Search Results (914)

Primary aldosteronism (PA), the most common cause of secondary hypertension, is increasingly recognized as an independent driver of adverse cardiac remodeling, mediated through mechanisms beyond elevated blood pressure alone. Chronic aldosterone excess leads to myocardial fibrosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, and diastolic dysfunction via mineralocorticoid receptor activation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and extracellular matrix dysregulation. These changes culminate in a distinct cardiomyopathy phenotype, often underrecognized in early stages. Multimodality cardiac imaging, led primarily by conventional and speckle-tracking echocardiography, and complemented by exploratory cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques such as T1 mapping and late gadolinium enhancement, enables non-invasive assessment of structural, functional, and tissue-level changes in aldosterone-mediated myocardial damage. While numerous studies have established the diagnostic and prognostic relevance of imaging in PA, several gaps remain. Specifically, the relative sensitivity of different modalities in detecting subclinical myocardial changes, the long-term prognostic significance of imaging biomarkers, and the differential impact of adrenalectomy versus medical therapy on cardiac reverse remodeling require further clarification. Moreover, the lack of standardized imaging-based criteria for defining and monitoring PA-related cardiomyopathy hinders widespread clinical implementation. This narrative review aims to synthesize current knowledge on the pathophysiological mechanisms of aldosterone-induced cardiac remodeling, delineate the strengths and limitations of existing imaging modalities, and critically evaluate the comparative effects of surgical and pharmacologic interventions. Emphasis is placed on early detection strategies, identification of imaging biomarkers with prognostic utility, and integration of multimodal imaging into clinical decision-making pathways. By outlining current evidence and highlighting key unmet needs, this review provides a framework for future research aimed at advancing personalized care and improving cardiovascular outcomes in patients with PA. Full article

Recently, a new class of magnetic material, termed altermagnets, has caught the attention of the magnetism and spintronics community. The magnetic phenomenon arising from these materials differs from traditional ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. It generally lacks net magnetization and is characterized by unusual non-relativistic spin-splitting and broken time-reversal symmetry. This leads to novel transport properties, such as the anomalous Hall effect, the crystal Nernst effect, and spin-dependent phenomena. Spin-dependent phenomena such as spin currents, spin-splitter torques, and high-frequency dynamics emerge as key characteristics in altermagnets. This paper reviews the main aspects pertaining to altermagnets by providing an overview of theoretical investigations and experimental realizations. We discuss the most recent developments in altermagnetism and prospects for exploiting its unique properties in next-generation devices. Full article

Microbial contamination is a global concern with impacts on a variety of industries ranging from marine to biomedical applications. Recent research on hydrophilic polymer-based coatings is focused on combining antifouling polymers with nanomaterials to enhance mechanical, optical, and stimuli-responsive properties, yielding colour changing, self-healing, and super hydrophilic materials. This study combines the hydrophilic and antifouling properties of vitamin B5 analogous methacrylamide (B5AMA)-based polymers with stimuli-responsive anthocyanin-dye-loaded cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to develop antifouling materials with colour changing capabilities upon bacterial contamination. Poly(B5AMA)-grafted CNCs were prepared through surface-initiated photoiniferter reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (SP-RAFT) polymerization and characterized through proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), and X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) to confirm the formation of surface-grafted polymer chains. The bare CNCs and poly(B5AMA)-grafted CNCs were loaded with anthocyanin dye and evaluated for pH-dependent colour changing capabilities. Interestingly, anthocyanin-loaded CNCs demonstrated vibrant colour changes in both solution and dried film form upon bacterial contamination; however, limited colour changing capabilities of the composites, specifically in dried film form, were attributed to the enhanced dispersibility and antifouling capabilities of the polymer-coated CNCs. Full article

We present an alternative to the classical SQUID magnetometric measurements for the First-Order Reversal Curve (FORC) diagram approach by employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments. After discussing the main results, the advantages and limitations of the magnetometric FORCs, we introduce the calorimetric method. We argue that, while the results are comparable to those obtained via magnetometry, the calorimetric method not only significantly simplifies the required mathematical computations but also detects subtle or overlapping phase transitions that might be hard to distinguish magnetically. The methodology is illustrated through both experimental data and mean-field simulations. Full article

