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Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is known as a prevalent but complicated gynecologic disease throughout the reproductive period. Typically, it is characterized by phenotypic manifestations of hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovary morphology, and persistent anovulation. For now, the therapeutic modality of PCOS is still a formidable challenge. Metabolic aberrations and immune challenge of chronic low-grade inflammatory state are significant in PCOS individuals. Recently, interleukin-22 (IL-22) has been shown to be therapeutically effective in immunological dysfunction and metabolic diseases, which suggests a role in the treatment of PCOS. In this review, we outline the potential mechanisms and limitations of IL-22 therapy in PCOS-related metabolic disorders including its regulation of insulin resistance, gut barrier, systemic inflammation, and hepatic steatosis to generate insights into developing novel strategies in clinical practice.

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are emergent pollutants, which have sparked widespread concern. They can infiltrate the body via ingestion, inhalation, and cutaneous contact. As such, there is a general worry that MPs/NPs may have an impact on human health in addition to the environmental issues they engender. The threat of MPs/NPs to the liver, gastrointestinal system, and inflammatory levels have been thoroughly documented in the previous research. With the detection of MPs/NPs in fetal compartment and the prevalence of infertility, an increasing number of studies have put an emphasis on their reproductive toxicity in female. Moreover, MPs/NPs have the potential to interact with other contaminants, thus enhancing or diminishing the combined toxicity. This review summarizes the deleterious effects of MPs/NPs and co-exposure with other pollutants on female throughout the reproduction period of various species, spanning from reproductive failure to cross-generational developmental disorders in progenies. Although these impacts may not be directly extrapolated to humans, they do provide a framework for evaluating the potential mechanisms underlying the reproductive toxicity of MPs/NPs.

PurposeTo investigate the effect of acupuncture for improving the pregnancy rate of COH rats from the viewpoint of regulating the opening time of the implantation window and endometrial receptivity.MethodsExperimental rats were randomly divided into normal group (N), model group (M) and acupuncture group(A), and samples were collected on Day 4, 5 and 6 after mating. COH rats were treated with acupuncture at SP6, LR3, and ST36 once a day for 7 times. The pinopodes were observed under a scanning electron microscope. Serum estrogen and progesterone levels were measured via ELISA. The protein and mRNA levels of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), integrin β3, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) in the endometrium were evaluated via West-blot, immunohistochemistry, and PCR.ResultsCompared with group N, the pregnancy rate of group M was significantly decreased (P

