Nanosecond laser textured superhydrophobic metallic surfaces and their chemical sensing applications

tThis work demonstrates superhydrophobic behavior on nanosecond laser patterned copper and brasssurfaces. Compared with ultrafast laser systems previously used for such texturing, infrared nanosecondfiber lasers offer a lower cost and more robust system combined with potentially much higher processingrates. The wettability of the textured surfaces develops from hydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity overtime when exposed to ambient conditions. The change in the wetting property is attributed to the par-tial deoxidation of oxides on the surface induced during laser texturing. Textures exhibiting steady statecontact angles of up to ∼152◦with contact angle hysteresis of around 3–4◦have been achieved. Inter-estingly, the superhydrobobic surfaces have the self-cleaning ability and have potential for chemicalsensing applications. The principle of these novel chemical sensors is based on the change in contactangle with the concentration of methanol in a solution. To demonstrate the principle of operation ofsuch a sensor, it is found that the contact angle of methanol solution on the superhydrophobic surfacesexponentially decays with increasing concentration. A significant reduction, of 128◦, in contact angle onsuperhydrophobic brass is observed, which is one order of magnitude greater than that for the untreatedsurface (12◦), when percent composition of methanol reaches to 28%

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Drug-coated balloon treatment for nonsmall de-novo coronary artery disease: angiographic and clinical outcomes

Objectives Although drug-coated balloons (DCBs) are established for de-novo lesions in small coronary arteries, the impact of DCB treatment according to the reference vessel diameter (RVD) remains poorly defined. This study aimed to evaluate the angiographic and long-term clinical outcomes of DCB treatment for de-novo coronary lesions according to RVD. Methods and results A total of 227 patients were retrospectively enrolled and stratified according to an RVD >2.5 mm [nonsmall vessel disease (NSVD) group, n = 100] and <= 2.5 mm [small vessel disease (SVD) group, n = 127]. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at a 6-month follow-up, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization and target vessel thrombosis). The LLL among the 206 patients (90.8%) returning for scheduled angiography at 6 month was similar (NSVD, 0.03 +/- 0.22 mm vs. SVD, 0.06 +/- 0.25 mm; P = 0.384). TVF was also comparable in both groups at a median follow-up of 3.4 years (NSVD, 7.0 vs. SVD, 7.9 %; P = 0.596). At baseline, there were numerically more dissections in the SVD group compared to the NSVD group (47.2 vs. 35.0 %; P = 0.064); however, most of these had disappeared in both groups at a 6-month follow-up. In a multivariable analysis, the presence of dissection was not associated with LLL or TVF in either group. Conclusions The safety and efficacy of DCB treatment for de-novo coronary lesions, in terms of LLL and TVF, was unrelated to RVD