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Ferrosilicon alloy is widely used as alloying agent and deoxidizer in the steelmaking process, which containing the metallic impurities of Al, Ca, and Ti would directly affect the cleanliness of the molten steel. Therefore, metallic impurities from the ferrosilicon alloy removed by the top blowing Ar-O2 gas was carried out. The morphology, composition, and area fraction of impurity phases of metallic impurities in the ferrosilicon alloy were compared before and after Ar-O2 gas blowing treatment by automatic scanning electron microscopy, and contents of metallic impurities were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The results show that a large amount of metallic impurity phases precipitate in the ferrosilicon alloy raw material, which mainly contain Al, Ca, and Ti impurities, and their contents are 1.11% (mass fraction, the same below), 0.31% and 0.11%, respectively. After blowing Ar-O2 gas for 5 minutes, contents of Al and Ca are dropped sharply to 0.66% and 0.13%, respectively. After blowing Ar-O2 gas from 45 minutes, the removal rate of impurity elements is slowed down and the refining reaction tends to reach equilibrium. After 120 minutes of blowing Ar-O2 gas, contents of Al, Ca and Ti are 0.42%, 0.014% and 0.094%, respectively; meanwhile the removal efficiency of Al, Ca and Ti are 62.16%, 95.48% and 14.54%, respectively. The refining method of blowing Ar-O2gas can effectively remove impurity elements of Al and Ca in the ferrosilicon alloy, while no significant change in Ti content is found.

Abstract Background Endometrial cavity fluid (ECF) is a fluid accumulation within the endometrial cavity. The significance of ECF remains unclear during the program of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). The aim of the present study was to investigate the associated factors to ECF, visualized through ultrasound at the day of oocyte retrieval, and the relevant impact on the outcome of IVF-ET. Methods From the clinical data of 1557 infertility patients for IVF-ET program, 46 ECF patients were retrospectively selected as the ECF group; and another 134 patients with a bilateral salpingectomy and without ECF, selected as the control group. The demographics and the outcome of IVF-ET were compared between the two groups. Results The incidence of ECF was 2.95% (46/1557). Over half (28/46, 60.87%) of ECF patients had tubal infertility. Only 12 Of 46 ECF patients (26.09%) had visible hydrosalpinx on ultrasonography before ovarian stimulation. The cycle cancellation rate (4/46, 8.69%) of ECF group was not significantly higher than that of the control group (6/134, 4.48%; P > 0.05). Reasons for cycle cancellation in both groups were all the high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). No significant difference was found in clinical pregnancy rate between the patients with their ECF 0.05). No clinical pregnancy was found among those patients with their ECF equal or higher 3.5 mm in APD. Conclusions It was tubal infertility, not hydrosalpinx, which was related to the development of ECF. Excessive ECF (equal or higher 3.5 mm in APD) at the day of oocyte retrieval would have a negative impact on the outcome of IVF-ET.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the association between serum levels of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) at admission and neurodevelopmental outcomes in a group of Chinese preterm infants, observed prospectively, until 1-year of corrected age (CA).Methods: All preterm infants used in this study were received from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of our Hospital between 1 January 2012 and 31 August 2013. Serum levels of MBL and clinical data were obtained at the time of admission. The influence of MBL levels on neurological outcome was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Clinical follow-up was performed at 1 year.Results: The study cohort consisted of 175 neonates at baseline and 105 finished the 1-year follow-up. The mean serum MBL levels at the time of admission were significantly lower in children with adverse neurological outcomes as compared with children with no adverse [0.53 (SD = 0.09) μg/ml versus 0.80 (SD = 0.17) μg/ml, respectively; t = 8.342, p < 0.0001]. In multivariate analysis, there was an increased risk of adverse neurological outcomes associated with MBL ≤ 0.68 μg/ml [odds ratios (OR) = 12.11, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.31-30.32; p < 0.0001] after adjusting for