BACKGROUND The substrates for human atrial fibrillation (AF) are poorly understood, but involve abnormal repolarization (action potential duration [APD]). We hypothesized that beat-to-beat oscillations in APD may explain AF substrates, and why vulnerability to AF forms a spectrum from control subjects without AF to patients with paroxysmal then persistent AF. METHODS AND RESULTS In 33 subject...

BACKGROUND Prolongation of action potential duration (APD), increased spatial APD dispersion, and triangulation are major factors promoting drug-induced ventricular arrhythmia. Preclinical identification of HERG/IKr-blocking drugs and their pro-arrhythmic potential, however, remains a challenge. We hypothesize that transgenic long-QT type 1 (LQT1) rabbits lacking repolarizing IKs current may he...

A unital C∗–algebra A is said to have the (APD)–property if every nonzero element in A has the approximate polar decomposition. Let J be a closed ideal of A. Suppose that J̃ and A/J have (APD). In this paper, we give a necessary and sufficient condition that makes A have (APD). Furthermore, we show that if RR(J ) = 0 and tsr(A/J ) = 1 or A/J is a simple purely infinite C∗–algebra, then A has (APD).

Brugada syndrome is a primary electrical disorder of the heart, predisposing affected individuals to potentially lethal, ventricular tachy-arrhythmias. A number of mechanisms have been identified as being important increasing the risk of these rhythms. Wavelength (λ) restitution has been suggested to predict the onset of action potential duration (APD) alternans in mouse Scn5a hearts modelling ...

This study compared treatment outcomes of substance abusers with and without antisocial personality disorder (APD) randomly assigned to two therapeutic communities, differing primarily in length of inpatient and outpatient treatment. We hypothesized that APD clients would be less likely to complete treatment, more likely to test positive for drugs and recidivate at follow-up, and that APD clien...

The validity of subtypes based on antisocial personality disorder (APD) or childhood conduct disorder without adult APD (CD only) in patients with schizophrenia (or schizoaffective disorder) and a substance use disorder (abuse or dependence) was examined. APD patients scored lower on personality measures related to socialization and higher on antisocial behavior, psychopathy, and aggression. AP...

A beat-to-beat variation in cardiac action potential durations (APD) is a phenomenon known as electrical alternans. Alternans desynchronizes depolarization, increases dispersion of refractoriness and creates a substrate for ventricular fibrillation. In the heart, APD alternans can be accompanied by alternans in intracellular calcium ([Ca]i). Recently, we demonstrated experimentally that the ons...

OBJECTIVES Taiwan succeeded in raising the proportion of peritoneal dialysis (PD) usage after the National Health Insurance (NHI) payment scheme introduced financial incentives in 2005. This study aims to compare the economic costs between automated PD (APD) and continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) modalities from a societal perspective. DESIGN AND SETTING A retrospective cohort of patients receiv...

A placebo controlled, double blind study of aminohydroxypropylidene bisphosphonate (APD), given by monthly intravenous infusion, was conducted in 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Biochemical markers of increased bone resorption, such as fasting urinary calcium/creatinine ratio and hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio, were suppressed significantly in the APD group to approximately 50% and 60% ...