Combined transcatheter treatment of severe mitral regurgitation and secundum atrial septal defect in an inoperable patient: a case report

Background: Chronic mitral regurgitation (MR) is one of the most common valvular heart diseases and is associated with poor outcomes. Although other structural diseases are regularly seen in such patients, concomitant atrial septal defects (ASDs) remain a rarity in the elderly. Case summary: We report a case of an 82-year-old woman with progressive right-sided heart failure (HF) due to MR and an ASD of secundum type, despite optimal medical therapy. Combined transcatheter mitral valve repair (MVR) by utilizing a separate transseptal puncture and ASD closure was performed resulting in amelioration of symptoms. Discussion: Procedural planning for simultaneous transcatheter therapies of coupled structural heart disease entities remains complex. Our case illustrates feasibility of percutaneous edge-to-edge MVR and consecutive closure of a large secundum ASD. Different options of accessing the left atrium should be discussed on an individual basis, while additional ASD closure may be beneficial in terms of right ventricular function and symptoms of right HF

Experimental nonlocality-based network diagnostics of mutipartite entangled states

Quantum networks of growing complexity play a key role as resources for quantum computation; the ability to identify the quality of their internal correlations will play a crucial role in addressing the buiding stage of such states. We introduce a novel diagnostic scheme for multipartite networks of entangled particles, aimed at assessing the quality of the gates used for the engineering of their state. Using the information gathered from a set of suitably chosen multiparticle Bell tests, we identify conditions bounding the quality of the entangled bonds among the elements of a register. We demonstrate the effectiveness, flexibility, and diagnostic power of the proposed methodology by characterizing a quantum resource engineered combining two-photon hyperentanglement and photonic-chip technology. Our approach is feasible for medium-sized networks due to the intrinsically modular nature of cluster states, and paves the way to section-by-section analysis of large photonics resources.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, RevTex4-

Wind Power Integration on Interconnected or Isolated Upstream Facilities

In this paper electric studies considering an oil upstream facility with wind power and conventional generators are presented. Static power flows are performed. The voltage variations and reactive power requirements are analyzed. Also dynamic fault simulations, with and without the island formation are performed. The objective is to assess the impact of wind power generation to be included in a typical facility, in order to achieve a satisfactory performance. This work simulates a typical upstream facility, conformed by a 10.1 kV oil network a conventional motogenerator and different types of wind power plants. Wind turbine models and controls for electromechanical transients are used.Instituto de Investigaciones Tecnológicas para Redes y Equipos Eléctricos (IITREE

Umbilical vein blood flow: State-of-the-art

Placental blood supply to the fetus can be measured by evaluating the umbilical vein blood flow. Despite its potential application in healthcare, the umbilical vein blood flow volume is still used only in research setting. One of the reasons is a concern regarding its reproducibility, partly due to technology issues. Nowadays, technology improvements make this evaluation accurate and reproducible. The aim of this review is to refresh basic elements of the physiology of umbilical vein blood flow and its analysis. Its evaluation in normal and abnormal fetal growth is also discussed

Sharing of general loading in double glazed units. The BAM analytical approach

Double Glazed Units (DGUs) consist of two glass panes held together by structural edge seals. Calculation methods for DGUs consider that actions applied on one pane develop effects in all the panes, due to the coupling from the entrapped gas. Various methods have been proposed in standards to evaluate this load sharing, which depends upon the stiffness of the glass panes, the thicknesses of spacer and the size of the DGU. A comprehensive analytical formulation, the Betti’s Analytical Method (BAM), has been recently proposed to calculate the load sharing in DGUs of any shape, composed by glass panes of arbitrary thickness, with various support conditions at the borders and various types of external actions, including concentrated and line loads. Simple expressions can determine the gas pressure as a function of a universal shape function, which coincides with the deformed surface of a simply supported plate, of the same shape of the DGU, under uniformly distributed load. Here, comparisons are made with numerical analyses, performed by implementing an ad hoc routine in the software Straus7, developed by Maffeis Engineering, where the deflection of the glass panels is iteratively calculated, until the volume enclosed reaches a value compatible with the pressure exerted by the gas. The numerical routine, that is part of an integrated parametric approach to the façades design, allows precise calculations for any kind of build-up, panel shapes and load conditions