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Background Fertility awareness and menses prediction are important for improving fecundability and health management. Previous studies have used physiological parameters, such as basal body temperature (BBT) and heart rate (HR), to predict the fertile window and menses. However, their accuracy is far from satisfactory. Additionally, few researchers have examined irregular menstruators. Thus, we aimed to develop fertile window and menstruation prediction algorithms for both regular and irregular menstruators. Methods This was a prospective observational cohort study conducted at the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital in Shanghai, China. Participants were recruited from August 2020 to November 2020 and followed up for at least four menstrual cycles. Participants used an ear thermometer to assess BBT and wore the Huawei Band 5 to record HR. Ovarian ultrasound and serum hormone levels were used to determine the ovulation day. Menstruation was self-reported by women. We used linear mixed models to assess changes in physiological parameters and developed probability function estimation models to predict the fertile window and menses with machine learning. Results We included data from 305 and 77 qualified cycles with confirmed ovulations from 89 regular menstruators and 25 irregular menstruators, respectively. For regular menstruators, BBT and HR were significantly higher during fertile phase than follicular phase and peaked in the luteal phase (all P  < 0.001). The physiological parameters of irregular menstruators followed a similar trend. Based on BBT and HR, we developed algorithms that predicted the fertile window with an accuracy of 87.46%, sensitivity of 69.30%, specificity of 92.00%, and AUC of 0.8993 and menses with an accuracy of 89.60%, sensitivity of 70.70%, and specificity of 94.30%, and AUC of 0.7849 among regular menstruators. For irregular menstruators, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and AUC were 72.51%, 21.00%, 82.90%, and 0.5808 respectively, for fertile window prediction and 75.90%, 36.30%, 84.40%, and 0.6759 for menses prediction. Conclusions By combining BBT and HR recorded by the Huawei Band 5, our algorithms achieved relatively ideal performance for predicting the fertile window and menses among regular menstruators. For irregular menstruators, the algorithms showed potential feasibility but still need further investigation. Trial registration ChiCTR2000036556. Registered 24 August 2020.

Chloramine and chloroform are widespread in tap water due to water disinfection processes. This study was designed to explore the associations between trimester-specific exposure to chloramine and chloroform in tap water and adverse outcomes. This retrospective cohort study included 109,182 mother–infant singleton pairs in Shanghai. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the associations of chloramine and chloroform concentrations averaged over the whole pregnancy and in each trimester with adverse outcomes, including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertensive disorders (GHD), low birthweight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA), preterm birth (PTB) and prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM). The use of tap water with elevated chloramine levels in the first trimester was associated with GDM (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.09), while that in the second trimester was related to GHD (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.17). Chloroform levels in the third trimester were associated with LBW (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.16), PTB (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.08) and PROM (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.01). However, tap water chloroform exposure in the second trimester was negatively associated with LBW (OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.98) and PTB (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94, 0.99). In conclusion, there are probably no casual associations between current tap water chloroform and chloramine levels and perinatal outcomes. However, more research focusing on the effect of chloramine and chloroform on perinatal outcomes are still warranted.

Background Despite limited information on neonatal safety, the transfer of frozen-thawed cleavage-stage embryos with blastomere loss is common in women undergoing in vitro fertilization. We aimed to evaluate the pregnancy outcomes and safety of frozen-thawed cleavage-stage embryos with blastomere loss. Methods This prospective, multicenter, cohort study included all frozen-thawed cleavage-stage embryo transfer (FET) cycles between 2002 and 2012. Pregnancy outcomes and subsequent neonatal outcomes were compared between FET cycles with intact embryos and those with blastomere loss. Results A total of 12,105 FET cycles were included in the analysis (2259 cycles in the blastomere loss group and 9846 cycles in the intact embryo group). The blastomere loss group showed significantly poorer outcomes with respect to implantation, pregnancy, and live birth rates than the intact embryo group. However, following embryo implantation, the two groups were similar with respect to live birth rates per clinical pregnancy. Among multiple pregnancies (4229 neonates), neonates from the blastomere loss group were at an increased risk of being small for gestational age (aOR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.00–2.25) compared to those from the intact group. A similar trend was observed among singletons (aOR = 1.84, 95% CI 0.99–3.37). No associations were found between blastomere loss and the subsequent occurrence of congenital anomalies or neonatal mortality. However, neonates from the blastomere loss group were at an increased risk of transient tachypnea of the newborn (aOR = 5.21, 95% CI 2.42–11.22). Conclusions The transfer of embryos with blastomere loss is associated with reduced conception rates. Once the damaged embryos have implanted, pregnancies appear to have the same probability of progressing to live birth but with an increased risk of small for gestational age neonates and transient tachypnea of the newborn. Study registration This study was retrospectively registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number: ChiCTR-OOC-16007753 . Registration date: 13 January 2016.

