Although patients with diabetes mellitus constitute an important segment of the population undergoing coronary angioplasty, the outcome of these patients has not been well characterized.
Data for ...1133 diabetic and 9300 nondiabetic patients undergoing elective angioplasty from 1980 to 1990 were analyzed. Diabetics were older and had more cardiovascular comorbidity. Insulin-requiring (IR) diabetics had diabetes for a longer duration and worse renal and ventricular functions compared with non-IR subjects. Angiographic and clinical successes after angioplasty were high and similar in diabetics and nondiabetics. In-hospital major complications were infrequent (3%), with a trend toward higher death or myocardial infarction in IR diabetics. Five-year survival (89% versus 93%) and freedom from infarction (81% versus 89%) were lower, and bypass surgery and additional angioplasty were required more often in diabetics. In diabetics, only 36% survived free of infarction or additional revascularization compared with 53% of nondiabetics, with a marked attrition in the first year after angioplasty, when restenosis is most common. Multivariate correlates of decreased 5-year survival were older age, reduced ejection fraction, history of heart failure, multivessel disease, and diabetes. IR diabetics had worse long-term survival and infarction-free survival than non-IR diabetics.
Coronary angioplasty in diabetics is associated with high success and low complication rates. Although long-term survival is acceptable, diabetics have a higher rate of infarction and a greater need for additional revascularization procedures, probably because of early restenosis and late progression of coronary disease. The most appropriate treatment for these patients remains to be determined.
Summary Background This review aims to present a consensus for optimal perioperative care in colonic surgery and to provide graded recommendations for items for an evidenced-based enhanced ...perioperative protocol. Methods Studies were selected with particular attention paid to meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials and large prospective cohorts. For each item of the perioperative treatment pathway, available English-language literature was examined, reviewed and graded. A consensus recommendation was reached after critical appraisal of the literature by the group. Results For most of the protocol items, recommendations are based on good-quality trials or meta-analyses of good-quality trials (quality of evidence and recommendations according to the GRADE system). Conclusions Based on the evidence available for each item of the multimodal perioperative-care pathway, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society, International Association for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition (IASMEN) and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) present a comprehensive evidence-based consensus review of perioperative care for colonic surgery.
Brush block copolymers are a class of comb polymers that feature polymeric side chains densely grafted to a linear backbone. These polymers display interesting properties due to their dense ...functionality, low entanglement, and ability to rapidly self‐assemble to highly ordered nanostructures. The ability to prepare brush polymers with precise structures has been enabled by advancements in controlled polymerization techniques. This Feature Article highlights the development of brush block copolymers as photonic crystals that can reflect visible to near‐infrared wavelengths of light. Fabrication of these materials relies on polymer self‐assembly processes to achieve nanoscale ordering, which allows for the rapid preparation of photonic crystals from common organic chemical feedstocks. The characteristic physical properties of brush block copolymers are discussed, along with methods for their preparation. Strategies to induce self‐assembly at ambient temperatures and the use of blending techniques to tune photonic properties are emphasized.
Brush block copolymers have emerged as promising components in the bottom‐up synthesis of photonic crystals from common organic chemical feedstocks. This polymer architecture permits fabrication of photonic crystal films under ambient conditions driven by self‐assembly. Photonic properties can be controlled by the backbone length of the brush block copolymer or by utilizing blending techniques.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients undergoing robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) on clopidogrel had an increased risk of bleeding ...complications compared with those not on clopidogrel.
METHODS
From 2008 to 2011, 322 patients underwent robotic-assisted CABG either as an isolated procedure or as part of a hybrid coronary revascularization procedure (HCR). Patients were classified according to whether they received clopidogrel within 5 days of surgery or intraoperatively (n = 64) compared with those who never received or who had discontinued clopidogrel therapy >5 days before surgery (n = 258). A propensity analysis using 31 preoperative variables was used to control for confounding variables. In a subgroup analysis, patients undergoing one-stage HCR (clopidogrel load 600 mg in odds ratio (OR) prior to stenting) were compared with patients in the clopidogrel group who underwent two-stage HCR.
