Abstract Introduction: nutritional status and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been found to be associated with prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Objectives: to evaluate the association between nutritional status and PLR in patients with HCC undergoing TACE. Methods: a total of 152 HCC patients received TACE were enrolled. The nutritional status was evaluated by Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). Patients with PG-SGA A and PG-SGA (B or C) were classified as the well-nourished and malnourished groups. Results: according to the PG-SGA, 130 (85.5 %) patients were malnourished. The median PLR was significantly different between well-nourished and malnourished groups (p = 0.008). A positive correlation was found between PLR and PG-SGA score (r = -0.265, p = 0.001). The optimal PLR cutoff value was 102.165 to predict malnutrition, with a sensitivity of 65.4 %, specificity of 72.7 %, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.677 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.550-0.804; p = 0.008). A logistic stepwise regression model showed that the PLR was associated with nutritional status in Model 1 without adjustment, as well as if adjusted by age, sex, type of TACE (c-TACE/DEB-TACE) and Child–Pugh stage (odds ratio, 0.190; 95 % CI: 0.062-0.582; p = 0.004). Conclusions: nutritional status measured by PG-SGA was significantly associated with PLR in patients with HCC undergoing TACE.

Resumen Introducción: se ha encontrado que el estado nutricional y el índice plaquetas-linfocitos (PLR) se asocian con el pronóstico en pacientes con carcinoma hepatocelular (CHC) sometidos a quimioembolización transarterial (TACE). Objetivos: evaluar la asociación entre el estado nutricional y la PLR en pacientes con CHC sometidos a TACE. Métodos: se evaluaron 152 pacientes con CHC que recibieron TACE. El estado nutricional fue evaluado por Evaluación Global Subjetiva Generada por el Paciente (PG-SGA). Los pacientes con PG-SGA A y PG-SGA (B o C) se clasificaron como los grupos bien nutridos y desnutridos. Resultados: según la PG-SGA, 130 (85,5 %) pacientes estaban desnutridos. La mediana de PLR fue significativamente diferente entre los grupos bien nutridos y desnutridos (p = 0,008). Se encontró una correlación positiva entre PLR y la puntuación PG-SGA (r = -0,265, p = 0,001). El valor de corte óptimo de PLR fue de 102,165 para predecir la malnutrición, con una sensibilidad del 65,4 %, una especificidad del 72,7 % y un área bajo la curva (AUC) de 0,677 (intervalo de confianza [IC] del 95 %: 0,550-0,804; p = 0,008). Un modelo de regresión logística escalonada mostró que el PLR se asoció con el estado nutricional en el Modelo 1 sin ajuste, así como cuando se ajustó por edad, sexo, tipo de TACE (c-TACE/DEB-TACE) y etapa Child-Pugh (odds ratio, 0,190; IC 95 %: 0,062-0,582; p = 0,004). Conclusiones: el estado nutricional medido por PG-SGA se asoció significativamente con PLR en pacientes con CHC sometidos a TACE.

Abstract Objective: to explore the association between serum vitamin D level and the occurrence and pathological grade of gastric cancer. Material and methods: search PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane and Chinese database; all articles about the association between serum vitamin D levels and gastric cancer published before July 2021. Results: 10 trials with 1159 cases of gastric cancer patients and 33,387 cases of regular control patients were analyzed. The serum vitamin D level of the gastric cancer group (15.56 ± 7.46 ng/ml) was lower than in the control group (17.60 ± 1.61 ng/ml), and the difference was statistically significant. The patients with gastric cancer, clinical stage III/IV (16.19 ± 8.04 ng/ml) had lower vitamin D levels than those with stage I/II (19.61 ± 9.61 ng/ml), and the patients with low differentiation of gastric cancer (17.5 ± 9.5 ng/ml) had lower levels than those with well- or moderately-differentiated cancer (18.04 ± 7.92 ng/ml). The patients with lymph node metastasis (19.41 ± 8.63 ng/ml) had lower vitamin D levels than the patients without lymph node metastasis (20.65 ± 7.96 ng/ml), and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: vitamin D levels were negatively associated with gastric cancer. Vitamin D levels were significantly associated with different clinical stages, degrees of differentiation, and lymph node metastasis, suggesting that low vitamin D levels might predict poor prognosis in gastric cancer.

