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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the value of 3.0T magnetic resonance three-dimensional arterial spin labeling imaging (3D-ASL) technology in the differential diagnosis of recurrence and pseudo-progression of high-grade gliomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with high-grade glioma were selected as research objects. All 50 patients were examined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the lesions were found to be enlarged or abnormally enhanced. All the patients were examined using the 3.0T MR 3D-ASL technique. With targeted biopsy pathology as the gold standard, the diagnostic results of the 3.0T MR 3D-ASL technique were analyzed, and the cerebral blood flow (rCBFmax) ratio was compared between patients with recurrent glioma and patients with pseudo-progression [maximum blood flow value/contralateral mirror area (CBFmax/contralateral mirror area), CBFmax/contralateral white matter, CBFmax/ contralateral gray matter]. RESULTS: Among 50 glioma patients, 31 (62.00%) were diagnosed with recurrence through pathological examination, and 19 (38.00%) were diagnosed with pseudo-progression. 30 patients with recurrence (60.00%) and 20 patients with pseudo-progression (40.00%) were diagnosed using 3.0T magnetic resonance 3D-ASL technology. The diagnostic accuracy of 3.0T magnetic resonance 3D-ASL technology was 96.77% (30/31) (p > 0.05). Using pathological results as the "gold standard", the relevant parameters of 3.0T magnetic resonance 3D-ASL technology under different pathological results were analyzed. The results showed that the CBFmax/contralateral mirror area, CBFmax/contralateral white matter, and CBFmax/contralateral gray matter ratios of advanced glioma recurrence patients were significantly higher than those of pseudo-progression (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The application of 3.0T MR 3D-ASL in high-grade glioma can effectively distinguish recurrence and pseudo-progression, with significant diagnostic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agaricus blazei Murrill (AB) is a mushroom known for its medicinal applications. AB stipe (ABS) is a by-product of the mushroom's processing, which is rich in bioactive substances, such as polysaccharides. This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of dietary ABS supplementation on growth performance, short-chain fatty acid production, antioxidant capacity, immune function, meat quality, gut function, and caecal microbiota in broilers. A total of 180 one-day-old male Arbor Acre broilers (46.17 ± 2.47 g) were randomised to 3 treatments, with 6 replicates per treatment and 10 broilers per replicate. The treatments included one basal diet (control group) and two experimental diets supplemented with 1% and 2% ABS, respectively. This trial lasted 42 days and was divided into Phase 1 (day 1-21) and Phase 2 (day 22-42). The results showed that broilers fed ABS exhibited a significant reduction in the feed conversion ratio throughout the study period (P < 0.05), and tended to have increased average daily gain in Phase 2 (P < 0.1) and the overall period (P < 0.1). On day 42, dietary ABS supplementation significantly decreased the concentration of interleukin-1β (P < 0.05) and total cholesterol in serum (P < 0.05). Moreover, ABS addition significantly increased the villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (P < 0.05) in the jejunum and tended to increase villus height (P < 0.1) and decrease crypt depth (P < 0.1). In addition, the ABS-supplemented groups showed higher microbial diversity and increased proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the caecum. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that ABS supplementation can improve growth performance, anti-inflammatory activity, and intestinal function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to explore the value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as a prenatal screening method for common aneuploidy in pregnant women in advanced maternal age. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 545 mothers with singleton pregnancy who were of advanced age and underwent NIPT testing voluntarily at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University between November 2020 and February 2023. In cases where NIPT testing suggested chromosomal abnormalities, amniocentesis was conducted, karyotype analysis or gene copy number variation (CNV) testing was performed, and the pregnancy outcome was tracked. RESULTS: Among 545 pregnant women in advanced maternal age, 11 cases had high risk of NIPT, and the detection rate was 2.02%. Among 11 pregnant women deemed to be at high risk for NIPT, 10 cases underwent amniotic fluid puncture, and one case refused amniocentesis despite a suggestive chromosomal abnormality in NIPT. The overall rate of amniocentesis was 1.83%. Among 11 pregnant women deemed to be at high risk for NIPT, the results suggested that 5 of them had trisomy 21, 1 had trisomy 18, 2 had sex chromosome abnormalities (specifically, 47, XYY), and 3 had other autosomal abnormalities. The positive predictive values of NIPT were 100.00% for the cases of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18, while the values were 0.00% for the cases of sex chromosome abnormalities and other autosomal abnormalities, respectively. After the follow-up, each of the 6 cases that were diagnosed with definite chromosomal abnormalities during prenatal screening opted to induce labor and terminate the pregnancy, including 5 cases that exhibited a high risk of trisomy 21 (47, XN,+21) and 1 case that showed a high risk of trisomy 18 (47, XN,+18). One instance of NIPT indicated a potential abnormality in the sex chromosomes, the individual declined to undergo amniocentesis. Another instance of NIPT suggested a sex chromosome abnormality, amniocentesis revealed a deletion of 0.72 Mb in the 4q22.1 region. They all had normal pregnancies and normal newborns. The remaining three cases had normal prenatal diagnoses (46, XN) and experienced normal pregnancies with healthy neonatal outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: NIPT has demonstrated its efficacy as a screening tool in the face of increasing maternal age. As a result, it can substantially decrease the requirement