Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the effects of high-fat diet on oocyte and early embryo development in female mice.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global health issue with detrimental effects on various human organs, including the reproductive system. Observational human data and several lines of animal experimental data suggest that maternal obesity impairs ovarian function and early embryo development, but the precise pathogenesis remains unclear. METHODS: We established a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese female mouse model to assess systemic metabolism, ovarian morphology, and oocyte function in mice. For the first time, this study employed single-cell RNA sequencing to explore the altered transcriptomic landscape of preimplantation embryos at different stages in HFD-induced obese mice. Differential gene expression analysis, enrichment analysis and protein-protein interactions network analysis were performed. RESULTS: HFD-induced obese female mice exhibited impaired glucolipid metabolism and insulin resistance. The ovaries of HFD mice had a reduced total follicle number, an increased proportion of atretic follicles, and irregular granulosa cell arrangement. Furthermore, the maturation rate of embryonic development by in vitro fertilization of oocytes was significantly decreased in HFD mice. Additionally, the transcriptional landscapes of preimplantation embryos at different stages in mice induced by different diets were significantly distinguished. The maternal-to-zygotic transition was also affected by the failure to remove maternal RNAs and to turn off zygotic genome expression. CONCLUSIONS: HFD-induced obesity impaired ovarian morphology and oocyte function in female mice and further led to alterations in the transcriptional landscape of preimplantation embryos at different stages of HFD mice.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated ferroptosis in granulosa cells contributes to follicular dysfunction of polycystic ovary syndrome driven by hyperandrogenism.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Does hyperandrogenaemia affect the function of ovarian granulosa cells by activating ferroptosis, and could this process be regulated by endoplasmic reticulum stress? DESIGN: Levels of ferroptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress in granulosa cells were detected in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing IVF. Ferroptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress levels of ovarian tissue and follicle development were detected in control mice and PCOS-like mice models, induced by dehydroepiandrosterone. An in-vitro PCOS model of KGN cells was constructed with testosterone and ferroptosis inhibitor Fer-1. Endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitor, tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDCA), determined the potential mechanism associated with excessive induction of ferroptosis in granulosa cells related to PCOS, and levels of ferroptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress were detected. RESULTS: Activation of ferroptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress occurred in granulosa cells of women with PCOS and the varies of PCOS-like mice. The findings in KGN cells demonstrated that testosterone treatment results in elevation of oxidative stress levels, particularly lipid peroxidation, and intracellular iron accumulation in granulosa cells. The expression of genes and proteins associated with factors related to ferroptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential and ultrastructure showed that testosterone activated ferroptosis, whereas Fer-1 reversed these alterations. During in-vitro experiments, activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by testosterone treatment was detected in granulosa cells. In granulosa cells, TUDCA, an inhibitor of endoplasmic reticulum stress, significantly mitigated testosterone-induced ferroptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Ferroptosis plays a part in reproductive injury mediated by hyperandrogens associated with PCOS, and may be regulated by endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Unraveling the Atomic Shuffles of Twinning Nucleation in Hexagonal Close-Packed Rhenium Nanocrystals.

Reining in deformation twinning is crucial for the mechanical properties of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals and hinges on an explicit understanding of the twinning nucleation mechanism. Unfortunately, it is often suggested rather than conclusively demonstrated that twinning nucleation can be mediated by pure atomic shuffles. Herein, by utilizing in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, we have dissected the atomic shuffling mechanism during the {101̅2} twinning nucleation in rhenium nanocrystals, which revealed the emergence of an intermediate body-centered tetragonal (BCT) structure. Specifically, the double-layered prismatic planes initially shuffle into single-layered {11̅0}BCT planes; subsequently, adjacent {22̅0}BCT planes shuffle in opposite directions to form the basal planes of the twin embryo. This shuffling mechanism is further corroborated by molecular dynamic simulations. The finding provides direct evidence of shuffle-dominated twinning nucleation with atomic details that may lead to better control of this critical twinning mode in HCP metals.

