人工心瓣热解炭表面微裂纹应力强度因子分析

人工机械心瓣热解炭涂层表面存在着微小缺陷,大多以半椭圆裂纹的形式存在,在载荷作用下易发生扩展甚至断裂。应力强度因子是判断裂纹是否进入失稳状态的一个重要指标。该文利用三维断裂分析软件,结合有限元分析软件计算了人工心瓣热解炭中心半椭圆裂纹拉伸试样不同位置处的K I,并与基于实验基础的理论值进行对比,同时讨论了初始裂纹大小、位置和形状对K I的影响,结果表明:计算值与理论值最大相对误差不超过3%,验证了该软件计算热解炭K I的有效性,K I随初始裂纹尺寸增大而增大;初始裂纹位于试样中心或边缘对K I几乎没有影响;裂纹长半轴与短半轴比值越接近1,计算结果越稳定。     

心脏补片的生物力学研究评述

细胞移植是心肌组织工程中治疗心肌梗死的一种潜在的治疗方法.心脏补片不仅是种子细胞的载体,还可抑制心脏的膨胀扩张,以促进种子细胞对梗死心肌组织的修复再生.心脏补片的研制已经成为基础与临床医学、材料科学和生物力学等的交叉热点.本文评述了心脏补片的生物力学研究现状,并就本领域今后值得关注的问题进行展望.     

Anticoagulation property and security of artificial heart valve material

Cardiovascular disease becomes one of the primary diseases that cause human death.Artificial heart valve’s replacement is the only way to save lives of the patients whoseheart valve is badly pathologically changed by rheumatic heart disease, retrogressiveheart disease, and bacterium caused endocarditis disease. The clinically used artificialheart valves are classified into biomedical heart valve and mechanical heart valve. Thebiocompatibility and anti-thrombus property of the biomedical heart…     

Effect of Ion Concentration Changes in the Limited Extracellular Spaces on Sarcolemmal Ion Transport and Ca2+ Turnover in a Model of Human Ventricular Cardiomyocyte

We have developed a computer model of human cardiac ventricular myocyte (CVM), including t-tubular and cleft spaces with the aim of evaluating the impact of accumulation-depletion of ions in restricted extracellular spaces on transmembrane ion transport and ionic homeostasis in human CVM. The model was based on available data from human CVMs. Under steady state, the effect of ion concentration changes in extracellular spaces on [Ca²⁺]_i-transient was explored as a function of critical fractions of ion transporters in t-tubular membrane (not documented for human CVM). Depletion of Ca²⁺ and accumulation of K⁺ occurring in extracellular spaces slightly affected the transmembrane Ca²⁺ flux, but not the action potential duration (APD₉₀). The [Ca²⁺]_i-transient was reduced (by 2%–9%), depending on the stimulation frequency, the rate of ion exchange between t-tubules and clefts and fractions of ion-transfer proteins in the t-tubular membrane. Under non-steady state, the responses of the model to changes of stimulation frequency were analyzed. A sudden increase of frequency (1–2.5 Hz) caused a temporal decrease of [Ca²⁺] in both extracellular spaces, a reduction of [Ca²⁺]_i-transient (by 15%) and APD₉₀ (by 13 ms). The results reveal different effects of activity-related ion concentration changes in human cardiac t-tubules (steady-state effects) and intercellular clefts (transient effects) in the modulation of membrane ion transport and Ca²⁺ turnover.     

Analysis of MTHFR and MTRR Gene Polymorphisms in Iranian Ventricular Septal Defect Subjects

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is one of the most common types of congenital heart defects (CHD). There are vivid multifactorial causes for VSD in which both genetic and environmental risk factors are consequential in the development of CHD. Methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) are two of the key regulatory enzymes involved in the metabolic pathway of homocysteine. Genes involved in homocysteine/folate metabolism may play an important role in CHDs. In this study; we determined the association of A66G and C524T polymorphisms of the MTRR gene and C677T polymorphism of the MTHFR gene in Iranian VSD subjects. A total of 123 children with VSDs and 125 healthy children were included in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from the buccal cells of all the subjects. The restriction fragment length polymorphism polymerase chain reaction (PCR-RFLP) method was carried out to amplify the A66G and C524T polymorphism of MTRR and C677T polymorphism of MTHFR genes digested with Hinf1, Xho1 and Nde1 enzymes, respectively. The genotype frequencies of CC, CT and TT of MTRR gene among the studied cases were 43.1%, 40.7% and 16.3%, respectively, compared to 52.8%, 43.2% and 4.0%, respectively among the controls. For the MTRR A66G gene polymorphism, the genotypes frequencies of AA, AG and GG among the cases were 33.3%, 43.9% and 22.8%, respectively, while the frequencies were 49.6%, 42.4% and 8.0%, respectively, among control subjects. The frequencies for CC and CT genotypes of the MTHFR gene were 51.2% and 48.8%, respectively, in VSD patients compared to 56.8% and 43.2% respectively, in control subjects. Apart from MTHFR C677T polymorphism, significant differences were noticed (p < 0.05) in C524T and A66G polymorphisms of the MTRR gene between cases and control subjects.     

