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Objective: With remarkable deficiency in both oocyte stock and competence, the prognosis of IVF-ET in diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) is obstinately poor, underscoring warranted optimization to current procedures. We compared the efficacy of dual-trigger (hCG plus GnRH-a) and hCG alone on the outcomes for DOR patients., Study Design: A total of 381 couples and 857 controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) cycles, and 222 couples and 366 frozen embryo transfer (FET) ones were included. The intermediate outcomes during oocyte retrieval and in vitro culture were compared based on COS dataset, while outcomes after embryo transfer analyzed based on FET dataset. The marginal effect of all study factors and covariates were evaluated with a cluster-weighted GEE model., Results and Conclusion: Neither the intermediate nor implantation outcomes were improved by dual-trigger. The OR values were 1.08 (95 % CI: 0.41-2.78) for retrieval cancellation, 1.33 (95 % CI: 0.89-2.00) for oocyte harvest, 1.04(95 %CI: 0.94-1.15) for viable embryo and 1.03(95 %CI: 0.88-1.19) for top-quality embryo. Similarly, the ORs were 0.90 (95 %CI: 0.62-1.30) for implantation and 0.97 (95 %CI: 0.56-1.69) for clinical pregnancy. This equivalence remained unchanged after adjusting for the covariates such as age, BMI, controlled ovarian stimulation protocols, etc. Thus, dual-trigger cannot provide significant advantage over hCG in related to immediate or clinical outcomes of IVF-ET treatments in DOR patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Oat ( Avena sativa L.) is an annual grass that has a high nutritional value and therapeutic benefits. β-glucan is one of the most important nutrients in oats. In this study, we investigated two oat varieties with significant differences in β-glucan content (high β-glucan oat varieties BY and low β-glucan content oat variety DY) during different filling stages. We also studied the transcriptome sequencing of seeds at different filling stages. β-glucan accumulation was highest at days 6-16 in the filling stage. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were selected from the dataset of transcriptome sequencing. Among them, three metabolic pathways were closely related to the biosynthesis of β-glucan by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, including xyloglucan:xyloglucosyl transferase activity, starch and sucrose metabolism, and photosynthesis. By analyzing the expression patterns of DEGs, we identified one CslF2 gene and 32 transcription factors. Five modules were thought to be positively correlated with β-glucan accumulation by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Moreover, the expression levels of candidate genes obtained from the transcriptome sequencing were further validated by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis. Our study provides a novel way to identify the regulatory mechanism of β-glucan synthesis and accumulation in oat seeds and offers a possible pathway for the genetic engineering of oat breeding for higher-quality seeds., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2024 Qi et al.)

Pu'er tea is a Yunnan geographical indication product, and its brand value ranks first in China. At present, qualitative and quantitative methods with low prediction accuracy are used to predict price. In this paper, based on the current situation and industry characteristics, a differential autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) is used to predict the short-term price. From the perspective of macro and micro, back-propagation neural network model (BP) was established to predict the long-term price based on the weight ranking of 16 factors affecting the price by technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method (TOPSIS). The future price is predicted and analyzed, and then based on the empirical results, suggestions are put forward for the industry in terms of reducing production capacity, increasing consumer demand and combining with the publicity and promotion of Internet., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestNo conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2021.)

A recently developed humanized mouse has been used to assess the immune response evoked against the isolated attenuated C9 parasite clone (C9-M; carrying a single insertion disrupting the open reading frame (ORF) of PF3D7_1305500) of Plasmodium falciparum . Significant human RBC engraftment was achieved by ameliorating the residual non-adaptive immune response using clodronate-loaded liposome treatment. Controlled reactive professional phagocytic leukocytes in immunodeficient mice allowed for sizeable human blood chimerism and injected huRBCs acted as bona fide host cells for P. falciparum . huRBC-reconstituted immunodeficient mice received infectious challenge with attenuated P. falciparum C9 parasite mutants (C9-M), complemented (C9-C), and wild type (NF54) progenitors to study the role of immune effectors in the clearance of the parasite from mouse circulation. C9-M and NF54 parasites grew and developed in the huRBC-reconstituted humanized NSG mice. Further, the presence of mutant parasites in deep-seated tissues suggests the escape of parasites from the host's immune responses and thus extended the survival of the parasite. Our results suggest an evasion mechanism that may have been employed by the parasite to survive the mouse's residual non-adaptive immune responses. Collectively, our data suggest that huRBCs reconstituted NSG mice infected with attenuated P . falciparum is a valuable tool to explore the role of C9 mutation in the growth and survival of parasite mutants and their response to the host's immune responses. This mouse might help in identifying novel chemotherapeutic targets to develop new anti-malarial drugs., (Copyright © 2020 Zhang, Li, Ji, Tian, Wang, Chen and Tian.)

