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Infertility has become a worldwide issue, and many patients cannot benefit from assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The extracellular matrix (ECM) is critical in tissue organization and remodeling. The female reproductive system plays an important role in menstruation, pregnancy, and ovulation and may influence fertility. In addition, ECM has a wide variety of components, good biological properties, and extensive application experience as a biomaterial. In-depth research on the ECM in the female reproductive system and the development and application of ECM-derived materials may provide new ideas for solving infertility problems. This review aimed to summarize the regulation and changes of ECM in the uterus and ovary, and to discuss the progress of research on ECM-derived materials in reproductive tissue engineering. An extensive search in PubMed and Embase was conducted using keywords including extracellular matrix, uterus, ovary, tissue engineering, and material. We are devoted to combining research on ECM-derived materials with clinical practice and intend to provide ideas for solving clinical problems in reproductive medicine.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) continuously produce platelets to support hemostasis and form a niche for hematopoietic stem cell maintenance in the bone marrow. MKs are also involved in inflammatory responses; however, the mechanism remains poorly understood. Using single-cell sequencing, we identified a CXCR4 highly expressed MK subpopulation, which exhibited both MK-specific and immune characteristics. CXCR4highMKs interacted with myeloid cells to promote their migration and stimulate the bacterial phagocytosis of macrophages and neutrophils by producing TNFα and IL-6. CXCR4highMKs were also capable of phagocytosis, processing, and presenting antigens to activate T cells. Furthermore, CXCR4highMKs also egressed circulation and infiltrated into the spleen, liver, and lung upon bacterial infection. Ablation of MKs suppressed the innate immune response and T cell activation to impair the anti-bacterial effects in mice under theListeria monocytogeneschallenge. Using hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell lineage-tracing mouse lines, we show that CXCR4highMKs were generated from infection-induced emergency megakaryopoiesis in response to bacterial infection. Overall, we identify the CXCR4highMKs, which regulate host-defense immune response against bacterial infection.

BACKGROUND Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is an important pathogen causing both invasive and non-invasive infections in children, with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to determine the potential relationships between age and vaccine coverage and between multiple phenotype-genotype characteristics of S. pneumoniae isolated from children. METHODS All S. pneumoniae isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence genes, serotypes, and sequence types. The restricted cubic spline models were used to reveal potential relationships between children age and pneumococcal vaccine coverage. RESULTS For capsular-based vaccines, we observed a high coverage rate of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13, 85.8%) and a significantly non-linear relationship between children age and vaccine coverage (including PCV7, PCV10, and PCV13), with marked fluctuations in children aged

Atherosclerosis is a significant cause of many cardiovascular diseases. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) are crucial in developing atherosclerosis. In this study, we researched the effects of two alkaloids epi-aszonalenin A (EAA) and aszonalenin (AZN) of an endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus C23-3 from coral Pavona, on ox-LDL-induced inflammation, apoptosis and angiogenesis in HUVEC, and evaluated related factors and mechanism. The results reveal that EAA and AZN inhibit HUVEC migration, invasion, angiogenesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation on a non-cytotoxic basis. Then, EAA and AZN suppressed the ox-LDL-induced of LOX-1, VEGF protein expression, MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways phosphorylation. Furthermore, AZN suppressed the ox-LDL-induced inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and VEGF receptor VEGFR-2 and platelet-derived growth factor PDGF. In addition, it inhibited ox-LDL-induced atherosclerosis by blocking inflammation and apoptosis through nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax/Bcl-2 pathways. Molecular docking results confirm that the effect of AZN on atherosclerosis inhibitory activity may be attributed to hydrogen bonds formed into LOX-1 and VEGFR-2. These data indicate that EAA and AZN can effectively prevent ox-LDL-induced HUVEC damage and angiogenesis by inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis. Therefore, EAA and AZN may have potential beneficial effects in regulating atherosclerosis and plaque angiogenesis.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) continuously produce platelets to support hemostasis and form a niche for hematopoietic stem cell maintenance in the bone marrow. MKs are also involved in inflammatory responses; however, the mechanism remains poorly understood. Using single-cell sequencing, we identified a CXCR4 highly expressed MK subpopulation, which exhibited both MK-specific and immune characteristics. CXCR4

Marine fungi are important members of the marine microbiome, which have been paid growing attention by scientists in recent years. The secondary metabolites of marine fungi have been reported to contain rich and diverse compounds with novel structures (Chen et al., 2019). Aspergillus terreus, the higher level marine fungus of the Aspergillus genus (family of Trichocomaceae, order of Eurotiales, class of Eurotiomycetes, phylum of Ascomycota), is widely distributed in both sea and land. In our previous study, the coral-derived A. terreus strain C23-3 exhibited potential in producing other biologically active (with antioxidant, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, and anti-inflammatory activity) compounds like arylbutyrolactones, territrems, and isoflavones, and high sensitivity to the chemical regulation of secondary metabolism (Yang et al., 2019, 2020; Nie et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2021). Moreover, we have isolated two different benzaldehydes, including a benzaldehyde with a novel structure, from A. terreus C23-3 which was derived from Pectinia paeonia of Xuwen, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, China.

