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Abstract Background Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in the environment with great advancements in plastic products, and their potential health hazard to animals has received much attention. Several studies have reported the toxicity of PS-NPs to various tissues and cells; however, there is a paucity of information about whether PS-NPs exposure can have toxic effects on mammalian oocytes, especially livestock. Herein, porcine oocytes were used as the model to investigate the potential effects of PS-NPs on mammalian oocytes. Results The findings showed that different concentrations of PS-NPs (0, 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL) entering into porcine oocytes could induce mitochondrial stress, including a significant decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and the destruction of the balance of mitochondrial dynamic and micromorphology. Furthermore, there was a marked increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which led to oocyte lipid peroxidation (LPO). PS-NPs exposure induced abnormal intracellular iron overload, and subsequently increased the expression of transferrin receptor (TfRC), solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7a11), and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4), which resulted in ferroptosis in oocytes. PS-NPs also induced oocyte maturation failure, cytoskeletal dysfunction and DNA damage. Cotreatment with 5 μmol/L ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1, an inhibitor of ferroptosis) alleviated the cellular toxicity associated with PS-NPs exposure during porcine oocyte maturation. Conclusions In conclusion, PS-NPs caused ferroptosis in porcine oocytes by increasing oxidative stress and altering lipid metabolism, leading to the failure of oocyte maturation. Graphical Abstract PS-NPs could enter oocytes, caused mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, induced lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis, which eventually resulted in failure of oocyte maturation.

Under the impact of climate change, significant changes have taken place in the ecological environment and water cycle of the Yangtze River source area. Soil water is an important component of the hydrological cycle, and a correct understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution patterns and environmental response mechanisms of soil water is the basis for a deeper understanding of the hydrological cycle and ecological environment changes in the Yangtze River source area. It is also of great significance for promoting the sustainable development of the Yangtze River source area. In this paper, based on ground in-situ observation data, combined with the latest long time-series and multi-sensor combined global soil moisture dataset developed by the European Space Agency (ESA CCI SM V07.1), the spatial and temporal evolution of surface soil water in the Yangtze River source area is revealed, and the impact mechanism of structural function and permafrost type on soil water is discussed. The results show that the surface soil moisture in the Yangtze River source area is mainly concentrated between 0.15 and 0.20 m3/m3, with the highest value occurring from June to October. In the vertical direction, the soil moisture content mainly shows an increasing-decreasing-stable trend from the surface to the deep soil layer, and the deep soil water has a significant lag characteristic relative to the surface, with a lag time of generally 1−2 months. In the horizontal direction, the surface soil moisture overall shows a southeast high and northwest gradually decreasing trend. The closer to the structural fault zone, the lower the soil moisture content, and with the increasing depth, it shows a certain aggravating trend. The surface soil moisture content in the permafrost area is higher than that in the neighboring seasonal frozen soil area. The fluctuation range of the surface soil moisture content in the seasonal frozen soil area is smaller than that in the permafrost area. Over the past 40 years, the surface permafrost has shown a trend of gradual melting, and since 2000, the melting of permafrost has intensified, with a significant increase in surface soil moisture content. The results of this study are of great theoretical significance for the in-depth understanding of the hydrological cycle and ecological environment changes in the Yangtze River source area, and can provide a reference basis for the hydrological cycle and water resources management in the Yangtze River source area.

Abstract Background Preterm delivery rate is a crucial public health indicator, yet reliable statistic is currently not available in China. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to review studies on preterm delivery rate in China, explore sources of heterogeneity, and estimate the preterm delivery rate in China. Methods Published studies on preterm delivery rate in China since 2010 were electronically searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Wanfang Database, and complemented by manual search. Study selection, data extraction, and quality and bias assessment (using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist) were conducted by two reviewers independently. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled preterm delivery rate, and prespecified stratified analysis was conducted to explore sources of heterogeneity. Results The database search returned 4494 articles and manual search identified 10 additional studies. In total, 162 studies were eligible, of which 124 were hospital-based and 38 population-based. The pooled preterm delivery rate of hospital-based studies (7.2%; 95% CI: 6.9% to 7.6%) was significantly higher than that of population-based studies (4.9%; 95% CI: 4.5% to 5.4%) (P for subgroup difference