RESULTS
In the Clopidogrel group, the mean interval between surgery and last dose of clopidogrel was 2.1 ± 1.5 days. Compared with the No Clopidgrel group, the Clopidogrel group had greater 24-h chest tube drainage (1003 ± 572 vs 782 ± 530 ml, P = 0.004) and more blood transfusions (35.9%, 23 of 64 patients vs 20.9%, 54 of 258 patients, P = 0.01). On logistic regression analysis, there was greater 24-h chest tube drainage in the Clopidogrel group (+198 ml, P = 0.02) and a significantly higher incidence of blood transfusion (OR = 2.30, P = 0.01). In the subgroup analysis, patients undergoing one-stage HCR (n = 17) had greater 24-h chest tube drainage compared with patients undergoing two-stage HCR (1262 vs 909 ml, P = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS
Patients undergoing robotic-assisted CABG on clopidogrel had more postoperative bleeding and a higher incidence of blood transfusion. Therefore, despite a less invasive approach, surgery should be delayed in these patients when possible.
Plants have incredible developmental plasticity, enabling them to respond to a wide range of environmental conditions. Among these conditions is the presence of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria ...(PGPR) in the soil. Recent studies show that PGPR affect Arabidopsis thaliana root growth and development by modulating cell division and differentiation in the primary root and influencing lateral root development. These effects lead to dramatic changes in root system architecture that significantly impact aboveground plant growth. Thus, PGPR may promote shoot growth via their effect on root developmental programs. This review focuses on contextualizing root developmental changes elicited by PGPR in light of our understanding of plant–microbe interactions and root developmental biology.
Interaction between plant roots and the beneficial bacteria within their rhizosphere shapes the bacteria community composition, and enhances plant growth and plant pathogen defense.
Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) affect cell division and differentiation leading to changes in root system architecture, which contributes to enhanced shoot growth. These modifications are established by changing plant endogenous signaling pathways.
While several PGPR can produce phytohormones, many effects on plant developmental pathways are exerted by other molecules.
Several fungi have the same effects on root system architecture as PGPR, indicating that growth-promoting mechanisms might be conserved across kingdoms.
Background
This review aims to present a consensus for optimal perioperative care in colonic surgery and to provide graded recommendations for items for an evidenced-based enhanced perioperative ...protocol.
Methods
Studies were selected with particular attention paid to meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials and large prospective cohorts. For each item of the perioperative treatment pathway, available English-language literature was examined, reviewed and graded. A consensus recommendation was reached after critical appraisal of the literature by the group.
Results
For most of the protocol items, recommendations are based on good-quality trials or meta-analyses of good-quality trials (quality of evidence and recommendations according to the GRADE system).
Conclusions
Based on the evidence available for each item of the multimodal perioperative care pathway, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society, International Association for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition (IASMEN) and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) present a comprehensive evidence-based consensus review of perioperative care for colonic surgery.
The Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial (EAST) showed that multivessel patients eligible for both percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and coronary bypass surgery (CABG) had ...equivalent 3-year outcomes regarding survival, myocardial infarction, and major myocardial ischemia. Patients eligible for the trial who were not randomized because of physician or patient refusal were followed in a registry. This study compares the outcomes of the randomized and registry patients. Of the 842 eligible patients, 450 did not enter the trial. Their baseline features closely resembled those of the randomized patients and follow up was performed using the same methods. In the registry there was a bias toward selecting CABG in patients with 3-vessel disease (84%) and PTCA in patients with 2-vessel disease (54%). Three-year survival for the registry patients was 96.4%, which was better than the randomized patients, 93.4% (p = 0.044). Angina relief in the registry was equal for CABG and PTCA patients and was better for the PTCA registry (12.4%) than PTCA randomized patients (19.6%) (p = 0.079). Thus, the registry confirms that EAST is representative of all eligible patients and does not represent a low-risk subgroup. Since baseline differences were small, improved survival in the registry may be due to treatment selection. Physician judgment, even in patients judged appropriate for clinical trials, remains a potentially important predictor of outcomes.
Eligible but nonrandomized patients (the registry) in Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial (EAST) were similar in most respects to those in the randomized trial and the treatment chosen favored surgery for 3-vessel disease. Overall survival of these registry patients was similar for angioplasty and surgery treated patients and was superior to those in the randomized cohort even after adjusting for measured baseline variables.
