Cysteine mediates the association of essential trace elements with polycystic ovary syndrome: Does ambient particulate matters exposure modify the mediation effect of cysteine.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between essential trace element levels in FF and PCOS and to determine whether this association was mediated by the antioxidant stress indicator cysteine (Cys). In addition, the effect of ambient PM exposure on the mediation effect of Cys was examined.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted, which involved 420 patients with PCOS and 408 controls.

Evaluating the association between exposure to multiple metals and adverse pregnancy outcomes based on a multi-step statistical analysis strategy.

Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) pose a serious threat to the safety of both the mother and the fetus. The association between metal exposure during pregnancy and the risk of APOs remains inconsistent. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to multiple metals and the risk of APOs based on a multi-step statistical analysis strategy.

The association of exposure to multiple metals with the risk of idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia: The mediating role of sperm chromatin.

Background: The sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) is a crucial marker of single- or double-stranded DNA breaks, whereas the sperm high DNA stainability (HDS) indicates immature sperm nuclei accompanied with aberrant protein expression or altered protamine-to-histone ratios. Thus, sperm DFI and HDS constitute non-classical semen parameters that may serve as surrogate indicators of male fertility beyond what classical semen parameters (sperm motility, concentration and morphology) can offer. However, few epidemiological studies have investigated the impact of metal exposure on high sperm DFI and sperm HDS risk, especially their potential mediating roles in the association between metal exposure and risk of idiopathic oligo-asthenoteratozoospermia (iOAT).

Effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy in treating deep surgical site infections after spine surgery: a meta-analysis of single-arm studies.

Background: One of the common complications in spinal surgery patients is deep surgical site infections (SSIs). Deep SSIs refer to infections that involve the deeper soft tissues of the incision, such as the fascia and muscle layers. This complication can lead to prolonged hospitalization, repeated surgeries, and even life-threatening conditions.

The relationships of metals exposure and disturbance of the vaginal microbiota with the risk of PROM: Results from a birth cohort study.

The vaginal microbiota is proposed to be associated with reproductive health. Exposure to metals during pregnancy is a risk factor for premature rupture of membranes (PROM). PROM can lead to serious maternal complications, thus, identifying the cause and therapeutic targets for it is crucial.

Area-Time-Efficient Secure Comb Scalar Multiplication Architecture Based on Recoding.

With the development of mobile communication, digital signatures with low latency, low area, and high security are in increasing demand. Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is widely used because of its security and lightweight. Elliptic curve scalar multiplication (ECSM) is the basic arithmetic in ECC.

Expression and Mutation of Affects Iris Color in Quail.

Iris color is a prominent phenotypic feature of quail. To understand the mechanism of melanin deposition related to quail iris color, iris tissues were selected from Beijing white and Chinese yellow quail for transcriptome analysis. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with pigmentation were identified using RNA sequencing and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

Design of Novel Functional Conductive Structures and Preparation of High-Hole-Mobility Polymer Transistors by Green Synthesis Using Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Strategies.

The design of novel acceptor molecular structures based on classical building blocks is regarded as one of the efficient ways to explore the application of organic conjugated materials in conductivity and electronics. Here, a novel acceptor moiety, thiophene-vinyl-diketopyrrolopyrrole (TVDPP), was envisioned and prepared with a longer conjugation length and a more rigid structure than thiophene-diketopyrrolopyrrole (TDPP). The brominated TVDPP can be sequentially bonded to trimethyltin-containing benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole units via Suzuki polycondensation to efficiently prepare the polymer PTVDPP-BSz, which features high molecular weight and excellent thermal stability.

Prediction of the Tribological Properties of Polytetrafluoroethylene Composites Based on Experiments and Machine Learning.

Because of the complex nonlinear relationship between working conditions, the prediction of tribological properties has become a difficult problem in the field of tribology. In this study, we employed three distinct machine learning (ML) models, namely random forest regression (RFR), gradient boosting regression (GBR), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), to predict the tribological properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites under high-speed and high-temperature conditions. Firstly, PTFE composites were successfully prepared, and tribological properties under different temperature, speed, and load conditions were studied in order to explore wear mechanisms.

Organic Transistors Based on Highly Crystalline Donor-Acceptor π-Conjugated Polymer of Pentathiophene and Diketopyrrolopyrrole.

Oligomers and polymers consisting of multiple thiophenes are widely used in organic electronics such as organic transistors and sensors because of their strong electron-donating ability. In this study, a solution to the problem of the poor solubility of polythiophene systems was developed. A novel π-conjugated polymer material, PDPP-5Th, was synthesized by adding the electron acceptor unit, DPP, to the polythiophene system with a long alkyl side chain, which facilitated the solution processing of the material for the preparation of devices.

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Different Side Chains on 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene and Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Derived Polymers: Towards Organic Transistors.

In this research, two polymers of P1 and P2 based on monomers consisting of thiophene, 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) are designed and obtained via Stille coupling polycondensation. The material shows excellent coplanarity and structural regularity due to the fine planarity of DPP itself and the weak non-covalent bonding interactions existing between the three units. Two different lengths of non-conjugated side chains are introduced and this has an effect on the intermolecular chain stacking, causing the film absorption to display different characteristic properties.

Novel Divinyl-Flanked Diketopyrrolopyrrole Polymer, Based on a Dimerization Strategy for High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors.