Tradeoff between productivity and stability across above- and below-ground communities.

An 11-year nitrogen addition experiment reveals that for both plants and soil microorganisms, the ruderal strategists had higher productivity but lower stability, while the tolerant strategists had higher stability and lower productivity, leading to the tradeoff between productivity and stability within and across above- and below-ground communities.

The potential bias of nitrogen deposition effects on primary productivity and biodiversity.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is composed of both inorganic nitrogen (IN) and organic nitrogen (ON), and these sources of N may exhibit different impacts on ecosystems. However, our understanding of the impacts of N deposition is largely based on experimental gradients of INs or more rarely ONs. Thus, the effects of N deposition on ecosystem productivity and biodiversity may be biased. We explored the differential impacts of N addition with different IN:ON ratios (0:10, 3:7, 5:5, 7:3, and 10:0) on aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of plant community and plant diversity in a typical temperate grassland with a long-term N addition experiment. Soil pH, litter biomass, soil IN concentration, and light penetration were measured to examine the potential mechanisms underlying species loss with N addition. Our results showed that N addition significantly increased plant community ANPP by 68.33%-105.50% and reduced species richness by 16.20%-37.99%. The IN:ON ratios showed no significant effects on plant community ANPP. However, IN-induced species richness loss was about 2.34 times of ON-induced richness loss. Soil pH was positively related to species richness, and they exhibited very similar response patterns to IN:ON ratios. It implies that soil acidification accounts for the different magnitudes of species loss with IN and ON additions. Overall, our study suggests that it might be reasonable to evaluate the effects of N deposition on plant community ANPP with either IN or ON addition. However, the evaluation of N deposition on biodiversity might be overestimated if only IN is added or underestimated if only ON is added.

Community response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to extreme drought in a cold-temperate grassland.

Climate extremes pose enormous threats to natural ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are key plant symbionts that can affect plant community dynamics and ecosystem stability. However, knowledge about how AM fungal communities respond to climate extremes in natural ecosystems remains elusive. Based on a grassland extreme drought experiment in Inner Mongolia, we investigated the response of AM fungal communities to extreme drought in association with plant communities. The experiment simulated two types of extreme drought (chronic/intense) of once-in-20-year occurrence. AM fungal richness and community composition exhibited high sensitivity to extreme drought and were more sensitive to intense drought than chronic drought. This community sensitivity (i.e. decline in richness and shifts in community composition) of AM fungi can be jointly explained by soil moisture, plant richness, and aboveground productivity. Notably, the robustness of the plant-AM fungal community co-response increased with drought intensity. Our results indicate that AM fungal communities are sensitive to climate extremes, and we propose that the plant community mediates AM fungal community responses. Given the ubiquitous nature of AM associations, their climate sensitivity may have profound consequences on plant communities and ecosystem stability under climate change.

First Report of Clonostachys rosea Causing rot of Morchella sextelata in Anhui Province, China.

