Półilościowa ocena hirsutyzmu u 850 pacjentek z zespołem policystycznych jajników i 2988 kobiet z grupy kontrolnej w Chinach

Introduction: There is considerable individual and racial variation in the degree and pattern of body hair among PCOS patients. The purposes of this study were to define: 1) a suitable standard of hirsutism for Chinese women with PCOS and the general Chinese population; 2) the characteristics of hair distribution and degree in Chinese women with PCOS and the general population; and 3) the correlation of PCOS and FG score in Chinese women.Material and methods: This retrospective study in Chinese women with PCOS in the reproductive centre of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, comprised 850 patients with PCOS and 2,988 members of the general population. It was conducted crosssectionally by interview, physical examination, ultrasound scan, and modified Ferriman-Gallwey score. Eight hundred and fifty Chinese women with PCOS (aged 20–41) underwent an interview, blood drawing, physical and ultrasound examination. Body hair at nine sites (lip, chin, arm, thigh, chest, upper belly, lower belly, upper back and lower back) were evaluated using the scoring system described by Ferriman and Gallwey; 2,988 healthy women (aged 20–45) underwent an interview, physical examination, ultrasound scan and FG score evaluation by trained gynaecologists. Terminal body hair growth was assessed using the mFG scoring system in Chinese women with PCOS and the control group; nine body areas were scored from 0–4 for terminal hair growth distribution.Results: Our findings showed that of the 850 patients, 367 had a FG score equal to or greater than 5 points [43.2% (367/850)], 282 patients had a FG score equal to or greater than 6 points [33.18% (282/850)], and 21% had a score of at least 8 points. Nobody’s FG score was equal to or greater than 24 points. Hirsutism was significantly higher in PCOS patients (score≥ 5 = 43.2%) than in the general population (score ≥ 5 = 10%). The lip is the most common place (score 0–3) where terminal hair grows in 850 PCOS patients and the general population. Next came the upper back and chest, and the number of 4 points was only recorded for the region of the lip (16), thigh (3), lower belly (3), arm (1), chest (1), and lower back (1). None of the PCOS patients displayed a score of more than 4 points for the chin, upper belly and upper back.Conclusions: Our data indicates that: 1) an mFG score of 5 or above is out of the norm for the general unselected population and forms almost half of the possibility of diagnosing PCOS in Chinese women; 2) lips and upper back are the most common places that hair grows (score 1–2), but in terms of the serious situation (score 3–4), lips and thighs are the most common places that hair grows; 3) there is a good predictive value to diagnose PCOS by FG score for Chinese people; and 4) hirsutism is more common in PCOS than in the general population in China. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (5): 365–370)Wstęp: Wśród pacjentek z zespołem policystycznych jajników (PCOS) obserwuje się znaczną indywidualną i rasową zmienność nasilenia i rozkładu owłosienia ciała. Cele tego badania obejmowały określenie: 1) odpowiedniego standardu hirsutyzmu u Chinek z PCOS i w populacji ogólnej; 2) charakterystyki rozkładu i nasilenia owłosienia u Chinek z PCOS i w populacji ogólnej; oraz 3) korelacji między PCOS a wynikiem w skali Ferrimana-Gallweya (FG) u Chinek.Materiał i metody: Retrospektywnym badaniem w populacji Chinek z PCOS w ośrodku leczenia zaburzeń rozrodu w Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, objęto 850 pacjentek z PCOS i 2988 kobiet z populacji ogólnej, u których dokonano oceny na podstawie wywiadów, badania przedmiotowego, oceny ultrasonograficznej oraz zmodyfikowanej skali FG. U 850 Chinek z PCOS (wiek 20-41 lat) zebrano wywiady, pobrano krew, przeprowadzono badanie fizykalne i ultrasonograficzne oraz oceniono owłosienie ciała w 9 miejscach (warga, podbródek, ramię, udo, klatka piersiowa, nadbrzusze, podbrzusze oraz górna i dolna część pleców), posługując się systemem punktowym opisanym przez Ferrimana i Gallweya, a u 2988 zdrowych kobiet (wiek 20–45 lat) zebrano wywiady, przeprowadzono badanie fizykalne i ultrasonograficzne oraz dokonano oceny w skali FG. Ocena była dokonywana przez wyszkolonych ginekologów. Wzrost i rozkład włosów końcowych na ciele oceniono za pomocą zmodyfikowanej skali FG u Chinek z PCOS oraz w grupie kontrolnej, określając wartości punktowe w skali od 0 do 4 dla dziewięciu okolic ciała.Wyniki: Wśród 850 pacjentek z PCOS wynik ≥ 5 punktów w skali FG uzyskano u 367 pacjentek [43,2% (367/850)], wynik ≥ 6 punktów u 282 pacjentek [33,18% (282/850)], a co najmniej 8 punktów u 21% pacjentek. U żadnej pacjentki nie uzyskano wyniku ≥ 24 punkty. Nasilenie hirsutyzmu było istotnie większe wśród pacjentek z PCOS (wynik ≥ 5 punktów u 43,2%) niż w populacji ogólnej (wynik ≥ 5 punktów u 10%). Warga była najczęstszym miejscem wzrostu włosów końcowych (wynik 0–3 pkt.) u 850 pacjentek z PCOS oraz w populacji ogólnej, a następne miejsca pod względem częstości wzrostu włosów zajęły górna część pleców i klatka piersiowa. Wzrost włosów oceniony na 4 punkty odnotowano tylko w okolicach wargi (n = 16), uda (n = 3), podbrzusza (n = 3), ramion (n = 1), klatki piersiowej (n = 1) oraz dolnej części pleców (n = 1). U żadnej z pacjentek z PCOS nie odnotowano wzrostu włosów ocenionego na 4 punkty w okolicach podbródka, nadbrzusza i górnej części pleców.Wnioski: Nasze dane wskazują, że: 1) wynik w zmodyfikowanej skali FG wynoszący ≥ 5 punktów jest poza normą w nieselekcjonowanej populacji ogólnej i stwierdza się go u prawie połowy Chinek z rozpoznaniem PCOS; 2) warga i górna część pleców były najczęstszymi miejscami wzrostu włosów (wynik 1–2 pkt.), ale najbardziej nasilony wzrost (wynik 3–4 pkt.), stwierdzono w obrębie wargi i ud; 3) Rozpoznawanie PCOS na podstawie wyniku w skali FG u Chinek charakteryzuje się dobrą wartością predykcyjną; 4) hirsutyzm u Chinek jest częstszy wśród pacjentek z PCOS niż w populacji ogólnej. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (5): 366–370

