Longitudinal Fibers Research Articles

SOME MORPHOMETRIC PARAMETERS OF MUSCULATURE IN TREMATODES FASCIOLA HEPATICA (PLATYHELMINTHES)

The distribution of muscle elements in adult Fasciola hepatica was studied on frozen sections using histochemical staining and fluorescent microscopy. Measurements were taken from the stained sections on photomicrograms. The histochemical staining detected actin in muscle filaments of the muscle system. The body wall consisted of circular, diagonal and longitudinal muscle fibers. The thickness of the dorsal muscle layer of the body was 25–50 µm, and the ventral muscle layer was 18– 25 µm. Numerous dorsal and ventral muscle bundles of 10–28 µm thick connected the dorsal and abdominal walls of the body. The musculature thickness of the oral sucker was 196 to 238 µm. The thickness of the pharyngeal wall was 64–98 µm; it was represented by circular, longitudinal and radial muscle fibers. The round and oval lumens of the branched blind intestine had a diameter of 63–119 µm. The intestine was surrounded by thin circular and diagonal muscle fibers of 2–3 µm thick, with a distance of 5-7 µm between them. The ventral sucker consisted of three types of muscle fibers, namely, circular, longitudinal and radial fibers. The maximum thickness of its musculature was about 340 µm.

Skeletal muscle surrogates for the acquisition of muscle repair skills in upper limb surgery

IntroductionThe required fidelity of synthetic materials in surgical simulators to teach tissue handling and repair requirements should be as accurate as possible. There is a poor understanding of the relationship between choice of muscle surrogates and training outcome for trainee surgeons. To address this, the mechanical characteristics of several candidate synthetic muscle surrogates were measured, and their subjective biofidelity was qualitatively assessed by surgeons. MethodsSilicone was selected after assessing several material options and 16 silicone-based surrogates were evaluated. Three of the closest samples to muscle (Samples 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) and one with inserted longitudinal fibres (1.2F) were mechanically tested in the following: compression and tension, needle puncture force and suture pull-out in comparison with real muscle. The four samples were evaluated by 17 Plastic and Orthopaedic surgeons to determine their views of the fidelity with regard to the handling properties, needle insertion and ease of suture pull-out. ResultsThe mechanical testing showed the surrogates exhibited varying characteristics that matched some of the properties of muscle, though none recreated all the mechanical characteristics of native muscle. Good biofidelity was generally achieved for compression stiffness and needle puncture force, but it was evident that tensile stiff was too low for all samples. The pull-out forces were variable and too low, except for the sample with longitudinal fibres. In the qualitative assessment, the overall median scores for the four surrogate samples were all between 30 and 32 (possible range 9–45), indicating limited differentiation of the samples tested by the surgeons. ConclusionsThe surrogate materials showed a range of mechanical properties bracketing those of real muscle, thus presenting a suitable combination of candidates for use in simulators to attain the requirements as set out in the learning outcomes of muscle repair. However, despite significant mechanical differences between the samples, all surgeons found the samples to be similar to each other.

Digital Longitudinal Monitoring of Optical Fiber Communication Link

Optical transmission links are generally composed of optical fibers, optical amplifiers, and optical filters. In this paper, we present a channel reconstruction method (CRM) that extracts physical characteristics of multiple link components such as longitudinal fiber losses, chromatic dispersion (CD), multiple amplifiers’ gain spectra, and multiple filters’ responses, only from receiver-side (Rx) digital signal processing (DSP) of data-carrying signals. The concept is to reconstruct a virtual copy of an actual transmission channel in the digital domain, where optical fibers and amplifiers are modeled as the split-step Fourier method for the Manakov equation while optical filters are emulated as complex-valued finite impulse response filters. We estimate the model parameters such as losses, CD, gains, and filter responses from boundary conditions, i.e., transmitted and received signals. Experimental results show that, unlike traditional analog testing devices such as optical time-domain reflectometers and optical spectrum analyzers, CRM visualizes multi-span characteristics of fibers, amplifiers, and filters in Rx DSP, and thus localizes anomaly components among multiple ones without direct measurement.