Morel mushroom (Morchella spp.) is a valuable mushroom, which has extremely high nutritional and economic value. In the early March of 2022, a serious rot disease was observed on approximately 30% fruiting bodies at an M. esculenta farm of Suzhou City, Anhui province, China. A white mold-like hyphae was initially present on the pileus, which then gradually spread to the whole fruiting body, eventually resulting in softening of the fruiting body and death. This disease developed rapidly at relatively high temperature (>20°C) and humidity (>85%), resulting in approximately 80% loss of yield. Twenty infected tissues were cut into small pieces (5 × 5 mm) and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25°C for 5 days. Fifteen morphologically similar isolates were obtained and purified using the single spore isolation technique. Colonies of these isolates were yellowish-white, and tomentose with thick aerial hyphae after 7 days at 25°C on PDA plates. Conidiophores were dimorphic: primary conidiophores were Verticillium-like, secondary conidiophores were penicillate. Primary conidiophore stipe length ranged from 68.6 to 180.5 µm, and the base width was 3.2-5.6 µm. Phialides were solitary, straight, generally slightly tapering towards the tip, each producing a small, hyaline drop of conidia. Secondary conidiophores stipe length ranged from 68.4 to 120.5 µm, the base measured 3.3-6.1µm. Phialides were straight to slightly curved, slightly flask-shaped, with widest point below the middle, slightly tapering in the upper part, without visible collarette. Conidia were colorless, smooth, slightly curved, and distally broadly rounded with an average size of 6.3 to 8.2 × 2.4 to 3.7 µm (n=30). These isolates were initially identified as Clonostachys rosea based on morphological features (Schroers et al. 1999). To confirm the identity of C. rosea, primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and EF1-728F/ EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), were used to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) genes of the representative isolate 5-3-2. These sequences were deposited in GenBank (GenBank accession nos. ON614093 and ON630916) and had 100% and 99.45% nucleotide identity with Clonostachys rosea E5R(17) and Clonostachys rosea KGSJ26 (GenBank accession nos. MK752437 and MT462122), respectively. Single conidium were isolated and multiplied on PDA for pathogenicity testing. To fulfill Koch's postulates, pathogenicity tests were performed using the fruiting bodies. Spores of C. rosea isolates 5-3-2 were collected and diluted with sterile distilled water at a concentration of 1 × 106 conidia/ml. Five healthy fruiting bodies were inoculated with 1 ml of the spore suspension, which were maintained in an artificial climate chamber at 22°C and 85% humidity. Sterile water inoculated on other 10 healthy fruiting bodies served as control. Mycelia grew rapidly and overgrew more than half of the fruiting bodies within 3 days. The fruiting bodies died five days after inoculation. Clonostachys rosea isolates were re-isolated from symptomatic fruiting bodies and identified by the methods described above. The control group showed no symptoms. The experiment was conducted twice. To our knowledge, this is the first identification of Clonostachys rosea as the causal agent of the Morchella sextelata rot.

[Analysis and considerations on revision of instructions for traditional Chinese medicine injections].

According to the notice on revision of the instructions for traditional Chinese medicine injections(TCMIs) issued by the National Medical Products Administration(NMPA) from January 2006 to May 2020, the revised contents in the instructions for 29 varieties involved in the notice were sorted out, and the existing problems in the instructions for TCMIs were analyzed, so as to provide the basis for dynamic revision of the instructions. It was found that the revised items of instructions for 29 varieties all involved adverse reactions, contraindications and precautions, and warnings were added for 82.76% of 29 TCMIs preparations, indicating that all the revised contents were related to safety issues. In addition, 33.33% of the drugs risks mentioned in the precautions were not indicated in the adverse reactions; 82.76% instructions did not indicate drug interactions; 17.24% instructions lacked medication notes for special populations; 48.28% instructions did not indicate traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndromes of the main disease; 44.83% instructions did not indicate the type and stage of indication; and 86.21% instructions did not indicate the course of treatment. It could be concluded that the instructions for TCMIs have known risks of drugs that are not fully reflected in adverse reactions and the effective information is not comprehensive. The risk control measures proposed in the precautions need to have aftereffect evaluation and there is a lack of drug interactions and medications for special populations. As an important part of the full life-cycle management of drugs, the revision of instructions for TCMIs should be continuously improved to provide the basis for safe and reasonable application of TCMIs. Based on the above problems, it is proposed that the marketing license holder as the main body of the revision of instructions should actively carry out post-marketing basic and clinical research in accordance with the characteristics of TCM, combine the updated research with the guidance of TCM theory and improve the revision level of instructions for TCMIs to provide the basis for post-marketing evaluation.

Advances in nanostructures fabricated via spray pyrolysis and their applications in energy storage and conversion.

