Investigation of the Model-Dependent Reactivity of the Char-Bound Nitrogen Surface: A DFT Study.

The concern of energy and the environment provides great inducement for fundamental research on the mechanisms of oxidation of char-bound nitrogen (char(N)). In the present study, based on the armchair(N) model, we investigated its reaction mechanism at an atomistic level and with a comprehensive study of the effect of the model surface. Several pathways are found by density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the oxidation of armchair(N). The main gaseous species released during the oxidation are NO, HCN, CO, and CO2. The evaluated optimal reaction pathways are selected to investigate the model-dependent reactivity. According to our calculations, the oxidation of the simplified top armchair(N) model (TM) will be much more competitive than that of the simplified edge armchair(N) model (EM). In the route giving NO, the decreased stability of the intermediates makes the reaction of TM more favorable. In the route giving HCN, the described reduced mechanism and the larger exothermicity and lower highest-energy transition state will be responsible for the priority. Further analysis of the kinetics gives the evidence for the competitiveness: the rate constants for most of the steps of the TM, such as HCN desorption, surface bond dissociation, ring closure and opening, and oxygen insertion and migration, are higher than that of the EM. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that the oxidation of the armchair(N) will mainly take place from the top surface rather than the edge surface. The results can be used to supplement present understanding of the oxidation of armchair structure, which is extremely crucial for the development of the kinetics model to better predict the NOx emissions during the air-staged combustion.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and associated factors among infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive treatment.

Although periconception vaccination is important to maternal and neonatal health, little is known about the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among infertile couples seeking fertility treatment. Thus, we conducted this survey among infertile patients in a reproductive medicine center, between September 2021 and December 2021, to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its influencing factors. Information was collected through face-to-face interviews among volunteers. Among the 987 included interviewees, 17.33% reported hesitancy in primary vaccination, 25.63% reported hesitancy in booster vaccination, and 32.32% delayed the primary vaccination. Hesitancy in primary vaccination was associated with unexplained infertility (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.05-2.98), ongoing IVF treatment (OR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.22-3.89), concerns for vaccine safety (OR: 4.13, 95% CI: 2.66-6.42), effectiveness (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.15-2.28), and influence on pregnancy (OR: 2.80, 95% CI: 1.68-4.67). These factors were also associated with hesitancy in booster vaccination. Delay of the primary vaccination was inversely associated with a college or above degree (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.27-0.87), previous history of influenza vaccination (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46-0.98), and was positively associated with concerns for the influence on pregnancy (OR: 7.78, 95% CI: 5.01-12.07). It is necessary to carry out targeted education program by health professionals to publicize the benefits of periconception vaccination, and to reduce the resistance to COVID-19 vaccine among infertile couples.

Previous caesarean delivery and the presence of caesarean scar defects could affect pregnancy outcomes after in vitro fertilization frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Due to various iatrogenic and social factors, the global caesarean delivery (CD) rate has risen sharply in the past 30 years. It is more complicated and dangerous for women with a scarred uterus to experience pregnancy again than for women with a previous vaginal delivery (VD). In this study we investigated the impact of previous caesarean delivery (CD) and caesarean scar defects (CSDs) on pregnancy outcomes after in vitro fertilization frozen-thawed embryo transfer (IVF-FET). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that included 1122 women aged < 40 years who had a history of only one parturition (after 28 weeks of pregnancy) and who underwent their first FET cycle between January 2014 and January 2020. Patients were divided into the CD group, VD group, and CSD group. Thereafter, according to the number of transferred embryos, the CD, VD, and CSD groups were divided into the single embryo transfer (SET) group and the double embryo transfer (DET) group. Outcome measures in this study were live birth, clinical pregnancy, multiple pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy loss, pregnancy complications, preterm birth, and neonatal birth weight. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the relationship between pregnancy outcomes and CD. RESULTS: In SET patients, the clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were decreased in the CSD group compared with the VD and CD groups. In DET patients, the clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were significantly lower in theCSD group than in the CD and VD groups. After adjustment for confounders, previous CD and CSD were associated with a significantly lower clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate than previous VD in the total sample. This effect was observed in DET patients, but not in SET patients. Additionally, DET patients with previous CD had a significantly higher multiple pregnancy rate (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.29, 0.75, P = 0.002) than those with previous VD, but no significant associations were observed in CSD and multiple pregnancies (AOR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.23, 1.34, P = 0.192) between DET patients with CD and those with VD after adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that during an FET cycle, previous CD and the presence of a CSD could negatively affect pregnancy outcomes especially in DET patients.