Identifying Candidate Protein Markers of Acute Kidney Injury in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

One-quarter of patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) experience acute kidney injury (AKI)—an abrupt reduction or loss of kidney function associated with increased long-term mortality. There is a critical need to identify early and real-time markers of AKI in ADHF; however, to date, no protein biomarkers have exhibited sufficient diagnostic or prognostic performance for widespread clinical uptake. We aimed to identify novel protein biomarkers of AKI associated with ADHF by quantifying changes in protein abundance in the kidneys that occur during ADHF development and recovery in an ovine model. Relative quantitative protein profiling was performed using sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra–mass spectrometry (SWATH–MS) in kidney cortices from control sheep (n = 5), sheep with established rapid-pacing-induced ADHF (n = 8), and sheep after ~4 weeks recovery from ADHF (n = 7). Of the 790 proteins quantified, we identified 17 candidate kidney injury markers in ADHF, 1 potential kidney marker of ADHF recovery, and 2 potential markers of long-term renal impairment (differential abundance between groups of 1.2–2.6-fold, adjusted p < 0.05). Among these 20 candidate protein markers of kidney injury were 6 candidates supported by existing evidence and 14 novel candidates not previously implicated in AKI. Proteins of differential abundance were enriched in pro-inflammatory signalling pathways: glycoprotein VI (activated during ADHF development; adjusted p < 0.01) and acute phase response (repressed during recovery from ADHF; adjusted p < 0.01). New biomarkers for the early detection of AKI in ADHF may help us to evaluate effective treatment strategies to prevent mortality and improve outcomes for patients.     

Gamma-Aminobutyrate Transaminase Protects against Lipid Overload-Triggered Cardiac Injury in Mice

Lipid overload contributes to cardiac complications of diabetes and obesity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. This study investigates the role of gamma-aminobutyrate transaminase (ABAT), the key enzyme involved in the catabolism of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), in lipid overload-induced cardiac injury. Microarray revealed a down-regulation of ABAT mRNA expression in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mouse hearts, which correlated with a reduction in ABAT protein level and its GABA catabolic activity. Transgenic mice with cardiomyocyte-specific ABAT over-expression (Tg-ABAT/tTA) were generated to determine the role of ABAT in lipid overload-induced cardiac injury. Feeding with a HFD to control mice for 4 months reduced ATP production and the mitochondrial DNA copy number, and induced myocardial oxidative stress, hypertrophy, fibrosis and dysfunction. Such pathological effects of HFD were mitigated by ABAT over-expression in Tg-ABAT/tTA mice. In cultured cardiomyocytes, palmitate increased mitochondrial ROS production, depleted ATP production and promoted apoptosis, all of which were attenuated by ABAT over-expression. With the inhibition of ABAT’s GABA catabolic activity, the protective effects of ABAT remained unchanged in palmitate-induced cardiomyocytes. Thus, ABAT protects the mitochondrial function in defending the heart against lipid overload-induced injury through mechanisms independent of its GABA catabolic activity, and may represent a new therapeutic target for lipid overload-induced cardiac injury.     

心率波动信号的获取

本文介绍了从心电图(ECG)信号中提取心率波动信号(HRV)的一种方法。即首先对ECG进行峰值检测,然后确定R-R间隔,最后经线性内插得到HRV信号。     

膨体聚四氟乙烯在医学上的应用与研究

膨体聚四氟乙烯具有独特的结构和性能,生物相容性良好,是一种理想的整形外科材料和脏器修补材料。本文综述了膨体聚四氟乙烯在医学上的应用与研究进展,分别介绍了膨体聚四氟乙烯应用于人体鼻部整形、心脏瓣膜、人造血管以及消除肺部残腔等方面的研究进展。