OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the development of health outcomes assessment instruments in Chinese medicine. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search for all published articles in China National Knowledge Infrastructure ...OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the development of health outcomes assessment instruments in Chinese medicine. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search for all published articles in China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chongqing VIP Database and WANFANG Data was conducted. The studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to extract information according to a predesigned assessment instrument. RESULTS: A total of 97 instruments for health outcome assessment in Chinese medicine were identified. Of these questionnaires, 7 were generic, 12 were condition-specific and 78 were disease-specific. All instruments were suitable for adults, children, and both men and women. These instruments aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life, signs and symptoms as well as patient satisfaction and doctor-reported outcome. However, the descriptions were poorly constructed for some of the most basic parameters, such as the domains and items, administrative mode, response options, memory recall periods, burden evaluation, format, copyright, content validity, and other properties. CONCLUSION: The instrument development for health outcomes assessment in Chinese medicine is increasing rapidly; however, there are many limitations in current methodologies and standards, and further studies are needed.展开更多
Transparent wood has potential application in intelligent building,solar cell,electronics,and other advanced materials,while its single functionability hinders its further development.Flexible transparent wood(FTW)was...Transparent wood has potential application in intelligent building,solar cell,electronics,and other advanced materials,while its single functionability hinders its further development.Flexible transparent wood(FTW)was prepared by alkaline pretreatment and bleaching treat-ment of paulownia wood followed by impregnation of epoxy resin and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether(EDGE).The eff ect of delignifi cation degree on the optical and mechani-cal properties of FTW was studied,and the infl uence of the epoxy/EDGE ratio on the fl exibility and mechanical proper-ties of FTW was also investigated.The results showed that higher delignifi cation degree resulted in higher transmit-tance of FTW.More EDGE addition led to better fl exibility of FTW,while overmuch addition of EDGE will reduce the mechanical properties.The optimal FTW sample resulted in a high transmittance of 89%and an ultrahigh haze value of 97%with outstanding fl exibility and excellent mechanical properties.The investigation of FTW broadens the research fi eld of transparent wood,and provides great possibility for its application in fl exible wearable devices and fl exible materials.展开更多
In our previous study,we found that Shoutai pills could improve the embryo implantation rate as well as the levels of estrogen,progesterone and estrogen receptor in rats with stimulated ovulation.However,the mechanism...In our previous study,we found that Shoutai pills could improve the embryo implantation rate as well as the levels of estrogen,progesterone and estrogen receptor in rats with stimulated ovulation.However,the mechanism is not clear.This study was designed to investigate the effect of Shoutai pills on the levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in rats with stimulated ovulation and the mechanism.The rat model of stimulated ovulation was established by combined injection of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin(PMSG)and human chorionic gonadotropin(HCG).Then the rats were randomly divided into model group(M),Shoutai pills group(S),progesterone group(P)and normal group(N).All the pregnant rats were treated from the first day.The S and P groups were administrated with gavage of Shoutai pills and injection of progesterone respectively,and N and M groups were given the same volume of normal saline and distilled water respectively.After treatment for 7 days,the animals were executed for serum and uterine tissues.The ELISA method was adopted to detect the contents of Thl cytokines[interferon-γ(INF-γ),interleukin-2(IL-2)]and Th2 cytokines(IL-4,IL-6,IL-10).The expression of leukemia inhibitory factor(L1F)and leukemia inhibitory factor receptor(LIFR)was detected by Western blotting and real-time PCR.As compared with N group,the expression levels of IFN-y and IL-2 in M group were significantly increased,and those of IL-4,IL-6,IL-10.LIF and LIFR were significantly decreased(P<0.05).As compared with M group,the levels of IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,LIF and LIFR in S group were significantly increased(P<0.05),and those of IFN-γand IL-2 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).It was suggested that Shoutai pills can increase the levels of IL-4.1L-6,IL-10,LIF and LIFR as well as reduce the levels of INF-γand IL-2 in rats with stimulated ovulation.The Shoutai pills may improve endometrial receptivity and promote embryo implantation by maintaining the balanee of Th1/Th2 cytokines.展开更多
