Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of idiopathic central precocious puberty in girls

Introduction: Prior studies have found inconsistent results regarding the relationship between vitamin D status and Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty (ICPP). Objective: To assess the role of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 [OH]D) levels in ICPP development. Method: The authors retrospectively collected data from 221 girls with ICPP and 144 healthy girls between January 2017 and December 2019. The participants’ serum 25(OH)D levels were measured using an automatic chemiluminescence method, and the association between serum 25(OH)D levels and the risk of ICPP was assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) were calculated as effect estimates. Results: Serum 25(OH)D levels in the ICPP group were significantly lower than those in healthy controls (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that girls with insufficient vitamin D levels (OR = 0.201; 95% CI 0.094–0.428; p < 0.001) and sufficient vitamin D levels (OR = 0.141; 95% CI 0.053–0.375; p < 0.001) both had a lower risk of ICPP than girls with vitamin D deficiency. Moreover, the authors found that the height (p = 0.014), weight (p = 0.014), breast stage (p = 0.010), mother's height (p < 0.001), and luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio (p = 0.010) in girls with ICPP could be associated with levels of vitamin D. Conclusion: This study found that a low serum 25(OH)D level is an independent risk factor for ICPP, and several characteristics of girls with ICPP could be affected by their vitamin D status.

A Random Forest and Current Fault Texture Feature-Based Method for Current Sensor Fault Diagnosis in Three-Phase PWM VSR

Three-phase PWM voltage-source rectifier (VSR) systems have been widely used in various energy conversion systems, where current sensors are the key component for state monitoring and system control. The current sensor faults may bring hidden danger or damage to the whole system; therefore, this paper proposed a random forest (RF) and current fault texture feature-based method for current sensor fault diagnosis in three-phase PWM VSR systems. First, the three-phase alternating currents (ACs) of the three-phase PWM VSR are collected to extract the current fault texture features, and no additional hardware sensors are needed to avoid causing additional unstable factors. Then, the current fault texture features are adopted to train the random forest current sensor fault detection and diagnosis (CSFDD) classifier, which is a data-driven CSFDD classifier. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation experiments. The result shows that the current sensor faults can be detected and located successfully and that it can effectively provide fault locations for maintenance personnel to keep the stable operation of the whole system.Comment: Frontiers in Energy Researc

Bis[4-(2-hydroxy­benzyl­amino)phen­yl] ether

The title compound, C26H24N2O3, was synthesized by reduction of the corresponding Schiff base. The mol­ecule does not possess crystallographic or non-crystallographic symmetry. The dihedral angle between the oxygen-bridged benzene rings is 67.98 (8)°. Both hydroxyl groups are involved in O—H⋯O intra­molecular hydrogen bonding. The mol­ecules are linked into a two-dimensional network parallel to the (010) plane by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Modified frequency computation method for optimal environmental flows

The paper describes a modified frequency computation method to calculate the optimal environmental flows. This method was used to design monthly environmental flows in Lancang river. The environmental flows calculated by the method are compared with those by the ecological flow method and the Tennant method, revealing its effectiveness

Serum cytokine profiling analysis for zheng differentiation in chronic hepatitis B

Approval document of the research protocol by the Medical Ethics Committee of Shuguang Hospital

The Transitions Between Dynamic Micro-States Reveal Age-Related Functional Network Reorganization

Normal dynamic change in human brain occurs with age increasing, yet much remains unknown regarding how brain develops, matures, and ages. Functional connectivity analysis of the resting-state brain is a powerful method for revealing the intrinsic features of functional networks, and micro-states, which are the intrinsic patterns of functional connectivity in dynamic network courses, and are suggested to be more informative of brain functional changes. The aim of this study is to explore the age-related changes in these micro-states of dynamic functional network. Three healthy groups were included: the young (ages 21–32 years), the adult (age 41–54 years), and the old (age 60–86 years). Sliding window correlation method was used to construct the dynamic connectivity networks, and then the micro-states were individually identified with clustering analysis. The distribution of age-related connectivity variations in several intrinsic networks for each micro-state was analyzed then. The micro-states showed substantial age-related changes in the transitions between states but not in the dwelling time. Also there was no age-related reorganization observed within any micro-state. But there were reorganizations observed in the transition between them. These results suggested that the identified micro-states represented certain underlying connectivity patterns in functional brain system, which are similar to the intrinsic cognitive networks or resources. In addition, the dynamic transitions between these states were probable mechanisms of reorganization or compensation in functional brain networks with age increasing