Abstract Background Angiogenesis plays an important role in tissue repair and regeneration, and conditioned medium (CM) derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-CM) possesses pro-angiogenesis. Nevertheless, the profile and concentration of growth factors in MSC-CM remain to be optimized. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) has been proven to be an effective angiogenic factor. Thus, the aim of this study was to verify whether FGF-2 gene overexpression optimized CM from human gingival mesenchymal stem cells (hGMSCs) and whether such optimized CM possessed more favorable pro-angiogenesis effect. Methods First, FGF-2 gene-modified hGMSCs were constructed using lentiviral transfection technology (LV-FGF-2+-hGMSCs) and the concentration of angiogenesis-related factors in LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM was determined by ELISA. Then, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were co-cultured for 3 days with LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM, and the expression level of placenta growth factor (PLGF), stem cell factor (SCF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) in HUVECs were determined by qRT-PCR, western blot, and cellular immunofluorescence techniques. The migration assay using transwell and in vitro tube formation experiments on matrigel matrix was conducted to determine the chemotaxis and angiogenesis enhanced by LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM. Finally, NOD-SCID mice were injected with matrigel mixed LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM, and the plug sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry staining with anti-human CD31 antibody. Results LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM contained significantly more FGF-2, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) than hGMSC-CM. HUVECs pretreated with LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM expressed significantly more PLGF, SCF, and VEGFR2 at gene and protein level than hGMSC-CM pretreated HUVECs. Compared with hGMSC-CM, LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM presented significantly stronger chemotaxis to HUVECs and significantly strengthened HUVECs mediated in vitro tube formation ability. In vivo, LV-FGF-2+-hGMSC-CM also possessed stronger promoting angiogenesis ability than hGMSC-CM. Conclusions Overexpression of FGF-2 gene promotes hGMSCs paracrine of angiogenesis-related growth factors, thereby obtaining an optimized conditioned medium for angiogenesis promotion.

The Wumeng Mountain Contiguous Zone in China always suffers from deficiency of groundwater resources.The Zhaotong area of Yunnan Provience belongs to the Wumeng Mountain area, which was the key area.We carried out geological survey, spring flow statistics and water quality evaluation in karst stratum.The strip karst area, which always located in ridge-valley area, with many target aquifers, karst shallow.Groundwater was concentrated in the core of anticlinoria and both wings, the core of syncline and fault zone.The buried karst water mainly concentrated in the paleo-karst stratum in Zhaolu fault basin, and covered below Tertiary system.Most chemical type of groundwater was determined as HCO3 and HCO3·SO4 type.The strip and buried karst water account for 96.73% and 92.93% respectively.The comprehensive water quality evaluation results of 80.84% simple analysis and 64.41% total analysis were classified as Ⅰ-Ⅲ.We suggest that large flow springs more than 50 L/s should be extracted, diverted and stored for winter use.Combined with geophysical exploration and drilling verification, the target aquifer was more successfully found in water-rich section of strip and shallow buried karst areas.Firstly, the high-density electrical method and combined profile method were conducted to find out the karst fracture zone and fault.Then, the IP sounding was set to explore the depth of the aquifer with high polarizability.Finally, the water supply segment and water inflow were determined by comprehensive logging and drilling.The rate of successfully extracting water was 86.67%.Then, we could recommend the well location.

