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Abstract Atosiban was commonly added to improve pregnancy outcomes of patients with repeated embryo implantation failure (RIF). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of atosiban before transferring the frozen-thawed embryo to RIF patients. This retrospective study was conducted in the Hospital for Reproductive Medicine affiliated to Shandong University from August 2017 to June 2021. A total of 1774 women with a history of RIF undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET) were included in this study. All the participants were classified into atosiban or control group: Group A included 677 patients who were administered atosiban intravenously 30 min prior to FET with a dose of 37.5 mg; Group B included 1097 patients who received no atosiban before the transfer. There were no significant differences observed in the live birth rate (LBR) (39.73% vs. 39.02%, P = 0.928) between the two groups. Other secondary outcomes including biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, clinical miscarriage rate and preterm birth rate were similar between the two groups (all P > 0.05). However, subgroup analysis demonstrated significantly higher preterm birth rates in the control group compared with the atosiban group (0 versus 3.0%, P = 0.024) in the natural FET cycles. Atosiban may not improve pregnancy outcomes of RIF patients in FET cycles. However, the effects of Atosiban on pregnancy outcomes should be assessed in clinical trials with larger sample sizes.

Abstract Accurate positioning and navigation play a vital role in vehicle-related applications, such as autonomous driving and precision agriculture. With the rapid development of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique, as a global positioning solution, has been widely applied due to its convenient operation. Nevertheless, the performance of PPP is severely affected by signal interference, especially in GNSS-challenged environments. Inertial Navigation System (INS) aided GNSS can significantly improve the continuity and accuracy of navigation in harsh environments, but suffers from degradation during GNSS outages. LiDAR (Laser Imaging, Detection, and Ranging)-Inertial Odometry (LIO), which has performed well in local navigation, can restrain the divergence of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). However, in long-range navigation, error accumulation is inevitable if no external aids are applied. To improve vehicle navigation performance, we proposed a tightly coupled GNSS PPP/INS/LiDAR (GIL) integration method, which tightly integrates the raw measurements from multi-GNSS PPP, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS)-IMU, and LiDAR to achieve high-accuracy and reliable navigation in urban environments. Several experiments were conducted to evaluate this method. The results indicate that in comparison with the multi-GNSS PPP/INS tightly coupled solution the positioning Root-Mean-Square Errors (RMSEs) of the proposed GIL method have the improvements of 63.0%, 51.3%, and 62.2% in east, north, and vertical components, respectively. The GIL method can achieve decimeter-level positioning accuracy in GNSS partly-blocked environment (i.e., the environment with GNSS signals partly-blocked) and meter-level positioning accuracy in GNSS difficult environment (i.e., the environment with GNSS hardly used). Besides, the accuracy of velocity and attitude estimation can also be enhanced with the GIL method.

ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to explore the efficacy of a new antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation in reproductive outcomes of advanced age women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET), and the effect on the expression of L-glutathione (GSH) in follicular fluid (FF) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number of granulosa cells.MethodsThe present prospective randomized controlled study was conducted in 200 patients with advanced age women undergoing GnRH antagonist protocol. The treatment group (group A) consisted of 100 women who received N-acetylcysteine treatment from the menstrual phase of the previous cycle for about 45 days using the GnRH antagonist protocol. The control group (group B) consisted of 100 women who received the same protocol without N-acetylcysteine. Total gonadotrophin dosage the number of oocyte received, high-quality blastocysts, and pregnancy outcomes were compared between two groups. Pregnancy outcomes included biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, embryo implantation rate, ectopic pregnancy rate, multiple pregnancy rate, and ongoing pregnancy rate. Follicular fluid (FF) was collected after oocytes were gathered. The GSH content in the FF was tested with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mtDNA copy number of the granulosa cells was measured using real-time PCR techniques.ResultsTotal doses of Gn in the NAC treatment group were less than those in the control group (2385.50 ± 879.19 vs. 2527.63 ± 1170.33, P = 0.047). Compared with the control, the number of high-quality blastocysts in NAC treatment increased significantly (1.82 ± 2.12 vs. 1.43 ± 1.58, p = 0.014). Clinical pregnancy rates did not differ in both groups (all P > 0.05). At the same time, the GSH content in the FF differed significantly between the two groups (1.88 ± 1.23 vs. 1.07 ± 0.70, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the mtDNA copy number between the two groups (P = 0.157).ConclusionA combination of NAC and Gn treatment is capable of improving the ovarian response to superovulation drugs in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and also in aged populations. The addition of NAC during IVF can improve the quality of blastocysts in advanced age female subjects. However, more clinical trials are required to be designed to confirm this conclusion in future.Ethics and disseminationThe experiment solicited approval from the Institutional ethics committee of the Affiliated Reproductive Hospital of Shandong University. All the participants provided written informed consent. This survey was conducted as per the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant amendments.Trial registration numberwww.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2100048297.

