BACKGROUND Precise evaluation of the aortic root geometry prior to transcatheter aortic valve implantation is important for procedural success in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). To determine the potential for 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE), the aims of the present study were: (1) to assess the accuracy of 3DTEE measurements of the aortic root using multidetector comp...

We used voltage-sensitive dye imaging to visualize the distribution of initiation sites of the spontaneous interictal-like spikes (sISs) in rat neocortex, in vivo, induced by bicuculline or picrotoxin over the exposed cortex. The initiation site was small (approximately 200 microm diam). On average each initiation site initiated 2.0 +/- 0.8 sISs (9 animals, 499 sISs, 251 sites). This is signifi...

Let Π be an open, relatively compact period annulus of real analytic vector field X0 on an analytic surface. We prove that the maximal number of limit cycles which bifurcate from Π under a given multiparameter analytic deformation Xλ of X0 is finite, provided that X0 is either Hamiltonian, or generic Darbouxian vector field. 1 Statement of the result Let S be a real analytic surface without bor...

Degeneration of the intervertebral disc is implicated as the main cause of low back pain. Current treatment strategies for degenerative disc disease, such as conservative treatments and surgeries, only relieve the symptoms of low back pain without treating the causes of underlying degeneration. Surgical treatments cannot reverse the degeneration of the intervertebral disc degeneration, and may ...

Aims: We sought to analyse local distribution of aortic annulus and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) calcification in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and its impact on aortic regurgitation (AR) immediately after device placement. Methods and results: A group of 177 patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing multislice computed tomography of the aortic...

BACKGROUND Accurate preoperative assessment of the aortic annulus dimension is crucial for successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). In this study we validated a new method using two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D-TEE) for measurement of the aortic annulus prior to TAVI. METHODS We analysed 124 patients who underwent successful TAVI using a self-expandable p...

AIMS It remains to be proven whether left ventricular (LV) peak systolic velocity indices (peak systolic annulus tissue velocities, ejection velocity, and strain rate) are more closely related to contraction than LV end-systolic echocardiographic indices (ejection fraction, fractional shortening, systolic annulus displacement, global strain, and ejection velocity time integral). The study aimed...

Four new species of Criconematoidea are described from Hoste Island, Chile. Criconema certesi n. sp. is distinguished by the fine, spine-like, cuticular extensions on body annuli; projection of annuli into rows of scales on posterior part of body; single, smooth, labial annulus set off by short collar from second (first body) annulus which is about same diameter as first (labial) annulus. Male ...

INTRODUCTION Adult mesenchymal stem cell therapy has a potential application in the biological treatment of disc degeneration. Our objectives were: to direct adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSC) from the sand rat to produce a proteoglycan and collagen type I extracellular matrix (ECM) rich in known ECM components of the annulus fibrosis of disc; and to stimulate proteoglycan producti...

(A) The integrated marking feature allows for the placement of a colored are placed on or near the center of each of the coronary cusps in the en colored markers are individually dragged (table side control, using a stand level of the aortic annulus (left panel). These 2 separate steps result in the (long-axis location) of each coronary cusp of the native aortic valve. (C) to a position such th...