Application of Urethral Contrast Computed Tomography Three-Dimensional Imaging in the Postoperative Assessment of Prostate Hyperplasia.

This study assesses the morphological effectiveness of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) surgery using multislice spiral computed tomography three-dimensional imaging (CT3D) with urethral contrast. Twenty-five male patients with BPH and bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) who underwent bipolar transurethral resection of the prostate were selected. Preoperative and postoperative CT3D indicators of retrograde and voiding cystourethrography, including bladder neck diameter, length of the posterior urethra, and degree of prostate protrusion into the bladder and upper and lower diameter of the prostate were used to assess bladder neck and posterior urethra morphology and BOO severity. In addition, preoperative and postoperative International Prostate Symptom Scores and maximum urine flow rates were compared. Postoperative CT3D was used to evaluate changes following obstruction relief postsurgery. Preoperative CT3D indicated significant BOO, whereas postoperative imaging showed improved patency but with irregular posterior urethral lumens and varying degrees of residual glandular tissue. Comparative analysis of preoperative and postoperative bladder outlet metrics revealed significant changes (p < .05). Urethral contrast CT3D effectively visualizes the prostate, bladder neck, and prostatic urethra. It quantifies changes in the urethral lumen postsurgery, correlating the extent of posterior urethral lumen spaciousness with urinary flow rates.

Inhibition of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5 can prevent cardiac fibrosis after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) leads to enhanced activity of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and abnormal deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in cardiac fibrosis. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5 (ACP5) has been shown to promote cell proliferation and phenotypic transition. However, it remains unclear whether ACP5 is involved in the development of cardiac fibrosis after MI. The present study aimed to investigate the role of ACP5 in post-MI fibrosis and its potential underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Clinical blood samples were collected to detect ACP5 concentration. Myocardial fibrosis was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The ACP5 inhibitor, AubipyOMe, was administered by intraperitoneal injection. Cardiac function and morphological changes were observed on Day 28 after injury. Cardiac CFs from neonatal mice were extracted to elucidate the underlying mechanism in vitro. The expression of ACP5 was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and overexpressed by adeno-associated viruses to evaluate its effect on CF activation. RESULTS: The expression of ACP5 was increased in patients with MI, mice with MI, and mice with Ang II-induced fibrosis in vitro. AubipyOMe inhibited cardiac fibrosis and improved cardiac function in mice after MI. ACP5 inhibition reduced cell proliferation, migration, and phenotypic changes in CFs in vitro, while adenovirus-mediated ACP5 overexpression had the opposite effect. Mechanistically, the classical profibrotic pathway of glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK3ß)/ß-catenin was changed with ACP5 modulation, which indicated that ACP5 had a positive regulatory effect. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of ACP5 deficiency on the GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway was counteracted by an ERK activator, which indicated that ACP5 regulated GSK3ß activity through ERK-mediated phosphorylation, thereby affecting ß-catenin degradation. CONCLUSION: ACP5 may influence the proliferation, migration, and phenotypic transition of CFs, leading to the development of myocardial fibrosis after MI through modulating the ERK/GSK3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Exploring Point-BEV Fusion for 3D Point Cloud Object Tracking with Transformer.

With the prevalent use of LiDAR sensors in autonomous driving, 3D point cloud object tracking has received increasing attention. In a point cloud sequence, 3D object tracking aims to predict the location and orientation of an object in consecutive frames. Motivated by the success of transformers, we propose Point Tracking TRansformer (PTTR), which efficiently predicts high-quality 3D tracking results in a coarse-to-fine manner with the help of transformer operations. PTTR consists of three novel designs. 1) Instead of random sampling, we design Relation-Aware Sampling to preserve relevant points to the given template during subsampling. 2) We propose a Point Relation Transformer for effective feature aggregation and feature matching between the template and search region. 3) Based on the coarse tracking results, we employ a novel Prediction Refinement Module to obtain the final refined prediction through local feature pooling. In addition, motivated by the favorable properties of the Bird's-Eye View (BEV) of point clouds in capturing object motion, we further design a more advanced framework named PTTR++, which incorporates both the point-wise view and BEV representation to exploit their complementary effect in generating high-quality tracking results. PTTR++ substantially boosts the tracking performance on top of PTTR with low computational overhead. Extensive experiments over multiple datasets show that our proposed approaches achieve superior 3D tracking accuracy and efficiency. Code will be available at https://github.com/Jasonkks/PTTR.

