Inflation Pressure in Side Branch during Modified Jailed Balloon Technique Does Not Affect Side Branch Outcomes

Objectives. This study aimed to investigate the optimal jailed balloon inflation in the side branch during the modified jailed balloon technique for bifurcated lesions. Background. The modified jailed balloon technique is one of the effective techniques to minimize the emergence of side branch (SB) compromise by preventing plaque or carina shifting during a single stent strategy in the main vessel with provisional SB treatment. However, there are no detailed studies on the method of optimal jailed balloon inflation. Methods. We analyzed 51 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for bifurcated lesions with a modified jailed balloon technique between September 2018 and December 2020. These 51 patients were divided into two groups according to the magnitude of inflation pressure of the jailed balloon: a higher pressure (HP) group and lower pressure (LP) group. Results. No significant differences in procedural outcomes were observed between the two groups. The findings of SB compromise were relatively common with our procedure (30.0% in the HP group; 33.3% in the LP group). The patterns of SB compromise such as dissection or stenosis increase were observed at similar frequencies between them. In particular, SB dissection was noted in the SB lesion with some plaque burden, irrespective of the magnitude of the jailed balloon inflation pressure. Univariate analysis showed that calcification in the main vessel and SB lesion length was significantly associated with SB compromise. Finally, all PCI procedures were successfully completed without any provisional stent deployment in SB. Conclusions. We speculate that lesion characteristics rather than the PCI procedural factors may be critical determinants to cause SB compromise

Dataset for "Computational design of synthetic optical barcodes in microdroplets"

<p>Analysis code and processed dataset used for "Computational design of synthetic optical barcodes in microdroplets". The raw datasets are available at The BioImage Archive (S-BIAD705) and The ArrayExpress (E-MTAB-12988).</p&gt

Successful Reboot of High-Performance Sporting Activities by Japanese National Women’s Handball Team in Tokyo, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Initiative Using the Japan Sports–Cyber Physical System (JS–CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP)

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted sporting activities across the world. However, practical training strategies for athletes to reduce the risk of infection during the pandemic have not been definitively studied. The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of the challenges we encountered during the reboot of high-performance sporting activities of the Japanese national handball team during the 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo, Japan. Twenty-nine Japanese national women’s handball players and 24 staff participated in the study. To initiate the reboot of their first training camp after COVID-19 stay-home social policy, we conducted: web-based health-monitoring, SARS-CoV-2 screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, real-time automated quantitative monitoring of social distancing on court using a moving image-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, physical intensity evaluation with wearable heart rate (HR) and acceleration sensors, and a self-reported online questionnaire. The training camp was conducted successfully with no COVID-19 infections. The web-based health monitoring and the frequent PCR testing with short turnaround times contributed remarkably to early detection of athletes’ health problems and to risk screening. During handball, AI-based on-court social-distance monitoring revealed key time-dependent spatial metrics to define player-to-player proximity. This information facilitated appropriate on- and off-game distancing behavior for teammates. Athletes regularly achieved around 80% of maximum HR during training, indicating anticipated improvements in achieving their physical intensities. Self-reported questionnaires related to the COVID management in the training camp revealed a sense of security among the athletes that allowed them to focus singularly on their training. The challenges discussed herein provided us considerable knowledge about creating and managing a safe environment for high-performing athletes in the COVID-19 pandemic via the Japan Sports–Cyber Physical System (JS–CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP, Japan Sports Agency, Tokyo, Japan). This report is envisioned to provide informed decisions to coaches, trainers, policymakers from the sports federations in creating targeted, infection-free, sporting and training environments