Subfertile Chinese patients with diminished ovarian reserve: An analysis of pregnancy outcomes of ART cycles.

Objective: To analyze the pregnancy outcomes of patients presenting with infertility solely due to diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) and treated by assisted reproductive technology (ART), including artificial insemination by husband (AIH) and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods: This was a retrospective study of subfertile patients due to DOR attending the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Guangzhou, China, between January 2010 and October 2015. Patients were assigned into either the AIH or IVF group. Within each group, these patients were further subgrouped based on their serum basal follicle-stimulating hormone (bFSH) level (10 ≤ bFSH ≤ 12IU/L and bFSH > 12IU/L) and age (20-30, 31-35, 36-40, and 41-45 years). The live birth rates were compared among these groups and subgroups. Result: A total of 1,003 patients with a median age of 38.91 (21-45) years were enrolled in the study. The live birth rate following AIH was 5.61% (25/446), which was significantly lower than that following IVF (25.13%; 140/557). In the subgroup analysis, the cumulative live birth rates in AIH group were significantly lower than those in the IVF groups (in the 10-12 IU/L bFSH subgroup, 13.74% vs. 41.13% (P<0.05) for patients aged ≤35 years, and 4.82% vs. 19.77% (P<0.05) for patients aged >35 years; in the >12 IU/L bFSH subgroup, 9.52% vs. 29.91% (P<0.05) for patients aged ≤35 years, and 5.71% vs. 20.55% (P<0.05) for patients aged >35 years). Longitudinal analysis showed that majority of live births, in AIH or IVF groups, were achieved in the first two cycles. Conclusions: In subfertile women with DOR, live birth rates following AIH were significantly lower than IVF, especially for the aged women. Considering the low efficacy of AIH and that majority of live births were achieved in the first two cycles, we suggest no more than two AIH treatment attempts for the aged women with DOR.

BDNF gene hydroxymethylation in hippocampus related to neuroinflammation-induced depression-like behaviors in mice.

BACKGROUND: Neuroinflammation is a multifactorial condition related to glial cells and neurons activation, and it is implicated in CNS disorders including depression. BDNF is a crucial molecule that related to the pathology of depression, and it is the target of DNA methylation. DNA hydroxymethylation, an active demethylation process can convert 5-mC to 5-hmC by Tets catalyzation to regulate gene transcription. The regulatory function for BDNF gene in response to neuroinflammation remains poorly understood. METHODS: Neuroinflammation and depressive-like behaviors were induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration in mice. The microglial activation and cellular 5-hmC localization in the hippocampus were confirmed by immunostaining. The transcripts of Tets and BDNF were examined by qPCR method. The global 5-hmC levels and enrichment of 5-hmC in BDNF gene in the hippocampus were analyzed using dot bolt and hMeDIP-sequencing analysis. RESULTS: LPS administration induced a spectrum of depression-like behaviors (including behavioral despair and anhedonia) and increased expression of Iba-1, a marker for microglia activation, in hippocampus, demonstrating that LPS treatment cloud provide stable model of neuroinflammation with depressive-like behaviors as expected. Our results showed that Tet1, Tet2 and Tet3 mRNA expressions and consequent global 5-hmC levels were significantly decreased in the hippocampus of LPS group compared to saline group. We also demonstrated that 5-hmC fluorescence in the hippocampus located in excitatory neurons identified by CaMK II immunostaining. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the enrichment of 5-hmC in BDNF gene was decreased and corresponding BDNF mRNA was down-regulated in the hippocampus in LPS group compared to saline group. CONCLUSION: Neuroinflammation-triggered aberrant BDNF gene hydroxymethylation in the hippocampus is an important epigenetic element that relates with depression-like behaviors.

[Exploring theory of contemporary acupuncture manipulation and its application characteristics: in the perspective of acupuncture technique in Acupuncture and Moxibustion].

