Review on alcohol exposure associated embryonic stem cell differentiation mechanisms

Alcohol exposure, as a widespread environmental factor, is highly toxic and teratogenic. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent and key to development, and their gene expression is tightly regulated, allowing the cells to differentiate without self-renewal. Numerous studies showed that alcohol is an important factor affecting the differentiation of ESCs. In this paper, we systematically summarized four major molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol associated differentiation of ESCs: (1) inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway; (2) restriction of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway; (3) alteration of the expression of pluripotent transcription factors; and (4) activation of the nuclear transcriptional program. Through the above mechanisms, alcohol induces aberrant expression of differentiation-related genes and alters the direction of cellular differentiation towards specific lineages, thereby affecting normal embryonic development. Based on the studies on ESCs modeling and other in vitro and in vivo differentiation experiments, the molecular basis of how alcohol affects differentiation by interfering with signaling networks and transcriptional regulation was elucidated, and the results of current research in this field were also summarized, which is crucial for understanding alcohol-mediated toxic effects

Study on Compatibility of Polymer Hydrodynamic Size and Pore Throat Size for Honggang Reservoir

Long core flow experiment was conducted to study problems like excessive injection pressure and effective lag of oil wells during the polymer flooding in Honggang reservoir in Jilin oilfield. According to the changes in viscosity and hydrodynamic dimensions before and after polymer solution was injected into porous media, the compatibility of polymer hydrodynamic dimension and the pore throat size was studied in this experiment. On the basis of the median of radius R of pore throats in rocks with different permeability, dynamic light scattering method (DLS) was adopted to measure the hydrodynamic size Rh of polymer solution with different molecular weights. The results state that three kinds of 1500 mg/L concentration polymer solution with 2000 × 104, 1500 × 104, and 1000 × 104 molecular weight matched well with the pore throat in rocks with permeability of 300 mD, 180 mD, and 75 mD in sequence. In this case, the ratios of core pore throat radius median to the size of polymer molecular clew R/Rh are 6.16, 5.74, and 6.04. For Honggang oil reservoir in Jilin, when that ratio ranges from 5.5 to 6.0, the compatibility of polymer and the pore structure will be relatively better

Decreased plasma levels of PDGF-BB, VEGF-A, and HIF-2α in preterm infants after ibuprofen treatment

IntroductionIbuprofen is one of the most common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used to close patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in preterm infants. PDA is associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), while PDA closure by ibuprofen did not reduce the incidence of BPD or death. Previous studies have indicated an anti-angiogenesis effect of ibuprofen. This study investigated the change of angiogenic factors after ibuprofen treatment in preterm infants.MethodsPreterm infants with hemodynamically significant PDA (hsPDA) were included. After confirmed hsPDA by color doppler ultrasonography within 1 week after birth, infants received oral ibuprofen for three continuous days. Paired plasma before and after the ibuprofen treatment was collected and measured by ELISA to determine the concentrations of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), and hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α).Results17 paired plasma from infants with hsPDA were collected. The concentration of PDGF-BB and VEGF-A significantly decreased after ibuprofen treatment (1,908 vs. 442 pg/mL for PDGF-BB, 379 vs. 174 pg/mL for VEGF-A). HIF-2α level showed a tendency to decrease after ibuprofen treatment, although the reduction was not statistically significant (p = 0.077).ConclusionThis study demonstrated decreased vascular growth factors after ibuprofen exposure in hsPDA infants

Clinical Study on the Effects of Different Infusion Solutions on Colloid Osmotic Pressure During Major Abdominal Surgery and Perioperative Albumin in Elderly Patients

Objective: To explore the effects of different infusion schemes on colloid osmotic pressure during major abdominal surgery and perioperative albumin in elderly patients. Methods: 140 elderly patients of 65-80 years old undergoing major abdominal surgery were divided into 4 groups according to the method of random number table , and different proportions of crystals and colloids were given to different groups (group A: whole crystal, group B: crystal-colloid ratio 1 : 1, group C: crystal-colloid ratio 2: 1, Group D: crystal-colloid ratio 1: 2).  The plasma colloid osmotic pressure and level of albumin during perioperative period were monitored. Simultaneously observe the arterial blood pH, blood glucose, extubating time of endotracheal tube, postoperative feeding time, et al. Results: The total amount of liquid inputted in the group of whole crystal was 3056ml (3056 ± 253), which was significantly increased compared with other groups (P&lt;0.01). At the same time, the colloid osmotic pressure decreased by 11.9 mmHg (11.9 ± 2.8), which was more obviously decreased than that of the other groups( B group3.9 ± 1.3, C group 1.5 ± 0.3, D group 4.7±2.1). The difference was a statistically significant(P&lt;0.01). On the other day after surgery, the level of albumin decreased by an average of 4.3 g / L (4.5 ± 1.9) compared with that in group B before surgery, and group C decreased by 2.9 g / L (2.9 ± 1.2) in average, which was significantly different (P&lt;0.05) from group A 10.2 g / L (10.2 ± 1.8). There was no statistically significant difference between group A and group D (P&gt;0.05). And the other indexes were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: This study found that different infusion solutions with different crystal-colloid ratios had an effect on perioperative colloid osmotic pressure and level of albumin.</jats:p

