Effects of the Zishen Yutai Pill compared with placebo on pregnancy outcomes among women in a fresh embryo transfer cycle: a Post Hoc subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveTo assess whether the administration of Zishen Yutai Pill (ZYP) could improve the pregnancy outcomes in different subgroups of women undergoing fresh embryo transfer cycles.Materials and methodsThis is a post hoc analysis of a large scale, placebo-controlled, double blind, randomized clinical trial (RCT) regarding the use of ZYP during assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment. The RCT was conducted at 19 in vitro fertilization (IVF) centers between April 2014 and June 2017. A total of 2265 women undergoing fresh embryo transfer cycles were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive ZYP (n = 1131) or placebo (n = 1134). Post hoc logistic regression analyses were applied in this study to examine the between-group differences of ZYP and placebo on clinical pregnancy rate among different subgroups. Detailed analyses, both in intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol population, were also conducted in specific subgroups with regards to rates of implantation, biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, live birth, pregnancy loss, as well as other neonatal indices.ResultsZYP showed a significantly higher clinical pregnancy rates than placebo in the ITT population. Detailed subgroup analyses were conducted in subgroup in advanced maternal age (AMA, ≥ 35 years old) and overweight/obese patients (BMI > 24), due to the clinical importance and statistical results. In these subgroups, baseline characteristics were similar between two arms (all P > 0.05). Significantly elevated clinical pregnancy rates were observed in ZYP cohort (both P < 0.05) compared with the placebo group. Results also showed that ZYP treatment resulted in significantly higher rates of implantation, biochemical pregnancy in AMA or overweight/obese patients in ITT analysis (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsThe current post hoc subgroup analysis suggested that AMA and overweight/obese women could experience clinical benefits when treated with ZYP in their fresh embryo transfer cycles. The study provides references for the use of ZYP in ART practices. However, further studies in specific subgroups should be examined in more rigorous clinical trial settings.Clinical trial registrationChictr.org.cn, ChictrTRC-14004494

Systematic Identification of Novel, Essential Host Genes Affecting Bromovirus RNA Replication

Positive-strand RNA virus replication involves viral proteins and cellular proteins at nearly every replication step. Brome mosaic virus (BMV) is a well-established model for dissecting virus-host interactions and is one of very few viruses whose RNA replication, gene expression and encapsidation have been reproduced in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Previously, our laboratory identified ∼100 non-essential host genes whose loss inhibited or enhanced BMV replication at least 3-fold. However, our isolation of additional BMV-modulating host genes by classical genetics and other results underscore that genes essential for cell growth also contribute to BMV RNA replication at a frequency that may be greater than that of non-essential genes. To systematically identify novel, essential host genes affecting BMV RNA replication, we tested a collection of ∼900 yeast strains, each with a single essential gene promoter replaced by a doxycycline-repressible promoter, allowing repression of gene expression by adding doxycycline to the growth medium. Using this strain array of ∼81% of essential yeast genes, we identified 24 essential host genes whose depleted expression reproducibly inhibited or enhanced BMV RNA replication. Relevant host genes are involved in ribosome biosynthesis, cell cycle regulation and protein homeostasis, among other cellular processes. BMV 2aPol levels were significantly increased in strains depleted for a heat shock protein (HSF1) or proteasome components (PRE1 and RPT6), suggesting these genes may affect BMV RNA replication by directly or indirectly modulating 2aPol localization, post-translational modification or interacting partners. Investigating the diverse functions of these newly identified essential host genes should advance our understanding of BMV-host interactions and normal cellular pathways, and suggest new modes of virus control

EFPC: An Environmentally Friendly Power Control Scheme for Underwater Sensor Networks

In oceans, the limited acoustic spectrum resource is heavily shared by marine mammals and manmade systems including underwater sensor networks. In order to limit the negative impact of acoustic signal on marine mammals, we propose an environmentally friendly power control (EFPC) scheme for underwater sensor networks. EFPC allocates transmission power of sensor nodes with a consideration of the existence of marine mammals. By applying a Nash Equilibrium based utility function with a set of limitations to optimize transmission power, the proposed power control algorithm can conduct parallel transmissions to improve the network’s goodput, while avoiding interference with marine mammals. Additionally, to localize marine mammals, which is a prerequisite of EFPC, we propose a novel passive hyperboloid localization algorithm (PHLA). PHLA passively localize marine mammals with the help of the acoustic characteristic of these targets. Simulation results show that PHLA can localize most of the target with a relatively small localization error and EFPC can achieve a close goodput performance compared with an existing power control algorithm while avoiding interfering with marine mammals