Functional nanostructured materials have attracted great attention over the past several decades owing to their unique physical and chemical properties, while their applications have been proven to be advantageous not only in fundamental scientific areas, but also in many technological fields. Spray pyrolysis (SP), which is particularly facile, effective, highly scalable and suitable for on-line continuous production, offers significant potential for the rational design and synthesis of various functional nanostructured materials with tailorable composition and morphology. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in various functional nanostructured materials synthesized by SP and their potential applications in energy storage and conversion. After a brief introduction to the equipment, components, and working principles of the SP technique, we thoroughly describe the guidelines and strategies for designing particles with controlled morphology, composition, and interior architecture, including hollow structures, dense spheres, yolk-shell structures, core-shell structures, nanoplates, nanorods, nanowires, thin films, and various nanocomposites. Thereafter, we demonstrate their suitability for a wide range of energy storage and conversion applications, including electrode materials for rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, highly active catalysts for hydrogen production, carbon dioxide reduction and fuel cells, and photoelectric materials for solar cells. Finally, the potential advantages and challenges of SP for the preparation of nanostructured materials are particularly emphasized and discussed, and several perspectives on future research and development directions of SP are highlighted. We expect that this continuous, one-pot, and controllable synthetic technology can serve as a reference for preparing various advanced functional materials for broader applications.

[Traditional Chinese medicine for ulcerative colitis: systematic reviews based on PRIO-harms].

This article is aimed to reevaluate the systematic reviews(Meta-analysis) of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and provide reference for evidence-based decision-making of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). According to the preferred reporting items for overviews(preferred reporting items for overview of systematic reviews, PRIO-harms), the main Chinese and English electronic literature databases(PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, etc.) were retrieved, supplemented by manual retrieval. Systematic reviews for the treatment of ulcerative colitis with Chinese medicine up to February 2019 were included. Two researchers independently performed literature screening and data extraction. The methodology quality, reporting quality and evidence quality of the literature were evaluated by AMSTAR 2 tool, PRISMA scale and GRADE system respectively. Subgroup analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. A total of 21 systematic reviews were included, and the interventions mainly included TCM internal and external treatment, with 53 outcome indicators. The AMSTAR 2 results showed that 5 articles were of high quality, 9 of medium quality, 4 of low quality, and 3 of extremely low quality. The most problematic items were as follows: the list of excluded documents was not provided; the sources of funding for each study were not reported; and the research methods were not determined before implementation. PRISMA scale had an average score of(20.38±1.43) points, less than 22 points for 15 articles, with certain reporting defects. The GRADE system suggested that the quality of the evidence for the 30 outcome indicators was low or very low. The most important factors leading to degrading was the limitation, followed by publication bias and inconsistency. The results showed that as compared with conventional Western medicine, TCM oral or enema treatment for mild to moderate ulcerative colitis had better clinical efficacy and safety. Due to the quality limitations of the included studies, it is necessary to further strengthen the top-level design and follow the scientific research paradigm to provide a higher level of evidence for the clinical evidence-based decision-making of TCM.

C2N: an excellent catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Based on first-principles calculations, we study the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on metal-free C2N and make efforts to improve its catalytic performance. At H* coverages (θ) of 3/6 and 4/6, the free energy of hydrogen adsorption (ΔGH*) is 0.10 eV and 0.07 eV, respectively, which is competitive with the precious catalyst Pt. Moreover, ΔGH* can be modulated to zero under a tensile strain, and the strength of the strain depends on the H concentration. Experimentally, it is possible to achieve a strain of around 2% through coupling C2N with graphene, and the HER performance of the hybrids would be generally enhanced. Moreover, the catalytic activity of the hybrids is tunable via electron and hole doping of graphene. In the strong H binding cases (θ = 1/6), anchoring Mn atoms into C2N exhibits a perfect catalytic property with ΔGH* of -0.04 eV. Therefore, C2N-based catalysts are expected to be easily synthesized and highly active catalysts for the HER. These findings may shed light on replacing Pt by metal-free or/and non-precious metal counterparts.

