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Background To evaluate the differences in pregnancy outcomes between assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients and natural pregnant women in Shanghai, China in the past 6 years objectively. And to assess the feasibility of the research method of registry-database linkage in mainland China. Methods This retrospective study was conducted using registry-database linkage. A total of 8102 pregnancies with ART and 8096 parturients with spontaneous conception (SC) from 10 reproductive centers and 111 hospitals composed our retrospective study. The primary outcomes were the rates of obstetric complications (pregnancy-induced hypertention [PIH], gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM], placenta previa, mode of delivery, preterm birth [PTB], low birth weight [LBW], and macrosomia). The prenatal outcomes were compared between ART and SC parturients, frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) and fresh embryo transfer, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The final matching rate of the target population was 92% by using registry linkage. ART resulted in a higher rate of multiple birth, PTB, LBW, cesarean section, placenta previa and GDM compared with SC in the singleton cohort. In ART patients, pregnant women with FET had a significantly higher risk of PIH than those with fresh embryo transfer (14.1% Vs 9.3%, AOR1.528, 95% CI 1.303–1.793), but there was no difference between IVF and ICSI. FET is also related to the severity of PIH. Conclusions ART increased the rate of complications during pregnancy, the risk and severity of PIH in patients with FET was higher than that in patients with fresh embryo transfer. The registry-database linkage study is an objective and feasible research method in mainland China.

Background Previous studies have suggested that metformin may be useful for preventing and treating endometrial cancer (EC), while the results have been inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between metformin use and risk and prognosis of patients with EC. Methods PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for observational studies evaluating the effect of metformin on EC prevention or treatment. The odds ratio (OR) was used for analyzing risks, and the hazard ratio (HR) was used for analyzing survival outcomes. A random-effects model was used for data analysis. Results Seven studies reported data on EC risk. The pooled results suggested that metformin was not significantly associated with a lower risk of EC [OR = 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82–1.35, P = 0.70]. For patients with diabetes, metformin showed no advantage in reducing the EC risk compared with other interventions (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.78–1.26, P = 0.95). Further, seven studies were included for survival analysis. The pooled data showed that metformin could significantly improve the overall survival of patients with EC (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.48–0.77, P < 0.05) and reduce the risk of EC recurrence (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.28–0.92, P < 0.05) Finally, we noted metformin was associated with significantly improving the overall survival of EC patients among diabetes (HR = 0.47; 95%CI 0.33–0.67, P < 0.05). Conclusions This meta-analysis did not prove that metformin was beneficial for preventing EC. However, metformin could prolong the overall survival of patients with EC and reduce their risk of cancer relapse.

In an effort to minimize the usage of fishmeal in aquaculture, novel protein diets, including Tenebrio molitor, cottonseed protein concentrate, , and were evaluated for their potential to replace fishmeal. Nevertheless, comprehensive examinations on the gut health of aquatic animals under an alternate feeding strategy when fed novel protein diets are vacant. Five isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets containing various proteins were manufactured, with a diet consisting of whole fishmeal serving as the control and diets containing novel proteins serving as the experimental diets. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) with an initial body weight of 4.73 ± 0.04g employed as an experimental animal and given these five diets for the first 29 days followed by a fishmeal diet for the next 29 days. The results of this study demonstrated that the growth performance of novel protein diets in the second stage was better than in the first stage, even though only the diet increased antioxidant capacity and the cottonseed protein concentrate diet decreased it. Concerning the intestinal barriers, the diet lowered intestinal permeability and plasma IL-1β/TNF-α. In addition, the contents of intestinal immunological factors, namely LYS and sIgA-like, were greater in than in fishmeal. From the data analysis of microbiome and metabolome, the levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), anaerobic bacteria, , and Firmicutes were significantly higher in the diet than in the whole fishmeal diet, while the abundance of , aerobic bacteria, , and Proteobacteria was lowest. However, no extremely large differences in microbiota or short chain fatty acids were observed between the other novel protein diets and the whole fishmeal diet. In addition, the microbiota were strongly connected with intestinal SCFAs, lipase activity, and tight junctions, as shown by the Mantel test and Pearson's correlation. Taken together, according to Z-score, the ranking of advantageous functions among these protein diets was diet > diet > whole fishmeal diet > cottonseed protein concentrate > diet. This study provides comprehensive data illustrating a mixed blessing effect of novel protein diets on the gut health of juvenile largemouth bass under an alternate feeding strategy.

