Heterotopic pregnancy after assisted reproductive techniques with favorable outcome of the intrauterine pregnancy:A case report

BACKGROUND Heterotopic pregnancy(HP)is a rare condition in which both ectopic and intrauterine pregnancies occur.HP is uncommon after natural conception but has recently received more attention due to the widespread use of assisted reproductive techniques(ART)such as ovulation promotion therapy.CASE SUMMARY Here,we describe a case of HP that occurred after ART with concurrent tubal and intrauterine singleton pregnancies.This was treated successfully with surgery to preserve the intrauterine pregnancy,resulting in the birth of a low-weight premature infant.This case report aims to increase awareness of the possibility of HP during routine first-trimester ultrasound examinations,especially in pregnancies resulting from ART and even if multiple intrauterine pregnancies are present.CONCLUSION This case alerts us to the importance of comprehensive data collection during regular consultations.It is important for us to remind ourselves of the possibility of HP in all patients presenting after ART,especially in women with an established and stable intrauterine pregnancy that complain of constant abdominal discomfort and also in women with an unusually raised human chorionic gonadotropin level compared with simplex intrauterine pregnancy.This will allow symptomatic and timeous treatment of patients with better results.

Validation of the chinese version of the EORTC QLQ-CR29 in patients with colorectal cancer

AIM To assess the validity and reliability of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Colorectal Cancer 29(EORTC QLQ-CR29) in Chinese patients with colorectal cancer(CRC). METHODS From March 2014 to January 2015, 356 patients with CRC from four different hospitals in China were enrolled in the study, and all patients self-administered the EORTC QLQ-CR29 and the quality of life core questionnaire(EORTC QLQ-C30). Evaluation of the scores was based on the Karnofsky Performance Scale(KPS). The reliability and validity of the questionnaires were assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient, the Spearman correlation test and Wilcoxon rank sum test.RESULTS The EORTC QLQ-CR29 showed satisfactory reliability(α > 0.7), although the urinary frequency and blood and mucus in stool dimensions had only moderate reliability(α = 0.608). The multitrait scaling analyses showed good convergent(r > 0.4) and discriminant validity. Significant differences were obtained for each item in the different KPS subgroups(KPS ≤ 80; KPS > 80). body image and most single-item dimensions showed statistically significant differences in patients with a stoma compared with the rest of the patients. CONCLUSION The EORTC QLQ-CR29 exhibits high validity and reliability in Chinese patients with CRC, and can therefore be recommended as a valuable tool for the assessment of quality of life in these patients.

Probiotic Therapy for Treating Behavioral and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder:A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

The therapeutic potentials of probiotics in autism spectrum disorder(ASD)remains controversial,with the only existing systematic review on this topic published in 2015.Results from new trials have become available in recent years.We therefore conducted an updated systematic review,to assess the efficacy of probiotics in relieving behavioral symptoms of ASD and gastrointestinal comorbidities.Our review includes two randomized controlled trials,which showed improvement of ASD behaviors,and three open trials,all which exhibited a trend of improvement.Four of these trials concluded from subjective measures that gastrointestinal function indices showed a trend of improvement with probiotic therapy.Additional rigorous trials are needed to evaluate the effects of probiotic supplements in ASD.

Design of a 200-MHz continuous-wave radio frequency quadrupole accelerator for boron neutron capture therapy

A high-intensity continuous-wave(CW) radio frequency quadrupole(RFQ) accelerator is designed for boron neutron capture therapy.The transmission efficiency of a 20-mA proton beam accelerated from 30 keV to 2.5 MeV can reach 98.7% at an operating frequency of 200 MHz.The beam dynamics have a good tolerance to errors.By comparing the high-frequency parameters of quadrilateral and octagonal RFQ cross sections,the quadrilateral structure of the four-vane cavity is selected owing to its multiple advantages,such as a smaller cross section at the same frequency and easy processing.In addition,tuners and undercuts are designed to tune the frequency of the cavity and achieve a flat electric field distribution along the cavity.In this paper,the beam dynamic simulation and electromagnetic design are presented in detail.

First-Principles Investigation on the Fully Compensated Ferrimagnetic Behavior in Ti_2NbSb and TiZrNbSb

The electronic structures of Ti_2NbSb with Hg_2CuTi structure and TiZrNbSb with LiMgPdSn structure are investigated using first-principles calculations.The results indicate that Ti_2NbSb is a fully compensated ferrimagnetic spin-gapless semiconductor with an energy gap of 0.13 e V,and TiZrNbSb is a half-metallic fully compensated ferrimagnet with a half-metallic gap of 0.17 e V.For Ti_2NbSb,the total energy of the Hg_2CuTi structure is0.62 e V/f.u.higher than that of the L2_(1) structure,which is the ground state,and for TiZrNbSb,the total energy of the structure considered in this work is only 0.15 e V/f.u.larger than that of the ground state.Thus both of them may be good candidates for spintronic applications.

