Interfaces Engineering of Ultrafine Ni@Ni2P/C Core-Shell Heterostructure for High Yield Hydrogen Peroxide Electrosynthesis.

Developing cost-effective and sustainable catalysts with exceptional activity and selectivity is essential for the practical implementation of on-site H2O2 electrosynthesis, yet it remains a formidable challenge. Metal phosphide core-shell heterostructures anchored in carbon nanosheets (denoted as Ni@Ni2P/C NSs) are designed and synthesized via carbonization and phosphidation of the 2D Ni-BDC precursor. This core-shell nanostructure provides more accessible active sites and enhanced durability, while the 2D carbon nanosheet substrate prevents heterostructure aggregation and facilitates mass transfer. Theoretical calculations further reveal that the Ni/Ni2P heterostructure-induced optimization of geometric and electronic structures enables the favored adsorption of OOH* intermediate. All these features endow the Ni@Ni2P/C NSs with remarkable performance in 2e ORR for H2O2 synthesis, achieving a top yield rate of 95.6 mg L-1 h-1 with both selectivity and Faradaic efficiency exceeding 90% under a wide range of applied potentials. Furthermore, when utilized as the anode of an assembled gas diffusion electrode (GDE) device, the Ni@Ni2P/C NSs achieve in situ H2O2 production with excellent long-term durability (>32 h). Evidently, this work provides a unique insight into the origin of 2e ORR and proposes optimization of H2O2 production through nano-interface manipulation.

Influencing of serum inflammatory factors on IVF/ICSI outcomes among PCOS patients with different BMI.

Introduction: Overweight and obese are important factors leading to the occurrence of long-term complications in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). There has been controversy over whether dissatisfaction with pregnancy outcomes in PCOS patients is influenced by chronic inflammatory status or obesity. This retrospective study analyzed the levels of inflammatory factors in PCOS patients with different body mass index (BMI) groups and effective predictors of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) pregnancy outcomes. Methods: There were 273 women with PCOS diagnosed who completed serum inflammatory factors test between January 2017 and June 2022 were selected. The data of 7,649 infertility PCOS patients who received their first IVF/ICSI treatment in the Reproductive Center of Peking University Third Hospital during the period of the study were collected. Finally, 92 PCOS patients were included in the high BMI group, while 97 patients were included in the normal BMI group. Baseline characteristics were collected and the pregnancy outcomes were compared among the two groups. Then, serum inflammatory factors' effect on IVF/ICSI pregnancy outcomes were analyzed with age, anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) and BMI adjusted. Results: PCOS patients in the high BMI group significantly had a lower number of oocytes retrieved and good quality embryos. The high BMI group PCOS patients had higher levels of IL-6 and lower cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates. The level of GM-CSF was higher in the first cycle transfer and cumulative miscarriage group. High TNF-α was negatively correlated with the first transfer cycle and cumulative clinical pregnancy rates after age, AMH and high BMI adjusted. In addition, the cumulative live birth rate was negatively correlated with high IL-6, but the first cycle transfer and cumulative live birth rates were positively correlated with high IL-1ß. Discussion: For PCOS patients, in addition to BMI, attention should also be paid to inflammatory indicators. High levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were negatively correlated with pregnancy outcomes, but high IL-1ß was positively correlated with live birth rates among PCOS patients. The level of GM-CSF was higher in miscarriage PCOS patients.

Semicrystalline SrTiO3 -Decorated Anatase TiO2 Nanopie as Heterostructure for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

The coupling of TiO2 and SrTiO3 through elaborate bandgap engineering can provide synergies for highly efficient photocatalysts. To further improve the separation between photogenerated electrons and holes, a nano-heterostructured combination of semicrystalline SrTiO3 (S-SrTiO3 ) and anatase TiO2 nanoparticles is designed, and an optimized interface is achieved between uniformly grown S-SrTiO3 and metal organic framework (MOF)-derived anatase TiO2 through a controlled hydrothermal process. Besides tuning of the bandgap and broadening of the absorption spectral range, S-SrTiO3 particles alleviate charge carrier recombination benefiting from the coupling of the semicrystalline SrTiO3 around the interface. Additionally, highly dispersed S-SrTiO3 on TiO2 provides a good spatial distribution of active sites and the abundant carbon remained from MOF may reduce charge transport resistance. Moreover, the rapid transfer within the nano-heterostructure promotes the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers. With the above predominant architecture, when used as a photocatalyst, the as-synthesized S-SrTiO3 /TiO2 heterostructure exhibits exceptionally high photocatalytic performance of 13 005 µmol h-1 g-1 for H2 production, exceeding most oxide-based photocatalysts reported. This study might provide mechanistic insights into a new perspective for the design and preparation of photocatalysts with novel structure and enhanced catalysis activity.