Resumen Objetivo: investigar la asociación entre los niveles de vitamina D en suero y la carcinogénesis gástrica y su clasificación patológica. Material y métodos: se buscaron en las bases de datos PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane y China todos los artículos sobre la asociación entre los niveles séricos de vitamina D y el cáncer gástrico publicados antes de julio de 2021. Resultados: se analizaron diez datos de 1159 pacientes con cáncer gástrico y 33.387 pacientes normales de control. El nivel de vitamina D en suero del grupo (15,56 ± 7,46 ng/ml) de cáncer gástrico era inferior al del grupo de control (16,19 ± 8,04 ng/ml), y la diferencia era estadísticamente significativa. En los pacientes con cáncer gástrico en estadio clínico III/IV (16,19 ± 8,04 ng/ml) era inferior al de los pacientes en estadio I/II (19,61 ± 9,61 ng/ml) y en los pacientes con cáncer de estómago poco diferenciado (17,5 ± 9,5 ng/ml) era menor que en los pacientes con cáncer bien o moderadamente diferenciado (18,04 ± 7,92 ng/ml); en los pacientes con metástasis en ganglios linfáticos (19,41 ± 8,63 ng/ml) era inferior al de los pacientes sin metástasis en ganglios linfáticos (20,65 ± 7,96 ng/ml), siendo la diferencia estadísticamente significativa. Conclusión: los niveles de vitamina D se correlacionaron negativamente con el cáncer gástrico. Los niveles de vitamina D se asociaron significativamente a los diferentes estadios clínicos, el grado de diferenciación y la metástasis en ganglios linfáticos, lo que sugiere que los niveles bajos de vitamina D pueden ser un factor de predicción de mal pronóstico en el cáncer gástrico.

ABSTRACT Introduction: New-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Objective: To explore predictive factors and potential mechanisms of new-onset POAF in isolated off-pump CABG patients. Methods: Retrospective observational case-control study of 233 patients undergoing isolated off-pump CABG surgery between August 2018 and July 2020 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School. Associations between predictor variables and new-onset POAF were identified. The main outcome was new-onset POAF after CABG surgery. Results: A total of 75 (32.19%) patients developed new-onset POAF after CABG surgery. The new-onset POAF patients had advanced age, higher baseline systolic blood pressure, more preoperative use of diuretic drug, more transfusion of blood products, atrial dilation and postoperative positive inotropic drug treatment. Nineteen variates entered the multivariable logistic regression model with a Hosmer-Lemeshow test score of 7.565 (P=0.477). Postoperative left atrial enlargement, postoperative drainage in the first 24 hours and total length of hospital stay were statistically significant, while postoperative right atrial enlargement (OR and 95% CI, 7.797 [0.200, 304.294], P=0.272) and left atrial enlargement (3.524 [1.141, 10.886], P=0.029) assessed by echocardiography had the largest OR value. Conclusion: Atrial enlargement is strongly associated with new-onset POAF in patients with isolated off-pump CABG, thus it highlights the advantage of echocardiography as a useful tool for predicting new-onset POAF. Careful monitoring and timely intervention should be considered for these patients.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a new noninvasive myocardial protection strategy that uses blood pressure cuf inflation to simulate transient non-fatal ischemia to protect the myocardium and reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury. Sulfonylureas may mask the effects of RIPC due to their cardioprotec-tive effect. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate whether RIPC, in the absence of sulfonylureas, reduces troponin release in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials to determine whether RIPC can reduce postoperative troponin release in cardiac surgery patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass without treatment with sulfonylureas. The data were normalized to equivalent units prior to the analysis. A random-effects model was used to provide more conservative estimate of the effects in the presence of known or unknown heterogeneity. Results: Six studies with a total of 570 participants were included. The analysis showed that troponin release was lower in the RIPC group than in the control group at six hours (test of standardized mean differences = 0, Z=3.64, P<0.001) and 48 hours (Z=2.72, P=0.007) postoperatively. When the mean of cross-clamping time was > 60 minutes, RIPC reduced troponin release at six hours (Z=2.84, P=0.005), 24 hours (Z=2.64, P=0.008), and 48 hours (Z=2.87, P=0.004) postoperatively. Conclusion: In cardiac surgery patients who are not taking sulfonylureas, RIPC can reduce troponin release at six and 48 hours postoperatively; hence, RIPC may serve significant benefits in certain cardiac surgery patients.