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Hegu"(LI4) and "Zusanli"(ST36)on changes of intestinal sensitivity and colonic motility and expression of colonic 5-hydroxytryptamine 3A receptor (5-HT 3A R) in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) rats, so as to reveal its mechanism underlying improvement of IBS., Methods: A total of 40 neonatal Wistar rats were randomly and equally divided into normal control, model, LI4 and ST36 groups ( n ＝10). The IBS model was induced by mother-infant separation, acetic acid enema and colorectal distension (CRD). EA (2 Hz/100 Hz, a tolerable strength) was applied to bilateral LI4 and ST36 for 20 min, once every other day for 5 times. The Bristol stool form scale was used to assess the gastrointestinal function, and the latency and number of abdominal muscular contraction waves of abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) were used to evaluate the intestinal sensitivity and motility respectively. The immunoactivity of 5-HT 3A R of the colon tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry., Results: After modeling, the score of Bristol fecal form scale, number of muscular contraction waves and expression levels of colonic 5-HT 3A R in the myometrium and mucosal layers were significantly increased ( P <0.01), and the latency of muscular initial contraction wave was obviously shortened in the model group relevant to the normal control group ( P <0.01). After the intervention, the increased Bristol fecal form score, number of muscular contraction waves and expression levels of 5-HT 3A R in the myometrium and mucosal layers as well as the decreased latency of muscular contraction were reversed in both LI4 and ST36 groups ( P <0.01, P <0.05). The effect of EA of ST36 was significantly superior to those of EA-LI4 in lowering Bristol fecal scale score and 5-HT 3A R expression in the muscular layer ( P <0.01), but obviously inferior to those of EA-LI4 in increasing the latency of of muscular initial contraction wave and down-regulating muscular contraction waves and 5-HT 3A R expression in the mucosal layer ( P <0.05, P <0.01)., Conclusion: Both EA-LI4 and EA-ST36 can significantly improve the symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhea, but EA-LI4 is better in suppressing intestinal high sensitivity, and EA-ST36 is better in promoting intestinal motility, suggesting a specificity of effect of acupoints of different meridians.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the measures of damage control theory (DCT) in the treatment of multiple trauma mainly represented by emergency abdominal trauma., Patients and Methods: A total of 76 patients with severe multiple trauma in the Yiwu Central Hospital were selected. Among them, 37 patients with severe multiple trauma were treated with DCT (DCT group), and 39 patients were treated with traditional methods (control group). The prothrombin time (PT), the inflammation index, the duration of mechanical ventilation, the length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and the incidence of sepsis were compared between the two groups., Results: A total of 60 cases (78.95%) were cured and discharged, and 4 cases (10.81%) died in the DCT group, while 12 cases (30.77%) died in the control group. There were 6 cases (16.22%) of sepsis in the DCT group and 15 cases (38.46%) of sepsis in the control group. This indicates that the mortality and the incidence of sepsis in the DCT group were lower than those in the control group (p<0.05 in all comparisons). The PT activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), the length of stay in the ICU, and mechanical ventilation in the DCT group were notably shorter than those in the control group. The levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and IL-10 went up remarkably in both groups (p<0.05), but the levels of serum TNF-α, IL-6, and CRP in the DCT group were lower than those in the control group, while the IL-10 level in the former was significantly higher than that in the latter (p<0.05)., Conclusions: It is feasible to apply DCT to rescue patients with multiple trauma, which can effectively reduce the mortality and complications, and shorten the length of stay in the ICU.

