A meta-analysis of the effects of intramuscular and intravenous injection of oxytocin on the third stage of labor.

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies and trials have shown that oxytocin can effectively reduce postpartum bleeding, whether by intramuscular (IM) injection or intravenous (IV) injection. These two methods are widely used in the prevention and treatment for the third stage of childbirth. However, it is unclear whether the subtle differences between the mode of these routes have any effect on maternal outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of oxytocin administered intramuscularly or intravenously for prophylactic management of the third stage of labor after vaginal birth. METHODS: Computerized retrieval of PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted to collect randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the effects of IM and IV oxytocin on the third stage of labor. After independent literature screening, data extraction and evaluation of the bias risk of included studies by two evaluators, RevMan 5.3 software was used for a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Six studies with 7734 women were included in this study. Meta-analysis results showed that: the severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) rate [risk ratio (RR) 1.54, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08-2.20, P = 0.02], PPH rate (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.11-1.55, P = 0.001), incidence of blood transfusion (RR 2.30, 95% CI 1.35-3.93, P = 0.002) and the need of manual removal of placenta (RR 1.44, 95% CI 1.05-1.96, P = 0.02) for IM group were higher than IV group, but there were no significant differences in the use of additional uterotonics (P = 0.31) and the incidence of serious maternal morbidity and adverse effects between two groups. None of the included studies reported maternal death. CONCLUSION: For clinical practice, intravenous injection oxytocin 10 IU may be a good, safe option in the management of the third stage of labor. Medical conditions, available resources, adverse effects, and women' s preferences should also be considered. If an IV line is already in place at delivery, IV administration may be preferable to IM injection.

Fully integrated InGaAs/InP single-photon detector module with gigahertz sine wave gating.

InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) working in the regime of GHz clock rates are crucial components for the high-speed quantum key distribution (QKD). We have developed for the first time a compact, stable, and user-friendly tabletop InGaAs/InP single-photon detector system operating at a 1.25 GHz gate rate that fully integrates functions for controlling and optimizing SPAD performance. We characterize the key parameters of the detector system and test the long-term stability of the system for continuous operation of 75 h. The detector system can substantially enhance QKD performance and our present work paves the way for practical high-speed QKD applications.

Experimental demonstration of counterfactual quantum communication.

Quantum effects, besides offering substantial superiority in many tasks over classical methods, are also expected to provide interesting ways to establish secret keys between remote parties. A striking scheme called "counterfactual quantum cryptography" proposed by Noh [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 230501 (2009).] allows one to maintain secure key distributions, in which particles carrying secret information are seemingly not being transmitted through quantum channels. We have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, a faithful implementation for such a scheme with an on-table realization operating at telecom wavelengths. To verify its feasibility for extension over a long distance, we have furthermore reported an illustration on a 1 km fiber. In both cases, high visibilities of more than 98% are achieved through active stabilization of interferometers. Our demonstration is crucial as a direct verification of such a remarkable application, and this procedure can become a key communication module for revealing fundamental physics through counterfactuals.

[RUNX1 regulates transcription activity of WNT5A in mouse bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells].

This study was purposed to investigate the effect of RUNX1 on transcription activity of WNT5A promoter in mouse bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), and to explore the mechanism by which bone marrow environments regulate MSC. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of RUNX1 in MSC isolated from mouse bone marrow and cultured in vitro; the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was used to investigate the direct in vivo interaction between the RUNX1 and WNT5A promoter; retrovirus system was utilized to introduce the RUNX1 gene into MSC to detect the regulation of RUNX1 on the transcription activity of WNT5A promoter. The results showed that mouse bone marrow derived MSC was positive for Oil Red O, van Kossa and toluidine blue staining respectively and RUNX1 expressed in MSC. WNT5A promoter could be bound by RUNX1, and the expression level of WNT5A was enhanced with the increase of RUNX1. It is concluded that RUNX1 expresses in mouse bone marrow derived MSC, WNT5A is a direct target gene of RUNX1 and its transcriptional activity is regulated by RUNX1.

[Effect of endothelium-specific deletion of PTEN on hemangioblast development in mouse embryo AGM region].

This study was aimed to investigate whether endothelium-specific deletion of PTEN can affect hemangioblast development in the AGM region of mouse embryos. Based on Cre/loxP system, the Tie2CrePten(loxp/loxp) and Tie2CrePten(loxp/wt) mouse embryos were obtained. The genotype was identified by PCR. After treated with type I collagenase, the AGM region was dispersed into single-cell suspension, and then was cultured in blast colony-forming cell (BL-CFC) media. The number of BL-CFC was counted 4 or 5 days later. The hematopoietic capacity of BL-CFC was detected in methylcellulose culture system and the endothelial potential was assessed by tube-like structure formation on Matrigel. The results showed that the number of BL-CFC in AGM region of Tie2CrePten(loxp/loxp) mouse embryo decreased as compared with Tie2CrePten(loxp/wt) embryo. Whereas the hematopoietic capacity of mutant BL-CFC was enhanced, the endothelial potential, as evaluated by tube-like structure formation in vitro, was significantly reduced. It is concluded that the endothelial PTEN is capable of exerting regulatory functions on both the numbers and the dual potential of hemangioblast in mouse AGM region.

[Effect of different culture mediums on the development of monocyte-derived dendritic cells].

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of RPMI 1640 and IMDM on the development of human peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells. Under the same cytokines and culture conditions, the different medium types were tested, and the morphology of mature and immature dendritic cells was observed by microscopy, the cell phenotype and endocytosis ability were detected by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the immunoregulatory function of various DC was analyzed by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), the expression of cytokine in culture supernatant of MLR system was also analyzed by Bio-plex technology. The results showed that there were no difference in morphology, CD14, CD83 expression and endocytosis ability between IMDM-cultured DC and RPMI-1640 medium-cultured DC, but there was a lower expression of CD1a in IMDM-cultured DC. Moreover, DC cultured with IMDM displayed a significant reduction in stimulating T cell proliferation, and highly expressed IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, but low expressed IL-12. It is concluded that the different cultural mediums can induce DC with different functions and DC cultured with IMDM may correlated with induction of immune tolerance. The results of this study will provide a new idea for DC clinical application.

[Clinical trial on mastoplasia treated by xiaozheng pills (qing xiang pills)].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of Xiaozheng pills in treating mastoplasia. METHOD: Clinical trials were carried out by five hospitals. In each hospital, patients were divided into two groups with one group 24 patients (trial group) and the other 24 patients (control group). Total 240 patients were included in the study. According to randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled clinical study, the trial groups were treated by Xiaozheng pills with Rujiekang mimetic (placebo) and the control groups were treated by Rujiekang with Xiaozheng pills mimetic (placebo). Symptoms, laboratory test results as well as ADR were evaluated after 1 period of treatment. RESULT: The overall response rates of trial group and control group were 93.8% and 88.6% respectively, no statistic difference between the two groups. No deleterious effect in both groups and the indexes of safety were normal. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Xiaozheng pills are effective and safe in treating mastoplasia caused by qi stagnation, blood stasis or/and stagnation of phlegm.