(C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3556948]“
“Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in heart transplantation (HT). We sought to investigate the role of coronary flow reserve (CFR) by contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography (CE-TTE)

in CAV diagnosis. CAV was defined as maximal intimal thickness (MIT) assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) >= 0.5 mm. CFR was assessed in the left anterior descending coronary artery in 22 HT recipients at 6 +/- 4 years post-HT. CAV was diagnosed in 10 patients (group A), 12 had normal Ulixertinib chemical structure coronaries (group B). The mean MIT was 0.7 +/- 0.1 mm (range 0.03-1.8). MIT was higher in group A (1.16 +/- 0.3 mm vs. 0.34 +/- 0.07 mm, p < 0.0001). CFR was 3.1 +/- 0.8 in all patients and lower in group A (2.5 +/- 0.6 vs. AZD6094 research buy 3.7 +/- 0.3, p < 0.0001). CFR was inversely related with MIT (r = -0.774, p < 0.0001). A cut point of < 2.9, identified as optimal by receiver operating characteristics analysis was 100% specific and 80% sensitive (PPV = 100%, NPV = 89%, Accuracy

= 91%). CFR assessment by CE-TTE is a novel noninvasive diagnostic tool in the detection of CAV defined as MIT >= 0.5 mm. CFR by CE-TTE may reduce the need for routine IVUS in HT.”
“The structural, magnetic, and electron transport properties of Mn55-xAuxBi45 (x = 0, 4.5) thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering have been investigated. The magnetization of the MnBi films decreases and the coercivity increases due to Au doping. The temperature dependence of resistivity between 2 to 300 K shows that the films are metallic but the 4.5% Au-doped film shows a Kondo behavior with resistance minimum at 10.2 K. The magnetoresistance is anisotropic and the positive transverse magnetoresistance is significantly enhanced (16.3% at 70 kOe) by Au doping. We interpret these data in terms of a model in which Au atoms preferentially GS-7977 substitute for Mn atoms on the Mn lattice, and some Mn atoms are displaced to interstitial

sites in the NiAs structure. These interstitial Mn atoms are coupled antiferromagnetically to the Mn atoms on the original Mn lattice leading to the large decrease in magnetization, Kondo effect, and the positive magnetoresistance. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3537952]“
“The measurement properties of the newly developed Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (TM) (PedsQL (TM)) 3.0 Transplant Module in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients were evaluated. Participants included pediatric recipients of liver, kidney, heart and small bowel transplantation who were cared for at seven medical centers across the United States and their parents. Three hundred and thirty-eight parents of children ages 2-18 and 274 children ages 5-18 completed both the PedsQL (TM) 4.0 Generic Core Scales and the Transplant Module.