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Purposes: To investigate the effect and safety of ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) for fertility preservation in female patients with hematological diseases. Methods: We designed a retrospective study. The clinical data of patients with hematological diseases undergoing OTC admitted to Peking University People's Hospital from April 2017 to January 2023 were analyzed and summarized. Results: A total of 24 patients were included in the study, including 19 patients with malignant hematological diseases and 5 patients with non-malignant hematological diseases. The former included 14 patients with acute leukemia, 1 patient with chronic leukemia, and 4 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, while the latter 5 patients were aplastic anemia (AA). 16 patients had received chemotherapy before OTC. The average age of 24 patients was 22.80 ± 6.81 years. The average anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) was 1.97 ± 2.12 ng/mL, and the average follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) was 7.01 ± 4.24 IU/L in examination before OTC. FSH was greater than 10.0 IU/L in 4 cases. The pre-OTC laboratory tests showed that the average white blood cell (WBC) count was (3.33 ± 1.35) × 109/L, the average hemoglobin was 91.42 ± 22.84 g/L, and the average platelet was (147.38 ± 114.46) × 109/L. After injection of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF), blood transfusion, and iron supplementation in pre-OTC treatment, the average WBC count was (4.91 ± 3.07) × 109/L, the average hemoglobin was 98.67 ± 15.43 g/L, and the average platelet was (156.38 ± 103.22) × 109/L. Of the 24 patients, 22 underwent laparoscopic bilateral partial oophorectomy and oophoroplasty, and 2 underwent laparoscopic unilateral oophorectomy. The average duration of OTC was 59.54 ± 17.58 min, and the average blood loss was 32.1 ± 41.6 mL. The maximum blood loss was 200 mL. There was no significant difference in WBC count and hemoglobin concentration after OTC compared to pre-OTC period. Only the platelet count after OTC surgery was significantly different from that before surgery ([134.54 ± 80.84 vs. 156.38 ± 103.22] × 109/L, p < 0.05). None of the 24 patients had serious complications after OTC. 2 patients had mild infection symptoms, but both recovered well. 23 patients underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after OTC. The median and interquartile range from OTC to the pretreatment of HSCT was 33 (57) days, and the median and interquartile range from OTC to HSCT was 41 (57) days. Seven of them began pretreatment of HSCT within 20 days and began HSCT within 30 days after OTC. All patients were followed up. Of the 23 patients who underwent HSCT after surgery, 22 presented with amenorrhea and 1 with scanty menstrual episodes. Seven patients underwent hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after HSCT. A patient with AA underwent ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) 3 years after HSCT and resumed regular menstruation 6 months after OTT. Conclusions: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation has a promising future in fertility protection in patients with hematological diseases. However, patients with hematological malignancies often have received gonadotoxic therapy before OTC, which may be accompanied by myelosuppression while patients with non-malignant hematological diseases often present with severe hemocytopenia. So perioperative complete blood count of patients should be paid attention to. There was no significant difference in the WBC count and hemoglobin concentration in patients with hematological diseases before and after OTC surgery, and the platelet count decreased slightly within the normal range. Infection is the most common post-OTC complication, and HSCT pretreatment can be accepted as early as the 10th day after OTC. OTC has no adverse effects on patients with hematological diseases and does not delay HSCT treatment. For young patients with hematological diseases, OTC is an effective method of fertility preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular causes are most commonly associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). This study was performed to determine the relationship between serum endothelin-1 (ET-1), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) levels, and the degree of hearing loss in patients with SSHL. Firstly, 60 SSHL patients were admitted to The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. In the same period, 60 healthy subjects matching the age and gender of SSHL patients were selected as the control group. Then, serum levels of ET-1, HDL-C, and sVCAM-1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Next, the relationship between serum levels of ET-1, HDL-C, and sVCAM-1 with clinicopathological factors and their diagnostic and prognostic values were analyzed and evaluated. Serum ET-1 and sVCAM-1 were increased, and HDL-C was decreased in patients with SSHL. Serum ET-1 and sVCAM-1 were higher and HDL-C was lower in patients aged ≥ 45 years, or severe hearing loss patients (P < 0.05). ROC analysis determined that ET-1 (AUC = 0.839), HDL-C (AUC = 0.830), and sVCAM-1 (AUC = 0.865) had excellent diagnostic values. In addition, patients with low levels of ET-1 and sVCAM-1 and high levels of HDL-C had better hearing prognosis (P < 0.05). Abnormal serum ET-1, HDL-C, and sVCAM-1 in patients with SSHL are closely related to age, and degree of hearing loss, and perform diagnostic and prognostic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Yellow River, the nation's second-longest, grapples with severe water scarcity, impeding the high-quality development of its basin. Our study meticulously examines the intricate virtual water trade network inside and outside the basin, providing essential insights to combat its acute water scarcity. We calculated water consumption coefficients