for invasive prenatal diagnosis. Nonetheless, there are instances of erroneous positive outcomes in NIPT testing, and therefore, interventional prenatal diagnosis remains necessary for individuals with high-risk screening outcomes to prevent false positives or unwarranted labor induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Pheochromocytoma (PHEO) in pregnancy is a rare disease, and the management of this situation is not well established. The misdiagnosis of the disease often leads to adverse outcomes for both mothers and infants. CASE REPORT: Here, we describe a case of a pregnant woman at 25 weeks’ gestation presenting with headache, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, which was found to have a left adrenal mass and hypertensive urgency and diagnosed pregnancy with PHEO in our hospital. The timely diagnosis and proper treatment came with an optimal maternal and fetal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The case of pheochromocytoma in pregnancy we report demonstrated that early diagnosis and a multidisciplinary approach ensured a favorable prognosis for both maternal and fetal, and we also addressed the importance of individual basis evaluation during the whole journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The two objectives of the present study were to analyze the correlation between pregnancy outcomes and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene C677T polymorphism, and to provide evidence for clinical improvement of adverse pregnancy outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 1,995 cases of pregnant women were selected as objects of the study, and underwent MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism detection in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from October 2020 to September 2021, in which 919 cases whose pregnancy outcomes could be tracked. According to the result of MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism detection, 1,995 cases of pregnant women were classified into a wild-type (CC) group, heterozygous (CT) group, or homozygous (TT) group, and the distributions of MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism in pregnant women were analyzed. In addition, according to complications, 919 cases of pregnant women whose pregnancy outcomes could be tracked were divided into the normal pregnancy group (676 cases), GDM group (146 cases), HDP group (47 cases), abnormal fetus group (13 cases), and spontaneous abortion group (37 cases), and the genotype distributions of MTHFR gene C677T in each group were analyzed. Besides, according to genotype, 919 cases of pregnant women whose pregnancy outcome could be tracked were divided into CC group (515 cases), CT group (289 cases), and TT group (115 cases), and the correlation between genotype and pregnancy outcomes, such as fetal distress, postpartum hemorrhage, premature birth, and full-term delivery, was then analyzed. RESULTS: For the C677T locus of MTHFR gene in the 1,995 cases of pregnant women, there are 1,162 (58.25%) cases of CC genotype, 649 (32.53%) cases of CT genotype, 184 (9.22%) cases of TT genotype. The proportion of TT genotype in GDM, HDP, abnormal fetus, and spontaneous abortion groups were respectively 19.86% (29/148), 25.53% (12/47), 46.15% (6/13), 40.54% (15/37), which were significantly higher than that in normal pregnancy group (7.84%, 53/676), and there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). The full-term birth rate in TT group (75.65%, 87/115) was lower than those of CC group (91.26%, 470/515) and CT group (89.27%, 258/289), and there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The TT type gene mutation at the C677T site ofMTHFR gene is closely related to conditions that contribute to a decrease in the number of full-term births and increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including GDM, HDP, spontaneous abortion, and fetal abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the usefulness of genomic copy number variation sequencing (CNV-Seq) in the prenatal diagnosis of pregnant women. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Based on prenatal diagnostic indications, CNV-Seq analysis was done in the samples from the 579 pregnant women of the 7 subgroups that included advanced maternal age (group A), high risk noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) (group B), high risk Down's (Group C), abnormal ultrasound findings (Group D), adverse pregnancy history (Group E), chromosome abnormalities in couples (Group F), and the mixed group (Group G). RESULTS: A total of 57 (9.84%) cases have abnormal CNV-Seq results. Among them, 21 cases were aneuploid chromosomal number abnormalities (3.63%, 21/579), and 36 cases were CNV abnormalities (6.22%, 36/579), including 7 cases of pathogenic copy number alteration (pCNA) (1.21%, 7/579) and 29 cases variants of uncertain significance (VUS) (5.01%, 29/579). The total detection rates of abnormal CNV-Seq in Group G and Group B were 20.27% (15/74) and 15.91% (14/88), which were significantly higher than those in other groups (p < 0.05). Among 36 cases of abnormal CNV-Seq, 7 cases were chromosome fragment deletion or duplication, which were pathogenic CNV, and some rare chromosomal diseases were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a high risk of NIPT or multiple indications of prenatal diagnosis are highly suspected of chromosomal diseases. CNV-Seq is a useful tool for detecting chromosome abnormalities for prenatal diagnosis of pregnant women more accurately and provides more comprehensive information for prenatal diagnosis to reduce birth defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Rehabilitation of disabled children with autism has become a challenge for current rehabilitation centres. This study conducted psychological investigations on disabled children and analysed the symptoms and characteristics of autism in these children to develop more reasonable rehabilitation treatment plans that would help the children receive psychological counselling and effective rehabilitation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study investigated 107 disabled children from the Disabled Rehabilitation Research Centre of the South China Minority Autonomous Region. Using the PEP-3 scale as a research tool, a questionnaire was