Maternal supraphysiological estradiol (E2) environment during pregnancy leads to adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the influence of oocyte exposure to high E2 levels on perinatal outcomes remains unknown. Thus, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effect of high E2 level induced by controlled ovarian stimulation (COH) on further outcomes after frozen embryo transfer (FET). The study included all FET cycles (n = 10,581) between 2014 and 2017. All cycles were categorized into three groups according to the E2 level on the day of the human Chorionic Gonadotropin trigger. Odds ratios (ORs) and their confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between E2 level during COH and pregnancy outcomes and subsequent neonatal outcomes. From our findings, higher E2 level was associated with lower percentage of chemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth as well as increased frequency of early miscarriage. Preterm births were more common among singletons in women with higher E2 level during COH (aOR1 = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.22–3.06; aOR2 = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.33–3.06). Incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) was more common in both singletons (aOR1 = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.30–3.11; aOR2 = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.69–3.74) and multiples (aOR1 = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.03–2.45; aOR2 = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.05–3.84) among women with relatively higher E2 level. No association was found between high E2 level during COH and the percentage of macrosomia or large for gestational age. In summary, oocyte exposure to high E2 level during COH should be brought to our attention, since the pregnancy rate decreasing and the risk of preterm birth and SGA increasing following FET.

Introduction Thrombocytosis has been identified as an unfavorable prognostic factor in several types of cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment platelet count in association with the TNM staging system and therapeutic regimens in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 2,626 patients with NPC were retrospectively analyzed. Platelet count >300 × 109/L was defined as thrombocytosis. Matched‐pair analysis was performed between patients receiving chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy. Results Multivariate analysis showed that platelet count was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.810, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.531–2.140, P < 0.001] and distant metastasis–free survival (DMFS) (HR = 1.873, 95% CI = 1.475–2.379, P < 0.001) in the entire patient cohort. Further subgroup analysis revealed that increased platelet count was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for OS and DMFS in patients with NPC stratified by early and advanced T category, N category, or TNM classification (all P ≤ 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves verified that the predictive value of TNM classification for OS was improved when combined with pretreatment platelet count (P = 0.030). Matched‐pair analysis showed that chemoradiotherapy significantly improved OS only in advanced‐stage NPC with thrombocytosis (HR = 0.416, 95% CI = 0.226–0.765, P = 0.005). Conclusions Pretreatment platelet count, when combined with TNM classification, is a useful indicator for metastasis and survival in patients with NPC. It may improve the predictive value of the TNM classification and help to identify patients likely to benefit from more aggressive therapeutic regimens.

INTRODUCTION Currently, the recommended therapy to control refractory status epilepticus （RSE） is intravenous （IV） anesthetics, such as midazolam, propofol, barbiturates, and so on. However, 15%-26% of RSE cases still cannot be terminated.

Multiple Frequency-Shift Keying (MFSK) has been used widely for underwater acoustic communications due to its low complexity and channel robustness. However, the traditional MFSK has the limitation of a low bit rate compared with coherent acoustic communication. To increase the bit rate, this study designs a new MFSK with the concept of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). We also adopt a channel-concatenated coding to resist the multipath interference and design the iterative joint decoding. The channel-concatenated coding consists of a Hadamard code and a convolutional code. Correspondingly, the iterative joint decoding uses the Hadamard–Viterbi joint soft decoding framework with a newly designed branch metric, which uses the Hadamard structure. As an important preprocessing link for a received signal, frame synchronization and Doppler compensation are also described in detail in this study. Simulations and experiments are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed MFSK underwater acoustic communications.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant epithelial tumor originating in the nasopharynx and has a high incidence in Southeast Asia and North Africa. To develop these comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis and management of NPC, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) arranged a multi‐disciplinary team comprising of experts from all sub‐specialties of NPC to write, discuss, and revise the guidelines. Based on the findings of evidence‐based medicine in China and abroad, domestic experts have iteratively developed these guidelines to provide proper management of NPC. Overall, the guidelines describe the screening, clinical and pathological diagnosis, staging and risk assessment, therapies, and follow‐up of NPC, which aim to improve the management of NPC.

Background Cervical cancer is the 4th highest cause of female reproductive tract malignancies. Multiple loci have been identified as important determinant factors for tumor susceptibility. In this report, we aimed to explore the roles of gene polymorphisms affecting x-ray repair cross complementing 1 (XRCC1), the tumor protein p53 (TP53), and fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) in the context of susceptibility to cervical cancer. Additionally, we assessed the impact of single nucleotide polymorphism-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP-SNP) interaction of these three genes in the context of cervical cancer risk in Chinese women. Methods A case-control study consisted of 340 women located in Chongqing. Of these women, 121 were diagnosed with cervical cancer, 118 served as healthy controls, and 101 were specifically recruited elderly patients above the age of 80 who showed no history of cervical cancer. Three SNPs ( XRCC1 rs25487, TP53 rs1042522, and FGFR3 rs121913483) were examined using mutation analysis of mismatch amplification PCR (MAMA-PCR) on samples obtained from peripheral blood. Results Our results indicated that females from southwestern China all exhibited a wild-type phenotype at FGFR3 rs121913483. We also observed that the rs25487 mutation was significantly increased within the cervical cancer population. A 2-locus SNP-SNP interaction pattern (rs25487 and rs1042522) was significantly associated with cervical cancer risk (cases vs. negative controls: OR = 4.63, 95% CI = 1.83–11.75; cases vs. elderly group: OR = 17.61, 95% CI = 4.34–71.50). Conclusions This is the first study to identify a novel interaction between the XRCC1 and TP53 genes that is highly associated with susceptibility to cervical cancer risk in a female population in southwestern China.