Eight-Shaped Hatching Increases the Risk of Inner Cell Mass Splitting in Extended Mouse Embryo Culture

Increased risk of monozygotic twinning (MZT) has been shown to be associated with assisted reproduction techniques, particularly blastocyst culture. Interestingly, inner cell mass (ICM) splitting in human ‘8’-shaped hatching blastocysts that resulted in MZT was reported. However, the underlying cause of MZT is not known. In this study, we investigated in a mouse model whether in vitro culture leads to ICM splitting and its association with hatching types. Blastocyst hatching was observed in: (i) in vivo developed blastocysts and (ii–iii) in vitro cultured blastocysts following in vivo or in vitro fertilization. We found that ‘8’-shaped hatching occurred with significantly higher frequency in the two groups of in vitro cultured blastocysts than in the group of in vivo developed blastocysts (24.4% and 20.4% versus 0.8%, respectively; n = 805, P < 0.01). Moreover, Oct4 immunofluorescence staining was performed to identify the ICM in the hatching and hatched blastocysts. Scattered and split distribution of ICM cells was observed around the small zona opening of ‘8’-shaped hatching blastocysts. This occurred at a high frequency in the in vitro cultured groups. Furthermore, we found more double OCT4-positive masses, suggestive of increased ICM splitting in ‘8’-shaped hatching and hatched blastocysts than in ‘U’-shaped hatching and hatched blastocysts (12.5% versus 1.9%, respectively; n = 838, P < 0.01). Therefore, our results demonstrate that extended in vitro culture can cause high frequencies of ‘8’-shaped hatching, and ‘8’-shaped hatching that may disturb ICM herniation leading to increased risk of ICM splitting in mouse blastocysts. These results may provide insights into the increased risk of human MZT after in vitro fertilization and blastocyst transfer.     

Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty Have a Lower Risk of Subsequent Severe Cardiovascular Events: Propensity Score and Instrumental Variable Analysis

ObjectiveThis population-based study investigated the subsequent cardiovascular risk of patients with knee osteoarthritis underwent total knee arthroplasty in Taiwan.ResultsPatients with knee osteoarthritis who underwent TKA had a lower 3-year cumulative risk of stroke and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). After adjusting for measured risk and confounding factors, propensity score showed a 0.56 fold (adjusted OR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.51–0.61; p<0.001) risk for CVD in those with TKA. Use of instrumental variable analysis for adjusting measured and unmeasured factors and two-stage least squares regression model revealed that the average treatment effect of TKA was statistically associated with a decreased 7% risk of CVD events (95% CI, 0.2%–13.6%).ConclusionOur study revealed that patients with knee osteoarthritis who underwent TKA had a lower risk of suffering from a future severe cardiovascular event. This benefit may be attributed to an improvement in physical activity, reduction of psychosocial stress, and/or a decreased use of NSAIDs as a result of having undergone TKA.     

Muscle Union Procedure in Patients with Paralytic Strabismus

To present the surgical outcomes of a muscle union procedure in patients with paralytic strabismus, this retrospective study included 27 patients with paralytic strabismus who underwent a muscle union procedure. In this procedure, the two vertical rectus muscles are united with the paralytic horizontal muscle without splitting the muscles. Postoperative ocular deviations, complications, surgical success rates, and reoperation rates were obtained by examining the medical records of the patients. Seventeen patients had a sixth cranial nerve palsy, seven patients had a third cranial nerve palsy, and three patients had a medial rectus muscle palsy after endoscopic sinus surgery. The mean preoperative angle of horizontal deviation in the primary position was 56 ± 21 prism diopters. The mean follow-up period was 12 ± 9 months. The mean final postoperative ocular deviation was 8 ± 13 prism diopters. The success rate was 74%, and the reoperation rate was 0%. No significant complications, including anterior ischemia, occurred in any of the patients. One patient exhibited an increase in intraocular pressure in the immediate postoperative period, but this resolved spontaneously within 1 week. Our muscle union procedure was effective in patients with paralytic strabismus, especially in patients with a large angle of deviation. This muscle union procedure is potentially a suitable option for muscle transposition in patients with paralytic strabismus who have large-angle deviation or a significant residual angle after conventional surgery.     

Uncommon paleodistribution patterns of Chrysolophus pheasants in east Asia: explanations and implications

Some modeling studies indicated that the past distributions of species in east Asia during the Last Interglacial (LIG) and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) periods differ from those of European and North American species and the deviant Asian distribution pattern is known under the term ‘pre‐LGM expansion’. It represents the unusually similar distribution patterns between the current and the LGM scenario. However, there is still no satisfying explanation for this phenomenon so far. Therefore, we took the two recently separated pheasant species of genus Chrysolophus in east Asia as an example to test the pattern by performing ecological niche models. The main findings of this study include: 1) the paleodistributions of these two pheasants also corresponded to the ‘pre‐LGM expansion’ pattern; 2) climatic similarity results from mobility‐oriented parity analysis also revealed similar pattern for both species; 3) climate regimes of east Asia showed patterns different from those in Europe and North America in a climate shift towards drier conditions and stronger seasonality and to more extreme temperatures of the coldest months particularly during the LIG; 4) the two Chrysolophus species occupied significantly different ecological niches according to current distribution. We suggest that ecological segregation established in allopatric glacial refugia should be the main determinants for the separation of two Chrysolophus species until they came into extant post‐Pleistocene contact.     

