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Background: We aimed to establish and validate a prognostic nomogram model for improving the prediction of 30-day mortality of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in critically ill patients with severe sepsis. Methods: In this retrospective study, the current retrospective cohort study extracted data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database, then partitioned the cohort randomly into training and validation subsets. The cohort was partitioned into training and validation subsets randomly. Our primary endpoint was 30-day all-cause mortality. To reduce data dimensionality and identify predictive variables, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was employed. A prediction model was constructed by multivariate logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated using the concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: The analysis included 1435 total patients, comprising 1005 in the training cohort and 430 in the validation cohort. We found that age, smoking status, glucose, (BUN), lactate, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, mechanical ventilation≥48h (MV), parenteral nutrition (PN), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) independently influenced mortality in sepsis patients with concomitant GIB. The C-indices were 0.746 (0.700–0.792) and 0.716 (0.663–0.769) in the training and validation sets, respectively. Based on the area under the curve (AUC) and DCA, the nomogram exhibited good discrimination for 30-day all-cause mortality in sepsis with GIB. Conclusions: For sepsis patients complicated with GIB, we created a unique nomogram model to predict the 30-day all-cause mortality. This model could be a significant therapeutic tool for clinicians in terms of personalized treatment and prognosis prediction.

Abstract In addition to the Warburg effect, which increases the availability of energy and biosynthetic building blocks in WSSV-infected shrimp, WSSV also induces both lipolysis at the viral genome replication stage (12 hpi) to provide material and energy for the virus replication, and lipogenesis at the viral late stage (24 hpi) to complete virus morphogenesis by supplying particular species of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Here, we further show that WSSV causes a reduction in lipid droplets (LDs) in hemocytes at the viral genome replication stage, and an increase in LDs in the nuclei of WSSV-infected hemocytes at the viral late stage. In the hepatopancreas, lipolysis is triggered by WSSV infection, and this leads to fatty acids being released into the hemolymph. β-oxidation inhibition experiment reveals that the fatty acids generated by WSSV-induced lipolysis can be diverted into β-oxidation for energy production. At the viral late stage, WSSV infection leads to lipogenesis in both the stomach and hepatopancreas, suggesting that fatty acids are in high demand at this stage for virion morphogenesis. Our results demonstrate that WSSV modulates lipid metabolism specifically at different stages to facilitate its replication.

Abstract Objective Women with an elevated basal FSH indicate diminished ovarian reserve and reduced oocyte and embryo numbers. DMSCs are likely to be involved in immune tolerance of pregnancy maintenance. We investigate the effect of follicle-stimulating hormones on the immunomodulatory functions of DMSCs. Methods DMSCs were primary cultured from decidual tissue. Pretreated DMSCs with mitomycin C, combined with CD4+ T lymphocytes, DMSCs + CD4+T co-culture system was established. Different physiological dose FSH (3 ng/ml,10 ng/ml,30 ng/ml,100 ng/ml) were used to co-culture system. Cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α) and other proteins (FSHR, MyD88) were measured. Results Compared with the control group (FSH (0 ng/mL) + CD4+T + DMSCs), the FSH concentration was 10, 30, and 100 ng/ml, IL-6 levels were significantly reduced (P

Objective To investigate the effect of atorvastatin in the treatment of patients with epidual effusion after digital plastic titanium mesh cranioplasty. Methods A total of 58 patients with epidual effusion after digital plastic titanium mesh cranioplasty from August 2014 to January 2019 were randomly divided into control group (N = 23) and atorvastatin group (N = 35). Control group was given routine treatment, such as dilatation, improvement of microcirculation and nutritional nerve. Atorvastatin group was given atorvastatin therapy on the basis of routine treatment. The clinical efficacy of patients was evaluated after one month of treatment and the complete absorption time of epidual effusion in patients was recorded during the follow-up period from 2 to 4 months. Results The total effective rate of atorvastatin group was significantly higher than that of control group [91.43% (32/35) vs. 56.52% (13/23); Z = -3.143, P = 0.002]. Compare with control group, the total absorption time of epidual effusion in atorvastatin group was significantly shorter [(32.77 ± 7.00) d vs. (40.30 ± 13.22) d; t = - 2.511, P = 0.018]. Conclusions Atorvastatin can accelerate the absorption of epidual effusion and improve the prognosis after digital plastic titanium mesh cranioplasty. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2019.09.012