Abstract Background Poor ovarian response (POR), a manifestation of low ovarian reserve and ovarian aging, leads to a significant reduction in the pregnancy rate after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer. Acupuncture has increasingly been used to improve the ovarian reserve. The purpose of this study will be to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on increasing the number of retrieved oocytes after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in women with POR. Methods This will be a multicenter randomized controlled trial. A total of 140 women with POR will be randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or nontreatment for 12 weeks before controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. The primary outcome will be the number of retrieved oocytes. The secondary outcomes will be antral follicle counts, serum levels of anti-Müllerian hormone, basal serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and estradiol levels, scores from the self-rating anxiety scale, fertilization rates, cleavage rates, available embryo rates, and high-quality embryo rates. The safety of acupuncture will also be assessed. Discussion The results of this trial will help to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of POR. This may provide a new treatment option for patients with POR and their physicians. Trial registration AMCTR-IPR-18000198 . Registered on 10 August 2018.

The coding region of the disrupted meiotic cDNA gene (DMC1) was examined in 192 Chinese women with premature ovarian failure. Two known single-nucleotide polymorphisms, c.8632C>T in intron 4 and c.32377G>C in intron 10, were identified. The results suggest that mutations in the coding sequence of DMC1 are not associated with premature ovarian failure in Chinese women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Acellular tissue matrices are used in regenerative medicine from weak tissue re‐enforcement to cosmetic augmentation. However, proteomic signatures leading to different clinical outcomes among matrices are not well understood. In an attempt to investigate the effects of tissue source and processing method, we examined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) the proteomic profiles of 12 regulatory agency‐approved acellular matrices (AlloMax, AlloDerm, CollaMend, Heal‐All, JayyaLife, ReGen, Renov, Strattice, SurgiMend, Surgisis, UniTrump and Vidasis). The compositions of acellular matrices varied greatly with the number of identified proteins ranging from 7 to 106. The content of individual proteins was between 0.0001% and 95.8% according to their abundances measured by the M/Z signal intensities. Most acellular matrices still contained numerous cellular proteins. AlloMax, AlloDerm, ReGen, Strattice, SurgiMend and Surgisis retained necessary structural and functional proteins to form the extracellular protein–protein interaction networks for cell adhesion, proliferation and tissue regeneration, whereas CollaMend, Heal‐All, JayyaLife, Renov, UniTrump and Vidasis had only retained certain structural collagens. Principal component analysis showed that proteomic variations among acellular matrices were largely attributed to tissue source and processing method. Differences in proteomic profiles among acellular matrices offers insights into molecular interpretation for different clinical outcomes, and can serve as useful references for rational design of regenerative bio‐scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atosiban was commonly added to improve pregnancy outcomes of patients with repeated embryo implantation failure (RIF). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of atosiban before transferring the frozen-thawed embryo to RIF patients. This retrospective study was conducted in the Hospital for Reproductive Medicine affiliated to Shandong University from August 2017 to June 2021. A total of 1774 women with a history of RIF undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET) were included in this study. All the participants were classified into atosiban or control group: Group A included 677 patients who were administered atosiban intravenously 30 min prior to FET with a dose of 37.5 mg; Group B included 1097 patients who received no atosiban before the transfer. There were no significant differences observed in the live birth rate (LBR) (39.73% vs. 39.02%, P = 0.928) between the two groups. Other secondary outcomes including biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, clinical miscarriage rate and preterm birth rate were similar between the two groups (all P > 0.05). However, subgroup analysis demonstrated significantly higher preterm birth rates in the control group compared with the atosiban group (0 versus 3.0%, P = 0.024) in the natural FET cycles. Atosiban may not improve pregnancy outcomes of RIF patients in FET cycles. However, the effects of Atosiban on pregnancy outcomes should be assessed in clinical trials with larger sample sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regenerative bio‐scaffolds, widely used for clinical tissue reconstruction and tissue repairs, are functionally diversified and structurally complex decellularized tissue materials (e.g., extracellular matrix, ECM). ECM is naturally cross‐linked and can be further selectively cross‐linked upon processing. Identification, quantification and bioinformatics functional comparison of all ECM proteins are challenging for