Is It a "Colon Perforation"? A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are commonly used as a contraceptive method. IUD migration and colon perforation are rare but serious complications occurring sometimes years after insertion. Case: A 42-year-old woman with complaints of slight abdominal pain underwent a colonoscopy. Colonoscopy showed that a "nail" had penetrated the ascending colon wall and that an arm of the "nail" was embedded in the colon wall. We did not remove the "nail" rashly under colonoscopy. Considering the safety and effectiveness of the patient's operation, we were able to remove the "nail" easily by performing laparoscopic-endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) combined with hysteroscopy at the same time. Conclusion: We report a case of successful removal of a colonic perforation device by colonoscopy, laparoscopy, and hysteroscopy, which is the first method used.

Heterotopic cervical pregnancy: Case report and literature review.

Cervical pregnancy (CP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy (EP) in which the embryo implants and grows inside the endocervical canal. Heterotopic cervical pregnancy is an even rare form of EP, in which at least two embryos are simultaneously implanted in different sites and only one in the uterine cavity. Although many treatment approaches are available, the ideal management remains unclear. Here, we describe two cases of CP caused by assisted reproductive technologies (ART). One case underwent fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for male factor infertility, and the other was frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) following conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF). Both cases were successfully treated with ultrasound-guided cervical pregnancy aspiration, and intrauterine pregnancies were effectively protected. To the best of our knowledge, these two were rare case reports use aspiration without additional methods and intrauterine pregnancy achieved live birth.

Effect of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa on patulin degradation and toxicity of degradation products.

Rhodotorula mucilaginosa is an antagonistic yeast for which our research team has recently reported interesting biocontrol activities against blue mould decay of apples and a strong ability to decrease the patulin concentration in vivo. However, the possible mechanisms of patulin degradation by R. mucilaginosa and the toxicity of patulin degradation products remain unclear. In this study, the effect of R. mucilaginosa on patulin degradation and toxicity of degradation products were investigated, the results showed that viable cells of R. mucilaginosa are essential to patulin degradation. Also, R. mucilaginosa eliminated patulin without adsorbing it through its cell wall. The extracellular metabolites of R. mucilaginosa stimulated by patulin showed little degradation activity for patulin. Cycloheximide addition into the medium significantly decreased the patulin degradation capacity of R. mucilaginosa cells. The main patulin degradation product by R. mucilaginosa was ascladiol, which was proved non-toxic to human hepatoma (HepG2) cells at 0.625-10 g/mL. Furthermore, toxicological analysis using a confocal laser scanning microscope revealed that the degradation product induced cellular apoptosis to a lesser extent than patulin itself. This result offers an innovative method to detoxify patulin and limit the risks of patulin in fruits and vegetables using R. mucilaginosa.

Hyperactivated mTORC1 downregulation of FOXO3a/PDGFRα/AKT cascade restrains tuberous sclerosis complex-associated tumor development.

Hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), caused by loss-of-function mutations in either the TSC1 or TSC2 gene, leads to the development of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a benign tumor syndrome with multiple affected organs. mTORC1-mediated inhibition of AKT constrains the tumor progression of TSC, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Herein we showed that loss of TSC1 or TSC2 downregulation of platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα) expression was mediated by mTORC1. Moreover, mTORC1 inhibited PDGFRα expression via suppression of forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a)-mediated PDGFRα gene transcription. In addition, ectopic expression of PDGFRα promoted AKT activation and enhanced proliferation and tumorigenic capacity of Tsc1- or Tsc2-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and vice versa. Most importantly, rapamycin in combination with AG1295, a PDGFR inhibitor, significantly inhibited growth of TSC1/TSC2 complex-deficient cells in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, downregulated FOXO3a/PDGFRα/AKT pathway exerts a protective effect against hyperactivated mTORC1-induced tumorigenesis caused by loss of TSC1/TSC2 complex, and the combination of rapamycin and AG1295 may be a new effective strategy for TSC-associated tumors treatment.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Functional MRI Investigation of Motor Neuron Disease.