Coronary microvascular obstruction and dysfunction (CMVO) frequently arise following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), particularly in individuals with myocardial infarction. Despite the restoration of epicardial blood flow, microvascular perfusion might still be compromised, resulting in negative clinical outcomes. CMVO is a complex condition resulting from a combination of ischemia, distal thrombotic embolization, reperfusion injury, and individual susceptibilities such as inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. The pathophysiological features of this condition include microvascular spasm, endothelial swelling, capillary plugging by leukocytes and platelets, and oxidative stress. Traditional angiographic assessments, such as Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade and myocardial blush grade, have limited sensitivity. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) stands as the gold standard for identifying CMVO, while the index of microvascular resistance (IMR) is a promising invasive option. Treatment approaches involve powerful antiplatelet drugs, anticoagulants, and supersaturated oxygen, yet no treatment has been definitively shown to reverse established CMVO. CMVO remains a significant therapeutic challenge in coronary artery disease management. Enhancing the comprehension of its core mechanisms is vital for the development of more effective and personalized treatment strategies. Full article

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a thrombotic microangiopathy primarily affecting the kidneys, can also involve the central nervous system (CNS), often leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Neurologic manifestations are among the most severe extra-renal complications, particularly in children and during outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)-associated HUS (typical (tHUS)). This review explores the clinical spectrum, pathophysiology, diagnostic workup, and age-specific outcomes of neurologic involvement in both typical (tHUS) and atypical (aHUS). Neurologic complications occur in up to 11% of pediatric and over 40% of adult STEC-HUS cases in outbreak settings. Presentations include seizures, encephalopathy, focal deficits, movement disorders, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) commonly reveals basal ganglia or parieto-occipital lesions, though subtle or delayed findings may occur. Laboratory workup typically confirms microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA), thrombocytopenia, and kidney damage, with additional markers of inflammation or metabolic dysregulation. Eculizumab is the first-line treatment for aHUS with CNS involvement, while its utility in STEC-HUS remains uncertain. Although many children recover fully, those with early CNS involvement are at greater risk of developing epilepsy, cognitive delays, or fine motor deficits. Adults may experience lingering neurocognitive symptoms despite apparent clinical recovery. Differences in presentation and imaging findings between age groups emphasize the need for tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Comprehensive neurorehabilitation and long-term follow-up are crucial for identifying residual deficits. Continued research into predictive biomarkers, neuroprotective interventions, and standardized treatment protocols is needed for improving outcomes in HUS patients with neurological complications. Full article

The Nd₂In compound exhibits an intriguing borderline first-/second-order transition at its Curie temperature. Several studies have pointed to its potential for magnetic cooling, but also raised controversies about the actual order of the transition, the amplitudes of the hysteresis, and of its magnetocaloric effect. Here, we estimate the thermal hysteresis using magnetic and thermal measurements at different rates. It is found to be particularly small (0.1–0.4 K), leading to almost fully reversible adiabatic temperature changes when comparing zero-field cooling and cyclic protocols. Some open questions remain with regard to the magnetostriction of Nd₂In, which is presently found to be limited, in line with the absence of a thermal expansion discontinuity at the transition. The comparison of the magnetocaloric effect in Nd₂In and Eu₂In highlights that the limited saturation magnetization of the former affects its performance. Further efforts should therefore be made to design materials with such borderline first-/second-order transitions using heavier rare earths. Full article

Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) represents a significant, often silently progressing, valvular heart disease with historically suboptimal management due to perceived high surgical risks. Transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions (TTVI) offer a promising, less invasive therapeutic avenue. Central to the success of TTVI is Right Ventricular Reverse Remodelling (RVRR), defined as an improvement in RV structure and function, which strongly correlates with enhanced patient survival. The right ventricle (RV) undergoes complex multi-scale biomechanical maladaptations, progressing from adaptive concentric to maladaptive eccentric hypertrophy, coupled with increased stiffness and fibrosis. Molecular drivers of this pathology include early failure of antioxidant defenses, metabolic shifts towards glycolysis, and dysregulation of microRNAs. Accurate RV function assessment necessitates advanced imaging modalities like 3D echocardiography, Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR), and Computed Tomography (CT), along with strain analysis. Following TTVI, RVRR typically manifests as a biphasic reduction in RV volume overload, improved myocardial strain, and enhanced RV-pulmonary arterial coupling. Emerging molecular biomarkers alongside advanced imaging-derived biomechanical markers like CT-based 3D-TAPSE and RV longitudinal strain, are proving valuable. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming prognostication by integrating diverse clinical, laboratory, and multi-modal imaging data, enabling unprecedented precision in risk stratification and optimizing TTVI strategies. Full article

