Although ethanol treatment is widely used to activate oocytes, the underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. Roles of intracellular calcium stores and extracellular calcium in ethanol-induced activation (EIA) of oocytes remain to be verified, and whether calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is involved in EIA is unknown. This study showed that calcium-free ageing (CFA) in vitro significantly decreased intracellular stored calcium (sCa) and CaSR expression, and impaired EIA, spindle/chromosome morphology and developmental potential of mouse oocytes. Although EIA in oocytes with full sCa after ageing with calcium does not require calcium influx, calcium influx is essential for EIA of oocytes with reduced sCa after CFA. Furthermore, the extremely low EIA rate in oocytes with CFA-downregulated CaSR expression and the fact that inhibiting CaSR significantly decreased the EIA of oocytes with a full complement of CaSR suggest that CaSR played a significant role in the EIA of ageing oocytes. In conclusion, CFA impaired EIA and the developmental potential of mouse oocytes by decreasing sCa and downregulating CaSR expression. Because mouse oocytes routinely treated for activation (18 h post hCG) are equipped with a full sCa complement and CaSR, the present results suggest that, while calcium influx is not essential, CaSR is required for the EIA of oocytes.

Shortawn foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.) is an obligate wetland plant that is widely distributed throughout Europe, temperate Asia, and North America. In China, it is widespread in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as a noxious weed in winter cropping fields with a rice (Oryza sativa L.) rotation. The acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicide mesosulfuron-methyl has been widely used to control annual grass and broadleaf weeds, including A. aequalis, in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) fields, leading to the selection of herbicide-resistant weeds. In this study, an A. aequalis population, AHFT-4, that survived mesosulfuron-methyl at the field-recommended rate (9 g ai ha−1) was collected in Anhui Province. Single-dose testing confirmed that the suspected resistant AHFT-4 had evolved resistance to mesosulfuron-methyl. Target gene sequencing revealed a resistance mutation of Pro-197-Ala in ALS1 of the resistant plants, and a derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker was developed to specifically detect the mutation. A relative expression assay showed no significant difference in ALS expression between AHFT-4 and a susceptible population without or with mesosulfuron-methyl treatment. Whole-plant dose–response bioassays indicated that AHFT-4 had evolved broad-spectrum cross-resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides of all five chemical families tested, with GR50 resistance index (RI) values ranging from 21 to 206. However, it remained susceptible to the photosystem II inhibitor isoproturon. Pretreatment with the cytochrome P450 inhibitor malathion or the glutathione S-transferase inhibitor 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzoxadiazole had no significant effects on the resistance of AHFT-4 to mesosulfuron-methyl. To our knowledge, this study reports for the first time the ALS gene Pro-197-Ala substitution conferring broad-spectrum cross-resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in A. aequalis.

The influence of second-order dispersion (SOD) on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in the interaction of an ultrashort intense laser with plasma was investigated. More significant backward SRS was observed with the increase of the absolute value of SOD ($\mid \kern-1pt\!{\psi}_2\!\kern-1pt\mid$). The integrated intensity of the scattered light is positively correlated to the driver laser pulse duration. Accompanied by the side SRS, filaments with different angles along the laser propagation direction were observed in the transverse shadowgraph. A model incorporating Landau damping and above-threshold ionization was developed to explain the SOD-dependent angular distribution of the filaments.

Dietary l-carnitine (LC) is a nutritional factor that reduces liver lipid content. However, whether dietary LC can improve lipid metabolism via simultaneous activation of mitochondrial fatty acid (FA) β-oxidation and suppression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is still unknown. Large yellow croaker were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) supplemented with dietary LC at 0, 1·2 or 2·4 ‰ for 10 weeks. The results indicated that a HFD supplemented with LC reduced the liver total lipid and TAG content and improved serum lipid profiles. LC supplementation administered to this fish increased the liver antioxidant capacity by decreasing serum and liver malondialdehyde levels and enhancing the liver antioxidant capacity, which then relieved the liver damage. Dietary LC increased the ATP dynamic process and mitochondrial number, decreased mitochondrial DNA damage and enhanced the protein expression of mitochondrial β-oxidation, biogenesis and mitophagy. Furthermore, dietary LC supplementation increased the expression of genes and proteins related to peroxisomal β-oxidation and biogenesis. Interestingly, feeding fish with LC-enriched diets decreased the protein levels indicative of ER stress, such as glucose-regulated protein 78, p-eukaryotic translational initiation factor 2a and activating transcription factor 6. Dietary LC supplementation downregulated mRNA expression relative to FA synthesis, reduced liver lipid and relieved liver damage through regulating β-oxidation and biogenesis of mitochondria and peroxisomes, as well as the ER stress pathway in fish fed with HFD. The present study provides the first evidence that dietary LC can improve lipid metabolism via simultaneously promoting FA β-oxidation capability and suppressing the ER stress pathway in fish.

