Chances of Employment in a Population of Women and Men after Surgery of Congenital Heart Disease: Gender-Specific Comparisons between Patients and the General Population

It was examined whether women and men (17-45 years) with operated congenital heart disease (CHD) differ with respect to chances of employment. Patients were compared with the general population. Patients (N=314) were classified by type of surgery (curative, reparative, palliative) as indicator of initial severity of disease. The second classification was performed according to a system proposed by the New York Heart Association in order to take subjectively reported impairments into account. Controls (N=1165) consisted of a 10% random sample drawn from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Chances of full- time employment decreased as disease severity increased. Chances of part- time and minor employment were higher in patients than among controls. These general effects were due to male patients, while the employment patterns of women did not differ from the control group. Independently of patient status women were more likely to have lower rates of full- time employment, and the rates of part- time and minor employment were higher. Long- term adaptation to impairments due to congenital heart disease differs between women and men with respect to employment status. While female patients do not differ from the general population, males may lower their engagement in paid work.

Removal of temporary pacemaker after cardiac surgery in infants: A harmless procedure?

External pacemakers (PM) via temporary epicardial leads are routinely applied to infants and children during heart surgery, which usually, after an uneventful post surgical course, can be removed without complications. We report about two infants with complex congenital heart defects after cardiac surgery (arterial switch and Mustard operation for Transposition of the great arteries). Intraoperative these patients received temporary epicardial PM wires. Thirteen and 18 days post surgery, respectively, the PM wires were removed under electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. The patients showed acute ECG changes in terms of significant ST elevation during and after removing their pacing wires. Clinically, patients were stable and subsequent echocardiographic examination showed no evidence of myocardial dysfunction or pericardial effusion. In the course of time, patients showed no signs of arrhythmia or abnormal ECG changes. The decision to place temporary pacing wires during the cardiac surgery in patients with congenital heart defects should be considered carefully and their removal should occur under ECG monitoring as soon as the situation of the patient allows. It should be taken into consideration that a complication like this case may be related to delayed removal of temporary PM’s leads. © 2012 - IOS Press and the authors

Construction and establishment of a new environmental chamber to study real-time cardiac development

Heart development, especially the critical phase of cardiac looping, is a complex and intricate process that has not yet been visualized "live" over long periods of time. We have constructed and established a new environmental incubator chamber that provides stable conditions for embryonic development with regard to temperature, humidity, and oxygen levels. We have integrated a video microscope in the chamber to visualize the developing heart in real time and present the first "live" recordings of a chick embryo in shell-less culture acquired over a period of 2 days. The time-lapse images we show depict a significant time window that covers the most critical and typical morphogenetic events during normal cardiac looping. Our system is of interest to researchers in the field of embryogenesis, as it can be adapted to a variety of animal models for organogenesis studies including heart and limb development. © MICROSCOPY SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2007

Lesson Learnt and Future of AI Applied to Manufacturing

This chapter touches on several aspects related to the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the manufacturing sector, and is split in different sub-chapters, focusing on specific new technology enablers that have the potential of solving or minimizing known issues in the manufacturing and, more in general, in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) domain. After introducing AI/ML as a technology enabler for the IoT in general and for manufacturing in particular, the next four sections detail two key technology enablers (EdgeML and federated learning scenarios, challenges and tools), one most important area of the IoT system that needs to decrease energy consumption and increase reliability (reduce receiver Processing complexity and enhancing reliability through multi-connectivity uplink connections), and finally a glimpse at the future describing a promising new technology (Embodied AI), its link with millimetre waves connectivity and potential business impact

Quantitative Proteomics Identify Novel miR-155 Target Proteins

Background: MicroRNAs are 22 nucleotides long non-coding RNAs and exert their function either by transcriptional or translational inhibition. Although many microRNA profiles in different tissues and disease states have already been discovered, only little is known about their target proteins. The microRNA miR-155 is deregulated in many diseases, including cancer, where it might function as an oncoMir. Methodology/Principal Findings: We employed a proteomics technique called ‘‘stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture’ ’ (SILAC) allowing relative quantification to reliably identify target proteins of miR-155. Using SILAC, we identified 46 putative miR-155 target proteins, some of which were previously reported. With luciferase reporter assays, CKAP5 was confirmed as a new target of miR-155. Functional annotation of miR-155 target proteins pointed to a role in cell cycle regulation. Conclusions/Significance: To the best of our knowledge we have investigated for the first time miR-155 target proteins in the HEK293T cell line in large scale. In addition, by comparing our results to previously identified miR-155 target proteins i