PAI-1 Regulates the Cytoskeleton and Intrinsic Stiffness of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.

BACKGROUND: Plasma concentration of PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) correlates with arterial stiffness. Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) express PAI-1, and the intrinsic stiffness of SMCs is a major determinant of total arterial stiffness. We hypothesized that PAI-1 promotes SMC stiffness by regulating the cytoskeleton and that pharmacological inhibition of PAI-1 decreases SMC and aortic stiffness. METHODS: PAI-039, a specific inhibitor of PAI-1, and small interfering RNA were used to inhibit PAI-1 expression in cultured human SMCs. Effects of PAI-1 inhibition on SMC stiffness, F-actin (filamentous actin) content, and cytoskeleton-modulating enzymes were assessed. WT (wild-type) and PAI-1-deficient murine SMCs were used to determine PAI-039 specificity. RNA sequencing was performed to determine the effects of PAI-039 on SMC gene expression. In vivo effects of PAI-039 were assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity. RESULTS: PAI-039 significantly reduced intrinsic stiffness of human SMCs, which was accompanied by a significant decrease in cytoplasmic F-actin content. PAI-1 gene knockdown also decreased cytoplasmic F-actin. PAI-1 inhibition significantly increased the activity of cofilin, an F-actin depolymerase, in WT murine SMCs, but not in PAI-1-deficient SMCs. RNA-sequencing analysis suggested that PAI-039 upregulates AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) signaling in SMCs, which was confirmed by Western blotting. Inhibition of AMPK prevented activation of cofilin by PAI-039. In mice, PAI-039 significantly decreased aortic stiffness and tunica media F-actin content without altering the elastin or collagen content. CONCLUSIONS: PAI-039 decreases intrinsic SMC stiffness and cytoplasmic stress fiber content. These effects are mediated by AMPK-dependent activation of cofilin. PAI-039 also decreases aortic stiffness in vivo. These findings suggest that PAI-1 is an important regulator of the SMC cytoskeleton and that pharmacological inhibition of PAI-1 has the potential to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases involving arterial stiffening.

TIF1-γ Positive Dermatomyositis with Spontaneous Muscular Hematoma in the Context of Ovarian Cancer: A Novel Survival Case Report.

Background: Dermatomyositis (DM) represents a group of inflammatory myopathies, with TIF1-γ positive DM strongly associated with malignancies. Spontaneous muscular hematoma in DM patients is exceedingly rare and often prognosticates a severe clinical outcome, especially in the context of concurrent malignancy. Case Presentation: We describe a novel survival case of a patient with TIF1-γ positive DM and an underlying ovarian tumor who developed a spontaneous muscular hematoma. Despite the traditionally poor prognosis of these conditions, the patient survived through a comprehensive treatment regimen. This included targeted chemotherapy for ovarian cancer (Carboplatin and Paclitaxel), alongside corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, and immunosuppressants for DM, as well as component blood transfusions, coagulation correction therapy to control hematoma, and integrated management: nutritional support, lung function exercise, volume management. Results: The integrated treatment strategy stabilized the patient's condition and resolved the hematoma, a significant achievement given the usual high mortality rate of such complications. Conclusion: This case underscores the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the early diagnosis and treatment of TIF1-γ positive DM with complex comorbidities, including spontaneous muscular hematoma and ovarian cancer. It highlights the potential for favorable outcomes with aggressive and coordinated treatment strategies.

