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Objective: To investigate the risk factors for delayed healing of peptic ulcer in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), so as to provide evidences for clinical treatment. Methods: A total of consecutive 138 hospitalized patients with UGIB due to peptic ulcer from January 2012 to December 2021 were enrolled. The healing rate of peptic ulcer was determined under reexamination of gastroscopy after 1 week of treatment. The related indice were analyze with univariate analysis to determine possible influencing factors for peptic ulcer, including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, history of taking steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), smoking, drinking, Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, hemoglobin, serum albumin, ulcer location or Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent risk factors. Results: Univariate analysis showed that age, levels of serum albumin, Forrest classification, the location and size of ulcers were associated with delayed healing of ulcers in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (P

This study employed fiber and geopolymer to enhance the engineering performance of coarse-grained fillers. By conducting a series of comparative mechanical tests, the ideal mass mixing ratio design of geopolymer and fiber was investigated first. Then, the influence of rock block content on the mechanical properties of coarse-grained fillers stabilized with fiber and geopolymer was explored. The deformation damage characteristics of fiber- and geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained fillers with different rock block contents were also discussed in the final test. The results show that the ideal mass mixing ratio of geopolymer for coarse-grained filler stabilization was 15% of dry fine-grained soil in weight and the ideal dosage and length of fiber was 0.4% of dry fine-grained soil in weight and 1.2 × 10−2 m. The compressive strength of fiber- and geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained fillers shows a tendency to increase first, then decrease, and then re-increase with the increase in rock block contents. The best compressive strength and resistance to deformation were achieved when the rock block content was 30%. The failure mode of fiber- and geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained fillers translated from shearing slip to vertical splitting as the rock block content increased. This study can provide a reference and support for the engineering application of coarse-grained fillers stabilized with fiber and geopolymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterial absorbers have become a popular research direction due to their broad application prospects, such as in radar, infrared imaging, and solar cell fields. Usually, nanostructured metamaterials are associated with a large number of geometric parameters, and traditional simulation designs are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a framework for designing plasma metamaterial absorbers in both a forward prediction and inverse design composed of a primary prediction network (PPN) and an auxiliary prediction network (APN). The framework can build the relationship between the geometric parameters of metamaterials and their optical response (reflection spectra, absorption spectra) from a large number of training samples, thus solving the problem of time-consuming and case-by-case numerical simulations in traditional metamaterial design. This framework can not only improve forward prediction more accurately and efficiently but also inverse design metamaterial absorbers from a given required optical response. It was verified that it is also applicable to absorbers of different structures and materials. Our results show that it can be used in metamaterial absorbers, chiral metamaterials, metamaterial filters, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Genetic testing of UGT1A1 was used to facilitate the diagnosis of Gilbert syndrome, and analyze the distribution features of pathogenic variants in the Chinese population. Methods: DNA was extracted from whole blood samples of patients with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia, and sequencing of the UGT1A1 gene was performed after PCR amplification. After alignment with reference sequences, the known pathogenic variants were identified, the variant spectrum was analyzed, and the pathogenicity of novel variants was predicted using online mutation prediction tools. Results: A total of 117 patients were confirmed with Gilbert syndrome by UGT1A1 genetic diagnosis, where the most common pathogenic variants included promoter A(TA)7TAA insertion and p.Gly71Arg missense variant. Following novel variants were also identified: p.Ala61Gly, p.Tyr67Phe, p.Leu166Alafs*16, p.Arg240Lys, p.Ser306Phe, p.Arg341Gln, and p.Glu424* variants. Conclusions: Genetic testing of UGT1A1 in clinical practices could facilitate confirming Gilbert syndrome and performing differential diagnosis. The pathogenic variant spectrum in the Chinese population was similar to other Asian populations. The novel pathogenic variants identified in this study require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the genetic characteristics of three fetuses with regions of homozygosity (ROH)., Methods: Three fetuses with ROH diagnosed at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital on December 2, 2020, March 19, 2021, and May 27, 2022, respectively were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data of the fetuses were collected. Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) was used to detect the ROH, and tandem repeat sequences (STR)-based multiplex PCR assay was used to identify the mosaicism status in fetus 1., Results: Partial maternal isodisomy (iUPD) (16) was found in fetus 1, for which trisomy rescue may be accountable. Meanwhile, the fetus also has confined placental mosaicism (CPM) but not true mosaicism. The formation mechanism of ROH for fetus 2 was identity by descent. Partial maternal iUPD (7) was found in fetus 3, which may be due to gametic recombination., Conclusion: The ROH of the three fetuses were inherited from both parents or the mother. Above findings suggested that it is justified to detect ROH on imprinting disorder-related chromosomes when potential uniparental disomy is suspected.

