Decreased oocyte quality in patients with endometriosis is closely related to abnormal granulosa cells

Infertility and menstrual abnormalities in endometriosis patients are frequently caused by aberrant follicular growth or a reduced ovarian reserve. Endometriosis typically does not directly harm the oocyte, but rather inhibits the function of granulosa cells, resulting in a decrease in oocyte quality. Granulosa cells, as oocyte nanny cells, can regulate meiosis, provide the most basic resources required for oocyte development, and influence ovulation. Endometriosis affects oocyte development and quality by causing granulosa cells apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, steroid synthesis obstacle, and aberrant mitochondrial energy metabolism. These aberrant states frequently interact with one another, however there is currently relatively little research in this field to understand the mechanism of linkage between abnormal states

Satisfactory short-term outcomes of totally laparoscopic ileostomy reversal compared to open surgery in colorectal cancer patients

BackgroundRecently, totally laparoscopic (TLAP) surgery has suggested its potential on ileostomy reversal. This study aimed to compare the short-term outcomes between TLAP and traditional open ileostomy reversal.Patients and methodsFrom September 2016 to September 2021, 107 eligible patients underwent TLAP (n = 48) or open (n = 59) loop ileostomy reversal were retrospectively enrolled. Surgical parameters, postoperative recovery and complications were identified and compared between TLAP technique vs. open surgery.ResultsThe operation time and estimated blood loss showed no obvious difference between TLAP and open group. However, TLAP reversal significantly decreased the incision length (4.5cm vs. 6cm, P < 0.001). Furthermore, patients underwent TLAP surgery showed quicker first ground activities (1 day vs. 2 days, P < 0.001), faster first flatus passage (2 days vs. 3 days, P = 0.004) and shorter postoperative stay (5 days vs. 7 days, P = 0.007). More importantly, postoperative complications were significantly reduced after TLAP reversal (3 cases vs. 10 cases, P = 0.026). Further logistic regression analyses also indicated the TLAP technique was associated with lower incidence of complications (OR=3.316, CI, 1.118–9.835; P = 0.031).ConclusionsTLAP surgery is competitive in promoting postoperative recovery as well as reducing complications compared to the traditional open ileostomy reversal

A novel diagnostic model for predicting immune microenvironment subclass based on costimulatory molecules in lung squamous carcinoma

There is still no ideal predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response among patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Costimulatory molecules play a role in anti-tumor immune response. Hence, they can be a potential biomarker for immunotherapy response. The current study comprehensively investigated the expression of costimulatory molecules in lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC) and identified diagnostic biomarkers for immunotherapy response. The costimulatory molecule gene expression profiles of 627 patients were obtained from the The Cancer Genome Atlas, GSE73403, and GSE37745 datasets. Patients were divided into different clusters using the k-means clustering method and were further classified into two discrepant tumor microenvironment (TIME) subclasses (hot and cold tumors) according to the immune score of the ESTIMATE algorithm. A high proportion of activated immune cells, including activated memory CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, and M1 macrophages. Five CMGs (FAS, TNFRSF14, TNFRSF17, TNFRSF1B, and TNFSF13B) were considered as diagnostic markers using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator and the Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination machine learning algorithms. Based on the five CMGs, a diagnostic nomogram for predicting individual tumor immune microenvironment subclasses in the TCGA dataset was developed, and its predictive performance was validated using GSE73403 and GSE37745 datasets. The predictive accuracy of the diagnostic nomogram was satisfactory in all three datasets. Therefore, it can be used to identify patients who may benefit more from immunotherapy

Thermodynamic and kinetic investigation of systems related to lightweight steels

Lightweight steels have attracted considerable interest for automobile applications due to the weight reduction without loss of high strength and with retained excellent plasticity. In austenitic Fe-Mn-Al-C steels, the nano-precipitation of the κ-carbide within the austenitic matrix significantly contributes to the increase in yield strength. In the present work, the precipitation strengthening simulation has been carried out within the framework of the ICME approach. Thermodynamic assessments of the quaternary Fe-Mn-Al-C system as well as its sub-ternary systems were performed with the CALPHAD method. All available information on phase equilibria and thermochemical properties were critically evaluated and used to optimize the thermodynamic model parameters. By means of the partitioning model, the κ-carbide was described using a five-sublattice model (four substitutional and one interstitial sublattice), which can reflect the ordering between metallic elements and reproduce the wide homogeneity range of the κ-carbide. Based on the present thermodynamic description, a thermodynamic database for lightweight steels was created. Using the database, the phase equilibria evolution in lightweight steels can be satisfactorily predicted, as well as the partition of alloying elements. In order to accelerate the development of a kinetic database for multicomponent systems, a high-throughput optimization method was adopted to optimize the diffusion mobilities. This method may largely reduce the necessary diffusion-couple experiments in multicomponent systems. Based on the developed thermodynamic and kinetic databases for lightweight steels, the precipitation of the κ-carbide was simulated using TC-PRISMA. The volume fraction and particle size were reasonably reproduced. Finally, the precipitation strengthening contribution to the yield strength was predicted. The calculation results show that the anti-phase boundary effect is predominant in the precipitation strengthening. Overall, the relationship between the composition, processing parameters, microstructure and mechanical properties are established in the thesis.QC 20180524</p

Regional Differences and Dynamic Evolution of High-quality Development of Vegetable Industry in Guangdong Province

