Depletion of tilmicosin residue in Gushi chickens following oral administration via drinking water.

This study aimed to examine the depletion of tilmicosin residues in Gushi chickens following the administration at a concentration of 75 mg/L in their drinking water for three consecutive days. Plasma, liver, kidney, lung, muscle, and skin + fat samples were collected from 6 chickens at 6 h, 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after the treatment. Tilmicosin concentrations in the samples were determined using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The findings revealed that the highest tilmicosin residues were detected in the liver, followed by the kidney, lung, skin + fat, muscle, and plasma. Notably, at 7 days post-treatment, no drug residue was detected in all samples except for the liver and kidney. The non-compartmental model was employed to calculate relevant pharmacokinetic parameters. The elimination half-lives (t1/2λz ) of tilmicosin were as follows, ranked from long to short: skin + fat (45.42 h), liver (44.17 h), kidney (40.06 h), plasma (37.64 h), lung (31.39 h), and muscle (30.05 h). Considering the current residue depletion and the maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by Chinese regulatory authorities, the withdrawal times for tilmicosin were estimated as 18.91, 10.81, and 8.58 days in the kidney, liver, and skin + fat, respectively. A rounded-up value of 19 days was selected as the conclusive withdrawal time. Furthermore, based on the observed tilmicosin concentrations in plasma and lung, combined with previously reported minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against Mycoplasma gallisepticum, the current dosing regimen was deemed adequate for treating Mycoplasma gallisepticum infections in Gushi chickens.

MCLPMDA: A novel method for miRNA-disease association prediction based on matrix completion and label propagation.

MiRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are involved in the development and progression of various complex diseases. Great efforts have been made to discover potential associations between miRNAs and diseases recently. As experimental methods are in general expensive and time-consuming, a large number of computational models have been developed to effectively predict reliable disease-related miRNAs. However, the inherent noise and incompleteness in the existing biological datasets have inevitably limited the prediction accuracy of current computational models. To solve this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel method for miRNA-disease association prediction based on matrix completion and label propagation. Specifically, our method first reconstructs a new miRNA/disease similarity matrix by matrix completion algorithm based on known experimentally verified miRNA-disease associations and then utilizes the label propagation algorithm to reliably predict disease-related miRNAs. As a result, MCLPMDA achieved comparable performance under different evaluation metrics and was capable of discovering greater number of true miRNA-disease associations. Moreover, case study conducted on Breast Neoplasms further confirmed the prediction reliability of the proposed method. Taken together, the experimental results clearly demonstrated that MCLPMDA can serve as an effective and reliable tool for miRNA-disease association prediction.

Construction of Anti-hPD-L1 HCAb Nb6 and in Situ 124I Labeling for Noninvasive Detection of PD-L1 Expression in Human Bone Sarcoma.

Immunotherapy is considered the fourth major treatment mode for cancer following surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. In recent years, tumor immunotherapy has achieved breakthrough progress; therefore, it is important to screen patients to identify those who will respond to tumor immunotherapy. Here, we report the construction of a novel heavy chain-only antibody (HCAb) and its corresponding 124I-labeled probe. Using phage display technology, we generated a novel anti-hPD-L1-specific HCAb named Nb6 (selected from 95 monoclones) with high affinity for hPD-L1. The positron-emitting 124I-labeled hPD-L1-targeted HCAb probe was prepared for further evaluation, and nonradioactive natural iodine (natI)-labeled anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 was synthesized as a reference compound. 125I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 uptake in OS-732 cells in vitro can be blocked by the precursor. The binding affinity of 125I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 to OS-732 cell lines was 2.19 nM. For in vivo studies, an osteosarcoma OS-732 tumor-bearing mouse model was successfully constructed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot analyses were performed to confirm the presence of the hPD-L1 gene and antigen in the tumor tissue of the OS-732 mouse model. Biodistribution showed that uptake of 124I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 probes at 24 h was 4.43 ± 0.33% ID/g in OS-732 tumor tissues. Tumor lesions can be clearly delineated on micro-PET (positron emission tomography)/CT (computed tomography) imaging 24 h after injection of 124I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6, while the blocking group shows substantially decreased uptake on imaging. Pathological staining validated hPD-L1 expression on the surface of the tumor cell membrane; thus, 124I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 can be used for in vivo noninvasive PET imaging. When administered in tandem, Nb6 and 124I-anti-hPD-L1 Nb6 may provide a novel strategy to clinically screen patients for hPD-L1 to identify those who would benefit from immunotherapy of malignant tumors such as osteosarcoma.

