Obstetrical and oncological outcomes of twin pregnancies with hydatidiform mole and coexisting fetus.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the obstetrical and oncological progression of twin pregnancies with hydatidiform mole coexisting fetus (HMCF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a retrospective method based on patients from the Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine database between January 1990 and October 2020, 17 patients were histologically confirmed as having HMCF, and the patients' prenatal diagnosis, outcomes and development of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) were reviewed. RESULTS: Among these 17 cases, 11 (64.71%) cases were complete hydatidiform mole coexisting fetus (CHMCF), and 6 (35.29%) cases were partial hydatidiform mole coexisting fetus (PHMCF). The gestational age at diagnosis of CHMCF was significantly earlier than that of PHMCF [9 (8-24) vs. 18 (11-32) weeks, respectively, P < 0.05]. The live birth rate of PHMCF was slightly higher than that of CHMCF (33.33%; 18.18%), but this difference was not statistically significant. The overall rate of GTN incidence of HMCF was 47.06% (8/17), and the GTN rates of PHMCF and CHMCF were 33.33% (2/6) and 54.55% (6/11), respectively. There was no significant difference in the GTN rate between patients who chose to continue pregnancy and those who terminated pregnancy before 24 weeks of gestation. The GTN rate of patients with term delivery was not significantly higher than that of preterm delivery. CONCLUSION: In HMCF cases, the incidence rate of CHMCF was higher than that of PHMCF, and PHMCF is more difficult to diagnose in the early stage. Continuing pregnancy does not increase the risk of GTN compared to terminating pregnancy. In cases of HMCF, when the fetal karyotype is normal and maternal complications are controlled, it is safe to continue the pregnancy and extend it to term.

Screen-Printed Flexible Thermoelectric Device Based on Hybrid Silver Selenide/PVP Composite Films.

In recent years, the preparation of flexible thermoelectric generators by screen printing has attracted wide attention due to easy processing and high-volume production. In this work, we propose an n-type Ag2Se/polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) film based on screen printing and investigate the effect of PVP on thermoelectric performance by varying the ratio of PVP. When the content ratio of Ag2Se to PVP is 30:1, i.e., PI30, the fabricated PI30 film has the best thermoelectric property. The maximum power factor (PF) of the PI30 is 4.3 µW·m-1·K-2, and conductivity reaches 81% of its initial value at 1500 bending cycles. Then, the film thermoelectric generator (F-TEG) fabricated by PI30 is tested for practical application; the output voltage and the maximum output power are 21.6 mV and 233.3 nW at the temperature difference of 40 K, respectively. This work demonstrates that the use of PVP combined with screen printing to prepare F-TEG is a simple and rapid method, which provides an efficient preparation solution for the development of environmentally friendly and wearable flexible thermoelectric devices.

Thermoelectric properties of flexible PEDOT:PSS-based films tuned by SnSe via the vacuum filtration method.

In this study, flexible thermoelectric tin selenide (SnSe)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite films have been fabricated by the vacuum filtration method, and their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The electrical conductivities of the composite films have a tendency to decrease with an increase in the SnSe content, while their Seebeck coefficients have an inverse tendency. The electrical conductivities decrease gradually with an increase in temperature, while the Seebeck coefficients show a tendency to increase first and then decrease with the increase in temperature. The maximum power factor (PF = S 2 σ) of the composite film is obtained when the SnSe content is 10 wt%, which is 24.42 µW m-1 K-2 at 353 K. Besides, the 10 wt% SnSe/PEDOT:PSS film exhibited excellent stability with only a 9% increase in resistance after 1000 bends under a bending radius of 4 mm. When the temperature gradient is 50 K, a flexible thermoelectric generator fabricated by 3 legs of the 10 wt% SnSe/PEDOT:PSS film has an open-circuit voltage and maximum output electrical power of 3.2 mV and 13.73 nW, respectively, which demonstrates a great potential application to power wearable flexible electronic devices.

Mitochondria and oxidative stress in ovarian endometriosis.

Endometriosis is associated with inflammatory reaction, and reactive oxidative species (ROS) are highly pro-inflammatory factors. Mitochondria are responsible for the production of ROS and energy. However, little is known about how mitochondria regulate ROS generation and energy metabolism in endometriosis. In our study, we investigated mitochondrial structure and function of ectopic endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) in ovarian endometriosis. We found mitochondria in ectopic ESCs generated more ROS and energy than controlled groups. Mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (SOD2), as an antioxidant enzyme, was found highly expressed in ectopic endometrium compared with normal endometrium. Due to its antioxidant role, SOD2 promoted the development of endometriosis by maintaining functional mitochondria to support high energetic metabolism of ectopic ESCs. We also showed that SOD2 promoted cell proliferation and migration in ovarian endometriosis. Inhibiting SOD2 expression reduced proliferation and migration of ectopic ESCS, and increased cell apoptosis. Therefore, understanding the role of mitochondrial dysfunction and SOD2 in ovarian endometriosis may provide new strategies to treat this disease.