Objective To explore the multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment mode of elderly patients with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), and the effect and safety of trepanation and drainage under this mode. Methods A total of 37 elderly patients with CSDH (≥ 80 years old) were treated by trepanation and drainage under multi-disciplinary team (MDT) model from December 2014 to December 2018. Summarized the perioperative management process of CSDH in the elderly patients under MDT model, and observed its complications and prognosis. Bender grade was used to evaluate the clinical symptoms and neurological deficits, CT was used to evaluate the curative effect, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) was used to evaluate quality of life. Results Operation-related complications of 37 patients included non-tension pneumocephalus (19 cases, 51.35% ), subdural effusion in (5 cases, 13.51% ),intracranial hypotension (2 cases, 5.41% ) and epilepsy (1 case, 2.70% ). The age-related complications included new pulmonary infection (1 case, 2.70% ), abnormal blood pressure (3 cases, 8.11% ), elevated blood sugar (2 cases, 5.41%) and acute coronary diseases (3 cases, 8.11%). There was no perioperative death. The clinical symptoms and neurological function was improved significantly after operation (Z = 6.198, P = 0.000). Postoperative CT showed that the total effective rate was 86.49% (32/37). During the follow-up period, the KPS was over 60 score, and CT showed that the total effective rate was 96.43% (27/ 28). Conclusions MDT model can optimize the diagnosis and treatment process of CSDH, and formulate detailed individualized treatment plan. Trepanation and drainage under the MDT model for the treatment of elderly patients with CSDH is helpful to improve prognosis and reduce mortality. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2019.09.011

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), a recently emerged bacterial shrimp disease, has increased shrimp mortality and caused huge economic losses in many Asian countries. However, molecular factors underlying pathogenesis of this disease remain largely unknown. Our objective was to characterize metabolic alterations in shrimp stomach during AHPND and determine effects of taurocholate on AHPND-causing Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Based on metabolomics, pathways for lipid metabolism and for primary bile acid (BA) synthesis were majorly affected following AHPND infection. Bile acid metabolites, namely taurocholate, were downregulated in the metabolomics database. This prompted us to study effects of taurocholate on biofilm formation, PirABvp toxin release and biofilm detachment capabilities in AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus. Treatment of this bacterium with high concentration of taurocholate, a primary bile acid, induced biofilm formation, PirABvp toxin release and facilitated the dispersion of bacterial cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that AHPND infection can affect the lipid metabolites in shrimp stomach, and further suggest that the primary bile acid taurocholate is important for the virulence of AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus.

The microbial communities associated with plants (the plant microbiome) play critical roles in regulating plant health and productivity. Because of this, in recent years, there have been significant increase in studies targeting the plant microbiome. Amplicon sequencing is widely used to investigate the plant microbiome and to develop sustainable microbial agricultural tools. However, performing large microbiome surveys at the regional and global scales pose several logistic challenges. One of these challenges is related with the preservation of plant materials for sequencing aiming to maintain the integrity of the original diversity and community composition of the plant microbiome. Another significant challenge involves the existence of multiple primer sets used in amplicon sequencing that, especially for bacterial communities, hampers the comparability of datasets across studies. Here, we aimed to examine the effect of different preservation approaches (snap freezing, fresh and kept on ice, and air drying) on the bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition on plant leaves, stems and roots from seven plant species from contrasting functional groups (e.g. C3, C4, N-Fixers, etc.). Another major challenge comes when comparing plant to soil microbiomes, as different primers sets are often used for plant vs. soil microbiomes. Thus, we also investigated if widely used 16S rRNA primer set (779F/1193R) for plant microbiome studies provides comparable data to those often used for soil microbiomes (341F/805R) using 86 soil samples. We found that the community composition and diversity of bacteria or fungi were robust to contrasting preservation methods. The primer sets often used for plants provided similar results to those often used for soil studies suggesting that simultaneous studies on plant and soil microbiomes are possible. Our findings provide novel evidence that preservation approaches do not significantly impact plant microbiome data interpretation and primer differences do not impact the treatment effect, which has significant implication for future large-scale and global surveys of plant microbiomes.

