Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of Exercise Stress Testing in Desmosomal Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is characterized by fibrofatty myocardial replacement and increased arrhythmic risk. Although exercise exacerbates desmosomal ACM, the prognostic significance of arrhythmias during exercise stress tests (ESTs) remains unclear.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to determine the impact of ventricular arrhythmia observed during peak exercise and/or recovery EST phases on the risk of major ventricular arrhythmia (MVA) events in patients with desmosomal ACM.

Cellulose-based wet wipes undergo limited degradation in river environments.

The environmental fate of cellulose-based "biodegradable" wet wipes in freshwater ecosystems remains poorly understood, despite growing market demand and legislative shifts banning plastic-containing alternatives. This study evaluated the degradation behaviour of two commercially available biodegradable wet wipe brands in upland stream mesocosms mimicking real-world river conditions. Using tensile strength loss (TSL) as the primary degradation metric, wipe degradation was compared across varied pH, temperature, nutrient, and light regimes, alongside cotton strip controls.

Towards an eco-social circular economy: exploring the feasibility study of pyrolysis on agricultural feedstocks.

The agricultural sector is challenging to decarbonise due to its reliance on heavy machinery and fossil fuels, which face issues when decarbonising via methods such as electrification. However, agriculture provides opportunities to generate renewable energy via biomass sources due to their abundance within this sector. This feasibility study used a continuous auger pyrolysis system to assess how straw waste from a medium-scale arable farm could convert energy from an external electrical source into usable chemical potential.

Kinetoplast DNA Decatenation Assay with Eukaryotic Topoisomerase II.

The interlinking of DNA during replication and other DNA processes is resolved by type II DNA topoisomerases. In humans, topoisomerase IIα is the main enzyme involved in this process using a transient double-stranded DNA break to unlink sister chromatids during and after replication to allow for mitosis. To measure decatenation, a consistent catenated substrate called kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) is commonly used.

Plasmid DNA Cleavage Assay with Eukaryotic Topoisomerase II.

Measuring DNA cleavage levels has been a long-standing method in the field of topoisomerases. Due to the formation of a reversible covalent enzyme:DNA linkage, topoisomerase II activity can be monitored under varying conditions by means of measuring single- and double-stranded DNA breaks. This chapter will provide a method for measuring plasmid DNA cleavage levels generated by eukaryotic topoisomerase II with a specific focus on human type IIA topoisomerases.

Fitness and Mortality Outcomes Associated With Supramaximal Peak Heart Rate on Treadmill Exercise Stress Testing.

Inability to reach age-predicted peak heart rate (APPHR) on treadmill exercise testing (TMET) is associated with lower fitness and increased mortality. The significance of a "supramaximal" heart rate (≥105% of APPHR) is poorly understood; as such, we sought to investigate this relationship. We queried the Mayo Stress database from 1993 to 2010 for patients >30 years old without cardiovascular disease and not on antichronotropic therapy.

Mutagenesis of Intrinsically Disordered Domain Impacts Topoisomerase IIα Catalytic Activity.

Human topoisomerase IIα and IIβ regulate DNA topology and knots in chromosomes during crucial cellular processes, making these enzymes common targets for anticancer drugs. However, selective inhibition of topoisomerase IIα (TOP2A) is desired to decrease adverse effects, which may be mediated by topoisomerase IIβ (TOP2B). The main region of difference between the two isoforms is the intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain (CTD), which is being studied as a target for selective inhibition.

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing With Forehead and Popliteal Oximetry in Evaluating Efficacy of Reverse Potts Shunt.

Reverse Potts shunt (rPS) is a surgical procedure that creates an anastomosis between the left pulmonary artery and descending aorta to decompress the right ventricle in suprasystemic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In this paper, we introduce a unique procedure combining cardiopulmonary exercise testing with forehead and popliteal oximetry to evaluate the efficacy of the rPS. Our study involved tests on 4 patients with PAH who had the shunt in place.

Targeted Transferable Machine-Learned Potential for Linear Alkanes Trained on CH and Tested for CH to CH.

Given the great importance of linear alkanes in fundamental and applied research, an accurate machine-learned potential (MLP) would be a major advance in computational modeling of these hydrocarbons. Recently, we reported a novel, many-body permutationally invariant model that was trained specifically for the 44-atom hydrocarbon CH on roughly 250,000 B3LYP energies (Qu, C.; Houston, P.

A Pilot Study to Evaluate Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in a Pediatric Cohort With Genodermatoses.

Our study aimed to evaluate cognitive function in individuals with genetic skin disorders involving neuroectoderm (n = 8) compared to individuals with only ectoderm or mesoderm (n = 16) involvement. We hypothesized that neuroectodermal involvement would result in poorer neurocognitive performance. A prospective, cross-sectional pilot study of 24 participants evaluated cognition, adaptive skills, behavior, and quality of life (QoL) using neurodevelopmental tests.

Cardiovascular screening and long-term outcomes in aircraft pilots.

Background: Pilots face significant occupational risks affecting cardiometabolic health and are subject to regulatory health screenings. Cardiometabolic risk factors, cardiac screening findings and outcomes among pilots have not been well reported.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate cardiac evaluations of asymptomatic aircraft pilots and the association between clinical risk factors and outcomes.

Utility of MRI and CT in Sports Cardiology.

Sports cardiologists specialize in the care of competitive athletes and highly active people by detecting and managing cardiovascular diseases that can impact sports participation and counseling on return to sports after cardiovascular events. Preparticipation evaluation of athletes includes history, physical examination, and electrocardiography (ECG), with exercise ECG added when screening master athletes. If the findings are abnormal or inconclusive, echocardiography is used for further evaluation.

Impact of pre-ablation cardiorespiratory fitness and echocardiographic parameters on atrial fibrillation ablation outcomes.

Background: Studies have shown a correlation between greater cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and lower risk of incident and recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF). Transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) parameters correlate to CRF and risk of AF. However, there is scarce data regarding the interplay of CRF, echocardiographic parameters, and AF ablation outcomes.

NSF NeXUS: A New Model for Accessing the Frontiers of Ultrafast Science.

NSF NeXUS is an open-access user facility that enables observation of electron motion with sub-femtosecond time resolution, angstrom spatial resolution, and element-specific spectral resolution.

Predicting flushed wet wipe emissions into rivers.

Flushed wet wipes pose a significant pollution risk to river systems at both macro and micro levels. However, the link between their emissions and environmental contamination remains unclear. Here we integrated emissions-based modelling with existing data on wet wipe disposal and microfibre generation to predict the quantity of emissions entering river systems and the transport pathways involved.

DFT-Based Permutationally Invariant Polynomial Potentials Capture the Twists and Turns of CH.

Hydrocarbons are ubiquitous as fuels, solvents, lubricants, and as the principal components of plastics and fibers, yet our ability to predict their dynamical properties is limited to force-field mechanics. Here, we report two machine-learned potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the linear 44-atom hydrocarbon CH using an extensive data set of roughly 250,000 density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP) energies for a large variety of configurations, obtained using MM3 direct-dynamics calculations at 500, 1000, and 2500 K. The surfaces, based on Permutationally Invariant Polynomials (PIPs) and using both a many-body expansion approach and a fragmented-basis approach, produce precise fits for energies and forces and also produce excellent out-of-sample agreement with direct DFT calculations for torsional and dihedral angle potentials.

A rare cause of dyspnea on exertion with a cardiopulmonary exercise stress test.

Background: It is rare for an adult patient to be living decades after a pneumonectomy procedure. This case features complications that can arise. We utilize cardiopulmonary exercise stress testing (CPET) to highlight long-term physiologic changes that can present in a post-pneumonectomy patient.

The ventilatory efficiency parameters outperform peak oxygen consumption in monitoring the therapy effects in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aim: We sought the cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameter that most accurately reflected therapeutic efficacy in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Methods: Well-being questionnaire, N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide measurements, echocardiography, and CPET were performed in patients with symptomatic non-obstructive HCM during phase II, randomized, open-label multicentre study, before and after 16 weeks of traditional or sacubitril/valsartan treatment. Patients were followed 36 months after the initial CPET.

Functional Capacity Assessment in Adults After Fontan Palliation: A Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test-Invasive Exercise Hemodynamics Correlation Study.

Although cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters have known prognostic value in adults after Fontan palliation, there are limited data correlating treadmill CPET with invasive exercise hemodynamics. Furthermore, the invasive hemodynamic underpinnings of exercise limitations have not been thoroughly investigated. This is a retrospective analysis of 55 adults (age ≥18 years) with prior Fontan palliation who underwent treadmill CPET before invasive exercise hemodynamic testing using a supine cycle protocol between November 2018 and April 2023.

Machine learning in cardiac stress test interpretation: a systematic review.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading health challenge worldwide. Exercise stress testing is a foundational non-invasive diagnostic tool. Nonetheless, its variable accuracy prompts the exploration of more reliable methods.

Simulating ultrafast transient absorption spectra from first principles using a time-dependent configuration interaction probe.

Transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) is among the most common ultrafast photochemical experiments, but its interpretation remains challenging. In this work, we present an efficient and robust method for simulating TAS signals from first principles. Excited-state absorption and stimulated emission (SE) signals are computed using time-dependent complete active space configuration interaction (TD-CASCI) simulations, leveraging the robustness of time-domain simulation to minimize electronic structure failure.