In this communication, we report a novel acceptor structural unit, TVDPP, that can be distinguished from classical materials based on TDPP structures. By designing a synthetic route via retrosynthetic analysis, we successfully prepared this monomer and further prepared polymer P2TVDPP with high yield using a Stille-coupling polymerization reaction. The polymer showed several expected properties, such as high molecular weight, thermal stability, full planarity, small π-π stacking distance, smooth interface, and so on.

Incorporation of Diketopyrrolopyrrole into Polythiophene for the Preparation of Organic Polymer Transistors.

Polythiophene, as a class of potential electron donor units, is widely used in organic electronics such as transistors. In this work, a novel polymeric material, PDPPTT-FT, was prepared by incorporating the electron acceptor unit into the polythiophene system. The incorporation of the DPP molecule assists in improving the solubility of the material and provides a convenient method for the preparation of field effect transistors via subsequent solution processing.

Preparation of Dye Semiconductors via Coupling Polymerization Catalyzed by Two Catalysts and Application to Transistor.

Organic dye semiconductors have received increasing attention as the next generation of semiconductors, and one of their potential applications is as a core component of organic transistors. In this study, two novel diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) dye core-based materials were designed and separately prepared using Stille coupling reactions under different palladium catalyst conditions. The molecular weights and elemental compositions were tested to demonstrate that both catalysts could be used to successfully prepare materials of this structure, with the main differences being the weight-average molecular weight and the dispersion index.

Preparation of Novel Organic Polymer Semiconductor and Its Properties in Transistors through Collaborative Theoretical and Experimental Approaches.

Conjugated polymer semiconductors based on donor-acceptor structures are commonly employed as core materials for optoelectronic devices in the field of organic electronics. In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel acceptor unit thiophene-vinyl-diketopyrrolopyrrole, named TVDPP, based on a four-step organic synthesis procedure. Stille coupling reactions were applied with high yields of polymerization of TVDPP with fluorinated thiophene (FT) monomer.

Tuning the Photophysical Properties of Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Di-2-(2-oxindolin-3-ylidene) Malononitrile Materials via Extended π-Conjugation: A Joint Experimental and Theoretical Study.

Many optoelectronic applications require organic semiconductor (OSC) materials with high electron affinity. In this work, a series of novel acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) materials with low-lying LUMO energy levels were designed and characterized. In this strategy, two acceptor dyes, bis-isatin and di-2-(2-oxindolin-3-ylidene) malononitrile, were connected by various π-bridges (benzene ring, benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole, monothiophene, trithiophene).

Rational Design of Novel Conjugated Terpolymers Based on Diketopyrrolopyrrole and Their Applications to Organic Thin-Film Transistors.

Organic polymer semiconductor materials, due to their good chemical modifiability, can be easily tuned by rational molecular structure design to modulate their material properties, which, in turn, affects the device performance. Here, we designed and synthesized a series of materials based on terpolymer structures and applied them to organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) device applications. The four polymers, obtained by polymerization of three monomers relying on the Stille coupling reaction, shared comparable molecular weights, with the main structural difference being the ratio of the thiazole component to the fluorinated thiophene (Tz/FS).

Donor-Acceptor-Based Organic Polymer Semiconductor Materials to Achieve High Hole Mobility in Organic Field-Effect Transistors.

Organic polymer semiconductor materials are conveniently tuned to energy levels because of their good chemically modifiable properties, thus enhancing their carrier transport capabilities. Here, we have designed and prepared a polymer with a donor-acceptor structure and tested its potential as a p-type material for organic field-effect transistor (OFET) applications using a solution-processing method. The conjugated polymers, obtained via the polymerization of the two monomers relying on the Stille coupling reaction, possess extremely high molecular weights and thermodynamic stability.

Association analysis of melanophilin () gene expression and polymorphism with plumage color in quail.

We explore the relationship between the melanophilin () gene and quail plumage color and provide a reference for subsequent quail plumage color breeding. In this experiment, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) technology was used to analyze the relative mRNA expression levels of Korean quail (maroon) and Beijing white quail embryos at different developmental stages. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene were screened based on the RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) data of skin tissues of Korean quail and Beijing white quail during the embryonic stage.

Recent Research Progress in Indophenine-Based-Functional Materials: Design, Synthesis, and Optoelectronic Applications.

This review highlights selected examples, published in the last three to four years, of recent advance in the design, synthesis, properties, and device performance of quinoidal π-conjugated materials. A particular emphasis is placed on emerging materials, such as indophenine dyes that have the potential to enable high-performance devices. We specifically discuss the recent advances and design guidelines of π-conjugated quinoidal molecules from a chemical standpoint.

Exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells promote osteogenesis through the AKT signaling pathway in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) is a relatively common disease characterized by low bone mass and microstructural changes of trabecular bone. The reduced bone strength is caused a variety of complications, including fragility fracture and sarcopenia. We used CCK-8 and EdU assays to evaluate cell proliferation rates.

Local and Context-Attention Adaptive LCA-Net for Thyroid Nodule Segmentation in Ultrasound Images.

The thyroid nodule segmentation of ultrasound images is a critical step for the early diagnosis of thyroid cancers in clinics. Due to the weak edge of ultrasound images and the complexity of thyroid tissue structure, it is still challenging to accurately segment the delicate contour of thyroid nodules. A local and context-attention adaptive network (LCA-Net) for thyroid nodule segmentation is proposed to address these shortcomings, which leverages both local feature information from convolution neural networks and global context information from transformers.