OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate to what extent timing definitions influence strain measurements and which surrogates are reliable and feasible to define end-diastole (ED) and end-systole (ES) during speckle-tracking (STI) analysis. BACKGROUND Current STI-based strain measurements are highly automated. It remains unclear when a particular analysis software defines the zero baseline ...

In males with posterior urethral valves diagnosed antenatally, can intrauterine drainage procedures provide benefit? A review on posterior urethral valves (PUV) (Dinneen, 1996) states: “PUV may be one of the conditions suitable for intrauterine intervention, but the timing and type of intervention has yet to be determined”. It is possible that renal dysplasia may be irreversible by the time it ...

BACKGROUND Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis is commonly seen on heart valves in patients with malignant or collagen diseases. The natural prognosis of nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis is reported to be poor due to underlying malignancy. Surgical indications and appropriate timing for surgery for nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis and underlying malignancy have not been formally studie...

Design, modeling, and measurements are discussed for a new direct-drive, electromagnetic valve actuator (EVA) for internal combustion engines. The actuator offers greater dynamic performance than previous designs and achieves fully flexible valve timing and lift, which provides great benefits in engine performance including increased engine efficiency, reduced emissions, and improved low-end pe...

Abstract Background Prosthetic Heart Valves are always more frequent in the clinical practice. Particularly, sometimes than one native valve is affected and needs to be surgically treated. On other side, replaced prosthesis could also degenerate over time, leading worsening symptomatic heart failure. There no many cases of combined percutaneous approach both aortic mitral prosthetic deteriorati...

conclusions preservation of mitral annulus and papillary muscle continuity may enhance post- mvr cardiac performance with low mortality and morbidity rates. the risk of pvd was not significantly higher than conventional mvr in our series. results the improvement of functional status was seen in almost all survivors but was more obvious in the group i. in early follow-up, 56.4% of group i cases ...

BACKGROUND Premature ventricular contractions originating in the left ventricle outflow tract represent a significant subgroup of patients referred for catheter ablation. Mechanical artifacts from aortic valve leaflet motion may be observed during mapping, although the incidence and characteristics have not been reported. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-eight consecutive patients with left ventric...

Secondary lymphatic valves are essential for minimizing backflow of lymph and are presumed to gate passively according to the instantaneous trans-valve pressure gradient. We hypothesized that valve gating is also modulated by vessel distention, which could alter leaflet stiffness and coaptation. To test this hypothesis, we devised protocols to measure the small pressure gradients required to op...

Solenoid valves are a core component of most solution perfusion systems used in neuroscience research. As they open and close, they control the flow of solution through each perfusion line, thereby modulating the timing and sequence of chemical stimulation. The valves feature a ferromagnetic plunger that moves due to the magnetization of the solenoid and returns to its initial position with the...

This paper presents the modeling and control of a prototype compact free liquid-piston engine compressor. The dynamic model includes 1) the injection dynamics of the air/fuel mixture, 2) the dynamics of heat release during combustion, 3) the inertial dynamics of the magnetically latched combustion valve, 4) the mass flow dynamics of the combustion and exhaust valves, 5) the inertial dynamics of...