Pd-Catalyzed Regioselective Arylboration of Vinylarenes

A palladium-catalyzed 1,2-arylboration of vinylarenes with aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates and bis­(pinacolato)­diboron has been disclosed. It is reported for the first time that styrene derivatives can be successfully employed as good substrates for 1,2-arylboration of alkenes. Mechanistic studies suggest that no Pd–H reinsertion occurred under our standard conditions, which is the key for the success of this transformation

Data Uploading Strategy for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have become a popular research topic due to the challenges of underwater communication. The existing mechanisms for collecting data from UWSNs focus on reducing the data redundancy and communication energy consumption, while ignoring the problem of energy-saving transmission after compression. In order to improve the efficiency of data collection, we propose a data uploading decision-making strategy based on the high similarity of the collected data and the energy consumption of the high similarity data compression. This decision-making strategy efficiently optimizes the energy consumption of the networks. By analyzing the data similarity, the quality of network communication, and uploading energy consumption, the decision-making strategy provides an energy-efficient data upload strategy for underwater nodes, which reduces the energy consumption in various network settings. The simulation results show that compared with several existing data compression and uploading methods, the proposed data upload methods has better energy saving effect in different network scenarios

Towards a cinema of contemplation: Roy Andersson's aesthetics and ethics

Considered one of Northern Europe’s most renowned art film directors to date, Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson has been hailed by critics and art cinemagoers alike for his unconventional visual and narrative style. Marked by his use of long, static shots filmed in wide-angle and deep focus, Andersson’s “tableau aesthetic” is intimately linked to his idea that films, like other art forms, can have an important function in contemporary society: to provoke social and moral awareness in its audience. Aiming to counter what he considers a “fear of seriousness” and a dearth of critical contemplation in modern society and media, Andersson uses his films and his distinct tableau aesthetic to explore the key social, political and philosophical issues of our times: the human condition, the problems of modernity, and the lingering legacy of past historical traumas. This dissertation presents a study of Andersson’s aesthetic and thematic concerns. The central thesis is that his films continue and innovate key stylistic and ideological tendencies associated with modernist painting and theatre. The introductory chapter serves to justify why Andersson’s work represents a “modernist structure of feeling.” Besides giving an overview of the key ideas, themes and stylistic techniques that mark his films, the introduction explains the humanistic philosophy that is central to not only his aesthetic and thematic concerns, but also his approach to filmmaking itself. The topics that emerge from this introduction – including the function of Andersson’s distinct tableau aesthetic, the thematic richness of his films, and his position within contemporary Nordic cinema and global art cinema – serve as points of departure for the thesis proper. Chapter 1 focuses on Andersson’s tableau aesthetic, its relationship to his overall tableaux narrative structure, and the influences of pictorial arts and earlier cinematic trends on his style. The chapter discusses the director’s justification for the tableau aesthetic and narrative structure, and what it may tell us about the limits of conventional narrative cinema, and cinema’s relationship to the other arts. Chapters 2-4 explore three of the central themes in Andersson’s work: the human condition, the critique of modernity, and the lingering legacy of past historical traumas. Chapter 2 focuses on the human condition as a theme in You, the Living (Du Levande, 2007) and compares the film thematically and stylistically to the Theatre of the Absurd. Chapter 3 analyzes Songs from the Second Floor (Sånger från andra våningen, 2000) and its critique of the Swedish welfare state, modern institutions and ideologies. Meanwhile, Chapter 4 looks at the changing ways that Andersson has artistically rendered the topic of historical traumas during the course of his career. In the concluding chapter, Andersson and his films are discussed within the wider contexts of the Swedish film industry and global art cinema. This dissertation, then, has a two-fold aim: to illuminate the thematic and stylistic richness of Andersson’s much under-researched films, while also critically exploring how his films may move us towards a cinema of contemplation.published_or_final_versionComparative LiteratureMasterMaster of Philosoph

Fe-Catalyzed Double Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds and Arylmethanes

Fe-catalyzed tandem cross-dehydrogenative coupling of the methyl group in arylmethanes with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds has been developed. The reaction affords one new C­(sp³)–C­(sp²) bond and one new C­(sp³)–C­(sp³) bond in a one-pot protocol. Further study suggests that this reaction might start with a Friedel–Crafts-type reaction (cross-dehydrogenative arylation) followed by cross-dehydrogenative coupling with an activated methylene group under mild oxidative conditions