Curcumin inhibits heat-induced oxidative stress by activating the MAPK-Nrf2 / ARE signaling pathway in chicken fibroblasts cells.

Curcumin is a natural phenolic component of yellow curry spice, exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study we investigated whether curcumin suppresses heat-induced apoptosis in chicken embryonic fibroblast cells (CEF) and the underlying mechanism. CEF cells line was divided into 6 groups (4 repetitions per group) including normal temperature group (NC), high temperature control group (H) and 4 experimental groups (H1(5 µmol/L), H2(10 µmol/L), H3(20 µmol/L) and H4(40 µmol/L)). Control groups were cultured in basic medium without Curcumin, while, the experimental groups were supplemented with 5, 10, 20 and 40 µmol/L, respectively. The experimental groups and H control group were cultured at 43 ℃ (95% air/5% CO2), whereas NC group cells were cultured at 37 °C. After 6, 12 and 24 h of culture, cells were collected for viability, proliferation, apoptosis, antioxidant status and gene expression analysis. Results showed that heat stress trigged the ROS production and induced the apoptosis, leading to decrease the cell viability and proliferation. The enzymatic activities of antioxidants (SOD, CAT, and GPX) were down-regulated. The expression of antioxidant enzyme (CAT, SOD1, SOD2, GSTO1, GSTT1 and GSTA3) and MAPK-Nrf2 pathway genes (Nrf2, Jnk, Erk and P38) were down-regulated under heats stress condition. While, the Curcumin treated groups had decreased ROS and MDA content. Down-regulation of the activity and expression of antioxidant enzyme induced by heat were also reversed by curcumin. Furthermore the up-regulation in expression of Nrf2, Jnk, Erk and P38 in supplemented groups revealed the involvement of MAPK-Nrf2 signaling pathway to alleviate oxidative stress induced by heat stress. This study demonstrates that curcumin has the ability to ease the oxidative damage through activating the MAPK-Nrf2 signaling pathway in CEF cells.

MicroRNA-16 functions as a tumor-suppressor gene in oral squamous cell carcinoma by targeting AKT3 and BCL2L2.

Aberrant expressions of microRNAs have been reported to be strongly associated with the progression and prognosis of various tumors, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Recent studies on miRNA expression profiling have suggested that microRNA-16 (miR-16) may be dysregulated in OSCC. However, the tumorigenic roles and mechanisms of miR-16 in OSCC are still largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-16 was specifically downregulated in both OSCC patients and cancer cell lines. In addition, functional roles of miR-16 in vitro suggested that the miR-16 mimic inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, whereas miR-16 inhibitor displayed the opposite effects. Luciferase reporter assay and correlation analysis showed that AKT3 and BCL2L2 were directly targeted by miR-16 and were inversely expressed with miR-16 in OSCC. Moreover, restoration of AKT3 and BCL2L2 expression could partially reverse the cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction caused by miR-16. In xenograft nude mice, miR-16 mimics decreased the expression of AKT3 and BCL2L2 and reduced the tumors volumes and weights, whereas the miR-16 inhibitor exhibited adverse effects in the derived xenografts. In conclusion, the findings suggested that miR-16 functions as a tumor suppressor miRNA to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in OSCC through decreasing the oncogenes AKT3 and BCL2L2 and that miR-16 could be a potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

GLNMDA: a novel method for miRNA-disease association prediction based on global linear neighborhoods.

