In this study, S' velocity measured by TDI showed a significant correlation with three dimensional LVEF and can be used to detect patients with LV systolic dysfunction.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium that causes cardiogenic shock and death. However, endomyocardial biopsy that is, the gold standard for a diagnosis is limited. Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox effector factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1) is a multifunctional protein, which is involved in DNA-based excision repair pathway, and in redox signaling, its changes are observed in various cardiovascular diseases including hypertension and coronary artery disease. We analyzed serum APE1/Ref-1 in experimental murine myocarditis. To induce myocarditis, coxsackievirus B3 was injected intraperitoneally to BALB/c mice. The serum APE1/Ref-1, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin I were measured. The histology and virus titers measurements were performed. The troponin I and inflammation were significantly elevated at day 3, peaked to day 7 and decreased at day 10. The NT-proBNP and virus titers were significantly peaked at day 3, and dropped at day 7 and 10. The serum APE1/Ref-1 was gradually raised and its elevation is still maintained until a later time, namely day 10. Also, its level was positively correlated with myocardial inflammation, reflecting severity of myocardial injury. We suggest that serum APE1/Ref-1 can be used to assess for myocardial injury in viral myocarditis without endomyocardial biopsy.

ObjectiveIn search of an ideal method of assisted hatching (AH), we compared the effects of conventional micropipette-AH and laser-AH on the blastocyst formation rate (BFR) and blastocyst cell numbers.MethodsFour- to five-week-old ICR female mice were paired with male mice after superovulation using Pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and hCG. The two-cell embryos were flushed from the oviducts of female mice. The retrieved two-cell embryos underwent one of five AH procedures: single mechanical assisted hatching (sMAH); cross mechanical assisted hatching (cMAH); single laser assisted hatching (sLAH); quarter laser assisted hatching (qLAH); and quarter laser zona thinning assisted hatching (qLZT-AH). After 72 hours incubation, double immunofluorescence staining was performed.ResultsFollowing a 72 hours incubation, a higher hatching BFR was observed in the control, sMAH, cMAH, and sLAH groups, compared to those in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups (p<0.05). The hatched BFR was significantly higher in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups than in the others (p<0.05 for each group). The inner cell mass (ICM) was higher in the control and sMAH group (p<0.05). The trophectoderm cell number was higher in the cMAH and qLAH groups (p<0.05).ConclusionOur results showed that the hatched BFR was higher in groups exposed the the qLAH and qLZT-AH methods compared to groups exposed to other AH methods. In the qLAH group, although the total cell number was significantly higher than in controls, the ICM ratio was significantly lower in than controls.

Background We sought to evaluate baseline platelet count as a prognostic indicator in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods Data of 13,085 patients with AMI were retrieved from a prospective nationwide AMI registry from November 2011 to December 2015. Using Cox hazards models, cumulative risks for adverse outcomes were compared among patients with baseline platelet count of less than 150 K/µL (lowest quartile), 150 to 249 K/µL, 250 to 349 K/µL (reference) and equal to or greater than 350 K/µL (higher quartile). The primary outcome of interest was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included myocardial infarction, re-hospitalisation for heart failure, and stroke. Results During a median follow-up of 2.1 years, a steep U-shaped association was observed for the occurrence of all-cause mortality ( p for non-linearity <0.001). For stroke, a similar U-shaped curve was also seen ( p for non-linearity = 0.095). After multiple adjustments, the lowest and higher quartiles of baseline platelet count were positively associated with all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.120; 95% confidence interval: 1.345–3.341; p = 0.001, and adjusted hazard ratio: 1.642; 95% confidence interval: 0.957–2.817; p = 0.072, respectively). Similar results were observed in sensitivity analyses even after excluding patients with age ≥75 years or patients with heart failure. Conclusions In patients with AMI, baseline platelet count demonstrated a U-shaped association with an increased risk of all-cause mortality at two years. If validated, these findings suggest that baseline platelet count could serve as a preferred prognostic marker in AMI due to its low cost and universal availability.

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200 - nm -thick BMN films were deposited on Pt∕TiO2∕SiO2∕Si and Cu∕Ti∕SiO2∕Si substrates at various temperatures by pulsed laser deposition. The dielectric constant and capacitance density of the films deposited on Pt and Cu electrodes show similar tendency with increasing deposition temperature. On the other hand, dielectric loss of the films deposited on Cu electrode varies from 0.7% to 1.3%, while dielectric loss of films on Pt constantly shows 0.2% even though the deposition temperature increases. The low value of breakdown strength in BMN films on Pt compared to films deposited on Cu electrode was attributed to the increase of surface roughness by the formation of secondary phases at interface between BMN films and Pt electrodes.

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We sought to determine which contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) parameter is the best predictor for left ventricular (LV) remodeling and clinical outcomes after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In 135 patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for STEMI, CE-MRI was performed at a median of 7 days after PCI. Echocardiography was performed soon after PCI and at a follow-up visit. LV remodeling was defined as an increase in end-diastolic volume index ≥20 % on follow-up echocardiography. Several CE-MRI parameters such as infarct size, transmurality, microvascular obstruction (MVO), and hemorrhagic infarction were tested using a 17-myocardial segment model. Optimal cut-off values were derived from receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Twenty-eight patients (21 %) demonstrated LV remodeling. Although the addition of transmural necrotic segment count, infarct size, and MVO segment count to clinical models improved the prediction of LV remodeling in multivariable regression analysis, transmural necrotic segment count had better incremental predictive value than other CE-MRI parameters. The aggregate consideration of infarct size (cut-off ≥25 %), transmural necrotic segment count (≥5), and MVO segment count (≥2) yielded better diagnostic performance than each of the individual parameters in ROC analysis (P < 0.01). In Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, patients with transmural necrotic segment counts ≥5 had a higher incidence of major adverse cardiac event than did those without. The transmural necrotic segment count is the most important predictor of LV remodeling and clinical outcomes. The combination of CE-MRI parameters including infarct size, transmural necrotic segment count, and MVO segment count appeared to increase reliability for predicting LV remodeling.