Oxalate and citrate in 24 h urine and serum are considered to be associated with the incidence and recurrence risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones. The quantification of oxalate and citrate contributes to understand the pathological metabolism of kidney stones and guide the early diagnosis and recurrence monitoring. Although simultaneous quantification of oxalate and citrate in urine using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) have been reported, the optimization of chromatographic column, mobile phase and mass spectrometry (MS) parameters has not been performed. In addition, these is a lack of suitable method for simultaneous detection of oxalate and citrate both in serum and urine. Therefore, we developed a method for the simultaneous determination of oxalate and citrate in urine and serum based on ion-pairing reversed-phase (IP-RP) LC-MS/MS. Herein, five ion-pair reagents, namely, triethanolamine, dimethylbutyl amine, diisopropenyl amine, N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine and tripropylamine, and three ion-pairing reagent (IPR) buffers, namely, acetic acid, hexafluoro-2-isopropanol, and hexafluoro-2-methyl-2-propanol, were compared in regard to their chromatographic peak abundance and separation of oxalate and citrate. Moreover, MS parameters and the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) conditions were also evaluated and optimized to obtain the maximum peak abundance. After that, the method was validated in the linear range of 0.25-1000 µM, and the correlation coefficient was ≥ 0.99. The precision and accuracy were 14.70% and 19.73%, respectively. The extraction recovery was 80.53-108.79%, and the matrix effect was 8.79%. The quality control samples were stable at room temperature for 4 h, 4 °C for 24 h, and for 3 freeze-thaw cycles. Finally, this method was applied to the determination of oxalate and citrate in the serum and urine of rats with calcium oxalate kidney stones. The establishment of a stable and effective oxalate and citrate detection method is conducive to the diagnosis and monitoring of kidney stones.

The recent substantial expansion of human activities in northeast (NE) China has resulted in increased emission of environmental pollutants. Longer-term records of such environmental pollutants provide a benchmark against which it is possible to evaluate the nature, extent and timing of anthropogenic environmental changes. Based on measurements of mercury (Hg) concentrations and accumulation rates in 11 lake sediment cores from the Songnen Plain in NE China, we here present a reconstruction of the historical deposition of Hg as an indicator of the changing scale of human impact. The results demonstrate an increasing trend of Hg concentration, concurrent with elevated anthropogenic emissions, beginning from the early 1900s, accelerating through the mid-1950s and slightly decreasing from the late 1990s onwards. The increase in anthropogenic Hg coincides with the reform and opening up of China, which precipitated social and economic transformation, and rapid industrial and economic growth. Measurements of the Hg enrichment factor in all the cores enables identification of the anthropogenic contribution to Hg accumulation. The geoaccumulation index indicates that the lakes are in general moderately polluted by Hg. The historical trend of Hg accumulation rate parallels the temporal progression of biomass burning and fossil fuel consumption in the region. The findings elucidate the extent of anthropogenic pollution in the Anthropocene and underline the importance of identifying Hg sources to reduce emissions and guide the implementation of effective mitigation strategies.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) continuously produce platelets in bone marrow to support hemostasis. However, MKs also play roles beyond thrombopoiesis as they regulate hematopoietic stem cell quiescence and erythropoiesis, which suggests the functional heterogeneity of MKs. Here, using single-cell sequencing we identified an MK-derived immune-stimulating cell (MDIC) population, which plays an important role in host-protective response against bacteria. In contrast to platelet-generating MKs, MDICs highly express cell migration, immune-modulatory, and response genes. Upon Listeria (L.) monocytogenes infection, MDICs egress to circulation and infiltrate into the spleen, liver and lung. MDICs interact with myeloid cells to promote their migration and tissue infiltration. More importantly, MDICs stimulate phagocytosis of macrophages and neutrophils by producing TNFα and IL-6 and facilitating antigen-specific T cell activation via IL-6 to enhance anti-bacterial response. Ablation of MKs reduced innate immune response and compromised T cell activation in spleen and liver, impairs the anti-bacterial effects in mice under L. monocytogenes challenge. Finally, infection-induced emergency megakaryopoiesis efficiently stimulated MDICs generation upon bacterial infection. Overall, we identify MDICs as a novel MK subpopulation, which regulates host-defense immune response against bacterial infection.