Recently, increasing studies have shown that miRNAs are involved in the development and progression of various complex diseases. Consequently, predicting potential miRNA-disease associations makes an important contribution to understanding the pathogenesis of diseases, developing new drugs as well as designing individualized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for different human diseases. Nonetheless, the inherent noise and incompleteness in the existing biological datasets have limited the prediction accuracy of current computational models. To solve this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel method for miRNA-disease association prediction based on global linear neighborhoods (GLNMDA). Specifically, our method obtains a new miRNA/disease similarity matrix by linearly reconstructing each miRNA/disease according to the known experimentally verified miRNA-disease associations. We then adopt label propagation to infer the potential associations between miRNAs and diseases. As a result, GLNMDA achieved reliable performance in the frameworks of both local and global LOOCV (AUCs of 0.867 and 0.929, respectively) and 5-fold cross validation (average AUC of 0.926). Case studies on five common human diseases further confirmed the utility of our method in discovering latent miRNA-disease pairs. Taken together, GLNMDA could serve as a reliable computational tool for miRNA-disease association prediction.

Outlier Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Model Selection-Based Support Vector Data Descriptions.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are often deployed in harsh and unattended environments, which may cause the generation of abnormal or low quality data. The inaccurate and unreliable sensor data may increase generation of false alarms and erroneous decisions, so it's very important to detect outliers in sensor data efficiently and accurately to ensure sound scientific decision-making. In this paper, an outlier detection algorithm (TSVDD) using model selection-based support vector data description (SVDD) is proposed. Firstly, the Toeplitz matrix random feature mapping is used to reduce the time and space complexity of outlier detection. Secondly, a novel model selection strategy is realized to keep the algorithm stable under the low feature dimensions, this strategy can select a relatively optimal decision model and avoid both under-fitting and overfitting phenomena. The simulation results on SensorScope and IBRL datasets demonstrate that, TSVDD achieves higher accuracy and lower time complexity for outlier detection in WSNs compared with existing methods.

Differentiation of GFP-Bcl-2-engineered mesenchymal stem cells towards a nucleus pulposus-like phenotype under hypoxia in vitro.

Differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into a nucleus pulposus-like phenotype under hypoxia has been proposed as a potential therapeutic approach for intervertebral disc degeneration. However, limited cell viability under hypoxic conditions has restricted MSC differentiation capacity and thus restricted its clinical application. In this study, we genetically modified MSCs with an anti-apoptotic GFP-Bcl-2 gene and evaluated cell survival and functional improvement under hypoxia in vitro. Rat bone marrow MSCs were transfected by lentiviral vectors with the GFP-Bcl-2 gene (GFP-Bcl-2-MSCs). Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed, and semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was carried out to evaluate phenotypic and biosynthetic activities. In addition, Alcian blue staining was used to detect the formation of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the differentiated cells. We found that the Bcl-2 gene protected MSCs against apoptosis. We also observed that Bcl-2 over-expression reduced apoptosis by 40.61% in non-transfected MSCs and 38.43% in vector-MSCs to 18.33% in Bcl-2-MSCs. At 3days, the number of viable Bcl-2-MSCs was approximately two times higher than the number of MSCs or vector-MSCs under hypoxic conditions. RT-PCR showed higher expression of chondrocyte-related genes (Sox-9, aggrecan and type II collagen) in GFP-Bcl-2-MSCs cultured under hypoxia. The accumulation of proteoglycans in the pellet was 86% higher in GFP-Bcl-2-MSCs than in the control groups. Furthermore, the ratio of proteoglycans/collagen II in GFP-Bcl-2-MSCs was 6.2-fold higher compared to the MSC and vector-MSC groups, which denoted a nucleus pulposus-like differentiation phenotype. Our findings support the hypothesis that anti-apoptotic gene-modified MSCs can differentiate into cells with a nucleus pulposus-like phenotype in vitro, which may have value for the regeneration of intervertebral discs using cell transplantation therapy.

