Relationship between increased maternal serum free human chorionic gonadotropin levels in the second trimester and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to collect the data of pregnant women who received hospital delivery in Hangzhou Women's Hospital from January 2018 to December 2020, and who participated in the second trimester (15-20 weeks) of free beta human chorionic gonadotropin (free β-hCG). And the study was conducted to explore the relationship between maternal serum free β-hCG and adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 1,978 women in the elevated maternal serum free β-hCG group (free β-hCG ≥ 2.

Spontaneous Ectopic Tubal Pregnancy After Partial Salpingectomy.

Objective: To report a rare case of spontaneous ectopic pregnancy (EP) after partial salpingectomy treated by laparoscopy.

Case Report: A 30-year-old gravida 1 para 0 woman with a history of left adnexectomy, due to left ovarian torsion 13 years ago, was referred to our hospital. She had experienced lower abdominal pain for 1 day and amenorrhea for 1 week.

Performance of noninvasive prenatal screening for fetal sex chromosome aneuploidies in a cohort of 116,862 pregnancies.

Background: Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) has shown good performance in screening common aneuploidies. However, its performance in detecting fetal sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) needs to be evaluated in a large cohort.

Research Design And Methods: In this retrospective observation, a total of 116,862 women underwent NIPS based on DNA nanoball sequencing from 2015 to 2022.

Antifungal potential of lipopeptides produced by the Sh420 strain against .

Biological control is a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fungicides for controlling spp. infestations. In this work, Sh420 isolated from wheat rhizosphere showed a high antifungal activity against as a secure substitute for fungicides.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens A-1 inhibiting fungal spoilage in agricultural products is improved by metabolic engineering of enhancing surfactin yield.

Fungi and subsequent mycotoxins contamination in agricultural products have caused enormous losses and great harm to human and animal health. Biological control has attracted the attention of researchers due to its advantages, including mild conditions, low cost, high efficiency and low nutrient loss. In this study, a newly isolated strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens A-1 (A-1), was screened for its ability to inhibit the growth and Aflatoxin B (AFB) production of Aspergillus flavus NRRL 3357.

Fat-to-muscle ratio is associated with insulin resistance and cardiometabolic disorders in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of the fat-to-muscle ratio (FMR) with insulin resistance (IR) and cardiometabolic disorders (CMD) in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively recruited 420 adults with T1DM [52.6% men, median age 32.

Diagnostic value of maternal alpha-fetoprotein variants in second-trimester biochemical screening for trisomy 21 and 18.

To evaluate the clinical predictive value of serum alpha-fetoprotein variants (AFP-L2, AFP-L3) in combination with maternal serum prenatal screening biomarkers in predicting fetal trisomy 21 and trisomy 18. We analyze the data of singleton pregnant women at 15-20 weeks of 731,922 gravidas from October 2007 to September 2019. The research objects were separated into the following groups: control (n = 569), trisomy 21 (n = 116), and trisomy 18 (n = 52).

Construction and predictive value of risk models of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein variants and fetal open neural tube defects.

The correlation of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) variants (AFP-L2, AFP-L3), free beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (free β-hCG), and open neural tube defects (ONTDs) during the second trimester, and the screening efficiency of different risk models remain indistinct. We conducted a retrospective case-control study, and studied 57 pregnant women with ONTD fetuses and 569 pregnant women with normal fetuses. The receiver operating characteristic curve method indicated the best cutoff value and area under the curve (AUC).

Exploiting the potential of commercial objectives to extend the field of view of two-photon microscopy by adaptive optics.

Two-photon microscopy (TPM) has provided critical in situ and in vivo information in biomedical studies due to its high resolution, intrinsic optical sectioning, and deep penetration. However, its relatively small field of view (FOV), which is usually determined by objectives, restricts its wide application. In this paper, we propose a segment-scanning sensorless adaptive optics method to extend the FOV and achieve high-resolution and large-FOV two-photon imaging.