Fused Data-Driven Approach for Early Warning Method of Abnormal Conditions in Chemical Process

The utilization of data-driven methods in chemical process modeling has been extensively acknowledged due to their effectiveness. However, with the increasing complexity and variability of chemical processes, predicting and warning of anomalous conditions have become challenging. Extracting valuable features and constructing relevant warning models are critical problems that require resolution. This research proposed a novel fused method that integrates K-means density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) clustering and bi-directional long short-term memory multilayer perceptron (Bi-LSTM-MLP) to enable early warning of abnormal conditions in chemical processes. The paper applied the proposed method to analyze the early warning using actual process data from Eastman Tennessee and the atmospheric pressure reduction unit as an example. In the TE model and example, the root mean square error (RMSE) of this method is 0.006855 and 0.052546, respectively, which is quite low when compared to other methods. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of our approach

Effects of Lactic Acid Bacterial Inoculants on Fermentation Quality, Bacterial Community, and Mycotoxins of Alfalfa Silage under Vacuum or Nonvacuum Treatment

To investigate the effects of lactic acid bacterial (LAB) inoculants and vacuuming on the fermentation quality and bacterial community, alfalfas were ensiled with or without a commercial LAB YX or Lactobacillus plantarum strain ZZUA493 for 10, 30, 60, and 90 days while undergoing either vacuum (V) or nonvacuum (NV) treatment. At 90 days, analysis of the microbial community by high-throughput sequencing was performed, and contents of aflatoxin B1 and deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxins in alfalfa silage were determined. In all inoculated alfalfa silage, irrespective of V or NV treatment, lactic acid (LA) content increased, pH (p < 0.05), and ammonia nitrogen (p < 0.05) content decreased, and no butyric acid was detected. Lactobacillus or Pediococcus became the dominant genus, and the abundance of Garciella decreased in alfalfa silage with the addition of either inoculant. The LAB inoculants YX and ZZUA493 helped reduce the mycotoxin content in alfalfa silage. The abundance of Garciella in the control and DON content in all alfalfa silage groups were higher (p < 0.05) in NV than V. In summary, LAB inoculants and vacuuming had a positive influence on alfalfa silage quality, and LAB inoculants were effective in reducing mycotoxins in silage alfalfa

The effect of letrozole overlapped with gonadotropin on IVF outcomes in women with DOR or aged over 40 years old with repeated cycles