possible factors.Conclusion: Preterm infants who had low levels of MBL at admission are exposed to an increased risk of adverse neurological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A karyological study has been caried out on six populations of Aconitum brachypodum across its distribution region (Dongchuan,Huize,Lijiang,Ninglang, Yanyuan and Muli). Al populations of the A. brachypodum studied were diploid (2n=2x=16) with various chromosome morphologies A. brachypodum has relatively consistent chromosome diversification with a basic number of 8. Only the karyotype formulas of Ninglang and Yanyuan populations were same. The kartotype of Muli population belonged to Stebbins' 1A type,the kartotype of Lijiang, Ninglang, Yanyuan populations belonged to Stebbins' 2B type,and the kartotype of Huize,Dongchuan populations belonged to Stebbins' 3B type. Six populations in A. brachypodum had different karyotype and they al belonged to comparatively asymmetric type. The karyotype formula of A. pendulum is 2n=16=8m+8sm, and the karyotype formula of A. brachypodum var. laxiflorum is 2n=16=10m+6sm. The variation of the karyotype formula, As.K.% and AI did not show clear and corespondingly geographical distribution. And six populations did not contain polyloid individuals, the breeding of A. brachypodum need to be studied in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The complexity of metabolic profiles makes multivariate chemometric techniques crucial for extracting mostly significant information and offering biological insight. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was proven fruitful in metabonomic community, due to its promising properties. The issues of suboptimum and overfitting, however, often occur in PLS-DA modeling. In the current study, particle swarm optimization (PSO) was invoked to meliorate PLS-DA via simultaneously selecting the optimal variable subset as well as the associated weights and the best number of latent variables in PLS-DA, forming a new algorithm named PSO-PLSDA. Combined with 1H NMR-based metabonomics, PSO-PLSDA compared with PLS-DA was applied to recognize lung cancer patients from healthy controls. Relatively to the recognition rates of 86% and 65% for the training and test sets yielded by PLS-DA, 99% and 85% were obtained by PSO-PLSDA. Moreover, several most discriminative metabolites were identified by PSO-PLSDA to aid the diagnosis of lung cancer, including lactate, proline, glycoprotein, glutamate, alanine, threonine, taurine, glucose (α- and β-), trimethylamine, glutamine, glycine, and myo-inositol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The complete mitochondrial genome ofHormaphis betulaehas been sequenced and annotated, which is the first representation from the aphid subfamily Hormaphidinae. This mitogenome is 15 088 bp long with an A + T content of 82.2%, containing 37 genes arranged in the same order as the putative ancestral arrangement of insects and a control region. All protein-coding genes start with an ATN codon and terminate with a TAA codon or a single T residue. All the 22 tRNAs, ranging from 61 to 78 bp, have the typical clover-leaf structure except fortrnS (AGN). The lengths ofrrnLandrrnSgenes are 1275 and 776 bp, respectively. The control region is 509 bp long and located betweenrrnSandtrnI, including three domains: an AT-rich zone, a poly-thymidine stretch, and a stem-loop region. The phylogenetic tree supportsH. betulaeas the basal lineage within Aphididae. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study aimed to investigate the potential role of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) in improving cellular lipid deposition and its underlying mechanism. A fatty liver cell model was established by treating hepatoma cells with palmitic acid. AS-IV and SC79 were used for treatment. Oil Red O staining was applied to detect intracellular lipid deposition, and transmission electron microscopy was utilized to assess autophagosome formation. Immunofluorescence double staining was applied to determine microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3) expression. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of LC3, prostacyclin, Beclin-1, V-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog (Akt), phosphorylated Akt, mTOR, and phosphorylated mTOR. Oil Red O staining revealed that AS-IV reduced intracellular lipid accumulation. Further, it increased autophagosome synthesis and the expression of autophagy proteins LC3 and Beclin-1 in the cells. It also reduced the phosphorylation levels of Akt and mTOR and the levels of prostacyclin. However, the effects of AS-IV decreased with SC79 treatment. In addition, LC3B + BODIPY493/503 fluorescence double staining showed that AS-IV reduced intracellular lipid deposition levels by enhancing autophagy. AS-IV can reduce lipid aggregation in fatty liver cells, which can be related to enhanced hepatocyte autophagy by inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objective: to investigate the expression and location of caveolin-1 (Cav-1), aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and AQP5 in the lung of acute pancreatitis-associated lung injury rats and to determine the role of these molecules in the pathologic progress and the potential therapeutic mechanisms of Qingyitang., Methods: forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham operation (SHAM) group, acute lung injury (ALI) group, dexamethasone (DEX) group and Qingyitang (QYT) group. ALI was induced by reverse injection of deoxycholate into biliopancreatic duct of rats. Blood and lung tissues were collected after 24 h. Serum amylase, lung wet/dry (W/D) ratio and pathological section were detected to evaluate the degree of lung injury. reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was taken to detect the mRNA levels of Cav-1, AQP1 and AQP5. Lipid rafts were prepared for detection of the distribution and expression level of Cav-1, AQP1 and AQP5 proteins by Western blot., Results: the concentration of serum amylase, the value of W/D and the degree of pathological lung injury obviously increased in ALI rats. Cav-1, AQP1 and AQP5 were present in the lung while the mRNA level decreased in ALI rats. Cav-1 appeared mainly in lipid rafts and less in non-lipid rafts. AQP1 was localized to lipid rafts while AQP5 to non-lipid rafts. The localization of these three molecules in the lung of ALI rats did not change compared with SHAM rats while their protein levels decreased. Compared with ALI rats, the concentration of serum amylase, the value of W/D and the degree of pathological lung injury obviously decreased in DEX and QYT rats. The mRNA and the protein expression of Cav-1, AQP1 and AQP5 increased in various degrees by DEX or QYT treatment., Conclusion: Cav-1 and AQP1 are enriched in lipid rafts while AQP5 in non-lipid rafts. The down-regulated expression of these three molecules may play important role in acute pancreatitis-associated lung injury. DEX and QYT may relieve lung injury effectively by up-regulating the expressions of Cav-1, AQP1 and AQP5.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of increasing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) flow volume in improving outcome of patients with carotid artery stenosis performed coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedure., Methods: Fifty-one patients data collected from January 2006 to March 2008 and divided into two groups (A and B) based on the degree of the carotid artery stenosis diagnosed by ultrasound. Group A included 15 cases with one or both carotid artery stenosis more than 50%, 14 male and 1 female, aged (68.5 +/- 7.7) years old, 14 with hypertension, 2 with diabetes, 6 with myocardial infarction, 3 with cerebral infarction. Group B included 36 cases with stenosis less than 50%, 34 male and 2 female, aged (62.4 +/- 10.2) years old, 28 with hypertension, 7 with diabetes, 20 with myocardial infarction. Increasing CPB flow volume in A group to compare cerebral blood flow (CBF) within procedure in both groups., Results: CPB flow volume in group A was much higher than it in group B (P = 0.001). Mean arterial blood pressure in group A was (67.0 +/- 9.1) mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa), higher than group B (59.0 +/- 7.1) mm Hg (P = 0.009). There was no significant difference of CBF within procedure and neuropsychologic performance in both group as result., Conclusion: For the patients presenting with carotid artery stenosis undergoing the procedure of CABG with CPB, increasing CPB flow volume could improve significantly diseased side cerebral blood flow and might reduce neurological complications.

Tissue cultures of Scutellaria amoena were established from the young stem explants on MS + IAA 0.1 mg/L + BA 0. 5 (0.2) mg/L. Propagation cultures were established on MS + BA 0.2 (1.5) mg/L + IAA 0.1 mg/L + NAA 0.1 mg/L + 2, 4-D 0.5 (1.5) mg/L. Rooting of planlet was established on 1/2 MS + NAA 0.1 (0.2) mg/L + IBA 0.1 (0.2) mg/L + PP333 1.0 mg/L and the rate can reach 100%.