Penetration and pharmacokinetics of ferulic acid after dermal administration

Purpose: To study the in vitro penetration and in vivo pharmacokinetics of ferulic acid (FA), and the correlation between them after dermal administration. Methods: Franz diffusion cell was used to study in vitro penetration of FA. The concentration of FA in the Franz receiver solution was assessed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Prior to in vivo pharmacokinetics experiments, probe recovery was validated with respect to influencing factors such as flow rate, FA concentration, within-day stability and reproducibility of the probes. In in vivo pharmacokinetic experiment, six male CD-1 hairless mice were used. The micro-dialysis (MD) probe was implanted in the dermis of the rat skin, and dialysates from probe outlet were quantified directly by HPLC. In in vivo studies, deconvolution methods were used to determine the relationship between in vitro and in vivo data, and the correlation coefficient of linear equations. Results: There was significant effect of pH (5 ~ 8) on the penetration of FA. Increase in pH caused commensurate decrease in permeability. The Cmax of FA was 300.74 ± 31.86 ng/mL while Tmax was 138.00 ± 22.80 min after dermal administration of 1 mg/mL FA dissolved in phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The correlation coefficient (r) between in vitro and in vivo data was 0.9905. Conclusion: Both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate that FA permeates the stratum corneum of skin rapidly. The unionized form of FA shows better penetration than the ionic form. In addition, results from correlation analysis indicate that the in vitro penetration characteristics of FA can be applied to predict its in vivo pharmacokinetics

(Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder: A novel promising anticancer therapy to melanoma by blocking phosphotyrosine signaling

Background: Melanoma is a malignant tumor with high misdiagnosis rate and poor prognosis. The bio-targeted therapy is a prevailing method in the treatment of melanoma; however, the accompanying drug resistance is inevitable. SH2 superbinder, a triple-mutant of the Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain, shows potent antitumor ability by replacing natural SH2-containing proteins and blocking multiple pY-based signaling pathways. Polyarginine (Arg) 9 , a powerful vector for intracellular delivery of large molecules, could transport therapeutic agents across cell membrane. The purpose of this study is to construct (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder and investigate its effects on melanoma cells, expecting to provide potential new approaches for anti-cancer therapy and overcoming the unavoidable drug resistance of single-targeted antitumor agents. Methods: (Arg) 9 and SH2 superbinder were fused to form (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder via genetic engineering. Pull down assay was performed to identify that (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder could capture a wide variety of pY proteins. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the efficiency of (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder entering cells. The proliferation ability was assessed by MTT and colony formation assay. In addition, wound healing and transwell assay were performed to evaluate migration of B16F10, A375 and A375/DDP cells. Moreover, apoptosis caused by (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder was analyzed by flow cytometry-based Annexin V/PI. Furthermore, western blot revealed that (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder influenced some pY-related signaling pathways. Finally, B16F10 xenograft model was established to confirm whether (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder could restrain the growth of tumor. Results: Our data showed that (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder had the ability to enter melanoma cells effectively and displayed strong affinities for various pY proteins. Furthermore, (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder could repress proliferation, migration and induce apoptosis of melanoma cells by regulating PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK and JAK/STAT signaling pathways. Importantly, (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder could significantly inhibit the growth of tumor in mice. Conclusions: (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder exhibited high affinities for pY proteins, which showed effective anticancer ability by replacing SH2-containing proteins and blocking diverse pY-based pathways. The remarkable ability of (Arg) 9 -SH2 superbinder to inhibit cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth might open the door to explore the SH2 superbinder as a therapeutic agent for cancer treatment