The effect of COVID-19 vaccine to the Omicron variant in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Omicron (B.1.1.529), a variant of SARS-CoV-2, has emerged as a dominant strain in COVID-19 pandemic. This development has raised concerns about the effectiveness of vaccination to Omicron, particularly in the context of children and adolescents. Our study evaluated the efficacy of different COVID-19 vaccination regimens in children and adolescents during the Omicron epidemic phase. Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Embase electronic databases for studies published through March 2023 on the association between COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine effectiveness (VE) against SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents at the Omicron variant period. The effectiveness outcomes included mild COVID-19 and severe COVID-19. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023390481). Results: A total of 33 studies involving 16,532,536 children were included in the analysis. First, in children and adolescents aged 0-19 years, the overall VE of the COVID-19 vaccine is 45% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 40 to 50%). Subgroup analysis of VE during Omicron epidemic phase for different dosage regimens demonstrated that the VE was 50% (95% CI: 44 to 55%) for the 2-dose vaccination and 61% (95% CI: 45 to 73%) for the booster vaccination. Upon further analysis of different effectiveness outcomes during the 2-dose vaccination showed that the VE was 41% (95% CI: 35 to 47%) against mild COVID-19 and 71% (95% CI: 60 to 79%) against severe COVID-19. In addition, VE exhibited a gradual decrease over time, with the significant decline in the efficacy of Omicron for infection before and after 90 days following the 2-dose vaccination, registering 54% (95% CI: 48 to 59%) and 34% (95% CI: 21 to 56%), respectively. Conclusion: During the Omicron variant epidemic, the vaccine provided protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents aged 0-19 years. Two doses of vaccination can provide effective protection severe COVID-19, with booster vaccination additionally enhancing VE.

Unveiling the multicomponent phase separation through molecular dynamics simulation and graph theory.

Biomolecular condensates formed by multicomponent phase separation play crucial roles in diverse cellular processes. Accurate assessment of individual-molecule contributions to condensate formation and precise characterization of their spatial organization within condensates are crucial for understanding the underlying mechanism of phase separation. Using molecular dynamics simulations and graph theoretical analysis, we demonstrated quantitatively the significant roles of cation-π and π-π interactions mediated by aromatic residues and arginine in the formation of condensates in polypeptide systems. Our findings reveal temperature and chain length-dependent alterations in condensate network parameters, such as the number of condensate network layers, and changes in aggregation and connectivity. Notably, we observe a transition between assortativity and disassortativity in the condensate network. Moreover, polypeptides W, Y, F, and R consistently promote condensate formation, while the contributions of other charged and two polar polypeptides (Q and N) to condensate formation depend on temperature and chain length. Furthermore, polyadenosine and polyguanosine can establish stable connections with aromatic and R polypeptides, resulting in the reduced involvement of K, E, D, Q, and N in phase separation. Overall, this study provides a distinctive, precise, and quantitative approach to characterize the multicomponent phase separation.

The value of fibrinogen combined with D-dimer and neonatal weight in predicting postpartum hemorrhage in vaginal delivery.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore whether fibrinogen (Fib) can be used as a predictor of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in parturients with vaginal delivery, and the value of combining Fib with other indexes to predict postpartum hemorrhage in vaginal delivery. METHODS: A total of 207 parturients who delivered via vagina were divided into PPH group (n=102) and non-PPH group (n=105). The PPH group was further divided into mild PPH group and severe PPH group. The differences of Fib, platelet (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), D-dimer (D-D), hemoglobin (HGB) and neonatal weight (Nw) between the two groups were compared to explore the significance of these indexes in predicting PPH. RESULTS: Fib, PLT and PDW in PPH group were significantly lower than those in non-PPH group, while D-D and Nw in PPH group were significantly higher than those in non-PPH group. In the binary logistic regression model, we found that Fib, D-D and Nw were independently related to PPH. The risk of PPH increased by 9.87 times for every 1 g/L decrease in Fib. The cut-off value of Fib is 4.395 (sensitivity 0.705, specificity 0.922). The AUC value of PPH predicted by Fib combined with D-D and Nw was significantly higher than that of PPH predicted by Fib (p<0.05, 95 % CI 0.00313-0.0587). CONCLUSIONS: Fib, D-D and Nw have good predictive value for PPH of vaginal delivery, among which Fib is the best. The combination of three indexes of Fib, D-D and Nw can predict PPH more systematically and comprehensively, and provide a basis for clinical prevention and treatment of PPH.

Landsat observations of total suspended solids concentrations in the Pearl River Estuary, China, over the past 36 years.