BACKGROUND: To assess the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in motor neuron disease (MND), a systematic review and voxelwise meta-analysis of studies comparing brain activity in patients with MND and in healthy controls was conducted to identify common findings across studies. METHODS: A search for related papers published in English and Chinese was performed in Ovid Medline, Pubmed, and Embase database. Voxelwise meta-analysis was performed using signed differential mapping. RESULTS: The findings from 55 fMRI studies on MND were tabulated, and some common findings were discussed in further details. CONCLUSION: These findings are preliminary, sometimes even contradictory, and do not allow a complete understanding of the functional alterations in MND. However, we documented reliable findings that MND is not confined to the motor system, but is a multisystem disorder involving extra-motor cortex areas, causing cognitive dysfunction and deficits in socioemotional and sensory processing pathways.

Cognitive Impairment in Chinese Patients with Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: It has reached a consensus that patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) could display cognitive impairment characterized by executive dysfunction or even dementia, but cognitive spectrum of Chinese patients with ALS still waits to be documented. METHODS: A total of 106 incident patients with sporadic ALS were enrolled and comprehensive neuropsychological tests covering memory, executive function, attention, language, and visuospatial function were administered to them. Neuropsychological performances of 76 age- and education- matched healthy controls were used for the purpose of classification and comparison. RESULTS: 106 patients were categorized into 4 subtypes:84 (79.2%) ALS with normal cognition (ALS-NC), 12 (11.3%) ALS with executive cognitive impairment (ALS-ECI), 5 (4.7%) ALS with non-executive cognitive impairment (ALS-NECI), and 5 (4.7%) ALS with frontotemporal lobe degeneration (ALS-FTLD). Under the same criteria, 2 (2.6%) and 1 (1.3%) healthy controls were diagnosed as ECI and NECI, respectively. The proportion of ECI was significantly higher in non-demented ALS than that in healthy controls, but it was not for NECI. Patients with ALS-FTLD had significantly severer bulbar function and older age than those with ALS-NC. CONCLUSION: Comorbid FTLD occurred in around 5% of Chinese sporadic ALS cases. Different genetic background and unique age distribution of Chinese ALS patients might be the reasons for the relatively low rate of comorbid FTLD. Cognitive dysfunction, predominant but not exclusive in executive area, was present in around 16% of non-demented ALS patients.

Behavioral Symptoms in Motor Neuron Disease and Their Negative Impact on Caregiver Burden.

BACKGROUND: The spectrum of abnormal behaviors in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease (ALS/MND) has been described, but its practical meaning, namely its impact on caregiver burden, has not been clearly documented in Chinese population. This study aimed to assess the distribution of abnormal behaviors in Chinese population, and to analyze the relationship between behavior changes and caregiver burden. METHODS: Sixty-five patients with ALS/MND have been consecutively enrolled into registry platform of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. An investigation was performed to these patients and their caregivers using the revised ALS function rating scale, Frontal Behavioral Inventory-ALS version, the Frontal Assessment Battery, and the Caregiver Burden Inventory. RESULTS: Twenty-eight (43.1%) patients displayed abnormal behaviors of varying degrees, with one fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of frontotemporal lobe degeneration. Irritability, logopenia, and inflexibility ranked top 3 of abnormal behavior list. Correlation analysis revealed that the degree of behavioral change and frontal cognitive status were significantly associated with caregiver burden, with more extensive impact from disinhibitive behaviors. Analysis of covariance analysis showed that after associated factors were corrected, caregivers of patients with moderate to severe behavior change reported significantly heavier developmental burden, physical burden, and total burden than those with no behavioral change. CONCLUSIONS: Neurobehavioral symptoms could present in around 40% of Chinese patients with ALS/MND, and the distribution of these behaviors was also unique. Besides, abnormal behaviors were highly related to caregivers' burden.

Over-Expression of Cyclin D1 Promotes NSCs Proliferation and Induces the Differentiation into Astrocytes Via Jak-STAT3 Pathways.

Precise control of the proliferation and differentiation of multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs) is crucial for the proper development of the nervous system. Although cyclinD1 has been implicated as a cause of cancer in many studies, its roles in NSCs remain elusive. In this study, we examined the over-expression of cyclinD1 in controlling the self-renewal and differentiation of NSCs. Moreover, we found that the over-expression of cyclinD1 can drive cells to enter S phase and support the clonal self-renewing growth of NSCs. During the differentiation of NSCs, the over-expression of cyclinD1 promoted the generation of astrocytes, and their promotion likely occurred through synergistic phosphorylation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3. Our data suggest that the over-expression of cyclinD1 promotes the proliferation of NSCs and induces their differentiation into astrocytes via Jak-STAT3 pathways.