Prevalence of oligomenorrhea among women of childbearing age in China: A large community-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and the related characteristics of oligomenorrhea among women within childbearing age in China. STUDY DESIGN: A large-scale community-based investigation was conducted from 2013 to 2015. A total of 12,964 women aged 18-49 years from 9 provinces/municipalities in China were recruited for healthcare screening in local community health centers. Outcome measures include clinical history, ultrasonographic exam, and hormonal and metabolic parameters. RESULTS: Among women within childbearing age in China, the prevalence of oligomenorrhea was 12.2% (1,579/12,964). Both sociodemographic factors and medical history were significantly associated with oligomenorrhea (P < 0.05). In such women, the prevalence of obesity, acne, seborrhea, acanthosis, larger ovarian size, and polycystic ovarian morphology was higher when compared with normal women; the prevalence of anti-Mullerian hormone, total testosterone, and androstenedione (P < 0.05) was higher as well. The infertility rates of all women were higher in the oligomenorrhea group (17.2%, 272/1,579) than in the non-oligomenorrhea group (9.0%, 1,024/11,385), and among women without contraception, for the oligomenorrhea group, the infertility rate was 32.5% (128/394), and for the non-oligomenorrhea group, 17.9% (400/2,240). In the oligomenorrhea group, 57.4% (156/272) of the women underwent treatments for infertility, which was higher than the non-oligomenorrhea group 36.1% (370/1,024). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity, acne, seborrhea, acanthosis, larger ovarian size, and polycystic ovarian morphology were significantly associated with oligomenorrhea. The increase of anti-Mullerian hormone, total testosterone, and androstenedione level was also demonstrated in the oligomenorrhea group. Higher prevalence of infertility and medical treatment rate was observed in women with oligomenorrhea.

Prospective observational cohort study: Computational models for early prediction of ongoing pregnancy in fresh IVF/ICSI-ET protocols.

PURPOSE: This study sought to identify the significant factors related to ongoing pregnancy (OP) and to discover the most reliable model to distinguish OP from non-OP in early gestational age. METHODS: A total of 1650 cycles were enrolled in this study. Univariate Logistic Regression was used to identify the predictors included in multivariable analysis. The dataset was then randomly split into training set and test set with proportion of 70% and 30%. Forward stepwise multivariable logistic regression with 5-fold cross validation was used to build the final mathematic model. The performance of the model was determined by the arguments of test set. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and misclassification rate (MR) were then calculated for model evaluation. RESULTS: Seven predictors were related to OP by univariate analysis. The serum hCG level on 14th day post-embryo-transfer (hCG14) and 21th day post-embryo-transfer (hCG21) were linear correlated. Therefore, different multivariate regression models were built using hCG14 or hCG21, respectively. After multivariate regression with 5-fold validation, the final indicators in model-1 were age_group, hCG21 and hCG21/hCG14, while age_group, hCG14, and calculated 48-hour-rising-ratio of hCG were the significant predictors in model-2. Model-2 showed better sensitivity and NPV, lower MR, and similar specificity and PPV. CONCLUSION: This study provided an effective mathematic model for early prediction of OP. The model could be of better clinical significance, especially for clinical counseling to manage patients' stress and anxiety, and for early warning of threatened miscarriage.

Increased Expression of KISS1 and KISS1 Receptor in Human Granulosa Lutein Cells-Potential Pathogenesis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Kisspeptins are a family of neuropeptides that are essential for fertility. Recent experimental data suggest a putative role of kisspeptin signaling in the direct control of ovarian function. To explore the expression of KISS1 and KISS1 receptor (KISS1R) in human granulosa lutein cells and the potential role of KISS1/KISS1R system in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), we measured the concentration of KISS1 in follicular fluid, the expression of KISS1 and KISS1R in granulosa lutein cells, and the circulating hormones. The expression levels of KISS1 and KISS1R were significantly upregulated in human granulosa lutein cells obtained from women with PCOS. The expression levels of KISS1 in human granulosa lutein cells highly correlated with those of KISS1R in non-PCOS patients, but not in patients with PCOS, most likely due to the divergent expression patterns in women with PCOS. Additionally, the expression levels of KISS1 highly correlated with the serum levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). The expression levels of KISS1 and KISS1R, as well as the follicular fluid levels of KISS1, were not significantly different between the pregnant and nonpregnant patients in both PCOS and non-PCOS groups. In conclusion, the increased expression of KISS1 and KISS1R in human granulosa lutein cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of PCOS. The expression levels of KISS1 highly correlated with the serum levels of AMH. The KISS1 and KISS1R system in the ovary may not have a remarkable role in predicting the in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcome.

The selective activation of p53 target genes regulated by SMYD2 in BIX-01294 induced autophagy-related cell death.

Transcription regulation emerged to be one of the key mechanisms in regulating autophagy. Inhibitors of H3K9 methylation activates the expression of LC3B, as well as other autophagy-related genes, and promotes autophagy process. However, the detailed mechanisms of autophagy regulated by nuclear factors remain elusive. In this study, we performed a drug screen of SMYD2-/- cells and discovered that SMYD2 deficiency enhanced the cell death induced by BIX01294, an inhibitor of histone H3K9 methylation. BIX-01294 induces accumulation of LC3 II and autophagy-related cell death, but not caspase-dependent apoptosis. We profiled the global gene expression pattern after treatment with BIX-01294, in comparison with rapamycin. BIX-01294 selectively activates the downstream genes of p53 signaling, such as p21 and DOR, but not PUMA, a typical p53 target gene inducing apoptosis. BIX-01294 also induces other autophagy-related genes, such as ATG4A and ATG9A. SMYD2 is a methyltransferase for p53 and regulates its transcription activity. Its deficiency enhances the BIX-01294-induced autophagy-related cell death through transcriptionally promoting the expression of p53 target genes. Taken together, our data suggest BIX-01294 induces autophagy-related cell death and selectively activates p53 target genes, which is repressed by SMYD2 methyltransferase.