International audience; The development of cost-effective, high-performance, and robust bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting remains highly desirable yet quite challenging. Here, by selecting appreciate precursors of dopamine and a Co-containing metal-organic framework of ZIF-67, we subtly couple their reaction processes to develop a facile approach for the synthesis of a hollow CoP nanostructure with N-doped carbon skeleton (H-CoP@NC). Benefiting from the highly porous nanostructure and conductive carbon skeleton, H-CoP@NC is capable of working as highly active and durable bifunctional electrocatalyst for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction. When further used as the electrocatalyst for overall water splitting, H-CoP@NC delivers excellent activity (cell voltage of 1.72 V at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2)), close to that of the noble-metal-based benchmark catalyst couple of Pt/C parallel to RuO2. Our work thus provides new insights into the development of transitional metal phosphides based hollow hybrid nanostructures, particularly those with multiple functionalities in sustainable energy conversion technologies and systems.

An oxidation-mediated defect and porosity enrichment strategy is developed for the synthesis of a new electrocatalyst consisting of cobalt (oxy)hydroxide nanosheet arrays (denoted as CoOxHy NSAs) grown on carbon cloth (CC), which feature a 3D hierarchical nanostructure with exceptional porosity and rich defects. The CoOxHy/CC shows exceptional activity and stability for the oxygen evolution reaction under neutral conditions, as indicated by its high current density of 38 mA cm−2 at 1.8 V, small Tafel slope of 121 mV dec−1, low overpotential of 430 mV, and 24 h durability at 10 mA cm−2 in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS).

Qian Dong,1 Yanling Liu,1 Wenhui Li,1 Minqi Chen,1 Wenyu Li,1 Xulin Wang,1 Jinjian Fu,2 Xiaohua Ye1 1School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Prevention and Health Care, Liuzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Liuzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jinjian Fu; Xiaohua Ye Email fujinjianaa@126.com; smalltomato@163.comBackground: Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen causing a wide variety of diseases ranging from mild skin infections to life-threatening bacteremia. This study aimed to provide insight into the phenotype–genotype characteristics of S. aureus isolated from neonates.Methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted to recruit neonatal patients with community-associated S. aureus infection. All 92 S. aureus clinical isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, resistance genes, virulence genes, and multilocus sequence typing.Results: A total of 92 S. aureus isolates were included in this study, including 29 (31.5%) MRSA isolates. Most S. aureus isolates were susceptible to gentamicin, and most methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid. The predominant S. aureus genotypes were CC188 (ST188), CC59 (ST338), CC5 (ST5), CC88 (ST8), and CC6 (ST6), with CC59 (ST338) as the most prevalent MRSA. We observed a significantly corresponding relationship between clonal complexes and resistance patterns (such as CC45/CC59/CC121/CC630 associated with multidrug resistance) or the number of virulence genes (such as CC1/CC5/CC45/CC59/CC88 associated with harboring 5– 7 virulence genes, and CC22/CC25/CC121 associated with carrying 8– 13 genes). Moreover, both univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that invasive S. aureus isolates were significantly associated with resistance to several classes of antibiotics and carrying specific virulence factors.Conclusion: Our findings provide insight into phenotype–genotype characteristics for S. aureus isolates so as to provide new ideas for differentiating potential genetic backgrounds and monitoring new epidemiologic trends.Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular characterization, virulence genes

Nanoreactors constructed by encapsulation of catalytic species in hierarchically porous metal–organic framework (HPMOF) nanostructures have emerged as a type of promising catalysts that deliver enhanced conversion and excellent selectivity/stability. However, the controlled synthesis of small HPMOF nanocrystals with tunable size and nanostructures remains challenging. Here, by coupling external ultrasonication with the inherent binding competitions between the metal ions of bimetallic Co/Zn-ZIF, we design and develop a new strategy, dynamic growth, for the facile synthesis of small (down to ca. 95 nm), single-crystalline and structure-/size-tunable HPMOF nanocrystals through a one-pot, additive-free procedure. Benefiting from the combined structure/size regulation, nanoreactors based on our small nanocrystals of meso-HP-Co/Zn-ZIF-50% are able to deliver exceptional conversion while keeping their excellent selectivity and stability. Insights gained from this work opens a new avenue for the development of c...