for seven pivotal sectors across diverse Chinese provinces, forming the foundational data for quantifying virtual water trade both inside and outside the basin. Utilizing the 2015 Multi-Regional Input-Output Table, we assessed the Yellow River Basin's reliance on external water resources. Despite enduring chronic water scarcity, the basin annually exports a substantial 27.2 billion m3 of virtual water, equivalent to half of its yearly runoff. This outflow predominantly flows to the economically advanced eastern coastal region, with Agriculture and Manufacturing sectors dominating. Significantly, an irrational industrial layout leads to a substantial transfer of virtual water from economically disadvantaged areas to more affluent regions, exacerbating water scarcity in the basin's less privileged areas. Our study yields critical insights for mitigating water shortages in the Yellow River Basin and provides a transferrable framework for regions worldwide grappling with analogous challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive apoptosis of placental trophoblast cells is considered a major cause of pre-eclampsia (PE) pathogenesis. Phosphorylation of the widely expressed cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) regulates apoptosis and may be involved in PE incidence. Low-dose aspirin (LDA) is an effective approach for preventing PE with unclear mechanisms. Thus we examined whether LDA protects against PE by inhibiting trophoblast cell apoptosis through CREB. The effects of LDA on human PE placenta, PE model rat placenta, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced HTR-8/SVneo cell apoptosis were analyzed. TUNEL assay, immunohistochemistry, Cell Counting Assay Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, western blot, and flow cytometry assay were performed. In the placenta of human PE and rat PE models, the TUNEL index increased and was partially corrected with LDA pre-treatment. Meanwhile, decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bax expression were significantly reversed by LDA pre-treatment. In HTR-8/SVneo cells, H2O2 decreased cell viability, promoted apoptosis, reduced the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, aggravated loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), increased cytoplasmic cytochrome c release, and simultaneously activated caspase-9 and caspase-3. These effects were effectively restored by LDA pre-treatment in the cells. Moreover, LDA promoted CREB phosphorylation in trophoblast cells. CREB interference further promoted apoptosis, reduced the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and increased MMP loss. CREB interference also reversed the inhibitory effect of LDA on H2O2-induced apoptosis in HTR-8/SVneo cells. Thus, LDA was shown to inhibit trophoblast cell mitochondrial apoptosis by activating the CREB/Bcl-2 pathway, providing novel evidence for the protective mechanism of LDA in PE. Abbreviations; PE: Pre-eclampsia; LDA: low-dose aspirin; CREB: cAMP response element binding protein; ROS: reactive oxygen species; H2O2: hydrogen peroxide; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma-2; MMP: Mitochondrial membrane potential; Cyt-c: CytochromeC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a synthetic and promising film-forming polymer that is usually used in packaging applications. In this study, PVA nanocomposite films with varying amounts of zinc oxide-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-ZnO) were prepared. The tensile strength of the nanocomposite films was 116% higher than that of the PVA film. The thermal stability, water vapor transmission rate, hydrophobicity, and antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite films were better than those of pure PVA. Tests on water loss in vegetables at room temperature revealed that the vegetable wrapped in packaging films could keep more water for more than 4 days. Tests on the shelf life of chicken meat packed in films suggested that the growth of natural microorganisms in raw chicken kept in the preservation storage of the refrigerator could be inhibited for at least 36 h. The findings of this study indicated that nanocomposite MWCNTs-ZnO/PVA films with good transparency had great potential applications in food packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐assembly is an appealing strategy for preparing nanospheres with different interiors, which are essential for their applications. Although many assembly strategies have been proposed, controlling the assembly processes from kinetic aspects is a big challenge. Here, by employing the different reaction kinetics of the assembly precursors, a sequential assembly strategy is proposed to tailor the interior structure of porous carbon spheres. Through changing the feeding interval of resin and silica precursors from 0 to 60 min, their nucleation order can be controlled in the assembly process to prepare porous carbon spheres (≈450 nm in size) with tunable type (i.e., hollow or solid) and size (from less than 100 nm to around 230 nm) of interiors. The hollow spheres exhibit over three times the catalytic activity of the core–shell counterparts for activating peroxymonosulfate to remove organic water contaminants, and the activity can be further improved by decreasing the cavity size. These results show the great significance of the sequential assembly strategy for interior engineering of nanospheres. This work opens up a new approach for rational design and synthesis of interior‐structured nanospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We demonstrated a nonlinear temporal filter based on the self-diffraction (SD) process. Temporal contrast enhancement, angular dispersion and spectrum broadening properties of the SD process are investigated in experiment and simulation. Driven by spectral phase well compensated laser pulses with bandwidth of 28 nm, the filter produced clean pulses with a temporal contrast higher than 1010 and