Increased cell stiffness contributes to complement-mediated injury of choroidal endothelial cells in a monkey model of early age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the aging population. Yet no therapies exist for ~85% of all AMD patients who have the dry form that is marked by degeneration of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and underlying choroidal vasculature. As the choroidal vessels are crucial for RPE development and maintenance, understanding how they degenerate may lead to effective therapies for dry AMD. One likely causative factor for choroidal vascular loss is the cytolytic membrane attack complex (MAC) of the complement pathway that is abundant on choroidal vessels of humans with early dry AMD. To examine this possibility, we studied the effect of complement activation on choroidal endothelial cells (ECs) isolated from a rhesus monkey model of early AMD that, we report, exhibits MAC deposition and choriocapillaris endothelial loss similar to that seen in human early AMD. Treatment of choroidal ECs from AMD eyes with complement-competent normal human serum caused extensive actin cytoskeletal injury that was significantly less pronounced in choroidal ECs from young normal monkey eyes. We further show that ECs from AMD eyes are significantly stiffer than their younger counterparts and exhibit peripheral actin organization that is distinct from the longitudinal stress fibers in young ECs. Finally, these differences in complement susceptibility and mechanostructural properties were found to be regulated by the differential activity of the small GTPases Rac and Rho, because Rac inhibition in AMD cells led to simultaneous reduction in stiffness and complement susceptibility, while Rho inhibition in young cells exacerbated complement injury. Thus, by identifying cell stiffness and cytoskeletal regulators Rac and Rho as important determinants of complement susceptibility, the current findings offer a new mechanistic insight into choroidal vascular loss in early AMD that warrants further investigation for assessment of translational potential. © 2022 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

An experimental model for the study of tracheoesophageal phonation

Tracheoesophageal speech is the most widely used method of speech rehabilitation for those who have undergone a total laryngectomy. Despite its high success rate, the interplay between different factors may inhibit voice production. Among these factors, the amount of muscle contraction in the pharyngoesophageal segment is the most significant one. The present work is aimed at studying the effect of muscle contraction on tracheoesophageal voice production. An experimental model has been developed, in which a silicone tube, acting as the pharyngoesophageal segment, is connected at both ends to rigid tubes representing the pharynx and the esophagus. The effect of the musculature of the pharyngoesophageal segment has been included in the model by two different components. The first one, modeling the tendency of the muscle layer to close the pharyngoesophageal segment, has been taken into account by placing the tube inside a pressurized chamber. The second, modeling the stretching caused by longitudinal muscle fibers, has been included by means of a sliding device in one of the terminations of the silicone tube. The necessary parameters for self-sustained oscillations to occur were measured and compared with predictions made by a mathematical model [Tourinho et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 149, 1979–1988 (2021)].

TWO NEW SPECIES OF STILLABOTHRIUM (CESTODA: RHINEBOTHRIIDEA) FROM STINGRAYS FROM NORTHERN AUSTRALIA AND ONE NEW COMBINATION.

A study of cestode specimens that were collected during survey work on elasmobranchs collected from Taiwan and Northern Territory, Australia, revealed the presence of 1 new combination into the genus Stillabothrium (Rhinebothriidea: Escherbothriidae) and 2 new species of the genus. Phyllobothrium biacetabulatum, collected from Rhinobatos schlegelii, is transferred to Stillabothrium and its description is emended, as is the diagnosis for the genus Stillabothrium and the family Escherbothriidae. Stillabothrium biacetabulatum n. comb. differs from existing species of the genus in that the face of its bothridia is laced with a network of longitudinal and horizontal muscle fibers that do not contribute to the formation of septa. Stillabothrium lunae n. sp. is described from Himantura leoparda and differs from existing species of the genus in that its bothridium possesses an anterior field of 7-8 loculi that are wider than long. Stillabothrium mariae n. sp. is described from Maculabatis astra. This species differs from all species of Stillabothrium except Stillabothrium campbelli in possessing 10-12 horizontally oriented bothridial loculi. Stillabothrium mariae n. sp. differs from S. campbelli in having longer bothridia and from all other species of Stillabothrium in that it lacks, rather than possesses, conspicuous septa and loculi that are longer than wide in the posterior region of its bothridia. Bayesian and parsimony-bootstrap analysis of 28S rDNA revealed S. biacetabulatum n. comb., S. lunae n. sp., and S. mariae n. sp. to be part of Clade 1 of Stillabothrium, with S. biacetabulatum n. comb. being the sister species to S. mariae n. sp. Stillabothrium lunae n. sp. was found to be the sister species to Stillabothrium borneoense.