developed to investigate and collect data on the mental health of disabled children. The survey was conducted from 2017 to 2021, and 107 children's mental health data were collected in the form of questionnaires based on PEP-3 evaluation indicators. After cleaning the data, the questionnaire data were screened and processed. Descriptive statistical and correlation analysis tools were used for model analysis to understand the overall data distribution and the potential relationships among various data variables. RESULTS: The results of correlation analysis showed that cognition, language expression, language understanding, emotion, and social interaction in the subtest of developmental behaviour were the main indicators of the degree of autism in children. These indicators had a strong and significant correlation with the comprehensive score. Moreover, these indicators had a significant correlation with the individual self-care and adaptive behaviours reported by the children's caregivers. Small muscles, big muscles, and imitation (vision and movement) indicators had a significant correlation with problematic behaviours and physical fitness, and language and cognitive indicators also had a strong correlation with emotion and social interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Emphasis should be placed on the improvement of the language and cognitive abilities of disabled children with autism, and corresponding rehabilitation plans, and trainings can be formulated according to children with different degrees of illness to get a better rehabilitation outcome. Further, identification of key indicators of autism will be of help in aiding the development of rehabilitation treatment for disabled children with autism and formulation of long-term rehabilitation plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

InGaN quantum dots (QDs) deposited on SiNx nanomasks have been investigated by atomic force microscopy, photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) measurements. It was found that the size of QDs can be well controlled by SiNx nanomasks, enabling the manipulation of quantum confinement effect. The PL spectra of InGaN QDs contain several fine structures, and the main peaks can be attributed to families of QDs with different sizes. The emission arising from InGaN QDs and GaN buffer layer can be clearly distinguished based on PLE measurement, which can be used to improve the interpretation in the previous reports. Our study indicates that the quantum confined Stark effect due to piezoelectric field plays a very important role in the optical properties of InGaN QDs, which is very useful for the application of optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The incidence and disability rate of spinal tuberculosis is high. The role of the expression of lncRNA SNHG15 in spinal tuberculosis and related mechanisms remains unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Spinal tuberculosis and normal control tissues were collected, and lncRNA SNHG15 level was analyzed by real-time PCR. Mouse RAW264.7 cells were cultured and divided into control group, tuberculin (PPD) group, si-SNHG15, and PPD+ si-SNHG15 group followed by analysis of lncRNA SNHG15 level, cell proliferation by MTT assay, formation of osteoclasts by TRAP staining, levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by ELISA, as well as expression of RANK and RANKL by Western blot. RESULTS: The lncRNA SNHG15 expression in spinal tuberculosis tissues was significantly increased compared with that in the control group (p < 0.05). The expression of lncRNA SNHG15 was increased in RAW264.7 cells in the PPD group with increased cell proliferation, TRAP-positive cells, IL-6 and TNF-α secretion, as well as elevated RANK and RANKL expression which were statistically different compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Transfection of lncRNA SNHG15 siRNA in the PPD model significantly inhibited the expression of lncRNA SNHG15, decreased cell proliferation, TRAP staining positive cells, IL-6 and TNF-α secretion, as well as reduced RANK and RANKL expression. Compared with the PPD group, the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of lncRNA SNHG15 was significantly increased in spinal tuberculosis tissues. The downregulation of lncRNA SNHG15 expression could inhibit the secretion of inflammatory cytokines by regulating the RANK/RANKL pathway, thereby regulating osteoclasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an important regulatory protein in the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway, which regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, and other biological processes. It is closely related to tumor occurrence, progress, and resistance. Cisplatin (DDP) resistant cervical cancer cell line was established by shock induction to investigate the role of STAT3 in cervical cancer cells drug resistance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of STAT3 in different chemotherapy response cervical cancer tissues was compared. The cervical cancer was divided into two groups upon STAT3 median level. Cervical cancer cell inhibitory rate by DDP treatment was compared. Western blot was used to detect STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) expressions in CaSki and CaSki/DDP cells. Cell apoptosis rate was tested by flow cytometry. CaSki/DDP cells were divided into small interfere RNA-normal control (siRNA-NC) group and siRNA-STAT3 group. Cell proliferation was evaluated by EdU staining. RESULTS: The rate of STAT3 over-expression in cervical cancer patients with no significant chemotherapy response was markedly higher than that with a significant response. The inhibitory effect of DDP on tumor cells derived from patients with low STAT3 expression was significantly higher, while the apoptosis rate was apparently lower than that of CaSki/DDP cells from patients with high STAT3 expression. siRNA-STAT3 transfection significantly reduced the expressions of STAT3 and p-STAT3, decreased cell proliferation, and enhanced cell apoptosis in CaSki/DDP cells. CONCLUSIONS: STAT3 over-expression is associated with DDP resistance in cervical cancer. Decreasing STAT3 can significantly promote the apoptosis of cervical cancer CaSki cells and decrease the DDP resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]