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrochemical devices for large-scale energy storage system owing to their low cost and high safety. Herein, Na2V6O16·2.14H2O n...Aqueous zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrochemical devices for large-scale energy storage system owing to their low cost and high safety. Herein, Na2V6O16·2.14H2O nanobelts are synthesized and applied as cathode material for ZIBs. The sample displays a high capacity of 466 m Ahg^-1 at 100 mAg^-1 and stable cycling performance with a capacity retention of 90% over 20 0 0 cycles at the 20 Ag^-1. Moreover, Na2V6O16·2.14H2O presents a capable rate ability and a high energy density of 312 Wh kg^-1 at a specific power of 70 Wkg^-1. The superior electrochemical performance is attributed to the large interlayer spacing and outstanding structure stability, which promise the highly reversible intercalation and extraction of zinc ion. The electrochemical kinetics and zinc ion storage mechanism are also investigated. This work demonstrates that nanoscale electrode materials with large interlayer spacing can effectively enhance the electrochemical performance of aqueous ZIBs, which can be extended to other metal ion batteries, such as magnesium ion batteries and aluminum ion batteries.展开更多
The clinical outcomes of five groups of infertility patients receiving frozen- thawed, cleavage-stage embryo transfers with exogenous hormone protocols with or without a depot gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) a...The clinical outcomes of five groups of infertility patients receiving frozen- thawed, cleavage-stage embryo transfers with exogenous hormone protocols with or without a depot gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist were assessed. A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on 1003 cycles undergoing frozen-thawed, cleavage-stage embryo transfers from January 1, 2012 to June 31, 2015 in the Reproductive Medicine Center of Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Region. Based on the infertility etiologies of the patients, the 1003 cycles were divided into five groups: tubal infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, male infertility, and unexplained infertility. The main outcome was the live birth rate. Two groups were set up based on the intervention: group A was given a GnRH agonist with exogenous estrogen and progesterone, and group B (control group) was given exogenous estrogen and progesterone only. The results showed that the baseline serum hormone levels and basic characteristics of the patients were not significantly different between groups A and B. The live birth rates in groups A and B were 41.67% and 29.29%, respectively (P〈0.05). The live birth rates in patients with PCOS in groups A and B were 56.25% and 30.61%, respectively (P〈0.05). The clinical pregnancy, implantation and on-going pregnancy rates showed the same trends as the live birth rates between groups A and B. The ectopic pregnancy rate was significantly lower in group A than in group B. We concluded that the live birth rate was higher and other clinical outcomes were more satisfactory with GnRH agonist co- treatment than without GnRH agonist co-treatment for frozen-thawed embryo transfer. The GnRH agonist combined with exogenous estrogen and progesterone worked for all types of infertility tested, especially for women with PCOS.展开更多
To understand the tolerance to salinity and osmoregulation of the introduced Trachemys scripta elegans, the salinity stress of four groups (salinity 5‰, 15‰, 25‰ and control group) were conducted. Inorganic ions,...To understand the tolerance to salinity and osmoregulation of the introduced Trachemys scripta elegans, the salinity stress of four groups (salinity 5‰, 15‰, 25‰ and control group) were conducted. Inorganic ions, osmotic pressure, glucose and aldosterone of blood and urine in T. s. elegans (BW: 125.60 ±19.84 g) were analyzed at 30 d, 60 d and 90 d stress. The results showed that: 1) inorganic ions concentration of blood and urine increased with ambient salinity, which indicated that high influx of ions was combined with higher outflow when exposed to saline water in T. s. elegans. However, blood aldosterone decreased with increasing salinity, which indicated that an increased sodium intake resulting in a diminished aldosterone production. However, with elapsed time, inorganic ions in urine decreased, which indicated that inorganic ions in blood would be accumulated, and Na^+ and Cl^- in the plasma inevitably build up to harmful levels, at last death was happening when T. s. elegans was exposed to salinity 25 during 90 d salinity stress; 2) blood osmotic pressure increased as ambient salinity increased, it would reach 400 mOsm/kg in the group of salinity 25, which was about 1.5 fold of the control group. Higher blood osmotic pressure was due to both higher blood ions and urea concentrations. There may be another mechanism to avoid an excess of NaCl together with an important loss of water using one of the end-products of nitrogen metabolism; 3) blood glucose in each group except the group of salinity 5 decreased with time elapsed and with salinity increased. Therefore, we can conclude that T. s. elegans is an osmoregulator that limits the entry of Na^+ and Cl^-, but can also tolerate certain degrees of increases in plasma Na^+ and Cl^-. When ambient salinity was lower than 15‰, T. s. elegans can increase blood osmotic pressure by balancing the entry of NaCl with the secretion of aldosterone decreased, and by accumulating blood urea for osmoregulation effectors, and survive for at least three months. These results could provide theoretical basis for salinity tolerance and the invasion on physiological mechanism for T. s. elegans.展开更多