Significantly improved oxidation of bio-based furans into furan carboxylic acids using substrate-adapted whole cells

Furan carboxylic acids are important building blocks in polymer and fine chemical industries. In this work, a simple substrate adaptation strategy was applied to improve the catalytic performances of Comamonas testosteroni SC1588 cells for the synthesis of various furan carboxylic acids. It was found that biocatalytic synthesis of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid(HMFCA) was substantially promoted by adding histidine and increasing cell concentrations. HMFCA was produced in a quantitative yield from200 m M HMF in 24 h. Besides, the HMFCA yields of 71%–81% were achieved with the substrate concentrations up to 250–300 m M. It was firstly found that 4-tert-butylcatechol(TBC), as the stabilizer present in HMF, exerted a significantly detrimental effect on whole-cell catalytic synthesis of HMFCA at high substrate concentrations(more than 130 m M). In addition, a variety of furan carboxylic acids such as2-furoic acid, 5-methyl-2-furancarboxylic acid and 5-methoxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid were synthesized with the yields up to 98%.

Preclinical safety,effectiveness evaluation,and screening of functional bacteria for fecal microbiota transplantation based on germ-free animals

Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT),also known as fecal bacterial therapy,is a treatment option that can quickly reconstruct the normal composition of intestinal microbes,and it has a good therapeutic effect on Clostridium difficile infection,as well as on other microecological disorders.However,the causal mechanism of FMT efficacy remains to be clarified,its safety is a major problem,and the standardization and acceptability of FMT need to be improved.This review summarizes its current research status and potential research areas that need to be strengthened,and proposes to clarify the safety of FMT and the causal relationship between FMT and therapeutic effectiveness based on germ-free animals.Meanwhile,the research system is combined with multiomics technology to screen the effective bacteria in FMT,and develop standard,safe,effective and controllable flora of FMT.

Silencing of odorant binding protein gene AlinOBP4 by RNAi induces declining electrophysiological responses of Adelphocoris lineolatus to six semiochemicals

Odorant binding proteins （OBPs） are believed to be important for transporting semiochemicals through the aqueous sensillar lymph to the olfactory receptor cells within the insect antennal sensilla. Here, we injected AlinOBP4-siRNA into the conjunctivum between prothorax and mesothorax of the lucerne plant bug, Adelphocoris lineolatus and evaluated the silencing of AlinOBP4 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） analysis, quantitative real-time PCR （qPCR） test and electroantennogram （EAG） assay. The combination of RT-PCR and qPCR analyses revealed that the levels of mes- senger RNA transcript were significantly reduced ~95% in AlinOBP4-siRNA-treated A. lineolatus males and ~75% in RNAi-treated females within 48 hours. It was found that there are different EAG responses between male and female bugs when the AlinOBP4 gene was silenced by RNAi. The EAGs of A. lineolatus to two plant volatiles, tride- canal and hexyl alcohol, were reduced 9.09% and 79.45% in RNAi-treated males, 62.08% and 62.08% in RNAi-treated females compared to the controls, separately. Antennae of RNAi-treated bugs showed significantly lower electrophysiological responses to four sex pheromone analogs, butyl butanoate, 1-hexyl butyrate, （E）-2-hexenyl butyrate and hexyl hexanoate. The EAG recordings were reduced 35.43%, 35.24%, 39.96% and 78.47% in RNAi-treated males and 64.52%, 18.13%, 36.88% and 49.52% in RNAi-treated females, respectively. The results suggested that AlinOBP4 might play dual-roles in the identifi- cation of plant volatiles and sex pheromones. It was suspected that AlinOBP4 may have different functions in odor perception between male and female A. lineolatus.

Palladium Difluorocarbene Involved Catalytic Coupling with Terminal Alkynes

Difluoromethylated alkynes are a versatile synthon for the diversity-oriented synthesis of difluoromethyl compounds that are of great interest in life and materials sciences.However,the catalytic cross-coupling for the synthesis of difluoromethylated alkynes remains challenging,despite impressive achievements made in the cross-coupling reactions for alkynes,including the Sonogashira reaction.Here,we report a palladium difluorocarbene involvement in catalytic coupling with terminal alkynes,representing a new mode of conjugation reaction,which circumvents the radical pathway usually encountered during the coupling of alkynes with fluoroalkyl electrophiles.The reaction uses inexpensive and abundant industrial raw material chlorodifluoromethane(ClCF_(2)H)as the difluorocarbene precursor,and features cost-effectiveness,excellent functional group tolerance,and broad substrate scope,including synthesis of drug-like complex molecules.Our mechanistic studies showed a unique catalytic pathway of this process,in which additive hydroquinone plays a pivotal role in promoting the reaction.