Developing and validating a predictive model of delivering large-for-gestational-age infants among women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: The birth of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants is associated with many short-term adverse pregnancy outcomes. It has been observed that the proportion of LGA infants born to pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is significantly higher than that born to healthy pregnant women. However, traditional methods for the diagnosis of LGA have limitations. Therefore, this study aims to establish a predictive model that can effectively identify women with GDM who are at risk of delivering LGA infants. AIM: To develop and validate a nomogram prediction model of delivering LGA infants among pregnant women with GDM, and provide strategies for the effective prevention and timely intervention of LGA. METHODS: The multivariable prediction model was developed by carrying out the following steps. First, the variables that were associated with LGA risk in pregnant women with GDM were screened by univariate analyses, for which the P value was < 0.10. Subsequently, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression was fit using ten cross-validations, and the optimal combination factors were selected by choosing lambda 1se as the criterion. The final predictors were determined by multiple backward stepwise logistic regression analysis, in which only the independent variables were associated with LGA risk, with a P value < 0.05. Finally, a risk prediction model was established and subsequently evaluated by using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve and decision curve analyses. RESULTS: After using a multistep screening method, we establish a predictive model. Several risk factors for delivering an LGA infant were identified (P < 0.01), including weight gain during pregnancy, parity, triglyceride-glucose index, free tetraiodothyronine level, abdominal circumference, alanine transaminase-aspartate aminotransferase ratio and weight at 24 gestational weeks. The nomogram's prediction ability was supported by the area under the curve (0.703, 0.709, and 0.699 for the training cohort, validation cohort, and test cohort, respectively). The calibration curves of the three cohorts displayed good agreement. The decision curve showed that the use of the 10%-60% threshold for identifying pregnant women with GDM who are at risk of delivering an LGA infant would result in a positive net benefit. CONCLUSION: Our nomogram incorporated easily accessible risk factors, facilitating individualized prediction of pregnant women with GDM who are likely to deliver an LGA infant.

Impact of inflammatory factors, hemoglobin A1c, and platelet parameters in gestational diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship among inflammatory cytokines including hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and platelet distribution width (PDW) in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: Data on 191 pregnant women (96 women with GDM; 95 healthy controls) were extracted from routine prenatal examination records in Nanjing, China. Fasting concentrations of hs-CRP, IL-6, HbA1c, blood cell indices, and glucose at 24-28th gestational weeks were determined. RESULTS: The levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, FPG, PG1h, PG2h, HbA1c, RBC, and PDW significantly were increased (P < 0.05) in GDM group. hs-CRP had a positive correlation with HbA1c and PLT (P < 0.05). The odds ratios of HbA1c and PDW were 7.817 (95% CI 1.921-31.816, P = 0.004) and 1.523 (95% CI 1.158-2.002, P = 0.003), respectively. Furthermore, AUC of the combined diagnosis of GDM including HbA1c, FPG, and PDW reached 0.754, with specificity of 80.0% and sensitivity of 60.4%. CONCLUSION: Our findings support that elevated levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, HbA1c, and PDW at 24-28th gestational weeks even within the conventional normal range, may be implicated in the pathogenesis of GDM and their evaluation should be part of prenatal care routine.

Effect of Comprehensive Nursing on the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Operation.

Objective: The objective is to explore the effect of comprehensive nursing on the recovery of gastrointestinal function in patients undergoing an abdominal operation. Methods: Sixty patients undergoing abdominal surgery in our hospital from January 2019 to April 2021 were enrolled. The patients were arbitrarily assigned into control group and research group. The former group received routine nursing and the latter group received comprehensive nursing. Nursing satisfaction, gastrointestinal function, POMS-SF score, nutrition risk score, incidence of adverse reactions, and quality of life scores were compared. Results: The nursing satisfaction of the research group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of gastrointestinal function, the anal exhaust time eating time defecation time and bowel sound recovery time in the research group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of POMS-SF score, the scores of tension-anxiety, depression-depression, fatigue-dullness, anger-hostility, and confusion-confusion in the research group were lower than those in the control group, while the energy-vitality score was higher than that in the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in nutritional risk score among patients before nursing (P > 0.05); after nursing, the nutritional risk score decreased. Compared between the two groups, the nutritional risk score of the research group was lower when compared to the control group at 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days after nursing, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of the incidence of adverse reactions, the incidence of adverse reactions such as incision effusion, incision infection, incision dehiscence, and anastomotic leakage in the research group was lower when compared to the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Regarding quality of life scores, before nursing, there exhibited no significant difference of patients (P > 0.05); after nursing, the quality of life scores of patients decreased. Compared with the two groups, the physical function, psychological function, social function, and healthy self-cognition scores of the research group were all lower compared to the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Abdominal surgery patients received comprehensive care, which improved their mental health, reduced anxiety and depression levels, relieved fatigue and dullness, improved energy and vitality, and enhanced their overall mood. Meanwhile, it can also promote the recovery of gastrointestinal function in patients and reduce the incidence of adverse reactions.

