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Many corals harbour symbiotic dinoflagellate algae. The algae live inside coral cells in a specialized membrane compartment known as the symbiosome, which shares the photosynthetically fixed carbon with coral host cells while host cells provide inorganic carbon to the algae for photosynthesis.sup.1. This endosymbiosis--which is critical for the maintenance of coral reef ecosystems--is increasingly threatened by environmental stressors that lead to coral bleaching (that is, the disruption of endosymbiosis), which in turn leads to coral death and the degradation of marine ecosystems.sup.2. The molecular pathways that orchestrate the recognition, uptake and maintenance of algae in coral cells remain poorly understood. Here we report the chromosome-level genome assembly of a Xenia species of fast-growing soft coral.sup.3, and use this species as a model to investigate coral-alga endosymbiosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified 16 cell clusters, including gastrodermal cells and cnidocytes, in Xenia sp. We identified the endosymbiotic cell type, which expresses a distinct set of genes that are implicated in the recognition, phagocytosis and/or endocytosis, and maintenance of algae, as well as in the immune modulation of host coral cells. By coupling Xenia sp. regeneration and single-cell RNA sequencing, we observed a dynamic lineage progression of the endosymbiotic cells. The conserved genes associated with endosymbiosis that are reported here may help to reveal common principles by which different corals take up or lose their endosymbionts. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies the pattern of gene expression during lineage progression in endosymbiotic cells of the fast-growing soft coral Xenia, revealing principles that underlie uptake and maintenance of endosymbionts by this coral., Author(s): Minjie Hu [sup.1] , Xiaobin Zheng [sup.1] , Chen-Ming Fan [sup.1] , Yixian Zheng [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, USA Main Many [...]

Proteinuria during pregnancy is closely related to the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes. One hundred and forty-two women with proteinuria during pregnancy and followed between January 2018 and December 2020 were evaluated. Based on the 24-h proteinuria value, they were divided as mild (n = 76, 300–1000 mg/day), moderate (n = 39, 1000–3500 mg/day) and severe (n = 27, >3500 mg/day) proteinuria. The rates of prematurity, low birth weight and neonatal asphyxia were significantly higher in the severe proteinuria group than in the mild and moderate groups, while the rates of foetal growth restriction and neonatal intensive care unit admission were significantly higher in the severe compared with the mild proteinuria group (all p <.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that moderate proteinuria (OR = 97.2, 95%CI: 7.1–1334.2, p =.001) and severe proteinuria (OR = 34.0, 95%CI: 1.6–711.0, p =.023) were associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Compared with mild proteinuria, moderate and severe proteinuria are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in perinatal infants. What is already known on this subject? The production of proteinuria is closely related to the filtration function of the glomerulus, the reabsorption and secretion function of the renal tubules. For women with normal renal function before pregnancy, such physiological changes are less likely to cause adverse symptoms; however, for women with chronic kidney disease before pregnancy, especially those with significantly impaired renal function, the kidneys often cannot compensate for these physiological changes, which can lead to serious complications for both mother and infant. Whatdothe results of this study add? In our study, logistic regression analysis showed that the severity of proteinuria was independently associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. The ROC curve showed that 24-h proteinuria had a predictive value for adverse perinatal outcomes. Therefore, for patients with urine protein quantification ≥0.3 g/24 h, regular 24-h urine protein quantification during pregnancy could help predict adverse perinatal outcomes and improve prognosis. Whatarethe implicationsof these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Proteinuria quantification can be used as one of the factors predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes. Thus, monitoring of urinary protein quantification in women during pregnancy should be strengthened for early detection of renal impairment, then interventions be used to improve maternal and infant outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the concrete pouring process of large pumping stations, the pile foundation plays an important role in supporting the upper structures, and also has a certain constraint on the concrete floor. In the numerical simulation calculation of construction period, to simplify the pre-processing, the volume ratio method is sometimes applied to regard the pile and surrounding soil foundation as the equivalent pile foundation, while the anisotropy of pile foundation is ignored, which will result in large calculation error of the horizontal stress of the concrete floor. Aiming at this problem, the anisotropy theory of materials is adopted in this paper to simulate the temperature field and stress field of the concrete floor both on non-equivalent pile foundation and equivalent pile foundation during construction period after compiling corresponding calculation program. The results show that when the ratio α of the horizontal elastic modulus to the vertical elastic modulus of equivalent pile foundation is about 1/20, the calculation result of the transversely isotropic equivalent pile foundation is approximately equal to the calculation result of the non-equivalent pile foundation (exact solution). It may provide some reference to similar engineering numerical simulation.