Clinical Study on the Effects of Different Positions on Supine Hypotensive Syndrome in Cesarean Section after Lumbar Anesthesia

Aim: To explore the effects of different positions on supine hypotensive syndrome in cesarean section after lumbar anesthesia. Methods: 600 full-term parturient were randomly divided into 4 groups. The patented positioning pads (patent number: ZL 2017 2 0618886.5) in our department was used in the left-leaning position. The parturient lied in a supine position for anesthesia in, and then the group of positioning pads was placed after turning into the lateral position. The parturient were divided into group A (supine position), group B (left-leaning to 10 °), group C (left-leaning to 20 °), and group D (30 °). Observation index: Main index: Comparison of maternal blood pressure changes and neonatal blood gas analysis in the supine position without using a position pad and with the use of patent positioning pads in different tilt angles (10°, 20°, 30°). Minor index: 1) the use and frequency of vasoactive drugs, whether a left-leaning operating bed or uterine displacement is required; 2) the consciousness of the parturient; 3) newborn’s Apgar scores of 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes after birth; 4) whether the obstetrician can perform the operation smoothly in the corresponding left leaning position. Results: The blood pressure at the supine position after anesthesia, the beginning of surgery and the time when the newborn was delivered in group A and group B were significantly different from those in group C (P&lt;0.05). There were significant differences at different timings in group A and group B, and the decline was more significant at the supine position after anesthesia, the beginning of surgery and the time when the newborn was delivered (P&lt;0.05). The pH value of blood gas analysis of newborns in group A, group B and group C was between 7.25 and 7.37, and there was no significant difference between the three groups (P?0.05). Conclusion: The use of positioning pads can prevent the adverse effects of supine hypotensive syndrome on parturient and newborns to a certain extent.</jats:p

A Novel Method for Regional NO2 Concentration Prediction Using Discrete Wavelet Transform and an LSTM Network

Achieving accurate predictions of urban NO2 concentration is essential for effectively control of air pollution. This paper selected the concentration of NO2 in Tianjin as the research object, concentrating predicting model based on Discrete Wavelet Transform and Long- and Short-Term Memory network (DWT-LSTM) for predicting daily average NO2 concentration. Five major atmospheric pollutants, key meteorological data, and historical data were selected as the input indexes, realizing the effective prediction of NO2 concentration in the next day. Firstly, the input data were decomposed by Discrete Wavelet Transform to increase the data dimension. Furthermore, the LSTM network model was used to learn the features of the decomposed data. Ultimately, Support Vector Regression (SVR), Gated Regression Unit (GRU), and single LSTM model were selected as comparison models, and each performance was evaluated by the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). The results show that the DWT-LSTM model constructed in this paper can improve the accuracy and generalization ability of data mining by decomposing the input data into multiple components. Compared with the other three methods, the model structure is more suitable for predicting NO2 concentration in Tianjin.</jats:p

Prognostic Role of Biomarkers for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Extremely Premature Infants

To explore the association of the biochemical markers after birth with BPD-PAH, factors independently predicting BPD-PAH risk were identified by multivariate logistic regression. Cut off values were determined by plotting receiver-operator curve (ROC), for the sake of dichotomizing continuous variables that showed independent relation with BPD-PAH risk. The results show that uric acid (UC) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) contents markedly increased among infants experiencing BPD-PAH in comparison with those without BPD-PAH (11.6 vs. 9.7 mmol/L, P = 0.006 and 482.0 vs. 249.0 μ mol/L, P &lt; 0.001 , separately). As shown by multivariate logistic regression, serum BUN levels ( OR = 1.143 ) and uric acid levels ( OR = 1.034 ) were important risk factors for BPD-PAH. Through a lot of experiments, the effectiveness and the advanced nature of the framework proposed in this paper are proved effectively. The framework proposed in this paper can provide some reference and thinking for follow-up research.</jats:p