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a common female reproductive disorder and characterized by menopause, increased gonadotropin levels and estrogen deficiency before the age of 40 years old. The etiologies and pathogenesis of POF are not fully clear. At present, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the main treatment options for POF. It helps to ameliorate perimenopausal symptoms and related health risks, but can’t restore ovarian function and fertility fundamentally. With the development of regenerative medicine, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have shown great potential for the recovery of ovarian function and fertility based on the advantages of abundant sources, high capacity for self-renewal and differentiation, low immunogenicity and less ethical considerations. This systematic review aims to summarize the possible therapeutic mechanisms of BMSCs for POF. A detailed search strategy of preclinical studies and clinical trials on BMSCs and POF was performed on PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science and Embase database. A total of 21 studies were included in this review. Although the standardization of BMSCs need more explorations, there is no doubt that BMSCs transplantation may represent a prospective therapy for POF. It is hope to provide a theoretical basis for further research and treatment for POF.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an intractable issue that negatively impacts the quality of pregnancy. The incidence of GDM is on the rise, becoming a major health burden for both mothers and children. However, the specific etiology and pathophysiology of GDM remain unknown. Recently, the importance of gut microbiota and related metabolic molecules has gained prominence. Studies have indicated that women with GDM have significantly distinct gut microbiota and gut metabolites than healthy pregnant women. Given that the metabolic pathways of gut flora and related metabolites have a substantial impact on inflammation, insulin signaling, glucose, and lipid metabolism, and so on, gut microbiota or its metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, may play a significant role in both pathogenesis and progression of GDM. Whereas the role of intestinal flora during pregnancy is still in its infancy, this review aims to summarize the effects and mechanisms of gut microbiota and related metabolic molecules involved in GDM, thus providing potential intervention targets.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disease, affecting 8%–13% of the females of reproductive age, thereby compromising their fertility and long-term health. However, the pathogenesis of PCOS is still unclear. It is not only a reproductive endocrine disease, dominated by hyperandrogenemia, but also is accompanied by different degrees of metabolic abnormalities and insulin resistance. With a deeper understanding of its pathogenesis, more small metabolic molecules, such as bile acids, amino acids, and short-chain fatty acids, have been reported to be involved in the pathological process of PCOS. Recently, the critical role of gut microbiota in metabolism has been focused on. The gut microbiota-related metabolic pathways can significantly affect inflammation levels, insulin signaling, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and hormonal secretions. Although the abnormalities in gut microbiota and metabolites might not be the initial factors of PCOS, they may have a significant role in the pathological process of PCOS. The dysbiosis of gut microbiota and disturbance of gut metabolites can affect the progression of PCOS. Meanwhile, PCOS itself can adversely affect the function of gut, thereby contributing to the aggravation of the disease. Inhibiting this vicious cycle might alleviate the symptoms of PCOS. However, the role of gut microbiota in PCOS has not been fully explored yet. This review aims to summarize the potential effects and modulative mechanisms of the gut metabolites on PCOS and suggests its potential intervention targets, thus providing more possible treatment options for PCOS in the future.

Abstract Background During the fresh cycles of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, a disturbance in the reproductive endocrine environment following controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) is closely related to compromised endometrial receptivity. This is a major disadvantage for women during pregnancy. Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, Bushen Huoxue recipe (BSHXR) has been indicated to facilitate embryo implantation. Methods The COH model (Kunming breed) was induced by injecting mice with pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (0.4 IU/g) and human chorionic gonadotropin (1 IU/g), followed by treatment with BSHXR at three different concentrations (5.7, 11.4, and 22.8 g/kg), Bushen recipe (BSR) (5.7 g/kg), and Huoxue recipe (HXR) (5.7 g/kg). After successful mating, the pregnancy rate and implantation sites were examined on embryo day 8 (ED8), and the weight ratio of endometrium was calculated on ED4 midnight. Serum estrogen, progesterone, and endometrial PGE2 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The endometrial microvasculature was evaluated using CD31 immunostaining. The protein and mRNA levels of the angiogenic factors in the endometrium were evaluated using western blot, immunohistochemistry, and polymerase chain reaction. Results In the COH group, the pregnancy rate and implantation sites were significantly decreased, and abnormal serum hormone levels and impaired endometrial vascular development were observed. After BSHXR treatment, the supraphysiological serum progesterone level in COH mice was restored to normalcy. Moreover, the abnormal expression of the endometrial pro-angiogenic factors, including HIF1α, COX2-PGE2 pathway, and the down-stream factors, namely, MMP2, MMP9, TIMP2, and FGF2 after subjecting mice to COH was significantly improved after BSHXR treatment. Conclusion BSHXR could improve embryo implantation by regulating hormonal balance and modulating endometrial angiogenesis in mice, without inducing any side effects in normal pregnancy.

Centrifugal pump is a key part of nuclear power plant systems, and its health status is critical to the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants. Therefore, fault diagnosis is required for centrifugal pump. Traditional fault diagnosis methods have difficulty extracting fault features from nonlinear and non-stationary signals, resulting in low diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, a new fault diagnosis method is proposed based on the improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm-based variational modal decomposition (VMD) and relevance vector machine (RVM). Firstly, a simulation test bench for rotor faults is built, in which vibration displacement signals of the rotor are also collected by eddy current sensors. Then, the improved particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the VMD to achieve adaptive decomposition of vibration displacement signals. Meanwhile, a screening criterion based on the minimum Kullback-Leibler (K-L) divergence value is established to extract the primary intrinsic modal function (IMF) component. Eventually, the factors are obtained from the primary IMF component to form a fault feature vector, and fault patterns are recognized using the RVM model. The results show that the extraction of the fault information and fault diagnosis classification have been improved, and the average accuracy could reach 97.87%.

