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Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of different temperatures and equilibrium times on the clinical outcomes of FET cycles during the thawing procedure and to select a better thawing method to improve clinical outcomes. Methods This retrospective study included 1,734 FET cycles from January 1, 2020, to January 30, 2022. Embryos vitrified using a Kitazato Vitrification Kit were thawed at 37°C in all steps (the case group, denoted the “all-37°C” group) or at 37°C and then at room temperature (RT; the control group, denoted the “37℃-RT” group), according to the kit instructions. The groups were matched 1:1 to avoid confounding. Results After case-control matching, 366 all-37°C cycles and 366 37℃-RT cycles were included. The baseline characteristics were similar (all P > 0.05) between the two groups after matching. FET of the all-37°C group yielded a higher clinical pregnancy rate (CPR; P = 0.009) and implantation rate (IR; P = 0.019) than FET of the 37℃-RT group. For blastocyst transfers, the CPR (P = 0.019) and IR (P = 0.025) were significantly higher in the all-37°C group than in the 37℃-RT group. For cleavage embryo transfers, the CPR and IR were non-significantly higher in the all-37°C group than in the 37℃-RT group (P > 0.05). Conclusions Thawing vitrified embryos at 37°C in all steps during FET cycles can enhance CPR and IR. Well-designed prospective studies are warranted to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of the all-37°C thawing method.

Background: Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, it is still unclear whether SCH affects male fertility. The aim of this study was to ...

A lightweight composite deck (LWCD) is a bridge deck system composed of an orthotropic steel deck and an ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) layer. In this paper, the LWCD was refined with the concept of large U ribs. Based on an example bridge, the Sutong Bridge in China, the new LWCD scheme with large U ribs was proposed. Calculation showed that the steel consumption was basically the same as that of the original design, while the weld seam length in OSD was decreased by about 38.7%. Global and local finite-element (FE) models were built for the new LWCD scheme. The analysis results showed that for the LWCD with large U ribs, the stress reductions on fatigue-prone details were close to those of the LWCD with normal U ribs. The FE analyses also indicated that the maximum tensile stress of the UHPC layer was 10.9 MPa. Further, a full-scale longitudinal specimen was tested under negative bending moments. The test results showed that the nominal cracking stress of the UHPC layer was 24.1 MPa, implying that the UHPC layer could meet the design requirement. In addition, a nonlinear FE analysis was performed to make a comparison between the theoretical results and the test results.

It has been observed that there is an increased incidence of total fertilization failure (TFF) and a low fertilization rate (LFR,25 %) during conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments involving men with poor sperm motility. These men also exhibit a high sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), which has adverse effects on various IVF outcomes. However, the relationship between a high DFI and an increased TFF or LFR during IVF cycles has not been elucidated. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between the sperm DFI and TFF or LFR in IVF cycles involving men with mild-to-moderate asthenozoospermia and normozoospermia.This retrospective study included 116 men diagnosed as mild-to-moderate asthenozoospermia, and 407 men with normozoospermia. The sperm DFI was assessed using the sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test.Men in the asthenozoospermia group had a significantly higher incidence of cycles with a TFF or LFR (9.5 % vs 2.7 %, P = 0.01), and these were associated significantly with an increased DFI (P0.01). After adjustment for confounding factors, a TFF or LFR was to correlate significantly with the DFI (odds ratio: 1.188; 95 % confidence interval, 1.035-1.363; P = 0.014). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.772. No similar relationships between the DFI and IVF outcomes were observed in the normozoospermia group.For men with mild-to-moderate asthenozoospermia, a high sperm DFI is associated with a decreased fertilization rate and an increased risk of a TFF or LFR. Additional prospectively-designed studies are warranted to confirm our results.

The Flexiforce sensor was used to build the muscle expansion force measuring platform to detect the myodynamia, and to analyze the muscle's fatigue curve and the frequency range with a certain frequency of chatter generated by the muscle. BP neural network theory is applied to fatigue training of arm training, the myodynamia information collected by Flexiforce sensor is taken as input, the expected classification mode is taken as output, and the parameters of BP neural network are trained by training the data in sample library. The matlab software The process of training simulation. Achieve the evaluation and prediction of the state of muscle movement, to find an optimal myodynamia curve for rehabilitation training, so that patients achieve the best training status.