As a critical mineral, magnesite plays a vital role in industries such as steelmaking, construction, and advanced technologies due to its high thermal stability and chemical resistance. However, the beneficiation of low-grade magnesite ores (~38.36% MgO) remains challenging due to the presence of iron, silica, and calcium-bearing impurities. This study proposes an integrated beneficiation strategy combining medium-intensity magnetic separation and flotation techniques to upgrade a low-grade magnesite ore. After grinding to 75 µm (d₈₀), the sample was subjected to two-stage magnetic separation at 5000 Gauss to remove Fe-bearing minerals, reducing Fe₂O₃ below 0.5%. The non-magnetic fraction was then treated through a two-stage reverse flotation process using dodecylamine (350 g/t) and diesel oil (60 g/t) at pH 7 to reject silicate gangue. This was followed by a four-stage direct flotation using sodium oleate (250 g/t), sodium silicate (350 g/t), and SHMP (100 g/t) at pH 10 to selectively recover magnesite while suppressing Ca-bearing minerals. The optimized flowsheet achieved a final concentrate with MgO > 46.5%, SiO₂ ≈ 1.05%, Fe₂O₃ ≈ 0.44%, and CaO ≈ 0.73%, meeting the specifications for refractory-grade magnesite. These results highlight the effectiveness of a combined magnetic–flotation route in upgrading complex, low-grade magnesite deposits for commercial use. Full article

The radiological finding of Dark White Matter (DWM)—characteristic diffuse subcortical white matter hypointensity on T2/FLAIR sequences—is underrecognized, but has important clinical implications. Recent systematic evidence shows that over 60% of previously published cases showed seizures in association with DWM findings—it is also particularly predictive of the underlying etiology, particularly non-ketotic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (NKH). Based on our previous work, we reinterpret the data, focusing only on patients with seizures and DWM, to summarize the most essential and distinguishing features of these patients. Both cortical and subcortical abnormalities in DWM are more frequently associated with anti-MOG encephalitis. DWM with or without cortical involvement is more commonly found in NKH among patients with seizures. This updated systematic review will describe the proposed pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical associations, and implications for DWM in patients with seizures, and highlight how early recognition of DWM may allow for targeted diagnostic strategies and treatment options. We expanded our previous search with details regarding seizure features, our results show that DWM is associated with repetitive seizures and Status Epilepticus (both convulsive and non), in line with other peri-ictal MRI abnormalities associated with prolonged seizure activity. DWM-associated seizures are mostly focal, rather than generalized. Moreover, the high percentage of clinical recovery at follow-up suggests that DWM may be predictive of a good outcome, especially in NKH cases, although this needs to be confirmed in future studies. Full article

A magnetic toroidal monopole, which characterizes time-reversal-odd polar-charge quantity, manifests itself not only in antiferromagnetism but also in time-reversal switching physical responses. We theoretically investigate an atomic-scale description of the magnetic toroidal monopole based on multipole representation theory, which consists of four types of multipoles. We show that the magnetic toroidal monopole degree of freedom is activated as the off-diagonal imaginary hybridization between the single-site orbitals with the same orbital angular momentum but different principal quantum numbers. We demonstrate that the expectation value of the magnetic toroidal monopole becomes nonzero when both electric and magnetic fields are applied to the system. Full article

