Evaluation of biventricular longitudinal myocardial function in normal fetuses at different gestational ages using ultrasonic velocity vector imaging.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate biventricular myocardial function and biventricular longitudinal global myocardial function of fetuses at different gestational weeks using ultrasonic velocity vector imaging. Methods: A total of 127 pregnant women were enrolled and divided into five groups according to the gestational age of their fetuses. The velocity, strain, and strain rate of the left and right ventricles were measured, and these biventricular parameters were compared between the groups. The global parameters of the biventricular myocardium were also compared. Results: A pairwise comparison revealed that the differences in biventricular velocity and strain rate between groups in adjacent gestational weeks were not statistically significant (P > 0.05), but velocity increased with gestational age. A comparison of fetal longitudinal global myocardial parameters revealed that the global velocity, strain, and strain rate of the right ventricle were higher than those of the left ventricle, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05) in all groups. Conclusion: The peak velocities of the fetal left and right ventricles increased with gestational age, but the global strain and strain rate did not, suggesting that fetal myocardial function is mature and constant in the middle and late stages of pregnancy and can more reliably reflect myocardial deformation. The peak systolic velocity, global strain, and peak strain rate of the right ventricle were higher than those of the left ventricle, suggesting that the right ventricle dominates longitudinal systolic movement from the second trimester of pregnancy.

Removal of heavy metal ions and anionic dyes from aqueous solutions using amide-functionalized cellulose-based adsorbents.

An efficient, ecofriendly, amide-functionalized cellulose-based porous adsorbent was synthesized by a cross-linking reaction between cellulose filament fibers and bisacrylamide at room temperature. This process is simple, fast and inexpensive, and has significant potential for industrial applications. The prepared material has numerous adsorption sites, resulting in the highly efficient removal of anionic dyes and copper ions from aqueous media. The maximum adsorption capacities of this cellulose-based adsorbent for the dyes Acid Black 1 and Acid Red 18 and for copper ions were 751.8, 417.9, and 51.3 mg g-1, respectively. Regeneration experiments showed that the removal efficiencies for all model pollutants remained above 92 % after five consecutive recycling trials. These results indicate that amide-functionalized cellulose-based adsorbents could possibly be used to treat industrial wastewaters.

[Chemical constituents of the roots of Vaccinium bracteatum].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents of the roots of Vaccinium bracteatum. METHODS: The constituents were separated and purified with chromatographic methods (including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and RP-18 column chromatography), and their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods (including MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR). RESULTS: 10 compounds were isolated from the roots of Vaccinium bracteatu and were elucidated as chlorogenic acid (1), pinoresinol (2), ferulic acid (3), kaempferol (4), trans-caffeic acid (5), beta-sitosterol (6), quercetin (7), oleanolic acid (8), apigenin (9) and luteolin (10). CONCLUSION: Compounds 1 -3 are obtained from this plant for the first time.