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Summary: In patients with beta‐thalassaemia intermedia or major, hepcidin induces iron overload by continuously promoting iron absorption. There have been no studies in pregnant women with beta‐thalassaemia minor combined with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), examining whether hepcidin is inhibited by GDF15, as may occur in patients with beta‐thalassaemia intermedia or major, or whether the iron metabolism characteristics and the effect of iron supplementation are consistent with simple IDA in pregnancy. We compared and analysed routine blood parameters, iron metabolism parameters, the GDF15 levels, and the hepcidin levels among four groups, namely the beta‐thalassaemia (β) + IDA, β, IDA, and normal groups. In addition, the β + IDA and IDA groups received iron supplementation for four weeks. We found no statistically significant correlation between hepcidin and GDF15 in any group, but a positive correlation was observed between hepcidin and ferritin. After iron supplementation, the routine blood parameters and iron metabolism parameters in the β + IDA group were improved, and the hepcidin content was significantly increased. These results suggest that in pregnant women with beta‐thalassaemia minor, hepcidin functions normally to maintain iron homeostasis, and that iron supplementation is effective and safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ellipse fitting algorithms (EFAs) have been widely used in 3×3 coupler demodulation systems to reduce the requirement for symmetry of the 3×3 couplers. Based on the relative stability of the splitting ratio and phase difference after the establishment of the 3×3 coupler demodulation system, we solve the problem that EFA fails to work when the stimulating signal is small. Depending on the existence of a symmetry point about the origin, an additional phase shift judgment module is used to determine whether the Lissajous figure is larger than π rad. If the elliptical arc exceeds π rad, the EFA is executed. Otherwise, the previous parameters are used to correct the ellipse. Parameters are updated in real time to ensure high precision. The experimental results show that the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the ameliorated algorithm is improved by 1.28% compared to the EFA without the judgment module with a stimulus amplitude of 30 mV. The proposed scheme can effectively improve the dynamic range of the 3×3 coupler demodulation to reach 125.64 dB @ 1 kHz and 1% THD. The algorithm ensures the effective operation of the EFA under small phase shift conditions and improves the accuracy of phase demodulation.

Objective: To investigate the role of S100 calcium binding protein A12 (S100A12) in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia., Methods: Sixty patients with preeclampsia were recruited from March 2013 to December 2013 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Among them, thirty cases were defined as the mild preeclampsia group and thirty cases were defined as the severe preeclampsia group. The other thirty healthy pregnant women were recruited in the healthy pregnant women group. The levels of S100A12 protein in maternal peripheral blood were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Immunohistochemistry of streptavidin peroxidase biotin (SP) method was used to measure the protein expression of S100A12. The trophoblast cells were cultured in vitro with plasma from the three groups, and a blank control group was set up as well. Transwell was used to detect the cytotrophoblast invasion ability. Western blot was used to measure the protein expression level of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)., Results: (1) The levels of S100A12 in maternal peripheral blood of patients with preeclampisa [mild group: (30.8±2.7) µg/L, severe group: (49.3±4.1) µg/L] were significantly higher than that of the control group [(15.8±1.4) µg/L]. In addition, compared with the mild preeclampsia group, the level of S100A12 in the severe preeclampsia group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). (2) Positive immunostaining of S100A12 was observed in the cytoplasm of cytotrophoblast, decidual cells and the placentas from the three groups. The positive rate in the mild preeclampisa group was 77% (23/30); in the severe preeclampsia group it was 93% (28/30); and in the healthy pregnant women group it was 23% (7/30). The positive rates of placenta in the mild and severe preeclampsia groups were significantly higher than that in the healthy pregnant women group (P < 0.05). In addition, compared with the mild preeclampsia group, the positive rate of immunostaining of S100A12 in the severe group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). (3) Cytotrophoblast invasion ability and the expression of RAGE in the mild preeclampsia group were 29.1±3.2 and 0.479±0.038, respectively; in the severe preeclampsia group they were 16.8±2.5 and 0.652±0.059; in the healthy pregnant women group they were 38.6±24.3 and 0.327±0.024; and in the blank control group they were 42.6±5.6 and 0.194±0.011. Cytotrophoblast invasion ability and the expression of RAGE protein in the mild and severe preeclampsia groups were significantly higher than those in the healthy pregnant women group and the control group(P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The expression of S100A12 increased in materal peripheral blood and placenta, and the receptor protein of S100A12 RAGE also had high expression. It suggested that the S100A12 may have some effect on the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.