Clinical outcomes of single blastocyst transfer with machine learning guided noninvasive chromosome screening grading system in infertile patients.

BACKGROUND: Prospective observational studies have demonstrated that the machine learning (ML) -guided noninvasive chromosome screening (NICS) grading system, which we called the noninvasive chromosome screening-artificial intelligence (NICS-AI) grading system, can be used embryo selection. The current prospective interventional clinical study was conducted to investigate whether this NICS-AI grading system can be used as a powerful tool for embryo selection. METHODS: Patients who visited our centre between October 2018 and December 2021 were recruited. Grade A and B embryos with a high probability of euploidy were transferred in the NICS group. The patients in the control group selected the embryos according to the traditional morphological grading. Finally, 90 patients in the NICS group and 161 patients in the control group were compared statistically for their clinical outcomes. RESULTS: In the NICS group, the clinical pregnancy rate (70.0% vs. 54.0%, p < 0.001), the ongoing pregnancy rate (58.9% vs. 44.7%, p = 0.001), and the live birth rate (56.7% vs. 42.9%, p = 0.001) were significantly higher than those of the control group. When the female was ≥ 35 years old, the clinical pregnancy rate (67.7% vs. 32.1%, p < 0.001), ongoing pregnancy rate (56.5% vs. 25.0%, p = 0.001), and live birth rate (54.8% vs. 25.0%, p = 0.001) in the NICS group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Regardless of whether the patients had a previous record of early spontaneous abortion or not, the live birth rate of the NICS group was higher than that of the control group (61.0% vs. 46.9%; 57.9% vs. 34.8%; 33.3% vs. 0%) but the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: NICS-AI was able to improve embryo utilisation rate, and the live birth rate, especially for those ≥ 35 years old, with transfer of Grade A embryos being preferred, followed by Grade B embryos. NICS-AI can be used as an effective tool for embryo selection in the future.

ß-Elemene alleviates cisplatin resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell via inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 pathway in vitro and in vivo.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of ß-Elemene (ß-Ele) on the cisplatin sensitivity of OSCC cells and its mechanism in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: The human OSCC cell lines Tca-8113 and the cisplatin-resistant cell line Tca-8113-CDDP were cultured with ß-Ele or/and cisplatin. The cytotoxicity of cisplatin or ß-Ele, cell viability, cell cycles and apoptosis were detected. And the expression of JAK2/STAT3 related protein were detected. The xenograft tumor model of OSCC was established in nude mice and treated with cisplatin and/or ß-Ele. The volume and weight of the transplanted tumor was measured, and the expression of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 and cell apoptosis in the xenograft tumor tissues were detected. RESULTS: The combination of ß-Ele and cisplatin significantly suppressed the cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest, promoted the apoptosis of Tca-8113-CDDP cells, and suppressed the activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. The rescue experiments suggested that ß-Ele enhanced cisplatin sensitivity via down-regulating JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. In vivo, ß-Ele and cisplatin synergistically suppressed the tumor growth and induced apoptosis, and down-regulated the expression of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3. CONCLUSIONS: ß-Ele inhibits the cell viability and enhances the cisplatin sensitivity of OSCC by blocking the activation of JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo, and the combination of ß-Ele and cisplatin maybe a novel treatment for OSCC.

Capsaicin-Inspired Thiol-Ene Terpolymer Networks Designed for Antibiofouling Coatings.

Novel photocurable ternary polymer networks were prepared by incorporating N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)-acrylamide (HMBA) into a cross-linked thiol-ene network based on poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate (PEGDA) and (mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane homopolymers (MSHP). The ternary network materials displayed bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and reduced the attachment of marine organism Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Extensive soaking of the polymer networks in aqueous solution indicated that no active antibacterial component leached out of the materials, and thus the ternary thiol-ene coating killed the bacteria by surface contact. The surface structures of the polymer networks with varied content ratios were studied by sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the PDMS Si-CH3 groups and mimic-capsaicine groups are predominantly present at the polymer-air interface of the coatings. Surface reorganization was apparent after polymers were placed in contact with D2O: the hydrophobic PDMS Si-CH3 groups left the surface and returned to the bulk of the polymer networks, and the hydrophilic PEG chains cover the polymer surfaces in D2O. The capasaicine methoxy groups are able to segregate to the surface in an aqueous environment, depending upon the ratio of HMBA/PEGDA. SFG measurements in situ showed that the antibacterial HMBA chains, rather than the nonfouling PEG, played a dominant role in mediating the antibiofouling performance in this particular polymer system.

