Cumulative live birth rates and birth outcomes after IVF/ICSI treatment cycles in young POSEIDON patients: A real-world study

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to describe the cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) of young women with or without low prognosis according to the POSEIDON criteria after IVF/ICSI cycles and to investigate whether the diagnosis of low prognosis increases the risk of abnormal birth outcomes.DesignRetrospective study.SettingA single reproductive medicine center.PopulationFrom January 2016 to October 2020, there were 17,893 patients (<35 years) involved. After screening, 4,105 women were included in POSEIDON group 1, 1,375 women were included in POSEIDON group 3, and 11,876 women were defined as non-POSEIDON.Intervention(s)Baseline serum AMH level was measured on the D2–D3 of menstrual cycle before IVF/ICSI treatment.Main outcome measure(s)Cumulative live birth rate (CLBR), birth outcomes.Result(s)After four stimulation cycles, the CLBRs in POSEIDON group 1, POSEIDON group 3, and non-POSEIDON group reached 67.9% (95% CI, 66.5%–69.3%), 51.9% (95% CI, 49.2%–54.5%), and 79.6% (95% CI, 78.9%–80.3%), respectively. There was no difference in gestational age, preterm delivery, cesarean delivery, and low birth weight infants between the three groups, but macrosomia was significantly higher in non-POSEIDON group, after adjusting for maternal age and BMI.Conclusion(s)The POSEIDON group shows lower CLBRs than the non-POSEIDON group in young women, while the risk of abnormal birth outcomes in the POSEIDON group will not increase

A High Dynamic Weak Spread Spectrum Signal Acquisition Strategy Based on Iterative Local Search

To solve the acquisition problem of the satellite-ground microwave link ranging of the China Space Station, iterative local search (ILS) is proposed. In this paper, an iterative-local-search-based acquisition strategy is presented, and a Doppler frequency and code phase transfer model is designed, which can accomplish acquisition by multiple rounds of two-dimensional search. The adaptability of the ILS improved traditional acquisition algorithm to a high dynamic and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environment can be significantly improved without relying on prior information. For the classical parallel code phase acquisition algorithm, the performance of the ILS acquisition strategy was experimentally evaluated for high dynamic weak signals, and the results demonstrated the superiority of the proposed strategy. The computational complexity of the ILS improved parallel code phase acquisition algorithm was greatly reduced. The sensitivity of the parallel code phase acquisition algorithm improved by the ILS strategy to the acquisition of weak signals in a dynamic environment was significantly improved

Quantifying the nonlinear response of vegetation greening to driving factors in Longnan of China based on machine learning algorithm

The main influencing factors and their nonlinear effects on the changes of vegetation in China’s mountainous areas under the interaction of different factors are not yet clear, and comprehending the evolutionary trends and driving mechanisms of vegetation is crucial to reveal the changes in ecosystem structure and function. In this study, trend analysis (M−K, T-S and EEMD) combined with machine learning algorithm, namely Boosted Regression Tree model (BRT), were used to quantify the trends of nonlinear responses and thresholds for bioclimatic variables, topography, soil properties and anthropogenic factors for vegetation changes in Longnan. The results showed that the trend analysis clearly confirm the increasing trend of vegetation at multiple spatio-temporal scales. The BRT indicated that total precipitation (bio12, 15.22%), land use (LUCC, 12.68%), elevation (DEM, 11.20%), and population density (Pd, 9.20%) were the more important factors of dominant vegetation greening. Bioclimatic variables were found to revealed the effects of climate with vegetation more clearly. In addition, the BRT revealed that the selected factors have the different nonlinear response relationships to vegetation greening trend and specific thresholds. Among them, increasing of cropland, grassland and forestland can promote vegetation greening. However, GDP, Pd, DEM, bio12, mean diurnal range and temperature seasonality (bio2, bio4) exceed the threshold can significantly inhibit vegetation growth. The BRT combined with trend analysis revealed the nonlinear response relationships and thresholds of the drivers behind the vegetation change patterns, which have obvious effects in exploring the driving mechanisms of vegetation changes in mountainous areas. This study provided an important reference for better revealing the interaction mechanisms between vegetation changes and drivers in the semi-humid zone in East Asia even globally

Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits: Progress and Perspectives

Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are one of the most widely used animal models for the study of human lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis because they are more sensitive to a cholesterol diet than other experimental animals such as rodents. Currently, two hypercholesterolemic rabbit models are frequently used for atherosclerosis studies. One is a cholesterol-fed wild-type rabbit and the other is the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit, which is genetically deficient in low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor function. Wild-type rabbits can be easily induced to develop severe hypercholesterolemia with a cholesterol-rich diet due to the marked increase in hepatically and intestinally derived remnant lipoproteins, called β-very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), which are rich in cholesteryl esters. WHHL rabbits are characterized by elevated plasma LDL levels on a standard chow diet, which resembles human familial hypercholesterolemia. Therefore, both rabbit models develop aortic and coronary atherosclerosis, but the elevated plasma cholesterol levels are caused by completely different mechanisms. In addition, cholesterol-fed rabbits but not WHHL rabbits exhibit different degrees of hepatosteatosis. Recently, we along with others have shown that there are many differentially expressed genes in the atherosclerotic lesions and livers of cholesterol-fed rabbits that are either significantly up- or down-regulated, compared with those in normal rabbits, including genes involved in the regulation of inflammation and lipid metabolism. Therefore, dietary cholesterol plays an important role not only in hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis but also in hepatosteatosis. In this review, we make an overview of the recent progress in genomic and transcriptomic analyses of hypercholesterolemic rabbits. These transcriptomic profiling data should provide novel insight into the relationship between hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis or hepatic dysfunction caused by dietary cholesterol

Demonstration of an add-on effect of probucol and cilostazol on the statin-induced anti-atherogenic effects

Statins are often prescribed for treatment of cardiovascular diseases, although there are still many patients who cannot be effectively treated by statins alone. Both probucol and cilostazol exhibit antiatherogenic effects. In the current study, we attempted to investigate whether a probucol and cilostazol combination had any add-on effects on atorvastatin. To examine this hypothesis, we fed Japanese white rabbits with a cholesterol-rich diet supplemented with atorvastatin alone (Statin group), probucol and cilostazol (PC group), atorvastatin, probucol and cilostazol (APC group), and compared their effects on plasma lipids and aortic atherosclerosis. All three drug-treated groups had lowered total cholesterol levels compared with the vehicle group but high-density lipoproteins cholesterol levels of the atorvastatin group were higher than other groups. Although aortic atherosclerosis was significantly reduced in all drug-treated groups, the most prominent atheroprotective effect was seen in APC group (APC: 67% reduction> PC: 43% reduction> Statin group: 42% reduction over the vehicle). Morphometric analysis revealed that the reduced aortic atherosclerosis in all three groups was mainly attributed to the reduction of intimal macrophages and smooth muscle cells. These results suggest that a combination of probucol and cilostazol with statin enhances statin’s anti-atherogenic functions, which may be beneficial for those patients who are less responsive to statin therapy alone

Bacteroides fragilis Protects Against Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea in Rats by Modulating Intestinal Defenses

Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is iatrogenic diarrhea characterized by disruption of the gut microbiota. Probiotics are routinely used to treat AAD in clinical practice; however, the effectiveness and mechanisms by which probiotics alleviate symptoms remain poorly understood. We previously isolated a non-toxic Bacteroides fragilis strain ZY-312, which has been verified to be beneficial in certain infection disorders. However, the precise role of this commensal bacterium in AAD is unknown. In this study, we successfully established an AAD rat model by exposing rats to appropriate antibiotics. These rats developed diarrhea symptoms and showed alterations in their intestinal microbiota, including overgrowth of some pathogenic bacteria. In addition, gastrointestinal barrier defects, indicated by compromised aquaporin expression, aberrant tight junction proteins, and decreased abundance of mucus-filled goblet cells, were also detected in ADD rats compared with control animals. Of note, oral treatment with B. fragilis strain ZY-312 ameliorated AAD-related diarrhea symptoms by increasing the abundance of specific commensal microbiota. Interestingly, we demonstrated that these changes were coincident with the restoration of intestinal barrier function and enterocyte regeneration in AAD rats. In summary, we identified a potential probiotic therapeutic strategy for AAD and identified the vital roles of B. fragilis strain ZY-312 in modulating the colonic bacterial community and participating in microbiota-mediated epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation

Plasma High-Mannose and Complex/Hybrid N-Glycans Are Associated with Hypercholesterolemia in Humans and Rabbits.

N-glycans play important roles in various pathophysiological processes and can be used as clinical diagnosis markers. However, plasma N-glycans change and their pathophysiological significance in the setting of hypercholesterolemia, a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, is unknown. Here, we collected plasma from both hypercholesterolemic patients and cholesterol-fed hypercholesterolemic rabbits, and determined the changes in the whole-plasma N-glycan profile by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We found that both the hypercholesterolemic patients and rabbits showed a dramatic change in their plasma glycan profile. Compared with healthy subjects, the hypercholesterolemic patients exhibited higher plasma levels of a cluster of high-mannose and complex/hybrid N-glycans (mainly including undecorated or sialylated glycans), whereas only a few fucosylated or fucosylated and sialylated N-glycans were increased. Additionally, cholesterol-fed hypercholesterolemic rabbits also displayed increased plasma levels of high-mannose in addition to high complex/hybrid N-glycan levels. The whole-plasma glycan profiles revealed that the plasma N-glycan levels were correlated with the plasma cholesterol levels, implying that N-glycans may be a target for treatment of hypercholesterolemia