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This study aimed to investigate the intake of dairy products during pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its impacts on neonatal birth weight and pregnancy outcomes. A total of 386 women with GDM during the second trimester pregnancy participated in this prospective cohort study. We evaluated dairy products intake through the FFQ. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained from the delivery data. Participants were divided into insufficient and sufficient intake of milk and dairy products groups (< 300 g/d and ≥ 300 g/d, respectively). The average intake of dairy products during the second trimester pregnancy in women with GDM was 317·8 ± 179·5 g/d, and the total energy intake was 1635·4 ± 708·7 kcal/d. However, 76·68 % of them did not meet the recommended total energy intake of women with GDM. After adjusting for confounding factors, women with GDM who consumed ≥ 300 g/d of dairy products had an average reduction in birth weight of 93·1 g compared with women who consumed < 300 g/d of dairy products (95 % CI −171·343, −14·927). Women with GDM in sufficient intake group was also associated with lower risk of macrosomia (95 % CI 0·043, 0·695) and caesarean section (95 % CI 0·387, 0·933) and not related to low birth weight infant (95 % CI 0·617, 14·502) and preterm birth (95 % CI 0·186, 1·510) when compared with participants in insufficient intake group. Under the premise of insufficient total energy intake, the intake of dairy products during the second trimester pregnancy in women with GDM might be related to the decrease of neonatal birth weight.
The self-generated magnetic field in three-dimensional (3-D) single-mode ablative Rayleigh–Taylor instability (ARTI) relevant to the acceleration phase of a direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion is investigated. It is found that stronger magnetic fields up to a few thousand teslas can be generated by 3-D ARTI rather than by its two-dimensional (2-D) counterpart. The Nernst effects significantly alter the magnetic field convection and amplify the magnetic fields. The magnetic field of thousands of teslas yields the Hall parameter of the order of unity, leading to profound magnetized heat flux modification. While the magnetic field significantly accelerates the bubble growth in the short-wavelength 2-D modes through modifying the heat fluxes, the magnetic field mostly accelerates the spike growth but has little influence on the bubble growth in 3-D ARTI. The accelerated growth of spikes in 3-D ARTI is expected to enhance material mixing and degrade ICF implosion performance. This work is focused on a regime relevant to direct-drive ICF parameters at the National Ignition Facility, and it also covers a range of key parameters that are relevant to other ICF designs and hydrodynamic/astrophysical scenarios.
Understanding the genetic basis of porcine mental health (PMH)-related traits in intensive pig farming systems may promote genetic improvement animal welfare enhancement. However, investigations on this topic have been limited to a retrospective focus, and phenotypes have been difficult to elucidate due to an unknown genetic basis. Intensively farmed pigs, such as those of the Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire breeds, have undergone prolonged selection pressure in intensive farming systems. This has potentially subjected genes related to mental health in these pigs to positive selection. To identify genes undergoing positive selection under intensive farming conditions, we employed multiple selection signature detection approaches. Specifically, we integrated disease gene annotations from three human gene–disease association databases (Disease, DisGeNET, and MalaCards) to pinpoint genes potentially associated with pig mental health, revealing a total of 254 candidate genes related to PMH. In-depth functional analyses revealed that candidate PMH genes were significantly overrepresented in signaling-related pathways (e.g., the dopaminergic synapse, neuroactive ligand‒receptor interaction, and calcium signaling pathways) or Gene Ontology terms (e.g., dendritic tree and synapse). These candidate PMH genes were expressed at high levels in the porcine brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus, and the cell type in which they were significantly enriched was neurons in the hippocampus. Moreover, they potentially affect pork meat quality traits. Our findings make a significant contribution to elucidating the genetic basis of PMH, facilitating genetic improvements for the welfare of pigs and establishing pigs as valuable animal models for gaining insights into human psychiatric disorders.
The global challenge of methane emissions from enteric fermentation is critical, as it contributes significantly to atmospheric greenhouse gases and represents a loss of energy that could otherwise be utilized by ruminants. With the increasing demand for dairy and meat products, finding effective methods to reduce methane production is essential. This review explores the use of advanced meta-omics techniques – including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, and metabolomics – to deepen our understanding of ruminal methane production and identify potential strategies for its mitigation. These high-throughput technologies provide comprehensive insights into the rumen microbial communities and their metabolic functions by analyzing DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites directly from environmental samples. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics offer a detailed view of microbial diversity and gene expression, while metaproteomics can identify specific enzymes and proteins directly involved in methane production pathways, revealing potential targets for mitigation strategies. Integrating these meta-omics approaches allows for a holistic understanding of the microbial processes that drive methane emissions, enabling the development of more precise interventions, such as tailored dietary modifications and the use of specific inhibitors. This review underscores the importance of a multi-omics strategy in characterizing microbial roles and interactions within the rumen, which is crucial for devising effective and sustainable methods to reduce methane emissions without compromising livestock productivity.