regenerative bio‐scaffolds. In this study, we have applied proteomic profiling with a two‐step sequential trypsinization method, and identified and quantified 300–400 constituent proteins in three commercially available regenerative bio‐scaffolds (BioDesign Surgisis, ReGen tissue matrix, and ThormalGEN mesh). These proteins were classified into four categories and 14 subcategories based on their mainly biological function. The main components of regenerative bio‐scaffolds were highly abundant ECM structural proteins, and the minor parts of bio‐scaffolds were lowly abundant, less cross‐linked, functionally more diversified proteins, especially extracellular fluid proteins that were easily solubilized by trypsin. The comparative analysis has revealed large differences in the number, type, abundance and function of identified proteins, as well as the extent of decellularization and cross‐linking among regenerative bio‐scaffolds. So, the proteomic profiling with a two‐step sequential trypsinization method could not only provide the molecular basis to better understand the degradation process of regenerative bio‐scaffolds in vivo and different clinical outcomes among various regenerative bio‐scaffolds, facilitate the exploration of the response mechanisms in the host's early clinical stages of ECM‐induced tissue regeneration that is still poorly understood, but also can be used for optimization of the decellularization and cross‐linking process, product characterization and rational design of new ECM products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM6) is a member of CEACAM family and has been reported to be upregulated in various types of human cancer and involved in tumor progression and metastasis. However, the biological roles and clinical significances of CEACAM6 in osteosarcoma still remain to be elucidated. Materials and methods: Real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were used to determine CEACAM6 expression in osteosarcoma cell lines and clinical specimens. Then the clinical relevance of CEACAM6 was analyzed in osteosarcoma. The function of CEACAM6 in osteosarcoma was examined by wound-healing and cell invasion assays, and expression levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers.Results: In the present study, we found that CEACAM6 was markedly upregulated in metastatic osteosarcoma tissues when compared with the nonmetastatic osteosarcoma tissues. Upregulation of CEACAM6 was significantly associated with lung metastasis status (P=0.006) in patients with osteosarcoma. Survival analyses suggested that osteosarcoma patients with high CEACAM6 expression had a significantly shorter overall survival time and lung metastasis-free survival time than those with low CEACAM6 expression. Knockdown of CEACAM6 inhibits osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion. Moreover, silencing CEACAM6 suppressed osteosarcoma cells epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Conclusion: Taken together, this study suggests that CEACAM6 might be a promising biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of metastatic osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ZLC method is a simple and rapid approach to measure adsorption equilibrium isotherms. When extending this technique to the measurement of large concentration steps, the primary problem is how to estimate the outlet flowrate from the measured concentration signal. In this paper, two different corrections to calculate the outlet flowrate are introduced. Based on simulations of the ZLC system that are in good agreement with reported experimental results, a series of desorption cases were simulated. Isotherms were calculated using the two approximations of the outlet flowrate. The comparisons are used to identify the range in which the approximations are applicable. Darken's thermodynamic correction factors were also calculated to verify the validity of the flow corrections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor ovarian response (POR), a manifestation of low ovarian reserve and ovarian aging, leads to a significant reduction in the pregnancy rate after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer. Acupuncture has increasingly been used to improve the ovarian reserve. The purpose of this study will be to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on increasing the number of retrieved oocytes after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in women with POR.Methods: This will be a multicenter randomized controlled trial. A total of 140 women with POR will be randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or nontreatment for 12 weeks before controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. The primary outcome will be the number of retrieved oocytes. The secondary outcomes will be antral follicle counts, serum levels of anti-Müllerian hormone, basal serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and estradiol levels, scores from the self-rating anxiety scale, fertilization rates, cleavage rates, available embryo rates, and high-quality embryo rates. The safety of acupuncture will also be assessed.Discussion: The results of this trial will help to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of POR. This may provide a new treatment option for patients with POR and their physicians.Trial Registration: AMCTR-IPR-18000198 . Registered on 10 August 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]