• Abernathy Coates posted an update 5 days, 6 hours ago

    Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a commonly occurring heart condition defined by enlargement and superior displacement of the mitral valve leaflet(s) during systole. Although commonly seen as a standalone disorder, MVP has also been described in case reports and small studies of patients with various genetic syndromes. In this review, we analyzed the prevalence of MVP within syndromes where an association to MVP has previously been reported. We further discussed the shared biological pathways that cause MVP in these syndromes, as well as how MVP in turn causes a diverse array of cardiac and noncardiac complications. We found 105 studies that identified patients with mitral valve anomalies within 18 different genetic, developmental, and connective tissue diseases. see more We show that some disorders previously believed to have an increased prevalence of MVP, including osteogenesis imperfecta, fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, have few to no studies that use up-to-date diagnostic criteria for the disease and therefore may be overestimating the prevalence of MVP within the syndrome. Additionally, we highlight that in contrast to early studies describing MVP as a benign entity, the clinical course experienced by patients can be heterogeneous and may cause significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Currently only surgical correction of MVP is curative, but it is reserved for severe cases in which irreversible complications of MVP may already be established; therefore, a review of clinical guidelines to allow for earlier surgical intervention may be warranted to lower cardiovascular risk in patients with MVP.Background The multidisciplinary Heart Team (HT) is recommended for management decisions for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) candidates, and during TAVR procedures. Empiric evidence to support these recommendations is limited. We aimed to explore temporal trends, drivers, and outcomes associated with HT utilization. Methods and Results TAVR candidates were identified in Ontario, Canada, from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2019. The HT was defined as having a billing code for both a cardiologist and cardiac surgeon during the referral period. The procedural team was defined as a billing code during the TAVR procedure. Hierarchical logistical models were used to determine the drivers of HT. Median odds ratios were calculated to quantify the degree of variation among hospitals. Of 10 412 patients referred for TAVR consideration, 5489 (52.7%) patients underwent a HT during the referral period, with substantial range between hospitals (median odds ratio of 1.78). Utilization of a HT for TAVR referrals declined from 69.9% to 41.1% over the years of the study. Patient characteristics such as older age, frailty and dementia, and hospital characteristics including TAVR program size, were found associated with lower HT utilization. In TAVR procedures, the procedural team included both cardiologists and cardiac surgeons in 94.9% of cases, with minimal variation over time or between hospitals. Conclusions There has been substantial decline in HT utilization for TAVR candidates over time. In addition, maturity of TAVR programs was associated with lower HT utilization.Supramolecular self-assemblies and co-assemblies possess multiple noncovalent interactions, highly ordered structures, and multifunctional properties. Yet, the fundamental understanding of their “structure-property relationship” remains very challenging. Herein, two kinetically controlled supramolecular charge transfer (CT) complexes were conceptualized from a trimorphic molecular donor denoted as “twisted aromatic hydrocarbon” (TAH), with p-fluoranil (TFQ) and p-chloranil (TCQ) in water, organic solvent, and solvent-free methods. Elucidating their co-assembling mechanism revealed that segmentation of the TAH with molecules having planar deficient cores spontaneously formed a distinct “H-type mixed stack” and “J-type segregated stack”, regulated by blue/red-shifted charge-transfer and π-π stacking including weak C-H···F and C-H···O noncovalent interactions. By utilizing the structural transformational ability of the self-assembled TAH, the mechanistic aspects for the rapid nanoscopic co-assembly formation were precisely demonstrated experimentally and theoretically. The trimorphs and co-crystals of TAH could be disassembled resulting in turn-on emission by applying various external stimuli and being repeatedly reconfigured, thus providing a unique structure-property relationship and new TAH-based materials. This unique concept offers color-specific polymorphism and CT-complex formation strategy involving a simple class of functional materials having cooperative network forming ability using the twisted molecular donor.Quantitative NMR spectroscopy (qNMR) is an essential tool in organic chemistry, with applications including reaction monitoring, mechanistic analysis, and purity determination. Establishing the correct acquisition rate for consecutive qNMR scans requires knowledge of the longitudinal relaxation time constants (T1) for all of the nuclei being monitored. We report a simple method that is about 10-fold faster than the conventional inversion recovery technique for the estimation of T1.Herein we report the conversion of 4-acyl-1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs) into ynones under electrochemical conditions. The reaction proceeds via the homolysis of acyl-DHP under electron activation. The resulting acyl radicals react with hypervalent iodine(III) reagents to form the target ynones or ynamides in acceptable yields. This mild reaction condition allows wider functionality tolerance that includes halides, carboxylates, or alkenes. The synthetic utility of this methodology is further demonstrated by the late-stage modification of complex molecules.Here, an effective strategy for the preparation of luminescent organic-inorganic hybrid coatings (OIHCs) by the incorporation of an emissive Cu4I4 core into cross-linked coating networks through coordination bonds is reported. The luminescent coatings obtained show potential application in a variety of areas, and such a synthetic strategy of the incorporation of an emissive inorganic core into extended networks has proven to be an efficient method for the synthesis of luminescent OIHCs.