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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the utility of Doppler echocardiography in evaluating left ventricular diastolic function, and prognosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 286 SLE patients were selected along with 100 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations. Clinical baseline characteristics were collected. Various Doppler echocardiographic parameters were measured and analyzed, including left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT), interventricular septal diameter (IVSD), left ventricular mass (LVM), LVM index (LVMI), and others. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, SLE patients exhibited significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein and lower levels of complement (C) 3 and C4 (p < .001). Doppler echocardiographic parameters showed significant differences between SLE patients and healthy controls, including increased LVPWT, IVSD, LVM, LVMI, peak A, PWI + Tei, E/e', TDI-Tei, and decreased e' and E/A (p < .001). Subgroup analyses indicated more severe ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with higher SLE activity and those who experienced cardiovascular events. Correlation analysis revealed positive associations of PWI + Tei, TDI-Tei, and GLS with SLE activity and cardiovascular events (p < .01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified LVMI, PWI + Tei, TDI-Tei, and GLS as significant predictors of cardiovascular events (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Doppler echocardiography is a valuable tool for the early diagnosis of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in SLE patients. Key echocardiographic parameters, including LVMI, PWI + Tei, TDI-Tei, and GLS, are effective in predicting cardiovascular events, underscoring the importance of comprehensive cardiac function assessments in these patients.
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The frequent occurrence of extreme climate events has a significant impact on people's lives. Heavy rainfall can lead to an increase of regional Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS), which will cause land subsidence due to the influence of hydrological load. At present, regional TWS is mostly obtained from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, but the method has limitations for small areas. This paper used water level and flow data as hydrological signals to study the land subsidence caused by heavy rainfall in the Chaohu Lake area of East China (June 2016-August 2016). Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to study the interconnection between water resource changes and Global Navigation Satellites System (GNSS) vertical displacement. Meanwhile, to address the reliability of the research results, combined with the Coefficient of determination method, the research findings were validated by using different institutional models. The results showed that: (1) During heavy rainfall, the vertical displacement caused by atmospheric load was larger than non-tidal oceanic load, and the influence trends of the two were opposite. (2) The rapidly increasing hydrologic load in the Chaohu Lake area resulted in greater subsidence displacement at the closer CORS station (CHCH station) than the more distant CORS station (LALA station). The Pearson correlation coefficients between the vertical displacement and water level were as high as -0.80 and -0.64, respectively. The phenomenon confirmed the elastic deformation principle of disc load. (3) Although there was a systematic bias between the different environmental load deformation models, the deformation trends were generally consistent with the GNSS monitoring results. The average Coefficients of determination between the different models and the GNSS results were 0.63 and 0.77, respectively. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of GNSS in monitoring short-term hydrological load. This study reveals the spatial-temporal evolution of land deformation during heavy rainfall around Chaohu Lake, which is of reference significance for water resource management and infrastructure maintenance in this area.