Background. High power shorter duration (HPSD) ablation may lead to safe and rapid lesion formation. However, the optimal radio frequency power to achieve the desired ablation index (AI) or lesion size index (LSI) is insubstantial. This analysis aimed to appraise the clinical safety and efficacy of HPSD guided by AI or LSI (HPSD-AI or LSI) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods. The Medline, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases from inception to November 2020 were searched for studies comparing HPSD-AI or LSI and low power longer duration (LPLD) ablation. Results. Seven trials with 1013 patients were included in the analysis. The analyses verified that HPSD-AI or LSI revealed benefits of first-pass pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) (RR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.05–1.56, P = 0.01) and acute pulmonary vein reconnection (PVR) (RR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.48–0.88, P = 0.005) compared with LPLD. HPSD-AI or LSI showed higher freedom from atrial tachyarrhythmia (AT) (RR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.14–1.53, P = 0.0002) in the subgroup analysis of studies with PVI ± (with or without additional ablation beyond PVI). HPSD-AI or LSI could short procedural time (WMD: −22.81; 95% CI, −35.03 to −10.60, P = 0.0003), ablation time (WMD: −10.80; 95% CI: −13.14 to −8.46, P < .00001), and fluoroscopy time (WMD: −7.71; 95% CI: −13.71 to −1.71, P = 0.01). Major complications and esophageal lesion in HPSD-AI or LSI group were no more than LDLP group (RR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.20–1.69, P = 0.32) and (RR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.43–1.61, P = 0.59). Conclusions. HPSD-AI or LSI was efficient for treating AF with shorting procedural, ablation, and fluoroscopy time, higher first-pass PVI, and reducing acute PVR and may increase freedom from AT for patients with additional ablation beyond PVI compared with LPLD. Moreover, complications and esophageal lesion were low and no different between two groups.

Bacterial biofilms are highly structured, surface associated bacteria colonies held together by a cell-generated polymer network known as EPS (extracellular polymeric substance). This polymer network assists in adhesion to surfaces and generates spreading forces as colonies grow over time. In the laboratory and in nature, biofilms often grow at the interface between air and an elastic, semi-permeable nutrient source. As this type of biofilm increases in volume, an accommodating compression of its substrate may arise, potentially driven by the osmotic pressure exerted by the EPS against the substrate surface. Here we study Bacillus subtilis biofilm force generation by measuring the magnitude and rate of deformation imposed by colonies against the agar-nutrient slabs on which they grow. We find that the elastic stress stored in deformed agar is orders of magnitude larger than the drag stress associated with pulling fluid through the agar matrix. The stress exerted by the biofilm is nearly the same as the osmotic pressure generated by the EPS, and mutant colonies incapable of producing EPS exert much lower levels of stress. The fluid flow rate into B. subtilis biofilms suggest that EPS generated pressure provides some metabolic benefit as colonies expand in volume. These results reveal that long-term biofouling and colony expansion may be tied to the hydraulic permeability and elasticity of the surfaces that biofilms colonize.

Convection enhanced delivery (CED) is a promising novel technology to treat neural diseases, as it can transport macromolecular therapeutic agents greater distances through tissue by direct infusion. To minimize off-target delivery, our group has developed 3D computational transport models to predict infusion flow fields and tracer distributions based on magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging data sets. To improve the accuracy of our voxelized models, generalized anisotropy (GA), a scalar measure of a higher order diffusion tensor obtained from high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) was used to improve tissue segmentation within complex tissue regions of the hippocampus by capturing small feature fissures. Simulations were conducted to reveal the effect of these fissures and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) boundaries on CED tracer diversion and mistargeting. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to determine the effect of dorsal and ventral hippocampal infusion sites and tissue transport properties on drug delivery. Predicted CED tissue concentrations from this model are then compared with experimentally measured MR concentration profiles. This allowed for more quantitative comparison between model predictions and MR measurement. Simulations were able to capture infusate diversion into fissures and other CSF spaces which is a major source of CED mistargeting. Such knowledge is important for proper surgical planning.