Information on long-term trends in total suspended solids (TSS) is critical for assessing aquatic ecosystems. However, the long-term patterns of TSS concentration (CTSS) and its latent drivers have not been well investigated. In this study, we developed and validated three semi-analysis algorithms for deriving CTSS using Landsat images. Subsequently, the long-term trends in CTSS in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) from 1987 to 2022 and the driving factors were clarified. The developed algorithms yielded excellent performance in estimating CTSS, with mean absolute percentage errors <25% and root mean square errors of <13 mg/L. Long-term Landsat observations showed an overall decreasing trend and significant spatiotemporal dynamics of the CTSS in the PRE from 1987 to 2022. The analysis of driving factors suggested that industrial sewage, cropland, forests and grasslands, and built-up land were the four potential driving forces that explained 87.81% of the long-term variation in CTSS. This study not only provides 36-year recorded datasets of CTSS in estuary water, but also offers new insights into the complex mechanisms that regulate CTSS spatiotemporal dynamics for water resource management.

S-PLM: Structure-aware Protein Language Model via Contrastive Learning between Sequence and Structure.

Large protein language models (PLMs) present excellent potential to reshape protein research by encoding the amino acid sequences into mathematical and biological meaningful embeddings. However, the lack of crucial 3D structure information in most PLMs restricts the prediction capacity of PLMs in various applications, especially those heavily depending on 3D structures. To address this issue, we introduce S-PLM, a 3D structure-aware PLM utilizing multi-view contrastive learning to align the sequence and 3D structure of a protein in a coordinate space. S-PLM applies Swin-Transformer on AlphaFold-predicted protein structures to embed the structural information and fuses it into sequence-based embedding from ESM2. Additionally, we provide a library of lightweight tuning tools to adapt S-PLM for diverse protein property prediction tasks. Our results demonstrate S-PLM's superior performance over sequence-only PLMs, achieving competitiveness in protein function prediction compared to state-of-the-art methods employing both sequence and structure inputs.

Topology- and size-dependent binding of DNA nanostructures to the DNase I.

The susceptibility of DNA nanomaterials to enzymatic degradation in biological environments is a significant obstacle limiting their broad applications in biomedicine. While DNA nanostructures exhibit some resistance to nuclease degradation, the underlying mechanism of this resistance remains elusive. In this study, the interaction of tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) with DNase I is investigated using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Our results indicate that DNase I can effectively bind to all dsDNA molecules, and certain key residues strongly interact with the nucleic bases of DNA. However, the binding of DNase I to TDNs exhibits a non-monotonic behavior based on size; TDN15 and TDN26 interact weakly with DNase I (∼ - 75 kcal/mol), whereas TDN21 forms a strong binding with DNase I (∼ - 110 kcal/mol). Furthermore, the topological properties of the DNA nanostructures are analyzed, and an under-twisting (∼32°) of the DNA helix is observed in TDN15 and TDN26. Importantly, this under-twisting results in an increased width of the minor groove in TDN15 and TDN26, which primarily explains their reduced binding affinity to DNase I comparing to the dsDNA. Overall, this study demonstrated a novel mechanism for local structural control of DNA at the nanoscale by adjusting the twisting induced by length.

Humification levels of dissolved organic matter in the eastern plain lakes of China based on long-term satellite observations.