Meteorin-like (METRNL) attenuates hypertensive induced cardiac hypertrophy by inhibiting autophagy via activating BRCA2.

Hypertension, a prevalent cardiovascular ailment globally, can precipitate numerous complications, notably hypertensive cardiomyopathy. Meteorin-like (METRNL) is demonstrated to possess potential protective properties on cardiovascular diseases. However, its specific role and underlying mechanism in hypertensive myocardial hypertrophy remain elusive. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) served as hypertensive models to explore the effects of METRNL on hypertension and its induced myocardial hypertrophy. The research results indicate that, in contrast to Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, SHRs exhibit significant symptoms of hypertension and myocardial hypertrophy, but cardiac-specific overexpression (OE) of METRNL can partially ameliorate these symptoms. In H9c2 cardiomyocytes, METRNL suppresses Ang II-induced autophagy by controlling the BRCA2/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. But when BRCA2 expression is knocked down, this effect will be suppressed. Collectively, METRNL emerges as a potential therapeutic target for hypertensive cardiomyopathy.

Gd3 TeBO9 : A Rare-Earth Borate with Significant Magnetocaloric Effect.

Magnetic refrigeration technology based on Gd-based paramagnets is expected to be applied to refrigeration in extremely low temperatures, thereby reducing the consumption of liquid helium. Here, we obtained a compound, Gd3 TeBO9 with high Gd3+ concentration through element substitution. The Gd3+ concentration in this compound is as high as 2.4×1024  ions/kg, which is 33 % higher than the commercial Gd3 Ga5 O12 (GGG), and further magnetic tests show that Gd3 TeBO9 has a large magnetic entropy change (57.44 J/(kg K) and 408 mJ/(cm3 K) at 2.6 K and 7 T), which is 1.5 times that of GGG, implying the possibility of its further development as an potential magnetocaloric material.

Repeated intravenous thrombolysis in recurrent ischemic stroke within 3 months: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Repeated intravenous thrombolysis (RIVT) within 3 months is an off-guideline therapy, however, may be an effective and safe way to treat early recurrent ischemic stroke. This study was conducted to assess the potential influencing factors on the efficacy and safety of RIVT in recurrent ischemic stroke within 3 months and to explore the strategy of RIVT within 3 months. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Database were searched for cases of RIVT in recurrent ischemic stroke within 3 months up to February 1, 2023. Clinical characteristics were compared and analyzed between the good-outcome and poor-outcome groups and between the symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and non-sICH groups respectively. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies including 24 cases of RIVT within 3 months were retrospectively analyzed in the present study. The patients' ages ranged from 42 to 87 years (median 73.5 years) and the intervals between thrombolysis were from 0.25 to 90 days (median 9.5 days). Comparing the clinical characteristics between the good-outcome group and the poor-outcome group, no statistically significant differences were found (P > 0.05), but the differences in baseline National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score of the recurrent stroke (P = 0.056) and good outcome after the previous IVT (P = 0.054) nearly reached statistical significance. Comparing the data between the non-sICH group and the sICH group, statistically significant differences were found in terms of the proportion of cardiogenic embolism (P = 0.036), baseline NIHSS score in the recurrent stroke (P = 0.007) and the interval between thrombolysis (P = 0.041), but no significant difference was found by regression analysis. CONCLUSION: In patients with recurrent ischemic stroke within 3 months, those with a good outcome after the previous IVT and a low baseline NIHSS score in the recurrent stroke may be considered for RIVT, whereas those with a high baseline NIHSS score, a short interval between thrombolysis, and cardiogenic embolism may suffer a higher risk of sICH. Due to sample size and publication bias, more studies with larger sample sizes and more rigorous designs are needed to confirm this conclusion.

