Uri Pollak^1,2,3,4,*, Tatyana Ruderman^5,*, Sharon Borik‐Chiger^5,6, David Mishaly^5,7, Alain Serraf^5,7, Amir Vardi^5,8

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 968-977, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12825

Abstract Objective: The final common pathway of single ventricle patients is the Fontan procedure. Among the immediate postoperative complications is acute hepatic injury presented by marked elevation of liver enzymes (alanine transaminase [ALT] and aspartate transaminase [AST]). We aimed to determine the contribution of blood products transfusion to acute hepatic injury.
Design: Single center retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at a tertiary medical center.
Patients: Ninety‐nine pediatric patients undergoing the Fontan procedure between January 2009 and December 2016.
Interventions: None.
Measurements and Main Results: Out of the four types of blood products, transfusion of platelets was found to… More >

Mariana M. Clavé¹, Nair Y. Maeda², Ana M. Thomaz¹, Sergio P. Bydlowski³, Antonio A. Lopes¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.2, pp. 246-255, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12688

Abstract Background: Ideally, vasodilator therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) should have a favorable impact on markers of vascular dysfunction, in addition to their known effects on hemodynamics, cardiac function, and patient’s physical capacity.
Methods: We analyzed circulating (plasma) markers of endothelial and platelet activation/dys‐ function (enzyme‐linked immunoassays) in the specific setting of advanced PAH associated with congenital heart disease, during the course of sildenafil and tadalafil therapies. Thirty‐one patients were enrolled (age 10‐54 years), most of them with chronic hypoxemia and elevated hematocrit. Drugs were administered orally for 6 months (sildenafil [n = 16], 20 mg t.i.d.;… More >

SUZANE MARGARET FANK-DE-CARVALHO, MISLÉIA RODRIGUES DE AGUIAR GOMES, PEDRO ÍTALO TANNO SILVA, SÔNIA NAIR BÁO

BIOCELL, Vol.34, No.1, pp. 23-36, 2010, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2010.34.023

Abstract The leaf structure and micromorphology characterize plant species and reflex its interactions with the environment. Leaf epidermis sculptures aid high transpiration plants on light reflection. The form and distribution of epicuticular wax crystalloids are important to characterize the surface. Aiming to know the micromorphology and the ultrastructure of G. arborescens, G. pohlii and G. virgata, leaves of these Cerrado native species were collected in Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil, at the Olympic Center of the Universidade de Brasília and at Reserva Ecológica do Roncador. Leaves of G. globosa, an Indian native species, were also studied for comparison. Leaves were fractionated,… More >

B. Yang^1,2, S.-C. Wong³, S. Qu³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.24, No.2&3, pp. 81-94, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.024.081

Abstract In the modeling of overall property of composites, the effect of particle interaction has been either numerically taken into account within a (representative) volume element of a small number of particles or neglected/ignored in order for efficient solution to a large system of particles. In this study, we apply the point-defect Green's function (GF) to take into account the effect of particle interaction. It is applicable to small volume fractions of particles (within 10 %). The high efficiency of the method enables a simulation of a large system of particles with generally elastic anisotropy, arbitrary… More >

S. Anup¹, S. M. Sivakumar², G. K. Suraishkumar³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.18, No.2, pp. 145-154, 2007, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2007.018.145

Abstract Bone is a hierarchical bio-composite, and has a staggered arrangement of soft protein molecules interspaced with hard mineral platelets at the fine ultrastructure level. The investigation into reasons for high fracture toughness of bio-composites such as bone requires consideration of properties at the different levels of hierarchy. In this work, the analysis is done at the continuum level, but the properties used are appropriate to that of the level considered. In this way, the properties at the fine ultrastructure level of bone is considered in the stress distribution analysis of a platelet adjacent to the More >