RESUMO Introdução: O exercício físico é a forma mais eficaz de melhorar a aptidão física. Pode-se alcançar o efeito do bem-estar e da boa forma física por meio da prática de exercícios físicos. A corrida é um método relativamente comum de exercício físico. Ele desempenha um papel significativo na melhora da aptidão física. Objetivo: Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar as características dos movimentos das extremidades inferiores durante a corrida. Os resultados deste estudo podem proporcionar melhores planejamentos de exercícios para os corredores. Métodos: Este trabalho seleciona vários corredores como o objeto de pesquisa. Os sujeitos começaram a correr após anexar um adesivo com sensor detector de movimento em seu corpo. Em seguida, este trabalho coletou dados cinemáticos. Os dados cinemáticos incluem os ângulos articulares e a amplitude de movimento (ROM) das articulações do quadril, joelho e tornozelo. Resultados: Não houve diferença significativa na distribuição do pico de aceleração tibial, pressão plantar e pressão máxima dos atletas sob diferentes materiais de pista (P>0,05). Houve uma diferença de idade significativa entre as articulações do quadril e do joelho dos atletas na etapa aérea (P<0,05). Conclusão: Pode não haver uma conexão necessária entre o solo e o impacto dos membros inferiores em atletas de corrida. Através de seu ajuste, o corpo humano pode amortecer o efeito de carga da superfície de contato com o pé. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Exercise is the most effective way to improve physical fitness. One can achieve the effect of wellness and fitness through scientific exercise. Running is a relatively common method of physical exercise. It plays a significant role in improving physical fitness. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of lower extremity movements during running. The results of this study may provide better exercise planning for runners. Methods: This paper selects several runners as the research subject. The subjects started running after attaching a motion detector sensor patch to their body. Then, this paper collected kinematic data. The kinematic data includes the joint angles and range of motion (ROM) of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Results: There was no significant difference in the distribution of peak tibial acceleration, plantar pressure, and maximum pressure of athletes under different track materials (P>0.05). There was a significant age difference between the hip and knee joints of the athletes in the overhead stage (P<0.05). Conclusion: There may not be a necessary connection between ground and lower limb impact in running athletes. Through its adjustment, the human body can dampen the load effect of the foot contact surface. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMEN Introducción: El ejercicio físico es la forma más eficaz de mejorar la forma física. Se puede conseguir el efecto de bienestar y de puesta en forma a través del ejercicio físico. Correr es un método de ejercicio físico relativamente común. Desempeña un papel importante en la mejora de la condición física. Objetivo: Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar las características de los movimientos de las extremidades inferiores durante la carrera. Los resultados de este estudio pueden proporcionar una mejor planificación del ejercicio para los corredores. Métodos: Este trabajo selecciona a varios corredores como objeto de investigación. Los sujetos empezaron a correr tras colocarse un parche sensor de movimiento en el cuerpo. A continuación, este trabajo recogió datos cinemáticos. Los datos cinemáticos incluyen los ángulos articulares y la amplitud de movimiento (ROM) de las articulaciones de la cadera, la rodilla y el tobillo. Resultados: No hubo diferencias significativas en la distribución de la aceleración tibial máxima, la presión plantar y la presión máxima de los atletas con diferentes materiales de pista (P>0,05). Hubo una diferencia de edad significativa entre las articulaciones de la cadera y la rodilla de los atletas en la etapa de sobrecarga (P<0,05). Conclusión: Puede que no exista una conexión necesaria entre el impacto en el suelo y en las extremidades inferiores en los atletas que corren. Mediante su ajuste, el cuerpo humano puede amortiguar el efecto de carga de la superficie de contacto del pie. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Abstract The current developmental trend is to evaluate the quality of Yongchuan Xiuya tea rapidly. After spectrum pre-processing, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) coupled with synergy interval partial least squares (siPLS), principal component analysis (PCA) and back propagation-artificial neural network (BP-ANN) was applied to rapidly and non-destructively predict the quality of Yongchuan Xiuya tea. External Yongchuan Xiuya tea samples were used for the actual application of the proposed model. The best pre-processing method was multiple scattering correction coupled with second derivative, and the characteristic spectral regions selected by siPLS were 4381.5-4755.6 cm-1, 4759.5-5133.6 cm-1, 6266.6-6637.8 cm-1 and 7389.9-7760.2 cm-1. The cumulative contribution rate was 99.05% for the first three principal components of the characteristic spectra regions. The transfer function, root mean square error and determinant coefficient of the best BP-ANN prediction model were the tanh function, 0.384 and 0.977, respectively. The root mean square error and determinant coefficient of the external 10 Yongchuan Xiuya tea samples were 0.406 and 0.969, respectively. These results showed that NIRS combined with BP-ANN algorithm can be used to evaluate the quality of Yongchuan Xiuya tea rapidly and accurately.