Objective The growth factor progranulin (PGRN) is widely expressed and plays important roles in anti-inflammatory signaling and bone regeneration. However, the anti-inflammatory and pro-osteogenic roles of PGRN in periodontitis are seldom studied. We used an in vitro model to investigate whether PGRN can promote osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). Methods PDLSCs were treated with PGRN (0 to 100 ng/mL) and the optimal concentrations required to induce proliferation and osteogenesis were identified. PDLSCs were cultured with 10 ng/mL tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, 25 ng/mL PGRN, or 10 ng/mL TNF-α + 25 ng/ml PGRN; untreated PDLSCs were used as controls. The effects of PGRN on PDLSC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation were assessed. Results PGRN (5, 25, and 50 ng/mL) promoted PDLSC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, with the 25-ng/mL dose showing the largest effect. Furthermore, 25 ng/mL PGRN reversed inhibition of osteogenic differentiation by TNF-α. Conclusion PGRN promotes PDLSC proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, and mineralization in both inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions. The 25-ng/mL PRGN dose was the most suitable for inducing proliferation and osteogenesis. Further studies using animal models will be required to obtain pre-clinical evidence to support using PGRN as a treatment for periodontitis.

Due to differences in planting environment, color, shape, size, and compactness, accurate detection of grape clusters is very difficult. Herein, a real-time detection method for grape clusters based on the YOLOv5s deep learning algorithm was proposed. More specifically, a novel dataset called Grape-internet was constructed, which consisted of 8657 grape images and corresponding annotation files in complex scenes. By training and adjusting the parameters of the YOLOv5s model on the data set, and by reducing the depth and width of the network, the lightweight processing of the network was completed, losing only a small amount of accuracy. As a result, the fast and accurate detection of grape clusters was finally realized. The test results showed that the precision, recall, mAP and F1 of the grape cluster detection network were 99.40%, 99.40%, 99.40% and 99.40%, respectively, and the average detection speed per image was 344.83 fps, with a model size of 13.67 MB. Compared with the YOLOv5x, ScaledYOLOv4-CSP and YOLOv3 models, the precision of YOLOv5s was 1.84% higher than that of ScaledYOLOv4-CSP, and the recall rate and mAP were slightly lower than three networks by 0.1–0.3%. The speed was the fastest (4.6 times, 2.83 times and 6.7 times of YOLOv3, ScaledYOLOv4-CSP and YOLOv5x network, respectively) and the network scale was the smallest (1.61%, 6.81% and 8.28% of YOLOv3, ScaledYOLOv4-CSP YOLOv5x, respectively) for YOLOv5s. Moreover, the detection precision and recall rate of YOLOv5s was 26.14% and 30.96% higher, respectively, than those of Mask R-CNN. Further, it exhibited more lightweight and better real-time performance. In short, the detection network can not only meet the requirements of being a high precision, high speed and lightweight solution for grape cluster detection, but also it can adapt to differences between products and complex environmental interference, possessing strong robustness, generalization, and real-time adaptability.

There are 51 tributaries in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River (YZR), and the confluences of 87% of the tributaries west of Jiacha Gorge are high-angle or perpendicular, reflecting the anomalous development of these tributaries. In this paper, field investigation and digital elevation model (DEM) methods were used to analyse the causes of this anomalous phenomenon, and it was found that there was a watershed in the area of the Jiacha Gorge. The palaeo-YZR west of the Jiacha Gorge flowed westward before the early Pleistocene into the Zada, Zhongba, Jilong and Gamba–Dingri palaeolakes, which featured a large amount of total accommodation space in the western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; thus, this river was a continental river. With the intensification of the collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate, the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau experienced rapid uplift and formed a landscape with high elevations in the west and lower elevations in the east, promoting the headward erosion of the eastward-flowing river. During the early Pleistocene, the river east of the Jiacha Gorge crossed the watershed and captured the palaeo-YZR, causing a reversal in the flow direction of the palaeo-YZR.

