[Effects of alternate-day modified fasting combined exercise on fat reducing and the FNDC5/Irisin-UCP1 pathway].

OBJECTIVE: The effects of Alternate-day modified fasting combined exercise on fat mass, muscle mass, and serum Irisin, FNDC5 and UCP1 proteins were investigated in rats with 4 weeks of aerobic exercise and modified alternate-day fasting intervention. METHODS: Thirty-two healthy 8-week-old SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, exercise group, alternate-day modified fasting and alternate-day modified fasting combined with exercise group, 8 rats in each group. The exercise group performed treadmill exercise with moderate exercise intensity(60 min/d,5 d/w), the alternate-day modified fasting group alternated between fasting and free feeding every other day, and fed 25% basal energy feed on fasting days, and the alternate-day modified fasting combined exercise group received two combined interventions. After 4 weeks of intervention, the body fat rate of rats was measured by apical blood sampling and abdominal aortic blood sampling, and the serum was preserved and centrifuged, and the wet weights of bilateral gastrocnemius, bilateral perirenal fat and brown fat at the scapula were weighed, and samples were collected for paraffin sectioning and HE staining, and the cell areas were counted; serum Irisin levels were measured by ELISA, and FNDC5 protein expression in gastrocnemius and UCP1 protein expression in adipose tissue were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of intervention, compared with the Con group, energy intake, body weight and body fat were decreased significantly in the Exer, ADMF and ADMF-Exer groups (P＜0.05), the wet weight/body weight and adipocyte area of white fat were reduced significantly (P＜0.01), and there was no significant difference in scapular fat wet weight/body weight (P＞0.05). Compared with the Con group, the gastrocnemius wet weight/body weight in the ADMF group was reduced significantly (P＜0.05), while that in the ADMF-Exer group was increased significantly (P＜0.05), the muscle cross-sectional areas in the Exer group and the ADMF-Exer group were increased (P＜0.05), and the content of gastrocnemius FNDC5 protein, serum Irisin level and expression of adipose UCP1 protein in the ADMF-Exer group were increased significantly (P＜0.05). After 4 weeks of intervention, energy intake was reduced significantly in both ADMF and ADMF-Exer groups (P＜0.01) and body weight of ADMF-Exer group was decreased (P＜0.05) compared with the Exer group. Compared with the Exer group, there were no significant differences in body fat content, white fat wet weight/body weight and scapular fat wet weight/body weight between ADMF group and ADMF-Exer group (P＞0.05), and adipocyte area in ADMF-Exer group was reduced significantly (P＜0.05). Compared with the Exer group, the gastrocnemius muscle wet weight/body weight was reduced significantly in the ADMF group (P＜0.05), and the expression of FNDC5 protein, serum Irisin and adipose UCP1 protein in the ADMF-Exer group were increased significantly compared with the Exer group (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: Alternate-day modified fasting combined with exercise intervention can effectively control body weight and reduce body fat in rats, and the mechanism may be through the FNDC5/Irisin-UCP1 pathway to induce browning of white adipose tissue and increase thermogenesis of brown fat.

[A multicenter study of the birth condition of preterm infants and the causes of preterm birth in Henan Province, China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the birth condition of preterm infants and the causes of preterm birth in Henan Province, China, and to provide a basis for the prevention and treatment of preterm birth. METHODS: An epidemiological investigation was conducted for live-birth preterm infants who were born in 53 hospitals in 17 cities of Henan Province from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 to investigate the incidence rate of preterm birth, the distribution of gestational age and birth weight, the use of antenatal glucocorticoids, and the causes of preterm birth. RESULTS: The incidence rate of preterm birth was 5.84% (12 406/212 438) in the 53 hospitals. The proportions of preterm infants with gestational ages of < 28 weeks, 28 - < 32 weeks, 32 - < 34 weeks, and 34 - < 37 weeks were 1.58% (196/12 406), 11.46% (1 422/12 406), 15.18% (1 883/12 406), and 71.78% (8 905/12 406) respectively. The proportions of preterm infants with birth weights of < 1 000 g, 1 000- < 1 500 g, 1 500- < 2 500 g, 2 500- < 4 000 g, and ≥ 4 000 g were 1.95% (240/12 313), 8.54% (1 051/12 313), 49.53% (6 099/12 313), 39.59% (4 875/12 313), and 0.39% (48/12 313) respectively. The infants born by natural labor accounted for 28.76% (3 568/12 406), and those born by cesarean section accounted for 70.38% (8 731/12 406). The rate of use of antenatal glucocorticoids was 52.52% (6 293/11 983) for preterm infants and 68.69% (2 319/3 376) for the preterm infants with a gestational age of < 34 weeks. Iatrogenic preterm labor was the leading cause of preterm birth[40.06% (4 915/12 270)], followed by spontaneous preterm birth[30.16% (3 701/12 270)] and preterm birth due to premature rupture of membranes[29.78% (3 654/12 270)]. The top three causes of iatrogenic preterm birth were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy[47.12% (2 316/4 915)], fetal intrauterine distress[22.85% (1 123/4 915)], and placenta previa/placental abruption[18.07% (888/4 915)]. CONCLUSIONS: There is a relatively low incidence rate of preterm birth in Henan Province, and late preterm infants account for a relatively high proportion. Iatrogenic preterm birth is the main cause of preterm birth in Henan Province, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and fetal intrauterine distress are the main causes of iatrogenic preterm birth.

