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Objective: To investigate the effect of different gestational weeks and psychological intervention on pregnancy outcome in patients with monochorionic twin pregnancy. Methods: The clinical data of 68 patients with monochorionic twin pregnancy in the middle and late pregnancy who were treated with radiofrequency ablation in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2017 to April 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including 54 patients with single chorionic and single amniotic sac and 14 patients with single chorionic and double amniotic sac. Patients were divided into three groups according to the gestational weeks:<20 weeks ( n =36), 20-23 weeks ( n =17) and ≥24 weeks ( n =15); and were divided into intervention group ( n =40) and control group ( n =28) according to the preoperative psychological intervention. The pregnancy outcome of patients with different pregnancy reduction and the effect of psychological intervention on pregnancy outcome was analyzed. Results: The age of 68 patients was (30.2±4.6) years old, the gestational age was (22.2±3.2) weeks, and 60 cases (88.2%) were live births after fetal reduction. There were no significant difference in age [(31.8±4.7),(28.3±5.0),(30.3±4.0) years old] ( P =0.098), abortion rate, preterm birth rate, live birth rate, delivery mode, gestational week of preterm birth, gestational week of delivery, and neonatal weight between the two groups at different gestational weeks (all P >0.05). The ages of the intervention group and the control group were (30.6±4.7) and (29.4±4.0) years old ( P =0.352). After psychological intervention for 40 patients in the intervention group, the anxiety score after pregnancy reduction was reduced from (54.8±6.8) to (37.3±7.3) ( P <0.001), while the depression score decreased from (62.7±7.2) to (33.2±2.4) ( P <0.001). Compared with patients in the control group (12.5%, n =5), the proportion of postoperative discomfort in the intervention group was higher (53.6%, n =15) ( P <0.001). Compared with the control group, there were no statistically significant difference in the postoperative preterm birth rate, abortion rate, live birth rate, delivery mode, gestational week of preterm birth, gestational week of delivery, and neonatal weight in the intervention group (all P >0.05). Conclusions: Radiofrequency ablation is a safe and effective minimally invasive technique. For complex monochorionic twin pregnancies, early fetal reduction (<20 weeks) and preoperative psychological intervention can provide a solid guarantee for a good postoperative pregnancy outcome.

The usefulness of metabolic heat measurements in quantifying the response of a solid tumour to anticancer treatment was evaluated. The heat production characteristic of malignant tissues, as measured from human stomach, breast and liver cancer samples, was observed to be inconsistent, and its value could be higher or lower than that of its normal tissue of origin. The various thermal activity responses of an experimental rat hepatoma to hepatic artery ligation, cryotherapy, intra-arterial (i.a.) Adriamycin (2.4 mg/kg), i.a. Norcantharidin (0.5 mg/kg) were next studied. The tumour/liver (T/L) ratio of untreated tumour-bearing rats was 0.83 but this fell to a minimum at 24 h in both the hepatic artery ligation and the cryosurgery groups. In these two groups marked fluctuations in the heat production of normal liver occurred with poor recovery of the T/L ratio even at 2-3 weeks. In the Adriamycin group, the T/L ratio dropped to a minimum at 5 days, and in the Norcantharidin group, at 3 days. Minimal disturbances in the thermal activity of liver tissue occurred in these two chemotherapy groups and the T/L ratio recovered by 3 weeks. Norcantharidin appeared as efficacious as Adriamycin in the treatment of hepatoma when evaluated in terms of thermal activity.