Shear resistant mechanisms in steel fiber reinforced concrete beams: An analytical investigation

In Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams, the total shear force is resisted by four resisting mechanisms viz., compressed concrete in the compression zone, aggregate interlocking through the aggregate interface at the critical diagonal crack, dowel action by the longitudinal tension reinforcement and steel fibers bridging the critical diagonal crack. It is complex to quantify the contribution of aggregate interlock and steel fibers because they perform in the same region at a diagonal crack. All four shear resisting mechanisms are interrelated, so there is the need for a mechanics-based model which can give a correct solution for quantifying the contribution of each. A mechanics-based mathematical model considering the effect of all shear resisting mechanisms has been proposed to predict the shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete beam (without transverse reinforcement). The efficacy of the proposed model has been verified through a large set of databases and found that it gives good correlations with the experimental results with mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation obtained as 0.94, 0.22 and 22.99%, respectively. Also, the contribution of each shear resisting mechanism has been recommended.

Cortical Short-Range Fiber Connectivity and Its Association With Deep Brain White Matter Hyperintensities in Older Diabetic People With Low Serum Vitamin B12.

Although previous studies have indicated that older people with diabetes mellitus (DM) had an approximately two times larger white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load than those without DM, the influence of WMHs on cognition is uncertain and inconsistent in the literature. It is unclear whether the short-range fibers in the juxtacortical region, traditionally considered to be spared from WMH pathology, are enhanced as an adaptive response to deep WM degeneration in older diabetic people with normal cognition. Moreover, the specific effect of vitamin B12 deficiency, commonly accompanied by DM, remains to be investigated. This study implemented a specialized analysis of the superficial cortical short-range fiber connectivity density (SFiCD) based on a data-driven framework in 70 older individuals with DM and low serum vitamin B12. Moreover, the effects of time and vitamin B12 supplementation were assessed based on a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 59 individuals. The results demonstrated a higher SFiCD in diabetic individuals with a higher deep WMH load. Additionally, a significant interaction between DWMH load and homocysteine on SFiCD was found. During the 27-month follow-up period, a longitudinal increase in the SFiCD was observed in the bilateral frontal cortices. However, the observed longitudinal SFiCD change was not dependent on vitamin B12 supplementation; thus, the specific reason for the longitudinal cortical short fiber densification may need further study. Overall, these findings may help us better understand the neurobiology of brain plasticity in older patients with DM, as well as the interplay among DM, WMH, and vitamin B12 deficiency.

Alterations in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus - a specific neural correlate of gender incongruence?

Increasing numbers of adolescents seek help for gender-identity questions. Consequently, requests for medical treatments, such as puberty suppression, are growing. However, studies investigating the neurobiological substrate of gender incongruence (when birth-assigned sex and gender identity do not align) are scarce, and knowledge about the effects of puberty suppression on the developing brain of transgender youth is limited. Here we cross-sectionally investigated sex and gender differences in regional fractional anisotropy (FA) as measured by diffusion MR imaging, and the impact of puberty on alterations in the white-matter organization of 35 treatment-naive prepubertal children and 41 adolescents with gender incongruence, receiving puberty suppression. The transgender groups were compared with 79 age-matched, treatment-naive cisgender (when sex and gender align) peers. We found that transgender adolescents had lower FA in the bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), forceps major and corpus callosum than cisgender peers. In addition, average FA values of the right IFOF correlated negatively with adolescents' cumulative dosage of puberty suppressants received. Of note, prepubertal children also showed significant FA group differences in, again, the right IFOF and left cortico-spinal tract, but with the reverse pattern (transgender > cisgender) than was seen in adolescents. Importantly, our results of lower FA (indexing less longitudinal organization, fiber coherence, and myelination) in the IFOF of gender-incongruent adolescents replicate prior findings in transgender adults, suggesting a salient neural correlate of gender incongruence. Findings highlight the complexity with which (pubertal) sex hormones impact white-matter development and add important insight into the neurobiological substrate associated with gender incongruence.