Abstract As a natural agricultural product, honey is favored by consumers, and its variety and adulteration have a huge impact on the quality. Acacia honey, red jujube honey and rape honey were used as experimental objects, and their spectral reflectance curves were obtained through a near-infrared spectral image acquisition system. Spectral features were extracted from the preprocessed spectral reflectance curves, and a honey variety classification model based on near-infrared spectral features was established by machine learning. After statistical analysis, Principal Component Analysis Support Vector Machine after processing data through Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA-SVM) is the optimal classification model for three varieties of acacia honey, red jujube honey and rape honey, and the correct rate of honey variety classification reaches 95.83%. The spectral reflectance curve was used to establish a honey adulteration identification model based on the partial least squares-discriiminate analysis (PLS-DA), and the classification accuracy was 97.92% in the test set.

Abstract Human posture estimation is the basis of many computer vision tasks, such as motion recognition, violence detection and behavior understanding. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the estimation algorithm of human motion posture (HMP). To address the problem of poor estimation effect of traditional HMP estimation algorithm, in this paper, an estimation algorithm for HMP using multi-labeling transfer learning is proposed. First, the original human motion image is labeled by using the multi-label transfer learning, the HMP features are extracted, and the original image classification is completed. Second, a regulator is constructed based on the classification results of the original image, and the regulator is used to adjust the estimation results of HMP based on a convolutional neural networks. Finally, the posture compensation function is used to compensate for the error part to realize the estimation of HMP. In the experiment, the Human3.6m data set and MPII data set were used as the basis for testing. The results show that the proposed algorithm has high correct recognition rate of HMP. The similarity between the posture estimation results, and the target image is 92%-97%. The accuracy of posture estimation is 98.1%. The proposed algorithm can be widely used in many fields, such as human-computer interaction, recognition authentication and intelligent monitoring.