Comparative efficacy and safety of six non-ergot dopamine-receptor agonists in early Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: Non-ergot dopamine agonists (NEDAs) have been used as monotherapy or as an adjunctive therapy to levodopa for many years. Novel long-acting formulations of NEDAs including pramipexole extended-release (ER), ropinirole prolonged-release (PR), and rotigotine transdermal patch have been developed. However, there is no strong evidence that a given NEDA is more potent than another. We performed a systematic review and network meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability and safety of six commonly used NEDAs in early Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: Six NEDAs including piribedil, rotigotine transdermal patch, pramipexole immediate-release (IR)/ER, and ropinirole IR/PR were investigated. The efficacy outcomes including Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale activities in daily life (UPDRS-II), motor function (UPDRS-III), and their subtotal (UPDRS-II + III), tolerability and safety outcomes were analyzed. Results: A total of 20 RCTs (5,355 patients) were included in the current study. The result indicated that compared with placebo, all six investigated drugs had statistically significant differences in the improvement of UPDRS-II, UPDRS-III, and UPDRS-II + III (except ropinirole PR in UPDRS-II). There were no statistically significant differences between six NEDAs for the UPDRS-II and UPDRS-III. For UPDRS-II + III, the improvement of ropinirole IR/PR and piribedil were higher than that of rotigotine transdermal patch, and piribedil was higher than that of pramipexole IR. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that piribedil resulted in best improvement in UPDRS-II and UPDRS-III (0.717 and 0.861, respectively). For UPDRS-II + III, piribedil and ropinirole PR exhibited similar improvement and both had high rates (0.858 and 0.878, respectively). Furthermore, piribedil performed better as monotherapy, ranking first in the improvement of UPDRS-II, III, and II + III (0.922, 0.960, and 0.941, separately). With regard to tolerability, there was a significant increase in overall withdrawals with pramipexole ER (0.937). In addition, the incidence of adverse reaction of ropinirole IR was relatively high (nausea: 0.678; somnolence: 0.752; dizziness: 0.758; fatigue: 0.890). Conclusions: In this systematic review and network meta-analysis of six NEDAs, piribedil exhibited better efficacy, especially as monotherapy, and ropinirole IR was associated with a higher incidence of adverse events in patients with early PD.

Large Difference in Nonlinear Optical Activity of Rare Earth Ion Substitution of Bi3+ in A3TeBO9 (A = Bi, La, Pr, Nd, Sm-Dy).

A series of oxides with high rare earth contents, RE3TeBO9 (RE = La, Pr, Nd, Sm-Dy), were synthesized, and they all crystallize in the noncentrosymmetric space group P63 resembling that of a previously reported Bi3TeBO9 (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 14190-14193), which showed a very strong second harmonic generation (SHG) signal believed to come from all three structural units [BO3], [TeO6], and [BiO6]. Surprisingly, compared with the isostructural compound Bi3TeBO9, both theoretical calculations and powder SHG tests show that RE3TeBO9 has an abnormally small SHG effect (0.2 × KDP). Based on the group theory analysis, the possible reasons are attributed to the misalignments and lack of distortions of the [BO3], [TeO6], and [REO8] groups in the unit cell. The 21 symmetric operation (a subset operation of the 63-screw axis) of the [TeO6], [BO3], and [REO8] groups leads to complete cancellation of their contributions to the xy directions, while the absence of lone pair electrons in RE3+ and Te6+ results in small distortion in the c axis, hence small contributions to the SHG coefficients dijk involving the z axis. Diffuse reflectance spectra of RE3TeBO9 (RE = La, Pr, Nd, Sm-Dy) show typical absorption of different RE3+, and the similarity of their infrared spectra is due to the same crystal structure and same structural units of the [TeO6] and [BO3] groups. The strong fluorescence intensities of Eu3TeBO9 and Tb3TeBO9 show the characteristic emissions of Eu3+ and Tb3+, which may serve as luminescence materials with proper doping.

Dopamine agonists versus levodopa monotherapy in early Parkinson's disease for the potential risks of motor complications: A network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Compared with levodopa, dopamine agonists (DAs) as initial treatment are associated with lower incidences of motor complications in early Parkinson's disease (PD). There is no strong evidence that a given DA is more potent in lower incidences of motor complications than another. OBJECTIVE: We performed a network meta-analysis of levodopa versus DAs as monotherapy in early PD to access the risk of motor complications. METHODS: Databases were searched up to June 2022 for eligible RCTs. Levodopa and four DAs (pramipexole, ropinirole, bromocriptine and pergolide) were investigated. The incidences of motor complications and efficacy, tolerability and safety outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Nine RCTs (2112 patients) were included in the current study. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that levodopa ranked first in the incidence of dyskinesia (0.988), followed by pergolide, pramipexole, ropinirole, and bromocriptine (0.704, 0.408, 0.240, 0.160). Pramipexole was least prone to wearing-off (0.109) and on-off fluctuation (0.041). Levodopa performed best in improvements of UPDRS-II, UPDRS-III, and UPDRS-II + III (0.925, 0.952, 0.934). Bromocriptine ranked first in total withdrawals and withdrawals due to adverse events (0.736, 0.751). Four DAs showed different adverse events profiles. CONCLUSION: In the two non-ergot DAs, ropinirole is associated with a lower risk of dyskinesia while pramipexole is associated with lower risks of wearing-off and on-off fluctuations. Our research may facilitate head-to-head research, larger sample sizes, long following-up time RCTs to confirm the findings of this network meta-analysis.