Objective: To observe and compare the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Tianshu" (ST25) and "Dachangshu" (BL25) on intestinal sensitivity and the expression of M 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M 3 R) and 5-hydroxytryptamine 3A receptor (5-HT 3A R) in the colon tissue in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) rats, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of IBS., Methods: Forty newborn Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank control, model, ST25 and BL25 groups ( n ＝10 rats per group). The IBS model was established by joint application of maternal separation, acetic acid enema plus colorectal distension from day 8 to 21 after birth. At the age of 9 weeks, EA (2 Hz/100 Hz, 0.1－0.3 mA) was applied to ST25 and BL25 for 20 min, once every other day for 5 times. The modified method was used to record the abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR), so as to evaluate the visceral sensitivity by referring to the modified Al-Chaer's and colleagues' methods. The threshold (initial wave), the number and peak-peak value of contraction waves (AWR) within 90 s were recorded. The immunoactivity of M 3 R and 5-HT 3A R in the colon tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry., Results: After modeling, the latency was obviously shortened, the number and peak-peak values of contraction waves of intestine were significantly increased, and the immunoactivity of M 3 R and 5-HT 3A R was notably up-regulated in the model group compared with the blank control group ( P <0.01). After the EA intervention, the latency was obviously prolonged, the peak-peak value in both ST25 and BL25 groups, and the number of contraction waves in the ST25 group were significantly decreased ( P <0.01), and the expression levels of M 3 and 5-HT 3A R were considerably down-regulated in both ST25 and BL25 groups relevant to the model group ( P <0.01). The therapeutic effects were significantly better in the ST25 group than in the BL25 group in prolonging the latency and reducing the contraction wave number, and in down-regulating the expression of colonic M 3 R and 5-HT 3A R ( P <0.05, P <0.01)., Conclusion: EA at ST25 and BL25 can reduce the intestinal sensitivity in IBS rats, which is probably associated with its effects in down-regulating the expression of M 3 R and 5-HT 3A R in the colon. The therapeutic effects of ST25 were obviously better than those of BL25 in suppressing intestinal sensitivity and expression of colonic M 3 R and 5-HT 3A R.

Background: Diet and exercise during pregnancy have been used to prevent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with some success., Objective: To examine the effectiveness of lifestyle intervention on GDM prevention and to identify key effectiveness moderators to improve the prevention strategy., Search Strategy: Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane, and cross-references were searched., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating lifestyle interventions during pregnancy for GDM prevention., Data Collection and Analysis: Two independent reviewers extracted data. A random-effects model was used to analyse the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Meta-regressions and subgroup analyses were used to investigate important moderators of effectiveness., Main Results: Forty-seven RCTs involving 15 745 participants showed that diet and exercise during pregnancy were preventive of GDM (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.69-0.87). Four key aspects were identified to improve the preventive effect: targeting the high-risk population; an early initiation of the intervention; the correct intensity and frequency of exercise; and gestational weight gain management. Although 24 RCTs targeted women who were overweight or obese, body mass index (BMI) failed to predict the effectiveness of an intervention. Instead, interventions are most effective in high-incidence populations rather than simply in women who are overweight or obese. Furthermore, exercise of moderate intensity for 50-60 minutes twice a week could lead to an approximately 24% reduction in GDM., Conclusion: The best strategy to prevent GDM is to target the high-risk population predicted by risk evaluation models and to control the gestational weight gain of women through intensified diet and exercise modifications early in their pregnancy., Tweetable Abstract: Four key effectiveness moderators of lifestyle interventions for GDM prevention., (© 2018 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.)

