RTM

BACKGROUND: Biliary stent dysfunction is challenging to treat in clinic. The retrograde track method (RTM) has a promising clinical application in the reopening of dysfunctional biliary stents. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of the RTM in reopening dysfunctional biliary stents. METHODS: From February 2013 to January 2020, 151 patients underwent percutaneous transhepatic biliary interventional procedures for reopening dysfunctional biliary stents at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and 25 patients (12 females, 13 males; mean age 63...

A set of polymer composite bolted T-joints with a novel configuration consisting of an internal skeleton and external skin was fabricated using a prepreg-RTM co-curing molding process. Experiments were conducted to study their mechanical properties under a bending load. A finite element model with a polymer resin area between the skin and skeleton was established and verified by the experimental results. Then, the damage propagation process and failure mechanism of the joint and the influence of three factors related to the layer characteristics of the skin and skeleton were investigated by the validated models...

Resident tissue macrophages (RTMs) encompass a highly diverse set of cells abundantly present in every tissue and organ. RTMs are recognized as central players in innate immune responses, and more recently their importance beyond host defense has started to be highlighted. Despite sharing a universal name and several canonical markers, RTMs perform remarkably specialized activities tailored to sustain critical homeostatic functions of the organs they reside in. These cells can mediate neuronal communication, participate in metabolic pathways, and secrete growth factors...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the second most common cardiomyopathy affecting children and adolescents and is the main cause of sudden death of young athletes. The natural prognosis of children with severe hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy is not optimistic, and it is not uncommon for children with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy who do not respond to medication. Surgical treatment is often the only solution. Conventional surgical methods in the past include classic or modified extended Morrow operation, classic or modified Konno operation, and Ross-Konno operation...

Quantifying the relationship between light and stands or individual trees is of great significance in understanding tree competition, improving forest productivity, and comprehending ecological processes. However, accurately depicting the spatiotemporal variability of light under complex forest structural conditions poses a challenge, especially for precise forest management decisions that require a quantitative study of the relationship between fine-scale individual tree structure and light. 3D RTMs (3-dimensional radiative transfer models), which accurately characterize the interaction between solar radiation and detailed forest scenes, provide a reliable means for depicting such relationships...

BACKGROUND: Abdominal wall deficiencies or weakness are a common complication of temporary ostomies, and incisional hernias frequently develop after colostomy or ileostomy takedown. The use of synthetic meshes to reinforce the abdominal wall has reduced hernia occurrence. Biologic meshes have also been used to enhance healing, particularly in contaminated conditions. Reinforced tissue matrices (RTMs), which include a biologic scaffold of native extracellular matrix and a synthetic component for added strength/durability, are designed to take advantage of aspects of both synthetic and biologic materials...

OBJECTIVE: We assessed equity in the uptake of remote foot temperature monitoring (RTM) for amputation prevention throughout a large, integrated US healthcare system between 2019 and 2021, including comparisons across facilities and between patients enrolled and eligible patients not enrolled in RTM focusing on the Reach and Adoption dimensions of the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To assess whether there was equitable use of RTM across facilities, we examined distributions of patient demographic, geographic, and facility characteristics across facility RTM use categories (e...

Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a new program in the United States that began in 2022 allowing electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) and other patient-generated data to be reviewed by clinical staff between visits so that patients can receive clinical attention as needed. Remote Therapeutic Monitoring simultaneously enhances the capacity to generate prospective longitudinal data that may be useful for secondary research purposes. As many governmental and private insurance programs in the United States now provide reimbursement for Remote Therapeutic Monitoring, increasing numbers of rheumatologists may be incentivized to provide this service for their patient populations...

BACKGROUND: Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) is a rare type of thyroid cancer. Accurate prediction of lateral cervical lymph node metastases (LCLNM) in MTC patients can help guide surgical decisions and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate and effective surgery. To our knowledge, no studies have been published that use radiomics analysis to forecast LCLNM in MTC patients. The purpose of this study is to develop a radiomics combined with thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) model that can use preoperative thyroid ultrasound images to noninvasively predict the LCLNM status of MTC...

Salinization of cultivated soils may result in either high salt levels or alkaline conditions, both of which stress crops and reduce performance. We sampled genotypes included in the Northeast China soybean germplasm population (NECSGP) to identify possible genes that affect tolerance to alkaline soil conditions. In this study, 361 soybean accessions collected in Northeast China were tested under 220 mM NaHCO3 :Na2 CO3 = 9:1 (pH = 9.8) to evaluate the alkali-tolerance (ATI) at the seedling stage in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China...

Deon Bührs, Managing Director of Genie Health SA, on launching a hybrid healthcare delivery model in South Africa.