BACKGROUND Diabetes is often associated with gastrointestinal dysfunctions,which can lead to hypoglycemia.Dexmedetomidine(DEX)is a commonly used sedative in perioperative diabetic patients and may affect gastrointesti...BACKGROUND Diabetes is often associated with gastrointestinal dysfunctions,which can lead to hypoglycemia.Dexmedetomidine(DEX)is a commonly used sedative in perioperative diabetic patients and may affect gastrointestinal function.AIM To investigate whether sedative doses of DEX alleviate diabetes-caused intestinal dysfunction.METHODS Sedation/anesthesia scores and vital signs of streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetic mice under DEX sedation were observed.Diabetic mice were divided into saline and DEX groups.After injecting sedatives intraperitoneally,tight junctions(TJs)and apoptotic levels were evaluated 24 hours later to assess the intestinal barrier function.The role of DEX was validated using Villin-MMP23B flox/flox mice with intestinal epithelial deletion.In vitro,high glucose and hyperosmolarity were used to culture Caco-2 monolayer cells with STZ intervention.Immunofluorescence techniques were used to monitor the barrier and mitochondrial functions.RESULTS MMP23B protein levels in the intestinal tissue of STZ-induced diabetic mice were significantly higher than those in the intestinal tissue of control mice,with the DEX group displaying decreased MMP23B levels.Diabetes-mediated TJ disruption,increased intestinal mucosal permeability,and systemic inflammation in wild-type mice might be reversed by DEX.In Caco-2 cells,MMP23B was associated with increased reactive oxygen species accumulation,mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization,and TJ disruption.CONCLUSION DEX reduces MMP23B,which may potentially contribute to STZ-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction,affecting TJ modification through mitochondrial dysfunction.展开更多
Water-soluble lignin-carbohydrate complex(LCC)rich in polysaccharides exhibits benign in vitro antioxidant activities and distinguishes high biocompatibility from lignin-rich LCC and lignin.However,the antioxidant act...Water-soluble lignin-carbohydrate complex(LCC)rich in polysaccharides exhibits benign in vitro antioxidant activities and distinguishes high biocompatibility from lignin-rich LCC and lignin.However,the antioxidant activity of water-soluble LCCs remains to be improved and its structure-antioxidant relationship is still uncertain.Herein,structurally diversified water-soluble LCCs were isolated under different ball-milling pretreatment durations(4,6,8 h),extraction pathways(ho-mogeneous and heterogeneous),and isolation routines(water extracts and residues after water extraction).Their structures were characterized by wet chemistry,chromatography and spec-troscopies.Antioxidant activities were evaluated by ferric reducing antioxidant power and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals scavenging rate(RDPPH).Results show that altering ball-milling duration and isolation procedures cause varied structures and antioxidant activities of the water-soluble LCCs.Specifically,prolonging ball-milling duration to 8 hours and homogeneous extrac-tion can enhance their antioxidant activity through releasing more phenolic structures and pro-moting the extraction of high-molecular-weight LCCs via reducing mass-transfer resistance,re-spectively.As a result,the RDPPH of water-soluble LCCs reaches up to 97.35%,which is associated with the arabinan content with statistical significance(P<0.05).This study provides new insights into the structure-antioxidation relationship of herbaceous LCC as potential antioxidants.展开更多
The spatiotemporal distribution of cytokines orchestrates immune responses in vivo,yet the underlying mechanisms remain to be explored.We showed here that the spatial distribution of interleukin-4(IL4)in invariant nat...The spatiotemporal distribution of cytokines orchestrates immune responses in vivo,yet the underlying mechanisms remain to be explored.We showed here that the spatial distribution of interleukin-4(IL4)in invariant natural killer T(iNKT)cells regulated crosstalk between iNKT cells and dendritic cells(DCs)and controlled iNKT cell-mediated T-helper type 1(Th1)responses.The persistent polarization of IL4 induced by strong lipid antigens,that is,α-galactosylceramide(αGC),caused IL4 accumulation at the immunological synapse(IS),which promoted the activation of the IL4R-STAT6(signal transducer and activator of transcription 6)pathway and production of IL12 in DCs,which enhanced interferon-γ(IFNγ)production in iNKT cells.Conversely,the nonpolarized secretion of IL4 induced by Th2 lipid antigens with a short or unsaturated chain was incapable of enhancing this iNKT cell-DC crosstalk and thus shifted the immune response to a Th2-type response.The nonpolarized secretion of IL4 in response to Th2 lipid antigens was caused by the degradation of Cdc42 in iNKT cells.Moreover,reduced Cdc42 expression was observed in tumorinfiltrating iNKT cells,which impaired IL4 polarization and disturbed iNKT cell-DC crosstalk in tumors.展开更多
Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries(ARZIBs) are expected to replace organic electrolyte batteries owing to its low price,safe and environmentally friendly characteristics.Herein,we fabricated vanadium-based Na1.25...Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries(ARZIBs) are expected to replace organic electrolyte batteries owing to its low price,safe and environmentally friendly characteristics.Herein,we fabricated vanadium-based Na1.25V3O8 nanosheets as a cathode material for ARZIBs,which present a high performance by electrochemical de-sodium at high voltage to form Na2V6O16 phase in the first cycle:high capacity of 390 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g,high rate perfo rmance(162 mAh/g at 10 A/g) and superior cycle stability(179 mAh/g with a high capacity retention of 88.2% of the maximum capacity after 2000 cycles).In addition,the cell exhibits a high energy density of 416.9 Wh/kg at 143.6 W/kg,suggesting great potential of the as-prepared Na1.25V3O8 nanosheets for ARZIBs.展开更多
