Search

Objectives: To establish the reference range of normal fetal ductus venosus pulsatility index (DV PI) and ductus venosus (DV) blood flow velocity at 11–14 weeks of gestation. Material and methods: Fetal ductus venosus Doppler flow was measured in singleton pregnancies attending our hospital for early pregnancy nuchal translucency (NT) screening between June 2021 and May 2022. All fetuses were followed up for pregnancy outcome using the following inclusion criteria: Singleton pregnancy; no maternal underlying diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, rheumatism, or other pregnancy complications; fetal crown-rump length (CRL) of 45 to 84 mm; normal NT screening ultrasound; no absent or reversed ductus venosus a-wave; no fetal structural abnormalities; no chromosomal abnormalities during follow-up; and good pregnancy outcome. DV PI, peak ventricular systolic velocity (S-wave), atrial systolic flow velocity (a-wave) and time-averaged maximum velocity (TAMXV) were recorded. Results: The ductus venosus Doppler parameters of 224 fetuses which met the inclusion criteria were analysed. DV PI P5 and P95 ranged from 1.0007 and 1.3415 for a CRL of 45 mm to 0.9734 and 1.2115 for a CRL of 84 mm, indicating a statistically significant correlation with CRL. DV S-wave, a-wave, and TAMXV all increased as CRL increased, demonstrating a statistically significant correlation with CRL values. Conclusions: A reference range of normal fetal ductus venosus Doppler spectral parameters at 11–14 weeks was established to provide a basis for further research into the clinical value of normal and abnormal DV PI values in relation to adverse pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the primary pathogenesis and syndrome evolution of different heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) stages based on the classical and clinical experience of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), combined with the clinical characteristics of pre-heart failure, symptomatic heart failure, and advanced heart failure. This study summarizes and refines the three core syndrome factors: water, deficiency and blood stasis. Water-fluid retention was observed throughout these three stages, from the beginning to the end. With the advancement of the disease, the heart yang changes from stagnation to deficiency, water-fluid retention gradually increases, blood stasis becomes increasingly prominent, and the disease location develops dynamically from the upper to the middle and lower jiao. This study proposes three methods of treating HFpEF. The main pathogenesis of pre-heart failure is lung qi dysfunction-induced water retention, which can be treated by dispersing lung qi and transforming water retention using Fuling Xingren Gancao Decoction. The primary pathogenesis of symptomatic heart failure is yang and qi deficiency-induced water retention, which can be treated with tonifying yang, supplementing qi, and transforming water retention using Shengxian Decoction combined with Linggui Zhugan Decoction. The primary pathogenesis of advanced heart failure is yang deficiency with blood stasis and water retention affecting the heart, which can be treated with tonifying yang, circulating blood, and expelling water retention using Zhenwu Tingli Decoction. Chinese medicine can be flexibly added or subtracted according to the patients' concurrent patterns. However, the daily care of patients should be considered. This study explores the staging treatment of HFpEF from water, deficiency and blood stasis to provide a TCM clinical reference for treating HFpEF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze of the semen quality of infertile males of minorities and Han ethnic groups in Hainan and provide a scientific basis for the diagnosis and treatment of infertile men in Hainan area. Methods Clinical data of 1 682 infertility male patients from January 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups including the ethnic minority group (367 cases) and the Han nationality group (1 315 cases) according to nationality. The age, semen quality indicators (semen volume, semen liquefaction time, sperm concentration, total sperm motility, forward motion sperm rate, normal sperm morphology rate) and the incidence of abnormal sperm types were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidence of age, semen volume, oligospermia occurrence, asthenospermia occurrence and azoospermia occurrence (P>0.05); However, the abnormal rate of semen liquefaction time ( 10. 40% ) and the incidence of teratospermia (29.70%) in the ethnic minority group were higher than those in the Han nationality group (6. 60% and 27. 00%), and the differences were statistically significant (P<0. 05) ; Sperm concentration (66 x 106/mL), total sperm activity rate [(49. 38 ± 15. 85) % ], forward motility sperm rate [(44. 54 ± 15. 67) %], and normal sperm morphology rate [(3. 86 ± 2. 02) % ] of the ethnic minority group were all remarkably lower than those of the Han nationality group [(73 x 106mL, (55. 16 ± 12. 67)%, (48. 85 ± 12.73) %] respectively, and (4. 90 ± 2. 54) %, and the differences were statistically significant (P <0. 05). Conclusions There is a significant differences in semen quality between infertile males of ethnic minority and Han nationality in Hainan area. The overall semen quality level of the ethnic minorities patients is obviously lower than that of Han nationality. So, we should strengthen male reproductive health education in areas of minority to improve their fertility level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This correction notice is for an article titled "Increased risk of fetal left-right asymmetry disorders associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first trimester" published in Scientific Reports. The correction addresses an error in the affiliation of the authors. The correct affiliation is listed as the Department of Medical Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Abdominal Medical Imaging, Jinan, China. The original article has been corrected. [Extracted from the article]

