Contact force sensing in ablation of ventricular arrhythmias using a 56-hole open-irrigation catheter: a propensity-matched analysis.

PURPOSE: The effect of adding contact force (CF) sensing to 56-hole tip irrigation in ventricular arrhythmia (VA) ablation has not been previously studied. We aimed to compare outcomes with and without CF sensing in VA ablation using a 56-hole radiofrequency (RF) catheter. METHODS: A total of 164 patients who underwent first-time VA ablation using Thermocool SmartTouch Surround Flow (TC-STSF) catheter (Biosense-Webster, Diamond Bar, CA, USA) were propensity-matched in a 1:1 fashion to 164 patients who had first-time ablation using Thermocool Surround Flow (TC-SF) catheter. Patients were matched for age, gender, cardiac aetiology, ejection fraction and approach. Acute success, complications and long-term follow-up were compared. RESULTS: There was no difference between procedures utilising either TC-SF or TC-STSF in acute success (TC-SF: 134/164 (82%), TC-STSF: 141/164 (86%), p = 0.3), complications (TC-SF: 11/164 (6.7%), TC-STSF: 11/164 (6.7%), p = 1.0) or VA-free survival (TC-SF: mean arrhythmia-free survival time = 5.9 years, 95% CI = 5.4-6.4, TC-STSF: mean = 3.2 years, 95% CI = 3-3.5, log-rank p = 0.74). Fluoroscopy time was longer in normal hearts with TC-SF (19 min, IQR: 14-30) than TC-STSF (14 min, IQR: 8-25; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Both TC-SF and TC-STSF catheters are safe and effective in treating VAs. The use of CF sensing catheters did not improve safety or acute and long-term outcomes, but reduced fluoroscopy time in normal heart VA

Elimination of Schistosomiasis Transmission in Zanzibar: Baseline Findings before the Onset of a Randomized Intervention Trial.

Gaining and sustaining control of schistosomiasis and, whenever feasible, achieving local elimination are the year 2020 targets set by the World Health Organization. In Zanzibar, various institutions and stakeholders have joined forces to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis within 5 years. We report baseline findings before the onset of a randomized intervention trial designed to assess the differential impact of community-based praziquantel administration, snail control, and behavior change interventions. In early 2012, a baseline parasitological survey was conducted in ∼20,000 people from 90 communities in Unguja and Pemba. Risk factors for schistosomiasis were assessed by administering a questionnaire to adults. In selected communities, local knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission and prevention was determined in focus group discussions and in-depths interviews. Intermediate host snails were collected and examined for shedding of cercariae. The baseline Schistosoma haematobium prevalence in school children and adults was 4.3% (range: 0-19.7%) and 2.7% (range: 0-26.5%) in Unguja, and 8.9% (range: 0-31.8%) and 5.5% (range: 0-23.4%) in Pemba, respectively. Heavy infections were detected in 15.1% and 35.6% of the positive school children in Unguja and Pemba, respectively. Males were at higher risk than females (odds ratio (OR): 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-2.03). Decreasing adult age (OR: 1.04; CI: 1.02-1.06), being born in Pemba (OR: 1.48; CI: 1.02-2.13) or Tanzania (OR: 2.36; CI: 1.16-4.78), and use of freshwater (OR: 2.15; CI: 1.53-3.03) showed higher odds of infection. Community knowledge about schistosomiasis was low. Only few infected Bulinus snails were found. The relatively low S. haematobium prevalence in Zanzibar is a promising starting point for elimination. However, there is a need to improve community knowledge about disease transmission and prevention. Control measures tailored to the local context, placing particular attention to hot-spot areas, high-risk groups, and individuals, will be necessary if elimination is to be achieved

A burst chasing x-ray polarimeter

Gamma-ray bursts are one of the most powerful explosions in the universe and have been detected out to distances of almost 13 billion light years. The exact origin of these energetic explosions is still unknown but the resulting huge release of energy is thought to create a highly relativistic jet of material and a power-law distribution of electrons. There are several theories describing the origin of the prompt GRB emission that currently cannot be distinguished. Measurements of the linear polarization would provide unique and important constraints on the mechanisms thought to drive these powerful explosions. We present the design of a sensitive, and extremely versatile gamma-ray burst polarimeter. The instrument is a photoelectric polarimeter based on a time-projection chamber. The photoelectric time-projection technique combines high sensitivity with broad band-pass and is potentially the most powerful method between 2 and 100 keV where the photoelectric effect is the dominant interaction process. We present measurements of polarized and unpolarized X-rays obtained with a prototype detector and describe the two mission concepts; the Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter (GRBP) for the U.S. Naval Academy satellite MidSTAR-2, and the Low Energy Polarimeter (LEP) onboard POET, a broadband polarimetry concept for a small explorer mission

