Feto-maternal outcome in pregnancies complicated by isolated fetal congenital complete heart block.

A retrospective analysis of eleven pregnancies complicated by isolated fetal congenital complete heart block (CCHB) in anti-SSA/Ro antibody positive women was carried out at a tertiary hospital in India to study the perinatal outcome. The mean gestational age at the time of detection of fetal CCHB was 24.5 ± 3.1weeks. Six mothers were asymptomatic; two had Sjögren's syndrome and three had systemic lupus erythematosus. Oral dexamethasone was given to all the patients after the diagnosis was made. There was one case of intrauterine death. Seven (63.6%) neonates needed a permanent pacemaker. There was no significant difference in the perinatal outcome in asymptomatic women with fetal CCHB and in women with connective tissue disorder and fetal CCHB. To conclude, fetal CCHB is associated with high morbidity but the presence of underlying connective disorder in the mother does not worsen the prognosis of the affected neonate.

Syntheses, crystal structures and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 4-(4-nitro-phen-yl)piperazin-1-ium tri-fluoro-acetate and 4-(4-nitro-phen-yl)piperazin-1-ium tri-chloro-acetate.

The synthesis and crystal structures of the mol-ecular salts of 4-(4-nitro-phen-yl)piperazine with tri-fluoro-acetate, namely, 4-(4-nitro-phen-yl)piperazin-1-ium tri-fluoro-acetate, C10H14N3O2 +·C2F3O2 - (I), and with tri-chloro-acetate, namely, 4-(4-nitro-phen-yl)piperazin-1-ium tri-chloro-acetate, C10H14N3O2 +·C2Cl3O2 -, (II), are reported and compared. A partial positional disorder of the anions was found. In both structures, the piperazine rings adopt a chair conformation, whereas the positions of the nitro-phenyl group on the piperazine ring differ from bis-ectional in (I) to equatorial in (II). In both structures, the supra-molecular assemblies are mono-periodic on the basis of the chain-of-rings motifs supported by aromatic π-π inter-actions. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to explore the inter-molecular close contacts in both crystals. The most dominant contacts of the Hirshfeld surface of the cation-anion pairs of the asymmetric units are O⋯H/H⋯O, and those with a contribution of halogen atoms: F⋯H/H⋯F in (I) and Cl⋯H/H⋯Cl in (II), respectively.

Biosorption of nickel from aqueous solutions by Acacia leucocephala bark: Kinetics and equilibrium studies.

The biosorption of nickel(II) ions from aqueous solution by Acacia leucocephala bark was studied in a batch adsorption system as a function of pH, initial metal ion concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature. The maximum Ni(II) adsorption was obtained at pH 5. Further, the biosorbents were characterized by Fourier Transformer Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The experimental data were analysed using three sorption kinetic models viz., the pseudo-first- and second-order equations and the intraparticle diffusion model. Results show that the pseudo-second-order equation provides the best correlation for the biosorption process. The equilibrium nature of Ni(II) adsorption at different temperatures of 30, 40 and 50 degrees C have been described by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The equilibrium data fit well Langmuir isotherm. The monolayer adsorption capacity of A. leucocephala bark as obtained from Langmuir isotherm at 30 degrees C was found to be 294.1mg/g. The Chi-square (chi(2)) and Sum of the square errors (SSE) tests were also carried out to find the best fit adsorption isotherm and kinetic model. Isotherms have been used to determine thermodynamic parameters of the process, viz., free energy change (DeltaG degrees), enthalpy change (DeltaH degrees), and entropy change (DeltaS degrees) were calculated indicating that this system was a spontaneous and endothermic process. Present investigation emphasized that A. leucocephala bark may be utilized as a low cost adsorbent for nickel removal.

Shoot regeneration from stem and leaf callus of Eucalyptus tereticornis.

Adventitious shoots were obtained from leaf and stem callus of Eucalyptus tereticornis SM. Callus was induced on B5 medium with 0.1 mg/l benzyladenine (BA) and 3 or 5 mg/l naphthalene acetic acid in the dark. Shoot initiation occurred on modified Woody Plant medium (mWP) containing 0.5 mg/l BA, 500 mg/l polyvinylpyrrolidone and 10% (v/v) coconut milk. Multiple shoots were also regenerated directly from hypocotyl segments of 4 to 6 week old seedlings on B5 medium with 0.5 mg/l BA. Regenerated shoots could be rooted with 100% efficiency on mWP medium containing 0.5 mg/l indolebutyric acid and transferred to soil in the greenhouse. Suspension cultures were obtained from the callus using B5 medium with 0.5 mg/l 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Callus clumps grew from less than 1 mm to 4-6 mm in diameter within two weeks on transfer to shoot regeneration medium but failed to form shoots or somatic embryos.

Sequence assessment of comigrating AFLPTM bands in Echinacea -- implications for comparative biological studies.

The extent of sequence identity among clones derived from monomorphic and polymorphic AFLPTM polymorphism bands was quantified. A total of 79 fragments from a monomorphic band of 273 bp and 48 fragments from a polymorphic band of 159 bp, isolated from individuals belonging to different populations, varieties, and species of Echinacea, were cloned and sequenced. The monomorphic fragments exhibited above 90% sequence identity among clones within samples. Sequence identity within variety ranged from 82.78% to 94.87% and within species from 75.82% to 98.9% and was 57.97% in the genus. The polymorphic fragments exhibited much less sequence identity. In some instances, even two clones from the same fragment were different in their size and sequence. Within sample, clone sequence identity ranged from 100% to 51.57%, within variety from 33.33% to 100% in one variety, and from 23.66% to 45% within species and was as low as 1.25% within the genus. In addition, sequences of the same size were aligned to verify the nature of their sequence dissimilarity/similarity. Within each size group, identical sequences were found across species and varieties. In general, comigrating bands cannot be considered homologous. Thus, the use of AFLPTM band data for comparative studies is appropriate only if the results emanating from such analyses are considered as approximations and are interpreted as phenotypic but not genotypic.