Search

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to systematically review and meta-analyze the available data on changes in the hormonal profile of postmenopausal women treated with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Full-text articles published up to April 30, 2021, were searched through PUBMED, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and Web of Science (WOS) databases and were screened strictly according to inclusion criteria. Randomized clinical trials and case control studies were enrolled. Studies not reporting steroid serum levels or not providing a control group were excluded from the analysis. Studies enrolling women with genetic defects or severe chronic systemic diseases were excluded. Data are expressed as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Random effect models were used for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: HRT administration increases estradiol (E2) and reduces follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) serum levels compared with pre-treatment. Their changes are evident when oral and transdermal HRT are administered, while vaginal HRT not. No significant effect on E2 and FSH was found between 6 and 12 months, as well as between 12 and 24 months. No significant effect on E2 and FSH was shown between different regimes. No difference was observed between different HRT regarding their effect on lipid profiles, breast pain and vaginal bleeding, but oral estrogen combined synthetic progestin caused a reduction in sex hormone-binding globulin (SHGB). CONCLUSIONS: The review suggested oral and transdermal HRT could lead to a rise in E2 serum levels and a decrease in FSH. The types and doses of HRT did not seem to modify the E2 and FSH level. Also, oral estrogen combined synthetic progestin could cause a reduction in SHGB. This might be crucial when choosing the best possible treatment for each patient individually taking into consideration if potential benefits outweigh the risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selenium is an essential trace element for pig growth; generally, inorganic or organic selenium is used for dietary selenium supplementation. Newborn piglets obtain all nutrients from the sow; thus, the sow absorption rate of different selenium sources significantly affects sow reproductive performance and piglet development. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to provide insights into whether organic selenium is better than mineral selenium for improving sow reproductive performance and piglet development. The present study investigated the effects of different selenium sources in sow feed using articles published between June 1, 1980, and December 31, 2020, from four databases. In the meta-analysis, 19 articles (347 sows) from seven countries were included. It was shown that feeding organic selenium to sows during pregnancy significantly increased newborn piglet weight (P < 0.05), piglet weight at weaning (P < 0.05), litter weight at weaning (P < 0.01), selenium content in sow colostrum (P < 0.01), milk (P < 0.01) and serum (P < 0.01); and selenium content (P < 0.01) and glutathione peroxidase activity (P < 0.05) in piglet serum. However, it had no effect on the number of liveborn piglets and litter weight at birth. Owing to study heterogeneity (I2 > 50%), we hypothesized that the sow breed or weaning age were the influencing factors. Publication bias and sensitivity analyses indicate that the present results are robust. Further research is needed to better understand how different selenium sources affect sow reproduction and piglet development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of unsaturated fatty acids on clinical plasmids. Methods and Results: Two unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (LA) and α‐linolenic acid (ALA) at final concentration 0, 0·03, 0·3 and 3 mmol l−1, respectively, were used to assess the effects on conjugative transfer of a mcr‐1‐harbouring plasmid pCSZ4 (IncX4) in conjugation experiment. The inhibitory mechanisms were analysed by molecular docking and the gene expression of virB11 was quantitated by qRT‐PCR. Target plasmid diversity was carried out by TrwD/VirB11 homology protein sequence prediction analysis. Our results showed that LA and ALA inhibit plasmid pCSZ4 transfer by binding to the amino acid residues (Phe124 and Thr125) of VirB11 with dose‐dependent effects. The expression levels of virB11 gene were also significantly inhibited by LA and ALA treatment. Protein homology analysis revealed a wide distribution of TrwD/VirB11‐like genes among over 37 classes of plasmids originated from both Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria. Conclusions: This study demonstrates representing a diversity of plasmids that may be potentially inhibited by unsaturated fatty acids. Significance and Impact of the Study: Our work reported here provides additional support for application of curbing the spread of multiple plasmids by unsaturated fatty acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Converging evidence has demonstrated that there is aberrant connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) in left temporal lobe epilepsy (lTLE) yet changes in the network homogeneity (NH) of the DMN in people with first-episode, treatment-naive lTLE remains unclear. In this study, we used an NH method to investigate the NH of the DMN in people with first-episode, treatment-naive, lTLE, at rest. