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This retrospective cohort study attempts to investigate pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes in women of advanced maternal age (AMA). Data were extracted from electronic medical records system at West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2013 to July 2016. The study cohort consisted 8 subgroups of women on 4 different age levels (20–29 years, 30–34 years, 35–39 years and ≥40 years) and 2 different parities (primiparity and multiparity). In the study period, 38811 women gave birth at our hospital, a randomized block was used to include 2800 women of singleton pregnancy >28 gestational weeks, with 350 patients in each subgroup. Maternal complications and fetal outcomes were collected and defined according to relevant guidelines. Confounding factors representing maternal demographic characteristics were identified from previous studies and analysed in multivariate analysis. There was an increasing trend for the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes with increasing age, especially in AMA groups. Our study showed that AMA, primiparity, maternal overweight or obesity, lower educational level and residence in rural area increased pregnancy complications and adverse fetal outcomes. Increased professional care as well as public concern is warranted.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) derived from placental tissue show great therapeutic potential and have been used in medical treatment, but the similarity and differences between the MSCs derived from various parts of the placenta remain unclear. In this study, we compared MSCs derived from different perinatal tissues, including the umbilical cord (UC), amniotic membrane (AM), chorionic plate (CP) and decidua parietalis (DP). Using human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing and karyotype analysis, we found that the first three cell types were derived from the foetus, while the MSCs from the decidua parietalis were derived from the maternal portion of the placental tissue. Our results indicate that both foetal and maternal MSCs share a similar phenotype and multi-lineage differentiation potential, but foetal MSCs show a significantly higher expansion capacity than do maternal MSCs. Furthermore, MSCs from all sources showed significant differences in the levels of several paracrine factors.

As a non-substance addiction, gambling disorder represents the model for studying the neurobiology of addiction without toxic consequences of chronic drug use. From a neuropsychological perspective, impulsivity is deemed as a potential construct responsible in the onset and development of drug addiction. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between impulsivity and gambling status in young adults with varying severity of gambling. A sample of 1120 college students, equally divided into non-problem, at-risk and problem gamblers, were administered multiple measures of impulsivity including the UPPSP Impulsive Behaviors Scale (UPPSP), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), and the Delay-discounting Test (DDT). Compared with non-problem gamblers, both at-risk gamblers and problem gamblers displayed elevated scores on Negative Urgency, Positive Urgency, Motor Impulsiveness, and Attentional Impulsiveness. Problem gamblers showed higher scores than at-risk gamblers on Positive Urgency. Logistic regression models revealed that only Negative Urgency positively predicted both at-risk gambling and problem gambling compared to non-problem gambling. These results suggest that dimensions of impulsivity may be differentially linked to gambling behavior in young adults, with Negative Urgency putatively identified as an important impulsivity-related marker for the development of gambling disorder, which may provide a better understanding of the pathogenesis.

The values of physiological indices and the enzymes activities involved in the overwintering stage were studied in D. armandi larvae in each month from October 2014 to March 2015. The sorbitol, trehalose and glycerol values initially tended to increase as the ambient temperature decreased, before declining until the end of the winter. The activities of four enzymes (SOD, CAT, LDH and AchE) decreased, whereas POD, PK and MDH showed opposite trends in activity. Other enzyme activities (those of TPS, SDH and GLK) were low during the overwintering period and later increased and stabilized during spring. In this study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genes of SDH, TPS and GLK was utilized to identify DarmSDH, DarmTPS and DarmGLK in D. armandi. They were found to be abundantly expressed during the overwintering stage by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses; by contrast, these three genes showed higher expression levels in December 2014 than in May 2015. The qRT-PCR results demonstrated that the reduction of mRNA expression levels was significant in DarmSDH-, DarmTPS- and DarmGLK-dsRNA-treated D. armandi compared with water-injected and non-injected controls. The mortality responses at low temperature were also increased in the dsRNA-treated D. armandi compared with the controls.

In this study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on homology genes of Orco was utilized to identify DarmOrco, which is essential for olfaction in D. armandi. The results showed that DarmOrco shares significant sequence homology with Orco proteins had known in other insects. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis suggested that DarmOrco was abundantly expressed in adult D. armandi; by contrast, DarmOrco showed trace amounts of expression level in other stages. Of different tissues, DarmOrco expression level was the highest in the antennae. In order to understand the functional significance of Orco, we injected siRNA of DarmOrco into the conjunctivum between the second and third abdominal segments and evaluated its expression after siRNA injected for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h. The results of qRT-PCR demonstrated that the reduction of mRNA expression level was significant (~80%) in DarmOrco siRNA-treated D. armandi than in water-injected and non-injected controls. The electroantennogram responses of females and males to 11 major volatiles of its host, were also reduced (30~68% for females; 16~70% for males) in siRNA-treated D. armandi compared with the controls. These results suggest that DarmOrco is crucial in mediating odorant perception.