The effect of vitamin D (VD) on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) is uncertain. Few of previous studies focused on the relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk. Therefore, we conducted this 1:1 matched case–control study to explore the association of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women. A total of 440 pairs of participants were recruited during March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a seventy-eight-item semi-quantitative FFQ. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured by liquid chromatography–tandem MS. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95 % CI. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose–response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the OR of the highest quartile were 0·45 (95 % CI 0·29, 0·71, Ptrend = 0·001) for VD dietary intake and 0·26 (95 % CI 0·11, 0·60, Ptrend = 0·003) for serum levels after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the RCS analysis suggested a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). A similar association was also found between serum concentrations of total 25(OH)D and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women.

This study examined the effect of a cryoprotectant with and without pentoxifylline supplementation on the motility and viability of human testicular sperm, both before and after freezing. Testicular samples were obtained from 68 patients with azoospermia who came to the Andrology Service of West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, for testicular biopsies from December 2019 to April 2020. All patients were assigned randomly to two groups: experimental, whose testicular sperm were added to the cryoprotectant with pentoxifylline, and the control, whose testicular sperm were added to the cryoprotectant without pentoxifylline. Both groups used the same freezing and thawing methods. Testicular sperm motility in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group, both before and after cryopreservation. The recovery rate of sperm motility in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The percentage of samples with motile testicular sperm in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group after thawing. Sperm viability was unchanged between the experimental and control groups, both before and after freezing. Overall, a pentoxifylline-supplemented cryoprotectant can significantly improve the motility of testicular sperm before and after cryopreservation.

Dyslipidaemia, a significant risk factor of CVD, is threatening human health worldwide. PUFA are crucial long-chain fatty acids for TAG synthesis and removal, potentially decreasing dyslipidaemia risk. We examined dyslipidaemia prevalence among 15 244 adults aged ≥ 20 years from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2016. Dyslipidaemia was defined as total cholesterol ≥ 240 mg/dl, or HDL-cholesterol < 40 mg/dl/50 mg/dl for males/females, respectively, or LDL-cholesterol ≥ 160 mg/dl, or TAG ≥ 200 mg/dl, or taking lipid-modifying medications. We measured the daily PUFA intake using a 24-h dietary recall. Demographics, social economics, and lifestyle factors were collected using questionnaires/interviews. Additionally, we measured Se and Hg levels in the whole blood. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between PUFA and dyslipidaemia. The unweighted and weighted dyslipidaemia prevalences were 72·4% and 71·0 %, respectively. When grouped into tertiles, PUFA intake above 19·524 g/d was associated with an independent 19 % decrease in dyslipidaemia risk (OR = 0·81 (95 % CI 0·71, 0·94)) compared with the lowest tertile (PUFA intake ≤ 12·349 g/d). A threshold inverse association was further determined by the restricted cubic spline analysis. When PUFA intake was increased to its turning point, that is, 19 g/d, the lower nadir risk for dyslipidaemia was obtained (OR = 0·72 (95 % CI 0·56, 0·89)). When the exposure was the sum of α-linolenic acid and octadecatetraenoic acid, the inverse linear association remained. Dietary PUFA intake is a beneficial factor for dyslipidaemia among American adults, independent of many potential confounders, including Hg and Se.