Comprehensive Analysis of Microbiome, Metabolome, and Transcriptome Revealed the Mechanisms of Intestinal Injury in Rainbow Trout under Heat Stress.

Global warming is one of the most common environmental challenges faced by cold-water fish farming. Intestinal barrier function, gut microbiota, and gut microbial metabolites are significantly altered under heat stress, posing serious obstacles to the healthy artificial culture of rainbow trout. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying intestinal injury in rainbow trout under heat stress remain unclear. In the present study, the optimal growth temperature for rainbow trout (16 °C) was used for the control group, and the maximum temperature tolerated by rainbow trout (24 °C) was used for the heat stress group, which was subjected to heat stress for 21 days. The mechanism of intestinal injury in rainbow trout under heat stress was explored by combining animal histology, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and transcriptome sequencing. The results showed that the antioxidant capacity of rainbow trout was enhanced under heat stress, the levels of stress-related hormones were significantly increased, and the relative expression of genes related to heat stress proteins was significantly increased, indicating that the heat stress model of rainbow trout was successfully established. Secondly, the intestinal tract of rainbow trout showed inflammatory pathological characteristics under heat stress, with increased permeability, activation of the inflammatory factor signaling pathway, and increased relative expression of inflammatory factor genes, suggesting that the intestinal barrier function was impaired. Thirdly, heat stress caused an imbalance of intestinal commensal microbiota and changes in intestinal metabolites in rainbow trout, which participated in the stress response mainly by affecting lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism. Finally, heat stress promoted intestinal injury in rainbow trout by activating the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α signaling pathway. These results not only expand the understanding of fish stress physiology and regulation mechanisms, but also provide a scientific basis for healthy artificial culture and the reduction of rainbow trout production costs.

Elabela, a Novel Peptide, Exerts Neuroprotective Effects Against Ischemic Stroke Through the APJ/miR-124-3p/CTDSP1/AKT Pathway.

Elabela (ELA), which is the second endogenous peptide ligand of the apelin receptor (APJ) to be discovered, has been widely studied for potential use as a therapeutic peptide. However, its role in ischemic stroke (IS), which is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide and has limited therapeutic options, is uncertain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effects of ELA on neuron survival after ischemia and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Primary cortical neurons were isolated from the cerebral cortex of pregnant C57BL/6J mice. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence showed that ELA inhibited oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) -induced apoptosis and axonal damage in vitro. Additionally, analysis of the Gene Expression Omnibus database revealed that the expression of microRNA-124-3p (miR-124-3p) was decreased in blood samples from patients with IS, while the expression of C-terminal domain small phosphatase 1 (CTDSP1) was increased. These results indicated that miR-124-3p and CTDSP1 were related to ischemic stroke, and there might be a negative regulatory relationship between them. Then, we found that ELA significantly elevated miR-124-3p expression, suppressed CTDSP1 expression, and increased p-AKT expression by binding to the APJ receptor under OGD in vitro. A dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that CTDSP1 was a direct target of miR-124-3p. Furthermore, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of CTDSP1 exacerbated neuronal apoptosis and axonal damage and suppressed AKT phosphorylation, while treatment with ELA or miR-124-3p mimics reversed these effects. In conclusion, these results indicated that ELA could alleviate neuronal apoptosis and axonal damage by upregulating miR-124-3p and activating the CTDSP1/AKT signaling pathway. This study, for the first time, verified the protective effect of ELA against neuronal injury after ischemia and revealed the underlying mechanisms. We demonstrated the potential for the use of ELA as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Protective properties of extracellular vesicles in sepsis models: a systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies.