Abstract Background Hand hygiene is an important element of the WHO multimodal strategy for healthcare-associated infection control, whereas compliance of hand hygiene among healthcare workers (HCWs) remains a challenge to sustain. In order to increase the hand hygiene compliance of HCWs, a quality control circle (QCC) program was carried out in our hospital, and the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) method was applied for 12 months. Findings Hand hygiene compliance rates improved over time, with significant improvement between preintervention (60.1%) and postintervention (97.2%) periods (P

Introduction Although observational data suggest that men’s attempts and behavior at quitting smoking are often stimulated during their spouses’ pregnancy, few studies have systematically examined this phenomenon. Material and Methods This was a cross-sectional study which examined Chinese men’s smoking behaviors during and after their wives’ pregnancy. Women who visited community health centers for routine immunization of their children were approached. Information was mainly collected on men’s tobacco use before, during and after pregnancy in July to August 2011. Individual and socio-environmental factors were examined by non-conditional logistical regression analysis to find potential reasons behind men’s quitting during pregnancy and maintained this change till the post-partum period. Results Totally 765 of 811 eligible women (94.3%) completed the interview. Prior to pregnancy, 42.9% of husbands smoked; this decreased to 36.34% during pregnancy, a reduction of 6.53%. Although the rate increased to a higher level (43.79%) after delivery, positive changes in men’s smoking behavior were detected. One-third (29.88%) reduced the daily number of cigarettes smoked, and nearly half (45.12%) relocated themselves to smoke when their pregnant wives were nearby. Noticeably, those who quit were most likely occasional smokers (Odds Ratio(OR) = 4.83, 95%CI [2.22, 10.48]), smoking less than ten years (OR = 2.80, 95%CI [1.19, 6.58]), not smoking at home (OR = 4.48, 95%CI [1.94, 10.39]), not smoking for social use (OR = 4.05, 95%CI [1.74, 9.41]), under lower financial pressure after the birth of child (OR = 5.28, 95%CI [2.14, 13.02]) and influenced by family members (OR = 2.82, 95%CI [1.25, 6.38]). However, only 22% of spontaneous cessation was maintained postpartum. Most relapses occurred within 6 months after delivery. Conclusions Pregnancy offers an opportunity to decrease smoking amongst Chinese males. Intervention programs involving expectant fathers may be effective to further reduce prevalence of smoking among men in China.

The root and canal anatomy of maxillary first molar is very complicated. The incidence of having two canals in the mesiobuccal root of maxillary first molar is higher than that in its distobuccal root. This article described a maxillary first molar with five root canals, including two canals in mesiobuccal and distobuccal roots.

Local radiotherapy is the major therapeutic approach to control inoperable cervical cancer. In this study, we analyzed the local immune microenvironment of cervical cancer before and after clinical radiation therapy to investigate whether tumor response due to immunomodulation. A total of 59 patients with pathologically diagnosed cervical cancers classified according to the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) criteria were recruited. The patients were treated according to their disease status with standard radiation regimens. For each patient, tumor biopsies were conducted before, during and after radiation treatment with the doses of 0, 10, 20 and 30 Gy, respectively. All of the tumor samples were then grouped according to the doses delivered and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes with the biomarkers of CD8, CD4, FOXP3 and OX40 were measured by in situ immunohistochemistry. We found that before radiation treatment both CD8(+) T cell and CD4(+) T cell infiltrates were more present in the tumor stroma than in the tumor nests, while OX40(+) and FOXP3(+) T cell infiltrates were present at similar levels in both the tumor nests and stroma. After radiation treatment, the levels of CD8(+) T cells and CD4(+) T cells in the tumor nests and stroma were decreased compared with the levels before irradiation. However, OX40(+) T cells and FOXP3(+) T cells did not show any difference before and after irradiation, which indicates that the FOXP3(+) T cells were more resistant to ionizing radiation than were the cytotoxic effector T cells and demonstrates a dynamic rebalance of infiltrating lymphocytes in the tumor milieu occurs after radiotherapy. This suggest that local antitumor immunity could be compromised due to decreased cytotoxic effector cells and the relatively stable status of FOXP3(+) T cells after irradiation. Therefore, regulation of these FOXP3(+) T cells may be a potentially effective approach to enhance the efficacy of cancer radiation therapy.