excellent spatial profile, the spectrum of which was smoothed and broadened to 64 nm. After implementing this filter into a home-made 30 TW Ti:sapphire amplifier, temporal contrast of the amplified pulses was enhanced to 1010 within the time scale of –400 ps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever, a serious infectious disease, has been found in many countries around the world over the last nearly 100 years, and causes untold damage to the economy wherever it occurs. Diagnosis is currently performed by real-time PCR, which is highly sensitive but can only be carried out in a diagnostic laboratory environment with sophisticated equipment and expertise. A sensitive, rapid diagnostic method that can be implemented in agricultural settings is thus urgently needed for the detection and control of African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection. In this study, we developed an isothermal amplification technology to achieve molecular diagnosis of ASFV in clinical samples, using recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) assay combined with a portable instrument. This assay method avoids the limitations of traditional real-time PCR and offers detection times within 20 min, enabling detection of as few as 10 copies of ASFV DNA molecules per reaction without cross-reaction with other common swine viruses. We evaluated clinical performance using 200 clinical blood samples. The coincidence rate of the detection results between rt-RAA and RT-qPCR was 96.94% positive, 100% negative, and 97.50% total. We have also developed an rt-RAA system for the detection of ASFV targeting the EP402R gene, with detection of as few as 10 copies of DNA per reaction; this offers the possibility of DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals) diagnosis, because CD2V gene-deleted ASFV could soon be approved to be the leading candidate for live attenuated vaccine in China. The rt-RAA assay is a reliable, rapid, highly sensitive method, and it offers a reasonable alternative to RT-qPCR for point-of-care detection of ASFV. Key points: • The RT-RAA assay can detect as few as 10 copies of ASFV genome per reaction within 20 min. • The rt-RAA assay system targeting different genes can achieve differentiating infected from vaccinated diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypropylene (PP) has some disadvantages when used in food packaging: PP does not have antibacterial properties, and it exhibits low barrier properties. In this study, nanocomposites of PP filled with different amounts of silver-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-Ag) were fabricated. A new nanomaterial with silver had the advantage of providing antibacterial capabilities, and the contribution of MWCNTs was to reinforce mechanical properties. PP was melt-blended with MWCNTs-Ag, but the ensuing problem was the poor interfacial interaction of fillers with the polymer matrix, especially at high filler content. Nonetheless, a small quantity of fillers resulted in the following improvement in nanocomposite properties, relative to neat PP: better antibacterial ability, lower water vapor permeation flux, lower oxygen barrier performance, higher thermostability, faster crystallization rate and higher tensile strength. Therefore, nanocomposites formed from modifying PP with a low content of MWCNTs-Ag show promise in the field of packaging and medical material applications. A process of fabricating nanocomposites of polypropylene, modified with new nanomaterial silver-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes by melt-blending from mixer, and the mechanism of improving the barrier performance, as demonstrated by the blocked pathways for oxygen or water vapor permeation, were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic outbreak with a high mortality. Prognostic factors of critically ill patients with COVID-19 have not been fully elucidated yet. Methods: In the present study, 59 patients with COVID-19 from the intensive care unit of the Caidian Branch of Tongji Hospital were enrolled. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, treatment data, and clinical outcomes were collected. Prognostic factors were statistically defined. Results: Of the 59 patients studied (67.4± 11.3 years), 38 patients were male, 51 had underlying diseases, and 41 patients died during admission. Compared with the survivors, the deceased patients were of older age, had more smoking history, severer fatigue, and diarrhea, a higher incidence of multiple organ injuries, more deteriorative lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia, remarkably impaired cellular immune response, and strengthened cytokine release. Age higher than 70 (OR=2.76, 95% CI=1.45– 5.23), arrhythmia (OR=4.76, 95% CI=1.59– 14.25), and a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score above 4 (OR=5.16, 95% CI=1.29– 20.55) were identified as risk factors for mortality of patients. Conclusion: Critically ill COVID-19 patients aged higher than 70, arrhythmia, or a SOFA score above 4 have a high risk of mortality, and need prior medical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Apoptosis has been repeatedly linked with diabetic kidney disease (DKD), which is a programmed cell death mediated by effector caspases-3, 6 and 7, targeting > 600 substrates. However, the pathophysiologic correlations of this process remain obscure. As a putative tumor suppressor, gasdermin E (GSDME) was recently reported to be cleaved by caspase-3 to produce a GSDME-N fragment which targets the plasma membrane to switch apoptosis to secondary necrosis. However, it remains elusive whether GSDME is involved in the regulation of DKD. Methods: To evaluate the therapeutic potential of caspase-3 inhibition in DKD, we administered caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVD-FMK to STZ-induced diabetic mice for eight weeks. Albuminuria, renal function, pathological changes, and indicators of secondary necrosis