Severe trauma has the characteristics of complicated condition, multiple organs involved, limited auxiliary examinations, and difficulty in treatment. Most of the trauma patients were sent to primary hospitals to receive treatments. But the traditional mode of separate discipline management can easily lead to delayed treatment, missed or wrong diagnosis and high disability, which causes a high mortality in severe trauma patients. Therefore, if the primary hospitals, especially county-level hospitals (usually the top general hospital within the administrative region of a county), can establish a scientific and comprehensive trauma care system, the success rate of trauma rescue in this region can be greatly improved. On March 1st, 2013, Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, China set up a trauma care center, which integrated the pre-hospital and in-hospital trauma treatment procedures, and has achieved good economic and social benefits. Till March 1st, 2017, 1265 severe trauma patients (injury severity score >16) have been treated in this trauma center. The rescue success rate reached 95% and the delayed and/or missed diagnosis rate was less than 5%. Totally 86 severe cases of pelvic fractures with unstable hemodynamics were treated, and the success rate was 92%. The in-hospital emergency rescue response time is less than 3 min, and the time from definite diagnosis to surgery is within 35 min. Keywords: Severe trauma, Integrated emergency management system, County-level hospital

Summary: Post-stroke dementia (PSD) is a clinical entity that encompasses all types of dementia following an index stroke, which may affect up to one third of stroke survivors. Unlike physical disability after stroke, cognitive function usually worsens over time and are often overlooked with detrimental impacts on the quality of life of survivors. The risk factors for post-stroke dementia are multifactorial and includes genetic predisposition, demographic factors (like older age and lower education status), pre-stroke cognitive and functional status, prior transient ischemic attack or stroke, vascular risk factors, characteristics and medical diseases associated with complications of stroke. Neuroimaging determinants are global cerebral atrophy or regional atrophy like hippocampal atrophy or medial temporal lobe atrophy, white matter lesions and changes, silent infarcts, lacunar infarcts and microbleeds. The mechanism of post-stroke dementia remains unknown and its neuropathology is poorly defined. Post-stroke dementia patients may benefit from target treatment of dementia with anti-dementia drugs as well as prevention and treatment of strokes. This review focus on the epidemiology, presumed mechanisms, recent studies on biomarkers, diagnostic workup and promising management strategies with functional outcome for post-stroke dementia. Keywords: dementia, mechanism, risk factors, stroke, treatment

In this study, we report on the application of a dielectric/ultra-thin metal/dielectric (DMD) multilayer consisting of ytterbium (Yb)-doped molybdenum oxide (MoO3)/silver (Ag)/MoO3 stacked as the transparent cathode in top-emitting green quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLED). By optimizing the Yb doping ratio, we have highly improved the electron injection ability from 0.01 to 0.35. In addition, the dielectric/ultra-thin metal/dielectric (DMD) cathode also shows a low sheet resistance of only 12.2 Ω/sq, which is superior to the resistance of the commercially-available indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode (~15 Ω/sq). The DMD multilayer exhibits a maximum transmittance of 75% and an average transmittance of 70% over the visible range of 400–700 nm. The optimized DMD-based G-QLED has a smaller current leakage at low driving voltage. The optimized DMD-based G-QLED enhances the current density than that of G-QLED with indium zinc oxide (IZO) as a cathode. The fabricated DMD-based G-QLED shows a low turn-on voltage of 2.2 V, a high current efficiency of 38 cd/A, and external quantum efficiency of 9.8. These findings support the fabricated DMD multilayer as a promising cathode for transparent top-emitting diodes.

Background: Risk factors for stroke, stroke subtypes, and outcomes observed in stroke patients younger than 65 years are different from those observed in elderly stroke patients. The aim of the study was to compare the risk factor profiles, stroke subtypes, and outcomes between stroke patients younger than 65 years and elderly stroke patients. Methods: We retrospectively assessed the risk factor, stroke subtypes, and outcomes for 368 younger stroke patients (aged 20–64 years) and 605 elderly stroke patients (aged 65–98 years). Results: High stroke prevalence was observed in younger patients who were predominantly males with a history of smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and high body mass index. These patients were less likely to have atrial fibrillation, prior stroke, systemic infection, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and low National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score on admission, and prolonged stay in the acute ward of the hospital compared with elderly patients. Further, regarding stroke subtype, younger patients showed a higher frequency of lacunar infarct and stroke of other demonstrated etiology whereas elderly patients were more likely to have cardioembolism and total anterior circulation infarct. Younger patients showed favorable outcomes at the 3-month follow-up after discharge. Conclusion: We conclude that, apart from risk factors and stroke subtypes, the functional outcomes observed in the two groups differed. Early identification of these differences with good management may help to improve the clinical outcomes in younger stroke patients.

