Analysis of the prenatal ultrasound diagnostic value and prognostic factors of fetal mediastinal cysts.

Background: A prenatal fetal mediastinal cyst is a benign disease. However, if a cyst enlargement grows, it may compress the adjacent organs and affect the fetal cardiopulmonary function. This study aimed to compare and analyze the prenatal ultrasound characteristics of different mediastinal cysts, and to evaluate the pregnancy outcome of the fetus and the factors affecting the prognostic of the fetus. To compare and analyze the prenatal ultrasound characteristics of different types of mediastinal cysts, and to evaluate the fetal pregnancy outcome and the influencing factors of fetal prognosis. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with prenatal diagnoses of mediastinal cysts was conducted to evaluate the ultrasound characteristics and to monitor the pregnancy outcomes to identify prognostic influences and provide a reliable basis for patient prognosis. Results: In total, 30 patients were diagnosed with mediastinal cysts [including bronchogenic cysts (n=12), esophageal cysts (n=9), pericardial cysts (n=5), and thymic cysts (n=4)] on prenatal ultrasonography. The diagnostic accuracy rate was 93.33%; two cases of esophageal cysts were misdiagnosed as bronchial cysts. In total, 4 (44.44%) of 9 esophageal cysts and 4 thymic cysts were located in the anterior mediastinum, 10 (83.33%) of 12 bronchogenic cysts and 5 pericardial cysts were located in the middle mediastinum, and 2 (16.67%) of 12 bronchogenic cysts and 5 (55.56%) of 9 esophageal cysts were located in the posterior mediastinum. There were significant differences in the distribution of the cyst location, morphology, and cyst wall thickness (P<0.05). After delivery, 17 patients had clinical symptoms. There was a significant difference in the clinical symptoms between patients with a maximum diameter of postpartum cysts <5 and ≥5 cm (P<0.05), and children with a low gestational age and birth weight were more likely to have clinical symptoms. Conclusions: The prenatal ultrasound features of fetal mediastinal cysts were similar. However, the ultrasound characteristics related to the cyst location, morphology, and cyst wall thickness were helpful in providing an accurate diagnosis. In addition, the postpartum cyst size, location, adjacent relationship with the surrounding tissues, volume, gestational age, and weight were related to patient prognosis.

Timing and Frequency Synchronization Using CAZAC Sequences for OFDM Systems.

Since orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems are very susceptible to symbol timing offset (STO) and carrier frequency offset (CFO), which cause inter-symbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI), accurate STO and CFO estimations are very important. In this study, first, a new preamble structure based on the Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences was designed. On this basis, we proposed a new timing synchronization algorithm, called the continuous correlation peak detection (CCPD) algorithm, and its improved algorithm: the accumulated correlation peak detection (ACPD) algorithm. Next, the correlation peaks that were obtained during the timing synchronization were used for the frequency offset estimation. For this, the quadratic interpolation algorithm was adopted as the frequency offset estimation algorithm, which was better than the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm. The simulation results showed that when the correct timing probability reached 100%, under the parameters of m = 8 and N = 512, the performance of the CCPD algorithm was 4 dB higher than that of Du's algorithm, and that of the ACPD algorithm was 7 dB. Under the same parameters, the quadratic interpolation algorithm also had a great performance improvement in both small and large frequency offsets, when compared with the FFT algorithm.

Orally Administered Diosgenin Alleviates Colitis in Mice Induced by Dextran Sulfate Sodium through Gut Microbiota Modulation and Short-Chain Fatty Acid Generation.

Diosgenin (DIO) is a kind of steroid sapogenin derived from natural plants. It exerts strong anti-infection, antiallergy, antiviral, and antishock pharmacological properties. In this article, the protective effects of DIO against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice were researched. Compared with the 2.5% DSS treatment group, 15 mg/kg body weight of diosgenin alleviated colitis disease, evidenced by the increased body weight, the decrease in the disease activity index, and the histological scores. Furthermore, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing results demonstrated that DIO improved the colon homeostasis through modulating the gut microbiota, including increases in the relative abundance of several probiotic bacteria, such as Prevotellaceae (from 1.4% to 5.8%), Lactobacillus (from 12.3% to 29.7%), Mucispirillum (from 0.07% to 0.49%), and decreases in the pathogenic bacteria, such as Streptococcus (from 1.6% to 0.6%) and Pseudomonadaceae (from 0.004% to 0%). In addition, the concentration of gut microbial metabolites, total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), acetic acid, and propionic acid were significantly increased after DIO supplementation. In conclusion, our findings suggested that DIO attenuates DSS-induced colitis in mice by means of modulating imbalanced gut microbiota and increases in SCFA generation.

Assessing the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale in Chinese and American adolescents.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) and latent means across early adolescents from two diverse cultural settings, China and America. METHODS: We sampled 2045 middle school students (960 males) from China and 1747 middle school students (887 males) from America. Confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis were performed to examine the factor structure and the measurement equivalence across the two cultures and then examined latent mean differences between Chinese early adolescents and American early adolescents. RESULTS: Results of confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the expected one-factor structure. And a series of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses supported full configural invariance, full metric invariance, and partial scalar invariance between the two groups. These findings suggest that the BMSLSS may provide acceptable comparisons and meaningful correlates across the two differing cultures. Subsequent analyses of latent means indicated the suitability of the BMSLSS for conducting mean comparisons and revealed significant differences between Chinese early adolescents and American early adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The BMSLSS appears to be suitable for cross-cultural studies between Chinese and American early adolescents. Chinese early adolescents reported lower life satisfaction than early American adolescents.

Intrinsic and extrinsic goals as moderators of stress and depressive symptoms in Chinese undergraduate students: A multi-wave longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Studies in western countries have examined the specific vulnerability hypothesis of Dykman's theory of goal-orientation predispositions to depression through two-time point designs. The purpose of this prospective longitudinal study was to investigate the moderating effects of intrinsic and extrinsic goals on stress and depressive symptoms in Chinese undergraduate students. METHODS: A total of 462 undergraduate students [46% female; mean age, 19.06 (range, 17-22) years] completed self-reported measures assessing intrinsic and extrinsic goals, depressive symptoms, and the occurrence of social and academic hassles. Every 3 months over the subsequent 12 months, the undergraduate students completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and the occurrence of daily hassles. RESULTS: Results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that undergraduate students with low levels of intrinsic goals reported greater depressive symptoms following the occurrence of social and academic hassles than did those with high levels of such goals. However, undergraduate students with high levels of extrinsic goals did not report greater depressive symptoms following the occurrence of social and academic hassles than did those possessing low levels. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that intrinsic goals can protect undergraduate students experiencing high levels of social and academic hassles from depressive symptoms. The study findings provide new insight into the course of depressive symptoms among undergraduate students, and offer psychologist and psychiatrists ways to protect individuals from depressive symptoms by building up intrinsic goals.