Although genetic factors contribute to almost half of all cases of deafness, treatment options for genetic deafness are limited. We developed a genome-editing approach to target a dominantly ...inherited form of genetic deafness. Here we show that cationic lipid-mediated in vivo delivery of Cas9-guide RNA complexes can ameliorate hearing loss in a mouse model of human genetic deafness. We designed and validated, both in vitro and in primary fibroblasts, genome editing agents that preferentially disrupt the dominant deafness-associated allele in the Tmc1 (transmembrane channel-like gene family 1) Beethoven (Bth) mouse model, even though the mutant Tmc1
allele differs from the wild-type allele at only a single base pair. Injection of Cas9-guide RNA-lipid complexes targeting the Tmc1
allele into the cochlea of neonatal Tmc1
mice substantially reduced progressive hearing loss. We observed higher hair cell survival rates and lower auditory brainstem response thresholds in injected ears than in uninjected ears or ears injected with control complexes that targeted an unrelated gene. Enhanced acoustic startle responses were observed among injected compared to uninjected Tmc1
mice. These findings suggest that protein-RNA complex delivery of target gene-disrupting agents in vivo is a potential strategy for the treatment of some types of autosomal-dominant hearing loss.
Intense noise damages the cochlear organ of Corti, particularly the outer hair cells (OHCs) 1; however, this epithelium is not innervated by nociceptors of somatosensory ganglia, which detect damage ...elsewhere in the body. The only sensory neurons innervating the organ of Corti originate from the spiral ganglion, roughly 95% of which innervate exclusively inner hair cells (IHCs) 2–4. Upon sound stimulation, IHCs release glutamate to activate AMPA-type receptors on these myelinated type-I neurons, which carry the neuronal signals to the cochlear nucleus. The remaining spiral ganglion cells (type IIs) are unmyelinated and contact OHCs 2–4. Their function is unknown. Using immunoreactivity to cFos, we documented neuronal activation in the brainstem of Vglut3−/− mice, in which the canonical auditory pathway (activation of type-I afferents by glutamate released from inner hair cells) is silenced 5, 6. In these deaf mice, we found responses to noxious noise, which damages hair cells, but not to innocuous noise, in neurons of the cochlear nucleus, but not in the vestibular or trigeminal nuclei. This response originates in the cochlea and not in other areas also stimulated by intense noise (middle ear and vestibule) as it was absent in CD1 mice with selective cochlear degeneration but normal vestibular and somatosensory function. These data imply the existence of an alternative neuronal pathway from cochlea to brainstem that is activated by tissue-damaging noise and does not require glutamate release from IHCs. This detection of noise-induced tissue damage, possibly by type-II cochlear afferents, represents a novel form of sensation that we term auditory nociception.
•We find a novel, non-canonical form of communication from cochlea to brainstem•It doesn’t involve glutamate release from IHCs; it may be mediated by type-II afferents•This pathway is activated by noxious (tissue damaging), but not by innocuous, noise•This pathway mediates auditory nociception, the detection of tissue-damaging sounds
Flores et al. find a form of communication from cochlea to brain that differs from the canonical auditory pathway (activation of type-I afferents by glutamate release from sound-stimulated IHCs). This pathway is activated by noxious (damages cochlear hair cells), but not innocuous, noise, serving a novel form of sensation termed auditory nociception.
The use of viral vectors for inner ear gene therapy is receiving increased attention for treatment of genetic hearing disorders. Most animal studies to date have injected viral suspensions into ...neonatal ears, via the round window membrane. Achieving transduction of hair cells, or sensory neurons, throughout the cochlea has proven difficult, and no studies have been able to efficiently transduce sensory cells in adult ears while maintaining normal cochlear function. Here, we show, for the first time, successful transduction of all inner hair cells and the majority of outer hair cells in an adult cochlea via virus injection into the posterior semicircular canal. We used a "designer" AAV, AAV2/Anc80L65, in which the main capsid proteins approximate the ancestral sequence state of AAV1, 2, 8, and 9. Our injections also transduced ~10% of spiral ganglion cells and a much larger fraction of their satellite cells. In the vestibular sensory epithelia, the virus transduced large numbers of hair cells and virtually all the supporting cells, along with close to half of the vestibular ganglion cells. We conclude that this viral vector and this delivery route hold great promise for gene therapy applications in both cochlear and vestibular sense organs.