Objective: To explore the clinical manifestations of two fetuses harboring heterozygous deletions of the SHOX gene., Methods: Two pregnant women who had presented at the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital respectively on June 24, 2022 and July 27, 2022 were selected as the study subjects. In case 1, prenatal ultrasonography had shown short femur and intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus. Case 2 had a history of spontaneous abortions due to structural chromosomal aberrations. Fetus 1 had undergone a test for the FGFR3 gene, and both fetuses were subjected to single nucleotide polymorphism-based microarray (SNP array) analysis., Results: After excluding the influence of FGFR3 gene variant, fetus 1 was found to harbor a heterozygous 883 kb deletion at Xpter or Ypter, whilst fetus 2 was found to harbor a 5.75 Mb deletion in the Xpter region. Both deletions have encompassed the SHOX gene. The origin of the deletion in fetus 1 was unknown, whilst that in fetus 2 was inherited from its mother. Fetus 1 has been delivered at term with a normal phenotype, and fetus 2 was not born yet., Conclusion: The intrauterine and postnatal phenotypes of fetuses may be predicted by combining the ultrasound finding, parental phenotype and results of CMA, and the results can facilitate genetic counseling and decision making over the pregnancy.

Objective: To explore the genetic etiology and related factors in 1 065 women with spontaneous abortions., Methods: All patients have presented at the Center of Prenatal Diagnosis of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 2018 to December 2021. Chorionic villi and fetal skin samples were collected, and the genomic DNA was assayed by chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). For 10 couples with recurrent spontaneous abortions but normal CMA results for abortive tissues, non-in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) pregnancies and no previous history of live births and no structural abnormalities of the uterus, peripheral venous blood samples were collected. Genomic DNA was subjected to trio-whole exome sequencing (trio-WES). Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Multifactorial unconditional logistic regression analysis was carried out to analyze the factors that may affect chromosomal abnormality in spontaneous abortions, such as the age of the couple, number of previous spontaneous abortions, IVF-ET pregnancy and history of live birth. The incidence of chromosomal aneuploidies in spontaneous abortions during the first trimester was compared in young or advanced-aged patients by chi-square test for liner trend., Results: Among the 1 065 spontaneous abortion patients, 570 cases (53.5%) of chromosomal abnormalities were detected in spontaneous abortion tissues, which included 489 cases (45.9%) of chromosomal aneuploidies and 36 cases (3.4%) of pathogenic/likely pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs). Trio-WES results have revealed one homozygote variant and one compound heterozygote variants in two pedigrees, both of which were inherited from the parents. One likely pathogenic variant was detected in the patient from two pedigrees. Multifactorial unconditional Logistic regression analysis suggested that age of patient was an independent risk factor of chromosome abnormalities (OR = 1.122, 95%CI: 1.069-1.177, P < 0.001), the number of previous abortions and IVF-ET pregnancy were independent protective factors for chromosomal abnormalities (OR = 0.791, 0.648; 95%CI: 0.682-0.916, 0.500-0.840; P = 0.002, 0.001), whilst the age of husband and history of live birth were not (P > 0.05). The incidence of aneuploidies in the abortive tissues has decreased with the number of previous spontaneous abortions in young patients (χ² = 18.051, P < 0.001), but was not significantly correlated with the number of previous spontaneous abortions in advanced-aged patients with spontaneous abortions (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Chromosomal aneuploidy is the main genetic factor for spontaneous abortion, though CNVs and genetic variants may also underlie its genetic etiology. The age of patients, number of previous abortions and IVF-ET pregnancy are closely associated with chromosome abnormalities in abortive tissues.