The transfer of fibres in the carding machine

The problem of understanding the transfer of fibres between carding-machine surfaces is addressed by considering the movement of a single fibre in an airflow. The structure of the aerodynamic flow field predicts how and when fibres migrate between the different process surfaces. In the case of a revolving-flats carding machine the theory predicts a “strong” aerodynamic mechanism between taker-in and cylinder and a “weak” mechanism between cylinder and removal cylinder resulting in effective transfer in the first case and a more limited transfer in the second

Multiple arrhythmogenic substrate for tachycardia in a patient with frequent palpitations

We report a 26-year-old woman with frequent episodes of palpitation and dizziness. Resting electrocardiography showed no evidence of ventricular preexcitation. During electrophysiologic study, a concealed right posteroseptal accessory pathway was detected and orthodromic atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia incorporating this pathway as a retrograde limb was reproducibly induced. After successful ablation of right posteroseptal accessory pathway, another tachycardia was induced using a concealed right posterolateral accessory pathway in tachycardia circuit. After loss of retrograde conduction of second accessory pathway with radiofrequency ablation, dual atrioventricular nodal physiology was detected and typical atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia was repeatedly induced. Slow pathway ablation was done successfully. Finally sustained self-terminating atrial tachycardia was induced under isoproterenol infusion but no attempt was made for ablation. During 8-month follow-up, no recurrence of symptoms attributable to tachycardia was observed

Evaluating the effect of a mixture of alcohol and acetic acid for otomycosis therapy

Introduction and objective: Otomycosis is a fungal infection of external auditory meatus. The acute form of the disease causes secretion and pruritus. The usual prescribed medicines for otomycosis are topical clotrimazole 1, amphotericin B and otosporin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment with isopropyl alcohol and acetic acid for otomycosis. Materials and methods: In the present study 910 patients examined and those suspected to have otomycosis referred to medical mycology laboratory of Golabchi, Kashan. A questionnaire was also filled for each patient. Both direct and culture examinations were used to confirm otomycosis in the patients. Then the patients were treated with the mixture of isopropyl alcohol+acetic acid. Results: Out of 910 examined patients, 60 patients were suspected to have otomycosis and referred to medical mycology lab. Mycological examinations confirmed otomycosis in 52 patients (86.7). Most of the patients (78.8) were cured perfectly after therapy with the mixture of alcohol and acetic acid. After three weeks, in addition to elimination of clinical signs further smear showed no sign of disease. However in four patients there was a relapse of the disease. Conclusion: Due to therapeutic effect of the mixture of isopropyl alcohol and acetic acid for otomycosis, its low side effects and low rate of relapse, it is recommended to use this mixture for the treatment of otomycosis

Coexistence of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia and idiopathic left ventricular outflow-tract tachycardia

Double tachycardia is a relatively rare condition. We describe a 21 year old woman with history of frequent palpitations. In one of these episodes, she had wide complex tachycardia with right bundle branch and inferior axis morphology. A typical atrioventricular nodal tachycardia was induced during electrophysiologic study, aimed at induction of clinically documented tachycardia. Initially no ventricular tachycardia was inducible. After successful ablation of slow pathway, a wide complex tachycardia was induced by programmed stimulation from right ventricular outflow tract. Mapping localized the focus of tachycardia in left ventricular outflow tract and successfully ablated via retrograde aortic approach. During 7 month's follow-up, she has been symptom free with no recurrence. This work describes successful ablation of rare combination of typical atrioventricular nodal tachycardia and left ventricular outflow tract tachycardia in the same patient during one session

Effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy on the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) reduces mortality in selected patients with heart failure. However, this result may not be entirely related to the beneficial hemodynamic effects of CRT. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess retrospectively the effect of CRT on the incidence of appropriate therapy in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Methods: Sixty-five patients (48 men and 17 women; mean age 58 ± 13 years) with an ICD (31 biventricular, 34 dual-chamber) were included in the study. Clinical, ECG, and ICD stored data and electrograms were collected. Results: Biventricular and dual-chamber ICDs were implanted in 31 and 34 patients, respectively, who had either ischemic (n = 36) or dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 29). Thirty-two (49) patients received �1 appropriate ICD therapy during follow-up of 11 ± 8 months. Thirty-five percent and 62 of patients with biventricular (n = 11) and dual-chamber ICDs (n = 21), respectively, received appropriate ICD therapy during the follow-up period (odds ratio = 0.340, P = .048). Stratifying the patients according to underlying heart disease and ejection fraction resulted in an adjusted odds ratio = 0.239 (P = .029). Comparing the rate of �1 appropriate ICD therapy between the two groups by Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log rank test resulted in P = .027. Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis, biventricular pacing was associated with a decreased incidence of sustained ventricular arrhythmias requiring ICD therapy. The antiarrhythmic effect of biventricular pacing could contribute to the reduction in mortality reported in recent large-scale clinical trials on CRT. However, further prospective studies are warranted to clarify this issue. © 2005 Heart Rhythm Society. All rights reserved

Effect of conduction mode and location on electrophysiologic characteristics of accessory pathways

The conduction properties of accessory pathways (APs) are independent of location and conduction mode (except in patients with multiple, Mahaim, and slowly conducting APs). Patients with right-sided APs show higher rates of atrial fibrillation and longer arrhythmia cycle length due to slower anterograde conduction over the atrioventricular node during atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia. © 2005 by Excerpta Medica Inc

Heart rate variability: Does it change after RF ablation of reentrant supraventricular tachycardia?

Background: Following RF ablation of reentrant supraventricular tachycardia, inappropriate sinus tachycardia may occur. Local parasympathetic denervation is a possible mechanism for these rhythm disturbances. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of sinus tachycardia and to determine the relation between endocardial lesions at different ablation sites and alterations in autonomic tone in several different groups of patients with supraventricular tachycardia, using techniques of heart rate variability analysis. Methods: The subjects of this study were 75 patients (48 women, 27 men) with a mean age of 39.99 (SD = 13.39). They underwent RF ablation of AV nodal slow pathways (40 cases), posteroseptal APs (23 cases), left lateral and right free wall APs (12 cases) because of symptomatic tachycardias. The mean sinus rate and time domain (standard deviation of RR intervals and root mean square of differences of adjacent RR intervals) and frequency domain (low frequency, high frequency and low frequency/high frequency ratio) analyses of heart rate variability were obtained by use of 24 hour Holter monitoring before and 1 month after ablation compared with pre-ablation values. Results: Analysis of 24 hour ambulatory Holter-monitors, performed 1 month after RF ablation, showed no significant changes in time and frequency domain parameters of heart rate variability in different groups. A significant increase in mean heart rate was noted after RF ablation at AV nodal slow pathway group and left freewall/right free wall accessory pathways group. Patients undergoing RF ablation of right or left posteroseptal accessory pathways had no significant increase in the mean heart rate. Conclusion: In summary, an increase in sinus tachycardia may be initiated by RF ablation of atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) and right free wall or left free wall accessory pathways. This finding shows that the modifications of heart rate are not directly related to the posteroseptal region or to the accessory pathways. © 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc

Dicentracin-Like from Asian sea bass Fish and Moronecidine-Like from Hippocampus Comes: Two Candidate Antimicrobial Peptides Against Leishmanina major Infection

