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Percutaneous occlusion of atrial septal defect (ASD) has recently become a standard therapeutic strategy, but little is known about left atrial (LA) function thereafter. The present study aimed to determine LA function in 43 children with ASD and 13 controls based on LA strain measured by two-dimensional echocardiographic speckle tracking (2DE-ST). Among these children, 12 underwent surgery (ASD-S), 31 had device closure (ASD-D), and 13 were included as controls. LA strain was significantly decreased after ASD-D but was not significantly altered after ASD-S, indicating that percutaneous occlusion of an ASD might decrease LA function. Furthermore, the size of the ASD device negatively correlated with LA strain. These results imply that ASD occlusion devices negatively influence LA function and might be important when decided therapeutic strategies for ASD. LA strain measured by 2DE-ST should become a good indicator of LA function after ASD treatment in children.(Int Heart J 2020; 61: 83-88)

This study investigated the potential application of pressurized CO 2 for water disinfection. Under supporting high pressure, a high volume of CO 2 microbubbles were produced in a liquid environment. Specifically, the inactivation effects of CO 2 against Escherichia coli, bacteriophage MS2 and T4 were examined at equal pressures (0.3 -0.9 MPa) and temperatures. The optimum conditions were found to be 0.7 MPa and an exposure time of 25 min. Under identical treatment conditions, a greater than 5.0 log reduction in E. coli was achieved, while over 3.0 log and nearly 4.0 log reductions were observed for phage MS2 and phage T4, respectively. Comparison of the inactivation effect of CO 2 , N 2 O, a common acid and buffer solution against phage MS2, revealed that the change in pH caused by CO 2 plays an important role in its virucidal effects. Moreover, the pumping cycle and depressurization rate contributed to the inhibition of microorganisms. Overall, the results of this study indicate that CO 2 has the potential for use as a disinfectant without the formation of by-products.

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