Traditional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)in children is primarily through a questionnaire filled out by parents/teachers and clinical observations by doctors.It is inefficient and heavily...Traditional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)in children is primarily through a questionnaire filled out by parents/teachers and clinical observations by doctors.It is inefficient and heavily depends on the doctor’s level of experience.In this paper,we integrate artificial intelligence(AI)technology into a software-hardware coordinated system to make ADHD diagnosis more efficient.Together with the intelligent analysis module,the camera group will collect the eye focus,facial expression,3D body posture,and other children’s information during the completion of the functional test.Then,a multi-modal deep learning model is proposed to classify abnormal behavior fragments of children from the captured videos.In combination with other system modules,standardized diagnostic reports can be automatically generated,including test results,abnormal behavior analysis,diagnostic aid conclusions,and treatment recommendations.This system has participated in clinical diagnosis in Department of Psychology,The Children’s Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine,and has been accepted and praised by doctors and patients.展开更多
Cellular metabolism has been shown to regulate differentiation and function of immune cells.Tumor associated immune cells undergo phenotypic and functional alterations due to the change of cellular metabolism in tumor...Cellular metabolism has been shown to regulate differentiation and function of immune cells.Tumor associated immune cells undergo phenotypic and functional alterations due to the change of cellular metabolism in tumor microenvironments.NKT cells are good candidates for immunotherapies against tumors and have been used in several clinical trials.However,the influences of tumor microenvironments on NKT cell functions remain unclear.In our studies,lactic acid in tumor microenvironments inhibited IFNγ and IL4 productions from NKT cells,and more profound influence on IFNγ was observed.By adjusting the pH of culture medium we further showed that,dysfunction of NKT cells could simply be induced by low extracellular pH.Moreover,low extracellular pH inhibited NKT cell functions by inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR) signaling and nuclear translocation of promyelocytic leukemia zinc-finger(PLZF).Together,our results suggest that tumor acidic microenvironments could interfere with NKT cell functions through metabolic controls.展开更多
Object detection is one of the hottest research directions in computer vision,has already made impressive progress in academia,and has many valuable applications in the industry.However,the mainstream detection method...Object detection is one of the hottest research directions in computer vision,has already made impressive progress in academia,and has many valuable applications in the industry.However,the mainstream detection methods still have two shortcomings:(1)even a model that is well trained using large amounts of data still cannot generally be used across different kinds of scenes;(2)once a model is deployed,it cannot autonomously evolve along with the accumulated unlabeled scene data.To address these problems,and inspired by visual knowledge theory,we propose a novel scene-adaptive evolution unsupervised video object detection algorithm that can decrease the impact of scene changes through the concept of object groups.We first extract a large number of object proposals from unlabeled data through a pre-trained detection model.Second,we build the visual knowledge dictionary of object concepts by clustering the proposals,in which each cluster center represents an object prototype.Third,we look into the relations between different clusters and the object information of different groups,and propose a graph-based group information propagation strategy to determine the category of an object concept,which can effectively distinguish positive and negative proposals.With these pseudo labels,we can easily fine-tune the pretrained model.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by performing different experiments,and the significant improvements are achieved.展开更多
We propose a joint feature and metric learning deep neural network architecture,called the associative affinity network(AAN),as an affinity model for multi-object tracking(MOT)in videos.The AAN learns the associative ...We propose a joint feature and metric learning deep neural network architecture,called the associative affinity network(AAN),as an affinity model for multi-object tracking(MOT)in videos.The AAN learns the associative affinity between tracks and detections across frames in an end-to-end manner.Considering flawed detections,the AAN jointly learns bounding box regression,classification,and affinity regression via the proposed multi-task loss.Contrary to networks that are trained with ranking loss,we directly train a binary classifier to learn the associative affinity of each track-detection pair and use a matching cardinality loss to capture information among candidate pairs.The AAN learns a discriminative affinity model for data association to tackle MOT,and can also perform single-object tracking.Based on the AAN,we propose a simple multi-object tracker that achieves competitive performance on the public MOT16 and MOT17 test datasets.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Grant No. 81073163)