Under the influence of intensive human activities and global climate change, the sources and compositions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the eastern plain lake (EPL) region in China have fluctuated sharply. It has been successfully proven that the humification index (HIX), which can be derived from three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, can be an effective proxy for the sources and compositions of DOM. Therefore, combined with remote sensing technology, the sources and compositions of DOM can be tracked on a large scale by associating the HIX with optically active components. Here, we proposed a novel HIX remote sensing retrieval (IRHIX) model suitable for Landsat series sensors based on the comprehensive analysis of the covariation mechanism between HIX and optically active components in different water types. The validation results showed that the model runs well on the independent validation dataset and the satellite-ground synchronous sampling dataset, with an uncertainty ranging from 30.85 % to 36.92 % (average ± standard deviation = 33.6 % ± 3.07 %). The image-derived HIX revealed substantial spatiotemporal variations in the sources and compositions of DOM in 474 lakes in the EPL during 1986-2021. Subsequently, we obtained three long-term change modes of the HIX trend, namely, significant decline, gentle change, and significant rise, accounting for 74.68 %, 17.09 %, and 8.23 % of the lake number, respectively. The driving factor analysis showed that human activities had the most extensive influence on the DOM humification level. In addition, we also found that the HIX increased slightly with increasing lake area (R2 = 0.07, P < 0.05) or significantly with decreasing trophic state (R2 = 0.83, P < 0.05). Our results provide a new exploration for the effective acquisition of long-term dynamic information about the sources and compositions of DOM in inland lakes and provide important support for lake water quality management and restoration.

Structural transition of parenthood among Chinese nulliparous couples with planned pregnancies, 2013-2019.

BACKGROUND: The postponement of parenthood is a global public health issue that has received attention of many public health experts. However, few studies have investigated the postponement in marriage age, marriage and conception interval, and pregnancy age in terms of demographic and regional heterogenicities. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, registry-based study, and a total of 13 894 601 nulliparous couples who participated in the National Free Pre-Pregnancy Check-ups Project and became pregnant during 2013-2019 were included. We calculated annual percentage change and forest plots for marriage age, marriage and conception interval, and pregnancy age. RESULTS: Late marriage (marriage age ≥ 35 years), long marriage and conception interval (marriage and conception interval ≥ 2 years), and advanced pregnancy (pregnancy age ≥ 35 years) increased from 1.20%, 22.01%, and 1.88% in 2013 to 1.69%, 32.75%, and 2.79% in 2019, respectively. The corresponding annual percentage changes were 6.55%, 8.44%, and 8.17%. Participants without higher education had a higher annual percentage change, but comparable prevalence for long marriage and conception interval with participants with higher education. Participants residing in second- or new first-tier cities, and the northeast of China who had a higher prevalence of parenthood postponement also had higher corresponding annual percentage changes. CONCLUSIONS: Structural postponement of parenthood with demographic and regional heterogenicities was observed among Chinese nulliparous couples with planned pregnancies during 2013-2019. Inclusive and comprehensive parenting support should be developed and implemented in mainland China to minimize the negative health effects arising from the postponement, especially for couples without higher education and living in new first/second-tier cities or the northeast China.

Effect of Terahertz Waves on the Structure of the Aß42 Monomer, Dimer, and Protofibril: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Amyloid-ß (Aß) and its assemblies play important roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies conducted by experimental and computational researchers have extensively explored the structure, assembly, and influence of biomolecules and cell membranes on Aß. However, the impact of terahertz waves on the structures of Aß monomers and aggregates remains largely unexplored. In this study, we systematically investigate the molecular mechanisms by which terahertz waves affect the structure of the Aß42 monomer, dimer, and tetramer through all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Our findings indicate that terahertz waves at a specific frequency (42.55 THz) can enhance intramolecular and intermolecular interactions in the Aß42 monomer and dimer, respectively, by resonating with the symmetric stretching mode of the -COO- groups and the symmetric bending/stretching mode of -CH3 groups. Consequently, the ß-structure content of the Aß42 monomer is greatly increased, and the binding energy between the monomers in the Aß42 dimer is significantly enhanced. Additionally, our observations suggest that terahertz waves can mildly stabilize the structure of tetrameric protofibrils by enhancing the interactions among peripheral peptides. Furthermore, we also investigated the effect of the frequency of terahertz waves on the structure of Aß42. The present study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of external fields on the biobehavior of Aß42 peptides and may shed some light on the potential risks associated with electromagnetic field radiation.

Investigating the oxidation mechanism of facet-dependent pyrite: implications for the environment and sulfur evolution.