ABSTRACT The application of intelligent materials in drilling fluids has greatly reduced the investment of human resources and effectively made up for the shortcomings of traditional drilling fluids, such as insufficient directivity, poor adaptive ability and difficult monitoring. Therefore, the research of intelligent drilling fluids is a valuable direction for the future oil and gas industry. In this study, the temperature-sensitive modified bentonite NIPAM-B developed by Pan Yi et al. was used as the drilling fluid base slurry, and the drilling fluid additives were optimized to complete the modulation of the intelligent drilling fluid inspection system. In addition, the rheology, filtration, shale wellbore stability and stability of the intelligent drilling fluid inspection system will be evaluated. The results show that the intelligent drilling fluid has good temperature-sensitive thickening performance, and the rheology is not affected by temperature changes, which can realize intelligent heating and thickening. In addition, compared with the original bentonite drilling fluid system, the intelligent drilling fluid has good fluid loss reduction ability and shale borehole wall protection ability, and the shale rolling recovery rate reaches more than 95 %.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a new noninvasive myocardial protection strategy that uses blood pressure cuf inflation to simulate transient non-fatal ischemia to protect the myocardium and reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury. Sulfonylureas may mask the effects of RIPC due to their cardioprotec-tive effect. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate whether RIPC, in the absence of sulfonylureas, reduces troponin release in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials to determine whether RIPC can reduce postoperative troponin release in cardiac surgery patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass without treatment with sulfonylureas. The data were normalized to equivalent units prior to the analysis. A random-effects model was used to provide more conservative estimate of the effects in the presence of known or unknown heterogeneity. Results: Six studies with a total of 570 participants were included. The analysis showed that troponin release was lower in the RIPC group than in the control group at six hours (test of standardized mean differences = 0, Z=3.64, P<0.001) and 48 hours (Z=2.72, P=0.007) postoperatively. When the mean of cross-clamping time was > 60 minutes, RIPC reduced troponin release at six hours (Z=2.84, P=0.005), 24 hours (Z=2.64, P=0.008), and 48 hours (Z=2.87, P=0.004) postoperatively. Conclusion: In cardiac surgery patients who are not taking sulfonylureas, RIPC can reduce troponin release at six and 48 hours postoperatively; hence, RIPC may serve significant benefits in certain cardiac surgery patients.

Astragaloside IV is a biologically active substance derived from the traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus mambranaceus Bunge, and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of astragaloside IV on Klebsiella pneumonia rats and the underlying mechanisms. Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) rats were treated with different dosages of astragaloside IV (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) by intragastric administration. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined. Pathological changes of lung tissue were inspected by HE staining. The expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 in lung tissue was determined with immunohistochemistry, and the expression levels of TGF-β1, p-Smad2/Smad2, p-Smad3/Smad3, IκBα/p-IκBα, and p65/p-p65 in lung tissue were determined by western blot. The mechanism was further investigated with TGF-β1 inhibitor SB-431542. Astragaloside IV reduced the elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines caused by K. pneumoniae and improved lung tissue damage in a dose-dependent manner. Astragaloside IV also decreased the expression of TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway-related proteins and decreased the protein levels of inflammation-related p-IκBα and p65 in lung tissues induced by K. pneumoniae. Additionally, it was found that the effects of 20 mg/kg astragaloside IV were similar to SB-431542, which could improve pulmonary fibrosis induced by K. pneumoniae, decrease the levels of TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway-related proteins in lung, and reduce inflammation at the same time. Astragaloside IV could alleviate the inflammation of rat pneumonia induced by K. pneumoniae through suppressing the TGF-β1/Smad pathway.

Abstract Objective To explore the expression levels and clinical value of FKBP10 in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases. Design A retrospective single-institution cohort study. Patients The perioperative records of 71 patients with lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases who underwent surgical resection at the authors’ institution between November 2012 and June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Methods The authors evaluated FKBP10 expression levels using immunohistochemistry in tissue arrays of these patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed, and a Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify independent prognostic biomarkers. A public database was used to detect FKBP10 expression and its clinical value in primary lung adenocarcinoma. Results The authors found that the FKBP10 protein was selectively expressed in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases. Survival analysis showed that FKBP10 expression (p = 0.02, HR = 2.472, 95% CI [1.156, 5.289]), target therapy (p < 0.01, HR = 0.186, 95% CI [0.073, 0.477]), and radiotherapy (p = 0.006, HR = 0.330, 95% CI [0.149, 0.731]) were independent prognostic factors for survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastases. The authors also detected FKBP10 expression in primary lung adenocarcinoma using a public database, found that FKBP10 is also selectively expressed in primary lung adenocarcinoma, and affects the overall survival and disease-free survival of patients. Limitations The number of enrolled patients was relatively small and patients’ treatment options varied. Conclusions A combination of surgical resection, adjuvant radiotherapy, and precise target therapy may benefit the survival of selected patients with lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases. FKBP10 is a novel biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases, which is closely associated with survival time and may serve as a potential therapeutic target.

