A Very Long-term Longitudinal Study on the Evolution and Clinical Outcomes of Persistent Iatrogenic Atrial Septal Defect After Cryoballoon Ablation

Background

Persistent iatrogenic atrial septal defect (iASD) is a common but poorly characterized complication after cryoballoon (CB) pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) procedures. We therefore investigate its prevalence, evolution, risk factors, and clinical outcomes in a prospective longitudinal study.

The curvilinear relationship of early-life adversity and successful aging: the mediating role of mental health

Objectives: The steeling effect suggests that early-life adversity can have a beneficial impact later in life. However, little is known about its underlying mechanisms and long-term outcomes . The study aimed to examine the role of early-life adversity (ELA) on successful aging, and whether this relationship can be explained by mental and physical health.

Method: Socio-demographics, early-life adversity (ELA), individual quality of life (iQoL), and mental and physical health of 270 individuals (M_age = 66.82 years, 71.5% female) were assessed. Polynomial regressions and mediation analyses were conducted.

Results: Significant inverse U-shaped associations were found between ELA and iQoL (β = ?.59, p = .005) and between ELA and mental health (β = ?.64, p = .002), but not between ELA and physical health. Furthermore, mental health significantly mediated the relationship between ELA and iQoL (b = ?.84, BCa CI [?1.66, ?.27]).

Conclusion: Highest level of individual quality of life (i.e. successful aging) was related to a moderate amount of ELA. Additionally, mental health significantly mediated this relationship. These findings suggest that some amount of ELA could be beneficial for successful aging. Resource-focused interventions are needed to improve health and promote successful aging for an underdetected, at-risk subgroup with low early-life adversity.     

Sliding mode control of time‐varying delay Markov jump with quantized output

This paper investigates the quantized sliding mode control of Markov jump systems with time‐varying delay. A dynamical adjustment law is explored to quantize the system output. By constructing an observer‐based integral sliding surface, a sliding mode controller is designed to take over the dynamical motion of state estimation and ensure the reachability of sliding surface. A new scaling manner is developed to build the bound between the system output and quantized error. With the help of separation strategies for controller synthesis and general transition probabilities and a lower bound theorem for nonlinear integral terms, a new synthesis method to ensure the required stability and meet the required performance is proposed in the form of linear matrix inequalities. The validity of the proposed control method is illustrated by a numerical example.     

Accuracy and Precision of Acetabular Component Placement With Imageless Navigation in Obese Patients

Background

Obesity is a risk factor for acetabular component malposition when total hip arthroplasty is performed with manual techniques. The utility of imageless navigation in obese patients remains unknown. This study compared the accuracy and precision of imageless navigation for component orientation between obese and nonobese patients.