Calculated two-photon electronic transitions in sulfuric acid and its atmospheric relevance

Non Peer reviewe

Early Experience With a Novel Dissection-Specific Stent-Graft to Prevent Distal Stent-Graft-Induced New Entry Tears After Thoracic Endovascular Repair of Chronic Type B Aortic Dissections

Background: The aim was to report short and mid-term outcomes of a novel, investigational, dissection-specific stent-graft (DSSG), specifically designed to address the features of chronic type B aortic dissection (CTBAD) and reduce the risk of distal stent-graft-induced new entry tears (dSINE). Materials and Methods: A retrospective single center cohort study of all patients undergoing TEVAR with the DSSG for CTBAD from January 1, 2017 to January 31, 2020. The DSSG, which is a modified stent-graft based on the Cook Zenith Alpha Thoracic platform, has no proximal barbs, and a customized longer body length with substantial taper. The second and third distal Z-stents are sited internally to avoid any contact of the metal skeleton with the dissection membrane and have reduced radial force, while the most distal stent was removed creating a distal 30 mm unsupported Dacron graft. Results: Sixteen patients (13 males, 3 females) with a median age of 66 years (range 31–79 years) underwent elective TEVAR of CTBAD using the DSSG. Six patients (38%) had an underlying connective tissue disorder. The median tapering was 10 mm (range 4 mm–21 mm) and median length 270 mm (range 210–380 mm). Technical success was achieved in all but one case (96%). One patient died within 30 days, due to retrograde type A dissection with cardiac tamponade. The 30-day rate of stroke, spinal cord ischemia, and re-interventions was 0%. After median imaging follow-up time of 17 months (range 1–31 months), one patient developed a dSINE 4 months after the index procedure. After median survival follow-up of 23 months (range 2–35 months), one late death occurred due to traumatic brain injury, while no aortic-related death occurred during follow-up. Complete false lumen (FL) thrombosis was achieved in 9 patients while the remaining 6 showed partial FL thrombosis. No instances of diameter increase at the level oftreated aortic segment were noted with serial measurements showing either stable (n = 7) or decreased (n = 8) maximal transverse diameter. Conclusions: Use of a novel DSSG with low radial force for TEVAR in the setting of CTBAD is safe and feasible. This early real-world experience shows promising mid-term effectiveness with low rates of dSINE or unplanned re-interventions and satisfactory aortic remodeling during follow-up. Longer follow-up is needed, however, before any firm conclusions can be drawn

Pitfalls in the Measurement of the Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dip in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to screen adolescents with type 1 diabetes using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to 1) test the hypothesis that using a preset sleep time results in an overdiagnosis of abnormal nocturnal dipping in systolic blood pressure and 2) assess the reproducibility of an abnormal nocturnal systolic blood pressure dip

The Mars Science Laboratory Organic Check Material

The Organic Check Material (OCM) has been developed for use on the Mars Science Laboratory mission to serve as a sample standard for verification of organic cleanliness and characterization of potential sample alteration as a function of the sample acquisition and portioning process on the Curiosity rover. OCM samples will be acquired using the same procedures for drilling, portioning and delivery as are used to study martian samples with The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite during MSL surface operations. Because the SAM suite is highly sensitive to organic molecules, the mission can better verify the cleanliness of Curiosity's sample acquisition hardware if a known material can be processed through SAM and compared with the results obtained from martian samples