BACKGROUND Left atrial remodeling caused by persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) causes atrial functional mitral regurgitation (MR), even though left ventricular (LV) remodeling and organic changes of the mitral leaflets are lacking. The detailed mechanism of atrial functional MR has not been fully investigated. METHODSANDRESULTS Of 1,167 patients with AF who underwent 3D transesophageal echoc...

BACKGROUND Three-dimensional electroanatomic mapping (EAM) is routinely used to mark ablated areas during radiofrequency ablation. We hypothesized that, in atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, EAM overestimates scar formation in the left atrium (LA) when compared to the scar seen on late-gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-MRI). METHODS AND RESULTS Of the 235 patients who und...

Dialectal variations provide vital cues to both synchronic and diachronic changes in sounds of a language. There has been no comparative phonological study of the dialects of Hindi in the last several decades. In this paper, we present a phonological description of seven of the major dialects of Hindi, namely, Awadhi, Bagheli, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, Haryanvi, Kanauji and Khari Boli, based on the ob...

1.1. Post-nasal voicing (T > D / N ) is well attested and phonetically well motivated, both as a synchronic process and as a sound change. Locke (1983) identifies 15 of 197 languages with synchronic post-nasal voicing (PNV).1 Voicing of stops in post-nasal position is phonetically well motivated: it is the result of a combination of nasal leak and “compression” by the velum (Hayes and Stivers 2...

Circumferential ablation around pulmonary vein ostia by CARTO system was performed in 98 patients with paroxysmal and 29 with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). Preablation and postablation activation, propagation and voltage maps were obtained. A total of 135 +/- 18 radiofrequency pulses were delivered. After a follow-up of 14.7 +/- 3.3 months, 84 patients with paroxysmal and 22 with chronic ...

Significant functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) can develop in some but not all patients with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF). This study sought to identify factors likely to be involved in determining the severity of TR in patients with chronic AF. In this retrospective cohort study of adult patients referred for transthoracic echocardiography for evaluation of AF between 2004 and 2015, w...

Ecologists seek better understanding of why species interactions change across space and time in natural communities. In streams, species effects on resources and community structure may change as physical characteristics of the stream environment change along drainage networks. We examined spatial and seasonal effects of armored grazers using a small-scale exclusion experiment that was replica...

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most commonly diagnosed cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice and is related to significant morbidity and mortality. AF etiology and thus, predictive biomarkers are currently lacking. Liver enzymes have shown a correlation to cardiovascular disease. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is a liver enzyme associated with oxidative stress that is postulate...