One of the significant features of the transverse flux linear motors (TFLMs) is the relatively higher thrust density, since the main flux loop of TFLM is located on a perpendicular plane to the motion direction. As one type of reluctance TFLM, the transverse-flux flux-reversal linear motor (TF-FRLM) is an interesting topology for the long stroke scene, which owns a passive reluctance type secondary, and the high-priced permanent magnets are only fixed on the short primary. To further enhance the practicality of the TF-FRLM, this paper focuses on the topology improvement and the control methods of TF-FRLM. Based on an improved TF-FRLM, a model-free predictive current control (MFPCC) method with suppressed sampling noise is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the details of structural improvements on the TF-FRLM topology are described, and some typical performances of TF-FRLMs are simulated by the three-dimensional finite element method and tested by a prototype. Then, based on the proposed basic principle of MFPCC, the reference current for inner-loop control is predicted. To ensure the prediction accuracy of the current in the MFPCC control method, the average filtering principle is used to suppress the impact of current sampling noise on performance. Finally, through comparative experiments on MFPCC schemes on the prototype platform, the effectiveness of the proposed control method is verified. Full article

A new deconvolution strategy, reverse curve fitting, was developed to determine peak positions and independent intensities of overlapping Fourier transform (FT) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) bands. From the third-order derivative of the overlapping band, the peak position was estimated from its zero-crossing point and the peak intensity was quantitated by partial curve matching with its primary maxima. Every matched peak in the overlapping band was dismembered in turn to weaken the overlap until an independent peak was filtered out. The deconvolution can be refined progressively by manually tuning the peak positions and peak widths. In a simulation study, a closely overlapped ¹³C NMR triplet (overlapping degrees between 0.5 and 1.0) at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 20:1 was quantitatively deconvoluted by our reverse curve fitting procedure with a routine denoising technique. The noise interference and denoising technique were also studied in the simulation. A real FT-NMR overlapping band of Ethylbenzene (300 MHz) was satisfactorily deconvoluted and compatible with higher resolution literature spectral data. A more complicated overlapping NMR band of Tetraphenyl porphyrin was studied as well. This new approach to the deconvolutions is applicable to other FT spectroscopies. Full article

Current routine high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays are the criterion standard for the laboratory diagnosis of myocardial injury due to their high analytical sensitivity and specificity. However, in daily clinical practice, unexpectedly elevated cardiac troponin test results without an obvious clinical correlate are becoming more frequent compared with previous cardiac troponin assay generations. In these patients, myocardial injury may sometimes be undetected by imaging techniques, including cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. This has led to an increased interest in the pathophysiology of cardiac troponin release, particularly with regard to whether troponin can be released in the absence of myocardial necrosis and thereby resulting in an increase in cardiac troponin in the systemic circulation. Although there is in vitro evidence that cardiac biomarkers are released from reversibly injured cultured cardiomyocytes, there is still a lack of evidence for cardiac troponin release apart from different forms of cell death (i.e., apoptosis or necrosis) in animal experiments. Conversely, various circulating cardiac troponin forms have been identified in human blood samples using different analytical methods, raising the question of whether the cause of myocardial injury can be reliably determined by measuring specific circulating cardiac troponin forms. Preliminary clinical data suggests that testing for specific circulating troponin forms could increase the specificity of cardiac troponin for diagnosing acute myocardial infarctions caused by an acute coronary syndrome. This review aims to provide an up-to-date overview of these current cardiac troponin research topics with their potential clinical implications. Typical clinical cases illustrate how to interpret cTn in the individual patient and how to derive a correct diagnosis. Full article

Magnetic toroidal multipoles have recently emerged as key descriptors of unconventional cross-correlation phenomena in antiferromagnetic systems. Among them, the rank-2 magnetic toroidal quadrupole, which is characterized as a time-reversal-odd polar tensor, has been theoretically associated with a variety of cross-correlation phenomena arising from the time-reversal symmetry breaking. In this study, we investigate the interplay between magnetic toroidal quadrupoles and electric toroidal dipoles in antiferromagnets, with a particular focus on magnetic field-induced ferroaxiality. Through symmetry analysis and microscopic model calculations, we demonstrate that ferroaxiality can be induced by an external magnetic field, depending on both the field direction and the type of the magnetic toroidal quadrupole. We classify all magnetic point groups that possess magnetic toroidal quadrupoles and identify various candidate materials based on the MAGNDATA database. Our findings reveal a route to coupling spin and lattice degrees of freedom via toroidal multipoles. Full article