To investigate the relationship between father involvement in parenting and mental health problems among children and adolescents in rural China. The Rural Children’s Mental Health dataset includes mental health information from 2,489 children and adolescents aged 5–16 in seven provinces in China. The relationship between father involvement in children and adolescents depression risk and anxiety was analyzed by Spearman’s correlation analysis, logistic regression analysis, and restricted cubic spline. Father involvement was significantly and negatively associated with depression scores (r = −0.38, P < 0.001) and anxiety scores (r = −0.18, P < 0.001) in rural Chinese children and adolescents. Both multivariate models indicate that the highest level of father involvement has a protective effect on the risk of depression among children and adolescents (OR = 0.268 and 0.303, 95% CI: 0.149~0.483 and 0.144~0.636), while the association with anxiety risk is only significant in the multivariate model 1 (OR = 0.570, 95% CI: 0.363~0.896). Father involvement is a protective factor for the risk of depression among children and adolescents in rural China. The level of father involvement should be increased, and active participation should be encouraged to reduce the risk of depression in their children and to further promote the mental health of children and adolescents in China.
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent in major depressive disorder (MDD) during adolescence, but the underlying neural mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to investigate microstructural abnormalities in the cingulum bundle associated with NSSI and its clinical characteristics.
Methods
130 individuals completed the study, including 35 healthy controls, 47 MDD patients with NSSI, and 48 MDD patients without NSSI. We used tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) with a region of interest (ROI) analysis to compare the fractional anisotropy (FA) of the cingulum bundle across the three groups. receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was employed to evaluate the ability of the difficulties with emotion regulation (DERS) score and mean FA of the cingulum to differentiate between the groups.
Results
MDD patients with NSSI showed reduced cingulum integrity in the left dorsal cingulum compared to MDD patients without NSSI and healthy controls. The severity of NSSI was negatively associated with cingulum integrity (r = −0.344, p = 0.005). Combining cingulum integrity and DERS scores allowed for successful differentiation between MDD patients with and without NSSI, achieving a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 83%.
Conclusions
Our study highlights the role of the cingulum bundle in the development of NSSI in adolescents with MDD. The findings support a frontolimbic theory of emotion regulation and suggest that cingulum integrity and DERS scores may serve as potential early diagnostic tools for identifying MDD patients with NSSI.
Multilayer dielectric gratings (MLDGs) are crucial for pulse compression in picosecond–petawatt laser systems. Bulged nodular defects, embedded in coating stacks during multilayer deposition, influence the lithographic process and performance of the final MLDG products. In this study, the integration of nanosecond laser conditioning (NLC) into different manufacturing stages of MLDGs was proposed for the first time on multilayer dielectric films (MLDFs) and final grating products to improve laser-induced damage performance. The results suggest that the remaining nodular ejection pits introduced by the two protocols exhibit a high nanosecond laser damage resistance, which remains stable when the irradiated laser fluence is more than twice the nanosecond-laser-induced damage threshold (nanosecond-LIDT) of the unconditioned MLDGs. Furthermore, the picosecond-LIDT of the nodular ejection pit conditioned on the MLDFs was approximately 40% higher than that of the nodular defects, and the loss of the grating structure surrounding the nodular defects was avoided. Therefore, NLC is an effective strategy for improving the laser damage resistance of MLDGs.
To analyse the comparative clinical outcomes and clinicopathological significance of vocal fold leukoplakia lesions treated by appearance classification and traditional methods.
Method
A total of 1442 vocal fold leukoplakia patients were enrolled. Group A patients were treated according to appearance classification and Group B patients were treated according to traditional methods.
Results
In Group A, 24.4, 14.9 and 60.6 per cent of patients had grade I, II and III dysplasia, respectively. Grade I dysplasia (63.4 per cent) was more than twice as frequent in Group B patients than in Group A patients, while grade II dysplasia (20.4 per cent) and grade III dysplasia (16.2 per cent) were significantly less frequent in Group B patients than in Group A patients (p = 0.000). There was a significant correlation between vocal fold leukoplakia appearance and the degree of dysplasia (p = 0.000). The recurrence and malignant transformation rates (17.6 and 31 per cent, respectively) in Group B were significantly greater than those in Group A (10.8 and 25.9 per cent, respectively) (p = 0.000).
