on bulk experiments of the M4 high-speed steel material powder manufactured by Direct Energy Deposition. Under non-optimized process parameters, many deposited layers (above 30) generate large changes of microstructure through the sample depth caused by the high sensitivity of the cladding material on the thermal history. A 2D finite element analysis (FEA) of the bulk sample, validated in a previous study by experimental measurements, is able to achieve numerical data defining the temperature field evolution under different process settings. A Feed-forward neural networks (FFNN) approach is trained to reproduce the temperature fields generated from FEA. Hence, the trained FFNN is used to predict the history of the temperature fields for new process parameter sets not included in the initial dataset. Besides the input energy, nodal coordinates, and time, five additional features relating layer number, laser location, and distance from the laser to sampling point are considered to enhance prediction accuracy. The results indicate that the temperature evolution is predicted well by the FFNN with an accuracy of 99% within 12 seconds.

The management of patients with shock is extremely challenging because of the myriad of possible clinical presentations in cardiogenic shock, septic shock and hypovolemic shock and the limitations of contemporary therapeutic options. The treatment of shock includes the administration of endogenous catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine) as well as various vasopressor agents that have shown efficacy in the treatment of the various types of shock. In addition to the endogenous catecholamines, dobutamine, isoproterenol, phenylephrine, and milrinone have served as the mainstays of shock therapy for several decades. Recently, experimental studies have suggested that newer agents such as vasopressin, selepressin, calcium-sensitizing agents like levosimendan, cardiac-specific myosin activators like omecamtiv mecarbil (OM), istaroxime, and natriuretic peptides like nesiritide can enhance shock therapy, especially when shock presents a more complex clinical picture than normal. However, their ability to improve clinical outcomes remains to be proven. It is the purpose of this review to describe the mechanism of action, dosage requirements, advantages and disadvantages, and specific indications and contraindications for the use of each of these catecholamines and vasopressors, as well as to elucidate the most important clinical trials that serve as the basis of contemporary shock therapy.