Association between being large for gestational age and cardiovascular metabolic health in children conceived from assisted reproductive technology: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the potential joint effect of large for gestational age (LGA) and assisted reproductive technology (ART) on the long-term health of children. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study that recruited children whose parents had received ART treatment in the Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong Provincial Hospital, affiliated to Shandong University, between January 2006 and December 2017. Linear mixed model was used to compare the main outcomes. The mediation model was used to evaluate the intermediary effect of body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: 4138 (29.5%) children born LGA and 9910 (70.5%) children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA) were included in the present study. The offspring ranged from 0.4 to 9.9 years. LGAs conceived through ART were shown to have higher BMI, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance values, even after controlling for all covariates. The odds of overweight and insulin resistance are also higher in LGA subjects. After adjusting for all covariates, LGAs conceived through ART had BMI and BMI z-scores that were 0.48 kg/m2 and 0.34 units greater than those of AGAs, respectively. The effect of LGA on BMI was identified as early as infancy and remained consistently significant throughout pre-puberty. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to AGA, LGA children conceived from ART were associated with increased cardiovascular-metabolic events, which appeared as early as infancy and with no recovery by pre-puberty.

Influence of Nucleation on Relaxation, Molecular Cooperativity, and Physical Stability of Celecoxib Glass.

Although nucleation is considered the first step in the crystallization of glass materials, the structure and properties of the nuclei are not understood well. Influence of nucleation on the structure and dynamics of celecoxib glass was evaluated in this study. The nuclei for Form III were induced by annealing the glass at freezing temperature, and their impact on the relaxation behavior was investigated using thermal analysis and broadband dielectric spectroscopy to find accelerated α relaxation and suppressed ß relaxation. In addition, observed after nucleation was a decrease in cooperativity of the molecular motion, presumably because of the appearance of void spaces in the glass structure. During long-term isothermal crystallization studies, crystal growth to Form III was accelerated in the presence of the nuclei, whereas this effect was less remarkable when a different crystal form dominated the crystallization behavior. These observations should provide more detailed insights into the nucleation mechanism and impact of nucleation on molecular dynamics including physical stability of pharmaceutical glasses. In addition, discussed is the remarkable acceleration of the crystallization rate of the celecoxib glass just below its Tg, which could be understood by diffusionless crystal growth.

Quantitative anatomical analysis of lumbar interspaces based on 3D CT imaging: optimized segment selection for lumbar puncture in different age groups.

BACKGROUND: Optimal lumbar puncture segment selection remains controversial. This study aims to analyze anatomical differences among L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1 segments across age groups and provide quantitative evidence for optimized selection. METHODS: 80 cases of CT images were collected with patients aged 10-80 years old. Threedimensional models containing L3-S1 vertebrae, dural sac, and nerve roots were reconstructed. Computer simulation determined the optimal puncture angles for the L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1 segments. The effective dural sac area (ALDS), traversing nerve root area (ATNR), and area of the lumbar inter-laminar space (ALILS) were measured. Puncture efficacy ratio (ALDS/ALILS) and nerve injury risk ratio (ATNR/ALILS) were calculated. Cases were divided into four groups: A (10-20 years), B (21-40 years), C (41-60 years), and D (61-80 years). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. RESULTS: 1) ALDS was similar among segments; 2) ATNR was greatest at L5-S1; 3) ALILS was greatest at L5-S1; 4) Puncture efficacy ratio was highest at L3-4 and lowest at L5-S1; 5) Nerve injury risk was highest at L5-S1. In group D, L5-S1 ALDS was larger than L3-4 and L4-5. ALDS decreased after age 40. Age variations were minimal across parameters. CONCLUSION: The comprehensive analysis demonstrated L3-4 as the optimal first-choice segment for ages 10-60 years, conferring maximal efficacy and safety. L5-S1 can serve as an alternative option for ages 61-80 years when upper interspaces narrow. This study provides quantitative imaging evidence supporting age-specific, optimized lumbar puncture segment selection.

Characteristics and Functional Properties of Maillard Reaction Products from α-Lactalbumin and Polydextrose.