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and attention network test (ANT) data from 43 people with lTLE and 42wellmatched, healthy control subjects. An NH approach was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: People with lTLE have decreased NH in the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and the left middle temporal lobe (MTG), and increased NH in the bilateral precuneus (PCu) and right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), as compared with the controls. We also found that people with lTLE had a longer executive control reaction time (RT). No significant correlations were found between abnormal NH values and clinical variables in the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that abnormal NH of the DMN exists in lTLE subjects and highlight the significance of the DMN in the pathophysiology of cognitive problems occurring in lTLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different level of copper amino acids complex on growth performance and serum Cu-Zn SOD activity in piglets. A total of 288 (144 castrated males and 144 females) healthy post-weaned at 23-day-old piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) with an average body weight of (8.79±1.15) kg were randomly divided into 6 groups with 8 replicates in each group, and 6 piglets (3 castrated males and 3 females) per replicate. Control group was fed a basal diet, experimental groups were fed diets supplemented with copper amino acids addition level was 25, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg Cu or 150 mg/kg Cu from CuSO4 of the control group, respectively. Growth performance, serum biochemical parameters (Cu-Zn SOD activity) and diarrhea incidence were measured in the 2-phase feeding program (1-14 d, 15-42 d). Results showed that: compared with the control diets, 1) Diets supplemented with Av-Cu or CuSO4 did not affect the average daily feed intake (ADFI) of weaned piglets; supplementing the diet with Av-Cu, the average daily gain (ADG) was linearly increased (P < 0.05), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was linearly decreased (P < 0.05); 90-100 mg/kg Cu from Av-Cu has the same effects on ADG and FCR compared to150 mg/kg Cu from CuSO4 according to linear analysis. 2) compared with the control diets, supplementing the diet with Av-Cu can decrease diarrhea incidence of piglets during the whole experimental period (P < 0.05). 3) Av-Cu has significant effect on serum Cu-Zn SOD activity on day 14 (P < 0.05). This study showed that, oral administration Av-Cu to weaned piglet has the potential to promote growth performance and antioxidant capacity, and reduce diarrhea incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations of hsa_ circ_0046264 expression with the onset, pathological stage, and chemotherapy resistance of lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Firstly, gene expression profiling microarrays were applied to screen the differentially expressed circular ribonucleic acids (circRNAs) in the tumor tissues of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Secondly, quantitative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was adopted to further verify the circRNAs with significant differences. Thirdly, the correlations of hsa_circ_0046264 expression level with the clinical features of NSCLC patients were explored via statistical analysis. Fourthly, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were utilized to investigate the influence of hsa_circ_0046264 expression level on the survival of the patients. Finally, the role of hsa_circ_0046264 in the process of lung cancer was probed using in vitro experimental methods. RESULTS: It was shown in the results of gene microarray assay that hsa_circ_0046264 was the most prominently upregulated gene, and RT-qPCR assay further proved that hsa_circ_0046264 expression was upregulated remarkably in the tissues of tumor patients. Clinical analysis indicated that the expression level of hsa_ circ_0046264 was notably associated with the patient’s age, tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and lymph node metastasis (p<0.01). In addition, Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis manifested that the patients in hsa_circ_0046264 low-expression group had a markedly longer survival than those in hsa_ circ_0046264 high-expression group. In the tumor tissues and serum of the patients, the area under ROC curve of hsa_circ_0046264 was 0.971 and 0.915, the specificity was 0.973 and 0.957, and the sensitivity was 0.951 and 0.927, while the Youden Index was 0.924 and 0.884 respectively. The results of Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay revealed that the proliferative ability of lung cancer A549 cells was significantly enhanced at 36, 48, and 72 h in hsa_circ_0046264 overexpression group. According to the results of wound-healing assay, the migratory ability of A549 cells was distinctly strengthened in hsa_ circ_0046264 overexpression group compared with that in the control group (p<0.05). Moreover, the transwell assay results pointed out that the invasive ability of A549 cell lines at 48 h after overexpression of hsa_circ_0046264 was evidently stronger than that in control group (p<0.05). Under the stimulation of different doses of cisplatin, hsa_circ_0046264 overexpression group had a clearly raised survival rate of A549 cells in comparison with control group, and the differences in data were statistically significant (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Hsa_circ_0046264 may serve as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis and a possible therapeutic target of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral spectral library (MSL) is the foundation of hyperspectral remote sensing, and a significant tool of storing and managing massive mineral spectral data to facilitate the matching or identifying of unknown rocks and minerals conveniently and fast. However, mineral spectral data are scattered and stored in different