Some previous studies have identified bacteria in semen as being a potential factor in male infertility. However, only few types of bacteria were taken into consideration while using PCR-based or ...culturing methods. Here we present an analysis approach using next-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics analysis to investigate the associations between bacterial communities and semen quality. Ninety-six semen samples collected were examined for bacterial communities, measuring seven clinical criteria for semen quality (semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, Kruger's strict morphology, antisperm antibody (IgA), Atypical, and leukocytes). Computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) was also performed. Results showed that the most abundant genera among all samples were Lactobacillus (19.9%), Pseudomonas (9.85%), Prevotella (8.51%) and Gardnerella (4.21%). The proportion of Lactobacillus and Gardnerella was significantly higher in the normal samples, while that of Prevotella was significantly higher in the low quality samples. Unsupervised clustering analysis demonstrated that the seminal bacterial communities were clustered into three main groups: Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas, and Prevotella predominant group. Remarkably, most normal samples (80.6%) were clustered in Lactobacillus predominant group. The analysis results showed seminal bacteria community types were highly associated with semen health. Lactobacillus might not only be a potential probiotic for semen quality maintenance, but also might be helpful in countering the negative influence of Prevotella and Pseudomonas. In this study, we investigated whole seminal bacterial communities and provided the most comprehensive analysis of the association between bacterial community and semen quality. The study significantly contributes to the current understanding of the etiology of male fertility.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Light‐emitting diodes break barriers of size and performance for displays. With devices becoming smaller, the materials also need to get smaller. Chromium(III)‐doped oxide phosphors, which emit ...near‐infrared (NIR) light, have recently been used in small electronic devices. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles were used as nanocarriers. The nanophosphor ZnGa2O4:Cr3+,Sn4+ formed in the mesopore after sintering. Good dispersity and morphology were performed with average diameters of 71±7 nm. It emitted light at 600–850 nm; the intensity was optimized by tuning the doping ratio of Cr3+ and Sn4+. Meanwhile, the light conversion efficiency increased from 7.8 % to 37 % and the molar concentration increased from 0.125 m to 0.5 m. The higher radiant flux of 3.3 mW was obtained by operating an input current of 45 mA. However, the NIR nanophosphor showed good performance on mini light‐emitting diode chips.
Nanophosphors on display: Mesoporous silica nanoparticles were used as nanocarriers to form the nanophosphor ZnGa2O4:Cr3+,Sn4+ (ZGOCS) in the mesoporous structure after sintering. Good dispersity and morphology can be observed. Good packing density and light conversion efficiency were achieved for a mini‐light emitting diode.
Abstract Autoimmune encephalopathy caused by autoantibodies against neuronal cell-surface proteins in the brain is a newly discovered disease category associated with psychiatric disorders. Correct ...diagnosis of this condition relies on the detection of specific autoantibodies in the blood or cerebral spinal fluid in addition to the clinical presentations. The study aimed to understand the seroprevalence of selective anti-neuronal autoantibodies in our patients with schizophrenia. First, we screened for six anti-neuronal autoantibodies in an archived blood sample collected from patients with the first-episode schizophrenia. The six autoantibodies including antibodies against N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptor, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors 1 and 2, γ-butyric acid receptor type B1 (GABARB1), leucine-rich glioma inactivated-1 (LGI1) protein, and contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2) protein. A total of 78 plasma samples (46 males and 32 females) were investigated; however, no positive case was identified. In this second study, we screened anti-NMDA receptor autoantibodies in a blood sample of 234 patients with chronic schizophrenia (133 females and 101 males) including 48 patients defined as treatment resistance. None of this sample was detected as positive. The negative findings in this study suggest that the seroprevalence of autoantibodies against neuronal surface proteins might be low in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder with approximately 1% lifetime risk globally. Large-scale schizophrenia genetic studies have reported primarily on European ancestry samples, ...potentially missing important biological insights. Here, we report the largest study to date of East Asian participants (22,778 schizophrenia cases and 35,362 controls), identifying 21 genome-wide-significant associations in 19 genetic loci. Common genetic variants that confer risk for schizophrenia have highly similar effects between East Asian and European ancestries (genetic correlation = 0.98 ± 0.03), indicating that the genetic basis of schizophrenia and its biology are broadly shared across populations. A fixed-effect meta-analysis including individuals from East Asian and European ancestries identified 208 significant associations in 176 genetic loci (53 novel). Trans-ancestry fine-mapping reduced the sets of candidate causal variants in 44 loci. Polygenic risk scores had reduced performance when transferred across ancestries, highlighting the importance of including sufficient samples of major ancestral groups to ensure their generalizability across populations.
Background
Serum C‐reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive biomarker for inflammation and is broadly used to clinically diagnose infectious diseases, including pneumonia. However, blood sampling is ...fraught with technical difficulties in children. The salivary analysis may be a potential diagnostic tool, as it is noninvasive, patient‐friendly, and easy to perform in children. This study aimed to evaluate the use of salivary CRP as a biomarker for children with pneumonia.
Methods
A prospective study was conducted in patients aged 2 to 17 years, admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Saliva and serum samples for CRP and chemokine determination were collected at the initial admission and during a follow‐up from pediatric patients with pneumonia. Salivary samples were also collected from healthy subjects used as controls.