BACKGROUND: Multiple preclinical studies have reported a beneficial effect of extracellular vesicles (EVs), especially mesenchymal stem cells derived EVs (MSC-EVs), in the treatment of sepsis. However, the therapeutic effect of EVs is still not universally recognized. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis by summarizing data from all published studies that met certain criteria to systematically review the association between EVs treatment and mortality in animal models of sepsis. METHODS: Systematic retrieval of all studies in PubMed, Cochrane and Web of Science that reported the effects of EVs on sepsis models up to September 2022. The primary outcome was animal mortality. After screening the eligible articles according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, the inverse variance method of fixed effect model was used to calculate the joint odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan version 5.4. RESULTS: In total, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of those studies showed that EVs treatment was associated with reduced mortality in animal models of sepsis (OR 0.17 95% CI: 0.11,0.26, P < 0.001). Further subgroup analysis showed that the mode of sepsis induction, the source, dose, time and method of injection, and the species and gender of mice had no significant effect on the therapeutic effect of EVs. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis showed that MSC-EVs treatment may be associated with lower mortality in animal models of sepsis. Subsequent preclinical studies will need to address the standardization of dose, source, and timing of EVs to provide comparable data. In addition, the effectiveness of EVs in treating sepsis must be studied in large animal studies to provide important clues for human clinical trials.

Pathogenic free-living amoebic encephalitis from 48 cases in China: A systematic review.

Background: Free-living amoebae (FLA) including Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba spp., and Balamuthia mandrillaris can become pathogenic and cause severe cerebral infections, named primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), and balamuthia amoebic encephalitis (BAE), respectively. FLA encephalitis has been reported across China, but the clinical data descriptions and analytical results of these different reports vary widely. Currently, no consensus treatment has been established. We conduct a systematic review to evaluate the exposure location, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of three FLA encephalitis and aim to reveal the differences between three FLA encephalitis in China. Methods: We used MEDLINE (PubMed interface), EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, and China Biology Medicine disc (CBMdisc) databases for literatures published and manually retrieve the hospital records of our hospital. The search time was up to August 30, 2022, with no language restrictions. Results: After excluding possible duplicate cases, a total of 48 patients of three FLA encephalitis were collected. One from the medical records of our hospital and 47 patients from 31 different studies. There were 11 patients of PAM, 10 patients of GAE, and 27 patients of BAE. The onset of PAM is mostly acute or subacute, and the clinical symptoms are acute and fulminant hemorrhagic meningoencephalitis. Most patients with GAE and BAE have an insidious onset and a chronic course. A total of 21 BAE patients (77.8%) had skin lesions before onset of symptoms. Additionally, 37 cases (77.1%) were diagnosed with FLA encephalitis before death. And there were 4 of PAM, 2 of GAE, and 10 of BAE diagnosed using next generation sequencing. No single agent can be proposed as the ideal therapy by itself. Only 6 cases were successfully treated. Conclusions: This review provides an overview of the available data and studies of FLA encephalitis in China and identify some potential differences. FLA encephalitis is a rare but pathogenic infection, and physicians should early identify this encephalitis to improve survival.

Efficacy and safety of non-ergot dopamine-receptor agonists as an adjunct to levodopa in advanced Parkinson's disease: A network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Non-ergot dopamine agonists (NEDAs) have been used as an adjunct therapy to levodopa in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) for many years. However, there is no strong evidence that a given NEDA is more potent than another. To compare and rank the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of six commonly used NEDAs as an adjunct to levodopa in advanced PD, which includes long-acting and standard formulations, a network meta-analysis was performed. METHODS: The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases were searched from January 1996 to June 2022 for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Six NEDAs, including rotigotine transdermal patch, ropinirole immediate-release (IR)/prolonged-release (PR), pramipexole IR/extended-release (ER), and piribedil, were investigated. RESULTS: A total of 34 RCTs (7868 patients) were included in the current study. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve indicated that ropinirole PR was associated with the best improvement in Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)-II, UPDRS-III, and UPDRS-II + III (0.811, 0.742, and 0.827). For OFF time reduction, pramipexole IR ranked first (0.979), and ropinirole PR ranked first in OFF time responder rate (0.927). Pramipexole ER ranked first in overall withdrawals, and rotigotine transdermal patch ranked first in the incidence of adverse events (≥1 AEs). CONCLUSIONS: This network meta-analysis suggests six commonly used NEDAs are effective as an adjunct to levodopa in advanced PD. In comprehensive consideration of better symptomatic management, ropinirole PR may be a better choice than other NEDAs in advanced PD. Six NEDAs showed different profiles of AEs.

