Prognosis for patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A multicenter cohort study based on propensity score matching

Background: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCM) is a subtype of HCM, and few studies on the prognosis in AHCM are available.Aims: This study aimed to explore the clinical prognosis for AHCM and non-AHCM patients through clinical data based on propensity score matching (PSM) in a large cohort of Chinese HCM patients.Methods: The cohort study included 2268 HCM patients, 226 AHCM and 2042 non-AHCM patients from 13 tertiary hospitals, who were treated between 1996 and 2021. Fifteen demographic and clinical variables of 226 AHCM patients and 2042 non-AHCM patients were matched using 1:2 PSM. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was constructed to assess the effect of AHCM on mortality.Results: During a median follow-up of 5.1 (2.4–8.4) years, 353 (15.6%) of the 2268 HCM patients died, of whom 205 died due to cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation and 94 experienced sudden cardiac death (SCD). In the matched cohort, the ACHM patients had lower rates of all-cause mortality (P = 0.003), cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation (P = 0.03), and SCD (P = 0.02) than the non-AHCM patients. Furthermore, the Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that AHCM was an independent prognostic predictor of all-cause HCM mortality (P = 0.004) and a univariable prognostic predictor of cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation (P = 0.03) and for SCD (P = 0.03). However, AHCM was not significant in multivariable Cox regression models in relation to cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation and SCD.Conclusion: AHCM had a favorable prognosis both before and after matching, with lower all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation, and SCD than non-AHCM

GABAA receptor in the thalamic specific relay system contributes to the propofol-induced somatosensory cortical suppression in rat.

Interaction with the gamma-aminobutyric-acid-type-A (GABAA) receptors is recognized as an important component of the mechanism of propofol, a sedative-hypnotic drug commonly used as anesthetic. However the contribution of GABAA receptors to the central nervous system suppression is still not well understood, especially in the thalamocortical network. In the present study, we investigated if intracerebral injection of bicuculline (a GABAA receptor antagonist) into the thalamus ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM, a thalamus specific relay nuclei that innervated S1 mostly) could reverse propofol-induced cortical suppression, through recording the changes of both spontaneous and somatosensory neural activities in rat's somatosensory cortex (S1). We found that after injection of bicuculline into VPM, significant increase of neural activities were observed in all bands of local field potentials (total band, 182±6%), while the amplitude of all components in somatosensory evoked potentials were also increased (negative, 121±9% and positive, 124±6%).These data support that the potentiation of GABAA receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition in a thalamic specific relay system seems to play a crucial role in propofol-induced cortical suppression in the somatosensory cortex of rats

Correlation between non‐insulin‐based insulin resistance indexes and the risk of prehypertension: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract The authors aimed to characterize the relationships between non‐insulin‐based insulin resistance (IR) indexes and the risk of prehypertension, and to compare their abilities to identify prehypertension. The authors recruited 3274 adults who did not have hypertension and were not taking hypoglycemic or lipid‐lowering medications. The triglyceride‐to‐high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL‐C), fasting triglyceride and glucose index (TyG), and metabolic score for IR (METS‐IR) were calculated. Bivariate Spearman's correlation analysis and multiple logistic analysis were used. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the ability of the three indexes to identify prehypertension. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) positively correlated with TG/HDL‐C (r = .272, P < .001), TyG (r = .286, P < .001), and METS‐IR (r = .340, P < .001) in the entire cohort. Multiple logistic analysis showed that the proportion of prehypertension in the third and fourth quartiles of the TG/HDL‐C (Q3 vs. Q1: odds ratio (OR) = 1.527, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.243–1.988; Q4 vs. Q1: OR = 1.580, 95% CI: 1.231–2.028), TyG (Q3 vs. Q1: OR = 1.519, 95% CI: 1.201–1.923; Q4 vs. Q1: OR = 1.658, 95% CI: 1.312–2.614), and METS‐IR (Q3 vs. Q1: OR = 1.542, 95% CI: 1.138–2.090; Q4 vs. Q1:OR = 2.216, 95% CI: 1.474–3.331) were significantly higher than in the lowest quartiles. The areas under the curves and 95% CIs for the identification of prehypertension were .647 (.628–.667) for TG/HDL‐C, .650 (.631–.669) for TyG, and .683 (.664–.702) for METS‐IR, respectively. Thus, non‐insulin‐based IR indexes (TG/HDL‐C, TyG, and METS‐IR) are significantly associated with the risk of prehypertension. Furthermore, METS‐IR is better able to identify prehypertension than TG/HDL‐C and TyG. These non‐insulin‐based IR indexes might assist with the prevention of hypertension in primary care and areas with limited medical resources

