Comprehensive analysis of ovarian granulosa cell proteomics and phosphoproteomics in PCOS patients without insulin resistance.

PCOS is a complex and heterogeneous metabolic disorder that affects 6-20% of women of reproductive age. However, research on phosphorylation modification proteomics in PCOS remains lacking. PCOS can be divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of insulin resistance: PCOS with insulin resistance (PCOS-IR) and PCOS non-insulin resistant (PCOS-NIR). This study focused on the group without insulin resistance. Twenty-one PCOS-NIR and 39 control-NIR (Ctrl-NIR) patients were included in this study. All participants underwent ICSI or IVF-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatment in a reproductive center from July 2020 to November 2020. During oocyte retrieval, fresh follicular fluid was aspirated, collected, and sent to the laboratory for analysis of the granulosa cells. A 4D-label-free proteome quantification method was performed in this study; this was used to analyze protein enzymatic peptide fragments by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Bioinformatic analysis was performed on differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and differentially phosphorylated proteins (DPPs). A total of 713 DEPs were identified between the two groups, including 293 upregulated and 420 downregulated DEPs in the PCOS-NIR group. There were 522 and 159 proteins with increased and decreased phosphorylation, respectively, in the PCOS-NIR group. After analyzing the different phosphorylation modification sites, 933 sites with upregulated and 211 sites with downregulated phosphorylation were found in the PCOS-NIR group. In this study, we describe the quantitative protein expression profiles and phosphorylation-modified protein expression profiles of ovarian granulosa cells from patients with PCOS-NIR, providing a new research perspective for these patients. Further studies are required to elucidate the role of protein phosphorylation in PCOS.

[Functional Outcome Assessment in Patients with Pelvic Fracture after Lushan Earthquake: a Punt Study using ICF-based Tool].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the functional outcome of patients with pelvic fracture after Lushan earthquake using a newly developed tool based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Ten patients diagnosed as pelvic fracture were recruited in this study from April 20th to 30th, 2013 in West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Data were collected using the international comprehensive version of ICF Core Set for patients with musculoskeletal conditions. Descriptive statistics analysis were used. RESULTS: Pelvic fracture caused by Lushan earthquake lead to a series of severe injuries complicated with multiple organ dysfunction. In the assessment of body functions, almost all the patients with pelvic fracture showed impairments including energy and drive, sleep, sensation of pain, mobility and repair function of skin. In the assessment of body structures, the damages were mainly distributed in pelvic region, lower extremity, trunk as well as areas of skin. In the assessment of activities and participations, limitations and restrictions were related to changing and maintaining basic body position, transferring, walking andself-care. CONCLUSION: ICF Core Set could provide a comprehensive, systematic and evidence-based assessments from the perspective of body function, body structure as well as activities and participations for patients with pelvic fracture after Lushan earthquake. Future study with large sample size is needed to validate the assessment of ICF Core Set for patients with musculoskeletal injuries after earthquake and other natural disasters.

The Effect of Short-Term Aspirin Administration during Programmed Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer on Pregnancy Outcomes and Complications.

Low-dose aspirin is widely used during frozen-embryo transfer (FET) cycles. Its anti-platelet property makes it a potentially useful drug for the prevention of hypertension disorders of pregnancy (HDP). However, the existing evidence about the effect of short-term aspirin administration on pregnancy outcomes is not clear. In our study, we retrospectively investigated women who had their first or second FET cycles at the Reproductive Hospital Affiliated with Shandong University from April 2017 to December 2020. A total of 4454 programmed FET cycles were recruited. According to whether aspirin was administrated in the protocols, the patients were divided into two groups: The Control group (n = 2793, 85 of them using donor sperm) and the Aspirin group (n = 1661, 35 of them using donor sperm). We analyzed the pregnancy outcomes and pregnancy complications of these cycles and observed similar live birth rates. We found that the short-term use of aspirin at a dosage of 50 mg per day for women undergoing programmed FET did not elevate the live birth rate or decrease the incidence of a series of pregnancy complications, including HDP. Based on our experience, short-term administration of low-dose aspirin may not improve the outcomes of young women undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles.

Design of Flexible Films Based on Kinked Carbon Nanofibers for High Rate and Stable Potassium-Ion Storage.

With the emergence of wearable electronics, flexible energy storage materials have been extensively studied in recent years. However, most studies focus on improving the electrochemical properties, ignoring the flexible mechanism and structure design for flexible electrode materials with high rate capacities and long-time stability. In this study, porous, kinked, and entangled network structures are designed for highly flexible fiber films. Based on theoretical analysis and finite element simulation, the bending degree of the porous structure (30% porosity) increased by 192% at the micro-level. An appropriate increase in kinking degree at the meso-level and contact points in entanglement network at the macro-level are beneficial for the flexibility of fiber films. Therefore, a porous and entangled network of sulfur-/nitrogen-co-doped kinked carbon nanofibers (S/N-KCNFs) is synthesized. The nanofiber films synthesized from melamine as nitrogen sources and segmented vulcanization exhibited a porous, kinked, and entangled network structure, and the stretching degree increased several times. The flexible S/N-KCNFs anode delivered a higher rate performance of 270 mAh g-1 at a current density of 2000 mA g-1 and a higher capacity retention rate of 93.3% after 2000 cycles. Moreover, the foldable pouch cell assembled by potassium-ion hybrid supercapacitor operated safely at large-angle bending and showed long-time stability of 88% capacity retention after 4000 cycles. This study provides a new idea and strategy for the flexible structure design of high-performance potassium-ion storage materials.

