Effect of Pre-Procedural Beta-Blocker on Clinical Outcome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Acute Coronary Syndrome.

The efficacy of pre-procedural beta-blocker use in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is not well established in the current percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era. We investigate the effect of pre-procedural beta-blocker use on clinical outcomes in patients with ACS undergoing PCI. Among 44,967 consecutive cases of PCI enrolled in the nationwide, retrospective, multicenter registry (K-PCI registry), 31,040 patients with ACS were selected and analyzed. We classified patients into pre-procedural beta-blocker group (n = 8,678) and pre-procedural no-beta-blocker group (n = 22,362) according to the use of beta-blockers at least for two weeks before index PCI. Propensity score-matching analysis was performed and resulted in 7,445 pairs. The primary outcome was in-hospital cardiac death. In propensity score-matched populations, the pre-procedural beta-blocker group had a lower incidence of in-hospital cardiac death compared with the pre-procedural no-beta-blocker group (1.1% versus 2.0%, unadjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-0.73, P < 0.01). In subgroup analysis, the pre-procedural beta-blocker group had a lower incidence of in-hospital cardiac death, compared with the pre-procedural no-beta-blocker group in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction subpopulation (3.1% versus 6.1%, unadjusted OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.34-0.71, P < 0.01) and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction subpopulation (1.5% versus 2.9%, unadjusted OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.33-0.79, P < 0.01). However, in unstable angina subpopulation, the in-hospital cardiac death rate was comparable between both groups. In conclusion, the use of pre-procedural beta-blocker was associated with a lower risk of in-hospital cardiac death in patients with ACS undergoing PCI. This result adds to the body of evidence that use of pre-procedural beta-blocker in patients with ACS might be reasonable.

A microfluidic approach to water-rock interactions using thin rock sections: Pb and U sorption onto thin shale and granite sections.

The feasibility of using microfluidic tests to investigate water-rock (mineral) interactions in fractures regarding sorption onto thin rock sections (i.e., shale and granite) of lead (Pb) and uranium (U) was evaluated using a synthetic PbCl2 solution and uranium-containing natural groundwater as fluids. Effluent composition and element distribution on the thin rock sections before and after microfluidic testing were analyzed. Most Pb removal (9.8mg/cm2) occurred within 3.5h (140 PVF), which was 74% of the total Pb removal (13.2mg/cm2) at the end of testing (14.5h, 560 PVF). Element composition on the thin shale sections determined by µ-XRF analysis indicated that Pb removal was related primarily to Fe-containing minerals (e.g., pyrite). Two thin granite sections (biotite rich, Bt-R and biotite poor, Bt-P) exhibited no marked difference in uranium removal capacity, but a slightly higher amount of uranium was removed onto the thin Bt-R section (266µg/cm2) than the thin Bt-P section (240µg/cm2) within 120h (4800 PVF). However, uranium could not be detected by micro X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) analysis, likely due to the detection limit. These results suggest that microfluidic testing on thin rock sections enables quantitative evaluation of rock (mineral)-water interactions at the micro-fracture or pore scale.

Adsorption characteristics of U(VI) on Fe(III)Cr(III) (oxy)hydroxides synthesized at different temperatures.

In this study, the adsorption behavior of U(VI) on (oxy)hydroxides synthesized at different temperatures (25 and 75 °C) was investigated. Four (oxy)hydroxides were synthesized by drying slurries of Fe(III) and Fe(III)Cr(III) (oxy)hydroxide in a vacuum desiccator (25 °C) or in an oven (75 °C). Batch adsorption tests were conducted using the (oxy)hydroxides thus synthesized and groundwater containing uranium ions. In general, the U(VI) removal fraction significantly increased with increasing pH from 3 to 5, remained constant with increasing pH from 5 to 9, and decreased at pH greater than 9, regardless of the type of (oxy)hydroxides and solid-to-liquid ratio. The effect of pH on the U(VI) removal fraction was more significant at a low solid-to-liquid ratio. The oven-dried Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxide exhibited a U(VI) removal fraction lower than that of the vacuum-dried one, whereas the oven-dried Fe(III)Cr(III) (oxy)hydroxide exhibited a U(VI) removal fraction higher than that exhibited by the vacuum-dried one. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis results indicated that the difference in the U(VI) removal fraction is attributed to the dissolution and precipitation of the Fe(III) (oxy)hydroxide during oven drying and dehydration of the Fe(III)Cr(III) (oxy)hydroxide during oven drying.