Anti-Leishmanial drug therapy faces significant challenges related to cytotoxicity and drug resistance. Thus, new and efficient anti-Leishmanial drugs need to be identified. Due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial and also immunomodulatory activities, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted considerable attention. In this study, we comparatively assessed the anti-Leishmanial activities of two recently identified AMPs (dicentracin-like and moronecidine-like) and the well-known AMP piscidin from the hybrid striped bass. AMPs were first assessed against Leishmania major promastigotes using MTS. Subsequently, macrophages were infected with L. major and treated with AMPs to evaluate anti-amastigotes activity of AMPs, and non-infected macrophages were treated with AMPs to determine cytotoxicity against mammalian cells using MTS. The induction of factors limiting L. major growth (IL-12, TNF-α and reactive oxygen species (ROS)) by AMPs was measured by ELISA and dichlorofluorescin-diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay, respectively. Piscidin was more efficacious against L. major promastigotes as compared to dicentracine-like or moronocidin-like peptides, whereas, dicentracine-like and moronocidin-like peptide exhibited a higher activity against L. major amastigotes compared to piscidin. In turn, piscidin was most cytotoxic in non-infected macrophages compared to the other two AMPs. A direct association was observed between hydrophobicity of AMPs and their anti-promastigote and cytotoxic activities. Dicentracine-like or moronocidin-like peptides induced higher levels of IL-12, TNF-α and ROS in macrophages compared to piscidin. Collectively, our results suggest that dicentracine-like and moronocidin-like peptides represent potentially promising multi-functional therapeutic agents that might not only directly kill L. major but also induce anti-Leishmania factors that can limit L. major growth and intracellular survival

Benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment using plasmonic nanoparticles irradiated by laser in a rat model

Objective: In the current study we have stimulated the efficacy of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) by laser hyperthermia to achieve a less invasive method for tumor photothermal therapy of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: The levels of apoptosis on induced BPH in rats were assessed after treatment and revealed and recorded by various assayed. Moreover, the expression of caspases was considered to demonstrate the apoptotic pathways due to laser induced plasmonic NPs. Results: In the Laser + NPs group prostate size of induced BPH decreased. Laser + NPs also decreased prostate specific antigen in comparison with the BPH groups. Furthermore, Laser + NPs attenuated BPH histopathologic indices in the rats. Laser + NPs induced apoptosis in prostatic epithelial cells via caspase-1 pathway. Conclusions: Altogether, the approach and findings from this study can be applied to introduce the laser irritated NPs method as a novel and less invasive therapy for patients suffering from BP

Retinal optical coherence tomography in neuromyelitis optica

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To determine optic nerve and retinal damage in aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-IgG)-seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) in a large international cohort after previous studies have been limited by small and heterogeneous cohorts. METHODS: The cross-sectional Collaborative Retrospective Study on retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) in neuromyelitis optica collected retrospective data from 22 centers. Of 653 screened participants, we included 283 AQP4-IgG-seropositive patients with NMOSD and 72 healthy controls (HCs). Participants underwent OCT with central reading including quality control and intraretinal segmentation. The primary outcome was thickness of combined ganglion cell and inner plexiform (GCIP) layer; secondary outcomes were thickness of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and visual acuity (VA). RESULTS: Eyes with ON (NMOSD-ON, N = 260) or without ON (NMOSD-NON, N = 241) were assessed compared with HCs (N = 136). In NMOSD-ON, GCIP layer (57.4 ± 12.2 μm) was reduced compared with HC (GCIP layer: 81.4 ± 5.7 μm, p < 0.001). GCIP layer loss (-22.7 μm) after the first ON was higher than after the next (-3.5 μm) and subsequent episodes. pRNFL observations were similar. NMOSD-NON exhibited reduced GCIP layer but not pRNFL compared with HC. VA was greatly reduced in NMOSD-ON compared with HC eyes, but did not differ between NMOSD-NON and HC. DISCUSSION: Our results emphasize that attack prevention is key to avoid severe neuroaxonal damage and vision loss caused by ON in NMOSD. Therapies ameliorating attack-related damage, especially during a first attack, are an unmet clinical need. Mild signs of neuroaxonal changes without apparent vision loss in ON-unaffected eyes might be solely due to contralateral ON attacks and do not suggest clinically relevant progression but need further investigation