文摘OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the development of health outcomes assessment instruments in Chinese medicine. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search for all published articles in China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chongqing VIP Database and WANFANG Data was conducted. The studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to extract information according to a predesigned assessment instrument. RESULTS: A total of 97 instruments for health outcome assessment in Chinese medicine were identified. Of these questionnaires, 7 were generic, 12 were condition-specific and 78 were disease-specific. All instruments were suitable for adults, children, and both men and women. These instruments aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life, signs and symptoms as well as patient satisfaction and doctor-reported outcome. However, the descriptions were poorly constructed for some of the most basic parameters, such as the domains and items, administrative mode, response options, memory recall periods, burden evaluation, format, copyright, content validity, and other properties. CONCLUSION: The instrument development for health outcomes assessment in Chinese medicine is increasing rapidly; however, there are many limitations in current methodologies and standards, and further studies are needed.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31760183)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi(2016GXNSFCA380025)+1 种基金the Project Funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2017M620361)the Scientifi c Research Foundation of Guangxi University(XGZ150513).
文摘Transparent wood has potential application in intelligent building,solar cell,electronics,and other advanced materials,while its single functionability hinders its further development.Flexible transparent wood(FTW)was prepared by alkaline pretreatment and bleaching treat-ment of paulownia wood followed by impregnation of epoxy resin and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether(EDGE).The eff ect of delignifi cation degree on the optical and mechani-cal properties of FTW was studied,and the infl uence of the epoxy/EDGE ratio on the fl exibility and mechanical proper-ties of FTW was also investigated.The results showed that higher delignifi cation degree resulted in higher transmit-tance of FTW.More EDGE addition led to better fl exibility of FTW,while overmuch addition of EDGE will reduce the mechanical properties.The optimal FTW sample resulted in a high transmittance of 89%and an ultrahigh haze value of 97%with outstanding fl exibility and excellent mechanical properties.The investigation of FTW broadens the research fi eld of transparent wood,and provides great possibility for its application in fl exible wearable devices and fl exible materials.
文摘In our previous study,we found that Shoutai pills could improve the embryo implantation rate as well as the levels of estrogen,progesterone and estrogen receptor in rats with stimulated ovulation.However,the mechanism is not clear.This study was designed to investigate the effect of Shoutai pills on the levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in rats with stimulated ovulation and the mechanism.The rat model of stimulated ovulation was established by combined injection of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin(PMSG)and human chorionic gonadotropin(HCG).Then the rats were randomly divided into model group(M),Shoutai pills group(S),progesterone group(P)and normal group(N).All the pregnant rats were treated from the first day.The S and P groups were administrated with gavage of Shoutai pills and injection of progesterone respectively,and N and M groups were given the same volume of normal saline and distilled water respectively.After treatment for 7 days,the animals were executed for serum and uterine tissues.The ELISA method was adopted to detect the contents of Thl cytokines[interferon-γ(INF-γ),interleukin-2(IL-2)]and Th2 cytokines(IL-4,IL-6,IL-10).The expression of leukemia inhibitory factor(L1F)and leukemia inhibitory factor receptor(LIFR)was detected by Western blotting and real-time PCR.As compared with N group,the expression levels of IFN-y and IL-2 in M group were significantly increased,and those of IL-4,IL-6,IL-10.LIF and LIFR were significantly decreased(P<0.05).As compared with M group,the levels of IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,LIF and LIFR in S group were significantly increased(P<0.05),and those of IFN-γand IL-2 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).It was suggested that Shoutai pills can increase the levels of IL-4.1L-6,IL-10,LIF and LIFR as well as reduce the levels of INF-γand IL-2 in rats with stimulated ovulation.The Shoutai pills may improve endometrial receptivity and promote embryo implantation by maintaining the balanee of Th1/Th2 cytokines.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51772193 , 51702063)Nature Science Fund of Liaoning Province (No. 20180550200)+1 种基金China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2018M630340)Project of Science and Technology Plan Shenyang (No. 17-231-1-18)
文摘Aqueous zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrochemical devices for large-scale energy storage system owing to their low cost and high safety. Herein, Na2V6O16·2.14H2O nanobelts are synthesized and applied as cathode material for ZIBs. The sample displays a high capacity of 466 m Ahg^-1 at 100 mAg^-1 and stable cycling performance with a capacity retention of 90% over 20 0 0 cycles at the 20 Ag^-1. Moreover, Na2V6O16·2.14H2O presents a capable rate ability and a high energy density of 312 Wh kg^-1 at a specific power of 70 Wkg^-1. The superior electrochemical performance is attributed to the large interlayer spacing and outstanding structure stability, which promise the highly reversible intercalation and extraction of zinc ion. The electrochemical kinetics and zinc ion storage mechanism are also investigated. This work demonstrates that nanoscale electrode materials with large interlayer spacing can effectively enhance the electrochemical performance of aqueous ZIBs, which can be extended to other metal ion batteries, such as magnesium ion batteries and aluminum ion batteries.
