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Abstract Background This prospective study is to evaluate the potential value of sonographic measurements in the flaccid penis for the screening of arteriogenic impotence. Methods A consecutive series of 260 Chinese males consulting for sexual dysfunction and 54 controls underwent sonographic examination. The sonographic parameters were correlated with the clinical gold standards, including the international index of erectile function (IIEF) and penile erectile hardness grading scale (EHGS). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of flaccid peak systolic velocity (PSV) in predicting patients with normal function were analyzed. Results The mean cavernous PSV of both sides in the patients with sexual dysfunction ranged from 7.76 to 11.12 cm/sec with a stepwise increase in IIEF and EHGS grading scale (P

Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological disease garnering increasing attention and research. To investigate the clinical therapeutic effects of Jingqian Zhitong Fang (JQF) and the differences in serumsex hormone levels during the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, we selected 30 healthy volunteers and 60 individuals with primary dysmenorrhea.On the third day of themenstrual cycle, we used ELISA to determine the levels of serum prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (TEST), progesterone (PROG), and estradiol (E2) compared with normal levels and levels in the JQF group, the Western medicine group receiving continuous treatment during the first and third menstrual cycles, and the group followed up after the drug was stopped. We observed that after JQF treatment, the levels of the following hormones changed significantly: PRL, LH, TEST, and E2 levels decreased significantly and the PROG level increased significantly after treatment. After treatment with Western medicine, the serum levels of FSH, LH, PROG, and E2 showed no significant change. We conclude that the long-term effect of JQF treatment was better than that of Western medicine. JQF treatment of primary dysmenorrhea is related to adjustment of PRL, LH, TEST, and E2 hormone levels in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In insects, trehalose accumulation is associated with the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling (IIS) pathway. However, whether insulin-like peptide is involved in the regulation of the trehalose metabolism during diapause termination remains largely unknown. This study assessed whether insulin-like peptide (ApILP) enhances the trehalose catabolism in the pupae of Antheraeapernyi during their diapause termination process. Injection of 10 μg of bovine insulin triggered diapause termination and synchronous adult eclosion in diapausing pupae. Moreover, treatment with bovine insulin increased the expression of trehalase 1A (ApTre-1A) and trehalase 2 (ApTre-2), as well as the activity of soluble and membrane-bound trehalase, resulting in a decline in trehalose levels in the haemolymph. Silencing ApILP via RNA interference significantly suppressed the expression of ApTre-1A and ApTre-2, thus leading to an increase in the trehalose concentration during diapause termination. However, neither injection with bovine insulin nor ApILP knockdown directly affected trehalase 1B (ApTre-1B) expression. Moreover, overexpression of the transcription factor forkhead box O (ApFoxO) induced an increase in trehalose levels during diapause termination; however, depletion of ApFoxO accelerated the breakdown of trehalose in diapausing pupae by increasing the expression of ApTre-1A and ApTre-2. The results of this study help to understand the contributions of ApILP and ApFoxO to the trehalose metabolism during diapause termination.

An eight-channel 400 GHz-spacing planar waveguide multi/demultiplexer employing etched diffraction grating is designed and fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator platform with a 220 nm thick top layer. The design parameters are optimized by scalar diffraction simulation to obtain optimal performance with a small footprint of only 0.75 mm2. A bi-level adiabatic taper is used to connect the input/output waveguide and the slab waveguide so as to reduce the insertion loss and the broadening of the diffraction angle of the propagating light. The device is fabricated in a two-step process with E-beam lithography and dry etching, and the alignment accuracy is 10 nm or even better. Measurements show that the insertion loss is 7.35 dB and the crosstalk between adjacent channels is about −15 dB. Ways to improve the performance are also investigated in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superconducting properties were studied on high quality superconductors (Tc = 39 K) and (Tc = 44 K) prepared by intercalating Ba/Sr atoms into tetragonal β-FeSe by liquid ammonia. The elongated c-axis and almost unchanged a-axis of , compared with β-FeSe, suggests an unchanged intra--layer structure and the Tc enhancement is due to a 3D to 2D-like Fermi surface transformation. The superconducting coherent lengths ξ(0), the Ginzburg–Landau parameters κ and penetration depths λ(0) obtained from the extrapolated lower and upper critical fields Bc1(0) and Bc2(0) indicate that both compounds are typical type-II superconductors. The temperature dependence of 1/(T) of deduced from the low-field magnetic susceptibility shows a two-gap s-wave behavior with superconducting gaps of = 6.47 meV and = 1.06 meV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]