An In Silico Model for Predicting the Efficacy of Edge-to-Edge Repair for Mitral Regurgitation.

In recent years, transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) has been widely adopted as an effective treatment for mitral regurgitation (MR). The aim of this study is to develop a personalized in silico model to predict the effect of edge-to-edge repair in advance to the procedure for each individual patient. For this purpose, we propose a combination of a valve deformation model for computing the mitral valve (MV) orifice area (MVOA) and a lumped parameter model for the hemodynamics, specifically mitral regurgitation volume (RVol). Although we cannot obtain detailed information on the three-dimensional flow field near the mitral valve, we can rapidly simulate the important medical parameters for the clinical decision support. In the present method, we construct the patient-specific pre-operative models by using the parameter optimization and then simulate the postoperative state by applying the additional clipping condition. The computed preclip MVOAs show good agreement with the clinical measurements, and the correlation coefficient takes 0.998. In addition, the MR grade in terms of RVol also has good correlation with the grade by ground truth MVOA. Finally, we try to investigate the applicability for the predicting the postclip state. The simulated valve shapes clearly show the well-known double orifice and the improvement of the MVOA, compared with the preclip state. Similarly, we confirmed the improved reverse flow and MR grade in terms of RVol. A total computational time is approximately 8 h by using general-purpose PC. These results obviously indicate that the present in silico model has good capability for the assessment of edge-to-edge repair.

A North-South Problem in Civic-Tech and Volunteered Geographic Information as Countermeasures of COVID-19: A Brief Overview.

The aim of this paper is to archive the situation we are witnessing regarding the application of geographic information by civic tech and volunteers, who spontaneously organised themselves to fight this newly emerging disease. Moreover, the regional bias and clarify the existence of a kind of North-South problem in the characteristics of the mapping process is aimed to be pointed out. Specific keywords were searcher after which research was performed using citations and keywords in the papers. In repositories such as GitHub, the search was performed using the country name to ensure that there were no omissions. In response to CoV19, which suddenly engulfed the world, simultaneous anti-CoV19 dashboards created by citizens with computer skills were published within a month or two of the outbreak's beginning. North-South problem of our world extends to the availability and accessibility of information. Information and economic disparities also tend to cast a shadow on the response phase of society.

Divergence of Viscosity in Jammed Granular Materials: A Theoretical Approach.

A theory for jammed granular materials is developed with the aid of a nonequilibrium steady-state distribution function. The approximate nonequilibrium steady-state distribution function is explicitly given in the weak dissipation regime by means of the relaxation time. The theory quantitatively agrees with the results of the molecular dynamics simulation on the critical behavior of the viscosity below the jamming point without introducing any fitting parameter.

dc electric field effect on the anomalous exponent of the hopping conduction in the one-dimensional disorder model.

The dc electric field effect on the anomalous exponent of the hopping conduction in the disorder model is investigated. First, we explain the model and derive an analytical expression of the effective waiting time for the general case. We show that the exponent depends on the external field. Then we focus on a one-dimensional system in order to illustrate the features of the anomalous exponent. We derive approximate expressions of the anomalous exponent of the system analytically. For the case of a weak field, the anomalous exponent is consistent with that of diffusive systems. This is consistent with the treatments of Barkai et al. [Phys. Rev. E 63, 046118 (2001)] and our result supports their theory. On the other hand, for the case of a strong field and a strong disorder, the time evolution of the exponent clearly differs from that in the weak field. The exponent is consistent with the well-known expression of the anomalous exponent in the multiple trapping model at mesoscopic time scales. In the long-time limit, a transition of the anomalous exponent to the same value of the weak field occurs. These findings are verified by the Monte Carlo simulation.

Nonequilibrium mode-coupling theory for uniformly sheared underdamped systems.

Nonequilibrium mode-coupling theory (MCT) for uniformly sheared underdamped systems is developed, starting from the microscopic thermostated Sllod equation and the corresponding Liouville equation. Special attention is paid to the translational invariance in the sheared frame, which requires an appropriate definition of the transient time correlators. The derived MCT equation satisfies the alignment of the wave vectors and is manifestly translationally invariant. Isothermal condition is implemented by the introduction of current fluctuation in the dissipative coupling to the thermostat. This current fluctuation grows in the α relaxation regime, which generates a pronounced relaxation of the yield stress compared to the overdamped case. This result fills the gap between the molecular dynamics simulation and the overdamped MCT reported previously. The response to a perturbation of the shear rate demonstrates an inertia effect which is not observed in the overdamped case. Our theory turns out to be a nontrivial extension of the theory by Fuchs and Cates [J. Rheol. 53, 957 (2009)] to underdamped systems. Since our starting point is identical to that of Chong and Kim [Phys. Rev. E 79, 021203 (2009)], the contradictions between Fuchs-Cates and Chong-Kim are resolved.