A frequently forgotten old malady called botulism has been recognized for more than a century. This ailment occurs worldwide, afflicts human of all age groups from infants to elderly and affects Oriental people more often in several regions of China. Occurrence in Taiwan is uncommon, and therefore, it is often overlooked. The outbreaks of human botulism in various regions of the world, the clinical types, the molecular mechanisms, and the electrophysiologic findings will be highlighted.

This article reports the difference between neuralgic amyotrophy and neuropathy caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatment which manifested with severe shoulder pain followed by marked weakness of bilateral upper arms and involvement of cranial nerves. A 62-year-old man presented with acute severe neuropathic pain at the left shoulder, bilateral shoulder weakness, hoarseness of voice from vocal cord palsy, and respiratory insufficiency from left diaphragm palsy, which all occurred sequentially over a 1-month period. The diagnosis of neuralgic amyotrophy was supported and differentiated from tumor-induced and radiation-induced neuropathy by clinical presentation, electrophysiologic and imaging studies. Unlike previous reports of the onset of neuralgic amyotrophy being associated with initiation of radiation treatment in cancer patients, this report demonstrates that neuralgic amyotrophy can occur at any point of the malignant disease process after radiation and chemotherapy.

The problems of redundant RFID reader detection and coverage have instigated researchers to propose different optimization heuristics due to the rapid advance of technologies in large-scale RFID systems. In this paper, we present a layered elimination optimization (LEO) which is an algorithm-independent technique aims to detect maximum amount of redundant readers that could be safely removed or turned off with preserving original RFID network coverage. A significant improvement of the LEO scheme is that amount of “write-to-tag†operations could be largely reduced during the redundant reader identification phase. Moreover, LEO is a distributed approach which does not need to collect global information for centralizing control, leading to no communications or synchronizations among RFID readers. To evaluate the performance of the proposed techniques, we have implemented the LEO technique along with other methods. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the LEO is reliable, effective, and efficient. The proposed techniques can provide reliable performance with detecting higher redundancy and has lower algorithm overheads.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common causative agent of nosocomial infections with a high level of resistance toward β-lactam antibiotics. Our previous study showed that TEM-1 and SHV-11 are the predominant β-lactamase-encoding genes of K. pneumoniae isolates in the Zhejiang area, China. In this study, more clinical K. pneumoniae isolates were collected for detecting their β-lactamase-encoding gene profiles by PCR and sequencing. qRT-PCR was then performed to determine the role of cefotaxime or penicillin in low concentrations to induce the β-lactamase gene expression of K. pneumoniae isolates. Moreover, the K. pneumoniae isolates were pretreated with closantel (CLO), a histidine kinase inhibitor, before antibiotic treatment, and qRT-PCR and the β-lactamase phenotype confirmatory test were then applied to determine the effect of CLO on the expression of the β-lactamase genes. The results showed that, except for KPC-2, the 1/4 MIC cefotaxime or penicillin induced significant mRNA elevation of the TEM-1, CTX-M-14, SHV-11 and OXA-1 β-lactamase genes, but this induction could be inhibited by CLO. After pretreatment with CLO, 78.4∼81.4% of the β-lactam-resistant isolates became sensitive and the positive rate of the β-lactamase production phenotype in the isolates was decreased from 100% to 27.1%. The data indicate that TEM-1 (70.7%), SHV-11 (64.2%) and CTX-M-14 (40.5%) are the predominant β-lactamase genes of the K. pneumoniae isolates in Zhejiang and sublethal dosage of β-lactam antibiotics can induce the β-lactamase gene expression of K. pneumoniae through histidine kinase-mediated two-component signaling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil chemical and biochemical properties are important indicators in assessing soil quality. To investigate the effect of manure application on eroded Mollisols, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, and potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), urease activity, and sucrase activity were determined after 8-yr application of cattle manure in combination with chemical fertilizers in a soil erosion simulation facility by removing the topsoil by 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 cm in a typical Mollisols region in China. All parameters except C/N ratio showed a declining trend with the increasing of erosion depth. Soil organic C, TN, PMN, MBC, urease activity, and sucrase activity were 11 to 23, 5 to 9, 5 to 16, 11 to 19, 18 to 32 and 13 to 37% higher under the chemical fertilizer + manure treatment than the chemical fertilizer alone plots, respectively. The C/N ratios did not change significantly with the increase of erosion depth, but they were also 5 to 17% higher in the chemical fertilizer + manure treatment than that in the chemical fertilizer alone treatment. Eight-year application of cattle manure in combination with chemical fertilizers improved soil quality of eroded Mollisols, but was not good enough to restore the fertility of eroded Mollisols to that of non-eroded soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, genome sequences (complete or in draft form) from only six baeocytous cyanobacteria in four genera have been reported: Xenococcus, Chroococcidiopsis, Pleurocapsa, and Stanieria. To expand our knowledge on the diversity of baeocytous cyanobacteria, this study sequenced the genome of GI1, which is a Myxosarcina-like baeocytous cyanobacterium. GI1 is of interest not only because of its phylogenetic niche, but also because it is a cyanobiont isolated from the marine cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota, which has been shown to cause the death of corals. The ~7 Mb draft GI1 genome contains 6,891 protein-coding genes and 62 RNA genes. A comparison of genomes among the sequenced baeocytous cyanobacterial strains revealed the existence or absence of numerous discrete genes involved in nitrogen metabolism. It will be interesting to determine whether these genes are important for cyanobacterial adaptations and interactions between cyanobionts and their marine sponge hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Comparative