Through reviewing acupuncture technique in various editions of the state-compiled teaching material of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, the hierarchical structure, definitions, and variations of acupuncture manipulation were collected, the theory of contemporary acupuncture manipulation as well as its application characteristics were explored. In the perspective of the hierarchical structure, acupuncture technique with filiform needle is predominated. It is implied in the description of the definition of acupuncture technique that the devices of acupuncture have been developed from single form to multivariant one and the stimulation regions have no longer limited to acupoints. The types of acupuncture manipulations have been enriched gradually during the development of teaching materials. But a part of acupuncture manipulation have been deleted from the knowledge hierarchy of acupuncture technique in textbooks. Acupuncture and Moxibustion is comprehensive and normative, which is important in the inheritance and application of the theory of acupuncture and moxibustion. However, it has to some extent restricted the diversified development of knowledge on acupuncture manipulation.

High Red Meat Intake Exacerbates Dextran Sulfate-Induced Colitis by Altering Gut Microbiota in Mice.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a serious hazard to public health, but the precise etiology of the disease is unclear. High intake of red meat diet is closely related to the occurrence of IBD. In this study, we investigated whether the high intake of red meat can increase the sensitivity of colitis and the underlying mechanism. Mice were fed with different levels of red meat for 8 weeks and then the colonic contents were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Then 3% dextran sulfate sodium was used to induce colitis in mice. We observed the severity of colitis and inflammatory cytokines. We found that high-dose red meat caused intestinal microbiota disorder, reduced the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Faecalibaculum, Blautia and Dubosiella, and increased the relative abundance of Bacteroides and Alistipes. This in turn leads to an increase in colitis and inflammatory cytokine secretion. Moreover, we found that high red meat intake impaired the colon barrier integrity and decreased the expression of ZO-1, claudin, and occludin. We also found high red meat intake induced the production of more inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-17, and IL-6 and inflammatory inducible enzymes such as COX-2 and iNOS in dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis. These results suggest that we should optimize the diet and reduce the intake of red meat to prevent the occurrence of IBD.

Evaluating Surgical Risk Using FMEA and MULTIMOORA Methods under a Single-Valued Trapezoidal Neutrosophic Environment.

BACKGROUND: Human errors during operations may seriously threaten patient recovery and safety and affect the doctor-patient relationship. Therefore, risk evaluation of the surgical process is critical. Risk evaluation by failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a prospective technology that can identify and evaluate potential failure modes in the surgical process to ensure surgical quality and patient safety. In this study, a hybrid surgical risk-evaluation model was proposed using FMEA and multiobjective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis plus full multiplicative form (MULTIMOORA) method under a single-valued trapezoidal neutrosophic environment. This work aimed to determine the most critical risk points during the surgical process and analyze corresponding solutions. METHODS: A team for FMEA was established from domain experts from different departments in a hospital in Hunan Province. Single-valued trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers (SVTNNs) were used to evaluate potential risk factors in the surgical process. Cmprehensive weights combining subjective and objective weights were determined by the best-worst method and entropy method to differentiate the importance of risk factors. The SVTNN-MULTIMOORA method was utilized to calculate the risk-priority order of failure modes in a surgical process. RESULTS: The hybrid FMEA model under the SVTNN-MULTIMOORA method was used to calculate the ranking of severity of 21 failure modes in the surgical process. An unclear diagnosis is the most critical failure in the surgical process of a hospital in Hunan Province. CONCLUSION: The proposed model can identify and evaluate the most critical potential failure modes of the surgical process effectively. In addition, such a model can help hospitals to reduce surgical risk and improve the safety of surgery.

A novel financial risk assessment model for companies based on heterogeneous information and aggregated historical data.

