Prenatal Detection of Coarctation of the Aorta in a Non-selected Population: A Prospective Analysis of 10 Years of Experience.

The objective of this study was to assess the ability of different parameters to identify fetuses requiring neonatal care for coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Between January 2003 and December 2012, 175 fetuses referred for great vessel disproportion were divided into two groups: group A (n = 51) with high risk of CoA and delivery planned in tertiary care referral center and group B (n = 124) with no increased risk of CoA. In group A, diagnosis of CoA was confirmed in 38/51 (74 %).

Proton magic-angle spinning-NMR investigation of surfactant aqueous suspensions.

In this Note we present the advantages of 1H magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) for the investigation of surfactant suspensions via transverse relaxation rate (R2) measurements. 1H-relaxation rates can be determined by the classical CPMG method from high-resolution spectra obtained either under conditions of liquid-state NMR for monomers and small spherical micelles or by using MAS-NMR for larger aggregates. For a mixture of alkyl dioxyethylene sulfate and alkylbetaine (80:20, w/w), up to a percentage of surfactant in water of 20%, we found that R2 increased, in accordance with an increased micellar size and very likely the formation of an HI phase.