BACKGROUND Sodium channel blockers augment ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads in patients undergoing Brugada-type electrocardiography (ECG). However, their effect on echocardiographic features is not known. We address this by assessing global and regional ventricular function using conventional Doppler and two- dimensional (2D) speckle tracking techniques. METHODS Thirty-one p...

PURPOSE Study goals were to characterize gastrointestinal effects of proton therapy (PT) in a large cohort of patients treated for prostate cancer, identify factors associated with rectal bleeding (RB), and compare RB between patients receiving investigational protocols versus those in outcome-tracking protocols. METHODS AND MATERIALS A total of 1285 consecutive patients were treated with PT ...

We propose a solution towards the problem of autonomous flight in man-made indoor environments with amicro aerial vehicle (MAV), using a frontal camera, a downward-facing sonar, and odometry inputs. While steering an MAV towards distant features that we call vistas, we build a map of the environment in a parallel tracking and mapping fashion to infer the wall structure and avoid lateral collisi...

Novel optical techniques are presented for three-dimensional tracking of nanoparticles; Optical Serial Sectioning Microscopy (OSSM) and Ratiometric Total Internal Reflection Fluorescent Microscopy (R-TIRFM). OSSM measures optically diffracted particle images, the so-called Point Spread Function (PSF), and determines the defocusing or line-of-sight location of the imaged particle measured from t...

Biopsy is a traditional endoscopic surveillance of premalignant gastric lesions, and endoscopic tattooing is used for marking the biopsy's location. However, the tattooing has several disadvantages. For example, the procedure is an invasive operation and may not be durable due to the diffusion. Moreover, it is procedurally cumbersome with an associated risk of technical failure. In this study, ...

INTRODUCTION Quiet eye training (QET) has been shown to be more effective than traditional training (TT) methods for teaching a throw and catch task to typically developing 8-10 yr old children. The current study aimed to apply the technique to children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). METHOD 30 children with DCD were randomly allocated into TT or QET intervention groups. The T...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The aim of this study was to identify changes in left ventricular (LV) performance in patients with a myocardial bridge (MB) in the left anterior descending coronary artery during resting and in an inotropic state. METHODS Myocardial strain measurement by speckle-tracking echocardiography and conventional LV wall-motion scoring was performed in 18 patients with MB (mean age, 4...

We have previously shown that the decrease in large artery distensibility observed in patients with essential hypertension (HT group) was primarily due to an increase in distending pressure and not to hypertension-associated structural modifications of the artery, suggesting a functional adaptation of the wall material. To evaluate the elastic properties of the wall material of the common carot...

Introduction Ultrasound imaging of the carotid artery is a common procedure when screening for cardiovascular disease, as the vessel is particularly prone to atherosclerosis and easily accessible with ultrasound probes. However, to reveal abnormalities in carotid flow and wall deformation with increased sensitivity and specificity, improved imaging modalities are desired. Since in-vitro and in-...

laparoscopic surgery is now an integral part of the operative repertoire. single-incision laparoscopic surgery (sils) is a new technique developed for performing operations without a visible scar. pneumoperitoneum, as a necessary precondition of laparoscopic procedures, represents the restriction of the surgeon's freedom of movement and can lead to rare but typical complications. the single inc...