The financial risk not only affects the development of the company itself, but also affects the economic development of the whole society; therefore, the financial risk assessment of company is an important part. At present, numerous methods of financial risk assessment have been researched by scholars. However, most of the extant methods neither integrated fuzzy sets with quantitative analysis, nor took into account the historical data of the past few years. To settle these defects, this paper proposes a novel financial risk assessment model for companies based on heterogeneous multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and historical data. Subjective and objective indexes are comprehensively taken into consideration in the financial risk assessment index system of the model, which combines fuzzy theory with quantitative data analysis. Moreover, the assessment information obtained from historical financial information of company, credit rating agency and decision makers, including crisp numbers, triangular fuzzy numbers and neutrosophic numbers. Furthermore, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is used to determine the ranking order of companies according to their financial risk. Finally, an empirical study of financial risk assessment for companies is conducted, and the results of comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis suggest that the proposed model can effectively and reliably obtain the company with the lowest financial risk.

Multiple on-line HPLC coupled with biochemical detection methods to evaluate bioactive compounds in Danshen injection.

On-line high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with three biochemical detection (BCD) methods was applied to evaluate bioactive components in Danshen injection. On-line HPLC-photo-diode array-fluorescence detection based on the fluorogenic substrate 7-acetoxy-1-methyl quinolinium iodide, was built to search acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors in Danshen injection. On-line HPLC coupled with the scavenging assay of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radicals was developed to screen antioxidants. The three active profiles were obviously different. Radical scavenging profiles revealed seven strong peaks in the chromatographic fingerprint possessing obvious free radical inhibition effects, while some minor peaks exhibited stronger AChE inhibition activities. The main radical scavengers and AChE inhibitors were identified by HPLC-MS. Several unknown ingredients showing strong AChE inhibition activities needed further identification except protocatechuic aldehydrate, salvianolic acid H or I and lithospermic acid. The on-line multiple on-line HPLC-BCD methods will provide powerful tools in the field of pharmacognosy for fast-track identification of interesting and/or novel bioactive compounds.

[Correlation of XPD gene with susceptibility to gastric cancer].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mutations in DNA repair system are related to carcinogenesis. This study was to evaluate the correlations of polymorphisms and haplotypes of XPD gene with individual susceptibility to gastric cancer. METHODS: Genomic DNA were extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes of 207 gastric cancer patients and 212 healthy controls. Genotypes at codon 312 and codon 751 polymorphic sites were identified by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) or polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-PFLP), respectively. RESULTS: At codon 312, the frequency of GA or AA genotype was higher in the gastric cancer patients than in the healthy controls (P<0.01, OR=3.41, 95% CI: 2.06-4.79; P<0.01, OR=3.47, 95% CI: 1.39-8.68). No significant difference was found in the distribution of the polymorphism at codon 751 between the two groups (P>0.05). By the haplotype AA (codon 312A-codon 751A) analysis, the frequency of heterozygote (-/AA) or homozygote (AA/AA) was higher in the patients than in the controls (P<0.01,OR=2.81, 95% CI:1.82-4.34;P=0.02,OR=3.92, 95% CI:1.31-11.70, respectively). Whereas there were no significant differences of the other three haplotypes between the patients and the controls (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The polymorphism of XPD at codon 312 might contribute to the etiology of gastric cancer. The haplotype AA (codon 312A-codon 751A) would be a critical risk factor of the susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Tetra-sodium (dihydrogenhepta-oxido-digermanato)bis-(dihydrogentetra-oxido-germanato)dicopper(II) monohydrate.

In the hydro/solvothermally synthesized title compound, Na(4)[Cu(2)(H(2)Ge(2)O(7))(H(2)GeO(4))(2)]·H(2)O, the framework building units include CuO(4), GeO(2)(OH)(2) and GeO(3)(OH) tetra-hedra, the latter being condensed into H(2)Ge(2)O(7) (4-) dimers. All the tetra-hedra are connected by corner-sharing into four-membered-ring (4MR) secondary building units containing two CuO(4), one GeO(2)(OH)(2) and one GeO(3)(OH) entity. The 4MRs form chains by corner-sharing the Cu unit and adjacent chains are linked by H(2)Ge(2)O(7) (4-) dimers, generating layers containing ten-membered rings. Three sodium cations (one with site symmetry and one with site symmetry 2) and a water mol-ecule (O-atom site symmetry 2) complete the structure. A network of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds helps to consolidate the packing.