[Association of adiponectin gene polymorphisms +45T/G with gestational diabetes mellitus and neonate birth weight].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)+45T/G of adiponectin gene with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and neonate birth weight. METHODS: A total of 264 GDM and 272 pregnant women with normal glucose (NG) were enrolled. DNA was successfully extracted from peripheral blood leucocyte samples. And SNPs+45T/G of adiponectin gene were examined. We also analyzed differences in the genotypic distribution and allelic frequencies in SNP+45T/G of adiponectin gene among GDM group with different neonate birth weights. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between two groups with respects to SNP +45T/G polymorphisms of adiponectin gene (P > 0.05). But significant genotypic difference existed in SNP+45T/G among three GDM groups with different birth weights. Frequencies of T allele were significantly higher in the GDM group with higher birth weight, 68.75% in GDM group with macrosomia and 72.86% in GDM group with 3000-4000 g birth weight (both P < 0.01). And there was no significant difference in SNP +45T/G polymorphisms of adiponectin gene between GDM women and NG group with macrosomia. CONCLUSION: SNP +45T/G polymorphisms of adiponectin gene are not associated with GDM. However, SNP+45T/G polymorphisms of adiponectin gene of GDM women are closely associated with neonate birth weigh. The G/T polymorphisms of SNP+45 of adiponectin are not obviously associated with a higher occurrence of macrosomia in GDM women.

[The mid-term follow-up of Coflex non-fusion internal fixation in the treatment of degenerative lumbar disease].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the mid-term effectiveness of Coflex non-fusion internal fixation treatment of degenerative lumbar disease. METHODS: From October 2008 to December 2010, a retrospective analysis was carried out on 39 patients (29 males and 10 females) diagnosed as degenerative lumbar disease and treated with Coflex interspinous dynamic device, who had been followed up for 1 year at least, the average age was 45.5 years (range, 23 - 67 years). The results were assessed by Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores and SF-36 scores; and the range of mobility (ROM), intervertebral disc height of the responsible and adjacent segments were measured on X-film before the operation and at last follow-up. Observed the therapeutic effect of the patients and compared the effect on the patients of different body mass index (BMI) and different age by the One-way analysis of variance and paired t test. RESULTS: The 39 patients were followed up for 30.9 months (range, 12 - 37 months). At the last follow-up, JOA, ODI, VAS and SF-36 scores were improved by 70% ± 12%, 54% ± 12%, 77% ± 10% and 51% ± 9%, and were statistically significant (t = -33.289, 26.448, 26.596 and -20.772, P = 0.00). Patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) had lower improvement rates in the scores than those with BMI < 25 kg/m(2) (F = 10.561, 5.850, 5.651 and 6.519, P < 0.05). The patients were 50 years older or younger couldn't affected the improvement rates in the scores statistically (P > 0.05). There were no significant difference in remaining disc height (P > 0.05), except that the intervertebral disc height of L4-5 increased slightly compared with the preoperative (t = -2.819, P = 0.008). In addition to the ROM of L3-4, L5-S1 and L1-S1 were not significantly different from the preoperative(P > 0.05), the ROM of L4-5 were decreased (t = 12.598, P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The mid-term effectiveness of Coflex non-fusion interspinous fixation in treatment of degenerative lumbar disease is worthy of recognition, and Coflex combined with Isobar has advantages in the treatment of multi-segment degenerative lumbar disease.

Pharmacokinetics of Danofloxacin in Gushi Chickens after Single Oral and Intravenous Administration.