Norcantharidin is the demethylated form of Cantharidin, which is the active ingredient of the blister beetle, Mylabris, a long used Chinese traditional medicine. Though not well publicized outside China, Norcantharidin is known to possess significant anti-hepatoma activity, and is relatively free from side effects. In the present study, glucose oxidation in tumour and liver tissue slices harvested from hepatoma-bearing animals was quantified by measuring the radioactivity of 14C-labelled CO2 released from 14C-glucose in oxygen-enriched incubation medium. Results were expressed as a tumour/liver ratio. For comparison, treatments with Norcantharidin, Adriamycin and with hepatic artery ligation were studied. The mean tumour/liver ratio was 4.2 +/- 2.2 in untreated controls, but dropped significantly to 2.3 +/- 0.5 (p < 0.05) with intra-arterial Norcantharidin (0.5 mg/kg) and to 2.3 +/- 0.7 (p < 0.05) with intra-arterial Adriamycin (2.4 mg/kg), and to 2.2 +/- 0.7 (p < 0.05) with hepatic artery ligation. However, with intravenous Adriamycin at 2.4 mg/kg, the mean tumour/liver ratio was reduced to only 3.5 +/- 2.0 and was not significantly different from untreated controls. It is concluded that intra-arterial Norcantharidin is as effective as intraarterial Adriamycin and hepatic artery ligation in suppressing tumour glucose oxidative metabolism. These result simply that Norcantharidin may have a role to play in the chemotherapy of primary liver cancer.

The isolation and detailed characterization of a three-beta-globin gene (GloB) haplotype in the Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rat is described. An enriched library, lambda SDHelib, was screened with a human GloB probe, humbg44, and from which a beta minor gene, Rathbbz, was isolated, sequenced and characterized. A S-D rat GloB-specific probe, Ratbgze12, derived from the Rathbbz gene, was then used to screen a S-D rat genomic library, lambda SDglib. The clone T1510 was isolated and identified to include the entire Rathbbz gene and part of another GloB gene, Rathbby, which was 5' upstream from Rathbbz. Chromosomal walking upstream using the riboprobe, rnaT71, led to the isolation of an overlapping clone, Ta49, which was shown to include two full-length GloB genes; the most 5' was Rathbbx followed by Rathbby. Sequence data suggests that Rathbbx is a beta major gene, whereas Rathbby is a hybrid gene of Rathbbx and Rathbbz. Genomic hybridization confirmed this particular three-gene haplotype in the S-D rat. This haplotype, a1, may be the prototype of the GloB cluster in rat.

2-Mercaptoethanol is a strong inhibitor of LADH. The inhibitory effect is likely due to the binding of the SH group to the enzymatic zinc ion. Various thiol compounds do not inhibit YADH and it is suggested that the zinc atoms involved in the catalytic mechanism of LADH and YADH may have different structural arrangements and that these zinc atoms in YADH may not be blocked by thiol compounds. Thiol compounds also quench the enhanced fluorescence of LADH-NADH in a pH-dependent manner. At pH 9.2, the binding of coenzyme to LADH is replaced by 2-mercaptoethanol, whilst at pH 7.3, it further quenches the fluorescence of NADH-LADH. This quenching of fluorescence is likely attributed to a conformational change and energy transfer upon binding of 2-mercaptoethanol to the LADH-NADH complex. Complete reversal of the inhibitory effect of thiol compounds on LADH can be obtained by dialysis.

We present here a new model for epithelial morphogenesis, which we call the 'cortical tractor model'. This model assumes that the motile activities of epithelial cells are similar to those of mesenchymal cells, with the added constraint that the cells in an epithelial sheet remain attached at their apical circumference. In particular, we assert that there is a time-averaged motion of cortical cytoplasm which flows from the basal and lateral surfaces to the apical region. This cortical flow carries with it membrane and adhesive structures that are inserted basally and resorbed apically. Thus the apical seal that characterizes epithelial sheets is a dynamic structure: it is continuously created by the cortical flow which piles up components near where they are recycled in the apical region. By use of mechanical analyses and computer simulations we demonstrate that the cortical tractor motion can reproduce a variety of epithelial motions, including columnarization (placode formation), invagination and rolling. It also provides a mechanism for driving active cell rearrangements within an epithelial sheet, while maintaining the integrity of the apical seal. Active repacking of epithelial cells appears to drive a number of morphogenetic processes. Neurulation in amphibians provides an example of a process in which all four of the above morphogenetic movements appear to play a role. Here we reexamine the process of neurulation in amphibians in light of the cortical tractor model, and find that it provides an integrated view of this important morphogenetic process.