A retrospective analysis of maternal complications and newborn outcomes of general anesthesia for cesarean delivery in a single tertiary hospital in China.

BACKGROUND: Either neuraxial anesthesia or general anesthesia can be performed for cesarean delivery. Generally, neuraxial anesthesia is the first choice with the risk and benefit balance for both the mother and fetus. However, general anesthesia is also applicable most commonly in the emergent setting. This study analyzed maternal complications associated with general anesthesia for cesarean delivery and suggested lowering pregnancy-related maternal and newborn adverse outcomes. METHODS: With the approval of the Institutional Ethics Review Board (No: 2017016), data on cesarean delivery and related anesthesia were collected from the Electronic Health Record System from 1/1/2013 to 12/31/2016. Statistical software STATA version 15.1 was used for data analyses. All statistical tests were two-sided, and a level significance of 0.05 was assumed. RESULTS: The rate of general anesthesia for cesarean delivery increased steadily during 2013-2016, 3.71% in 2013 to 10.23% in 2016 (p < 0.001). Repeat cesarean delivery among general anesthesia group increased significantly from 16.22% in 2013 to 54.14% in 2016 (p < 0.001). Morbidly adherent placenta (MAP) was the first reason among pregnancy-related complications, which accounted for 33% in total in general anesthesia group (38% in 2013 to 44% in 2016). The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was used in airway management, and the proportion of LMA increased from 28.38% in 2013 to 92.99% in 2016 (p < 0.001). There were significant differences in newborn outcomes between general anesthesia and neuraxial anesthesia groups, including newborn weight, newborn Apgar score at 1 min and 5 min and newborn admission to the NICU (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The growing incidence of general anesthesia was consistent with the trend of rising repeat cesarean delivery and MAP. low newborn Apgar score and high newborn admission to the NICU in general anesthesia group compared with neuraxial anesthesia group. The LMA was performed safely for airway management with enough fasting and careful gastric volume evaluation.

Association of Gut Microbiota With Metabolism in Rainbow Trout Under Acute Heat Stress.

Global warming is one of the most common environmental challenges faced by cold-water fish farming. Heat stress seriously affects the feeding, growth, immunity, and disease resistance of fish. These changes are closely related to the destruction of intestinal barrier function, the change of intestinal microbiota, and metabolic dysfunction. However, the causal relationship between the phenotypic effects of heat stress as well as intestinal and metabolic functions of fish is unknown. In the current study, the optimal growth temperature (16°C) of rainbow trout was used as the control group, while the fish treated at 22.5°C, 23.5°C, and 24.5°C for 24 h, respectively, were the treatment groups. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis showed that with the increase in temperature, the relative abundance and diversity of intestinal microbiota decreased significantly, while the number of Mycoplasma, Firmicutes, and Tenericutes increased significantly. Non-targeted metabolomics analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and correlation analysis showed that the changes of metabolites related to amino acids, vitamins, and short-chain fatty acids in serum of rainbow trout under acute heat stress were strongly correlated with the decrease of relative abundance of various intestinal microbiota, especially Morganella, Enterobacter, Lactobacillus, Lawsonia, and Cloacibacterium. In addition, we also found that acute heat stress seriously affected the intestinal structure and barrier function, and also caused the pathological damage of epithelial cells. These results indicate that the gut microbiome of acute heat-stressed rainbow trout could mediate metabolite transfer through the gut barrier by affecting its integrity. Significant changes in gut morphology, permeability, antioxidant capacity, and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were observed. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the changes of intestinal microbiota under heat stress to help understand the regulatory mechanism of heat stress and protect the intestinal health of rainbow trout from the negative effects of rising water temperature.

RNA-Seq Analysis of the Key Long Noncoding RNAs and mRNAs Related to the Regulation of Acute Heat Stress in Rainbow Trout.