Conclusion
Vocal fold leukoplakia appearance classification is useful for guiding treatment decision-making and could help to improve therapeutic accuracy.
We numerically investigated the global linear instability and bifurcations in electro-thermo-convection (ETC) of a dielectric liquid confined in a two-dimensional (2-D) concentric annulus subjected to a strong unipolar injection. Seven kinds of solutions exist in this ETC system due to the complex bifurcations, i.e. saddle-node, subcritical and supercritical Hopf bifurcations. These bifurcation routes constitute at most four solution branches. Global linear instability analysis and energy analysis were conducted to explain the instability mechanism and transition of different solutions and to predict the local instability regions. The linearized lattice Boltzmann method (LLBM) for global linear instability analysis, first proposed by Pérez et al. (Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn., vol. 31, 2017, pp. 643–664) to analyse incompressible flows, was extended here to solve the whole set of coupled linear equations, including the linear Navier–Stokes equations, the linear energy equation, Poisson's equation and the linear charge conservation equation. A multiscale analysis was also performed to recover the macroscopic linearized Navier–Stokes equations from the four different discrete lattice Boltzmann equations (LBEs). The LLBM was validated by calculating the linear critical value of 2-D natural convection; it has an error of 1.39% compared with the spectral method. Instability with global travelling wave behaviour is a unique behaviour in the annulus configuration electrothermohydrodynamic system, which may be caused by the baroclinity. Finally, the chaotic behaviour was quantitatively analysed through calculation of the fractal dimension and Lyapunov exponent.
This paper presents a robust train localisation system by fusing a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) in a tightly-coupled (TC) strategy. To improve navigation performance in GNSS partly blocked areas, an advanced map-matching (MM) measurement-augmented TC GNSS/INS method is proposed via an error-state unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The advanced MM generates a matched position using a one-step predicted position from a UKF time update step with binary search algorithm and a point–line projection algorithm. The matched position inputs as an additional measurement to fuse with the INS position to augment the degraded GNSS pseudorange measurement to optimise the state estimation in the UKF measurement update step. Both the real train test on the Qinghai–Tibet railway and the simulation were carried out and the results confirm that the proposed advanced MM measurement-augmented TC GNSS/INS with error-state UKF provides the best horizontal positioning accuracy of 0 ⋅ 67 m, which performs an improvement of about 71% and 90% with respect to TC GNSS/INS with only error-state UKF and only error-state Extended Kalman filter in GNSS partly blocked areas.
Circulating n-3 PUFA, which integrate endogenous and exogenous n-3 PUFA, can be better used to investigate the relationship between n-3 PUFA and disease. However, studies examining the associations between circulating n-3 PUFA and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk were limited, and the results remained inconclusive. This case–control study aimed to examine the association between serum n-3 PUFA and CRC risk in Chinese population. A total of 680 CRC cases and 680 sex- and age-matched (5-year interval) controls were included. Fatty acids were assayed by GC. OR and 95 % CI were calculated using multivariable logistic regression after adjustment for potential confounders. Higher level of serum α-linolenic acid (ALA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), DHA, long-chain n-3 PUFA and total n-3 PUFA were associated with lower odds of CRC. The adjusted OR and 95 % CI were 0·34 (0·24, 0·49, Pfor trend < 0·001) for ALA, 0·57 (0·40, 0·80, Pfor trend < 0·001) for DPA, 0·48 (0·34, 0·68, Pfor trend < 0·001) for DHA, 0·39 (0·27, 0·56, Pfor trend < 0·001) for long-chain n-3 PUFA and 0·31 (0·22, 0·45, Pfor trend < 0·001) for total n-3 PUFA comparing the highest with the lowest quartile. However, there was no statistically significant association between EPA and odds of CRC. Analysis stratified by sex showed that ALA, DHA, long-chain n-3 PUFA and total n-3 PUFA were inversely associated with odds of CRC in both sexes. This study indicated that serum ALA, DPA, DHA, long-chain n-3 PUFA and total n-3 PUFA were inversely associated with odds of having CRC in Chinese population.
This study aimed to determine the ideal pacing site in children by comparing the postoperative ventricular synchrony in children with left bundle branch area pacing and those with right ventricular septal pacing.
Methods:
This retrospective study included children with complete atrioventricular block who underwent permanent pacemaker implantation from March 2019 to August 2021. Patients were grouped according to their ventricular pacing site, the left bundle branch area pacing group and the right ventricular septal pacing group. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography was used to evaluate the ventricular synchrony.