The characteristics and the functions of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) produced by polydextrose (PD), a new type of prebiotic, and α-lactalbumin (α-LA) were valued. PD and α-LA were incubated at 60 °C and 79% relative humidity for up to 72 h to prepare MRPs. The results showed that the absorbance and fluorescence intensity of heated α-LA-PD increased, and the amount of free amino groups reduced as the reaction progressed, which confirmed the formation of different stages of MRPs. Electrophoresis revealed an increase in molecular mass and the degree of covalent cross-linking. The secondary structure of MRPs experienced no significant changes with the measurement of circular dichroism (CD), while the tertiary structure gradually unfolded, exposing hydrophobic groups. Furthermore, a significant increase was detected in the radical-scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) of MRPs. The findings offer a foundation for understanding the structural and functional features of MRPs in formula milk powder.

The pretreatment of the sustainable biomass feedstock of Pennisetum giganteum for biorefinery using deep eutectic solvents.

In this study, Pennisetum giganteum (PG) was investigated as lignocellulosic feedstock to be pretreated by the acidic and basic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to generate monomeric sugars. The basic DESs showed excellent efficiency of delignification and saccharification. ChCl/MEA can remove 79.8 % lignin and reserve 89.5 % cellulose. As a result, 95.6 % glucose and 88.0 % xylose yield were obtained, significantly enhanced 9.4 and 15.5 times in contrast with those of the unpretreated PG. The 3D microstructures of raw and pretreated PG were constructed for the first time to better investigate the pretreatment effect on its structure. The increasing porosity (20.5 %) and the reducing CrI (42.2 %) contributed in enhancing enzymatic digestion. Moreover, the recyclability of DES indicated that at least 90 % DES was recovered and 59.5 % lignin still can removed with 79.8 % glucose were obtained after five recycling cycles. Meanwhile, 51.6 % lignin was recovered throughout the recycling process.

Associations of maternal obesity, frozen embryos, and offspring adverse cardiometabolic alterations.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term cardiometabolic health of offspring conceived by frozen embryo transfer and born to mothers with overweight/obesity. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Center for Reproductive Medicine. PATIENT(S): A total of 2,741 offspring born to mothers who underwent in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment were followed between June 2014 and August 2021. The offspring were singletons aged 4-11 years at follow-up. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Age-specific z-scores of cardiometabolic parameters were examined, including adiposity, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, glucose, and lipid profiles, and the metabolic sum score of different cardiometabolic characteristics. RESULTS: Of 2,741 offsprings, 965 (35.21%) were born to mothers with overweight/obesity, including 396 (41.04%) offspring who were conceived by frozen embryo transfer. After adjusting for paternal and maternal age, paternal body mass index (BMI), offspring age, offspring sex, and offspring postnatal energy intake, offspring born to mothers with overweight/obesity and conceived by frozen embryo transfer showed a significantly higher BMI z-score, systolic blood pressure z-score, metabolic sum score-1, and metabolic sum score-2 compared with those conceived by fresh embryo transfer (BMI z-score: adjusted mean difference, 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04-0.30; systolic blood pressure z-score: adjusted mean difference, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.02-0.29; metabolic sum score-1: adjusted mean difference, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.15-0.94; metabolic sum score-2: adjusted mean difference, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.07-0.83). However, in offspring of mothers with normal weight, offspring conceived by frozen embryo transfer showed a significantly lower low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol z-score compared with those conceived by fresh embryo transfer (adjusted mean difference, -0.12; 95% CI, -0.22 to -0.02). Other cardiometabolic parameters were comparable between offspring with frozen and fresh embryo transfers after adjusting for multivariate confounder variables. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that among offspring from mothers who were overweight/obese, those offspring conceived by frozen embryo transfer were associated with higher systolic blood pressure z-scores and adverse metabolic changes compared with those conceived by fresh embryo transfer. The changes show that the association between frozen embryo transfer and offspring adverse cardiometabolic changes is apparent only among those born to mothers who are overweight/obese.