Search

Summary: In the treatment of infertile patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) caused by the deletion of the azoospermia factor c region (AZFc) on the Y chromosome, synchronous and asynchronous surgical strategies are discussed. Clinical data from NOA patients with the AZFc deletion who underwent micro-TESE were analyzed retrospectively. The sperm retrieval rate (SRR) and sperm utilization rate of synchronous and asynchronous operation groups were followed up and compared. The fertilization rate, high-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate, abortion rate, and cumulative live birth rate of ICSI in patients with successful sperm retrieval were compared between the two groups. The two groups had sperm utilization rates of 98.9% (93/94) and 50.0% (14/28), respectively. The asynchronous group's sperm consumption rates were much lower than those of the synchronous operation group. Fertilization rate, high-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate of fresh transfer cycle, abortion rate, and cumulative live birth rate of patients in the synchronous operation group with fresh sperm, and the asynchronous operation group with thawed sperm, respectively, were 30.6% vs 33.8%, 33.8% vs 40.7%, 40.0% vs 12.5%, 30.4% vs 7.1%. Between the two groups, there was no significant difference. This suggests that individuals with NOA caused by the AZFc deletion have a high possibility of successfully acquiring sperm using micro-TESE and ICSI to conceive their own offspring. Synchronous micro-TESE is recommended to improve sperm utilization rate and the cumulative live birth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional fermented soybean food has emerged as an important part of people's dietary structure because of the unique flavors and improved health benefit. During fermentation, the nutrients in soybean undergo a series of biochemical reactions catalyzed naturally by microorganism secreted enzymes. Thereafter, many functional and bioactive substances such as bioactive peptides, unsaturated fatty acids, free soy isoflavones, vitamins and minerals are produced, making fermented soy products more advantageous in nutrition and health. This review comprehensively discusses the historical evolution, distribution, traditional fermentation processing, main sources and characteristics of fermented strains, flavor components, nutritional properties, and biological activities of four traditional fermented soybean foods including douchi, sufu, dajiang, and soy sauce. In the end, we introduce four major challenges encountered by traditional fermented soybean foods including high salt content, formation of biogenic amine, the presence of pathogenic microorganisms and mycotoxins, and quality inconsistency. We conclude that the establishment of scientific quality standard and innovated fermentation processing is the potential solutions to combat the issues and improve the safety of traditional fermented soybean products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Studying the flow characteristics of FK‐5‐1‐12 in the pipeline during the release process is important for appropriate hydraulic calculations and fire extinguishing efficiency evaluation. This work proposes a well‐documented dataset of flow results to investigate the flow state and characteristics. Through comparing the evaporation properties of FK‐5‐1‐12 and those of other typical extinguishers, the flow state of FK‐5‐1‐12 was assumed to be a single‐phase flow, and hydraulic calculations were carried out using single‐phase fluid formulas. The calculated values were compared with experimental data. The release tests of water (pure single‐phase flow), Halon1301 (two‐phase flow), and FK‐5‐1‐12 were carried out under the same piping system, and the flow characteristics of the three media were compared to further verify the piping flow state. The experimental results show that the release process of FK‐5‐1‐12 in the cylinder has a single‐phase flow similar to water, but differs in density and expansion performance. However, FK‐5‐1‐12 only conformed to single‐phase flow in the more upstream sections of the pipeline, but presented obvious two‐phase flow state in the main pipe and the more downstream sections. When the vaporization is the most serious, the density of the mixture is only 1/26 of that of liquid FK‐5‐1‐12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common food‐borne pathogen that causes severe diseases after adhesion to epithelial cells. Lactobacillus inhibits pathogenic bacterial adhesion and infection. In addition, sialic acid (SA) is widely known for its beneficial biological functions. A new way of reducing the occurrence of diseases and curbing the overuse of antibiotics is ingesting prebiotics and probiotics that regulate the intestinal flora. In this study, we first evaluated the anti‐adhesive effects of several strains of Lactobacillus on S. aureus. The study revealed that the S. aureus adhesion was inhibited by all the strains of Lactobacillus. Besides, the rate of inhibition by L. plantarum Z‐4 was significantly higher than other Lactobacillus species. We then investigated the effects of different SA concentrations (40, 100, 150, 200, and 260 μg/ml) on the growth and adhesion characteristics of L. plantarum and S. aureus. The results showed that SA influences bacterial adhesion by regulating the bacteria's growth characteristics. Finally, the effects of SA combined with Lactobacillus on the adhesion of S. aureus were assessed by competition, exclusion and displacement methods. SA with a concentration of 260 μg/mL combined with L. plantarum had the highest inhibition effect on the competition assays. In addition, the expression of S. aureus adhesion‐related genes was reduced. This provides a new perspective on the application of SA and/or L. plantarum and its potential to resist adhesion of S. aureus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]