genomics provides insights into the diversification of bacterial species. Bacterial speciation usually takes place with lasting homologous recombination, which not only acts as a cohering force between diverging lineages but brings advantageous alleles favored by natural selection, and results in ecologically distinct species, e.g., frequent host shift in Xanthomonas pathogenic to various plants. Results: Using whole-genome sequences, we examined the genetic divergence in Xanthomonas campestris that infected Brassicaceae, and X. citri, pathogenic to a wider host range. Genetic differentiation between two incipient races of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae was attributable to a DNA fragment introduced by phages. In contrast to most portions of the genome that had nearly equivalent levels of genetic divergence between subspecies as a result of the accumulation of point mutations, 10% of the core genome involving with homologous recombination contributed to the diversification in Xanthomonas, as revealed by the correlation between homologous recombination and genomic divergence. Interestingly, 179 genes were under positive selection; 98 (54.7%) of these genes were involved in homologous recombination, indicating that foreign genetic fragments may have caused the adaptive diversification, especially in lineages with nutritional transitions. Homologous recombination may have provided genetic materials for the natural selection, and host shifts likely triggered ecological adaptation in Xanthomonas. To a certain extent, we observed positive selection nevertheless contributed to ecological divergence beyond host shifting. Conclusion: Altogether, mediated with lasting gene flow, species formation in Xanthomonas was likely governed by natural selection that played a key role in helping the deviating populations to explore novel niches (hosts) or respond to environmental cues, subsequently triggering species diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial organization economics and the resource-based view of the firm have led to disagreements over the question as to which of firm performance at the industry and firm levels has persisted longer since the 1970s. Acknowledging that the IT industry in Taiwan has become very competitive and has demonstrated outstanding performance in the world since the 1990s, this study calculates the persistence in the incremental components of the effects on profitability, and tests hypotheses that conform to the above mainstream views of relative rates of persistence. A persistence partitioning model is fitted to a new data set, and the results show that the incremental effects of firms on profitability persist longer than the incremental effects of industry. In other words, the long-term competitive advantages of IT firms in Taiwan are more predictable and sustainable in regards to firm factors than for industry influences. These findings support the predictions of the resource-based view of the firm, and provide some implications for corporate strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-aligned anatase (A)–TiO2nanocrystals (NCs) were grown by cold-wall metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on fused silica using titanium-tetraisopropoxide (Ti(OC3H7)4) as the source reagent. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) micrographs showed the growth of vertically aligned NCs. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) pattern revealed the aligned A–TiO2with a preferential orientation of (220). Raman spectrum confirmed the deposition of pure anatase phase TiO2on fused silica. Luminescence of self-trapped excitons and oxygen vacancies were observed in anatase NCs. The indirect band gap of A–TiO2was determined to be 3.14 ± 0.01 eV by analyzing the surface photovoltage spectrum. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses showed oxygen vs.titanium ratio of 2.0 ± 0.1 for the as-deposited TiO2NCs. Further structural characterization of the well-aligned A–TiO2NCs was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique. The formation of building units bonded along {112} facets with preferred (220) orientation of the well-aligned A–TiO2NCs on fused silica were presented and the probable growth mechanisms were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial organization economics and resource-based views of the firm have disagreed over what matters most to profitability for more than 60 years. Until recent variance decomposition studies started trying to determine the relative importance of industry, corporate parent, and business segment on profitability, little research had been done to investigate the extent to which difference in countries could explain the variation in industry performance. This study explores variation in high-tech industry performance, with particular interest in the relative effects of country versus industry for four country classes and eight geographic regions. A variance components model revealed that while country dominated high-tech industry performance in the developed countries and geographic regions North America, South America, All America, Western Europe, and All Europe, industry factors played a role in the development of high-tech industries worldwide. We also found that the effects of industry contributed substantially to the performance of high-tech industry when there was sustainable investment and innovation, especially in newly industrializing economies, large less-developed countries, and Southeast Asia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cadmium (Cd), a common environmental heavy metal and endocrine disruptor, is known to exert toxic effects on the testes. However, the mechanisms accounting for its toxicity in mature spermatozoa remain unclear. Methods: Adult male C57BL/6 mice were orally administered with CdCl2 for 5 weeks at 3 mg·kg-1·day-1. Additionally, mouse spermatozoa were incubated in vitro with different doses of CdCl2 (0, 10, 50, 250 µM). Several sperm functions including the sperm motility, viability and acrosome reaction (AR) ratio were then examined. Furthermore, the current and expression levels of both the sperm-specific Ca2+ channel (CatSper) and the sperm-specific K+ channel (KSper) were evaluated by patch-clamping and western blotting, respectively. Results: Our data showed that the motility, viability and AR of sperm exposed to cadmium significantly decreased in vivo and in vitro. Interestingly, these changes were correlated with changes in CatSper but not KSper. Conclusion: The findings indicate sperm dysfunction during both chronic and acute cadmium exposure as well as a specific role for CatSper in the reproductive toxicity of cadmium.