The Assembly and Jamming of Nanoparticle Surfactants at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces.

Using the interactions between nanoparticles (NPs) and polymeric ligands to generate nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) at the liquid-liquid interface, the binding energy of the NP to the interface can be significantly increased, irreversibly binding the NPSs to the interface. By designing a simplified NPS model, where the NP size can be precisely controlled and the characteristic fluorescence of the NPs be used as a direct probe of their spatial distribution, we provide new insights into the attachment mechanism of NPSs at the liquid-liquid interface. We find that the binding energy of NPSs to the interface can be reduced by competitive ligands, resulting in the dissociation and disassembly of NPSs at the interface, and allowing the construction of responsive, reconfigurable all-liquid systems.

Layer-by-Layer Engineered All-Liquid Microfluidic Chips for Enzyme Immobilization.

Enzyme immobilization in the confines of microfluidic chips, that promote enzyme activity and stability, has become a powerful strategy to enhance biocatalysis and biomass conversion. Here, based on a newly developed all-liquid microfluidic chip, fabricated by the interfacial assembly of nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) in a biphasic system, a layer-by-layer assembly strategy to generate polysaccharide multilayers on the surface of a microchannel, greatly enhancing the mechanical properties of the microchannel and offering a biocompatible microenvironment for enzyme immobilization, is presented. Using horseradish peroxidase and glucose oxidase as model enzymes, all-liquid microfluidic enzymatic and cascade reactors have been constructed and the crucial role of polysaccharide multilayers on enhancing the enzyme loading and catalytic efficiency is demonstrated.

A facile solvothermal syntheses of NiFe layered double hydroxide-BiMoO heterostructure/reduced graphene oxide with efficient photodegradation for tetracycline.

A heterojunction of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH)-BiMoO (BMO) loaded on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets was synthesized via an eco-friendly solvothermal reaction. The structural characterization shows that NiFe LDH-BMO heterojunctions are well-distributed on the surface of silk-like transparent RGO sheets. The modification of BMO by NiFe LDH and RGO greatly enhances the photocatalytic performance of BMO for degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light.

Hydrangea-like NiMoO-Ag/rGO as Battery-type electrode for hybrid supercapacitors with superior stability.

It is a great challenge to design electrode materials with good stability and high specific capacitance for supercapacitors. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) hydrangea-like NiMoO micro-architecture with Ag nanoparticles anchored on the surface has been designed by adding EDTA-2Na, which was assembled with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and named as NiMoO-Ag/rGO composite. Benefiting from the synergetic contributions of structural and componential properties, NiMoO-Ag/rGO composite exhibits a high specific capacitance of 566.

Clinical Efficiency of Non-invasive Prenatal Screening for Common Trisomies in Low-Risk and Twin Pregnancies.

To evaluate the clinical efficiency of non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for fetal aneuploidies in low-risk and twin pregnancies, patients who received NIPS in a tertiary university hospital were enrolled, and their clinical data, NIPS results and pregnancy outcomes were collected. Patients were divided into singleton and twin pregnancies, and then those with singleton pregnancies were divided into low- and high-risk pregnancies. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were estimated.

Axial resolution improvement of two-photon microscopy by multi-frame reconstruction and adaptive optics.

Two-photon microscopy (TPM) has been widely used in biological imaging owing to its intrinsic optical sectioning and deep penetration abilities. However, the conventional TPM suffers from poor axial resolution, which makes it difficult to recognize some three-dimensional fine features. We present multi-frame reconstruction two-photon microscopy (MR-TPM) using a liquid lens as a fast axial scanning engine.

Adaptive optics via pupil ring segmentation improves spherical aberration correction for two-photon imaging of optically cleared tissues.

Optical clearing methods reduce the optical scattering of biological samples and thereby extend optical imaging penetration depth. However, refractive index mismatch between the immersion media of objectives and clearing reagents induces spherical aberration (SA), causing significant degradation of fluorescence intensity and spatial resolution. We present an adaptive optics method based on pupil ring segmentation to correct SA in optically cleared samples.