spectral libraries worldwide, which behave different spectral resolutions, mineral categories and measurement parameters, and hinder its application in field investigation, mineral identification, landcover identification and geological mapping. An integrated MSL using shared data is developed currently in Central South University, China, to improve the properties of MSL. We collected the shared spectral data and related information (e.g., mineral attribute data, spectrometer information, etc.) worldwide, performed data cleaning measures to retain the qualified spectral data and consolidated all the data in a common framework so as to establish a reliable and comprehensive dataset, and developed an integrated MSL for data management and diversified applications. The user can analysis the target spectrum with the spectrum absorption characteristic parameters, and match the measured spectral curve with the reference spectrum in the integrated MSL to find the most similar spectrum curve. It's crucial to note that a new spectrum classifier was designed to limit the scope of matching for improving the efficiency of identification when the experimental sample lacks the specific information. The integrated MSL is developed in B/S and C/S website environments. A demonstration of functions of the integrated MSL and its preliminary applications are introduced in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite passive microwave radiative signals are considered to reflect thermal radiation and energy exchange of the Earth's surface, and the microwave brightness temperature (MBT) has been preliminary adopted for pre-earthquake thermal anomaly monitoring in recent decades. Based on the spatio-temporally weighted two-step method (STW-TSM), this paper aims to uncover the evolution characteristics of MBT anomaly prior to typical earthquakes (EQs), i.e. the Mw7.9 Wenchuan EQ in May 2008, the Nepal EQs in April and May 2015, and the Mw5.8 Yibin EQ in June 2019, and to explore and recognize their differences and commonalities. The results are summarized as: 1) significant MBT positive anomalies appeared east and southwest close to the epicenter before the Wenchuan EQ, and the east anomaly migrated northeastward along Longmenshan faults with aftershocks, then the two anomalies dissipated subsequently with the ceasing of large aftershocks (Mw > 5.5). 2) the MBT positive anomalies of Nepal EQs firstly appeared along the Himalayas and became most obvious 1 day before the main shock, and dissipated subsequently after the first shock, and that of the second shock behaved in the same spatiotemporal patten. 3) regional positive MBT anomalies appeared around the epicenter a half month before the Yibin EQ and diminished over time, and the most obvious abnormal area transferred from the central and northwest to the southwest study area. It exhibited that MBT positive anomalies prefer to appear at the mechanically relaxed zones, such as the loose Quaternary with Wenchuan EQ, the cliff peaks with Nepal EQs, and the mountains surrounding Yibin EQ's epicenter, which can be attributed to the declining of ground surface microwave dielectric caused by stress activated P-holes during the period of seismogenic preparation. This research provides a novel insight into mining MBT anomalies associate with large earthquakes and a possibility to explore the potential mechanism of such abnormal phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article has been corrected in the Funding section to acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81671421).

A novel electrochemical catalyst comprising CoO@Co nanoparticles with a core–shell structure immobilized on N-doped reduced graphene oxide (rGO) (CoO@Co/N-rGO) has been synthesized using a convenient and controllable technique ― combining a rapid microwave-polyol method with a vacuum thermal treatment. Excellent features including the Co/N-doping effect, introduction of CoO@Co particles with a core–shell structure and good contact between the CoO@Co particles and N-doped graphene result in a highly multi-functional catalytic efficiency. The catalyst exhibits remarkable catalytic activity and superior stability towards the hydrogen evolution reaction, offering a low overpotential of 140 mV for 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 237 mV in 0.1 M KOH. The catalyst also shows excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity in 0.1 M KOH, a similar four-electron pathway, which is comparable to that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst, and superior stability. In addition, a good electrochemical performance towards the oxygen evolution reaction was observed for the catalyst, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2 with a small overpotential of 1.67 V in 0.1 M KOH, which is comparable to that of a commercial RuO2 catalyst. The unusual catalytic activities arise from the synergetic chemical coupling effects of metallic Co, cobalt oxides and Co/N-doped graphene. This study provides a new attractive multi-functional catalyst material for unitized regenerative fuel cells and overall water splitting technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality K(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystals have been grown by using the KAs flux method. Instead of increasing the superconducting transition temperature Tc through electron doping, we find that Co impurities rapidly suppress Tc down to zero at only x ≈ 0.04. Such an effective suppression of Tc by impurities is quite different from that observed in Ba0.5K0.5Fe2As2 with multiple nodeless superconducting gaps. Thermal conductivity measurements in zero field show that the residual linear term K0/T only changes slightly