Sperm respond to multiple chemical factors derived from the eggs and reorient their migratory direction – a process called chemotaxis. The chemotaxis of sperm in marine invertebrates has been established well. A couple of ion channels and enzymes are involved in the signal transduction pathway of sperm chemotaxis. In contrast, the mechanism of sperm chemotaxis in mammals is still rudimentary. Although much less is known about the chemotaxis of mammalian sperm, the feature of chemotaxis has been utilized to recruit sperm at the optimum functional state, which may improve the efficiency of assisted reproductive technology. In this review, we summarize potent chemoattractants and molecular regulatory mechanism in marine invertebrates and mammals and discuss the application of chemotaxis in clinical treatment.

This brief proposes possible a replacement of shallow p-n junction with insulated shallow extension (ISE) structure for bulk MOSFET. The shallow extension is defined by the sidewall thermal oxide rather than the implanted p-n junction. With this insulator for extension and main junction, a heavier halo doping concentration can be used. Thus, the threshold-voltage roll-off and the junction leakage current can be minimized simultaneously. This structure can be a good alternative for junction structures in sub-100-nm regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg-doped Sb3Te films are proposed to improve the performance of phase-change memory (PCM). We prepare Mg-doped Sb3Te films and investigate their crystallization behaviors, structural, optical and electrical properties. We find that Mg-doping can increase the crystallization temperature, enhance the activation energy, and improve the 10-year data retention of Sb3Te. Especially Mg25.19(Sb3Te)74.81 shows higher Tc (∼ 190 °C) and larger Ea (∼ 3.49 eV), which results in a better data retention maintaining for 10 yr at ∼ 112 °C. Moreover Ra/Rc value is also improved. These excellent properties make Mg—Sb—Te material a promising candidate for the phase-change memory (PCM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of instrumental analytical methods such as LC-MS for routine monitoring of toxins requires the availability of accurate calibration standards. This is a challenge because many toxins are rare, expensive, dangerous to handle, and/or unstable, and simple gravimetric procedures are not reliable for establishing accurate concentrations in solution. NMR has served as one method of qualitative and quantitative characterization of toxin calibration solution Certified Reference Materials (CRMs). LC with chemiluminescence N detection (LC-CLND) was selected as a complementary method for comprehensive characterization of CRMs because it provides a molar response to N. Here we report on our investigation of LC-CLND as a method suitable for quantitative analysis of nitrogenous toxins. It was demonstrated that a wide range of toxins could be analyzed quantitatively by LC-CLND. Furthermore, equimolar responses among diverse structures were established and it was shown that a single high-purity standard such as caffeine could be used for instrument calibration. The limit of detection was approximately 0.6 ng N. Measurement of several of Canada’s National Research Council toxin CRMs with caffeine as the calibrant showed precision averaging 2% RSD and accuracy ranging from 97 to 102%. Application of LC-CLND to the production of calibration solution CRMs and the establishment of traceability of measurement results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety between endoscopic and microscopic surgery via transnasal⁃transsphenoidal approach for recurrent nonfunctional pituitary adenoma, and to explore the best way of operation. Methods The clinical data of 43 patients with recurrent nonfunctional pituitary adenoma who underwent surgery via transnasal ⁃ transsphenoidal approach were analyzed retrospectively from October 2012 to August 2019, including 21 cases of endoscopic surgery (endoscopy group) and 22 cases of microscopic surgery (microscopy group). The bleeding volume during operation, operative time, tumor total