Neuropsychological investigation in Chinese patients with progressive muscular atrophy.

BACKGROUND: Progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) is a rare type of degenerative motor neuron disease (MND) of which the onset happens in adult period. Despite its well-defined clinical characteristics, its neuropsychological profile has remained poorly understood, considering the consensus of cognitive and behavioral impairment reached in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional evaluation of Chinese PMA patients with a series of comprehensive batteries emphasizing the executive and attention function, and covering other domains of memory, language, visuospatial function, calculation and behavior as well. Their performances were compared with those of age- and education-matched ALS and healthy controls (HC). RESULTS: 21 patients newly diagnosed with PMA were consecutively enrolled into our ALS and other MND registry platform, accounting for 14.7% of all the incident MND cases registered during the same period. 20 patients who completed the neuropsychological batteries were included into analysis. Compared with HC, PMA performed significantly worse in maintenance function of attention, while they exhibited quantitative similarity to ALS in all behavioral inventories and neuropsychological tests except the time for Stroop interference effect. CONCLUSION: PMA could display mild cognitive dysfunction in the same frontal-mediated territory of ALS but in a lesser degree, whereas they did not differ from ALS behaviorally.

[Relationship between occupational stress and depression in migrant workers].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between occupational stress and depression in migrant workers. METHODS: Migrant workers in the textile industry were selected as subjects, and the self-made Occupational Stress Questionnaire and Self-rating Depression Scale were used to investigate the sex, age, seniority, educational level, and marital status of these subjects. Data analysis was performed by independent-samples t test, analysis of variance, Spearman rank correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Sex, seniority, and educational level were not influential factors for depression scores. The lower age group had a higher moderate depression score than the higher age group; the unmarried group had a higher moderate depression score than the married group. Severe depression was negatively correlated with decision-making power, psychological job demands, social support, and external pay-return, but positively correlated with skills and internal input; moderate depression was positively correlated with psychological job demands and external pay, but negatively correlated with other factors; mild depression was negatively correlated with all factors. The stepwise regression analysis showed that the influential factors for depression included, from major to minor, supervisor support, skills, internal input, and colleague support, according to the standardized regression coefficients; internal input was the contribution factor, and the remaining ones were negative factors. CONCLUSION: Among migrant workers, certain mental health problems exist, and occupational stress is associated with depression.

[The value of ABCD3-I score in prediction of cerebral infarction after transient ischaemic attack].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the ability of ABCD3-I score in evaluating the early risk of cerebral infarction after transient ischemic attack (TIA). METHODS: A total of 107 TIA patients were evaluated according to ABCD2, ABCD3 and ABCD3-I criteria. The occurrences of cerebral infarction within 2 days and 7 days were observed. RESULTS: The AUC(ROC) of ABCD2, ABCD3 and ABCD3-I were 0.61, 0.66 and 0.71 in predicting the risk of cerebral infarction within 2 days, and were 0.62, 0.68 and 0.74 in predicting within 7 days, respectively. Among 107 patients with TIA, 13 evolved into cerebral infarction within 2 days, accounting for 12.1%, and 24 within 7 days, accounting for 22.4%.According to ABCD3-I criteria, 17 patients were of low risk scored 0-3; 54 patients were of medium risk scored 4-7; and 36 patients were of high risk scored 8-13. The different incidence of cerebral infarction after TIA was related to ABCD3-I score: the higher the score was, the higher incidence was. Except for age factor, every score item of ABCD3-I display obvious influence to the occurrence of cerebral infarction within 2 days and 7 days after TIA (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: ABCD3-I criteria could more effectively predict the occurrence of early risk of cerebral infarction after TIA, which could be used in regular clinical practice for assistance in TIA risk stratification and treatment.

Galectin-1 attenuates astrogliosis-associated injuries and improves recovery of rats following focal cerebral ischemia.