Redundancy and overactuation in cephalopod-inspired soft robot arms

Current soft robotic arms commonly follow traditional—i.e. hard—robot design conventions. Omnidirectional soft arms most commonly consist of segments that contain three parallel longitudinal actuators, or actuator groups, of which one or two are activated to induce bending. This design uses the minimum number of actuators required for omnidirectional bending, which is consistent with traditional robot design but unnecessarily constrains the soft arm design space. The cephalopods that frequently inspire soft robot arms have tens of bundles of longitudinal muscle fibers, and these bundles are distributed around the limb circumference rather than grouped. This article analyzes fluid-driven soft arm architectures with up to 12 actuators, which mimics the redundant and distributed nature of cephalopod arms and tentacles, in order to investigate the performance implications of an arm morphology closer to nature. Overactuation (i.e. activating more than two actuators) was considered, which is possible because soft robots—unlike traditional robots—can tolerate misaligned or partially opposed actuation without jamming. A previously-developed generalizable model was used to simulate design performance, and a subset of the examined architectures were constructed and tested. Many-actuator soft arms achieve high strokes under equivalent load and equivalent actuation pressures, without sacrificing no-load reach. These arms are also able to achieve quasi-omnidirectionality, as well as to execute near constant-curvature turns using a simple actuation pattern and a single pressure signal. The introduced framework also enables non-circular cross sections that are not possible with minimalist arm designs, allowing the load capacity and reach to be tuned in multiple directions. Several elliptical cross section arms were analyzed to explore the potential of non-circular cross sections. Overactuated, many-actuator arms significantly expand the design space of soft arms, improving performance in some cases and introducing options to tailor behavior that are infeasible in structurally minimal arms.

Clinical Findings and Management of Angle Recession Glaucoma: A Case Report

Introduction: Angle recession is a common finding after blunt trauma and involves a tear between the longitudinal and circular fibers of ciliary body. The incidence of angle recession was 24.3%. It may occur months to years after ocular trauma. Purpose: To report clinical findings and management of a patient with angle recession glaucoma. Case report: A 51 years old female came with chief complaint of blurry vision of left eye since five months earlier. There was a history of trauma in left eye 26 years ago. She had been treated with antiglaucoma medication by an ophthalmologist. Visual acuity of right eye was 1.0 and left eye was light perception. Applanation Tonometer Goldmann of left eye was 42 mmHg. Slit lamp examination revealed traumatic iritis and lens opacity. Gonioscopy revealed widening of ciliary body band in three quadrants. Funduscopy showed cup/disc ratio enlargement and RNFL thinning. This patient was diagnosed as angle recession glaucoma with traumatic iritis and traumatic cataract. Combined phacoemulsification-trabeculectomy with intraocular lens implantation was performed. One month after surgery, intraocular pressure decreased with improvement of visual acuity. Conclusion: Classically clinical findings of angle recession glaucoma were unilateral glaucoma with history of trauma and widening of ciliary body band. Surgery is needed in uncontrolled intraocular pressure with medication. Combined phacoemulsification-trabeculectomy decreases intraocular pressure as well as improves visual acuity.

Towards efficient concrete structures with ultra-thin 3D printed formwork: exploring reinforcement strategies and optimisation

ABSTRACT The Eggshell fabrication process combines the 3D printing of formwork with the simultaneous casting of a fast-hardening concrete. One limiting factor to reaching mass-market adoption is a suitable reinforcing strategy. In this study, a reinforcement strategy combining steel reinforcing bars with steel fibres is explored. A series of eight beams were produced using the Eggshell process or conventionally cast. The longitudinal reinforcement was provided by two reinforcing bars, and two types of fibres, either mixed with the concrete or placed and aligned between the cast concrete layers, were used as shear reinforcement. The results showed that combining conventional longitudinal reinforcement and fibres as shear reinforcement is a suitable strategy. These findings were applied to fabricate an optimised beam with a volume reduction of almost 50%. The structural performance of this beam was similar to the beam with a rectangular cross-section with the same reinforcement strategy showing the potential of Eggshell in combination with an innovative reinforcement strategy to produce material-efficient structural concrete elements.

A novel technique to improve the compressive strength and ductility of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite bars

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite bars have excellent durability compared to traditional steel reinforcements but their strength contribution in the design of compression members is generally neglected. The non-homogeneous and anisotropic nature of GFRP bars including their complex behavior in compression and the lack of standard testing procedure have hindered their use as compressive reinforcements. To improve their behavior and strength in compression, a novel technique has been developed by winding additional GFRP layers around the longitudinal fibers. One, two and three winding layers with a thickness of 1.5 mm for each layer and a winding angle of ± 83.3° have been used. Compressive strength tests have then been conducted on 20 mm and 30 mm high GFRP bars with a core diameter of 20 mm to determine the improvement in compressive strength, ductility, and failure behavior. Test results showed that the 20 mm core diameter GFRP bars have shown promising improvement in the compressive strength and ductility with the increased number of winding layers wherein the compressive strength of the 20 mm and 30 mm high bars increased by 74% and 63%, respectively for bars with three winding layers. Comparison of the mechanical properties in compression and tension showed that the optimum strength and ductility improvement can be achieved with two winding layers. A simple theoretical strength model has been developed which can reliably predict the compressive strength of the winded GFRP bars.

