Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of artificial oocyte activation in patients undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a 6-year population-based retrospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of artificial oocyte activation (AOA) in pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in infertile patients undergoing cryopreserved embryo transfer.

Method: This retrospective study included 5686 patients' transferred embryos from routine intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and 194 patients' transferred embryos from ICSI combined with AOA (ICSI-AOA) from January 2011 to December 2016. Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of couples undergoing routine ICSI or ICSI-AOA were analyzed before and after propensity score matching.

Effect of whole-course nutrition management on patients with esophageal cancer undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy: A randomized control trial.

Objectives: Malnutrition is the most common complication of patients with esophageal cancer and can lead to poor prognosis and death. Good nutritional status has been shown to help improve patient outcomes and reduce complications. In the absence of specific evidence on the effect of nutrition in patients with esophageal cancer, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of whole-course nutrition management on the prognosis and complications of chemoradiotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer through a randomized controlled trial.

Preparation, properties, and structural characterization of β-glucan/pullulan blend films.

This study investigates the physico-mechanical and structural properties of β-glucan (BG)/pullulan (PUL) composite edible films successfully prepared with 0-0.3 g of BG. Results demonstrated that BG addition significantly increases the elongation at break (p < 0.

Local Crack-Programmed Gold Nanowire Electronic Skin Tattoos for In-Plane Multisensor Integration.

Sensitive, specific, yet multifunctional tattoo-like electronics are ideal wearable systems for "any time, any where" health monitoring because they can virtually become parts of the human skin, offering a burdenless "unfeelable" wearing experience. A skin-like, multifunctional electronic tattoo made entirely from gold using a standing enokitake-mushroom-like vertically aligned nanowire membrane in conjunction with a programmable local cracking technology is reported. Unlike previous multifunctional systems, only a single material type is needed for the integrated gold circuits involved in interconnects and multiplexed specific sensors, thereby avoiding the use of complex multimaterials interfaces.

Theoretical Prediction of Mechanical Strength and Desalination Performance of One-Atom-Thick Hydrocarbon Polymer in Pressure-Driven Separation.

One-atom-thick materials hold promise for the future of membrane-based gas purification and water filtration applications. However, there are a few investigations on the mechanical properties of these materials under pressure-driven condition. Here, by employing molecular simulation techniques and continuum mechanics simulation, we investigate the mechanical strength of two-dimensional hydrocarbon polymers containing sub-nanometer pores with various topologies.

Pregnancy and Live Birth In Women With Pathogenic LHCGR Variants Using Their Own Oocytes.

Context: The LH/chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) is mainly expressed in gonads and plays important roles in estradiol production, ovulation, and luteal formation. Women with pathogenic LHCGR variants suffer from infertility, and successful fertility treatments for such women have never been reported.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether women with pathogenic LHCGR variants can achieve successful pregnancies through in vitro fertilization.

Single-cell CAS-seq reveals a class of short PIWI-interacting RNAs in human oocytes.

Small RNAs have important functions. However, small RNAs in primate oocytes remain unexplored. Herein, we develop CAS-seq, a single-cell small RNA sequencing method, and profile the small RNAs in human oocytes and embryos.

[Analysis of clinical effects of artificial dermis in functional reconstruction in the late stage of extremely severe burn].

To explore the clinical effects of artificial dermis combined with autologous split-thickness skin transplantation in the treatment of functional reconstruction in the late stage of extremely severe burn. From May 2015 to May 2017, medical records of 40 patients with limited activity after scar hyperplasia and conforming to the study criteria, injured in August 2nd Kunshan factory aluminum dust explosion accident in 2014, and had surgeries in our hospital and rehabilitation treatment in our hospital's alliance rehabilitation hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital of Kunshan Zhou City, were retrospectively analyzed. According to the treatment methods, 20 patients (12 males and 8 females, aged 20 to 45 years) were enrolled in artificial dermis group.

Variation in Streptomycin Resistance Mechanisms in .

is the causal agent of bacterial canker of tomato, which causes significant economic losses because of the lack of resistant tomato varieties. Chemical control with streptomycin or cupric bactericides is the last defensive line in canker disease management. Streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that inhibits protein synthesis and targets the 30S ribosomal protein RpsL.

The Evolution, Ecology, and Mechanisms of Infection by Gram-Positive, Plant-Associated Bacteria.

Gram-positive bacteria are prominent members of plant-associated microbial communities. Although many are hypothesized to be beneficial, some are causative agents of economically important diseases of crop plants. Because the features of Gram-positive bacteria are fundamentally different relative to those of Gram-negative bacteria, the evolution and ecology as well as the mechanisms used to colonize and infect plants also differ.

Obstetrical and neonatal outcomes after transfer of cleavage-stage and blastocyst-stage embryos derived from monopronuclear zygotes: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of embryo transfer with the use of monopronuclear (1PN) zygotes, and the risks of congenital malformations and postpartum developmental disorders.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary-care academic medical center.