Structure and Vibrations of the Vicinal Copper (211) Surface

We report a first principles theoretical study of the surface relaxation and lattice dynamics of the Cu(211) surface using the plane wave pseudopotential method. We find large atomic relaxations for the first several atomic layers near the step edges on this surface, and a substantial step-induced renormalization of the surface harmonic force constants. We use the results to study the harmonic fluctuations around the equilibrium structure and find three new step-derived features in the zone center vibrational spectrum. Comparison of these results with previous theoretical work and weith experimental studies using inelastic He scattering are reported.Comment: 6 Pages RevTex, 7 Figures in Postscrip

67/12/12 Oral Arguments before the US Supreme Court

Tuesday, December 12, 1967 oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court

Can Children Catch Up From the Consequences of Undernourishment? Evidence From Child Linear Growth, Developmental Epigenetics, and Brain and Neurocognitive Development

Recovery from nutritionally induced height deficits continues to garner attention. The current literature on catch-up growth, however, has 2 important limitations: wide-ranging definitions of catch-up growth are used, and it remains unclear whether children can recover from the broader consequences of undernutrition. We addressed these shortcomings by reviewing the literature on the criteria for catch-up in linear growth and on the potential to recover from undernutrition early in life in 3 domains: linear growth, developmental epigenetics, and child brain and neurocognitive development. Four criteria must be met to demonstrate catch-up growth in height: after a period in which a growth-inhibiting condition (criterion 1) causes a reduction in linear growth velocity (criterion 2), alleviation of the inhibiting condition (criterion 3) leads to higher-than-normal velocity (criterion 4). Accordingly, studies that are observational, do not use absolute height, or have no alleviation of an inhibiting condition cannot be used to establish catch-up growth. Adoption and foster care, which provide dramatic improvements in children\u27s living conditions not typically attained in nutrition interventions, led to some (but incomplete) recovery in linear growth and brain and neurocognitive development. Maternal nutrition around the time of conception was shown to have long-term (potentially permanent) effects on DNA methylation in the offspring. Undernourishment early in life may thus have profound irreversible effects. Scientific, program, and policy efforts should focus on preventing maternal and child undernutrition rather than on correcting its consequences or attempting to prove they can be corrected

Phase diagram of the S=1/2 quantum spin chain with bond alternation

We study the ground state properties of the bond alternating $S=1/2$ quantum spin chain whose Hamiltonian is H=\sum_j (S_{2j}^x S_{2j+1}^x +S_{2j}^y S_{2j+1}^y +\lambda S_{2j}^z S_{2j+1}^z ) +\beta \sum_j {\bf S}_{2j-1} \cdot {\bf S}_{2j} . When $\beta=0$, the ground state is a collection of local singlets with a finite excitation gap. In the limit of strong ferromagnetic coupling $\beta \to - \infty$, this is equivalent to the $S=1 \ XXZ$ Hamiltonian. It has several ground state phases in the $\lambda$-$\beta$ plane including the gapful Haldane phase. They are characterized by a full breakdown, partial breakdowns and a non-breakdown of the hidden discrete $Z_2 \times Z_2$ symmetry. The ground state phase diagram is obtained by series expansions.Comment: 25 pages, RevTex 2.0, 9 Figures available on request, Tec.rep. of ISSP No.A265

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on five research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant G-16526)National Institutes of Health (Grant MH-04737-02

Autoimmune hepatitis triggered by nitrofurantoin: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Drugs can occasionally trigger the onset of autoimmune liver disease.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Three Caucasian women (aged 65, 42 and 74 years old) who were receiving long-term nitrofurantoin as prophylaxis against recurrent urinary tract infections developed hepatitic liver disease. Serological auto-antibody profiles and liver histology appearances were consistent with autoimmune hepatitis. Two of the patients presented with jaundice, and one required a prolonged hospital admission for liver failure. In all three patients nitrofurantoin was withdrawn, and long-term immunosuppressive therapy with prednisolone and azathioprine or mycophenolate was given. The patients responded well, with liver biochemistry returning to normal within a few months.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although nitrofurantoin rarely causes autoimmune hepatitis, this antimicrobial is increasingly used as long-term prophylaxis against recurrent urinary tract infection. General practitioners and urologists who prescribe long-term nitrofurantoin therapy should be aware of this adverse effect.</p

Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library, Number Five: Commonplace Books of Law: A Selection of Law-Related Notebooks

Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library, Number Five contains the transcriptions of five notebooks, one ledger, and one diary as well as critical introductions to each piece and an essay on notebooks in legal culture. Primary sources include: a seventeenth century notebook authored by multiple anonymous persons likely to have been students in the Inns of Courts, Alexander Dorcas\u27 ledger used from 1785 to 1817, George Josiah Sturges Walker\u27s 1826 Litchfield Law School notebook, Thomas K. Jackson\u27s 1871 diary, James Thomas Kirk\u27s notebook used from 1891 to 1916, Jerome T. Fuller\u27s notebook used from 1925 to 1935, and Hugo L. Black\u27s notebook used from 1938 to 1940.https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/occasional_publications/1004/thumbnail.jp