This study aimed to determine the pharmacokinetics of danofloxacin in Gushi chickens after a single oral (PO) and intravenous (IV) dose at 5 mg/kg body weight (BW). Thirty-two Gushi chickens, aged 20 weeks, were selected and divided into two groups at random, with each group consisting of 16 chickens, evenly distributed between males and females. Following danofloxacin administration, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals and the plasma was separated. The concentrations of danofloxacin in plasma were quantified by HPLC with a fluorescence detector. Then the concentrations versus time data were subjected to non-compartmental analysis (NCA) using Phoenix software (version: 8.1.0). After administering danofloxacin orally at a dose of 5 mg/kg BW to Gushi chickens, our results demonstrated that the peak concentration reached 0.53 µg/mL at 4 h. The half-life of absorption (t1/2ka) was determined to be 2.37 ± 1.60 h, and the bioavailability (F) was calculated as 40.12 ± 15.83%. For both oral and intravenous administration, the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-∞) was determined to be 4.72 ± 1.86 and 11.76 ± 3.25 h·µg/mL, respectively. The corresponding elimination half-life (t1/2λz) was measured as 11.24 ± 3.90 and 10.17 ± 3.72 h. Moreover, the mean residence time (MRT) was calculated as 10.20 ± 2.47 and 7.05 ± 1.97 h for these respective routes. Based on the calculated AUC/MIC ratio values, it can be inferred that the 5 mg/kg BW dosage of danofloxacin, whether administered orally or intravenously, is expected to effectively treat Escherichia coli and Pasteurella multocida infections in Gushi chickens.

Maternal weight, blood lipids, and the offspring weight trajectories during infancy and early childhood in twin pregnancies.

BACKGROUND: The intrauterine environment has a profound and long-lasting influence on the health of the offspring. However, its impact on the postnatal catch-up growth of twin children remains unclarified. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the maternal factors in pregnancy associated with twin offspring growth. METHODS: This study included 3142 live twin children born to 1571 mothers from the Beijing Birth Cohort Study conducted from 2016 to 2021 in Beijing, China. Original and corrected weight-for-age standard deviation scores of the twin offspring from birth to 36 months of age were calculated according to the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. The corresponding weight trajectories were identified by the latent trajectory model. Maternal factors in pregnancy associated with the weight trajectories of the twin offspring were examined after adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS: Five weight trajectories of the twin children were identified, with 4.9% (154/3142) exhibiting insufficient catch-up growth, 30.6% (961/3142), and 46.8% (1469/3142) showing adequate catch-up growth from different birth weights, and 15.0% (472/3142) and 2.7% (86/3142) showing various degrees of excessive catch-up growth. Maternal short stature [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.691, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.563-0.848, P = 0.0004] and lower total gestational weight gain (GWG) (adjusted OR = 0.774, 95% CI = 0.616-0.972, P = 0.03) were associated with insufficient catch-up growth of the offspring. Maternal stature (adjusted OR = 1.331, 95% CI = 1.168-1.518, P < 0.001), higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) (adjusted OR = 1.230, 95% CI = 1.090-1.387, P < 0.001), total GWG (adjusted OR = 1.207, 95% CI = 1.068-1.364, P = 0.002), GWG rate (adjusted OR = 1.165, 95% CI = 1.027-1.321, P = 0.02), total cholesterol (TC) (adjusted OR = 1.150, 95% CI = 1.018-1.300, P = 0.03) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) (adjusted OR = 1.177, 95% CI = 1.041-1.330) in early pregnancy were associated with excessive growth of the offspring. The pattern of weight trajectories was similar between monochorionic and dichorionic twins. Maternal height, pre-pregnancy BMI, GWG, TC and LDL-C in early pregnancy were positively associated with excess growth in dichorionic twins, yet a similar association was observed only between maternal height and postnatal growth in monochorionic twins. CONCLUSION: This study identified the effect of maternal stature, weight status, and blood lipid profiles during pregnancy on postnatal weight trajectories of the twin offspring, thereby providing a basis for twin pregnancy management to improve the long-term health of the offspring.

Pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy as re-irradiation for brain metastasis in a patient with lung squamous-celled carcinoma.

The recurrence and progression of brain metastases after brain irradiation are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with cancer. The risk of radiation-induced neurotoxicity and efficacy probably leads oncologists to not consider re-irradiation. We report the case of a 48-year-old Asian male diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer and multiple brain metastases initially treated with 40 Gy whole-brain radiotherapy and 20 Gy partial brain boost. Fourteen gray stereotactic radiosurgery as salvage for brain metastases in the left occipital lobe was performed after initial irradiation. The recurrence of brain metastases in the left occipital lobe was demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging at 9 months after initial radiotherapy. He received the second course of 28 Gy stereotactic radiosurgery for the recurrent brain metastases in the left occipital lobe. The third relapse of brain metastases was demonstrated by a magnetic resonance imaging scan at 7 months after the second radiotherapy. The third course of irradiation was performed because he refused to undergo surgical resection of the recurrent brain metastases. The third course of irradiation used a pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy technique. It was delivered in a series of 0.2 Gy pulses separated by 3-min intervals. The recurrent brain metastases were treated with a dose of 60 Gy using 30 daily fractions of 2 Gy. Despite the brain metastases receiving 162 Gy irradiation, this patient had no apparent acute or late neurologic toxicities and showed clinical improvement. This is the first report of the pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy technique being used as the third course of radiotherapy for recurrent brain metastases.

[Emission Characterstics of VOCs and n-alkanes from Diesel Forklifts].

Non-road diesel vehicle exhaust is an important emission source that affects air quality in China, yet knowledge regarding its chemical composition and potential influence factors remains limited. Six typical forklifts were selected to study the effect of diesel particulate filters (DPF) on the emission characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and n-alkanes using online monitoring of gaseous components combined with offline analysis. The results showed that oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs), olefins, alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and halogenated hydrocarbons accounted for 26%-37%, 16%-36%, 19%-22%, 13%-21%, and 4%-7% of the measured VOCs in forklift exhaust, respectively. The VOCs emission factors of low-power and high-power forklifts were(2.47±0.33)g·kg-1 and (1.48±0.24)g·kg-1, respectively. The forklift exhaust emission factors of total VOCs without and with DPF were(1.94±0.58)g·kg-1and (2.08±0.79)g·kg-1, respectively. Our results showed that DDF exerted minor impact on VOCs emission. However, it is worth noting that DPF can efficiently remove some types of OVOCs components. For example, the emission factors of acetaldehyde and acetone of the forklifts with DPF were reduced by 19% and 26%, respectively, compared to that of those without DPF. The carbon numbers of n-alkane fractions showed a bimodal distribution of C7-C17 and C24-C31, respectively, with C15 being the dominant peak carbon. The average emission factors of n-alkanes were (115±34) mg·kg-1 (without DPF) and (53.7±19)mg·kg-1 (with DPF), respectively, with a decrease of 53%, indicating that DPF can effectively reduce the emission of n-alkane in the exhaust of forklifts. Our results can provide scientific support for the precise control of non-road construction machinery exhaust emissions and the further improvement of regional air quality.

Stress wave signal denoising using ensemble empirical mode decomposition and an instantaneous half period model.

Stress-wave-based techniques have been proven to be an accurate nondestructive test means for determining the quality of wood based materials and they been widely used for this purpose. However, the results are usually inconsistent, partially due to the significant difficulties in processing the nonlinear, non-stationary stress wave signals which are often corrupted by noise. In this paper, an ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) based approach with the aim of signal denoising was proposed and applied to stress wave signals. The method defined the time interval between two adjacent zero-crossings within the intrinsic mode function (IMF) as the instantaneous half period (IHP) and used it as a criterion to detect and classify the noise oscillations. The waveform between the two adjacent zero-crossings was retained when the IHP was larger than the predefined threshold, whereas the waveforms with smaller IHP were set to zero. Finally the estimated signal was obtained by reconstructing the processed IMFs. The details of threshold choosing rules were also discussed in the paper. Additive Gaussian white noise was embedded into real stress wave signals to test the proposed method. Butterworth low pass filter, EEMD-based low pass filter and EEMD-based thresholding filter were used to compare filtering performance. Mean square error between clean and filtered stress waves was used as filtering performance indexes. The results demonstrated the excellent efficiency of the proposed method.

