Serum Sestrin2 and PlGF levels in pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and their correlations with the severity of the disease: A case-control study

Purpose: Sestrin2, a metabolic regulator with antioxidant activity, might have some certain predictability for the occurrence and severity of pre-eclampsia (PE). The purpose of this work was to explore the levels of serum Sestrin2 and PlGF in pregnant women with PE and their correlation with the severity index of the disease.Methods:This was a retrospective case-control study of pregnant women with PE who planned to give birth in our hospital from 05/2017 to 05/2019. Pearson correlation was used to analyze Sestrin2 and PlGF levels with PE severity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the predictive value of Sestrin2 and PlGF for PE.Results: There were 52 women in the control group, 46 in the mild PE group, and 36 in the severe PE group. As the severity of PE increased, the median levels of Sestrin2 increased (8.1, 9.8, and 11.8 ng/ml), and the levels of PlGF decreased (156, 117, and 67 pg/ml) in the three groups of women (all P<0.05).The levels of Sestrin2 and PlGF were strongly correlated with mean arterial pressure,proteinuria, newborn birth weight and gestational weeks at delivery (all P<0.001). Sestrin2 and PlGF had high efficiency of diagnosing PE (cut-off: 8.90 ng/ml, Area Under Curve [AUC]=0.979; cut-off: 122.50 pg/ml, AUC=0.963). Additionally, Sestrin2 and PlGF showed high value of severity prediction (cut-off: 11.15 ng/ml, AUC=0.857; cut-off: 68.50 pg/ml, AUC=0.837).Conclusion: Sestrin2 and PlGF are correlated with the severity of PE. Both Sestrin2 and PlGF had high value for PE diagnosis and severity prediction. Keywords: pre-eclampsia; Sestrin2; placental growth factor; oxidative stress; severity&nbsp

A unified mechanism for intron and exon definition and back-splicing.

The molecular mechanisms of exon definition and back-splicing are fundamental unanswered questions in pre-mRNA splicing. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of the yeast spliceosomal E complex assembled on introns, providing a view of the earliest event in the splicing cycle that commits pre-mRNAs to splicing. The E complex architecture suggests that the same spliceosome can assemble across an exon, and that it either remodels to span an intron for canonical linear splicing (typically on short exons) or catalyses back-splicing to generate circular RNA (on long exons). The model is supported by our experiments, which show that an E complex assembled on the middle exon of yeast EFM5 or HMRA1 can be chased into circular RNA when the exon is sufficiently long. This simple model unifies intron definition, exon definition, and back-splicing through the same spliceosome in all eukaryotes and should inspire experiments in many other systems to understand the mechanism and regulation of these processes

Surface Modification and Structural Characterization of Tourmaline Powder by KH-171

This is an article in the field of mineral materials. The tourmaline powder was modified with silane coupling agent KH-171, and the process conditions were optimized with the parameters of contact angle and turbidity of the modified product in liquid paraffin. The test results showed that the contact angle of the resulting modified tourmaline reached 133 ℃ when reacted at 60 ℃ for 2 h at a system pH value of 9, a dosage of modifier KH-171 of 2 mL, and an alcohol-to-water ratio of 1∶5, showing excellent hydrophobic properties. The modified tourmaline was characterized by IR, SEM and XRD. The results showed that the organic functional groups with carbon-carbon double bonds were successfully connected to the surface of tourmaline without changing the original crystal structure, but the agglomeration of tourmaline reduced effectively and showed better dispersion performance

Intelligent Analysis Method in Safety Science—Space Fault Tree and Factor Space

The development of the basic theory of safety science is relatively short compared with other disciplines, and the corresponding basic theory is weaker. However, with the development of science and technology, more and more complex systems have emerged. These systems are significantly different from earlier systems, including in complexity, factor changes, data information, and system control. Traditional reliability and fault analysis methods are difficult to solve. In order to manage these problems, the author proposes a space fault tree theory to study system reliability and system fault evolution process. At present, the space fault tree theory is divided into four parts, the space fault tree theory foundation, the intelligent space fault tree, the space fault network, the system motion space and the system mapping theory. The space fault tree is combined with factor space, a cloud model, fuzzy structure element, and system stability and information ecology methodology. The objective is for the space fault tree theory to complete the system reliability and fault analysis, as well as fault big data analysis, fault logic relationship reasoning, system fault evolution process research and system motion change measurement capability. In order to demonstrate the results of the space fault tree research, this paper is written to briefly introduce the four major parts and main contents and results of the space fault tree theory