Background Wild sugarcane Saccharum spontaneum plants vary in ploidy, which complicates the utilization of its germplasm in sugarcane breeding. Investigations on cold tolerance in relation to different ploidies in S. spontaneum may promote the exploitation of its germplasm and accelerate the improvement of sugarcane varieties. Results A hypoploid clone 12–23 (2n = 54) and hyperploid clone 15–28 (2n = 92) of S. spontaneum were analysed under cold stress from morphological, physiological, and transcriptomic perspectives. Compared with clone 15–28, clone 12–23 plants had lower plant height, leaf length, internode length, stem diameter, and leaf width; depressed stomata and prominent bristles and papillae; and thick leaves with higher bulliform cell groups and thicker adaxial epidermis. Compared with clone 15–28, clone 12–23 showed significantly lower electrical conductivity, significantly higher water content, soluble protein content, and superoxide dismutase activity, and significantly higher soluble sugar content and peroxidase activity. Under cold stress, the number of upregulated genes and downregulated genes of clone 12–23 was higher than clone 15–28, and many stress response genes and pathways were affected and enriched to varying degrees, particularly sugar and starch metabolic pathways and plant hormone signalling pathways. Under cold stress, the activity of 6-phosphate glucose trehalose synthase, trehalose phosphate phosphatase, and brassinosteroid-signalling kinase and the content of trehalose and brassinosteroids of clone 12–23 increased. Conclusions Compared with hyperploid clone 15–28, hypoploid clone 12–23 maintained a more robust osmotic adjustment system through sugar accumulation and hormonal regulation, which resulted in stronger cold tolerance.

Objective To investigate the association between SMAD4 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer. Methods A case-control study was conducted, enrolling 342 cervical cancer patients as the case group and 342 healthy individuals from concurrent physical examinations as the control group. Genotyping of SMAD4 SNP loci rs34468925 and rs8084630 was performed using the imLDR SNP genotyping technique. HPV detection in the case group was performed via PCR-reverse dot hybridization. Statistical analysis and the online SHEsis software were employed to comprehensively evaluate the association between the rs34468925 and rs8084630 SNP loci, their haplotypes, and the risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer. Results No significant association was observed between the genotypes, alleles, genetic models (dominant and recessive), or haplotypes of the SMAD4 gene SNPs rs34468925 and rs8084630 and HPV infection risk in either group ( P  > 0.05). rs8084630 showed no association with cervical cancer risk ( P  > 0.05). However, the TT genotype, T allele, and recessive genetic model of rs34468925 were significantly associated with a reduced risk of cervical cancer ( P  < 0.05). Additionally, the rs34468925 CT genotype may be associated with clinical pathological characteristics (tumor classification, distant metastasis) in cervical cancer patients ( P  < 0.05). Conclusion The SMAD4 rs34468925 polymorphism shows no significant association with HPV infection but is inversely associated with cervical cancer risk and certain clinicopathological characteristics.

As global environmental challenges intensify, manufacturing firms face increasing pressure to innovate sustainably. Green innovation, characterized by the development of environmentally friendly products, processes, and technologies, has become essential for firms striving to remain competitive. This study aims to investigate the influence of key factors—green logistics, green finance, and green technology—on green innovation within manufacturing firms, while exploring the mediating role of green technology in these relationships. A multi-method approach was employed, combining partial least squares structural equation modeling, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, and necessity condition analysis. 447 responses were collected from manufacturing companies in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, using structured questionnaires. The analysis revealed that green logistics and green finance have a significant positive impact on green innovation, while the influence of the green work environment was found to be positive but statistically insignificant. Additionally, green technology was identified as a significant mediator in the relationships between green finance, green logistics, and green innovation. This study offers a comprehensive green innovation model while green technology is a mediator. Furthermore, this study advances the resource-based view theory by integrating green technology as a pivotal resource that enhances a firm's competitive advantage in sustainable markets. By adopting a multi-method approach, this research provides a rigorous examination of the research questions, offering a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interactions between green finance, green logistics, and green technology in driving innovation. Thus, this research has thought provoking implications to prioritize investments in green finance, logistics, and technology, manufacturing firms can enhance their competitiveness, improve operational efficiency, and meet evolving environmental regulations and consumer preferences.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) hold significant potential in neural regenerative medicine, yet research faces multiple challenges such as cellular heterogeneity, unclear microenvironment interactions, and low clinical translation efficiency. In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has provided new ideas and tools to address these issues. This paper reviews the current applications of AI in fundamental NSCs research, including intelligent identification, deep learning-driven subtype analysis, spatial microenvironment deconstruction, and dynamic analysis of neural differentiation. Additionally, we discuss several key AI technologies not yet applied to NSCs research, such as generative adversarial networks, graph neural networks, and self-supervised learning, as well as their potential applications in cell classification, interaction network analysis, and morphological feature extraction. Although AI technologies show great promise in NSCs research, challenges remain regarding data quality, model robustness, and interpretability. Therefore, future research should focus on establishing high-quality standardized multimodal data platforms and integrating biological knowledge to enhance model interpretability, thereby deepening the understanding of NSCs biological characteristics and differentiation mechanisms and advancing personalized therapies.