Drawing dependent structures, mechanical properties and cyclization behaviors of polyacrylonitrile and polyacrylonitrile/carbon nanotube composite fibers prepared by plasticized spinning.

Drawing to change the structural properties and cyclization behaviors of the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) chains in crystalline and amorphous regions is carried out on PAN and PAN/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite fibers. Various characterization methods including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and thermal gravimetric analysis are used to monitor the structural evolution and cyclization behaviors of the fibers. With an increase of the draw ratio during the plasticized spinning process, the structural parameters of the fibers, i.e. crystallinity and planar zigzag conformation, are decreased at first, and then increased, which are associated with the heat exchange rate and the oriented-crystallization rate. A possible mechanism for plasticized spinning is proposed to explain the changing trends of crystallinity and planar zigzag conformation. PAN and PAN/CNT fibers exhibit various cyclization behaviors induced by drawing, e.g., the initiation temperature for the cyclization (Ti) of PAN fibers is increased with increasing draw ratio, while Ti of PAN/CNT fibers is decreased. Drawing also facilitates cyclization and lowers the percentage of ß-amino nitrile for PAN/CNT fibers during the stabilization.

Analysis of Rational Drug Use Effect under Hospital Drug Control System.

Objective: To describe and assess the hospital drug control system's measures. Methods: From 2017 to 2019, examine the changes in medication percentage, important monitoring drug amount, top 10 medications amount, and usage rate of prophylactic antibiotics for type I incisions. Results: The proportion of pharmaceuticals remains below 30%, the number of significant monitoring drugs has decreased, the top ten drugs have shifted from adjuvant to therapeutic drugs, and the use of prophylactic antibiotics for type I incisions has decreased by 10%. Conclusion: The percentage of medications that met requirements by using the drug control system has steadily decreased, and the number of pharmaceuticals for important monitoring pharmaceuticals has steadily decreased, in accordance with national medical insurance policy, as well as improved rational drug usage.

Clinical significance of Annexin A2 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its influence on cell proliferation, migration and invasion.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant epithelial neoplasm of the head and neck, with poorer prognosis. There is lack of specific targets for diagnosis and treatment of OSCC at present. Annexin A2 (ANXA2) is involved in cell angiogenesis, invasion, proliferation and metastasis. In this study, the significance and effect of ANXA2 on OSCC and OSCC cells were explored from the clinical and basic study. First, ANXA2 expression in OSCC tissues and adjacent non-cancer tissues of 124 patients were detected, and the correlation between ANXA2 expression and clinical parameters were analyzed. The results found that ANXA2 was highly expressed in OSCC tissues, and was associated with the TNM stage, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and poor survival of OSCC patients. The expression of ANXA2 in OSCC cells were higher than the normal oral cells. And knockdown of ANXA2 by transfecting ANXA2-siRNA could suppress the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of OSCC cells. Overall, ANXA2 expression is correlated with poor survival of OSCC patients, and silencing of ANXA2 suppress the proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC cells.

Highly Elastic Block Copolymer Binders for Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Silicon (Si) is a promising anode material to replace the broadly adopted graphite due to its high capacity and abundant source. However, Si anodes suffer from severe problems of huge volume change (∼300%), and the commonly used binders like poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) cannot accommodate such changes. Here, we report a tough block copolymer PVDF-b-Teflon (PTFE) binder that can coalesce pulverized Si and thus enhance the stability of Si anodes. The suspension copolymerization of vinylidene fluoride and tetrafluoroethylene produces elastic PVDF-b-PTFE with large breaking elongations of >250% and high viscosity as well as high ionic conductivity and thermal stability. We show that 5 wt % of the binder forms elastic cobweb structures in the electrode matrix that can effectively coalesce Si particles and conductive agents together, enabling long cycling stability (>250 cycles) and high rate performance (1 C) for electrodes at a commercial-level Si loading of 1 mg·cm-2. The findings point out to a promising strategy for developing highly elastic and tenacious binders for electrodes with large volume changes during the electrochemical reactions.