【Objective】With the increasing abundance of residents "vegetable baskets", certain changes have also taken place in the development of the vegetable industry. It is of great significance to construct an indicator system to explore its high-quality development level, and analyze its regional differences and dynamic evolution.【Method】Taking Guangdong, a major vegetable consumption province, as an example, based on panel data from various cities in the province (excluding Shenzhen) from 2015 to 2021, and by using the entropy TOPSIS method to measure the level of high-quality219 development of the vegetable industry, the research explores the regional differences and dynamic evolution laws of highquality development of vegetable industry through Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, traditional and spatial Markov chains.【Result】(1) Since the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the high-quality development level of vegetable industry in Guangdong has shown a fluctuating upward trend, with high-level areas mainly being cities with larger vegetable planting areas. (2) The indicators for achievement sharing, productivity, and element support have all increased by over 25%, while the green and low-carbon dimensions have increased by over 20%. The vegetable supply dimension has the smallest increase, but also exceeded 10%. (3) The overall regional gap during the research period showed "first increasing and then decreasing", with some narrowing. The main source of the gap was the super variable density, followed by inter-regional gap, and then intra-regional gap. (4) The overall dynamic evolution of industrial development shows a positive trend, and the level transfer of development in the sample areas is stable. The probability of upward transfer in lower level cities is generally greater than that of downward transfer.【Conclusion】The vegetable industry in Guangdong is gradually moving towards high-quality development, and its regional differences and dynamic evolution show certain regular changes. It is recommended that multiple parties jointly build a provincial-level vegetable industry information platform and promote cold chain construction according to local conditions; intensify the breeding of vegetable varieties and focus on conducting research and promotion of green prevention and control technologies; differentiate and improve weak projects in different regions to enhance the high-quality development level of the vegetable industry

Effect of Dew Point and Alloy Composition on Reactive Wetting of Hot Dip Galvanized Medium Manganese Lightweight Steel

For its application development, the medium manganese lightweight steel with 3 wt.% and 10 wt.% Mn contents was galvanized in continuous hot dip galvanizing (HDG) simulator and the process parameters on the production line were adopted. Combined with the experimental analysis and thermodynamic calculation, the effect of dew point and alloy composition on the reactive wetting of the steel was investigated. It was shown that MnO existed as a stable oxide for the medium Mn steel with 5 wt.% Al as long as Mn content exceeded 5.1 wt.%. The galvanizability of the steel with 10 wt.% Mn was deteriorated resulting from the formation of a thick and continuous external MnO layer, which had adverse effects on the wettability. MnO particles in the form of unstable phase can be found at the surface of 3Mn steel galvanized at dew point +10 &deg;C. It distributed sparsely and the reactive wettability can be obtained by &ldquo;bridging connection&rdquo;, which mitigated the damage of external oxidation. Moreover, the lower dew point, the less tendency to form external oxide. Although the decrease of dew point to &minus;30 &deg;C had a certain benefit for coating quality, the galvanizing quality of 10Mn steel could not be improved due to the formation of a thick MnO layer. Therefore, the Mn content played a stronger role than dew point on the reactive wetting of hot dip galvanized medium manganese lightweight steel

Strength-Toughness Balance and Hydrogen Embrittlement Susceptibility of a Precipitation-Strengthened Steel Adopted Tempering Process

Two steels with different nickel (Ni) content were investigated to reveal the role of Ni on strength-toughness balance and hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility. Although they were similar in microstructure, i.e., nano-particles were precipitated on martensitic laths, different mechanical behaviors were exhibited. After tempering, the yield strength of 3.5 Ni steel reached a peak at 500 °C, while that of 2.5 Ni steel kept a downward trend, indicating that precipitation strengthening was significant in 3.5 Ni steel. Combined with thermodynamic and kinetic analyses, it was shown that when the Ni content increased, the rich-copper (Cu) precipitation transformation driving force would be enhanced and the reverse of austenite transformation accelerated to improve its stability. Moreover, the increase of Ni content also induced the increase in high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs), which could inhibit crack propagation. Under the comprehensive effects of strengthening and ductility mechanism, 3.5 Ni steel exhibited excellent cryogenic toughness. Although it was not possible to obtain the ideal balancing of strength-toughness for the steel with lower Ni content, its hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility is satisfying. The results showed that the increase of grain boundary density caused by the grain refinement of 2.5 Ni steel is the key factor for its lower hydrogen embrittlement sensitivity index. Moreover, with the reduction of Ni content, the decrease of HAGBs and the increase in Σ11 boundary were conducive to reducing hydrogen-assisted cracking, while the residual Fe3C in 3.5 Ni steel would deteriorate the hydrogen embrittlement resistance

Quantitative Description of External Force Induced Phase Transformation in Silicon–Manganese (Si–Mn) Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) Steels

Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels with silicon&ndash;manganese (Si&ndash;Mn) as the main element have attracted a lot of attention and great interest from steel companies due to their low price, high strength, and high plasticity. Retained austenite is of primary importance as the source of high strength and high plasticity in Si&ndash;Mn TRIP steels. In this work, the cold rolled sheets of Si&ndash;Mn low carbon steel were treated with TRIP and Dual Phase (DP) treatment respectively. Then, the microstructure and composition of the Si&ndash;Mn low carbon steel were observed and tested. The static tensile test of TRIP steel and DP steel was carried out by a CMT5305 electronic universal testing machine. The self-built true stress&ndash;strain curve model of TRIP steel was verified. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental results. In addition, the phase transformation energy of retained austenite and the work borne by austenite in the sample during static stretching were calculated. The work done by austenite was 14.5 J, which was negligible compared with the total work of 217.8 J. The phase transformation energy absorption of retained austenite in the sample was 9.12 J. The role of retained austenite in TRIP steel is the absorption of excess energy at the key place where the fracture will occur, thereby increasing the elongation, so that the ferrite and bainite in the TRIP steel can absorb energy for a longer time and withstand more energy