Chitosan Oligosaccharide Ameliorates Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global epidemic, and there is no standard and efficient therapy for it. Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is widely known to have various biological effects, and in this study we aimed to evaluate the liver-protective effect in diet-induced obese mice for an enzymatically digested product of COS called COS23 which is mainly composed of dimers and trimers. An integrated analysis of the lipidome and gut microbiome were performed to assess the effects of COS23 on lipids in plasma and the liver as well as on intestinal microbiota.

A Qualitative Study Exploring Coping Strategies in Chinese Families During Children's Hospitalization for Cancer Treatment.

Purpose: To explore how Chinese families cope with children's hospitalization for cancer treatment.

Design And Methods: A descriptive qualitative inquiry was employed. Semi-structured interview was conducted in four pediatric oncology departments in four hospitals from November 2017 to June 2018.

Efficacy and Safety of Vonoprazan-Based versus Proton Pump Inhibitor-Based Triple Therapy for Eradication: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

Aims: To compare the efficacy and safety of vonoprazan-based versus proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based triple therapy in the eradication of .

Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases for relevant randomized controlled trials up to March 2019. Studies were included if they compared the efficacy and safety of eradication of vonoprazan-based and PPI-based triple therapy.

The Chemistry of Bioinspired Catechol(amine)-Based Coatings.

Surface coatings are widely used for the protection of underlying materials from erosion or contamination by the external environment, with biomimetic organic coatings based on catecholamine chemistry gaining prominence in recent years. Such coatings have found use in the biomedical field, e.g.

A multi-center clinical investigation on invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infection in China, 2010-2017.

Background: Invasive S. pyogenes diseases are uncommon, serious infections with high case fatality rates (CFR). There are few publications on this subject in the field of pediatrics.

Induction and Resuscitation of the Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) State in , the Causal Agent of Bacterial Fruit Blotch of Cucurbitaceous Crops.

is a gram-negative bacterium that infects a wide range of cucurbits causing bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) disease. Copper-based compounds are the most widely-used chemicals for managing BFB and other bacterial diseases in the field. Many bacteria can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state in response to stress, including exposure to copper, and recover the culturability when favorable conditions return.

The Addition of α-cyclodextrin and γ-cyclodextrin Affect Quality of Dough and Prebaked Bread During Frozen Storage.

The effects of the addition of 0-3.0 wt% α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) on the quality of wheat flour as well as the texture and the aging of prebaked bread were evaluated. The addition of α-CD and γ-CD increased the ability of wheat flour to absorb water and shortened the times of dough formation and stabilization.

Noise Suppression in Image-Domain Multi-Material Decomposition for Dual-Energy CT.

Objective: Dual-energy CT (DECT) strengthens the material characterization and quantification due to its capability of material discrimination. The image-domain multi-material decomposition (MMD) via matrix inversion suffers from serious degradation of the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the decomposed images, and thus the clinical application of DECT is limited. In this paper, we propose a noise suppression algorithm based on the noise propagation for image-domain MMD.

Inhibition of TLR9 attenuates skeletal muscle fibrosis in aged sarcopenic mice via the p53/SIRT1 pathway.

Sarcopenia is an age-related syndrome characterized by a gradual loss of muscle mass and function, but its pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear. Skeletal muscle extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is an important pathological change in sarcopenia, and fibrosis is the most obvious manifestation of this change. We found that the expression of the immunoreceptor Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) is significantly increased in skeletal muscle in aged mice and is positively related to muscle fibrosis.

Live birth rate and neonatal outcome following cleavage-stage embryo transfer versus blastocyst transfer using the freeze-all strategy.

Research Question: What are the live birth rates and neonatal outcomes following cleavage-stage embryo transfer and blastocyst transfer in a freeze-all treatment scenario?

Design: This was a retrospective cohort study. All good-quality embryos were frozen on the third day; the remaining embryos were grown on until they reached blastocyst stage and then frozen. Between 2007 and 2016, 11,801 patients underwent cleavage-stage embryo transfer and 1009 patients underwent blastocyst transfer in the first treatment cycle using the freeze-all strategy.

A pannexin 1 channelopathy causes human oocyte death.

Connexins and pannexins are two protein families that play an important role in cellular communication. Pannexin 1 (PANX1), one of the members of pannexin family, is a channel protein. It is glycosylated and forms three species, GLY0, GLY1, and GLY2.

Direct Evidence for the Critical Role of 5,6-Dihydroxyindole in Polydopamine Deposition and Aggregation.

The definitive role of the intermediate 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) in the formation of polydopamine (PDA) coatings from aqueous dopamine (DA) has not been clearly elucidated and remains highly controversial. Our foray into this debate as reported in this study agrees with some reported assertions that DHI-based coatings are not synonymous with PDA coatings. Our conclusion arises from a systematic comparison of the components and properties of DHI-based coatings and PDA coatings.