文摘The clinical outcomes of five groups of infertility patients receiving frozen- thawed, cleavage-stage embryo transfers with exogenous hormone protocols with or without a depot gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist were assessed. A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on 1003 cycles undergoing frozen-thawed, cleavage-stage embryo transfers from January 1, 2012 to June 31, 2015 in the Reproductive Medicine Center of Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Region. Based on the infertility etiologies of the patients, the 1003 cycles were divided into five groups: tubal infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, male infertility, and unexplained infertility. The main outcome was the live birth rate. Two groups were set up based on the intervention: group A was given a GnRH agonist with exogenous estrogen and progesterone, and group B (control group) was given exogenous estrogen and progesterone only. The results showed that the baseline serum hormone levels and basic characteristics of the patients were not significantly different between groups A and B. The live birth rates in groups A and B were 41.67% and 29.29%, respectively (P〈0.05). The live birth rates in patients with PCOS in groups A and B were 56.25% and 30.61%, respectively (P〈0.05). The clinical pregnancy, implantation and on-going pregnancy rates showed the same trends as the live birth rates between groups A and B. The ectopic pregnancy rate was significantly lower in group A than in group B. We concluded that the live birth rate was higher and other clinical outcomes were more satisfactory with GnRH agonist co- treatment than without GnRH agonist co-treatment for frozen-thawed embryo transfer. The GnRH agonist combined with exogenous estrogen and progesterone worked for all types of infertility tested, especially for women with PCOS.
基金the project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31360642 and 31372228)Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (No.211145)Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province of China (No. 303148)" for financial support
文摘To understand the tolerance to salinity and osmoregulation of the introduced Trachemys scripta elegans, the salinity stress of four groups (salinity 5‰, 15‰, 25‰ and control group) were conducted. Inorganic ions, osmotic pressure, glucose and aldosterone of blood and urine in T. s. elegans (BW: 125.60 ±19.84 g) were analyzed at 30 d, 60 d and 90 d stress. The results showed that: 1) inorganic ions concentration of blood and urine increased with ambient salinity, which indicated that high influx of ions was combined with higher outflow when exposed to saline water in T. s. elegans. However, blood aldosterone decreased with increasing salinity, which indicated that an increased sodium intake resulting in a diminished aldosterone production. However, with elapsed time, inorganic ions in urine decreased, which indicated that inorganic ions in blood would be accumulated, and Na^+ and Cl^- in the plasma inevitably build up to harmful levels, at last death was happening when T. s. elegans was exposed to salinity 25 during 90 d salinity stress; 2) blood osmotic pressure increased as ambient salinity increased, it would reach 400 mOsm/kg in the group of salinity 25, which was about 1.5 fold of the control group. Higher blood osmotic pressure was due to both higher blood ions and urea concentrations. There may be another mechanism to avoid an excess of NaCl together with an important loss of water using one of the end-products of nitrogen metabolism; 3) blood glucose in each group except the group of salinity 5 decreased with time elapsed and with salinity increased. Therefore, we can conclude that T. s. elegans is an osmoregulator that limits the entry of Na^+ and Cl^-, but can also tolerate certain degrees of increases in plasma Na^+ and Cl^-. When ambient salinity was lower than 15‰, T. s. elegans can increase blood osmotic pressure by balancing the entry of NaCl with the secretion of aldosterone decreased, and by accumulating blood urea for osmoregulation effectors, and survive for at least three months. These results could provide theoretical basis for salinity tolerance and the invasion on physiological mechanism for T. s. elegans.
