Vaginal microbiota are associated with in vitro fertilization during female infertility.

The vaginal microbiome plays an essential role in the reproductive health of human females. As infertility increases worldwide, understanding the roles that the vaginal microbiome may have in infertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment outcomes is critical. To determine the vaginal microbiome composition of 1411 individuals (1255 undergoing embryo transplantation) and their associations with reproductive outcomes, clinical and biochemical features are measured, and vaginal samples are 16S rRNA sequenced. Our results suggest that both too high and too low abundance of Lactobacillus is not beneficial for pregnancy; a moderate abundance is more beneficial. A moderate abundance of Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus iners (~80%) (with a pregnancy rate of I-B: 54.35% and III-B: 57.73%) is found beneficial for pregnancy outcomes compared with a higher abundance (>90%) of Lactobacillus (I-A: 44.81% and III-A: 51.06%, respectively). The community state type (CST) IV-B (contains a high to moderate relative abundance of Gardnerella vaginalis) shows a similar pregnant ratio (48.09%) with I-A and III-A, and the pregnant women in this CST have a higher abundance of Lactobacillus species. Metagenome analysis of 71 samples shows that nonpregnant women are detected with more antibiotic-resistance genes, and Proteobacteria and Firmicutes are the main hosts. The inherent differences within and between women in different infertility groups suggest that vaginal microbes might be used to detect infertility and potentially improve IVF outcomes.

Surface Water-Groundwater Connections as Pathways for Inland Salinization of Coastal Aquifers.

Coastal agricultural zones are experiencing salinization due to accelerating rates of sea-level rise, causing reduction in crop yields and abandonment of farmland. Understanding mechanisms and drivers of this seawater intrusion (SWI) is key to mitigating its effects and predicting future vulnerability of groundwater resources to salinization. We implemented a monitoring network of pressure and specific conductivity (SC) sensors in wells and surface waters to target marsh-adjacent agricultural areas in greater Dover, Delaware. Recorded water levels and SC over a period of three years show that the mechanisms and timescales of SWI are controlled by local hydrology, geomorphology, and geology. Monitored wells did not indicate widespread salinization of deep groundwater in the surficial aquifer. However, monitored surface water bodies and shallow (<4 m deep) wells did show SC fluctuations due to tides and storm events, in one case leading to salinization of deeper (18 m deep) groundwater. Seasonal peaks in SC occurred during late summer months. Seasonal and interannual variation of SC was also influenced by relative sea level. The data collected in this study data highlight the mechanisms by which surface water-groundwater connections lead to salinization of aquifers inland, before SWI is detected in deeper groundwater nearer the coastline. Sharing of our data with stakeholders has led to the implementation of SWI mitigation efforts, illustrating the importance of strategic monitoring and stakeholder engagement to support coastal resilience.

Flavonoids rather than alkaloids as the diagnostic constituents to distinguish Sophorae Flavescentis Radix from Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma: an HPLC fingerprint study.

Sophorae Flavescentis Radix (Sophora flavescens Ait., SFR) and Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma (S. tonkinensis Gapnep., STR) are two commonly used traditional Chinese medicines from Sophora (Leguminosae) plants, which are believed to possess similar bioactive components with entirely different clinical applications. In order to find out the characteristic chemical constituents potentially leading to the unique medicinal properties claimed for each of the two closely related TCMs, an HPLC fingerprint method was developed for analyses of the alkaloid and flavonoid constituents of SFR and STR, respectively, which were further evaluated and compared through similarity calculation and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). The results from the present study showed that the alkaloid fingerprints of the two herbs were similar, with many components co-existing in both drugs and various batches of samples from different species being mixed together in the HCA dendrogram. However, their flavonoid constituents were totally different with specific fingerprints being yielded for each herb, and further HCA analysis showed that the tested samples could almost be clearly divided into two groups based on their origins of species. The results from the present study indicated that the flavonoid constituents could serve as the differentially diagnostic constituents of SFR and STR and might potentially attributed to their distinct therapeutic effects.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of flavonoids in Sophora tonkinensis by LC/MS and HPLC.

AIM: To develop analytical methods for the identification and determination of the flavonoids in Sophora tonkinensis for comprehensive quality evaluation. METHODS: An HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS method was used for the separation and characterization of the flavonoids in S. tonkinensis, and a liquid chromatographic method was employed to simultaneously determine five major active flavonoids in this crude drug. RESULTS: Seventeen flavonoids were identified, among which, seven were unambiguously identified as trifolirhizin, quercetin, formononetin, macckiain, kurarinone, sophoranone, and sophoranochromene by comparing their retention times, and UV and MS spectra with those of the authentic compounds, and the other ten flavonoids were tentatively identified by comparing their UV and MS/MS spectra with those of literature data. Furthermore, five major active flavonoids, including trifolirhizin, quercetin, maackiain, sophoranone, and sophoranochromene were determined in S. tonkinensis. All calibration curves expressed good linearity (r > 0.999 8) within the test ranges, and the recovery from this method was 96.40%-104.43%. The developed HPLC method was successfully applied to quantitatively determine the five flavonoids in seventeen samples of S. tonkinensis. CONCLUSION: The developed method rapidly characterized the bioactive flavonoids of S. tonkinensis, and could be readily utilized to enhance the quality assurance approaches for this traditional Chinese medicine.

Examining the influence of heterogeneous porosity fields on conservative solute transport.

It is widely recognized that groundwater flow and solute transport in natural media are largely controlled by heterogeneities. In the last three decades, many studies have examined the effects of heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity fields on flow and transport processes, but there has been much less attention to the influence of heterogeneous porosity fields. In this study, we use porosity and particle size measurements from boreholes at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS) to evaluate the importance of characterizing the spatial structure of porosity and grain size data for solute transport modeling. Then we develop synthetic hydraulic conductivity fields based on relatively simple measurements of porosity from borehole logs and grain size distributions from core samples to examine and compare the characteristics of tracer transport through these fields with and without inclusion of porosity heterogeneity. In particular, we develop horizontal 2D realizations based on data from one of the less heterogeneous units at the BHRS to examine effects where spatial variations in hydraulic parameters are not large. The results indicate that the distributions of porosity and the derived hydraulic conductivity in the study unit resemble fractal normal and lognormal fields respectively. We numerically simulate solute transport in stochastic fields and find that spatial variations in porosity have significant effects on the spread of an injected tracer plume including a significant delay in simulated tracer concentration histories.

Genetic characterization and phytochemical analysis of wild and cultivated populations of Scutellaria baicalensis.

Scutellaria baicalensis was collected from four wild and four cultivated populations from different locations in China. Forty-two samples were analyzed using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) techniques for genetic profiling, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques to determine the flavonoid content. The selected 23 RAPD primers yielded a total of 838 clear and reproducible bands of which 237 were found to be polymorphic. The wild population exhibited higher polymorphism than that of the cultivated population. The dendrogram generated by the UPGMA method via Nei's genetic distance revealed three distinct genotypes from the cultivated populations and several branches from the wild populations. The contents of baicalin and wogonoside in dried roots of the samples ranged from (w/w) 8.63 to 17.84%, and from 1.99 to 4.21%, respectively, whereas their aglycones, baicalein and wogonin, were within the range of only 0.04-0.23%. The total content of the four flavonoids varied from 9.45 to 26.24%. Comparatively, the cultivated populations contained much higher levels of baicalin and total flavonoids than those in the wild populations. The results from genetic characterization and phytochemical analysis demonstrated that the quality variation of this drug was mainly determined by extrinsic environmental or agricultural factors, rather than by genetic differences. Our findings can be used for the commercial production and germplasm management of this medicinal plant.