Nieskuteczne terapie kardiowertera-defibrylatora spowodowane wzrostem progu defibrylacji

We present the case report of a 28 year-old man with postmyocarditis cardiomyopathy and cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation in secondary prevention. He survived an episode of circulatory arrest due to ventricular fibrillation/ polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. All high energy therapy delivered by ICD was unsuccessful. The reason for the failure of the therapy was an increase in the defibrillation threshold. The implantation of an additional subcutaneous lead lowered the defibrillation threshold.Przedstawiono przypadek kardiomiopatii pozapalnej i wszczepienia implantowalnego kardiowertera-defibrylatora (ICD) w ramach prewencji wtórnej u 28-letniego pacjenta, który przeżył epizod zatrzymania krążenia w przebiegu migotania komór/polimorficznego częstoskurczu komorowego. Wszystkie zastosowane terapie wysokoenergetyczne z ICD były nieskuteczne. Za przyczynę nieskuteczności terapii uznano zwiększenie progu defibrylacji. Próg defibrylacji obniżono, implantując elektrodę podskórną

The impacts of crystalline structure and different surface functional groups on drug release and the osseointegration process of nanostructured TiO2TiO_2

In implantable materials, surface topography and chemistry are the most important in the effective osseointegration and interaction with drug molecules. Therefore, structural and surface modifications of nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO2) layers are reported in the present work. In particular, the modification of annealed TiO2 samples with —OH groups and silane derivatives, confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, is shown. Moreover, the ibuprofen release process was studied regarding the desorption-desorption-diffusion (DDD) kinetic model. The results proved that the most significant impact on the release profile is annealing, and further surface modifications did not change its kinetics. Additionally, the cell adhesion and proliferation were examined based on the MTS test and immunofluorescent staining. The obtained data showed that the proposed changes in the surface chemistry enhance the samples’ hydrophilicity. Moreover, improvements in the adhesion and proliferation of the MG-63 cells were observed

Ablacja łącza przedsionkowo-komorowego jako terapia pomostowa tachykardiomiopatii i niewydolności nerek w przebiegu migotania przedsionków z szybkim rytmem komór

We present the case of a 67 year-old woman with tachycardiomyopathy induced by atrial fibrillation with high frequency ventricular response. The patient underwent resynchronisation pacemaker implantation and atrioventricular junction ablation as a bridging therapy prior to cryoballoon pulmonary vein ostia ablation.W pracy przedstawiono przypadek 67-letniej chorej z tachykardiomiopatią w przebiegu migotania przedsionków z szybkim rytmem komór leczoną implantacją stymulatora resynchronizującego i ablacją łącza przedsionkowo-komorowego jako terapią pomostową przed krioablacją balonową ujść żył płucnych

Photoelectrochemical properties of annealed anodic TiO2TiO_2 layers covered with CuOxCuO_x

In this work, we present a systematic study on the influence of Cu(2+) ion concentration in the impregnation solution on the morphology, structure, optical, semiconducting, and photoelectrochemical properties of anodic CuO(x)-TiO(2) materials. Studied materials were prepared by immersion in solutions with different concentrations of (CH(3)COO)(2)Cu and subjected to air-annealing at 400 °C, 500 °C, or 600 °C for 2 h. The complex characterization of all studied samples was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), reflectance measurements, Mott–Schottky analyses, and photocurrent measurements. It was found that band gap engineering based on coupling CuO with TiO(2) (E(g)~3.3 eV) is an effective strategy to increase the absorption in visible light due to band gap narrowing (CuO(x)-TiO(2) materials had E(g)~2.4 eV). Although the photoactivity of CuO-TiO(2) materials decreased in the UV range due to the deposition of CuO on the TiO(2) surface, in the Vis range increased up to 600 nm at the same time

Czy jest możliwa automatyczna interpretacja EKG za pomocą zdjęcia wykonanego smartfonem?

