Stroke-heart syndrome: A case report and mini literature review

Despite the fact that cardiac troponin (cTn) elevation is commonly seen in the acute phase of ischemic stroke, investigating its etiology represents a challenge for healthcare practitioners. Therefore, we describe the case of an 86-year-old woman with dyspnea and cTn-elevation within the first days following acute ischemic stroke and discuss potential differential diagnoses and diagnostic dilemmas

Aortic Valve Planimetry in Aortic Stenosis Quantification: Reliability of Three-Dimensional-Multiplane Reconstruction and Comparison With Established Methods.

We aim to evaluate the reliability and consistency of measuring the aortic valve area (AVA) using 3-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography and compare it with invasive and noninvasive methods using a continuity equation (CE). Measurements were taken from 119 patients with different severity of aortic stenosis and with normal aortic valve who underwent elective transesophageal echocardiography encompassing the whole spectrum of aortic opening. Three methods were compared to determine AVA. First, the effective AVA was calculated with the standard CE, where the left ventricular outflow tract area was calculated from its 2-dimensional diameter (AVA-CEstd). Second, a modified CE method (AVA-CEmod) was used, in which the left ventricular outflow tract area was measured using 3D-multiplane reconstruction. Third, the geometric AVA was directly measured using 3D-multiplane reconstruction planimetry (AVA-3D). Interobserver and intraobserver variability were analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The values were measured by two blinded readers for interobserver variability and by one observer on the same dataset. AVA-3D was significantly larger than AVA-CEmod and AVA-CEstd (1.87 ± 1.00 cm2 vs 1.81 ± 0.92 cm2 p = 0.03 and 1.87 ± 1.00 cm2 vs 1.71 ± 0.85 cm2 p <0.001). However, in the subset of patients with AVA-3D <1.5 cm2, there was no significant difference between AVA-3D and AVA-CEmod (1.06 ± 0.24 vs 1.08 ± 0.26 cm2, paired t test: t = 0.77, degree of freedom = 58, p = 0.44). The ICC between the measurements of AVA-3D and AVA-CEmod (ICC 0.979), and AVA-3D and AVA- CEstd (ICC 0.940), were excellent. AVA-3D delivers very similar results as compared with more established echocardiographic parameters. The difference between effective and geometric AVA did not appear to be clinically relevant in patients with a higher degree of stenosis

Trees enhance abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, soil structure, and nutrient retention in low-input maize cropping systems

Retaining trees in low-input agroecosystems could be key to maintain mycelia of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and hence, improve soil fertility and crop performance. We assessed the impact of faidherbia (Faidherbia albida, Fabaceae) and mango (Mangifera indica, Anacardiaceae) trees on AMF and soil fertility in smallholder farmers’ maize fields. Along distance-from-tree gradients (1, 4, 10, 15 m), we collected soil to assess AMF hyphal density, soil aggregation, and aggregate-associated carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) at the end of the non-cropping season. Further, we determined maize biomass and yield. The impact of faidherbia on maize N nutrition was assessed using the 15N natural abundance methodology. Our results show that hyphal density was largest at 4 and 10 m from trees and greater around faidherbia than mango. Soil aggregation decreased with distance from mango and was greater around faidherbia than mango. Macroaggregate-associated C, N, and P decreased with distance-from-tree, due to differences in aggregate distribution. Maize biomass was smallest at 1 m from trees and did not differ when under faidherbia versus mango. On average 69 ± 14, 24 ± 9, 20 ± 6, and 12 ± 5% of total foliar N of maize grown at 1, 4, 10, and 15 m from faidherbia trees was tree-derived. Our results suggest that faidherbia and mango trees can maintain AMF mycelia and combat declining soil fertility. Faidherbia is particularly suited to enhance measured soil parameters commonly associated with soil fertility and alleviate soil mining for N via improved internal N cycling. As such, agroforestry trees can contribute to a more sustainable agriculture positively affecting the environment via mitigating soil degradation.ISSN:0167-8809ISSN:1873-230

Web-Based Distributed Simulation of Aeronautical Propulsion System

An application was developed to allow users to run and view the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) engine simulations from web browsers. Simulations were performed on multiple INFORMATION POWER GRID (IPG) test beds. The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) was used for brokering data exchange among machines and IPG/Globus for job scheduling and remote process invocation. Web server scripting was performed by JavaServer Pages (JSP). This application has proven to be an effective and efficient way to couple heterogeneous distributed components

Homozygous EPRS1 missense variant causing hypomyelinating leukodystrophy-15 alters variant-distal mRNA m6A site accessibility

Abstract Hypomyelinating leukodystrophy (HLD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by defective central nervous system myelination. Exome sequencing of two siblings with severe cognitive and motor impairment and progressive hypomyelination characteristic of HLD revealed homozygosity for a missense single-nucleotide variant (SNV) in EPRS1 (c.4444 C > A; p.Pro1482Thr), encoding glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase, consistent with HLD15. Patient lymphoblastoid cell lines express markedly reduced EPRS1 protein due to dual defects in nuclear export and cytoplasmic translation of variant EPRS1 mRNA. Variant mRNA exhibits reduced METTL3 methyltransferase-mediated writing of N 6-methyladenosine (m6A) and reduced reading by YTHDC1 and YTHDF1/3 required for efficient mRNA nuclear export and translation, respectively. In contrast to current models, the variant does not alter the sequence of m6A target sites, but instead reduces their accessibility for modification. The defect was rescued by antisense morpholinos predicted to expose m6A sites on target EPRS1 mRNA, or by m6A modification of the mRNA by METTL3-dCas13b, a targeted RNA methylation editor. Our bioinformatic analysis predicts widespread occurrence of SNVs associated with human health and disease that similarly alter accessibility of distal mRNA m6A sites. These results reveal a new RNA-dependent etiologic mechanism by which SNVs can influence gene expression and disease, consequently generating opportunities for personalized, RNA-based therapeutics targeting these disorders