The oxidation of pyrite (FeS2) not only adversely affects the environment, but also plays a critical role in the geochemical evolution of Fe and S elements. However, the oxidation rate of FeS2 is often controlled by its exposed crystal facets. Herein, the oxidation behaviors and mechanisms of naturally existing FeS2(100) and FeS2(210) crystals are investigated. The adsorption models of O2 on FeS2(100) and FeS2(210) facets are established, additionally, their corresponding surface energies, O2 adsorption sites and energies are also obtained using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. These results suggest that the FeS2(210) facet more readily reacts with O2 because it has more unsaturated coordination of Fe atoms compared with the FeS2(100) facet. Moreover, electrochemical results such as EIS, Tafel and CV curves further prove that FeS2(210) possesses a higher oxidation rate than that of FeS2(100). The results of chemical oxidation experiments and XPS analyses show that FeS2(210) can produce more total Fe, SO42- and H+ than FeS2(100). Furthermore, various intermediate S species such as SO32-, S2O32-, S3O62-, S4O62- and S5O62- are also detected. This work can provide a basis for understanding the oxidation mechanism of facet-dependent FeS2 and the geochemical evolution of Fe and S elements.

Role of leptin in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a severe pregnancy complication. The exact pathogenesis of PE remains unclear, but it is related to immune, inflammatory, circulatory, and oxidative stress factors. Leptin is a protein involved in these processes and is essential for maintaining a normal pregnancy and healthy fetal growth. Abnormal increases in leptin levels have been observed in the peripheral blood and placenta of patients with PE. Disturbances in leptin can affect the proliferation and hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells, which are important for placentation. Leptin also regulates arterial tension and trophoblast function in pregnant women. In addition, consistently high levels of leptin are linked to hyperactive inflammation and oxidative stress reactions in both patients with PE and animal models. This review focuses on the role of leptin in the pathophysiology of PE and elucidates its potential mechanisms.

Multiple miRNA Detection through a Suspended Microbead Array Encoded by Triple-Color Upconversion Luminescent Nanotags via Bi-Beam Splitter Hybrid-Multitrap Optical Tweezers.

In recent years, optical tweezers have become a novel tool for biodetection, and to improve the inefficiency of a single trap, the development of multitraps is required. Herein, we constructed a set of hybrid multitrap optical tweezers with the balance of stability and flexibility by the combination of two different beam splitters, a diffraction optical element (DOE) and galvano mirrors (GMs), to capture polystyrene (PS) microbeads in aqueous solutions to create an 18-trap suspended array. A sandwich hybridization strategy of DNA-miRNA-DNA was adopted to detect three kinds of target miRNAs associated with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), in which different upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with red, green, and blue emissions were applied as luminescent tags to encode the carrier PS microbeads to further indicate the levels of the targets. With encoded luminescent microbeads imaged by a three-channel microscopic system, the biodetection displayed high sensitivity with low limits of detection (LODs) of 0.27, 0.32, and 0.33 fM and exceptional linear ranges of 0.5 fM to 1 nM, 0.7 fM to 1 nM, and 1 fM to 1 nM for miR-343-3p, miR-155, and miR-199a-5p, respectively. In addition, this bead-based assay method was demonstrated to have the potential for being applied in patients' serum by satisfactory standard addition recovery experiment results.

Cumulative evidence of the genetic association between SP-B C1580T polymorphisms and risk of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

Objective: Surfactant protein SP-B, an important protein in pulmonary surfactant, is required for the stabilization of surfactant films in the lung and maintenance of postnatal lung function. Although the association between SP-B polymorphisms and the risk of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) has been evaluated, the results have been inconsistent. We investigated the association between SP-B polymorphisms and the risk of neonatal RDS.Methods: Relevant studies were systematically searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) electronic databases until June 2022. Data were collected independently by two reviewers and converted to odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-analysis, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias assessment were performed using Stata 12.1 software and Review Manager 5.3.Results: Fourteen studies were included. SP-B C1580T polymorphism was significantly associated with neonatal RDS in five genetic models (T vs. C: OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.57-0.86, I2 = 78%; TT vs. CC: OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.53-0.86, I2 = 39%; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.50-0.84, I2 = 54%; TT + CT vs. CC: OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.49-0.78, I2 = 59%; TT vs. CC + CT: OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.91, I2 = 43%). The CT and TT genotypes may decrease the risk of RDS in neonates. Subgroup analyses revealed that the association of SP-B C1580T polymorphism with neonatal RDS was stable, independent of preterm birth and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In addition, the Han Chinese were more likely to be affected by SP-B C1580T polymorphisms than Caucasians and Finnish.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that SP-B C1580T polymorphism may be a protective factor against neonatal RDS.