Results:
Forty-eight children (median age, 2.7 years; interquartile range, 1.7–4.6 years) were included. The paced QRS duration in the left bundle branch area pacing group was significantly narrower than that in the right ventricular septal pacing group (100.2 ± 9.3 versus 115.4 ± 15.1 ms, p = 0.001). The median follow-up duration was 1.5 years (interquartile range, 1–2 years). At the last follow-up, the average capture threshold of the ventricular electrode in the left bundle branch area pacing group was lower than that in the right ventricular septal pacing group (0.79 ± 0.18 versus 1.20 ± 0.56 V, p = 0.008). The left ventricular intraventricular synchrony parameters in the left bundle branch area pacing group were better than those in the right ventricular septal pacing group (e.g. standard deviation of the time to peak longitudinal strain, 37.4 ± 4.3 versus 46.6 ± 8.2 ms, p = 0.000). The average interventricular mechanical delay time in the left bundle branch area pacing group was significantly shorter than that in the right ventricular septal pacing group (36.4 ± 14.2 versus 52.5 ± 22.7 ms, p = 0.016).
Conclusion:
Compared with right ventricular septal pacing, left bundle branch area pacing in children produces a narrower QRS duration and better pacing and ventricular synchrony parameters postoperatively.
Multilayer dielectric gratings typically remove multiple-grating pillars after picosecond laser irradiation; however, the dynamic formation process of the removal is still unclear. In this study, the damage morphologies of multilayer dielectric gratings induced by an 8.6-ps laser pulse were closely examined. The damage included the removal of a single grating pillar and consecutive adjacent grating pillars and did not involve the destruction of the internal high-reflection mirror structure. Comparative analysis of the two damage morphological characteristics indicated the removal of adjacent pillars was related to an impact process caused by the eruption of localized materials from the left-hand pillar, exerting impact pressure on its adjacent pillars and eventually resulting in multiple pillar removal. A finite-element strain model was used to calculate the stress distribution of the grating after impact. According to the electric field distribution, the eruptive pressure of the dielectric materials after ionization was also simulated. The results suggest that the eruptive pressure resulted in a stress concentration at the root of the adjacent pillar that was sufficient to cause damage, corresponding to the experimental removal of the adjacent pillar from the root. This study provides further understanding of the laser-induced damage behavior of grating pillars and some insights into reducing the undesirable damage process for practical applications.
Modal global linear stability analysis of thermal convection is performed with the linearized lattice Boltzmann method (LLBM). The onset of Rayleigh–Bénard convection in rectangular cavities with conducting and adiabatic sidewalls and the instability of two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) natural convection in cavities are studied. The method of linearizing the local equilibrium probability distribution function that was first proposed by Pérez et al. (Theor. Comp. Fluid Dyn., vol. 31, 2017, pp. 643–664) is extended to solve the coupled linear Navier–Stokes equations together with the linear energy equation in this work. A multiscale analysis is also performed to recover the macroscopic linear Navier–Stokes equations from the discrete lattice Boltzmann equations for both the single and multiple relaxation time models. The present LLBM is implemented in the framework of the Palabos library. It is validated by calculating the linear critical value of 2-D natural convection that the LLBM with the multiple relaxation time model has an error less than 1 % compared with the spectral method. The instability mechanism of the flow is explained by kinetic energy transfer analysis. It is shown that the buoyancy mechanism and inertial mechanism tend to stabilize the Hopf bifurcation of the 2-D natural convection at Pr < 0.08 and Pr > 1, respectively. For 3-D natural convection, subcritical bifurcation of the Hopf type is found for low-Prandtl-number fluids (Pr < 0.1).
To investigate the correlation between ventricular pre-excitation-related dyssynchrony, on cardiac dysfunction, and recovery.
Methods and Results:
This study included 76 children (39 boys and 37 girls) with a median age of 5.25 (2.67–10.75) years. The patients with pre-excitation-related cardiac dysfunction (cardiac dysfunction group, n = 34) had a longer standard deviation of the time-to-peak systolic strain of the left ventricle and larger difference between the maximum and minimum times-to-peak systolic strain than those with a normal cardiac function (normal function group, n = 42) (51.77 ± 24.70 ms versus 33.29 ± 9.48 ms, p < 0.05; 185.82 ± 92.51 ms versus 111.93 ± 34.27 ms, p < 0.05, respectively). The cardiac dysfunction group had a maximum time-to-peak systolic strain at the basal segments of the anterior and posterior septa and the normal function group at the basal segments of anterolateral and posterolateral walls. The prevalence of ventricular septal dyssynchrony in the cardiac dysfunction group was significantly higher than that in the normal function group (94.1% (32/34) versus 7.7% (3/42), p < 0.05). The patients with ventricular septal dyssynchrony (n = 35) had a significantly higher prevalence of intra-left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony than those with ventricular septal synchrony (n = 41) (57.1% (20/35) versus 14.6% (6/41), p < 0.05). During follow-up after pathway ablation, the patients who recovered from intra-left ventricular dyssynchrony (n = 29) had a shorter left ventricular ejection fraction recovery time than those who did not (n = 5) (χ2 = 5.94, p < 0.05). Among the patients who recovered, 93.1% (27/29) had a normalised standard deviation of the time-to-peak systolic strain and difference between the maximum and minimum times-to-peak systolic strain within 1 month after ablation.