Background: Fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2) is an inflammatory procoagulant protein. We discerned the impact of serum FGL2 on trauma severity and 30-day mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI)., Methods: A total of 114 severe TBI patients were subjected to assessment of trauma severity using the Glasgow coma scale (GCS). Measurement of the serum concentrations of FGL2 was done. 114 matched control subjects for their age and sex were included for comparison of serum concentration of FGL2., Results: The concentration of FGL2 was dramatically increased in the patients as compared with the control subjects. FGL2 concentration was inversely correlated with GCS score among the patients. The non-survivors within 30 days exhibited substantially higher FGL2 concentrations than the alive. FGL2 concentrations discriminated the patients at risk of 30-day death with significantly high area under receiver operating characteristic curve. Serum FGL2 emerged as an independent predictor for mortality and overall survival at 30 days after head trauma., Conclusions: Serum FGL2 is a promising biomarker for assessing the severity and prognosis in severe TBI., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To observe and compare the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Neiguan" (PC 6) for colonic motility and the expression of colon dopamine D 2 in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) rats, and to explore the specificity of different meridians and different acupoints., Methods: Forty Wistar newborn rats were randomly divided into blank, model, Tianshu and Neiguan groups. Separation of mother and child and acetic acid coloclyster combined with colorectal distension were used to establish IBS model in the model, Tianshu and Neiguan groups. At the age of 9 weeks, EA at bilateral ST 25 and PC 6 were applied in the corresponding groups 5 times, once every other day. After the intervention, the Bristol fecal score, the latent period of abdominal retraction reflex and the number of contraction waves were recorded. The expression of dopamine D 2 receptor was detected by immunohistochemistry., Results: Compared with the blank group, the Bristol fecal score of the model group was higher ( P <0.01), the 1 st contraction wave latent period was shorter ( P <0.01), the number of contraction waves in 90 s increased ( P <0.01), the immunoreactive expression of D 2 receptor in colon decreased ( P <0.01). Compared with the model group, the Bristol fecal scores of the Tianshu and Neiguan groups decreased ( P <0.01), the 1 st contraction wave latent periods were longer ( P <0.01), the numbers of contraction waves in 90 s decreased ( P <0.01), the positive expressions of D 2 receptor in colon increased ( P <0.01, P <0.05). Compared with the Tianshu group, the immunoreactive expression of D 2 receptor in the Neiguan group decreased ( P <0.01)., Conclusion: EA at ST 25 and PC 6 can improve the symptoms of colonic motility in IBS rats. The effect of EA at ST 25 is better, which indicates that different meridians and different acupoints play specific effects.

Objective: To observe the accommodative accuracy of children with early-onset myopia at different near-work distances, and discuss the relationship between accommodative accuracy and early-onset myopia., Methods: This was a case-control study. Thirty-seven emmetropic children, 41 early-onset myopic children without correction, and 39 early-onset myopic children with spectacles, aged 7 to 13 years, were included. Measures of refractive errors and accommodative accuracy at four near-work distances, including 50 cm, 40 cm, 30 cm, and 20 cm, were made using the binocular fusion cross cylinder (FCC) of an automatic phoropter., Results: Most candidates showed accommodative lags, including the children with emmetropia. The ratio of lags in all candidates at different near-work distances was 75.21% (50 cm), 87.18% (40 cm), 92.31% (30 cm), and 98.29% (20 cm), respectively. All accommodative accuracies became worse, and the accommodative lag ratio and values of FCC increased, along with the shortening of the distance. The difference in accommodative accuracy among groups was statistically significant at 30 cm (χ(2)=7.852, P= 0.020) and 20 cm (χ(2)=6.480, P=0.039). The values of FCC among groups were significantly different at 30 cm (F=3.626, P=0.030) and 20 cm (F=3.703, P=0.028), but not at 50 cm and 40 cm (P>0.05). In addition, the FCC values of 30 cm and 20 cm had a statistically significant difference between myopic children without correction [(1.25±0.44) D and (1.76±0.43) D] and emmetropic children [(0.95±0.52) D and (1.41±0.58) D] (P=0.012, 0.008). The correlation between diopters of myopia and accommodative accuracy at different nearwork distances was not statistically significant (P>0.05). However, the correlation between diopters of myopia and the accommodative lag value (FCC) at 20 cm was statistically significant (r=0.246, P=0.028)., Conclusions: The closer the near-work distance is, the worse the accommodative accuracy is. This is more significant in early-onset myopia, especially myopia without correction, than emmetropia. Wearing spectacles may improve the threshold and sensitivity of accommodations, and the accommodative accuracy at near-work distances (<30 cm) to some extent. The poor accommodative accuracy at near-work distances may be not related to early-onset myopia, but the value of FCC (20 cm) is related to early-onset myopia. The higher the FCC value is, the higher the diopter is. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 520-524).