The biomimetic surface with Space-V grooves can effectively reduce flow resistance and noise. Our investigation was in order to further enhance the drag reduction and noise reduction performance of a marine centrifugal pump with Space-V-groove-shaped biomimetic surfaces. A regression equation was established with response surface methodology between the total sound pressure level and the height (h), width (s), and spacing (b) of the biomimetic groove structure. The interaction effects of various parameters on the total sound pressure level were analyzed, and the parameter range was determined at the lowest total sound pressure level. The hydraulic performance and interior noise of the model before and after optimization were compared. The results showed that the total sound pressure level initially decreased and then increased with increasing groove height. Similarly, with an increase in groove width, the total sound pressure level decreased at first, then increased. When the height of the bionic groove is 0.5–0.7 mm, the groove width is 0.4–0.7 mm, the groove spacing is 0.7–1.3 mm, and the total sound pressure level of the centrifugal pump is the smallest, which is 180–182 dB. On the other hand, the total sound pressure level increased as groove spacing increased. Through the use of an optimized Space-V groove model, under rated working conditions, the model head is increased by 0.27 m and the efficiency is increased by 1.21%. In addition, the optimized model has excellent drag and noise reduction performance, with the drag reduction rate of 3.73% and noise reduction rate of 1.81%, which are, respectively, increased by 0.87% and 0.45% compared with before optimization. The performance of centrifugal pumps for ships can be greatly improved.

The marine vertical centrifugal pump is an important piece of auxiliary equipment for ships. Due to the complex operating conditions of marine equipment and the frequent swaying of the hull, typical pump failures such as rotor misalignment, rotor unbalance and mechanical loosening occur frequently, which seriously affect the service life of the marine vertical centrifugal pump. Based on multi-domain characteristic parameters, a fault identification method combining weighted kernel principal component analysis (WKPCA) and particle swarm optimization support vector machine (PSO-SVM) is proposed in this paper. It can effectively solve the problem of multi-fault classification of the centrifugal pump and provide reference for efficient maintenance of equipment. Firstly, a vertical centrifugal pump test bench is set up to simulate typical faults. The collected original fault data are denoised by Kalman filtering. Then, a multi-domain feature set composed of 20 feature parameters was constructed. However, due to high dimension, data redundancy and calculation time were increased. After dimensionality reduction, a fault feature set with 9 feature indexes was established by combining with the WKPCA method. Finally, the PSO-SVM model is used to realize multi-fault identification, and the recognition results of the traditional support vector machine and the genetic algorithm support vector machine (GA-SVM) are compared to verify the diagnosis results and classification performance of PSO-SVM. The results show that the accuracy of WKPCA and PSO-SVM fault recognition methods based on multi-domain characteristic parameters is 1, and it has good convergence.

In order to eliminate the noise in the pumping system and prolong the service life of the equipment, an optimization design method for a muffler structure is proposed. The inside of the muffler is designed with a water guide cone which plays the role of diverting the fluid in the pipeline. The muffler shell, the wall surface of the water guide cone, and the circular bottom plate adopt a porous structure. In order to achieve the best sound suppression effect of the muffler structure, the effects of different channel expansion angles and the flow area on the performance of muffler are studied the results show that when the flow channel expansion angle of the muffler is 145° and the flow area ratio is 3 times, the noise elimination performance of the muffler is the best. The structural optimization of the muffler studied in this paper is of great significance to noise reduction in the pumping system.