Conclusion:
Ventricular pre-excitation may cause ventricular septal dyssynchrony; thus, attention must be paid to intra-left ventricular dyssynchrony and cardiac dysfunction. Whether intra-left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony can resolve within 1 month may be a new early predictor of patient prognosis.
The aim of the present study was to compare the rate of preterm birth (PTB) and growth from birth to 18 years between twins conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and twins conceived by spontaneous conception (SC) in mainland China. The retrospective cohort study included 1164 twins resulting from IVF and 25,654 twins conceived spontaneously, of which 494 from IVF and 6338 from SC were opposite-sex twins. PTB and low birth weight (LBW), and growth, including length/height and weight, were compared between the two groups at five stages: infancy (0 year), toddler period (1–2 years), preschool (3–5 years), primary or elementary school (6–11 years), and adolescence (10–18 years). Few statistically significant differences were found for LBW and growth between the two groups after adjusting for PTB and other confounders. Twins born by IVF faced an increased risk of PTB compared with those born by SC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 8.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] [3.19, 21.13], p < .001 in all twins and aOR 10.12, 95% CI [2.32, 44.04], p = .002 in opposite-sex twins). Twins born by IVF experienced a similar growth at five stages (0–18 years old) when compared with those born by SC. PTB risk, however, is significantly higher for twins conceived by IVF than those conceived by SC.
Hypertension represents one of the most common pre-existing conditions and comorbidities in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. To explore whether hypertension serves as a risk factor for disease severity, a multi-centre, retrospective study was conducted in COVID-19 patients. A total of 498 consecutively hospitalised patients with lab-confirmed COVID-19 in China were enrolled in this cohort. Using logistic regression, we assessed the association between hypertension and the likelihood of severe illness with adjustment for confounders. We observed that more than 16% of the enrolled patients exhibited pre-existing hypertension on admission. More severe COVID-19 cases occurred in individuals with hypertension than those without hypertension (21% vs. 10%, P = 0.007). Hypertension associated with the increased risk of severe illness, which was not modified by other demographic factors, such as age, sex, hospital geological location and blood pressure levels on admission. More attention and treatment should be offered to patients with underlying hypertension, who usually are older, have more comorbidities and more susceptible to cardiac complications.
The study of enclaves in granitic plutons provides fundamental information on the petrogenesis of their host rocks. Here we combine U–Pb zircon ages, petrography, geochemistry and Nd–Hf isotope composition to investigate the origin of dioritic–granodioritic enclaves and their host granodiorites and biotite granites in the Xuehuading–Panshanchong area, which is a pivotal site to study the Palaeozoic intracontinental orogenic processes of the South China Block. Obtained ages indicate that the host rocks were formed in early Silurian time (c. 432 Ma). The enclaves are fine grained, but with mineral assemblages similar to their hosts and contain amphibole, biotite and plagioclase. All rocks have fractionated rare earth element patterns ((La/Yb)N = 2.86–8.16), except for one biotite granite that has a concave rare earth element pattern ((La/Yb)N = 1.50). Most rocks are depleted in Ta–Nb–Ti, and have negative Eu anomalies and ϵNd(t) (–8.86 to –5.75) and zircon ϵHf(t) (–13.30 to –4.11, except for one, –39.08). We interpret that the enclaves were formed at the borders of magma-ascending conduits, where the mafic mineral crystallization was enhanced by rapid cooling. Conversely, the biotite granites were produced by fractional crystallization from a related granodiorite magma. The sample with a concave rare earth element pattern may have been influenced by hydrothermal fluid–melt interaction. Geochemical modelling suggests that the granodiorites were likely generated by disequilibrium melting of heterogeneous amphibolites in the middle–lower crust. Considering the geological data for the Palaeozoic magmatic rocks in the South China Block, we propose that the Xuehuading–Panshanchong magmatism was likely triggered by piecemeal removal of the thickened lithospheric root and subsequent thermal upwelling of mantle, without a mantle-derived magma contribution to the granites.