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) protein expression and serum pepsinogen (PG) concentration in benign and malignant gastric ulcers., Methods: The TFF1 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in biopsies of gastric mucosa from 18 normal controls, 25 patients with gastric ulcer and 13 patients with ulcerative gastric cancer at our hospital during January to June 2011. The serum concentrations of PGI and PGII were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and PG/PGII (PGR) was subsequently calculated., Results: The expression of TFF1 protein increased significantly in ulcerative and peripheral gastric mucosa and peripheral mucosa of gastric cancers versus that in normal controls and the ulcerocancer group (3.04% ± 0.20%, 3.00% ± 0.20%, 3.23% ± 0.26% vs 1.67% ± 0.18%, 0.46% ± 0.18%, all P < 0.01). The elevated expression of TFF1 increased the risk of gastric ulcer (OR: 1.365, 95%CI: 1.065 - 1.749, P = 0.014) while the down-regulation of TFF1 significantly increased the risk of ulcerocancer (OR: 3.067, 95%CI: 1.391 - 6.757, P = 0.005). The serum levels of PGI and PGII in gastric ulcer group were significantly higher than that in normal control and ulcerocancer group ((150 ± 27), (28 ± 9) vs (121 ± 22), (17 ± 7), (79 ± 12), (20 ± 5) µg/L,all P < 0.01). The PGI level and PGR decreased significantly in the ulcerocancer group versus normal control (both P < 0.01). But there was no statistical difference in PGII (P > 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that PGI and PGR were valuable for the diagnosis of malignant gastric cancer with an area under curve of 0.975 and 0.914 respectively., Conclusions: The expression of TFF1 protein increases in gastric ulcer but decreases in gastric ulcerocancer. The elevated serum levels of PGI and PGII indicate benign ulcer while a marked decline of serum PG I and PGR serves as a risk signal of malignant gastric ulcer. The evaluation of expression profiles of TFF1 protein and PGs is helpful for the differentiation of benign gastric ulcer from malignant ulcerocancer.

Objective: To explore the effect of ginsenoside in inducing rectal cancer cell apoptosis., Methods: Fifty patients of rectal cancer diagnosed by pathological examination were randomly divided into two groups, 35 in the treated group and 15 in the control group. The treated group received retention enema with 84.5% ginsenoside for 4-6 hrs every day, 6-8 days consecutively before surgical operation. The control group also received retention enema in the same way but with normal saline instead of ginsenoside. Fresh sample was taken during the operation and examined by electron microscopy., Results: Symptoms, such as frequent defecation, hematochezia and tenesmus, were palliated in most patients (25/35) and abdominal pain relieved in all the 7 cases of incomplete intestinal obstruction in the treated group. Electron microscopic examination showed that cell apoptosis was observed in cancer sample of 23 cases among the 35 cases of the treated group, amounting to 65.7%. While in the control group, above-mentioned changes were not observed at all., Conclusion: Ginsenoside has the effect of inducing apoptosis in rectal cancer patients.

Nonischemic arterial high flow priapism caused by traumatic laceration of a branch of the penile cavernous artery is rare. We report a case of laceration of the left and right branches of the intracavernous artery, which was confirmed by selective internal pudendal arteriography. Bilateral cavernous artery embolization was performed using gelatin sponge and detumescence occurred immediately. Normal potency was evident 4 months later. Our case demonstrates that selective cavernous arterial embolization is a safe and effective therapy for arterial priapism and that erectile function can return to normal.