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance has become a global health crisis. For the purpose of safety regulation, it is of high importance to identify antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria. Although culture-based methods can identify ARGs relatively more accurately, the identifying process is time-consuming and specialized knowledge is required. With the rapid development of whole genome sequencing technology, researchers attempt to identify ARGs by computing sequence similarity from public databases. However, these computational methods might fail to detect ARGs due to the low sequence identity to known ARGs. Moreover, existing methods cannot effectively address the issue of multidrug resistance prediction for ARGs, which is a great challenge to clinical treatments. To address the challenges, we propose an end-to-end multi-label learning framework for predicting ARGs. More specifically, the task of ARGs prediction is modeled as a problem of multi-label learning, and a deep neural network-based end-to-end framework is proposed, in which a specific loss function is introduced to employ the advantage of multi-label learning for ARGs prediction. In addition, a dual-view modeling mechanism is employed to make full use of the semantic associations among two views of ARGs, i.e. sequence-based information and structure-based information. Extensive experiments are conducted on publicly available data, and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework on the task of ARGs prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A classification termed umbilical‐portal‐systemic venous shunt (UPSVS) for an abnormal umbilical vein (UV), portal vein (PV), and ductus venosus (DV) was proposed recently. According to this classification, there are 3 types of UPSVSs: types I, II, and III. Trisomy 21 associated with UV‐PV‐DV anomalies has been described, but the incidence of trisomy 21 in UPSVS cases, the relationship between UPSVS types and trisomy 21, and the pregnancy outcome are poorly documented. This study aimed to address these issues. Methods: All UPSVS cases diagnosed at our department from 2016 to 2019 were retrospectively studied. The English literature describing UV‐PV‐DV anomalies and trisomy 21 from 2000 to 2019 was searched, and the retrieved cases were analyzed. Results: Four of 20 UPSVS cases identified by us also had trisomy 21, with 2 type I and 2 type II UPSVSs. Ultrasound markers of Down syndrome were observed in all 4 cases that underwent termination of pregnancy (TOP). The literature search retrieved 12 reports including 279 patients, with 29 also having trisomy 21, giving a pooled trisomy 21 incidence rate of 10.4%. Of the 29 cases, 16 had type I, and 9 had type II, whereas UPSVS types in 4 were undeterminable, and 22 cases underwent TOP. Conclusions: There is a high incidence of trisomy 21 in UPSVS cases. Trisomy 21 is associated with a type I or II UPSVS. Most cases with the combined defect underwent TOP. These findings may be used to direct prenatal counseling and management of the combined condition. Access the CME test here and search by article title. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential toxicity of Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) to human beings has become a widespread concern. This study explored the reproductive toxicity and the mechanism of toxicity of ZnO NPs in early pregnant mice. The results showed that abnormal weight changes, induced inflammation, reduced level of serum sex hormones, damaged uterus, increased abortion, and abnormal development of fetus. In the uterus, the transcription levels of ZnT‐1, HO‐1, Bax, Bax/Bcl‐2, JNK, and Caspase‐3 were significantly up‐regulated while Bcl‐2, ER‐1 and PR were significantly down‐regulated. The TUNEL‐positive cells increased that were exposed to high levels of ZnO NPs. In summary, those results indicated that Zn from high levels of exposure to ZnO NPs accumulated in the uterus that could have caused the formation of ROS that led to oxidative stress, which might have activated the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway that could have caused the uterine injury which induced the observed reproductive toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy and still remains clinically challenging. We aimed to explore the potential biomarkers of EC and provide a theoretical basis for early screening and targeted therapy. The available transcriptome data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect gene expression. We analyzed the associations of MYBL2 with clinicopathological features and survival time and the biological effect of MYBL2 on the proliferation of EC cells. The effect of MYBL2 silencing on the transcriptome of EC cell model was analyzed by RNA-Seq. MYBL2 was significantly upregulated with obvious copy number alteration (CNA) in EC. Copy number amplification significantly increased MYBL2 mRNA expression, which led to a poor prognosis and severe pathological types of EC. Additionally, MYBL2 silencing significantly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis and G1-phase cell cycle arrest in EC cell lines. Our results indicate that MYBL2 is closely related to the cell cycle and apoptosis pathways in EC. The findings in this study provide evidence that MYBL2 can serve as a new candidate prognostic marker and a target for future therapeutic intervention in EC.