Pretreatment NLR and percentages of lymphocyte and neutrophil are independent prognostic factors and may serve as clinically convenient and useful biomarkers for survival of patients with NPC.

Background: Medical care workers experienced unprecedented levels of workload and pressure since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about its exact impact on medical care workers and related factors in China. This study aims to identify the psychological impact of COVID-19 on medical care workers in China. Methods: From February 23 to March 5, 2020, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 863 medical care workers from seven provinces in China using standard questionnaires measuring adverse psychological outcomes including Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale(DASS)and related psychosocial factors like perceived threat, social support and coping strategies. Exploratory Factor analysis was performed to identify the dimensions of perceived threat by study participants. Multivariate regression was used to examine the determinants of adverse psychological outcomes. Results: Posttraumatic stress (PTS) were prevalent in this sample of health care professionals, and 40.2% indicated positive screens for significant posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The proportion of having mild to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were 13.6, 13.9 and 8.6%, respectively. Perceived threat and passive coping strategies were positively correlated to PTS and DASS scores, while perceived social support and active coping strategies were negatively correlated to DASS scores. Nurses were more likely to be anxious than others among medical care workers during the COVID-19 epidemic. Conclusions: Adverse psychological symptoms were prevalent among medical care workers in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Screening for adverse psychological outcomes and developing corresponding preventive measures would be beneficial in decreasing negative psychological outcomes.

Low mtDNA and ATP content might contribute to the absence of birefringent spindle imaged with the PolScope in human in vitro matured oocytes.

Combined treatment of cilostamide and forskolin positively influences oocyte developmental competence by exhibiting a synergistic effect on the prevention of GJC loss and resumption of meiosis.

Oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) is an important assisted reproductive technology and research tool. The adoption of IVM into routine clinical practice has been hindered by its significantly lower success rates compared to conventional in vitro fertilization. Cyclic AMP (cAMP) modulation and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), independently, have long been known to improve IVM oocyte developmental competence. This study comprehensively examined the effects of FSH and cAMP/cGMP modulation, alone and in combination, on IVM oocyte metabolism and developmental outcomes. Mouse cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were subjected to a 1 h prematuration phase ± the cAMP modulator forskolin and cAMP/cGMP modulator 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine followed by IVM ± FSH. Prematuration with these cyclic nucleotide modulators or IVM with FSH significantly improved oocyte developmental competence and reduced spindle abnormalities compared to spontaneous IVM (no treatment); however, these two treatments in combination endowed even greater developmental competence (improved subsequent blastocyst rates and quality; P < 0.05), albeit blastocyst yield and quality remained significantly lower than that of oocytes matured in vivo. A significant additive effect of combined IVM treatments was evident as increased COC lactate production and oxygen consumption and enhanced oocyte oxidative metabolism, ATP production, ATP:ADP ratio, and glutathione levels (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, IVM increased reactive oxygen species production, particularly as a consequence of FSH addition, relative to in vivo matured oocytes. In conclusion, improvements in the embryo yield following IVM is associated with increased COC oxygen consumption and oocyte oxidative metabolism, but these remain metabolically and developmentally less competent relative to in vivo derived oocytes.

This study has revealed a novel and unexpected interaction between heparin and cAMP modulators in pre-IVM in immature mouse and human oocytes, and established a means to collect oocytes using heparin while modulating oocyte cAMP to improve developmental potential.

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Aim: To investigate the apoptosis-inducing effect of oridonin, a diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, in the human cervical carcinoma HeLa cell line. Methods: A morphological analysis, nuclear condensation, and fragmentation of chromatin were monitored using Hoechst 33342 staining. Cell viability was assessed using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-(2)-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell apoptosis and the apoptosis-related activation in the HeLa cell line were evaluated by flow cytometry and Western blotting. Results: Oridonin suppressed the proliferation of the HeLa cell line in a dose-and time-dependent fashion. Oridonin treatment downregulated the activation of protein kinase B (Akt), the expression of forkhead box class O (FOXO) transcription factor, and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3). Oridonin also induced the release of cytochrome c accompanied by the activation of caspase-3 and poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase cleavage. In addition, Z-D(OMe)-E(OMe)-V-D(OMe)-FMK (z-DEVD-fmk), an inhibitor of caspases, prevented caspase-3 activation and abrogated oridonin-induced cell death. Finally, oridonin treatment of the HeLa cell line downregulated the expression of the inhibitor of the apoptosis protein. Conclusion:Our results showed that oridonin-induced apoptosis involved several molecular pathways. Oridonin may suppress constitutively activated targets of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Akt, FOXO, and GSK3) in the HeLa cell line, inhibiting the proliferation and induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis.