Background Abnormal aortic arch geometry, in particular the ‘gothic arch’, has been associated with reduced exercise performance in patients with repaired aortic coarctation. Following the arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA), the morphology of the aorta is also known to be abnormal, presenting with dilated aortic root and ‘gothic’ deformity of the aorti...

We introduce a flexible framework to specify problem solutions (outcomes) and preferences among them. The proposal combines ideas from answer-set programming (ASP), answer-set optimization (ASO) and CP-nets. The problem domain is structured into components. ASP techniques are used to specify values of components, as well as global (intercomponent) constraints among these values. ASO methods are...

Alternating Structure Optimization (ASO) is a recently proposed linear Multitask Learning algorithm. Although its effective has been verified in both semi-supervised as well as supervised methods, yet they necessitate taking external resource as a prerequisite. Therefore, feasibility of employing ASO to further improve the performance merely rests on the labeled data on hand proves to be a task...

The title compound, potassium silver tetra-niobium nona-oxide arsenate, K(0.8)Ag(0.2)Nb(4)O(9)AsO(4), was prepared by a solid-state reaction at 1183 K. The structure consists of infinite (Nb(2)AsO(14))(n) chains parallel to the b axis and cross-linked by corner sharing via pairs of edge-sharing octa-hedra. Each pair links together four infinite chains to form a three-dimensional framework. The ...

Mitochondrial defects can be caused by mutations in nuclear or mitochondrial DNA. Large deletion/duplication and point mutations are the two major types of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. Comprehensive molecular diagnosis requires the analysis of multiple point mutations. We developed an effective multiplex PCR/allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) method to simultaneously screen multiple ...

RNA modalities are developing as a powerful means to re-direct pathogenic pre-mRNA splicing events. Improving the efficiency of these molecules in vivo is critical as they move towards clinical applications. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by loss of SMN1. A nearly identical copy gene called SMN2 produces low levels of functional protein due to alternative splicing. We previously report...

The title compound, sodium disilver arsenatotrimolybdate, Na(0.93 (1))Ag(2.07 (1))Mo(3)AsO(13), was prepared by a solid-state reaction. In the crystal structure, isolated AsO(4) tetra-hedra share corners with groups of three edge-sharing MoO(6) octa-hedra. This arrangement leads to the formation of anionic (1) (∞)[Mo(3)AsO(13)](n) ribbons extending parallel to [100]. The three metal sites show ...

OBJECTIVES To compare the Lecompte technique and the spiral anastomosis (complete anatomic correction) two decades after arterial switch operation (ASO). METHODS Nine patients after primary ASO with Lecompte and 6 selected patients after spiral anastomosis were evaluated 20.8 ± 2.1 years after ASO versus matched controls. Blood flow dynamics and flow profiles (e.g. vorticity, helicity) in the...

BACKGROUND We reviewed our 20-year experience with arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) or double outlet right ventricle with subpulmonary ventricular septal defect (Taussig-Bing anomaly) to assess the early and long-term outcomes. METHODS Between January 1995 and December 2014, 139 consecutive patients who underwent ASO for TGA or Taussig-Bing anomaly...

BACKGROUND Injection of bone marrow mononuclear cells has been reported to promote neovascularization of ischemic tissues effectively. We found that peripheral blood mononuclear cells were as efficient as bone marrow mononuclear cells for the treatment of limb ischemia in animals and showed that this treatment was feasible and safe in no-option patients with limb ischemia. However, the long-ter...