Indications for heart transplantation in pediatric heart disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young; the Councils on Clinical Cardiology, Cardiovascular Nursing, and Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia; and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group.

BACKGROUND: Since the initial utilization of heart transplantation as therapy for end-stage pediatric heart disease, improvements have occurred in outcomes with heart transplantation and surgical therapies for congenital heart disease along with the application of medical therapies to pediatric heart failure that have improved outcomes in adults. These events justify a reevaluation of the indications for heart transplantation in congenital heart disease and other causes of pediatric heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: A working group was commissioned to review accumulated experience with pediatric heart transplantation and its use in patients with unrepaired and/or previously repaired or palliated congenital heart disease (children and adults), in patients with pediatric cardiomyopathies, and in pediatric patients with prior heart transplantation. Evidence-based guidelines for the indications for heart transplantation or retransplantation for these conditions were developed. CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation has led to the development and refinement of indications for heart transplantation for patients with congenital heart disease and pediatric cardiomyopathies in addition to indications for pediatric heart retransplantation.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Phenylacetylene Oligomers Utilizing a Novel 3-Propyl-3-(benzyl-supported) Triazene Linkage.

Sequence-specific phenylacetylene oligomers consisting of functionalized monomers (hexyl benzoate, hexyl phenyl ether, benzonitrile, and tert-butylphenyl) are synthesized in gram quantities using solid-phase methods. Growing oligomers are attached to a divinylbenzene cross-linked polystyrene support by the 1-aryl-3-propyl-3-(benzyl-supported) triazene moiety. This linkage is obtained by reaction of arenediazonium tetrafluoroborate salts with a n-propylamino-modified Merrifield resin. Condensation strategies are described, producing oligomers with higher yields and simplified procedures compared to solution-phase methods. Terminal acetylene is protected with a trimethylsilyl group. After deprotection of the resin-bound terminal acetylene, an aryl iodide monomer or an aryl iodide-terminated oligomer is coupled to the supported oligomer using a palladium(0) catalyst. The cycle can be repeated to produce sequence-specific oligomers of varying length and functionality. The resulting oligomers are liberated from the polymer support by cleavage of the 1-aryl-3-propyl-3-(benzyl-supported) triazene group by reaction with iodomethane producing an aryl iodide.

Interior-point methods for estimating seasonal parameters in discrete-time infectious disease models.

Infectious diseases remain a significant health concern around the world. Mathematical modeling of these diseases can help us understand their dynamics and develop more effective control strategies. In this work, we show the capabilities of interior-point methods and nonlinear programming (NLP) formulations to efficiently estimate parameters in multiple discrete-time disease models using measles case count data from three cities. These models include multiplicative measurement noise and incorporate seasonality into multiple model parameters. Our results show that nearly identical patterns are estimated even when assuming seasonality in different model parameters, and that these patterns show strong correlation to school term holidays across very different social settings and holiday schedules. We show that interior-point methods provide a fast and flexible approach to parameterizing models that can be an alternative to more computationally intensive methods.