BACKGROUND Cases involving penetrating abdominal trauma may be complex and often involve damage to multiple organ systems. Synthetic, biologic, and reinforced biologic matrices/reinforced tissue matrices (RBMs/RTMs) are frequently used in hernia repair and other surgical procedures requiring reinforcement, including trauma cases that require abdominal repair. CASE REPORT The first case was a 35-year-old male patient with a stab wound (SW) to the right side of the chest and the abdomen resulting in damage to the diaphragm, epicardium, liver, and duodenum...

Bioadsorption, bioaccumulation and biodegradation processes in algae, play an important role in the biomagnification of antibiotics, or other organic pollutants, in aquatic food chains. In this study, the bioadsorption, bioaccumulation and biodegradation of norfloxacin [NFX], sulfamethazine [SMZ] and roxithromycin [RTM]) is investigated using a series of culture experiments. Chlorella vulgaris was exposed to these antibiotics with incubation periods of 24, 72, 120 and 168 h. Results show the bioadsorption concentration of antibiotics in extracellular matter increases with increasing alkaline phosphatase activity (AKP/ALP)...

BACKGROUND: Myeloid cells (MCs) reside in the aortic intima at regions predisposed to atherosclerosis. Systemic inflammation triggers reverse transendothelial migration (RTM) of intimal MCs into the arterial blood, which orchestrates a protective immune response that clears intracellular pathogens from the arterial intima. Molecular pathways that regulate RTM remain poorly understood. S1P (sphingosine-1-phosphate) is a lipid mediator that regulates immune cell trafficking by signaling via 5 G-protein-coupled receptors (S1PRs [S1P receptors])...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) for head and neck radiotherapy is challenging as obstructions are common and non-rigid facial motion can compromise surface accuracy. The purpose of this work was to develop and benchmark the Remove the Mask (RtM) SGRT system, an open-source system especially designed to address the challenges faced in radiotherapy of head and neck cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The accuracy of the RtM SGRT system was benchmarked using a head phantom positioned on a robotic motion platform capable of sub-millimetre accuracy which was used to induce unidirectional shifts and to reproduce three real head motion traces...

Maire yew ( Taxus mairei ), an evergreen conifer, has high ornamental and medicinal value. The arils of this species has three different colors. However, the variation mechanisms of arils color formation remains unclear. Here, the gene expression and metabolite concentration were profiled for red (RTM), yellow (YTM), and purple (PTM) arils in different developmental stages. A total of 266 flavonoids and 35 carotenoids were identified. The predominant pigments identified in YTM were epiafzelechin, lutein, and β-Cryptoxanthin, while malvidin-3,5-di-O-glucoside and apigenin played crucial roles in PTM...

Natural methane hydrate has often been observed in sand layers that contain no particulate organic carbon (POC), but are surrounded by organic-rich, fine-grained marine muds. In this paper, we develop a reactive transport model (RTM) of a microbially-mediated set of POC degradation reactions, including hydrolysis of POC driven by extracellular enzymes, fermentation of the resulting high-molecular weight dissolved organic carbon (HMW-DOC), and methanogenesis that consumes low-molecular weight dissolved organic carbon (LMW-DOC)...

In ultrasonic reflection method, the precision of defect detection in thick carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) is compromised by acoustic energy attenuation. An energy-compensation reverse time migration (ECRTM) method is proposed to identify multiple defects accurately. Forward and backward wavefields are formed using the finite element method within an anisotropic acoustic model based on the Christoffel equation and Bond transformation. To enhance the imaging quality of CFRP laminates, a novel cross-correlation imaging condition is introduced to compensate for energy dissipation caused by geometric diffusion and variations of the far-field radiation intensity at the emitter with the propagation direction...

Successful in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) applications require real-time monitoring to assess the oxidant delivery and treatment effectiveness, and to support rapid and cost-effective decision making. Existing monitoring methods often suffer from poor spatial coverage given a limited number of boreholes in most field conditions. The ionic nature of oxidants (e.g., permanganate) makes time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) a potential monitoring tool for ISCO. However, time-lapse ERT is usually limited to qualitative analysis because it cannot distinguish between the electrical responses of the ionic oxidant and the ionic products from contaminant oxidation...

The respiratory tract microbiome (RTM) is a microbial ecosystem inhabiting different niches throughout the airway. A critical role for the RTM in dictating lung infection outcomes is underlined by recent efforts to identify community members benefiting respiratory tract health. Obligate anaerobes common in the oropharynx and lung such as Prevotella and Veillonella are associated with improved pneumonia outcomes and activate several immune defense pathways in the lower airway. Colonizers of the nasal cavity, including Corynebacterium and Dolosigranulum, directly impact the growth and virulence of lung pathogens, aligning with robust clinical correlations between their upper airway abundance and reduced respiratory tract infection risk...