Enhancing sodium ionic conductivity in tetragonal-Na3PS4 by halogen doping: a first principles investigation.

Tetragonal Na3PS4 (t-Na3PS4) has been demonstrated as a very promising candidate for a solid-state sodium-ion electrolyte with high Na ionic conductivity at ambient temperature. In this paper, we systematically investigated the Na ionic conductivity in pristine and halogen (F, Cl, Br, and I) doped tetragonal-Na3PS4 superionic conductors using first-principles calculations. The Na ionic conductivity of pristine t-Na3PS4 is calculated to be about 0.01 mS cm-1, while much higher Na ionic conductivities could be achieved by introducing Na ion vacancies via a halogen doping strategy. The calculated Na ionic conductivity of t-Na3PS4 doped with 1.56% Cl is 1.07 mS cm-1 at ambient temperature. Among different halogen-doped t-Na3PS4, Br-doped t-Na3PS4 shows the lowest activation energy and the highest Na ionic conductivity, which reaches 2.37 mS cm-1 at 300 K. The low activation energy and high Na ionic conductivity in Br-doped t-Na3PS4 are due to a relatively lower defect binding energy of the defect pair of halogen substitution and a Na ion vacancy. Our results suggest Br-doped t-Na3PS4 may serve as a very promising Na-ion solid-state superionic conductor.

Tuning the indirect-direct band gap transition in the MoS2-xSex armchair nanotube by diameter modulation.

The application of the reported armchair transition-metal dichalcogenide (MoS2, MoTe2, MoSTe and WS2, etc.) nanotube is hindered for the optoelectronic devices due to the indirect band gap. By using first-principles calculations, the electronic structures of MoS2-xSex single-wall armchair nanotubes with respect to different diameters are investigated. The MoS2 armchair nanotube exhibits an indirect band gap as a function of nanotube diameters from 10 Å to 50 Å, whereas MoSSe and MoSe2 exhibit a surprising diameter-induced indirect-direct band gap crossover at the diameters of 25 Å and 33 Å, respectively. We also find that the optical properties of MoS2-xSex armchair nanotubes are anisotropic and strongly depend on the diameter.

Stress-Induced Cubic-to-Hexagonal Phase Transformation in Perovskite Nanothin Films.

The strong coupling between crystal structure and mechanical deformation can stabilize low-symmetry phases from high-symmetry phases or induce novel phase transformation in oxide thin films. Stress-induced structural phase transformation in oxide thin films has drawn more and more attention due to its significant influence on the functionalities of the materials. Here, we discovered experimentally a novel stress-induced cubic-to-hexagonal phase transformation in the perovskite nanothin films of barium titanate (BaTiO3) with a special thermomechanical treatment (TMT), where BaTiO3 nanothin films under various stresses are annealed at temperature of 575 °C. Both high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy show a higher density of hexagonal phase in the perovskite thin film under higher tensile stress. Both X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy does not detect any change in the valence state of Ti atoms, thereby excluding the mechanism of oxygen vacancy induced cubic-to-hexagonal (c-to-h) phase transformation. First-principles calculations show that the c-to-h phase transformation can be completed by lattice shear at elevated temperature, which is consistent with the experimental observation. The applied bending plus the residual tensile stress produces shear stress in the nanothin film. The thermal energy at the elevated temperature assists the shear stress to overcome the energy barriers during the c-to-h phase transformation. The stress-induced phase transformation in perovskite nanothin films with TMT provides materials scientists and engineers a novel approach to tailor nano/microstructures and properties of ferroelectric materials.

Grazing-induced reduction of natural nitrous oxide release from continental steppe.

Atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N(2)O) have increased significantly since pre-industrial times owing to anthropogenic perturbation of the global nitrogen cycle, with animal production being one of the main contributors. Grasslands cover about 20 per cent of the temperate land surface of the Earth and are widely used as pasture. It has been suggested that high animal stocking rates and the resulting elevated nitrogen input increase N(2)O emissions. Internationally agreed methods to upscale the effect of increased livestock numbers on N(2)O emissions are based directly on per capita nitrogen inputs. However, measurements of grassland N(2)O fluxes are often performed over short time periods, with low time resolution and mostly during the growing season. In consequence, our understanding of the daily and seasonal dynamics of grassland N(2)O fluxes remains limited. Here we report year-round N(2)O flux measurements with high and low temporal resolution at ten steppe grassland sites in Inner Mongolia, China. We show that short-lived pulses of N(2)O emission during spring thaw dominate the annual N(2)O budget at our study sites. The N(2)O emission pulses are highest in ungrazed steppe and decrease with increasing stocking rate, suggesting that grazing decreases rather than increases N(2)O emissions. Our results show that the stimulatory effect of higher stocking rates on nitrogen cycling and, hence, on N(2)O emission is more than offset by the effects of a parallel reduction in microbial biomass, inorganic nitrogen production and wintertime water retention. By neglecting these freeze-thaw interactions, existing approaches may have systematically overestimated N(2)O emissions over the last century for semi-arid, cool temperate grasslands by up to 72 per cent.

[Association between IL1R1 gene polymorphisms and childhood asthma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL1R1 gene (rs1558641 and rs949963) with the susceptibility to asthma in children from Central China. METHODS: A case-control study was performed in the asthma group and the control group, consisting of 208 children with asthma and 223 normal children from Central China, respectively. The genotypes of two SNPs in IL1R1 gene, rs1558641 and rs949963, were identified using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The serum level of IL1R1 was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in genotype and allele frequencies of rs1558641 between the asthma and control groups. In terms of rs949963, the frequencies of GG genotype and alleles were significantly higher in the asthma group than in the control group (P<0.05). The asthma group had a significantly higher serum level of IL1R1 than the control group (P=0.011). Moreover, the serum level of IL1R1 was significantly higher in patients with GG genotype than in those with AA or AG genotype for rs949963 (P=0.028). CONCLUSIONS: IL1R1 SNP rs949963 is associated with the susceptibility to asthma in children from Central China and may increase the serum expression of IL1R1.

Double hysteresis loops and large negative and positive electrocaloric effects in tetragonal ferroelectrics.

Phase field modelling and thermodynamic analysis are employed to investigate depolarization and compression induced large negative and positive electrocaloric effects (ECEs) in ferroelectric tetragonal crystalline nanoparticles. The results show that double-hysteresis loops of polarization versus electric field dominate at temperatures below the Curie temperature of the ferroelectric material, when the mechanical compression exceeds a critical value. In addition to the mechanism of pseudo-first-order phase transition (PFOPT), the double-hysteresis loops are also caused by the abrupt rise of macroscopic polarization from the abc phase to the c phase or the sudden fall of macroscopic polarization from the c phase to the abc phase when the temperature increases. This phenomenon is called the electric-field-induced-pseudo-phase transition (EFIPPT) in the present study. Similar to the two types of PFOPTs, the two types of EFIPPTs cause large negative and positive ECEs, respectively, and give the maximum absolute values of negative and positive adiabatic temperature change (ATC ΔT). The temperature associated with the maximum absolute value of negative ATC ΔT is lower than that associated with the maximum positive ATC ΔT. Both maximum absolute values of ATC ΔTs change with the variation in the magnitude of an applied electric field and depend greatly on the compression intensity.