Two multi-temporal datasets to track debris flow after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

We provide two datasets for tracking the debris flow induced by the 2008 Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake on a section of the Longmen mountains on the eastern side of the Tibetan plateau (Sichuan, China). The database was obtained through a literature review and field survey reports in the epicenter area, combined with high-resolution remote sensing image and extensive data collection and processing. The first dataset covers an area of 892 km2, including debris flows from 2008 to 2020 (an updated version). 186 debris flows affecting 79 watersheds were identified. 89 rainfall stations were collected to determine the rainfall events for the post-earthquake debris flow outbreak. The second database is a list of mitigation measures for post-earthquake debris flows, including catchment name, check dam number, coordinates, construction time, and successful mitigation date. The datasets can aid different applications, including the early warning and engineering prevention of post-earthquake debris flow, as well as provide valuable data support for research in related disciplines.

Photonic Crystal-Embedded Molecularly Imprinted Contact Lenses for Controlled Drug Release.

As a noninvasive eye disease detection and drug delivery device, contact lenses can improve eye bioavailability and enable continuous drug delivery. In order to monitor the release of drugs in real time, molecularly imprinted contact lenses (MICLs) based on photonic crystals (PCs) were prepared for the treatment of diabetes-related diseases. The specific adsorption of molecularly imprinted polymers on dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DSP) increased the drug loading and optimized the drug release behavior. At the same time, the drug release ensures the rapid color report during the loading and releasing of drugs due to the volume and refractive index change of the hydrogel matrix. The continuous and slow release of DSP by MICLs in artificial tears was successfully monitored through structural color changes, and the cytotoxicity test results showed that the MICL had good biocompatibility. Therefore, MICLs with a PC structure color have great biomedical potentiality in the future.

Current progress in metabolomics of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common metabolic disorders of pregnancy and can cause short- and long-term adverse effects in both pregnant women and their offspring. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of GDM are still unclear. As a metabolic disease, GDM is well suited to metabolomics study, which can monitor the changes in small molecular metabolites induced by maternal stimuli or perturbations in real time. The application of metabolomics in GDM can be used to discover diagnostic biomarkers, evaluate the prognosis of the disease, guide the application of diet or drugs, evaluate the curative effect, and explore the mechanism. This review provides comprehensive documentation of metabolomics research methods and techniques as well as the current progress in GDM research. We anticipate that the review will contribute to identifying gaps in the current knowledge or metabolomics technology, provide evidence-based information, and inform future research directions in GDM.

miR-20a/Foxj2 Axis Mediates Growth and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer Cells as Identified by Integrated Analysis.

BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a significant regulatory effect on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cells, and have been widely reported to have oncogenic or tumor-suppressive impacts on various tumors. In the present study we assessed the regulation and function of miR-20a on colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines. MATERIAL AND METHODS qPCR was used to quantify miR-20a expression. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm Foxj2 3'UTR associations. In addition, the function of miR-20a and Foxj2 in CRC was detected using MTT, colony formation, transwell assays, and cell cycle analysis. RESULTS Our data revealed that miR-20a expression was elevated in the CRC cell lines, and cell migration, proliferation, and invasion abilities were promoted by the overexpression of miR-20a. Moreover, Foxj2 was authenticated as a direct target gene of miR-20a in CRC cells. Furthermore, we found that the ectopic Foxj2 dramatically suppressed miR-20a-promoted proliferation, migration, invasion, and xenografts in vitro and in vivo, and induced cell cycle arrest at G1 stage. CONCLUSIONS Our results showing the roles of miR-20a/Foxj2 in carcinogenesis of CRC may help improve treatment of CRC.

RNA-sequencing analysis reveals the potential contribution of lncRNAs in palmitic acid-induced insulin resistance of skeletal muscle cells.

Insulin resistance (IR) has been considered as the common pathological basis and developmental driving force for most metabolic diseases. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as pivotal regulators in modulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the comprehensive profile of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle cells under the insulin resistant status and the possible biological effects of them were not fully studied. In this research, using C2C12 myotubes as cell models in vitro, deep RNA-sequencing was performed to profile lncRNAs and mRNAs between palmitic acid-induced IR C2C12 myotubes and control ones. The results revealed that a total of 144 lncRNAs including 70 up-regulated and 74 down-regulated (|fold change| > 2, q < 0.05) were significantly differentially expressed in palmitic acid-induced insulin resistant cells. In addition, functional annotation analysis based on the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) databases revealed that the target genes of the differentially expressed lncRNAs were significantly enriched in fatty acid oxidation, lipid oxidation, PPAR signaling pathway, and insulin signaling pathway. Moreover, Via qPCR, most of selected lncRNAs in myotubes and db/db mice skeletal muscle showed the consistent expression trends with RNA-sequencing. Co-expression analysis also explicated the key lncRNA-mRNA interactions and pointed out a potential regulatory network of candidate lncRNA ENSMUST00000160839. In conclusion, the present study extended the skeletal muscle lncRNA database and provided novel potential regulators for future genetic and molecular studies on insulin resistance, which is helpful for prevention and treatment of the related metabolic diseases.