[Risk factors for poor prognosis of neonatal bacterial meningitis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors for poor prognosis of neonatal bacterial meningitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 152 children with neonatal bacterial meningitis. According to their prognosis, they were divided into a good prognosis group with 122 children and a poor prognosis group with 30 children. The two groups were compared in terms of general status, initial symptoms, and laboratory findings, and the risk factors for poor prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the good prognosis group, the poor prognosis group had a significantly higher proportion of children with a very low birth weight, a peripheral blood white blood cell count (WBC) of <5×109/L or >20×109/L, a C-reactive protein level of >50 mg/L, a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) WBC of >500×106/L, a CSF glucose level of <1 mmol/L, or a CSF protein level of >2 g/L, as well as significantly higher positive rates of blood culture and/or CSF culture, Gram-positive bacteria, and Streptococcus agalactiae (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a CSF glucose level of <1 mmol/L and a CSF protein level of >2 g/L were independent risk factors for poor prognosis of neonatal bacterial meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: A CSF glucose level of <1 mmol/L and a CSF protein level of >2 g/L are risk factors for poor prognosis of neonatal bacterial meningitis.

Clinical significance of androgen receptor expression in triple negative breast cancer-an immunohistochemistry study.

Androgen receptor (AR) is closely associated with the occurrence and progression of breast cancer; however, the clinical significance of it in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been controversial. There is a limited amount of research regarding the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on AR expression. By examining the expression of AR in patients with TNBC, the aim of the present study is to explore the clinical significance of AR and provide evidence for AR-directed treatment in TNBC. A total of 188 patients with primary TNBC with complete medical records were included in this retrospective study. Tumor sections from 41 patients (21.8%) were positive for AR, which was more often detected in small tumors (P=0.042) and cases with no lymph node involvement (P=0.032). Among them, 102 were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). A total of 17 patients (16.7%) exhibited pathological complete response. However, the patient response was irrelevant to AR expression. Matched pathological tissues before and after NAC were collected for 49 cases, suggesting an enrichment of AR-expressing tumors following chemotherapy (P=0.008). Further analysis indicated that AR expression had no correlation with the disease-free and overall survival of patients with general TNBC; rather, it predicted a poor survival of the patients with stage III TNBC in comparison with those at earlier stages (P=0.035). AR expression occurs more often in small TNBC tumors or in cases with no lymph node metastasis. It is associated with a poor prognosis of the patients with advanced stages of tumors.

Investigation of a high-pressure pressed powder pellet technique for the analysis of coal by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

Using the proposed high-pressure pressed powder pellet technique, a coal sample was pressed into an ideal pellet without binders, which provides a solution to the poor self-binding quality of coal for the determination by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The pellet produced by this method was more compact and smoother, which was particularly meaningful for spectrometer, where the sample is placed over the tube window. Additionally, the high-pressure sample preparation technique effectively eliminated the effect of falling powder and contamination in the Measuring chamber of the spectrometer. Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (WDXRF) was applied successfully to the determination of carbon, nitrogen and ash content in coal samples. This could provide an alternative method for the rapid analysis of carbon, nitrogen and ash content in the coal rather than the combustion method or the high-frequency infrared absorption with a slow ashing method. Furthermore, WDXRF could provide simultaneous determination of other major, minor and trace elements by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The XRF results indicated that the sensitivity, precision, and limit of detection for most components were improved when the coal sample was pressed at 1600kN compared with preparation at 400kN.

[Determination of Trace Germanium in Plant Samples by Dry Ashing-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry].

To reduce the limit of detection (LOD) and allow the accurate determination of Ge, a dry ashing method was performed to enrich the Ge in plant samples. A method for the determination.of trace Ge in plant samples by HG-AFS was established. Study of the effect of temperature on the ashing of plant samples showed that no volatile loss of Ge occurred even at 900 °C. Additional experiments indicated that a 4 h burning process at 600 °C would be sufficient to fully ash the plant samples. Various digestion methods (involving nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and sulfuric acid digestion methods) for ashed samples were investigated. High-temperature ashing with large sample weights was used, which could reduce the reagent doses and the method's LOD effectively and simultaneously, the precision of the method was improved. The method's LOD was 0.27 ng · g(-1), and the relative standard deviation was 3.99%-6.81%. Verified with national biological reference materials (grade I), the proposed method was accurate and reliable.

Application of the Zr/Hf ratio in the determination of hafnium in geochemical samples by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Hafnium content and its change are of significance in geochemistry and cosmochemistry; however, the determination of hafnium has always been problematic in analytical chemistry. In this paper, a new idea is proposed for the determination of hafnium in geochemical samples, including rocks, soils, and stream sediments. Through the comparison of two conventional open-type acid digestion methods (HF-HNO3-HClO4 and HF-HNO3-H2SO4), it was found that although neither of these methods could fully digest the zirconium and hafnium in a sample, the zirconium and hafnium digestion behaviors in one sample were consistent in the 60 experimental geochemical reference materials with different properties, so the experimentally determined Zr/Hf ratio in solution could be used to calculate the hafnium content in a sample. In addition, possible mass spectral interferences during the determination of zirconium and hafnium by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICPMS) were studied, and it was found that the mass spectral interferences of the selected isotopes (90)Zr and (178)Hf could be neglected. The mass spectral behaviors of (90)Zr and (178)Hf were also very consistent during the determination by HR-ICPMS. Since the hafnium content was calculated using the ratio value, all of the errors (including the errors in weighing process, the accidental errors during operation and the instrument fluctuation in the determination) of the Zr/Hf ratio could be effectively reduced or even eliminated. The relative standard deviation of the actual samples was lower than 3.2%, and the detection limit of the method (considering the dilution effect and matrix effect during measurement of the Zr/Hf ratio and zirconium content) was 0.04 µg/g. The proposed method could satisfy the requirement for the determination of hafnium in geochemical samples.