Abstract Background Evaluating the efficacy of letrozole overlapped with gonadotropin-modified letrozole protocol (mLP) for diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) or advanced-age women with repeated cycles. Methods This is a retrospectively registered, paired-match study including 243 women with DOR and 249 women aged over 40 years old who received in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. 123 women received stimulation with mLP (mLP group). GnRH agonist (GnRH-a) long, GnRH antagonist (GnRH-anta), and mild stimulation protocol were used as controls with 123 women in each group. We further analyzed 50 of 123 patients in the mLP group who have experienced more than one failed cycles with other ovarian stimulation protocols (non-mLP group). Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), cumulative clinical pregnancy rate (CCPR), and live birth rate (LBR) were main outcomes. Results The CPR in the mLP group (38.46%) was significantly higher than mild stimulation (17.11%), but not significantly different from GnRH-a long (26.13%) and GnRH-anta (29.17%) group. The CCPR showed an increasing trend in the mLP group (33.33%) although without significance when compared with controls. The CCRP of GnRH-a long, GnRH-anta, mild stimulation group were 21.68%, 29.03%, and 13.04%, respectively. In women with repeated cycles, mLP achieved the higher available embryo rate (P < 0.05), the top-quality embryo rate, the CPR (P < 0.001), and the LBR (P < 0.001). Further study showed a positive correlation between testosterone and the number of oocytes retrieved in the mLP group (r = 0.395, P < 0.01). Conclusion The mLP may be effective for aged or DOR women who have experienced previous cycle failure by improving the quality of embryos, the CPR, and the LBR. An increasing serum testosterone level may reflect follicular growth during ovarian stimulation

Preparation and evaluation of a macroporous molecularly imprinted hybrid silica monolithic column for recognition of proteins by high performance liquid chromatography

A novel type of macroporous molecularly imprinted hybrid silica monolithic column was first developed for recognition of proteins. The macroporous silica-based monolithic skeleton was synthesized in a 4.6 mm i.d. stainless steel column by a mild sol-gel process with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as a sole precursor, and then vinyl groups were introduced onto the surface of the silica skeleton by chemical modification of gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (gamma-MAPS). Subsequently, the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coating was copolymerized and anchored onto the surface of the silica monolith. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (Lyz), which differ greatly in molecular size, isoelectric point, and charge, were representatively selected for imprinted templates to evaluate recognition property of the hybrid silica-based MIP monolith. Some important factors, such as template-monomer molar ratio, total monomer concentration and crosslinking density, were systematically investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the obtained hybrid silica-based MIP monolith showed higher binding affinity for template than its corresponding non-imprinted (NIP) monolith. The imprinted factor (IF) for BSA and Lyz reached 9.07 and 6.52, respectively. Moreover, the hybrid silica-based MIP monolith displayed favorable binding characteristics for template over competitive protein. Compared with the imprinted silica beads for stationary phase and in situ organic polymer-based hydrogel MIP monolith, the hybrid silica MIP monolith exhibited higher recognition, stability and lifetime. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Dynamics of Fermentation Parameters and Bacterial Community in High-Moisture Alfalfa Silage with or without Lactic Acid Bacteria

The aim of this study was to gain deeper insights into the dynamics of fermentation parameters and the bacterial community during the ensiling of high-moisture alfalfa. A commercial lactic acid bacteria (YX) inoculant was used as an additive. After 15 and 30 days of ensiling, the control silage (CK) exhibited a high pH and a high concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N); Enterobacter and Hafnia-Obesumbacterium were the dominant genera. At 60 d, the pH value and the concentration of NH3-N in CK silage increased compared with 15 and 30 d, propionic acid and butyric acid (BA) were detected, and Garciella had the highest abundance in the bacterial community. Compared with CK silage, inoculation of YX significantly promoted lactic acid and acetic acid accumulation and reduced pH and BA formation, did not significantly reduce the concentration of NH3-N except at 60 d, and significantly promoted the abundance of Lactobacillus and decreased the abundance of Garciella and Anaerosporobacter, but did not significantly inhibit the growth of Enterobacter and Hafnia-Obesumbacterium. In conclusion, high-moisture alfalfa naturally ensiled is prone to rot. Adding YX can delay the process of silage spoilage by inhibiting the growth of undesirable microorganisms to a certain extent

Antifungal Activity of Lactobacillus plantarum ZZUA493 and Its Application to Extend the Shelf Life of Chinese Steamed Buns

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can produce many kinds of antifungal substances, which have been widely proven to have antifungal activity. In this study, 359 strains of LAB were screened for antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger (A. niger) using the 96-well microtiter plate method, and three showed strong activity. Of these, ZZUA493 showed a broad-spectrum antifungal ability against A. niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium graminearum. ZZUA493 was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum. Protease treatment, the removal of hydrogen peroxide with catalase and heat treatment had no effect on the antifungal activity of the cell-free supernatant (CFS) of ZZUA493; organic acids produced by ZZUA493 appeared to have an important role in fungal growth inhibition. The contents of lactic acid, acetic acid and phenyllactic acid in the CFS tended to be stable at 48 h, and amounted to 28.5, 15.5 and 0.075 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, adding ZZUA493, as an ingredient during their preparation, prolonged the shelf life of Chinese steamed buns. Overall, ZZUA493 appears to have good potential as a fungal inhibitor for food preservation