Contributions of meteorology and nutrient to the surface cyanobacterial blooms at different timescales in the shallow eutrophic Lake Taihu.

Quantitative assessments of the contributions of various environmental factors to cyanobacterial blooms at different timescales are lacking. Here, the hourly cyanobacterial bloom intensity (CBI) index, a proxy for the intensity of surface cyanobacterial biomass, was obtained from the geostationary satellite sensor Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) over the years 2011-2018. Generalized additive model was applied to determine the responses of monthly and hourly CBI to the perturbations of meteorological factors, water stability and nutrients, with variation partitioning analysis used to analyze the relative importance of the three groups of variables to the inter-monthly variation of diurnal CBI in each season. The effects of environmental factors on surface cyanobacterial blooms varied at different timescales. Hourly CBI increased with increasing air temperature up to 18 °C but decreased sharply above 18 °C, whereas monthly CBI increased with increasing air temperature up to 30 °C and stabilized thereafter. Among all the environmental factors, air temperature had the largest contribution to the intra-daily variation in CBI; water stability had the highest explanation rate for the inter-monthly variation of diurnal CBI during summer (42.3 %) and autumn (56.9 %); total phosphorus explained the most variation in monthly CBI (18.5 %). Compared with cyanobacterial biomass (CB) in the water column, high light and low wind speed caused significantly lower CBI in July and higher CBI in November respectively. Interestingly, cyanobacterial blooms at the hourly scale were aggravated by climate warming during winter and spring but inhibited during summer and autumn. Collectively, this study reveals the effects of environmental factors on surface cyanobacterial blooms at different timescales and suggests the consideration of the hourly effect of air temperature in short-term predictions of cyanobacterial blooms.

Timing of Intravenous Prophylactic Antibiotic Agents for Cesarean Delivery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Prophylactic antibiotic administration has been used to reduce infectious morbidities in cesarean deliveries. However, no consensus on the timing has been reached. We performed this review to compare maternal and neonatal infectious morbidities of antibiotic administration before skin incision and after cord clamping. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the use of antibiotic agents pre-operatively and after cord clamping were included. Characteristics and results of the included studies were extracted, and risks of bias were assessed. A fixed-effect model was applied to estimate the relative risks (RRs) for outcomes. Results: Sixteen RCTs, including 8,027 women and 7,131 newborns, met the selection criteria. Pre-operative administration of antibiotic agents was associated with a reduction in the risk of endometritis (RR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37-0.72) and wound complications (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.42-0.69), compared with administration after cord clamping. No differences were observed in the rate of febrile illness (RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.59-1.05), urinary tract infection (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.64-1.32), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.79-1.12), and neonatal sepsis (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.61-1.14). Conclusions: The present study showed that prophylactic antibiotic agent administration before skin incision can reduce the risk of endometritis and wound complications while not increasing that of NICU admission and neonatal sepsis compared with administration after cord clamping.

Long-term remote observations of particulate organic phosphorus concentration in eutrophic Lake Taihu based on a novel algorithm.

