Mutations that induce loss of function (LOF) or dysfunction of the human KCNQ1 channel are responsible for susceptibility to a life-threatening heart rhythm disorder, the congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS). Hundreds of KCNQ1 mutations have been identified, but the molecular mechanisms responsible for impaired function are poorly understood. We investigated the impact of 51 KCNQ1 variants with m...

INTRODUCTION Large-scale distributed data networks consisting of diverse stakeholders including providers, patients, and payers are changing health research in terms of methods, speed and efficiency. The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) set the stage for expanded involvement of health plans in collaborative research. EXPANDING SURVEILLANCE CAPACITY AND PROGRESS TOWARD A LEARNING HEALTH SYSTEM Fr...

BACKGROUND We report our experience of using perventricular device closure (PVDC) in treating perimembranous ventricular septal defect (pm-VSD) with emphasis on technical and morphological considerations. METHOD Thirty-one pediatric patients with pm-VSD who underwent successful PVDC were enrolled in this study. The pm-VSDs were divided into three different types (type I: tunnel shape; type II...

BackgroundRetroaortic innominate vein (RAIV) is an extremely rare anomaly of systemic venous return. The prevalence RAIV has been estimated to be 0.02% in individuals without congenital heart disease and 0.5% those with disease. Previous studies have demonstrated association between both conotruncal abnormalities right aortic arch. Our center specializes surgical procedures for patients pulmona...

Developers and designers make all sorts of moral decisions throughout an innovation project. In this article, we describe how teams of developers and designers engaged with ethics in the early phases of innovation based on case studies in the SUBCOP project (SUBCOP stands for 'SUicide Bomber COunteraction and Prevention'). For that purpose, Value Sensitive Design (VSD) will be used as a referen...

Voltage-gated K(+) channels comprise a central pore enclosed by four voltage-sensing domains (VSDs). While movement of the S4 helix is known to couple to channel gate opening and closing, the nature of S4 motion is unclear. Here, we substituted S4 residues of Kv7.1 channels by cysteine and recorded whole-cell mutant channel currents in Xenopus oocytes using the two-electrode voltage-clamp techn...

Cineangiographic studies in patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD) have occasionally demonstrated that part of the blood across the defect is ejected immediately into the pulmonary artery (PA) passing through the outflow tract of the right ventricle (RV), but without being trapped in it. We attempted to make a quantitative evaluation of the flow of a partial shunt pathway (a direct VSD-P...

Understanding the spatiotemporal organization of long-term synaptic plasticity in neuronal networks demands techniques capable of monitoring changes in synaptic responsiveness over extended multineuronal structures. Among these techniques, voltage-sensitive dye imaging (VSD imaging) is of particular interest due to its good spatial resolution. However, improvements of the technique are needed i...

Although crystal structures of various voltage-gated K(+) (Kv) and Na(+) channels have provided substantial information on the activated conformation of the voltage-sensing domain (VSD), the topology of the VSD in its resting conformation remains highly debated. Numerous studies have investigated the VSD resting state in the Kv Shaker channel; however, few studies have explored this issue in ot...

background: closure of patent ductus arteriosus (pda), ventricular septal defect (vsd) and atrial septal defect (asd) can be done surgically or by device. this study was designed to compare the total cost of surgical or device closures of pda, asd or vsd for iranian patients. methods: this is a cross-sectional study, conducted from january 1, 2005 until january 1, 2006 in two large heart center...