文摘BACKGROUND Diabetes is often associated with gastrointestinal dysfunctions,which can lead to hypoglycemia.Dexmedetomidine(DEX)is a commonly used sedative in perioperative diabetic patients and may affect gastrointestinal function.AIM To investigate whether sedative doses of DEX alleviate diabetes-caused intestinal dysfunction.METHODS Sedation/anesthesia scores and vital signs of streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetic mice under DEX sedation were observed.Diabetic mice were divided into saline and DEX groups.After injecting sedatives intraperitoneally,tight junctions(TJs)and apoptotic levels were evaluated 24 hours later to assess the intestinal barrier function.The role of DEX was validated using Villin-MMP23B flox/flox mice with intestinal epithelial deletion.In vitro,high glucose and hyperosmolarity were used to culture Caco-2 monolayer cells with STZ intervention.Immunofluorescence techniques were used to monitor the barrier and mitochondrial functions.RESULTS MMP23B protein levels in the intestinal tissue of STZ-induced diabetic mice were significantly higher than those in the intestinal tissue of control mice,with the DEX group displaying decreased MMP23B levels.Diabetes-mediated TJ disruption,increased intestinal mucosal permeability,and systemic inflammation in wild-type mice might be reversed by DEX.In Caco-2 cells,MMP23B was associated with increased reactive oxygen species accumulation,mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization,and TJ disruption.CONCLUSION DEX reduces MMP23B,which may potentially contribute to STZ-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction,affecting TJ modification through mitochondrial dysfunction.
基金support by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31670591)the fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2022M711229)+1 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No.BK20160928)supported by the South Eastern Regional Sun Grant Centre and AgResearch at the University of Tennessee.
文摘Water-soluble lignin-carbohydrate complex(LCC)rich in polysaccharides exhibits benign in vitro antioxidant activities and distinguishes high biocompatibility from lignin-rich LCC and lignin.However,the antioxidant activity of water-soluble LCCs remains to be improved and its structure-antioxidant relationship is still uncertain.Herein,structurally diversified water-soluble LCCs were isolated under different ball-milling pretreatment durations(4,6,8 h),extraction pathways(ho-mogeneous and heterogeneous),and isolation routines(water extracts and residues after water extraction).Their structures were characterized by wet chemistry,chromatography and spec-troscopies.Antioxidant activities were evaluated by ferric reducing antioxidant power and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals scavenging rate(RDPPH).Results show that altering ball-milling duration and isolation procedures cause varied structures and antioxidant activities of the water-soluble LCCs.Specifically,prolonging ball-milling duration to 8 hours and homogeneous extrac-tion can enhance their antioxidant activity through releasing more phenolic structures and pro-moting the extraction of high-molecular-weight LCCs via reducing mass-transfer resistance,re-spectively.As a result,the RDPPH of water-soluble LCCs reaches up to 97.35%,which is associated with the arabinan content with statistical significance(P<0.05).This study provides new insights into the structure-antioxidation relationship of herbaceous LCC as potential antioxidants.
基金This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China 2017YFA0505300the National Natural Science Foundation of China 91542203 and 81771671+1 种基金the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences XDA12030208the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
文摘The spatiotemporal distribution of cytokines orchestrates immune responses in vivo,yet the underlying mechanisms remain to be explored.We showed here that the spatial distribution of interleukin-4(IL4)in invariant natural killer T(iNKT)cells regulated crosstalk between iNKT cells and dendritic cells(DCs)and controlled iNKT cell-mediated T-helper type 1(Th1)responses.The persistent polarization of IL4 induced by strong lipid antigens,that is,α-galactosylceramide(αGC),caused IL4 accumulation at the immunological synapse(IS),which promoted the activation of the IL4R-STAT6(signal transducer and activator of transcription 6)pathway and production of IL12 in DCs,which enhanced interferon-γ(IFNγ)production in iNKT cells.Conversely,the nonpolarized secretion of IL4 induced by Th2 lipid antigens with a short or unsaturated chain was incapable of enhancing this iNKT cell-DC crosstalk and thus shifted the immune response to a Th2-type response.The nonpolarized secretion of IL4 in response to Th2 lipid antigens was caused by the degradation of Cdc42 in iNKT cells.Moreover,reduced Cdc42 expression was observed in tumorinfiltrating iNKT cells,which impaired IL4 polarization and disturbed iNKT cell-DC crosstalk in tumors.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFB1103000)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51772193,51702063)+1 种基金Nature Science Fund of Liaoning Province(No.20180550200)the Hong Kong Scholars Programs(No.XJ2019024)。