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease characterized by decreased bone mass and quality and bone micro-architecture degradation. Its primary cause is disorder of bone metabolism: Over-formation of osteoclasts, resulting in increased bone resorption and insufficient osteogenesis. Traditional herbal flavonoids can be used as alternative drugs to prevent and treat osteoporosis due to their wide range of sources, structural diversity and less adverse effects. The present paper reviewed six flavonoids, including quercetin, icariin, hesperitin, naringin, chrysin and pueraria, that promote bone formation and have been widely studied in the literature over the past five years, with the aim of providing novel ideas for the development of drugs for bone-associated disease.

Clinically, the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease is on the rise, and Mycobacterium intracellulare (M. intracellulare) has attracted much attention as a common opportunistic pathogen in clinical practice. So it is very important to study its immunopathogenic mechanism. In this study, the mechanism of M. intracellulare induced pyroptosis of macrophage was investigated. As shown in Fig. 1, the secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 in J774A.1 cells increased with time after M. intracellulare infection and was affected by caspase-1 activation and K + efflux, while caspase-1 was significantly expressed in infected cells. Further from Fig. 2, NLRP3,AIM2,ASC proteins were significantly expressed in J774A.1 cells after infection, indicating that the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) and absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome were involved in the infection process. In addition, when caspase-1 activity and K + efflux were inhibited, the expression of related proteins was significantly reduced. It indicates that the activation of NLRP3 and AIM2 is regulated by caspase-1 and K+. Figure 3, the percentage of dead cells with cell membrane damage increases after infection and cleavage of GSDMD proteins occurs. In summary, infection of J774A.1 cells with M. intracellulare induces pyroptosis, and this process is mediated by caspase-1. Our study provides information for further understanding of the molecular mechanism of M. intracellulare infection.

Background Urban expansion, with multifaceted urban form changes, has been proved to have profound impact on environmental quality and population health. While existing research has widely explored the link between urban form and respiratory health, most evidence comes from intra-city comparisons within single metropolitan areas, highlighting a need for more representative, nationwide studies. Methods To address this gap, we systematically examined associations between urban expansion characteristics and lung cancer incidence across 180 Chinese cities, using structural equation models with air pollution exposure as a mediator. Results Our findings indicated that urban expansion characterized by a larger total urban area (β = 0.204, p  = 0.014), higher urban population density (β = 0.191, p  = 0.004), greater patch density (β = 0.240, p = 0.002), higher annual growth rate (β = 0.266, p  < 0.001), and increased urban cropland mixing (β = 0.415, p  < 0.001) was associated with higher levels of air pollution exposure, which in turn contributed to elevated lung cancer incidence (β = 0.235, p  < 0.001 for females; β = 0.214, p  < 0.001 for males). Compared with prefecture-level cities, total urban area, annual growth rate, and urban cropland mixing had a larger marginal impact on lung cancer incidence in county-level cities. Conclusion Our nationwide analysis shows urban expansion characteristics – specifically larger scale, higher density, faster expanding speed, and cropland mixing – significantly elevate lung cancer risk through increased air pollution exposure, with stronger effects in county-level cities. These results provide exploratory evidence that may inform the development of health-oriented urban policies and land use interventions, not only in China but also in other rapidly urbanizing developing countries.