[Clinical characteristics and perinatal outcomes of non-overweight/obese pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To determine clinical characteristics and perinatal outcomes of non-overweight/obese (pre-pregnancy body mass index BMI < 24 kg/m(2)) pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: The screening of PCOS was performed when they were at first prenatal visit in Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University from May, 2008 to July, 2010.61 PCOS women of pregnancy women with BMI < 24 kg/m(2) were considered as the study subjects, and 122 pregnant women without PCOS matched by age and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) were selected as the control ones. Patients with history of pre-pregnancy diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, renal diseases and multiple pregnancies were excluded from the study. We followed pregnancy outcomes of two groups until delivery. RESULTS: Significantly higher total cholesterol, triglycerides concentrations and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were found in the PCOS group than in the controls. PCOS women with BMI < 24 kg/m(2) had significantly higher rates of GDM (27.9% (17/61)) and pre-eclampsia (13.1% (8/61)) compared with the controls (15.6% (19/122), 1.6% (2/122)), P < 0.05, < 0.01, respectively. No statistical significance was found in prevalence of pregnancy-induced hypertension, polyhydramnios, oligohydramnios, macrosomia, premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption, macrosomia, fetal death and neonatal congenital abnormality between the two groups (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is at increased risk of GDM and pre-eclampsia in non-overweight/obese PCOS women, this risk seemed to be due to PCOS itself rather than obesity.

[Application of CFP short-stem prosthesis in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical outcome for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in advanced stage by a short-stem prosthesis preserving femoral neck in total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: From June 2008 to December 2009, 9 hips in 8 patients with advanced stage of ONFH were treated by a short-stem preserving femoral neck in THA. The mean age was 24.1 years (range: 20 - 36). There were 3 patients (3 hips) with alcohol-induced ONFH and 5 patients (6 hips) with steroid-induced ONFH. According to the classification of Association Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO), 7 hips were in stage III-C and 2 hips in stage IV respectively. The clinical outcomes were evaluated according to the Harris evaluation score and radiographic analysis. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for a mean duration of 18.1 months (range: 12 - 30). The mean Harris hip score improved from preoperative (42.8 ± 8.6) points to (92.8 ± 6.1) points at the time of final follow-up. The outcomes were excellent in 7 hips and better in 2 hips. Neither osteolysis of mortar and femur nor loose component was found from radiological films. The pain of all hips disappeared and no complications occurred. CONCLUSION: The short-term clinical outcome is satisfactory for treating young patients with advanced stage of ONFH by a short-stem prosthesis preserving femoral neck in THA.

[Experimental study on the effect of tooth movement with thin and thick aligners in rabbits].

PURPOSE: To explore the effect of tooth movement on lower incisors of rabbits with thin and thick aligners. METHODS: A group of 6 male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 2 groups, the experimental group(n=3) was designed to move the lower incisors distally by 3 steps with thin and thick aligners(0.625 and 0.75 mm)，0.33 mm each；the control group (n=3) was designed to move the teeth by 3 steps with aligner of conventional thickness (0.75 mm), 0.20 mm each. Polyvinyl siloxane impressions were taken before and after aligner placement. The data of tooth movement were measured. SPSS 19.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The accuracy of tooth movement expression in both groups decreased gradually from the incisal part to the gingival part. The rate of tooth movement in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group（P<0.001）. CONCLUSIONS: The tooth movement of rabbit mandibular central incisor was tipping with the clear aligner. The rate of tooth movement was increased by applying thin and thick aligners，but the accuracy of tooth movement was decreased.