The impact of the major causes of death on life expectancy in China: a 60-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: In the 12th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government set the goal of increasing life expectancy by one year. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of major causes of death on the life expectancy of the Chinese people between 1950 and 2010 and predict changing trends to identify major issues requiring future attention. METHODS: A continuous database organised by population and death data on diseases by age group between 1950 and 2010 were created from A Province in Eastern China. The diseases were classified into four categories by the International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10): infectious and parasitic diseases, chronic diseases, accidental injuries, and maternal diseases. Potential gains in life expectancy (PGLEs) were applied to reflect the impact on life expectancy caused by deaths from various diseases, by using the cause-eliminated life table. RESULTS: The PGLEs of infectious and parasitic diseases decreased from 15.59 years in 1950, to 0.07 year in 2010, and have remained low since 2000. However, the PGLEs of chronic diseases increased from 8.70 years in 1950, to 13.36 years in 2010, and indicated an increasing future trend. The two opposite trends exhibited a 'scissors-like difference'. The proportion of accidental injuries and maternal diseases in the death spectrum was low. The PGLEs of accidental injuries decreased from 2.95 years in 1950, to 0.86 year in 2010, maintaining a low level, while the PGLEs of maternal diseases dropped from 0.56 to 0.002 year during the same period, approaching zero. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide useful information, which could contribute to a more effective allocation of public health programmes. In recent years, chronic diseases and accidental injuries have emerged as major factors influencing life expectancy. Primary and secondary prevention actions, such as public education, modification of behaviours, and introduction of safety measures should be emphasised in efforts to promote life expectancy. The morbidity and mortality rates of infectious, parasitic, and maternal diseases should be maintained at low levels.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Biomimetic Liposome for Targeted Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disorder that severely compromises joint health. The primary therapeutic strategy for advanced RA aims to inhibit joint inflammation. However, the nonspecific distribution of pharmacological agents has limited therapeutic efficacy and heightens the risks associated with RA treatment. To address this issue, we developed mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based biomimetic liposomes, termed MSCsome, which were composed of a fusion between MSC membranes and liposomes. MSC some with relatively simple preparation method effectively enhanced the targeting efficiency of drug to diseased joints. Interaction between lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 enhanced the affinity of the MSCsome for polarized macrophages, thereby improving its targeting capability to affected joints. The effective targeted delivery facilitated drug accumulation in joints, resulting in the significant inhibition of the inflammation, as well as protection and repair of the cartilage. In conclusion, this study introduced MSCsome as a promising approach for the effective treatment of advanced RA, providing a novel perspective on targeted drug delivery therapy for inflammatory diseases.

Correlation between ovarian follicular development and Hippo pathway in polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: For women of childbearing age, the biggest problem caused by polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is infertility, which is mainly caused by anovulation, abnormal follicular development, proliferation of small antral follicles, and cystic follicles. The mechanism underlying its occurrence is not clear. The abnormal proliferation and development of follicles in PCOS patients is a complex process, which is affected by many factors. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Hippo pathway and follicular development in PCOS, and to further explore this relationship by using the YAP inhibitor verteporfin (VP). METHOD: 30 3-week-old BALB/C female rats were randomly divided into control group (n = 10), DHEA group (n = 10) and DHEA + VP group (n = 10). The morphology of ovary and the degree of follicular development were observed by HE staining, and the expression and location of AMH in ovarian follicles were observed by immunofluorescence. The ovarian reserve function index AMH, cell proliferation index PCNA and the ratio of Hippo pathway related proteins MST, LATS, YAP, P-YAP and P-YAP/YAP were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: After dividing 30 3-week-old female mice into control, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA; model of PCOS), and DHEA + VP groups, we found that the number of small follicles increased in the DHEA group compared to the control group. Additionally, in the DHEA group compared to the control group, anti-müllerian hormone (AMH; ovarian reserve index) increased, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA; cell proliferation index) decreased, and upstream (MST and LATS) and downstream (YAP and p-YAP) proteins in the Hippo pathway increased, though the p-YAP/YAP ratio decreased. VP ameliorated the increases in AMH, MST, LATS, YAP and p-YAP, but did not ameliorate the decrease in the p-YAP/YAP ratio. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the increased small follicles in the ovaries and changes in ovarian reserve and cell proliferation may be closely related to Hippo pathway activation. This suggests that the Hippo pathway may be an important pathway affecting the proliferation and development of follicles and the occurrence of PCOS.