Monitoring the long-term spatiotemporal variations in particulate organic phosphorus concentration (CPOP) is imperative for clarifying the phosphorus cycle and its biogeochemical behavior in waters. However, little attention has been devoted to this owing to a lack of suitable bio-optical algorithms that allow the application of remote sensing data. In this study, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, a novel absorption-based algorithm of CPOP was developed for eutrophic Lake Taihu, China. The algorithm yielded a promising performance with a mean absolute percentage error of 27.75% and root mean square error of 21.09 µg/L. The long-term MODIS-derived CPOP demonstrated an overall increasing pattern over the past 19 years (2003-2021) and a significant temporal heterogeneity in Lake Taihu, with higher value in summer (81.97 ± 3.81 µg/L) and autumn (82.07 ± 3.8 µg/L), and lower CPOP in spring (79.52 ± 3.81 µg/L) and winter (78.74 ± 3.8 µg/L). Spatially, relatively higher CPOP was observed in the Zhushan Bay (85.87 ± 7.5 µg/L), whereas the lower value was observed in the Xukou Bay (78.95 ± 3.48 µg/L). In addition, significant correlations (r > 0.6, P < 0.05) were observed between CPOP and air temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration and cyanobacterial blooms areas, demonstrating that CPOP was greatly influenced by air temperature and algal metabolism. This study provides the first record of the spatial-temporal characteristics of CPOP in Lake Taihu over the past 19 years, and the CPOP results and regulatory factors analyses could provide valuable insights for aquatic ecosystem conservation.

Association between genetic polymorphisms of leptin receptor and preeclampsia in Chinese women.

OBJECTIVE: Leptin signaling plays an important role in regulating metabolism and reproduction. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between polymorphisms of leptin receptor (LEPR) gene A223G and A668G and preeclampsia (PE) and evaluated influences of genotypes on clinical, metabolic, and oxidative stress indices in Chinese women. METHODS: This is a case-control study including 322 patients with PE and 1295 healthy pregnant women. The two polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragments length polymorphism method. Clinical and biochemical parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: The frequencies of the AA + AG genotypes (28.6% vs. 36.1%) and A allele (14.9% vs. 19.8%) of LEPR A223G polymorphism, and those of the AA + AG genotypes (17.7% vs. 24.6%) and A allele (9.0% vs. 12.9%) of LEPR A668G polymorphism were significantly lower in the PE group than those in the control group. The 223A and 668A alleles were protective factors against PE in the regression model, which included age and delivery body mass index as covariates (OR = 0.684, 95% CI: 0.506-0.926, p = .014; OR = 0.650, 95% CI: 0.456-0.927, p = .017, respectively). When the 668GG/223GG combined genotype served as the reference category, the 668A/223A combined allele had further enhanced the protective effect on PE (OR = 0.558, 95% CI: 0.374-0.833, p = .004). Patients possessing the LEPR 223A allele had higher total antioxidant capacity and lower oxidative stress index (p < .05), while those with the LEPR 668A allele had higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (p = .045) compared with those carrying the corresponding GG genotype. CONCLUSIONS: The 223A and 668A alleles of LEPR polymorphisms are genetic protective factors for PE in Chinese women. The two alleles may exert a beneficial effect on oxidative stress and lipid metabolism in patients.

Effect of maleylation and denaturation of human serum albumin on its interaction with scavenger receptors.

The specific recognition of serum proteins by scavenger receptors is critical and fundamental in many biological processes. However, the underlying mechanism of scavenger receptor-serum protein interaction remains elusive. In this work, taking scavenger receptors class A1 (SR-A1) as an example, we systematically investigate its interaction with human serum albumin (HSA) at different states through a combination of molecular docking and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that native HSA can moderately bind to collagen-like (CL) region or scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) region, with both electrostatic (ELE) and van der Waals (VDW) interactions, playing important roles. After maleylation, the binding energy, particularly the ELE energy, between HSA and CL region is significantly enhanced, while the binding energy between HSA and SRCR region remains nearly unchanged. Additionally, we also observe that unfolding of the secondary structures in HSA leads to a larger contact surface area between denatured HSA and CL region, but has little impact on the HSA-SRCR region interaction. Therefore, similar to maleylated HSA, denatured HSA is also more likely to bind to the CL region of SR-A1.