and fibrosis were evaluated. In vitro, human tubule epithelial cells (HK-2 cells) were subjected to high-glucose treatment. Secondary necrosis was determined by LDH release, GSDME cleavage, and morphological feature under confocal microscopy. Z-DEVD-FMK and GSDME inhibition by shRNA were administered to suppress the cleavage and expression of GSDME. Flow cytometry, cytotoxicity assay and immunoblot were used to assess cell death and fibrogenesis. Results: Caspase-3 inhibition by Z-DEVD-FMK ameliorated albuminuria, renal function, and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in diabetic mice. The nephroprotection mediated by Z-DEVD-FMK was potentially associated with inhibition of GSDME. In vitro, molecular and morphological features of secondary necrosis were observed in glucose-stressed HK-2 cells, evidenced by active GSDME cleavage, ballooning of the cell membrane, and release of cellular contents. Here we showed that caspase-3 inhibition prevented GSDME activation and cell death in glucose-treated tubular cells. Specifically, knocking down GSDME directly inhibited secondary necrosis and fibrogenesis. Conclusion: These data suggest GSDME-dependent secondary necrosis plays a crucial role in renal injury, and provides a new insight into the pathogenesis of DKD and a promising target for its treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doping modification of electrode materials is a sought-after strategy to improve their electrochemical performance in the secondary batteries field. Herein, polyanion (BO)-doped LiV(PO) cathode materials were successfully synthesized via a wet coordination method. The effects of (BO) doping content on crystal structure, morphology and electrochemical performance were explored by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). All the as-prepared samples have the same monoclinic structure; among them, LiV(PO)(BO) sample has relatively uniform and optimized particle size. In addition, this sample has the highest discharge capacity and the best cycling stability, with an initial discharge capacity of 120.4 mAh·g, and after 30 cycles at a rate of 0.1C, the discharge capacity still remains 119.3 mAh·g. It is confirmed that moderate polyanion (BO) doping can rearrange the electronic structure of the bulk LiV(PO), lower the charge transfer resistance and further improve the electrochemical behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including how natural disasters in China are affecting investments in the country, energy sustainability and climate change.

We experimentally investigated electron acceleration from submicron size argon clusters-gas target irradiated by a 100 fs, 10 TW laser pulses having a high-contrast. Electron beams are observed in the longitudinal and transverse directions to the laser propagation. The measured energy of the longitudinal electron reaches 600 MeV and the charge of the electron beam in the transverse direction is more than 3 nC. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of the interaction has been performed and it shows an enhancement of electron charge by using the cluster-gas target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To complement traditional antivirals, natural compounds that act via host targets and present high barriers to resistance are of increasing interest. In the work reported here, we detected that homoharringtonine (HHT) presents effective antiviral activity. HHT completely inhibited infections of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) at concentrations of 50, 100, and 500 nM in cell cultures, respectively. Treatment with HHT at doses of 0.05 or 0.2 mg/kg significantly reduced viral load and relieved severe symptoms in PEDV- or NDV-infected animals. HHT treatment, however, moderately inhibited avian influenza virus (AIV) infection, suggesting its potent antiviral action is restricted to a number of classes of RNA viruses. In this study, we also observed that HHT actively inhibited herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 139 nM; the treatment with HHT at 1000 nM led to reductions of three orders of magnitude. Moreover, HHT antagonized the phosphorylation level of endogenous and exogenous eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (p-eIF4E), which might regulate the selective translation of specific messenger RNA (mRNA). HHT provides a starting point for further progress toward the clinical development of broad-spectrum antivirals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a diode-pumped passively cw mode-locked Nd:CaGdAlO4 laser operating at 1079nm with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The threshold pump power of the laser is 180mW. A maximum average output power of 93mW is obtained under the pump power of 1.94 W. The pulse duration of the mode-locked pulses is 3.1 ps and the repetition rate is 157 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diode pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond Yb:LSO laser is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. The 54 fs laser pulses at central wavelength of 1052 nm with a bandwidth of 22.5 nm are obtained at the repetition rate of 113 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the shortest pulse duration ever produced from the Yb-doped orthosilicates lasers family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd-doped La3Ga5SiO14 (Nd:LGS) laser is realized by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. With the pump power of 2 W, we obtain a 532 nm self-frequency doubling (SFD) laser together with a 10.9 ps fundamental laser at the repetition rate of 173.7 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time for self-frequency doubling in the diode-pumped mode-locked Nd:LGS laser. Benefited from the diode lasers and its self-frequency doubling property, Nd:LGS could be a potential candidate for compact, stable and cheap ultrafast green laser sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]