As the global climate warms, more creatures are threatened by high temperatures, especially cold-water fish such as rainbow trout. Evidence has demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a pivotal role in regulating heat stress in animals, but we have little understanding of this regulatory mechanism. The present study aimed to identify potential key lncRNAs involved in regulating acute heat stress in rainbow trout. lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles of rainbow trout head kidney were analyzed via high-throughput RNA sequencing, which exhibited that 1256 lncRNAs (802 up-regulation, 454 down-regulation) and 604 mRNAs (353 up-regulation, 251 down-regulation) were differentially expressed. These differentially expressed genes were confirmed to be primarily associated with immune regulation, apoptosis, and metabolic process signaling pathways through Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis and coding-noncoding co-expression network analysis. These results suggested that 18 key lncRNA-mRNA pairs are essential in regulating acute heat stress in rainbow trout. Overall, these analyses showed the effects of heat stress on various physiological functions in rainbow trout at the transcriptome level, providing a theoretical basis for improving the production and breeding of rainbow trout and the selection of new heat-resistant varieties.

Peptide hormone ELABELA promotes rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and migration by manipulating the cell cycle through the PI3K/AKT pathway under the hypoxia and ischemia microenvironment

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are emerging as a potential candidate for stem cell transplantation to repair myocardial tissue in myocardial infarctions (MI). However, there are some pivotal limitations such as poor survival and low migration capacity of MSCs in hypoxic and ischemic microenvironments of MI. Our previous work verified that ELABELA (also abbreviated as ELA), a peptide hormone, could play a role as a growth factor and prolong the life span of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (RAT BM-MSCs) under hypoxic and ischemic conditions. Nevertheless, the influence of ELA on the cell cycle, proliferation, and migration remains elusive. This study will further explore the improvement of the biological functions of ELA-treated RAT BM-MSCs, so as to provide a reference for improving the efficacy of RAT BM-MSCs in MI. METHODS: Rat BM-MSCs were isolated from 80 to 120 g Sprague Dawley rats by flushing femurs and tibias under the aseptic condition. RAT BM-MSCs of the third passage were divided into control group, hypoxic/ischemic (H/I) group, ELA group, ELA-LY group and LY group. RAT BM-MSCs were cultured under normoxia in control group. In H/I group, RAT BM-MSCs were exposed to hypoxia (1% O2) and serum deprivation for 24 h. RAT BM-MSCs in ELA group were treated with 5 µM ELA prior to the H/I exposure for 24 h. The PI3K/AKT inhibitor, LY294002 (50 µM), was used in ELA-LY group and LY group to observe the effect of ELA on PI3K/AKT activation. Cell proliferation ability was examined by CCK-8. Cell cycle was assessed with flow cytometry. Cell migration was evaluated by Transwell assay. Expression levels of total-AKT, phosphorylated-AKT, and cell cycle-associated proteins were examined by Western blotting. RESULTS: ELA-treated RAT BM-MSCs exhibited significantly higher proliferation ability, cell viability, and migration under H/I conditions. The cell cycle analysis showed that an increased proportion of cells in the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle were observed in ELA-treated RAT BM-MSCs. The addition of ELA activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Additionally, upon treating with the inhibitor of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, ELA-triggered proliferation, cell viability, and migration were abrogated. CONCLUSIONS: ELA can be used to enhance the proliferation ability, cell viability, and migration of RAT BM-MSCs through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and alleviate cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase under hypoxic and ischemic injury. Thus, this study provides a promising strategy that ELA may help to optimize the mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy in MI.

Multifunctional cotton with PANI-Ag NPs heterojunction for solar-driven water evaporation.

Water evaporation using photothermal materials is a cost-effective and sustainable technology for alleviating the world's freshwater crisis, but oil contaminants and organic pollutants exist in the original water sources, which severely degrade the evaporation performance and pose environmental hazards. In this paper, we demonstrate a photothermal material (multifunctional cotton) that simultaneously demonstrates oil-resistance, organic pollutant removal, and a high water evaporation rate. A Schottky heterostructure was formed between polyaniline (PANI) and Ag NPs, which improved the photothermal conversion and achieved a water evaporation rate of 1.37 kg m-2 h-1 and photothermal conversion efficiency of 84.7% under one-sun illumination (1 kW m-2). Notably, various organic pollutants in the water source were thoroughly removed by visible-light catalytic degradation and adsorption, which displayed efficiencies of 99.3% and 97%, respectively. The multifunctional cotton also possessed excellent superoleophobicity, and repelled oil contaminants and organic pollutants in water. Considering these merits, the as-prepared multifunctional cotton is an outstanding candidate for water evaporation from various sources.