[Remediation of Cd Contaminated Acidic Rice Fields Using the Combined Application of Lime and Organic Matter].

Using an in-situ experiment in Cd contaminated paddy fields in Chongqing, the absorption and distribution of Cd in rice plants was examined following the combined application of lime and organic matter, and the mechanisms driving changes in Cd fractions in soil were also studied. The results showed that pH, OM content, and CEC in the soil were significantly enhanced, and OM and CEC were significantly positively correlated, as pH showed a significant positive correlation; pH and CEC was mainly associated with a change in Cd from the acidic extractable fraction to the reducible, oxidable, and residual fractions. The percentage of acidic extractable Cd dropped by 22.92%-31.25% with the application of the amendments, thus reducing the accumulation of Cd in rice plants in the followed order:CK (control group)≫B6 (lime and maize straw)≈B4 (lime and biochar)≈B3 (lime and activated humic acidic fertilizer) > B2 (lime and humic acidic fertilizer)≈B1 (lime) > B5 (lime and oil cake). On the other hand, for both the treatments and control conditions (CK), the Cd content of brown rice was higher than Chinese standard (GB 2762-2017), while that of polished (white) rice was lower than the Chinese standard after treatment. Overall, treatment using all of the remediation agents offers some benefit for the safe utilization of agricultural contaminated soil and safe food production. The combined application of lime and oil cake proved the best measure for treating Cd contaminated acidic rice fields, yielding a reduction in acidic extractable Cd (31.25%), a reduction in the Cd content of rice plants (33.32%), and the lowest Cd content (0.13 mg·kg-1) in polished rice (a 42.17% compared to the control).

Detection of peripheral blood circulating tumor cells in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its clinical significance.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the diagnostic value of peripheral blood circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its correlation with the clinicopathological features of OSCC. METHODS: Ninety-three patients diagnosed as OSCC in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from May 2019 to May 2020 were selected as the experimental group, and 20 healthy volunteers were employed as the control group. The CTCs value of peripheral blood of the patients were measured by CTCs detection technology, and its clinical significance was analyzed. RESULTS: The CTCs values in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.000 1). The CTCs value in the peripheral blood of patients in the experimental group were not correlated with gender, site of onset, and presence or absence of peripheral tissue infiltration (P>0.05), but was correlated with age (P=0.022), tumor T stage (P=0.02), tumor N stage (P=0.007 5), tumor M stage (P=0.013), clinical stage (P=0.029), early or late stage (P=0.022), tumor differentiation degree (P<0.001), and node metastasis (P=0.006 4). The AUC value of CTCs in OSCC diagnosis was 0.925, and the energy efficiency was statistically significant [P=0.000, 95%CI (0.876, 0.974)]. When the CTC value was 8.450 FU/3 mL, the maximum value of the Yoden index was 0.853, and the sensitivity and specificity of OSCC diagnosis were 90.3% and 95.0%, respectively. The AUC value of CTCs in the diagnosis of OSCC metastasis was 0.691, and the energy efficiency was statistically significant [P=0.000, 95%CI (0.580, 0.803)]. When the blood CTC value was 12.250 FU/3 mL, the maximum value of Yoden index was 0.367, the sensitivity was 63.6%, and the specificity was 73.3%. Multivariate regression analysis showed that buccal tumor was negatively correlated with CTCs in patients with OSCC (P=0.001 08), N2 stage (P=0.000 74) and M stage (P=0.026 38). High differentiation (P<0.000 1) and moderate differentiation (P=0.001 5) were negatively correlated with CTCs values in patients with OSCC. CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral blood CTCs has important clinical value for early screening, auxiliary diagnosis, evaluation of metastasis, and determination of malignant degree, progression, and pathological grade of OSCC and a relatively reliable tumor detection indicator.