Astrogliosis occurs after brain ischemia, and excessive astrogliosis can devastate the neuronal recovery. Previous reports show that galectin-1 (Gal-1) regulates proliferation of several cell types and plays an important role after nervous system injuries. Here, we found that expression of Gal-1 was remarkably up-regulated in activated astrocytes around ischemic infarct. Furthermore, under ischemic conditions either in vitro or in vivo, Gal-1 was found to inhibit the proliferation of astrocytes in a dose-dependent manner, attenuate astrogliosis and down-regulate the astrogliosis associated expression of nitric oxide synthase and interleukin-1ß after the ischemia. All these changes were blocked by lactose, suggesting a lectin dependent manner of Gal-1's function. Moreover, 7-day Gal-1 treatment reduced apoptosis of neurons, decreased brain infarction volume and improved neurological function induced by the ischemia. Together, these findings indicate that through reducing astrogliosis related damages, Gal-1 is a potential therapeutical target for attenuating neuronal damage and promoting recovery of brain ischemia.

Proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells are selectively regulated by knockout of cyclin D1.

Although stem cells can proliferate and differentiate through the completion of cell cycle progression, little is known about the genes and molecular mechanisms controlling this process. Here, we investigated the effect of the inhibition of cell cycle by cyclin D1 gene knockout on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs). Knockout of cyclin D1 induced the cultured neural stem cells arrested at the G0/G1 phase as detected by flow cytometry. Cyclin D1 knockout led to the apoptosis of NSCs and inhibited the differentiation into astrocytes without affecting the differentiation into neurons. We further demonstrated that a significant reduction of BrdU+ cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus and subventricular zone was found in cyclin D1 gene knockout (cyclin D1(-/-)) mice compared with cyclin D1(+/+) and cyclin D1(+/-) mice. These observations demonstrated that cyclin D1 plays essential roles in the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells.

CD81 inhibits the proliferation of astrocytes by inducing G(0)/G (1) arrest in vitro.

Astrocytes play a major role in the reactive processes in response to neuronal injuries in the brain. Excessive gliosis is detrimental and can contribute to neuronal damage. CD81 (TAPA), a member of the tetraspanin family of proteins, is upregulated by astrocytes after traumatic injury to the rat central nervous system (CNS). To further understand the role of CD81 in the inhibition of astrocytes, we analyzed the effects of a CD81 antibody, on cultured rat astrocytes. The results indicated that the effect worked in a dose-dependent manner with certain dosage range. It, however, reached a dosage equilibrium at a high dosage. Furthermore, anti-CD81 antibody remarkably inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes after incubation with astrocytes for different periods of time and the effect presented a time-dependent fashion. However, anti-CD81 antibody substantially inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes at low density and middle density but slightly inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes at high density, suggesting that the effect was positively correlated with the proliferative ability of astrocytes. Finally, the cell cycle of astrocytes exposured to anti-CD81 antibody was arrested in S phase at the initial stage and at G(0)/G(1) phase over time. These findings indicated that CD81 exert significant inhibitory effect, dose-dependently and time-dependently, on the proliferation of astrocytes and the effect is positively correlated with the proliferative capability of astrocytes.

CD81 Inhibits the Proliferation of Astrocytes by Inducing G0/G1 Arrest In Vitro / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Astrocytes play a major role in the reactive processes in response to neuronal injuries in the brain.Excessive gliosis is detrimental and can contribute to neuronal damage.CD81(TAPA),a member of the tetraspanin family of proteins,is upregulated by astrocytes after traumatic injury to the rat central nervous system(CNS).To further understand the role of CD81 in the inhibition of astrocytes,we analyzed the effects of a CD81 antibody,on cultured rat astrocytes.The results indicated that the effect worked in a dose-dependent manner with certain dosage range.It,however,reached a dosage equilibrium at a high dosage.Furthermore,anti-CD81 antibody remarkably inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes after incubation with astrocytes for different periods of time and the effect presented a time-dependent fashion.However,anti-CD81 antibody substantially inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes at low density and middle density but slightly inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes at high density,suggesting that the effect was positively correlated with the proliferative ability of astrocytes.Finally,the cell cycle of astrocytes exposured to anti-CD81 antibody was arrested in S phase at the initial stage and at G0/G1 phase over time.These findings indicated that CD81 exert significant inhibitory effect,dose-dependently and time-dependently,on the proliferation of astrocytes and the effect is positively correlated with the proliferative capability of astrocytes.