Background: Osteoporosis is a metabolic osteopathy characterized by abnormal bone mass and microstructure that has become a public health problem worldwide. Cuscutae semen (CS) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has a positive effect on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. However, the mechanism of CS is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the possible molecular mechanism involved in the effects of CS on osteoporosis based on a network pharmacology approach. Material/Methods: The inactive and active ingredients of CS were identified by searching the pharmacology analysis platform of the Chinese medicine system (TCMSP), and the targets of osteoporosis were screened in the relevant databases, such as GeneCards, PubMed, and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). The network of "medicine-ingredients-disease-targets (M-I-D-T)" was established by means of network pharmacology, and the key targets and core pathways were determined by R analysis. Molecular docking methods were used to evaluate the binding activity between the target and the active ingredients of CS. Results: Eleven active ingredients were identified in CS, and 175 potential targets of the active ingredients were also identified from the TCMSP. Moreover, we revealed 22 539 targets related to osteoporosis in the 3 well-established databases, and we determined the intersection of the disease targets and the potential targets of the active ingredients; 107 common targets were identified and used in further analysis. Additionally, biological processes and signaling pathways involved in target action, such as fluid shear stress, atherosclerosis, cancer pathways, and the TNF signaling pathway, were determined. Finally, we chose the top 5 common targets, CCND1, EGFR, IL6, MAPK8, and VEGFA, for molecular docking with the 11 active ingredients of CS. Conclusions: This study suggested that CS has multiple ingredients and multiple targets relevant to the treatment of osteoporosis. We determined that the active ingredient, sesamin, may be the most crucial ingredient of CS for the treatment of osteoporosis. Additionally, the network pharmacology method provided a novel research approach to analyze the function of complex ingredients.

No abstract

Background:With the continuous development of cardiac interventional medicine, the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is increasing every year, which is a serious threat to people's physical and mental health. Trimetazidine (TMZ) is a type of anti-ischemic drug developed in recent years, which can significantly reduce the incidence of CIN. At present, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the clinical effect of TMZ on prevention of CIN in patients with renal insufficiency. However, the study did not include patients from other countries and speaking different languages. So we conducted this study to update the previous meta-analysis that investigated the effects of TMZ on prevention of CIN in patients with renal insufficiency, and provided some theoretical reference for clinical.Methods:By searching PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP database, and Wang Fang database for randomized controlled trial, which is comparing TMZ versus conventional hydration for prevention of CIN. Two researchers independently screened literature, and then evaluated the quality of literature and extracted the relevant data. Stata 11.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results:Finally, this updated review showed that 3 studies that were not included in the previous meta-analysis were included in our study (3 articles were published in the Chinese Journal, 1 study for CIN, 1 study for CIN, serum creatinine (Scr), and superoxide dismutase, 1 study for CIN and Scr), and 1 outcome (Scr) reflecting the change of renal function was additionally included in our study. Of the 932 studies, 6 randomized controlled trials met the criteria, including 377 patients in TMZ group and 387 patients in control group. This meta-analysis for all studies showed that TMZ can significantly reduce the incidence of CIN (relative risk 0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16, 0.46, P = 0.000), and can decrease the level of Scr after operation, including Scr of postoperative 24 hours (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.30, 95% CI −0.51, −0.09, P = 0.005), Scr of postoperative 48 hours (SMD −0.66, 95% CI −1.23, −0.10, P = 0.022), and Scr of postoperative 7 days (SMD −0.74, 95% CI −1.36, −0.11, P = 0.021). However, the Scr of postoperative 72 hours between TMZ group and control group has no statistical significance (P = 0.362).Conclusion:Our study showed that when comparing with conventional hydration, TMZ can significantly reduce the incidence of CIN and the level of postoperative Scr. Therefore, we could suggest that TMZ was superior to conventional hydration for the treatment of CIN in patients with renal insufficiency. However, due to the restriction of quality and number of included articles, it still needs to carry out multicenter, randomized, double-blind clinical trials to confirm this conclusion in the future.