Depth-resolved NIR-II fluorescence mesoscope.

NIR-II fluorescence imaging is a promising method for visualizing biological structures in deep tissue, owing to the advantages of significantly suppressed optical scattering and diminished autofluorescence in biological tissues. However, few NIR-II fluorescence imaging approaches can simultaneously achieve a large field of view, high resolution and superior penetration depth, while exhibiting optical sectioning capability. In this paper, we present a novel NIR-II fluorescence mesoscopy system based on the f- scanning scheme and confocal detection to overcome these limitations.

Role of pericyte-derived SENP1 in neuronal injury after brain ischemia.

Aims: SUMOylation is a posttranslational modification related to multiple human diseases. SUMOylation can be reversed by classes of proteases known as the sentrin/SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs). In the present study, we investigate the potential role of SENP1 in pericytes in the brain ischemia.

[Noninvasive prenatal screening for twin pregnancy: an analysis of 2057 cases].

Objective: To analyze the results of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for fetal chromosome aneuploidy in twin pregnancy.

Methods: A total of 2057 women with twin-pregnancy between 12-26 weeks were recruited from Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou Municipal Women's Hospital and Jiaxing Maternal and Child Health Hospital during February 2015 to August 2018. The cell-free DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood sample for DNA library, and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) was performed by high-throughput sequencing technique.

The glymphatic system delivery enhances the transduction efficiency of AAV1 to brain endothelial cells in adult mice.

Background: Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) is increasingly applied in neuroscience research or gene therapy. However, there is no simple and efficient tool for specific transfection of rAAV into cerebrovascular tissues. It has been reported that fluorescent tracers or beta-amyloid protein can enter the brain through perivascular spaces, named as "glymphatic system".

Functional coupling of Tmem74 and HCN1 channels regulates anxiety-like behavior in BLA neurons.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders, but their pathogenic mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we report that transmembrane protein 74 (TMEM74), which contains two putative transmembrane domains and exhibits high levels of mRNA in the brain, is closely associated with the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. TMEM74 was decreased in the serum of patients with anxiety and the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus (BLA) in chronic stress mice.

Increased gene copy number of worsens sepsis by inducing endothelial pyroptosis.

Sepsis claims an estimated 30 million episodes and 6 million deaths per year, and treatment options are rather limited. Human neutrophil peptides 1-3 (HNP1-3) are the most abundant neutrophil granule proteins but their neutrophil content varies because of unusually extensive gene copy number polymorphism. A genetic association study found that increased copy number of the HNP-encoding gene is a risk factor for organ dysfunction during sepsis development.

Cathepsin B inhibition ameliorates leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in the BTBR mouse model of autism.

Aims: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders involving deficits in social interaction and communication. Unfortunately, autism remains a scientific and clinical challenge owing to the lack of understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying it. This study aimed to investigate the pathophysiological mechanism underlying leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in autism-related neurovascular inflammation.

Calmodulin inhibitor ameliorates cognitive dysfunction via inhibiting nitrosative stress and NLRP3 signaling in mice with bilateral carotid artery stenosis.

Aims: Vascular dementia (VaD) is a heterogeneous brain disorder for which there are no effective approved pharmacological treatments available. We aimed to evaluate the effect of calmodulin inhibitor, DY-9836, and its loaded nanodrug carrier system on cognitive impairment and gain a better understanding of the protective mechanisms in mice with bilateral carotid artery stenosis (BCAS).

Results: DY-9836 (0.

Modulation of the unfolded protein response is the core of microRNA-122-involved sensitivity to chemotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The loss of microRNA-122 (miR-122) expression correlates to many characteristic properties of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, including clonogenic survival, anchorage-independent growth, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and tumorigenesis. However, all of these findings do not sufficiently explain the oncogenic potential of miR-122. In the current study, we used two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis to measure changes in the expression of thousands of proteins in response to the inhibition of miR-122 in human hepatoma cells.