Results
A total of 60 healthy children and 106 pediatric patients with pneumonia were enrolled in this study. The salivary CRP level was much higher in pediatric patients with pneumonia than in healthy children (48.77 ± 5.52 ng/mL vs 14.78 ± 3.92 ng/mL; P < .001). Salivary CRP level was highly correlated with serum CRP level in pediatric patients with pneumonia (r = .679; P < .001). Salivary CRP level (≥40.307 ng/mL) can be used to predict high serum CRP levels (≥80 mg/L) with an area under the curve of 0.810 (95% confidence interval, 0.740–0.881). As pneumonia improved, both salivary and serum CRP levels decreased during follow‐up.
Conclusions
Salivary CRP could be an alternative biomarker for serum CRP in pediatric patients with pneumonia. This is especially beneficial for pediatric patients, as saliva collection is simple, noninvasive, and patient‐friendly.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the major pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia in children. Although usually self-limited, Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) may lead to complicated ...morbidity that can even be life-threatening. Upon MPP infection, alveolar macrophage becomes attracted and activated and will induce subsequent cytokine and chemokine reaction. Refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP) is manifested by clinical or radiological deterioration despite proper antibiotic therapy. RMPP is characterized with excessive inflammation and may need subsequent glucocorticoid treatment. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the change of plasma chemokines in non-refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (NRMPP) and RMPP before and after antibiotic or methylprednisolone treatment.
A total of 42 children with MPP were enrolled in this study. Plasma specimens were collected at admission and one to two weeks after antibiotic or methylprednisolone treatment with declined fever. Plasma specimens were then indicated to chemokines detection.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia altered the chemokine profile through the observation of decreased plasma M1 related chemokines (CCL2, CCL8 and CXCL10) and increased M2 related chemokines (CCL17 and CCL22) after treatment.When the patients were divided into RMPP and NRMPP groups and the chemokines before treatment were compared, the RMPP group showed higher CXCL10 but lower CCL3 and CCL11 than the NRMPP group.
Unique changes in macrophage related chemokines is observed in the course of MPP infection. NRMPP and RMPP infection in children showed distinct manifestation in chemokine profiles.
Introduction
Carina breakthrough (CB) at the right pulmonary vein (RPV) can occur after circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) due to epicardial bridging or transient tissue edema. High‐power ...short‐duration (HPSD) ablation may increase the incidence of RPV CB. Currently, the surrogate of ablation parameters to predict RPV CB is not well established. This study investigated predictors of RPV CB in patients undergoing ablation index (AI)‐guided PVI with HPSD.
Methods
The study included 62 patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) who underwent AI‐guided PVI using HPSD. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the presence or absence of RPV CB. Lesions adjacent to the RPV carina were assessed, and CB was confirmed through residual voltage, low voltage along the ablation lesions, and activation wavefront propagation.
Results
Out of the 62 patients, 21 (33.87%) experienced RPV CB (Group 1), while 41 (66.13%) achieved first‐pass RPV isolation (Group 2). Despite similar AI and HPSD, patients with RPV CB had lower contact force (CF) at lesions adjacent to the RPV carina. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified CF < 10.5 g as a predictor of RPV CB, with 75.7% sensitivity and 56.2% specificity (area under the curve: 0.714).
Conclusion
In patients undergoing AI‐guided PVI with HPSD, lower CF adjacent to the carina was associated with a higher risk of RPV CB. These findings suggest that maintaining higher CF during ablation in this region may reduce the occurrence of RPV CB.
Introduction
Despite undergoing an index ablation, some patients progress from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) to persistent AF (PersAF), and the mechanism behind this is unclear. The aim of ...this study was to investigate the predictors of progression to PersAF after catheter ablation in patients with PAF.
Methods
This study included 400 PAF patients who underwent an index ablation between 2015 and 2019. The patients were classified into three groups based on their outcomes: Group 1 (PAF to sinus rhythm, n = 226), Group 2 (PAF to PAF, n = 146), and Group 3 (PAF to PersAF, n = 28). Baseline and procedural characteristics were collected, and predictors for AF recurrence and progression were evaluated.
Results
The mean age of the patients was 58.4 ± 11.1 years, with 272 males. After 3 years of follow‐up, 7% of the PAF cases recurred and progressed to PersAF despite undergoing an index catheter ablation. In the multivariable analysis, a larger left atrial (LA) diameter and the presence of non‐pulmonary vein (PV) triggers during the index procedure independently predicted recurrence. Moreover, a larger LA diameter, the presence of non‐PV triggers, and a history of thyroid disease independently predicted AF progression.
Conclusion
The progression from PAF to PersAF after catheter ablation is associated with a larger LA diameter, history of thyroid disease, and the presence of non‐PV triggers. Meticulous preprocedural evaluation, patient selection, and comprehensive provocation tests during catheter ablation are recommended.
The study investigated the outcomes of 400 patients with PAF who underwent an index ablation procedure, while also identifying the predictors associated with recurrence and progression to PersAF.
CI, confidence interval; OR, odd ratio; PAF, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; PersAF, persistent atrial fibrillation; SR, sinus rhythm.
Broadband near-infrared CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots with up to 94.8% quantum yield were synthesized with fast precursor decomposition leading to monomer conversion improvement. In the mini-LED package, ...the device showed high power efficiency and stability was also demonstrated with a penetration test and vein imaging showing its potential biomedical application in the theranostics field.
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