with 3.4% Co doping, despite the sharp increase in the scattering rate. The implications of these anomalous impurity effects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal conductivity κ of the superconductor Ir1−xPtxTe2 (x = 0.05) single crystal with strong spin-orbital coupling was measured down to 50 mK. The residual linear term is negligible in zero magnetic field. In low magnetic field, shows a slow field dependence. These results demonstrate that the superconducting gap of Ir1−xPtxTe2 is nodeless, and the pairing symmetry is likely a conventional s-wave, despite the existence of strong spin-orbital coupling and a quantum critical point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report resistivity ρ and thermal conductivity K measurements on Ca³Ir4Sn13 single crystals, in which superconductivity with Tc ≈ 7 K was claimed to coexist with ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. Among three crystals, only one crystal shows a small hump in resistivity near 20 K, which was previously attributed to the ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. The other two crystals show the ρ ~ T² Fermi-liquid behavior at low temperature. For both single crystals with and without the resistivity anomaly, the residual linear term K0/ T is negligible in zero magnetic field. In low fields, K0(H)/T shows a slow field dependence. These results demonstrate that the superconducting gap of Ca3lr4Sn13 is nodeless and thus rule out a nodal gap caused by ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-plane thermal conductivity κ of electron-doped iron-arsenide superconductor BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2 (Tc = 20.3 K) single crystal was measured down to 70 mK. In zero field, the absence of a residual linear term κ0/T at T → 0 is strong evidence for a nodeless superconducting gap. In magnetic field, κ0/T shows a slow field dependence up to H = 14.5 T (≈30% Hc2 ). This is consistent with the superconducting gap structure demonstrated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments in BaFe1.85Co0.15As2 (Tc = 25.5 K), where isotropic superconducting gaps with similar size on hole and electron pockets were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The purpose of this study was to observe the efficacy and toxicity of etoposide at two dose levels for peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization and disease debulking in patients with malignancy. Simultaneously, factors affecting the yield of CD34+ cells were explored. Methods Thirty-eight patients received etoposide 1.0 g/m2 (group A) or 1.5 g/m2 (group B) followed by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) 300 µg/day for PBSC mobilization in a non-randomized manner. Each group had 19 patients. Results The median number of CD34+ cells collected was 17.33×106/kg (range 4.85-89.00×106/kg) in group A and 26.54×106/kg (range 1.85-108.00×106/kg) in group B. Altogether, 34/38 (89.5%) patients obtained the target total collection of at least 4×106 CD34+ cells/kg by a single leukapheresis. Vomiting was the most common grade 3/4 non-hematologic toxicity. For 19 evaluable patients, partial response was achieved in four (21.1%), stable disease in 11 (57.8%) and progressive disease in four (21.1%) patients. All parameters between the two groups did not reach a significant level. With multivariate analysis, the most predictive factor for CD34+ yield of the first leukapheresis was the percentage of CD34+ CD38- cells in peripheral blood. Conclusion These results indicate that etoposide combined with G-CSF is an effective and tolerable regimen for PBSC mobilization, given at a dose of either 1.0 g/m2 or 1.5 g/m2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AimTo investigate the association between chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and Mooren's ulcer.MethodsEight patients from different parts of China who were diagnosed with Mooren's ulcer at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou (China) were screened for chronic HCV infection. Mooren's ulcer was diagnosed by the typical ulcer morphology, detailed case history, physical examination, and comprehensive laboratory tests. All patients had serological screening for HCV infection.ResultsSix male and two female patients were enrolled in the study. Their ages ranged from 31 to 65 years (mean 43.6±13.7). None of them was reported to have any clinical evidence of chronic HCV infection before enrolment and all were negative for HCV serology.ConclusionThere was no association between chronic HCV infection and Mooren's ulcer in this limited case series study.Eye (2008) 22, 697–700; doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6702788; published online 6 July 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene has shown great application potential as the host material for next-generation electronic devices. However, despite its intriguing properties, one of the biggest hurdles for graphene to be useful as an electronic material is the lack of an energy gap in its electronic spectra. This, for example, prevents the use of graphene in making transistors. Although several proposals have been made to open a gap in graphene’s electronic spectra, they all require complex engineering of the graphene layer. Here, we show that when graphene is epitaxially grown on SiC substrate, a gap of ≈0.26 eV is produced. This gap decreases as the sample thickness increases and eventually approaches zero when the number of layers exceeds four. We propose that the origin of this gap is the breaking of sublattice symmetry owing to the graphene–substrate interaction. We believe that our results highlight a promising direction for bandgap engineering of graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Originating from relativistic quantum field theory, Dirac fermions have been invoked recently to explain various peculiar phenomena in condensed-matter physics, including the novel quantum Hall effect in graphene, the magnetic-field-driven metal–insulator-like transition in graphite, superfluidity in 3He (ref. 5) and the exotic pseudogap phase of high-temperature superconductors. Despite their proposed key role in those systems, direct experimental evidence of Dirac fermions has been limited. Here, we report the first direct observation of relativistic Dirac fermions with linear dispersion near the Brillouin zone (BZ) corner H, which coexist with quasiparticles that have a parabolic dispersion near another BZ corner K. In addition, we also report a large electron pocket that we attribute to defect-induced localized states. Thus, graphite presents a system in which massless Dirac fermions, quasiparticles with finite effective mass and defect states all contribute to the low-energy electronic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High quality epitaxial thin films of FeSe1-xTe_x (x=0–1) have been successfully fabricated. Their superconducting transition temperatures are around 8–13 K. Microwave properties of a film (x=0.7) was studied by a sapphire dielectric cavity at 9.315 GHz. The cavity, which has a quality factor of 45000 in room temperature with TE011-mode, is specially designed for the measurement of small samples with the sapphire cylinder having a small hole in the center. Thin film samples with dimension of 1–2 mm can be put in the middle of the hole, supported by a very thin sapphire rod. The cavity is sealed in a vacuum chamber soaked in the liquid ^4He and the temperature of the thin sapphire rod (hence the sample) can be controlled from 1.6 K to 60 K with a stability about \pm1 mK. Temperature dependence of transmission response and Q-factors were measured by a network analyser (Agilent N5230C). The results showed a clear signature of multi-gap superconductivity. No evidences of existence of node in the energy gap were found as the normalized change in the surface reactance and the corresponding normalized change in the in-plane penetration depth have flat dependence at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the broadband optical conductivity and ultrafast carrier dynamics of epitaxial graphene in the few-layer limit. Equilibrium spectra of nominally buffer, monolayer, and multilayer graphene exhibit significant terahertz and near-infrared absorption, consistent with a model of intra- and interband transitions in a dense Dirac electron plasma. Nonequilibrium terahertz transmission changes after photoexcitation are shown to be dominated by excess hole carriers, with a 1.2 ps monoexponential decay that reflects the minority-carrier recombination time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-doping in graphene has been studied by examining single-layer epitaxially grown graphene samples with differing characteristic lateral terrace widths. Low energy electron microscopy was used to gain real-space information about the graphene surface morphology, which was compared with data obtained by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the effect of the monolayer graphene terrace width on the low energy dispersions. By altering the graphene terrace width, we report significant changes in the electronic structure and quasiparticle relaxation time of the material, in addition to a terrace width-dependent doping effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We constructed a genomic DNA library enriched for CA repeat motifs in Eonycteris spelaea. Nine microsatellite loci were isolated and tested on a population of 39 samples from Yunnan Province, China. These nine loci had three to 22 alleles per locus. Observed and expected heterozygosity values ranged from 0.079 to 0.963 and from 0.078 to 0.959. Two loci revealed significant departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and no linkage disequilibrium was found between loci pairs. These microsatellites can be a powerful molecular tool for population-level studies of E. spelaea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature thermal conductivity measurements were performed on single crystals of TlNi2Se2, a nickel chalcogenide heavy-electron superconductor with Tc ≃ 3.7 K. In zero field, the residual electronic contribution at T → 0 K (k0/T ) was well separated from the total thermal conductivity, which is less than 0.45% of its normal-state value. Such a tiny residual k0/T is unlikely contributed by the nodal quasiparticles. The nodeless gap structure is supported by the very weak field dependence of k0(H)/T in low magnetic fields. In the whole field range, k0(H)/T exhibits an S-shaped curve, as in the case of nickel pnictides BaNi2As2 and SrNi2P2. This common feature of nickel-based superconductors can be explained by multiple nodeless superconducting gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the order parameter dynamics of the stripe-ordered nickelate, La1.75Sr0.25NiO4, using time-resolved resonant x-ray diffraction. In spite of distinct spin and charge energy scales, the two order parameters' amplitude dynamics are found to be linked together due to strong coupling. Additionally, the vector nature of the spin sector introduces a longer reorientation time scale which is absent in the charge sector. These findings demonstrate that the correlation linking the symmetry-broken states does not unbind during the nonequilibrium process, and the time scales are not necessarily associated with the characteristic energy scales of individual degrees of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]