Effect of the filling position and filling rate of the insulation material on the insulation performance of the hollow block

Since the self-insulation wall has the same service life as the building, the resources are saved, and the environmental pollution is reduced, so it has been widely used. In order to obtain the optimal filling position and filling rate of the composite self-insulation hollow block, the thermal insulation performance of the composite self-insulation hollow block was optimized. In this experiment, 6 groups of self-insulating block models with different filling positions and filling rates were constructed. A cold and hot test box was used to simulate the working state of 6 groups of composite self-insulation blocks in the continuous operation of air conditioning in cold areas of China in winter. Through comparative analysis: Filling the hollow block with EPS insulation material is conducive to improving the insulation performance of hollow brick, and the higher the EPS filling rate is, the better the insulation performance of the block is. At the same EPS filling rate, the closer EPS is to the inside of the heat box, the better the insulation effect of the wall will be. At the same EPS filling rate, the method of filling EPS on both sides of the cavity has the best insulation effect, which is conducive to saving insulation materials

Schematic representation of the somatosensory ascending pathway.

<p>The tactile information was transmitted from mechanoreceptors of the facial skin to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). The tungsten microelectrode allowed extracellular single-unit recordings in S1, while a glass electrode performed the injection of bicuculline (BIC) in the thalamic ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM).</p

Basal LFP relative power in six frequency bands (total: 1–60 Hz; delta: 1–4 Hz; theta: 4–8 Hz; alpha: 8–12 Hz; beta: 12–25 Hz; gamma: 25–60 Hz).

<p>A, saline injection in VPM did not change the values of LFP power in all bands. B, significant rise of power were found in all bands after BIC injection in VPM. Data shown as mean ± S.E.M. (n = 8). *, p < 0.05 versus control.</p

Results of LFP and SEP with BIC injection in S1.

<p>A, Schematic representation of the altered injection site (in S1 area) of BIC. B, original traces of LFP and SEP traces before and after BIC (and saline) injection in S1. C, power spectral density of LFP. D, basal LFP relative power in six frequency bands. E, time course plots of SEP responses before and after BIC (and saline) injection in S1. F, amplitudes of four components of SEP calculated from E. Data shown as mean ± S.E.M. (n = 5). *, p < 0.05 versus control.</p

Transition metal elements as donor dopants in CdO

CdO has been shown to achieve a high electron concentration N (&gt;1021cm-3) and at the same time a high mobility μ (&gt;100cm2/Vs) when doped with conventional shallow dopants (In or Ga), and consequently making it a transparent conducting oxide with very low resistivity ρ&lt;10-4ωcm. In this work, the properties of CdO thin films doped with a series of transition metal elements (CdO:TM) with partially filled 3d and 4d shells, including Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Y, Mo, and W, were investigated. We find that doping with these TM elements can effectively increase the N in CdO to a maximum N (Nmax) of ∼(7-12)×1020cm-3 with a dopant concentration xmax of 4-7 %. However, unlike CdO:In, the μ of CdO:TM films drops rapidly from &gt;100 to &lt;10cm2/Vs as the dopant concentration x increases, so that they can only achieve a minimum ρ of ∼(1-2)×10-4ωcm, ∼ a factor of 2-3 higher than that in CdO:In. As a result, free-carrier absorption and plasma reflection effects limit their optical transparency to &lt;1200 nm. For most 3d TM dopants, a qualitatively higher d-donor level Ed,donor gives rise to higher EF,max or a higher Nmax. Although at low x, the optical band gap Eopt of CdO:TM follows the calculated values due to free-carrier effects, as x increases, Eopt values are significantly higher than the calculated values. This is believed to be an effect of the anticrossing interaction of the localized d-levels and the extended CdO conduction-band (CB) states, giving rise to a lower occupied E- and an upper unoccupied E+ subband. The restructured CBs have much flatter dispersion, which also results in a much higher effective mass me∗, hence it can also explain the much lower μ of CdO:TM films with high N