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Aims: Examine the incidence of clinical events after utilization of the TAXUS® Express® paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in multivessel and bifurcation coronary stenting in an unselected patient population. Methods and Results: The ARRIVE Program compiled data on 7,492 patients receiving ≥1 TAXUS Express PES, including patients with multivessel stenting (MVS; n = 1,208) and bifurcation stenting (n = 575). Patients were enrolled at procedure start with no mandated inclusion/exclusion criteria; all cardiac events were monitored with independent adjudication of end-points. Compared to simple use (single vessel/single stent) patients undergoing native intervention (N = 2,698), MVS patients had significantly more baseline comorbidities. Both groups had higher 2-year rates of mortality (7.3%[MVS] and 7.5%[bifurcation] vs. 4.2%[simple-use], P < 0.001), myocardial infarction (5.5% and 4.6% vs. 2.2%, P < 0.001 and P = 0.002), target vessel revascularization (15.5% and 14.8% vs. 7.7%, P < 0.001), and Academic Research Consortium definite/probable stent thrombosis (4.3% and 4.4% vs. 1.4%, P < 0.001) than the simple-use group. Conclusions: ARRIVE multivessel and bifurcation stenting patients have significantly higher clinical risk through 2 years compared to simple-use patients. In the absence of large randomized controlled trials in these populations, ARRIVE provides important insight into clinical outcomes over an extended period of time. (J Interven Cardiol 2011;24:342–350)

Aims: To examine the incidence of clinical events after implantation of the TAXUS Express paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in chronic total occlusions (CTO) in an unselected patient population. Methods and Results: The TAXUS ARRIVE registries compiled data on 7,492 patients, including 113 patients with CTO (TIMI flow 0). Patients enrolled at procedure start with no mandated inclusion/exclusion criteria; all cardiac events were monitored with independent end-point adjudication. Two-year follow-up was 89% (101/113) for CTO patients who had significantly more baseline comorbidities/complex disease than simple-use patients undergoing native coronary intervention (N = 2,698) and significantly longer lesions/smaller vessels than other expanded-use patients (N = 4,681 without CTO). Among CTO patients the rate of 2-year major cardiac events (MCE, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization) was 22.3%, significantly higher than in simple-use patients (10.3%, P < 0.001). CTO MCE was similar to that for other expanded-use patients (16.5%, P = 0.14) but target lesion revascularization was significantly higher in year 2 (6.9% vs. 2.7%, P = 0.02). Academic Research Consortium definite/probable stent thrombosis through 2 years was 5.7%, significantly higher than simple-use patients but similar to other expanded-use cases. Conclusion: In a “real-world” setting, PES use in CTO was associated with increased MCE compared to simple- use patients, but achieved long-term outcomes similar to that observed in other complex patient/lesion cases. (J Interven Cardiol 2011;24:232–240)

In response to adrenergic stimulation, adipocytes undergo protein kinase A (PKA)‐stimulated lipolysis. A key PKA target in this context is perilipin 1, a major regulator of lipolysis on lipid droplets (LDs). A study published in this issue of The EMBO Journal (Pidoux et al , 2011) identifies optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), a protein that regulates mitochondrial dynamics, as perilipin 1 interaction partner and the A‐kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) on LDs that is involved in the induction of stimulated lipolysis.

The vocalizations of eight infants with Down syndrome were recorded longitudinally in relation to different social and non-social contexts. The infants were observed biweekly from 8 to 24 weeks and monthly up to 40 weeks. At each visit the infants were presented with their mother, a female stranger, and a rattle puppet, each alternately active and passive. Each condition lasted 60 sec. The results showed that by 4 months of age, the infants produced different types of vocal sounds in relation to environmental contexts. They produced significantly more melodic (speechlike) sounds, vocalic (non-speechlike) sounds, and emotional (crying, laughing and fussing) sounds when facing people than objects. By 6 months of age, these utterances began to be distinguished between mother and female stranger and active and passive adults. However, within the communicative context the overall amount of vocalic (non-speechlike) sounds produced was larger than the amount of melodic (speechlike) sounds. It is suggested that this low output of melodic sounds in the overall vocal production of these infants may adversely affect the development of more appropriate vocal behaviour.

Excirolana braziliensis Richardson is shown to be the senior synonym of Cirolana salvadorensis Schuster and C. koepckei Bott. The latter two species, incorrectly assigned to Cirolana, were formerly regarded as distinct and were separated on the basis of size-dependent characters. Sampling of sandy beaches along the eastern Pacific from Mexico to Chile (21 localities) and the western Atlantic from Mexico to Brazil, including the West Indies (20 localities), demonstrates that E. braziliensis is commonly the most abundant macroscopic organism present in this habitat. Marked differences in zonation of young and adults are illustrated from data in Panama.

The present experiment utilized a habituation paradigm to investigate age differences in sweat gland counts (SGC), skin conductance responses (SCR), and skin conductance levels (SCL). The 12 young subjects (mean age 25.3 yrs) and the 12 old subjects (mean age 69.5 yrs) exhibited no reliable age differences in habituation of the SCR or in the magnitude of the SCRs measured. Bilateral conductance recordings revealed no laterality effects for SCR or SCL in either age group. Age differences were found for both SGC and SCL. Correlations of SGC with SCL revealed a strong relationship in the young (r= 74) and a relatively weak correspondence in the elderly (r= .22). The reverse was observed for SGC and SCR correlations, with the old sample showing consistently high correlations and the younger sample consistently low correlations. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the variance in SCL predicted by age was not independent of the variance predicted by differences in SGC. The data are discussed in terms of age-related change in peripheral factors which affect electrodermal behavior.