Introduction. Nowadays there are no tools enabling fast digitalization and supporting interpretation of paper ECG recordings. Popularity and availability of devices like smartphone could be used in clinical practice as tools enhancing the interpretation of ECG recordings. The aim of the study is to determine possibilities of using free mobile application and smartphone in assessment of QRS frequency and electrical axis of the heart as a basis for more advanced analysis. Materials and methods. Fifty recordings of 12-lead ECG at 25 mm/s generated by devices of various producers were qualified for the analysis. Each of the recordings was assessed as diagnostic by two cardiologists, who also measured the frequency of QRS complexes, electrical axis of the heart, duration of QT, amplitude and duration of QRS complexes and T waves. Afterwards, automatic interpretation of ECG recordings was performed with educational mobile application eEKG (available for free at AppStore and Google Play) and iPhone 5s. The pictures of ECG waveforms were taken according to instruction of the application. The results of expert assessment and automatic interpretation were compared. The 10% acceptable margin of error was established for assessment of frequency of QRS complexes by the application. Results. Six hundred ECG waveforms (12 leads in every ECG recording) were analysed for frequency of QRS complexes and 50 ECG recordings were analyzed for electrical axis of the heart. The application qualified as diagnostic 573 (95.5%) attempts of QRS frequency assessment and 26 (52%) attempts of electrical axis of the heart assessment. The assessment was accurate in 82% of attempts for QRS complexes frequency assessment and in 96% of attempts for electrical axis of the heart assessment. Significant correlation was proven between QT duration, T wave amplitude, ratio of amplitudes of QRS complexes and T waves and effectiveness of automatic interpretation of ECG waveform. Conclusions. Effective digitalisation and automatic interpretation of ECG recording in assessment of frequency of QRS complexes and electrical axis of the heart is possible with mobile application and smartphone type device.Wstęp. Obecnie brakuje narzędzi umożliwiających szybką digitalizację i wspierających interpretację papierowych zapisów elektrokardiograficznych (EKG). Powszechność urządzeń typu smartfonu sugeruje ich wykorzystanie w praktyce jako narzędzi wspomagających interpretację zapisów EKG. Celem pracy jest określenie możliwości wykorzystania darmowej aplikacji mobilnej i urządzenia typu smartfonu w ocenie częstotliwości zespołów QRS i osi elektrycznej serca jako podstawy do bardziej zaawansowanych analiz. Materiał i metody. Do analizy zakwalifikowano 50 zapisów 12-odprowadzeniowego EKG wykonanych z przesuwem25 mm/s aparatami różnych producentów. Każdy z zapisów oceniło jako diagnostyczny dwóch kardiologów, którzyponadto ocenili częstotliwość zespołów QRS, oś elektryczną serca, czas QT, amplitudę i czas trwania zespołów QRS i załamków T. Następnie przeprowadzono automatyczną interpretację zapisów EKG za pomocą aplikacji edukacyjnej eEKG (dostępna bez opłat w sklepach AppStore i Google Play) i telefonu iPhone 5s; zdjęcia krzywych EKG wykonano zgodnie z instrukcją aplikacji. Zestawiono wyniki oceny ekspertów i automatycznej interpretacji. Przyjęto 10-procentową granicę dopuszczalnego błędu dla oceny częstotliwości zespołów QRS przez aplikację. Wyniki. Łącznie zinterpretowano 600 krzywych EKG pod kątem częstotliwości zespołów QRS i 50 zapisów EKG podkątem osi elektrycznej serca. Jako diagnostyczne aplikacja zakwalifikowała 573 (95,5%) proby oceny częstotliwościzespołów QRS i 26 (52%) prób oceny osi elektrycznej serca. Odsetek zgodnych rozpoznań wynosił 82% w przypadkuczęstotliwości zespołów QRS i 96% w przypadku osi elektrycznej serca. Wykazano istotną korelację między czasem QT, amplitudą załamków T i stosunkiem amplitud zespołów QRS i załamków T a efektywnością automatycznej interpretacji krzywej EKG. Wnioski. Efektywna digitalizacja i automatyczna interpretacja zapisu EKG w zakresie oceny częstotliwości zespołów QRS i osi elektrycznej serca są możliwe za pomocą aplikacji mobilnej i urządzenia typu smartfon

Effects of exercise of different intensity on gut peptides, energy intake and appetite in young males

Introduction and research aims: The aim of the work was an evaluation of the impact of physical exertion on the regulating of food intake and digestive system hormone release as well as the partly connected phenomenon of evaluating the subjective sensation of hunger and the amount of food consumed at various time following physical exercise. Materials and methods: The tests covered 12 young, healthy men, for whom the effects of physical exertion of a moderate and high intensity on the subjective sensation of hunger/satiety, evaluated by means of visual analogue scales, on food intake as well as on the metabolic and hormonal parameters were tested. Results: Physical exertion resulted in a fall in the subjective sensation of hunger, but only following intensive exertion was this statistically significant. The intake of food was greater after exertion when compared to the control group. Moderate exertion resulted in a statistically significant but short-lived increase in the ghrelin level. This effect was not observed after intensive exertion, while in those tests during the post-meal period there occurred a fall in the concentration of ghrelin in the plasma. After exertion a physical fall was observed in the concentration of insulin in the plasma, for the intake of food resulted in a notable increase in its level. Conclusions: Physical highly intensive exertion, results in a temporary reduction in the subjective sensation of hunger but leads to an increased food intake. The current research suggests that moderate but not intensive physical exertion stimulates the secretion of ghrelin

3D PET image reconstruction based on Maximum Likelihood Estimation Method (MLEM) algorithm

Positron emission tomographs (PET) do not measure an image directly. Instead, they measure at the boundary of the field-of-view (FOV) of PET tomograph a sinogram that consists of measurements of the sums of all the counts along the lines connecting two detectors. As there is a multitude of detectors build-in typical PET tomograph structure, there are many possible detector pairs that pertain to the measurement. The problem is how to turn this measurement into an image (this is called imaging). Decisive improvement in PET image quality was reached with the introduction of iterative reconstruction techniques. This stage was reached already twenty years ago (with the advent of new powerful computing processors). However, three dimensional (3D) imaging remains still a challenge. The purpose of the image reconstruction algorithm is to process this imperfect count data for a large number (many millions) of lines-of-responce (LOR) and millions of detected photons to produce an image showing the distribution of the labeled molecules in space.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Studies of discrete symmetries in decays of positronium atoms

A positronium - a bound state of electron and positron - is an eigenstate of parity and charge conjugation operators which decays into photons. It is a unique laboratory to study discrete symmetries whose precision is limited, in principle, by the effects due to the weak interactions expected at the level of 10−14 and photon-photon interactions expected at the level of 10−9. The Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomograph (J-PET) is a detector for medical imaging as well as for physics studies involving detection of electronpositron annihilation into photons. The physics case covers the areas of discrete symmetries studies and genuine multipartite entanglement. The J-PET detector has high angular and time resolution and allows for determination of spin of the positronium and the momenta and polarization vectors of annihilation quanta. In this article, we present the potential of the J-PET system for studies of discrete symmetries in decays of positronium atoms