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    The use of a novel signal analysis to identify the origin of idiopathic right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia during sinus rhythm: Simultaneous amplitude frequency electrogram transformation mapping

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    The signal characteristics of intracardiac bipolar electrograms at the origin of idiopathic RVOT-VT during sinus rhythm remain unclear.The study sought to develop a novel real-time/online technique, simultaneous amplitude frequency electrogram transformation (SAFE-T), to quantify and localize the diseased ventricular substrate in idiopathic RVOT-VT.We retrospectively investigated the intracardiac bipolar recordings in 70 consecutive patients (26% male, mean age 42±12 years) who underwent successful radiofrequency catheter ablation of idiopathic RVOT-VT. We quantified the extent of the frequency fraction of ventricular potentials during sinus rhythm or ventricular pacing using a novel formula, the product of instantaneous amplitude and frequency, and showed that in a 3D geometry as an online SAFE-T map.). The SAFE-T maps predicted the VT origins with 92% sensitivity, 78% specificity with optimal cut-off value of >3.0 Hz·mV.The online SAFE-T map was feasible for quantifying the diseased ventricular substrate, irrespective of the rhythm of activation, and can be used to identify the optimal ablation targets for idiopathic RVOT-VT. We found a limited region of abnormal potentials where the RVOT-VT origins were successfully ablated

    F-FDG PET Studies in Mice: A Cautionary Study

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    F-FDG studies in mice. In particular, we tested whether the same SAIF could be applied to populations of mice whose fasting conditions differed.The SAIF was first created from a population of fasting mice (n = 11) and validated within this group using a correlation analysis and a leave-one-out procedure. Then, the SAIF was prospectively applied to a population of non-fasting mice (n = 16). The SAIFs were scaled using a single individual blood sample taken 25 min after injection. The metabolic rates of glucose (CMRglc) calculated with the SAIFs were compared with the reference values obtained by full arterial sampling (AIF).In both populations of mice, CMRglc values showed a very small bias but an important variability. The SAIF/AIF CMRglc ratio in the fasting mice was 0.97 ± 0.22 (after excluding a major outlier). The SAIF/AIF CMRglc ratio in the non-fasting mice was 1.04 ± 0.22. This variability was due to the presence of cases in which the SAIF poorly estimated the shape of the input function based on full arterial sampling.F-FDG mice input function with negligible bias and independently from the fasting state, errors in individual mice (as high as 30–50%) cause an important variability. Alternative techniques, such as image-derived input function, might be a better option for mice PET studies

    Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students

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    Empathy promotes positive physician-patient communication and is associated with improved patient satisfaction, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that personality traits should be taken into consideration in programs designed to enhance empathy in medical education due to the association found between personality and empathy among medical students. However, the associations between empathy and big five personality traits in medical education are still underrepresented in the existing literature and relevant studies have not been conducted among medical students in China, where tensions in the physician-patient relationship have been reported as outstanding problems in the context of China’s current medical reform. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese medical students.A cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical university in Northeast China in June 2016. Self-reported questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) and demographic characteristics were distributed. A total of 530 clinical medical students became our final subjects. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the effects of big five personality traits on empathy.Results of this study showed that big five personality traits accounted for 19.4%, 18.1%, 30.2% of the variance in three dimensions of empathy, namely, perspective taking, empathic concern and personal distress, respectively. Specifically, agreeableness had a strong positive association with empathic concern (β = 0.477, P<0.01), and a moderate association with perspective taking (β = 0.349, P<0.01). Neuroticism was strongly associated with personal distress (β = 0.526, P<0.01) and modestly associated with perspective taking (β = 0.149, P<0.01). Openness to experience had modest associations with perspective taking (β = 0.150, P<0.01) and personal distress (β = -0.160, P<0.01). Conscientiousness had a modest association with perspective taking (β = 0.173, P<0.01).This study revealed that big five personality traits were important predictors of self-reported measures of both cognitive and affective empathy among Chinese medical students. Therefore, individualized intervention strategies based on personality traits could be integrated into programs to enhance empathy in medical education

    Controlling viral outbreaks: Quantitative strategies

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