resection rate, postoperative symptom remission rate, incidence rate of postoperative complications (including intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak, hypophysis function, olfactory disturbance, epistaxis, bleeding in operation area) and tumor recurrence rate were recorded. Results The bleeding volume during operation [(60.67 ± 33.27) ml vs. (111.33 ± 49.26) ml; t = 0.107, P = 0.030] and operation time [(81.77 ± 26.40) min vs. (168.95 ± 45.34) min; t = 0.006, P = 0.000] in the microscopy group were lower than those in the endoscopy group, but there was no significant difference in tumor total resection rate, postoperative symptom remission rate, incidence rate of postoperative complications and tumor recurrence rate ( P > 0.05, for all). Conclusions Neuroendoscopic and microscopic transnasal ⁃ transsphenoidal surgery are two common methods for the treatment of recurrent nonfunctional pituitary adenoma, which can achieve satisfactory results and high safety. The fusion of neuroendoscopy and microscopy is a trend of pituitary adenoma resection. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2020.03.011

Microring resonators on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) were characterized at 2.75 $\mu\hbox{m}$ wavelength. We obtained a $Q$ factor of 11400 $\pm$ 800. The thermo-optic coefficient of epitaxial silicon of SOS wafer was measured to be $2.11 \pm 0.08 \times 10^{-4}\ \hbox{K}^{-1}$. We also describe a characterization technique to measure the $Q$ of microring resonators using a fixed wavelength source. By only varying the temperature of the device, it is possible to measure the $Q$ of a mid-infrared (mid-IR) microresonator. The proposed method provides an alternative method of $Q$ measurement for microring resonators in mid-IR, where tunable lasers may not be easily available. The technique was used to determine the $Q$ of SOS microring resonators at 2.75 $\mu\hbox{m}$ wavelength.

We study the use of two-photon absorption (TPA) in a silicon optical waveguide for measuring the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of a nonreturn to zero phase-shift keying (NRZ-PSK) signal. The average photocurrent generated in the silicon waveguide increased by 70 nA (from 375 to 445 nA) for a change in OSNR from 28 to 6 dB and a constant total input power of 10 dBm. The nonresonant nature of the silicon waveguide TPA detector enables the simple measurement of OSNR over a continuous wide (>; 10 nm) wavelength range. For a 10-Gb/s NRZ-PSK signal, we show that when the residual dispersion in the optical signal exceeds 425 ps/nm, further increases in dispersion have little effect on the photocurrent. Thus, this TPA-based OSNR monitor can be used in practical systems with large dispersion.

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effects of Cistanche deserticola Ma. extract (CDME) on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in rats. Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a control group and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups, that is, OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17ß-estradiol (E2, 25 μg/kg/day), and OVX with CDME doses (40, 80, or 160 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or CDME started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. Bone mineral density (BMD) of L4 vertebrae and right femur of rats was estimated, The length of each femur was measured, and biochemical analysis of serum and urine specimens were performed. Results: CDME dose-dependently inhibited the reduction in BMD of L4 vertebrae (0.23 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) and femurs (0.20 ± 0.03 g/cm3, p < 0.05) caused by OVX and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture (p < 0.05), which were accompanied by a significant decrease in skeletal remodeling (p < 0.05) as evidenced by the lower levels of bone turnover markers. Conclusion: This study indicates that CDME prevents OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats, and could be used for treating osteoporosis in elderly women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]