Abstract Background and objective Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an immune-mediated rheumatic disease characterized by fibrosis and vascular lesions. Interstitial lung disease is an early complication of SSc and the main cause of death from SSc. Although baricitinib shows good efficacy in a variety of connective tissue diseases, its role in systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) is unclear. The objective of our study was to explore the effect and mechanism of baricitinib in SSc-ILD. Methods We explored crosstalk between the JAK2 and TGF-β1 pathways. In vivo experiments, SSc-ILD mice model were constructed by subcutaneous injection of PBS or bleomycin (7.5 mg/kg) and intragastric administration of 0.5% CMC-Na or baricitinib (5 mg/kg) once every two days. We used ELISA, qRT-PCR, western blot and immunofluorescence staining to evaluate the degree of fibrosis. In vitro experiments, we used TGF-β1 and baricitinib to stimulate human fetal lung fibroblasts (HFLs) and assessed protein expression by western blot. Results The vivo experiments showed that baricitinib notably alleviated skin and lung fibrosis, decreased the concentration of pro-inflammatory factors and increased those of the anti-inflammatory factors. Baricitinib affected the expression of TGF-β1 and TβRI/II inhibitiing JAK2. In the vitro experiments, following the culture of HFLs with baricitinib or a STAT3 inhibitor for 48 h, the expression levels of TβRI/II decreased. Conversely, with successful inhibition of TGF-β receptors in HFLs, JAK2 protein expression decreased. Conclusions Baricitinib attenuated bleomycin-induced skin and lung fibrosis in SSc-ILD mice model by targeting JAK2 and regulating of the crosstalk between the JAK2 and TGF-β1 signaling pathways.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes (DEG) between females and males in early bovine embryos. Superovulated cattle (n = 4) in the age span of 16–18 months were artificially inseminated with semen from the same bull that has been proven to be fertile. Blastocysts were collected by routine non-surgical uterine flushing on day 7 after insemination. This study determines the sex of embryos using a micro-injection pipette to collect a few blastomeres through the Zona pellucida. The remaining blastomeres were used for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis on the Illumina platform, followed by differential expression analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) function analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. The criteria for identifying DEG will be set at |log2(Fold change)| ≥ 1 and P<0.05. A total of 8004 DEG were detected in female (Denoted as BLX, n = 3) and male (Denoted as BLY, n = 3) blastocysts. Transcripts highly expressed in the female embryos were related to catalytic activity, nucleotide binding, and catabolic process, while transcripts highly expressed in the male embryos were linked to oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrion, and the ribosome. Nine genes that may be involved in blastocyst growth and development were screened, suggesting that their differential expression may be responsible for the differences in the development of male and female embryos. This study provides important information on potential genes and pathways associated with differences in early female and male embryonic development.

Abstract This study focused on the effect and mechanism of Notch signal on pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) following acute lung injury. PMVECs were cultured in vitro and randomly divided into eight groups. Grouping was based on whether cells were co-cultured with T cells (splenic CD4+T cells were isolated using MACS microbeads) and the level of Notch expression: Normal group and Normal+T cells group, Model group and Model+T cells group, Notch low-expression group and Notch low-expression+T cells group, and Notch overexpression group and Notch overexpression+T cells group. Except for the Normal group and Normal+T cells group, all other groups were treated with 500 μL lipopolysaccharide (1 μg/mL). The expression of VE-cadherin and Zo-1 protein in the Model group (with or without T cells) was lower than that in the normal group (with or without T cells), their expression in the Notch low-expression group (with or without T cells) was significantly increased, and their expression in the Notch overexpression group (with or without T cells) was significantly decreased. Compared with the normal+T cells group, the number of Treg cells in the Notch low-expression+T cells group decreased significantly (P<0.01). The number of Th17 cells in the Notch overexpression+T cells group was higher than that in the Model+T cells group (P<0.01), while the number of Treg cells decreased (P<0.01). Our results demonstrated that activated Notch signal can down-regulate the expression of the tight junction proteins VE-Cadherin and Zo-1 in PMVECs and affect Th17/Treg immune imbalance. Autophagy was discovered to be involved in this process.