Direct detection of Staphylococcus aureus in positive blood cultures through molecular beacon-based fluorescence in situ hybridization.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical diagnosis of bloodstream infection diseases depends on the blood culture results. Bacterial identification by traditional methods is time-consuming. This study aimed to utilize molecular beacon-based fluorescence in situ hybridization (MB-FISH) for rapid and direct detection of Staphylococcus aureus in positive blood cultures. METHODS: Three molecular beacon probes (MB1, MB2 and MB3) were designed and synthesized to target the 16S rRNA gene fragment of S. aureus. The MB-FISH system was optimized, and the specificity of this method in detecting S. aureus was evaluated. This approach was used to test 41 g-positive clinical specimens with positive blood cultures. In addition, the consistency of this method with traditional methods was evaluated. RESULTS: Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the molecular beacon MB1 was significantly higher than that of MB2 and MB3 (P < .001). The S/N ratios of MB1 probe at different concentrations were all >20. Thermal denaturation curve of the probe suggested that its hairpin structure can be opened and closed. Conditions such as deionized formamide concentration, ionic strength and temperature were optimized by monitoring the fluorescence intensity of MB1 in the presence or absence of its target sequence B1. The optimized hybridization system produced fluorescence only in S. aureus. The specificity and sensitivity of MB1 probe for detecting S. aureus in 41 specimens were 100% and 93.75%, respectively. Although sample size was small, MB-FISH appeared to be consistent with traditional culture methods (Kappa value = 0.948). CONCLUSION: MB-FISH demonstrates strong specificity and high sensitivity, and can be used for direct detection of S. aureus in positive blood cultures.

Novel Anti-Biofouling Soft Contact Lens: l-Cysteine Conjugated Amphiphilic Conetworks via RAFT and Thiol-Ene Click Chemistry.

A unique l-cysteine conjugated antifouling amphiphilic conetwork (APCN) is synthesized through end-crosslinking of well-defined triblock copolymers poly(allyl methacrylate)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(allyl methacrylate) via a combination of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and thiol-ene "click" chemistry. The synthesized poly(ethylene glycol) macro-RAFT agent initiates the polymerization of allyl methacrylate in a controlled manner. The vinyl pendant groups of the precursor partially conjugate with l-cysteine and the rest fully crosslink with mercaptopropyl-containing siloxane via thiol-ene click chemistry under UV irradiation into APCNs, which show distinguished properties, that is, excellent biocompatibility, more than 39.6% water content, 101 barrers oxygen permeability, optimized mechanical properties, and more than 93% visible light transmittance. What's more, the resultant APCNs exhibit eminent resistance to protein adsorption, where the bovine serum albumin and lysozyme adsorption are decreased to 12 and 21 µg cm-2 , respectively. The outstanding properties of APCNs depend on the RAFT controlled method, which precisely designs the hydrophilic/hydrophobic segments and eventually greatly improves the crosslinking efficiency and homogeneity. Meantime, the l-cysteine monolayer can effectively reduce the surface hydrophobicity and prevent protein adsorption, which exhibits the viability for antifouling surface over and under ophthalmic devices, suggesting a promising soft contact lens.

Constructing a novel zwitterionic surface of PVDF membrane through the assembled chitosan and sodium alginate.

A novel zwitterionic surface of PVDF membrane with significantly improved antifouling properties was prepared though pressure-assisted layer by layer self-assembly method based on the electrostatic interactions of chitosan (CS), sodium alginate (SA) and polyfunctional lysine. For the modified C-S-C-S-L membrane, the contact angle decreased to 35°, the bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption mass of static fouling on the membrane surface decreased to 10µg/cm(2), and the secondary water flux recovery rate (FRR) of dynamic fouling of BSA and humic acid (HA) pollutants increased to 98% and 99%, respectively, exhibiting excellent antifouling performance. The results demonstrated that using charged bio-macromolecules and amino acids to build zwitterionic surface was effective and convenient to change the interface properties of the separation membrane through the pressure-assisted self-assembly modification method, and provided a new way for the industrial scale hydrophilic modification of hydrophobic porous membrane materials.

[Effects of intracellular osmolality changes on the voltage-gated sodium channels currents of trigeminal ganglion neuron].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the biomechanical effects of intracellular changes on the voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) on trigeminal ganglion neuron (TRGN). METHODS: TRGN cells were acutely isolated from the neonatal SD rats. The voltage-dependent currents of the VGSCs on these neurons were elicited and analyzed by whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and the intracellular anisotonicity stimuli was established by adjusting the content of pipette solution. The effects of hypo-(260 mOsm) and hypertonic (350 mOsm) osmolarity on the activation and inactivation kinetics of VGSCs on TRGN were evaluated, compared with the normal intracellular environment. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that intracellular hypotonic stimuli could influence both the activation and inactivation characteristics of VGSCs currents, including the membrane potential at half inactivation (V0.5) of the G-V and inactivation curves had obvious statistics significance (P<0.05) between hypotonicity (260mOsm) and isotonicity (306mOsm). However, only inactivation properties changed under intracellular hypertonic effects, including inactivation rate and k value. CONCLUSION: It suggests that the kinetics of VGSCs on TRGN can be modulated both by intracellular hypo- and hypertonic with different characteristics.