An increase in imprinting disorders in children conceived though assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) has been the subject of several reports. The transmission of imprinting errors from the sperm of infertile fathers is believed to be a possible reason for the increased occurrence of these disorders. However, whether the imprinting alterations in sperm affect ART outcomes and the imprinting of offspring is unclear. In the current study, we analyzed the methylation of H19, SNRPN and KCNQ1OT1 by pyrosequencing sperm samples from 97 infertile patients and 31 proven fertile males as well as cord blood samples from 13 infantswho were conceived by infertile parents through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and 30 healthy newborns who were conceived naturally. After four cases were excluded owing to the lack of a sequencing signal, the infertile patients were subgrouped into normal (69 cases) and abnormal (24 cases) imprinting groups according to the reference range set by the control group. Between the groups, there were no significant differences in ART outcomes. Significantly different levels of methylation were detected in H19, but none of the imprinted genes were determined to be outside of the methylation reference range set by the values derived from the naturally conceived controls. Three CpG loci were found to be significantly hypomethylated in the maternally imprinted gene KCNQ1OT1 in two patients from the abnormal imprinting group, none of which were caused by sperm imprinting errors. In addition, the paternal H19 gene exhibited discrepant methylation patterns between the sperm controls and the cord blood controls. Our data suggest that increased imprinting errors in the sperm of infertile patients do not have an obvious influence on ART outcomes or the imprinting of offspring.

To identify protein-protein interaction partners of PER1 (period circadian protein homolog 1), key component of the molecular oscillation system of the circadian rhythm in tumors using bacterial two-hybrid system technique.Human cervical carcinoma cell Hela library was adopted. Recombinant bait plasmid pBT-PER1 and pTRG cDNA plasmid library were cotransformed into the two-hybrid system reporter strain cultured in a special selective medium. Target clones were screened. After isolating the positive clones, the target clones were sequenced and analyzed.Fourteen protein coding genes were identified, 4 of which were found to contain whole coding regions of genes, which included optic atrophy 3 protein (OPA3) associated with mitochondrial dynamics and homo sapiens cutA divalent cation tolerance homolog of E. coli (CUTA) associated with copper metabolism. There were also cellular events related proteins and proteins which are involved in biochemical reaction and signal transduction-related proteins.Identification of potential interacting proteins with PER1 in tumors may provide us new insights into the functions of the circadian clock protein PER1 during tumorigenesis.

c-Myc serves as a crucial regulator in multiple cellular events. Cumulative evidences demonstrate that anomalous c-Myc overexpression correlates with proliferation, invasion and metastasis in various human tumors. However, the transcriptionally activating mechanisms responsible for c-Myc overexpression are complex and continue to be intangible. Here we showed that Piwi-Like RNA-Mediated Gene Silencing 2 (PIWIL2) can upregulate c-Myc via binding with NME/NM23 nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (NME2). PIWIL2 promotes c-Myc transcription by interacting with and facilitating NME2 to bind to G4-motif region within c-Myc promoter. Interestingly, in a c-Myc-mediated manner, PIWIL2 upregulates RhoA, which in turn induces filamentary F-actin. Deficiency of PIWIL2 results in obstacle for c-Myc expression, cell cycle progress and cell proliferation. Taken together, our present work demonstrates that PIWIL2 modulates tumor cell proliferation and F-actin filaments via promoting c-Myc expression.

Piwi proteins have been implicated in germ cell proliferation, differentiation, germline stem cell maintenance and transposon control in germline from Drosophila to mammals. The Piwi-like2 (piwil2) gene is mainly expressed in testis or embryonic cells among normal tissues but widely expressed in tumors. However, it remains to be fully determined through which mechanism piwil2 is involved in tumorigenesis. Here we report that Human piwil2, or Hili represses the tumor suppressor P53 in human cancer cells. Immunoprecipitation analysis shows that Piwil2 can directly associate with Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) protein via its PAZ domain and form a Piwil2/STAT3/c-Src triple protein-protein complex. Furthermore, STAT3 is phosphorylated by c-Src and translocated to nucleus, then binds to P53 promoter and represses its transcription. The present study demonstrated that Piwil2 plays a role in anti-apoptosis in tumor cells possessing P53 as a positive regulator of STAT3 signaling pathway, providing novel sights into roles of Piwil2 in tumorigenesis.