Enabling Multi-Chemisorption Sites on Carbon Nanofibers Cathodes by an In-situ Exfoliation Strategy for High-Performance Zn-Ion Hybrid Capacitors.

Carbon nanofibers films are typical flexible electrode in the field of energy storage, but their application in Zinc-ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) is limited by the low energy density due to the lack of active adsorption sites. In this work, an in-situ exfoliation strategy is reported to modulate the chemisorption sites of carbon nanofibers by high pyridine/pyrrole nitrogen doping and carbonyl functionalization. The experimental results and theoretical calculations indicate that the highly electronegative pyridine/pyrrole nitrogen dopants can not only greatly reduce the binding energy between carbonyl group and Zn2+ by inducing charge delocalization of the carbonyl group, but also promote the adsorption of Zn2+ by bonding with the carbonyl group to form N-Zn-O bond. Benefit from the multiple highly active chemisorption sites generated by the synergy between carbonyl groups and pyridine/pyrrole nitrogen atoms, the resulting carbon nanofibers film cathode displays a high energy density, an ultralong-term lifespan, and excellent capacity reservation under commercial mass loading (14.45 mg cm‒2). Particularly, the cathodes can also operate stably in flexible or quasi-solid devices, indicating its application potential in flexible electronic products. This work established a universal method to solve the bottleneck problem of insufficient active adsorption sites of carbon-based ZIHCs.Imoproved should be changed into Improved.

Effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields on the mRNA expression of RANK and CAII in ovariectomized rat osteoclast-like cell.

This study was designed to determine the effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) on the mRNA expression of the receptor activator of NF-kappa-B (RANK) and carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) in ovariectomized rat osteoclast-like cells. Marrow cells were harvested from femora and tibiae of rats, from which the ovaries had been totally excised, and cultured in 6-well chamber slides. After 1 day of incubation, the marrow cells were exposed to PEMF for 3 days with 3.8 mT, 8 Hz, and 40 min per day. Osteoclast-like cells were confirmed by both tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) stain and bone resorption assay. The expression of RANK and CA II mRNA was determined with real-time fluorescent-nested quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Compared with the sham group, the level of serum estradiol in the ovariectomized group was significantly decreased ( p < 0.05). The numbers of multinucleated, TRAP-positive osteoclast-like cells and resorption pits formed were observed. In invitro study, the expression of RANK and CA II were measured in sham, ovariectomized without PEMF, and ovariectomized with PEMF treatment. Compared with the ovariectomized (PEMF) experimental group and sham group, CA II mRNA expression was significantly increased in the ovariectomized control group ( p < 0.05, 0.01, respectively). Compared with the sham group, RANK mRNA expression was significantly increased in the ovariectomized control group ( p < 0.05). These data suggest that PEMF could regulate the expression of RANK and CA II mRNA in the marrow culture system.

Encapsulation of MoSe2 in carbon fibers as anodes for potassium ion batteries and nonaqueous battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices.

Potassium ion batteries (PIBs) are considered as promising alternatives to sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which can be ascribed to the rich abundance of potassium resources, low cost and high safety. Currently, the development of anode materials for PIBs is still confronted with many serious problems, such as low capacity and poor cycling performance. In this work, sheet-like MoSe2 implanted on the surfaces of carbon nanofibers is successfully synthesized through a simple electrospinning and selenization route. MoSe2/C-700 (selenization at 700 °C) maintains high structural stability and facilitates the intercalation/deintercalation of K+, which benefits from one-dimensional nanofibers with good structural stability and MoSe2 with an expanded interlayer spacing. As a whole, MoSe2/C-700 as an anode for PIBs shows a high reversible capacity of 316 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1 over 100 cycles. It also displays a specific capacity of 81 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1 over 100 cycles when it first serves as an electrode material for nonaqueous potassium-based battery-supercapacitor hybrid (BSH) devices.

[Related-factor analysis on efficacy of re-platinum chemotherapy in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To analysis the related factors of efficacy of re-platinum chemotherapy in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: Forty-one patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer from Jan. 1998 to Oct. 2002 were reviewed, 37 factors were analyzed, including age, the optimal of primary surgery, number of chemotherapy cycles, standard chemotherapy or not, serum CA(125) level, follow up or not, relapse interval, the site and the number of relapse lesion, et al. RESULTS: Response rate of chemotherapy was 56%, the toxicity was not serious. Response rate of standard chemotherapy was 76% (19/25), not standard chemotherapy was 25% (4/16), standard chemotherapy or not was the only factor related to efficacy (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Re-platinum chemotherapy to platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian carcinoma is reasonable, standard chemotherapy or not affects the response rate.