High fibre intake is associated with reduced mortality risk in both general and chronic kidney disease populations. However, in dialysis patients, such data are limited. Therefore, the association between dietary fibre intake (DFI) and the risk of all-cause and CVD mortality was examined in this study. A total of 1044 maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) patients from eight outpatient dialysis centres in China were included in this study. Data on DFI were collected using 24-h dietary recalls for 3 d in a week and were normalised to actual dry weight. The study outcomes included all-cause and CVD mortality. Over a median of 46 months of follow-up, 354 deaths were recorded, of which 210 (59 %) were due to CVD. On assessing DFI as tertiles, the CVD mortality risk was significantly lower in patients in tertiles 2–3 (≥0·13 g/kg per d; hazard ratio (HR) 0·71; 95 % CI 0·51, 0·97) compared with those in tertile 1 (<0·13 g/kg per d). A similar but non-significant trend was found for the association between DFI (tertiles 2–3 v. tertile 1; HR 0·83; 95 % CI 0·64, 1·07) and all-cause mortality. In summary, higher DFI was associated with lower CVD mortality risk among Chinese MHD patients. This study emphasises the significance of DFI in MHD patients and provides information that is critical for the improvement of dietary guidelines for dialysis patients.

There is growing interest globally in using real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) for health technology assessment (HTA). Optimal collection, analysis, and use of RWD/RWE to inform HTA requires a conceptual framework to standardize processes and ensure consistency. However, such framework is currently lacking in Asia, a region that is likely to benefit from RWD/RWE for at least two reasons. First, there is often limited Asian representation in clinical trials unless specifically conducted in Asian populations, and RWD may help to fill the evidence gap. Second, in a few Asian health systems, reimbursement decisions are not made at market entry; thus, allowing RWD/RWE to be collected to give more certainty about the effectiveness of technologies in the local setting and inform their appropriate use. Furthermore, an alignment of RWD/RWE policies across Asia would equip decision makers with context-relevant evidence, and improve timely patient access to new technologies. Using data collected from eleven health systems in Asia, this paper provides a review of the current landscape of RWD/RWE in Asia to inform HTA and explores a way forward to align policies within the region. This paper concludes with a proposal to establish an international collaboration among academics and HTA agencies in the region: the REAL World Data In ASia for HEalth Technology Assessment in Reimbursement (REALISE) working group, which seeks to develop a non-binding guidance document on the use of RWD/RWE to inform HTA for decision making in Asia.

Freshwater habitats in China are potentially suitable for invasive alien turtle species and, consequently, raising turtles in aquaculture facilities and the trade in turtles this supplies pose risks to habitats and native wetland communities when exotic turtles escape or are released deliberately. Online trade (e-commerce) is making an increasing contribution to turtle sales in China, seemingly driving demand and thus potentially exacerbating the risk of release. We document the scale and spatial pattern of online sales of non-native turtles over 90 days on China's Taobao.com e-commerce site. The majority of sales were in the ecologically sensitive middle and lower Yangtze river basin (82.35% of > 840,000 slider turtles Trachemys scripta elegans, and 68.26% of > 100,000 snapping turtles, Chelydridae spp.). These species are native to the Americas. Concurrently, over 2008–2018, we found 104 mentions of feral turtle issues listed on Baidu News where, among the 53 prefectures mentioned, issues with invasive turtle populations also focused predominantly in the middle and lower Yangtze river basin. Although circumstantial, this association suggests that the substantial online sale of alien turtles could be having detrimental effects in China's Yangtze river basin. It is important to safeguard these wetland habitats, which are of global importance, by improving policies for detecting and regulating invasive alien turtle issues and by warning consumers about the ecological hazard of their purchases.

Maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) is the use of a machine to filter wastes, salts and fluid from blood for at least 3 months to prolong the life of patients with advanced kidney failure. Although low dietary energy intake (DEI) has been observed in MHD patients, few studies have related DEI to the risk of mortality. To explore this relationship, a study included 1039 MHD patients from eight centres was conducted. DEI was assessed by three 24-h diet recalls and was normalised to ideal body weight (IBW). All-cause mortality and CVD mortality were the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. During a median follow-up of 28 months, a U-shaped relationship was observed between DEI and all-cause or CVD mortality. The risk of all-cause mortality decreased significantly with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI <167·4 kJ/kg IBW per d (hazard ratio (HR) 0·98; 95 % CI 0·96, 1·00) and increased significantly with the increase of DEI in those with DEI ≥167·4 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 1·12; 95 % CI 1·04, 1·20). Similarly, the risk of CVD mortality decreased with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI <152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 0·96; 95 % CI 0·93, 0·99) and increased with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI ≥152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 1·11; 95 % CI 1·04, 1·18). In summary, there was a U-shaped association between DEI and all-cause or CVD mortality, with a turning point at about 167·4 and 152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d, respectively, in MHD patients.