文摘Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries(ARZIBs) are expected to replace organic electrolyte batteries owing to its low price,safe and environmentally friendly characteristics.Herein,we fabricated vanadium-based Na1.25V3O8 nanosheets as a cathode material for ARZIBs,which present a high performance by electrochemical de-sodium at high voltage to form Na2V6O16 phase in the first cycle:high capacity of 390 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g,high rate perfo rmance(162 mAh/g at 10 A/g) and superior cycle stability(179 mAh/g with a high capacity retention of 88.2% of the maximum capacity after 2000 cycles).In addition,the cell exhibits a high energy density of 416.9 Wh/kg at 143.6 W/kg,suggesting great potential of the as-prepared Na1.25V3O8 nanosheets for ARZIBs.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.61625107)。
文摘Traditional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)in children is primarily through a questionnaire filled out by parents/teachers and clinical observations by doctors.It is inefficient and heavily depends on the doctor’s level of experience.In this paper,we integrate artificial intelligence(AI)technology into a software-hardware coordinated system to make ADHD diagnosis more efficient.Together with the intelligent analysis module,the camera group will collect the eye focus,facial expression,3D body posture,and other children’s information during the completion of the functional test.Then,a multi-modal deep learning model is proposed to classify abnormal behavior fragments of children from the captured videos.In combination with other system modules,standardized diagnostic reports can be automatically generated,including test results,abnormal behavior analysis,diagnostic aid conclusions,and treatment recommendations.This system has participated in clinical diagnosis in Department of Psychology,The Children’s Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine,and has been accepted and praised by doctors and patients.
基金supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China(2013CB944902)National Natural Science Foundation of China(31271430,31470859,91542203)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,and Users with Potential(2015HSC-UP018)
文摘Cellular metabolism has been shown to regulate differentiation and function of immune cells.Tumor associated immune cells undergo phenotypic and functional alterations due to the change of cellular metabolism in tumor microenvironments.NKT cells are good candidates for immunotherapies against tumors and have been used in several clinical trials.However,the influences of tumor microenvironments on NKT cell functions remain unclear.In our studies,lactic acid in tumor microenvironments inhibited IFNγ and IL4 productions from NKT cells,and more profound influence on IFNγ was observed.By adjusting the pH of culture medium we further showed that,dysfunction of NKT cells could simply be induced by low extracellular pH.Moreover,low extracellular pH inhibited NKT cell functions by inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR) signaling and nuclear translocation of promyelocytic leukemia zinc-finger(PLZF).Together,our results suggest that tumor acidic microenvironments could interfere with NKT cell functions through metabolic controls.
基金Project supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2020AAA010400X)and the Hikvision Open Fund,China。
文摘Object detection is one of the hottest research directions in computer vision,has already made impressive progress in academia,and has many valuable applications in the industry.However,the mainstream detection methods still have two shortcomings:(1)even a model that is well trained using large amounts of data still cannot generally be used across different kinds of scenes;(2)once a model is deployed,it cannot autonomously evolve along with the accumulated unlabeled scene data.To address these problems,and inspired by visual knowledge theory,we propose a novel scene-adaptive evolution unsupervised video object detection algorithm that can decrease the impact of scene changes through the concept of object groups.We first extract a large number of object proposals from unlabeled data through a pre-trained detection model.Second,we build the visual knowledge dictionary of object concepts by clustering the proposals,in which each cluster center represents an object prototype.Third,we look into the relations between different clusters and the object information of different groups,and propose a graph-based group information propagation strategy to determine the category of an object concept,which can effectively distinguish positive and negative proposals.With these pseudo labels,we can easily fine-tune the pretrained model.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by performing different experiments,and the significant improvements are achieved.
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2020AAA0109004)the Zhejiang Postdoc Sponsorship。
文摘We propose a joint feature and metric learning deep neural network architecture,called the associative affinity network(AAN),as an affinity model for multi-object tracking(MOT)in videos.The AAN learns the associative affinity between tracks and detections across frames in an end-to-end manner.Considering flawed detections,the AAN jointly learns bounding box regression,classification,and affinity regression via the proposed multi-task loss.Contrary to networks that are trained with ranking loss,we directly train a binary classifier to learn the associative affinity of each track-detection pair and use a matching cardinality loss to capture information among candidate pairs.The AAN learns a discriminative affinity model for data association to tackle MOT,and can also perform single-object tracking.Based on the AAN,we propose a simple multi-object tracker that achieves competitive performance on the public MOT16 and MOT17 test datasets.