8.9% Single‐Stack Inverted Polymer Solar Cells with Electron‐Rich Polymer Nanolayer‐Modified Inorganic Electron‐Collecting Buffer Layers

Enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) is reported in inverted polymer solar cells when an electron‐rich polymer nanolayer (poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI)) is placed on the surface of an electron‐collecting buffer layer (ZnO). The active layer is made with bulk heterojunction films of poly[[4,8‐bis[(2‐ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐2,6‐diyl][3‐fluoro‐2‐[(2‐ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4‐b]thiophenediyl]] (PTB7) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₇₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM). The thickness of the PEI nanolayer is controlled to be 2 nm to minimize its insulating effect, which is confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and optical absorption measurements. The Kelvin probe and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements demonstrate that the enhanced PCE by introducing the PEI nanolayer is attributed to the lowered conduction band energy of the ZnO layer via the formation of an interfacial dipole layer at the interfaces between the ZnO layer and the PEI nanolayer. The PEI nanolayer also improves the surface roughness of the ZnO layer so that the device series resistance can be noticeably decreased. As a result, all solar cell parameters including short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, fill factor, and shunt resistance are improved, leading to the PCE increase up to ≈8.9%, which is close to the best PCE reported using conjugated polymer electrolyte films.     

Genome-wide profiling of in vivo LPS-responsive genes in splenic myeloid cells

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the major causative agent of bacterial sepsis, has been used by many laboratories in genome-wide expression profiling of the LPS response. However, these studies have predominantly used in vitro cultured macrophages (Macs), which may not accurately reflect the LPS response of these innate immune cells in vivo. To overcome this limitation and to identify inflammatory genes in vivo, we have profiled genome-wide expression patterns in non-lymphoid, splenic myeloid cells extracted directly from LPS-treated mice. Genes encoding factors known to be involved in mediating or regulating inflammatory processes, such as cytokines and chemokines, as well as many genes whose immunological functions are not well known, were strongly induced by LPS after 3 h or 8 h of treatment. Most of the highly LPSresponsive genes that we randomly selected from the microarray data were independently confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR, implying that our microarray data are quite reliable. When our in vivo data were compared to previously reported microarray data for in vitro LPS-treated Macs, a significant proportion (～20%) of the in vivo LPS-responsive genes defined in this study were specific to cells exposed to LPS in vivo, but a larger proportion of them (～60%) were influenced by LPS in both in vitro and in vivo settings. This result indicates that our in vivo LPS-responsive gene set includes not only previously identified in vitro LPS-responsive genes but also novel LPS-responsive genes. Both types of genes would be a valuable resource in the future for understanding inflammatory responses in vivo.     

Natural variation in the fast phase of chlorophyll a fluorescence induction curve (OJIP) in a global rice minicore panel

Photosynthesis Research - Photosynthesis can be probed through Chlorophyll a fluorescence induction (FI), which provides detailed insight into the electron transfer process in Photosystem II, and...     

Fin-spines attachment,a novel external attachment method for the ultrasonic transmitters on hard fin-spines fish (Sparidae)

The purpose of this study was to develop a novel method for the external attachment of ultrasonic transmitters on hard fin-spines fish (Sparidae). Acanthopagrus latus, one of the main stocking Sparidae fishes in the northern South China Sea, was employed to conduct the 40-day tank experiment by using dummy ultrasonic transmitters. The experiment consisted of 3 treatment groups, i.e., drilling on dorsal fin-spine (DD) group, drilling on anal fin-spine (DA) group, and control (C) group, with each group having 3 replicates and 30 fish per replicate. The feasibilities of DD and DA for the external attachment of ultrasonic transmitters were tested and evaluated using parameters: the specific growth rate, survival rate, and tag retention rate of each group. And the tagging procedures for the external attachment of hard fin-spines fish were also proposed. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the specific growth rate of fish between groups. Both the survival rates of DD group (96.67%) and DA group (94.44%) were less (but not significant) than C group (97.78%), while the tag retention rate of DA group (100%) was higher (but not significant) than DD group (98.89%). These results demonstrate that drilling on dorsal or anal fin-spines is feasible as an external attachment method of ultrasonic transmitters on Sparidae fishes. In addition, considering the friction between the tagged transmitters and rocks at the bottom of natural waters, which possibly affect the fish behaviors such as swimming, feeding, etc., or lead to tag loss, so drilling on the dorsal fin-spine is preferred for rocky-bottom Sparidae fishes like A. latus as small as 14 cm body length.