Facile and Divergent Synthesis and Antifungal Evaluation of Drimane Meroterpenoids by Merging Decarboxylative Borylation and Suzuki Coupling

Based on the easily accessible and inexpensive sclareol, the bench stable drimanyl BPin was achieved through oxidative degradation and decarboxylative borylation. The following Suzuki coupling of the borate intermediate was developed as a powerful platform for a large variety of drimane meroterpenoids, non-natural mimics and ring-distorted motifs. Key features include mild conditions, operational facility, broad substrate scope, scalability, and good chemofidelity and stereofidelity as well as the easy availability of the various coupling partners. Expedient formal synthesis of a large number of complex natural products is feasible via the current methodology. The high degree of practicality of the current chemistry bodes well for the discovery sciences towards pharmaceutically important meroterpenoids or leads through detailed SAR study. The facile accessibility to drimane meroterpenoids and mimics allowed the unprecedented evaluation of these chemical entities as antifungal agents. The promising activity of the non-natural mimics may open a new window for structural optimization and the identification of new targets.</p

Estimating Particulate Matter Emission from Dust Sources Using ZY-3 Data and GIS Technology—A Case Study in Zhengzhou City, China

With the rapid development of the social economy in China, numerous Chinese cities are facing high levels of particulate matter (PM) pollution problems. In this study, high-resolution ZY-3 images and GIS techniques were used to establish the emission inventory of total suspended particle (TSP), particulate matter 10 (PM10) and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) from fugitive dust sources in May 2016, and a spatial grid of 3 km × 3 km resolution was established to demonstrate the spatial distribution of PM emission. Results showed that the total emissions of TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 in Zhengzhou city were 237.5 kt·a−1, 103.7 kt·a−1 and 22.4 kt·a−1, respectively. Construction dust source was the main fugitive dust emission source in Zhengzhou city—the TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 emission of which account for 76.42%, 89.68% and 88.39%, respectively, of the total emission, followed by road dust source and soil dust source. PM emission was higher in Zhongyuan, Huiji, Jinshui and Zhengdong New District, while Zhongmou, Xingyang, Dengfeng and other remote areas had low PM emissions. Compared to other Chinese cities or regions, the PM emission from the construction dust source was at a high level in Zhengzhou city, while the PM emissions from the soil dust source and road dust source were at moderate levels

Personalized Prechemotherapy Education Reduces Peri-Chemotherapy Anxiety in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Objective. To evaluate the effect of personalized prechemotherapy education in the reduction of peri-chemotherapy anxiety in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods. Patients admitted to the Department of Oncology with a diagnosis of stage III or IV colorectal cancer and scheduled for initial chemotherapy from January 1, 2017, to June 30, 2019, were retrieved. Patients in the educated group completed the GAD-7 form to evaluate their anxiety level at admission and 14 days after personalized prechemotherapy education, the educator team of which included both physician and nurse staff. Patients in the control group only completed GAD-7 forms at admission and 14 days thereafter without personalized education. Results. Three hundred and sixty-four patients were enrolled for analysis, including 127 patients who received personalized prechemotherapy education and 237 patients who did not receive education. There were no significant differences in age, gender, education level, or pretreatment GAD-7 scores between the two groups, but significantly lower posttreatment GAD-7 score, and fewer medium to severe posttreatment anxiety patients in the educated group. Conclusion. Personalized prechemotherapy education involving physician for medical treatment and nursing staff for peri-treatment care, in contrast to traditional brief discussion with physicians during clinic visits and unified informed consent before treatments, may reduce peri-chemotherapy anxiety more efficiently