Plasticware and glassware used in the sample processing stage could result in different analysis performance for macromolecules, which led to the speculation that a similar effect could happen to small molecules. To confirm the speculation, pooled human plasma sample spiked with and without metabolite standards was prepared with three most commonly used container materials (glass, deactivated glass and polypropylene) supplied by different manufacturers after a two-step liquid-liquid extraction, followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based untargeted and targeted metabolomics. The results showed that both GC-MS-based targeted and untargeted metabolomics could be influenced significantly by not only the container material but also the manufacturing procedures employed by different vendors. As a general guideline, it would be highly practical to use the same type of container from the same manufacturer during a whole project. Our study could be extremely valuable for the fellow researchers when dealing with the sample containers for GC-MS-based untargeted and targeted metabolomics.

Porous Co–P–Pd nanotube arrays (NTAs) are prepared and used for catalyzing the hydrolysis of alkaline NaBH4 solution to generate H2. Benefiting from the unique porous structure and synergistic effect, the Co–P–Pd NTAs show a maximum hydrogen generation rate of 4216 mL per min per g catalyst and good cyclic stability.

Emerging wireless communication transmission technologies, such as small cell networks, continue to improve receive signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SNR) in a cellular system such as the LTE. It has come to the point that 64 QAM, the modulation order that is believed to be sufficient for a cellular system, seems to be no longer enough in order to convert the SNR advantage to an actual spectral efficiency and benefit from it. This article analyzes the feasibility and potential performance gain of the 256 QAM modulation scheme in an LTE small cell network when taking transceiver hardware limitation and scheduling signaling overhead into consideration. The discussion pertains to LTE, but it applies to any other wireless communication system as well.

This meta-analysis aimed to assess the performance of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the identification of malignant thyroid nodules.Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and the references of narrative reviews were searched for relevant studies with a publication date through October 2013. The methodological quality was assessed using QUADAS tools. Data synthesis was calculated using the bivariate mixed-effects regression model.Of the 131 studies identified, 15 (11.5 %) were included, in which SWE, point-SWE or 2D SWE, was used to evaluate 1,867 thyroid nodules in 1,525 patients. Methodological assessment revealed study quality was moderate to high. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of SWE for detecting malignant thyroid nodules were 84.3 % (95 % confidence interval [CI], 76.9-89.7 %), 88.4 % (95 % CI, 84.0-91.7 %), and 93 % (95 % CI, 90-95 %), respectively. As a screening tool, positive and negative predictive values were 27.7-44.7 % and 98.1-99.1 %, respectively, calculated with a malignance prevalence of 5-10 % in thyroid nodules. A publication bias regression test revealed no significant small-study bias.SWE is a highly accurate diagnostic modality for the identification of malignant thyroid nodules, with promise for integration into routine imaging protocols for thyroid nodules.• Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a group of novel ultrasound-based technologies. • Meta-analysis was employed to assess relevant studies of SWE of thyroid nodules. • SWE had high sensitivity and specificity in identifying malignant thyroid nodules. • The high negative predictive value of SWE can reduce unnecessary biopsies.

The capacity of anode materials plays a critical role in the performance of lithium-ion batteries. Using the nanocrystals of oxygen-free metal-organic framework ZIF-67 as precursor, a one-step calcination approach toward the controlled synthesis of CoO nanoparticle cookies with excellent anodic performances is developed in this work. The CoO nanoparticle cookies feature highly porous structure composed of small CoO nanoparticles (≈12 nm in diameter) and nitrogen-rich graphitic carbon matrix (≈18 at% in nitrogen content). Benefiting from such unique structure, the CoO nanoparticle cookies are capable of delivering superior specific capacity and cycling stability (1383 mA h g(-1) after 200 runs at 100 mA g(-1) ) over those of CoO and graphite.

H. pylori in the oral cavity may be the possible underlying cause of recurrent stomach illness. Therefore, we test the H. pylori in the oral cavity through chromaticity analysis and try to find an easy and convenient H. pylori detection way, which is of clinical necessity. Integrate the results of chromaticity to establish the intensity of redness as value. The average ratio of the red chromaticity in carriers group would be found the lower of the ratio, the more serious of the illness which mainly correlated with the infection H. pylori. The positive plaque average ratio of the chromaticity to the intensity of redness may lower than 0.8898 plusmn 0.0442; if the ratio is over 0.9245 plusmn 0.0401, the impossibility of infected by H. pylori.. The average ratio of chromaticity were divided by the grade level was analyzed by SNK test. The results showed that there was significant difference between each grade except grade 0 and 1 at 0.05 level, which indicated that the average ratio of chromaticity could be used to diagnose stomach illness.This rapidly method have great application foreground.