Infusate backflow or leak-back along the cannula track can occur during intraparenchymal infusions resulting in non-specific targeting of therapeutic agents. The occurrence of backflow depends on several variables including cannula radius, infusate flow rate, and tip location. In this study, polymer coatings that swell in situ were developed and tested with in vitro hydrogel experiments for backflow reduction. Coatings were applied to the external cannula surface in a dual layer arrangement with a poly(vinyl alcohol) outer layer atop an inner poly(ethylene oxide) and alginate layer. Once these coated cannulas were inserted and allotted an 8–10 min waiting period for hydration, backflow during infusions of 4.0 µl of a macromolecular tracer (Evans Blue labeled albumin) was reduced significantly under flow rates of 0.3–0.6 µl/min, allowing for more effective distribution within targeted regions. Polymer coating thicknesses before and after hydrations were 0.035 and 0.370 mm, respectively. Also, backflow data was fit to a model to estimate the effective local compressive stress caused by the hydrated polymers. After withdrawal of the cannula from the insertion site, the hydrated polymer coatings remained within the cavity left in the hydrogel tissue phantom and formed a seal at the infusion site that prevented further backflow during needle withdrawal. Ex vivo infusions in excised porcine brain tissues also showed significant backflow reduction while also demonstrating the ability to leave a polymer seal in the tissue cavity after cannula removal. Thus, application of these polymers as needle or cannula coatings offers a potentially simple method to improve targeting for local drug delivery.

Background:At present, there are a lot of research about the effect of Alprostadil on preventing contrast-induced nephropathy for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in diabetic patients, but the clinical efficacy is not consistent, so we conduct this study and therefore determine the dominant strategy for the treatment of PCI in diabetic patients based on the best evidence currently.Methods:An electronic database search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane library, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang to retrieve randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing Alprostadil versus hydration on preventing CIN for PCI in diabetic patients. Reference lists of relevant articles were also screened manually to retrieve additional ones. Two investigators independently assessed the eligibility of retrieved articles using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. All characteristics as well as outcome variables including incidence of CIN, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cystatin C (CysC), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), serum creatinine (Scr), serum beta 2-microspheres (β2-MG) presented in each included study were extracted. Heterogeneity was thought to be significant when I2 > 50%. All of the meta-analytic procedures were performed by using Review Manager software, version 5.3.Results:Finally, data from 8 articles including 969 patients were included into this meta-analysis, among them, 487 patients in the experience group, and 482 patients in the control group. Meta analysis showed that the incidence of CIN in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (OR = 0.28,95%CI[0.18,0.42]). The incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (OR = 0.46,95%CI[0.24,0.85]). The BUN of 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours in the experimental group were significantly lower than that of control group (MD = –0.77, 95%CI [−1.22, –0.32]; MD = –1.38, 95%CI [−1.83,–0.92]; MD = –2.43, 95%CI [−2.68,–2.19], respectively). The CysC of 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours in the experimental group were significantly lower than that of control group (MD = –0.30, 95%CI [−0.40, –0.21]; MD = –0.54, 95%CI [−0.68,–0.41]; MD = –0.49, 95%CI [−0.63, –0.35], respectively). The GFR of 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours in the experimental group were significantly higher than that of control group (MD = 7.86, 95%CI [4.44, 11.29], MD = 18.23, 95%CI [13.76,22.69], MD = 12.81, 95%CI [8.51,17.11], respectively). The Scr of 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours in the experimental group were significantly lower than that of control group (MD = –9.09, 95%CI [−12.67, –5.51], MD = –19.14, 95%CI [−23.61, –14.66], MD = –6.50, 95%CI [−8.29, –4.71], respectively). The β2-MG of 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours in the experimental group were significantly lower than that of control group (MD = –0.12, 95%CI [−0.27, 0.03], MD = –0.55, 95%CI [−0.71, –0.39], MD = –0.50, 95%CI [−0.60, –0.39], respectively).Conclusion:Our result suggested that comparing with conventional Hydration, Alpros...