Long and Short Human Hair Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites: Mechanical Properties for Engineering Applications

Nowadays, biofibre-reinforced polymeric materials have become a topic of interest for researchers in the field of materials science. Not only are they low-cost to produce, but the composites have high mechanical strength properties. In some cases, these polymer composites can even replace metallic structures, making them an environmentally friendly solution. The aim of this study is to evaluate the mechanical behaviour of a polyester matrix composite material reinforced with human hair fibres. To this end, composite samples of different fibre sizes, orientations and volume fractions were produced. Subsequently, to obtain the most suitable combination, these specimens were tested under the requirements of ASTM 3039, ASTM 7264 and ASTM 5628 for tensile, flexural and impact, respectively. As a result, the first group of specimens composed of a volume fraction of 70% matrix and 30% reinforcement, with a longitudinal fibre orientation at 0°, stands out from the rest of the specimens by presenting a maximum tensile strength, a maximum flexural strength and an impact energy of 28.472 MPa, 66.24 MPa and 1.371 J, respectively. In conclusion, compared to other types of composite materials, the human hair-based composite material shows surprising potential as a promising ecological solution for applications in the furniture and automotive industry due to its high flexural strength.

Redundancy and overactuation in cephalopod-inspired soft robot arms.

Current soft robotic arms commonly follow traditional - i.e., hard - robot design conventions. Omnidirectional soft arms most commonly consist of segments that contain three parallel longitudinal actuators, or actuator groups, of which one or two are activated to induce bending. This design uses the minimum number of actuators required for omnidirectional bending, which is consistent with traditional robot design but unnecessarily constrains the soft arm design space. The cephalopods that frequently inspire soft robot arms have tens of bundles of longitudinal muscle fibers, and these bundles are distributed around the limb circumference rather than grouped. This article analyzes fluid-driven soft arm architectures with up to 12 actuators, which mimic the redundant and distributed nature of cephalopod arms and tentacles. Over-constraints (activating more than two actuators) were considered, which are possible because soft robots - unlike traditional robots - can tolerate conflicting constraints without jamming. A previously-developed generalizable model was used to simulate design performance, and a subset of the examined architectures were constructed and tested. Many-actuator soft arms achieved high strokes under equivalent load without sacrificing no-load reach and were able to execute near constant-curvature turns with a simple actuation pattern. The framework introduced here also enables cross section variations that are not possible with minimalist designs.

A Stretchable Fiber with Tunable Stiffness for Programmable Shape Change of Soft Robots.

All soft robots require the same functionality, that is, controlling the shape of a structure made from soft materials. However, existing approaches for shape control of soft robots are primarily dominated by modular pneumatic actuators, which require multichambers and complex flow control components. Nature shows exciting examples of manipulation (shape change) in animals, such as worms, using a single-chambered soft body and programmable stiffness changes in the skin; controlling the spatial distribution of changes in stiffness enables achieving complex shape evolutions. However, such stiffness control requires a drastic membrane stiffness contrast between stiffened and nonstiffened states. Generally, this is extremely challenging to accomplish in stretchable materials. Inspired by longitudinal muscle fibers in the skin of worms, we developed a new concept for fabricating a hybrid fiber with tunable stiffness, that is, a fiber comprising both stiff and soft parts connected in a series. A substantial change in membrane stiffness was then observed by the locking/unlocking of the soft part. Our proposed hybrid fiber cyclically produced a membrane stiffness contrast of more than 100 × in less than 6 s using an input power of 3 W. A network of these hybrid fibers with tunable stiffness could manipulate a single-chambered soft body in multiple directions and transform it into a complex shape by selectively varying the stiffness at different locations.

Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Composites Reinforced with Coir and Date Palm Frond Fibers

This article explains to study the feasibility of natural fiber (date palm frond and coir fibers from Oman) reinforced polymer composite laminates processed using the hand lay method. Untreated and alkali-treated fiber composite laminate specimens of longitudinal and transverse direction fibers were subjected to various mechanical property tests (such as tensile, flexural, compression, shear, and hardness). Results show that the required polymer composite is ecofriendly, has no harm by natural fiber composite, and enhances mechanical strength and low density with specific strength. Hence, it is suitable for industrial and structural applications due to its improved mechanical properties.

Characterization of continuous Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre reinforced epoxy composites

The influence of fibre orientation on physical, mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre composites has been studied. The composites with longitudinal (0°), transverse (90°) and inclined (45°) fibre orientation were prepared using the hand layup technique. ASTM standards were used for characterization of continuous Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre composites. The composite with longitudinally placed fibres yields improved mechanical characteristics. The addition of longitudinal (0°) oriented continuous Hibiscus sabdariffa fibres to the epoxy enhances tensile strength by 460%, flexural strength by 160% and impact strength by 603% compared to neat epoxy. The longitudinal (0°) fibre oriented composite offers higher resistance to water absorption and thickness swelling compared to other types of composites. All continuous Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre epoxy composites possess an improved storage modulus than the neat epoxy resin. The glass transition temperature of continuous Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre composites is 8%–31% lower than that of neat epoxy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images confirm the existence of voids in the matrix, fibre pullout and crack propagation near the fibre bundle, which indicates the stress transfer between fibre and matrix is non-uniform.

O caminho verde para pilares de pontes: uma comparação entre as operações de retrofitting e substituição com análise de decisão multicritério

Abstract One of the biggest issues in civil engineering is the poor performance of concrete repairs. In fact, in Europe only 50% of concrete structures restorations are estimated to be successful, even though rehabilitation costs account for about half of the yearly construction budgets. This research aims at investigating a potential green approach to the sustainability of rehabilitation solutions for infrastructures. Following a simplified analysis of C02 emissions, intervention costs, social aspects, structural performances and other variables considered relevant to the scope, possible rehabilitation techniques are compared and ranked. The following four different options have therefore been designed to be applied to an actual column of the Brabau Bridge in Sardinia (Italy): i. complete removal and replacement of the column, ii. replacement of the damaged longitudinal rebars by machined bars and ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) strengthening, iii. longitudinal and transverse fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) wrapping, iv. concrete jacketing. A methodological and procedural strategy is established through multi-criteria analysis that will allow future developments to assess the whole Life Cycle Assessment of the maintenance work.

Показатели глобальной продольной деформации миокарда левого желудочка у молодых женщин с дисплазией соединительной ткани

Diagnosis of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia (UCTD) is a complex and controversial problem in the clinic of internal diseases. The medical and social significance of UCTD in young women is due to the variability of symptoms and the progressive course with multiple organicity and polysystemic disease. In therapy and cardiology, attention is focused on the issues of timely diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in individuals with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF). Expert-grade ultrasound scanners are used to identify preclinical signs of LV myocardial dysfunction and assess LV myocardial deformation. In young women with UCTD, the indicators of global longitudinal systolic LV deformation have not been specifically studied before. The purpose — to evaluate clinically the longitudinal deformation of the LV in young women with UCTD using speckle tracking echocardiography. Material and methods. Global longitudinal peak strain (GLPS_Avg) was assessed in 30 young women with UCTD (average age 24.2 (2.8) years). The control group included 32 practically healthy women, comparable in age (23.9 (2.4)) years without signs of UCTD. Results. The echographic parameters in both groups did not differ significantly (p>0.05) and were within the normative values. According to the GLPS_Avg assessment, it was found that the global longitudinal systolic LV deformation in the group of young women with UCTD was significantly lower than in the control group (p = 0.008). The results obtained may indicate a violation of the contraction and relaxation of the longitudinal fibers of the myocardium in young women with UCTD. Conclusion. It can be assumed that a reliable indicator of global longitudinal systolic LV deformation (GLPS_Avg) is explained by the presence in young women with UCTD of a defect in the connective tissue framework of the heart, which serves as a substrate for LV myocardial remodeling in this group of patients. Probably, there is a violation of the contraction and relaxation of the longitudinal fibers of the myocardium in young women with preserved LV EF. We can only guess the direction of further remodeling of the LV myocardium in young women with UCTD.