[Contrast study of double-balloon catheter with and without oxytocin for cervical ripening].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and related issues for cervical ripening by double-balloon catheter with and without oxytocin. Methods: The prospective non-randomly control research was conducted from March 2015 to June 2017 in Yuquan Hospital of Tsinghua University. The primipara with induced labor indications and balloon placement conditions were divided into two groups. Seventy-eight cases were in the balloon with oxytocin group, in which oxytocin was used if there were no contraction 1 hour after balloon placement. Meanwhile, 220 cases were in the single balloon group. Before and after balloon placement, the changes of cervical Bishop Scores and delivery outcome were compared between the groups. Results: The effective rate of cervical ripening in the balloon with oxytocin group was higher than that in the balloon group[92.3% (72/78) vs 82.7% (182/220), P<0.05], the proportion of parturiency within 12 hours was as well[15.4% (12/78) vs 7.3% (16/220), P<0.05]. The effective rate of cervical Bishop score 4-5 points was further improved in the balloon with oxytocin group[95.7%(66/69) vs 85.1% (165/194), P<0.05]. Taken out balloon, the cervical Bishop scores (8.1±1.1) points in the balloon with oxytocin group were higher than (6.5±1.2) points in the balloon group (P<0.05). For the maternal without parturiency in the balloon with oxytocin group, the cervical Bishop score reduced from (7.7±0.9) points to (6.6±0.6) points after removal balloon for 12 hours (P<0.05). The cesarean section proportion for intrauterine infection in the balloon with oxytocin group was higher than that of the balloon group ( P<0.05), but the placental pathological diagnosis proportion was no significant difference ( P>0.05). In the two groups, the cesarean section rate, the first labor stage, the episiotomy rate, the postpartum hemorrhage rate, neonatal weight, the neonatal asphyxia and referral rate showed no significant differences (P>0.05, respectively). Conclusions: The double-balloon catheter with oxytocin can further improve the efficiency of patients with cervical Bishop score 4-5 points for cervical ripening , and increase the chance of labor in 12 hours.

[Experimental studies on correlation between nucleolus spindle-related protein 1 and the malignant progression and prognosis of human glioblastoma multiforme].

Objective: To investigate the correlation between nucleolus spindle-related protein 1 (NUSAP1) and malignant progression and prognosis of human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Methods: RT-PCR and immunohistochemical technique were applied to analyze NUSAP1 expression level in GBM surgical specimens. Correlations between NUSAP1 expression and molecular classification and survival of patients with GBM were also investigated in TCGA database. The gene silencing technique was used to silence NUSAP1 expression in U87 cells, CCK-8 assay was used to detect cell proliferation, flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle changes, and in vivo tumorigenicity was evaluated after NUSAP1 silencing in tumor-bearing mice. Results: NUSAP1 expression level in GBM was higher than that in non-tumor brain tissue. Survival curve analysis showed that the survival time of GBM patients with high NUSAP1 expression decreased significantly (P<0.01). NUSAP1 expression was relatively lower in mesenchymal and neural molecular subtypes of GBM, when compared with the other two molecular subtypes. And it was closely related with specific genetic aberrations (such as PTEN loss and IDH1 mutation). Silencing NUSAP1 inhibited G2/M cell cycle progression of GBM cells, and inhibited cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Expression of NUSAP1 is closely related to progress and prognosis of GBM, and can be a biomarker reflecting GBM prognosis and act as a therapeutic target with potential clinical application value.

A novel surface modification scheme for ITO nanocrystals by acetylene: a combined experimental and DFT study.

Many applications of Sn-doped indium oxide (ITO) films in organic electronics require appropriate surface modifications of ITO nanocrystals with small organic molecules, such as silanes, phosophonic acids and carboxylic acids, to improve interfacial contacts and charge transfer. Here, we propose a new surface modification strategy via adsorption of acetylene molecules on an oxygen-terminated ITO(100) surface using a slab crystalline model to represent the nanocrystal surface. The adsorption was first studied using density functional theory. It was found that the chemisorption of C2H2 on two types of surface oxygen dimers is highly exothermic with the calculated adsorption energies of 3.80 eV and 5.19 eV, respectively. Electron population analysis reveals the origin of the strong interaction between the adsorbate and the ITO(100) surface. Experimental studies on the synthesized ITO nanocrystals using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy confirm the predicted strong adsorption of C2H2 on ITO surfaces.