Poly[diethyl-enetriammonium [aquadi-µ(2)-sulfato-sulfatolanthanum(III)]].

In the title compound, {(C(4)H(16)N(3))[La(SO(4))(3)(H(2)O)]}(n), the La atom adopts an irregular LaO(9) coordination geometry, including one bonded water mol-ecule. The three sulfate groups adopt both monodentate and bidentate coordination to the metal ions. Two of the sulfate groups serve as bridges in the (100) and (010) directions, yielding infinite sheets, whereas the third is pendant to one La(3+) cation. The protonated organic species inter-acts with the layers by way of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving aqua ligands also occur.

NdO(NO(3)).

The title compound, neodymium(III) oxide nitrate, which is isostructural with LaO(NO(3)), arose from a solvothermal reaction. The Nd ion (site symmetry m) is ten-coordinated by eight O atoms of NO(3) groups and two µ(2)-oxide ions. A three-dimensional structure is constructed by the inter-connection of NdO(10) polyhedra. The oxide ion and the N atom and one of the nitrate O atoms possess site symmetry m.

[Effects of yiqi huoxue method on cardiac function in patients with congestive heart failure].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect of three TCM therapeutic methods, Yiqi (YQ, supplementing Qi), Huoxue (HX, activating blood circulation) and Yiqi Huoxue (YQHX) method on congestive heart failure and heart function. METHODS: Eighty patients were divided into 3 groups randomly, they were treated by conventional therapy and with the additional TCM drugs for YQHX to group A (n = 36), drugs for YQ to group B (n = 24), and drugs for HX to group C (n = 20). After 2 weeks' treatment, clinical effect was observed and cardiac function was detected and compared. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 91.7% in group A, which was superior to that in group B (66.7%) and group C (65.0%) respectively. Cardiac function was improved remarkably after treatment in all groups, the optimal effect was shown in group A. CONCLUSION: All the 3 methods could improve clinical symptoms and cardiac function in patients with congestive heart failure, among which YQHX method has the optimal effect.

[Observation on therapeutic effect of "reducing south and reinforcing north" needling method on hypertension of type of yang-hyperactivity due to yin-deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To observe therapeutic effect of "reducing south and reinforcing north" needling method on hypertension of type of yang-hyperactivity due to yin-deficiency, METHODS: Ninety cases of hypertension were randomly divided into a treatment group (n=59) treated with "reducing south and reinforcing north" needling method, and a control group (n=31) treated with capoten and aspirin. Their therapeutic effects on symptoms and blood pressure were compared. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 93.2% in the treatment group and 77.4% in the control group, the treatment group being better than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, systolic pressure and diastolic pressure in the two groups decreased (P<0.05), but with no significant difference between the two groups in the therapeutic effect of reducing blood pressure (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: "Reducing south and reinforcing north" needling method and oral administration of capoten and aspirin have similar effect in reducing blood pressure, and the treatment group is better than the control group in improving symptoms.

[Clinical observation on treatment of acute hemorrhagic stroke by tianhuang huoxue tongluo decoction].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of Tianhuang Huoxue Tongluo Decoction (THTD) in treating acute hemorrhagic stroke. METHODS: Seventy-two patients were randomly divided into the treated group (n = 32) and the control group (n = 40), they were treated with conventional Western medicine treatment and to the patients in the treated group, THTD was given additionally starting from the 6th day of disease for 30 days. RESULTS: Comparison of the neurofunction deficit scoring on the 15th day and the 30th day after treatment was significantly different in both group (P < 0.05). The markedly improving rate in the treated group was 71.88%, which was better than that in the control group (55.00%, P < 0.05), and no relaptic hemorrhage or secondary infarction case was found in the treated group. CONCLUSION: THTD may have bi-directional regulation on coagulation mechanism and fibrinolysis promoting mechanism, thus to benefit the resolving and absorption of hematoma in stroke patients, which plays important role in preventing relapse and secondary infarction, raising the cure rate, reducing mortality and disability rate.