Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yongzhe Chen, Zesong Wang, Yueren Wu, Wenbin He, Juan Du, Sufen Cai, Fei Gong, Guangxiu Lu, Ge Lin, Can Dai
Summary: A novel heterozygous deletion in ZP3 was identified in an EFS patient, leading to significant degradation of the ZP3 protein. Abnormal follicular development and ZP assembly were observed in the EFS patient, providing new insights into the pathogenesis of EFS.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Dazhi Zhang, Lixia Zhu, Zhenxing Liu, Xinling Ren, Xue Yang, Dan Li, Yalin Luo, Xuejie Peng, Xiaopei Zhou, Weimin Jia, Meiqi Hou, Zhou Li, Lei Jin, Xianqin Zhang
Summary: The study aimed to identify disease-causing genes related to female infertility, and a novel mutation in the ZP3 gene was identified in a Chinese family. This mutation was found to affect the interactions between ZP3 and ZP2, expanding the mutational and phenotypical spectrum of the ZP3 gene.
JOURNAL OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ping Yang, Tailai Chen, Yuqing Liu, Zhenzhen Hou, Keliang Wu, Yongzhi Cao, Jiangtao Zhang, Zhao Wang, Han Zhao
Summary: Novel variants of ZP genes were identified in over half of the cohort with GEFS and oocyte degeneration, causing intracellular protein sequestration and failure to assemble ZP filaments, resulting in EFS and female infertility.
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Liwei Sun, Keya Tong, Weiwei Liu, Yin Tian, Dongyun Liu, Guoning Huang, Jingyu Li
Summary: Whole-exome sequencing was performed in probands with empty follicle syndrome (EFS) and abnormal zona pellucida (ZP), revealing a homozygous nonsense variant in ZP1 associated with EFS, a homozygous frameshift variant in ZP2 triggering protein degradation, and a heterozygous missense variant in ZP3 linked to ZP morphological abnormalities. These findings expand the mutational spectrum of ZP1, ZP2, and ZP3, and provide new evidence for genetic diagnosis of female infertility.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yoshitaka Fujihara, Sarah Herberg, Andreas Blaha, Karin Panser, Kiyonori Kobayashi, Tamara Larasati, Maria Novatchkova, Hans-Christian Theussl, Olga Olszanska, Masahito Ikawa, Andrea Pauli
Summary: Fertilization is a crucial process initiating new individual development in sexually reproducing species. SPACA4, a sperm protein, is essential for efficient fertilization in mammals like mice, particularly for interactions with the zona pellucida. Its absence leads to subfertility in male knockout mice, with fertilization rescue observed when the zona pellucida is removed during in vitro experiments.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Mathilde Pujalte, Maite Camo, Noemie Celton, Christophe Attencourt, Elodie Lefranc, Guillaume Jedraszak, Florence Scheffler
Summary: A study found a homozygous missense variant in the ZP1 gene of a 35-year-old female with genuine empty follicle syndrome (gEFS), which hindered the formation of normal oocytes. By comparing her phenotype and genotype with others, appropriate genetic counseling and treatment options, such as switching to a suitable IVF program or oocyte donation program, can be provided for patients with similar symptoms.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Roberto Matassa, Marta Gatti, Martina Crociati, Roberto Brunelli, Ezio Battaglione, Massimiliano Papi, Marco De Spirito, Stefania Annarita Nottola, Giuseppe Familiari
Summary: The ability of branched glycoprotein filaments to change their hierarchical organization through external stimuli expands understanding of self-assembling strategies that can rearrange networks. This research focuses on the morpho-structural changes of the zona pellucida and its self-assembled filament networks, revealing controlled levels of structured organizations during different stages of oocyte development. The changes are regulated by the nanostructured polymorphisms of the branched filaments and controlled by self-extension/-contraction/-bending processes.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Weimin Jia, Qingsong Xi, Lixia Zhu, Yalin Luo, Zhou Li, Meiqi Hou, Dazhi Zhang, Xue Yang, Juan Hu, Lei Jin, Xianqin Zhang
Summary: The aim of this study was to identify disease-causing mutations in three infertile female patients diagnosed with abnormal zona pellucida and empty follicle syndrome. The study found three novel mutations in the ZP2 and ZP3 genes, expanding the spectrum of ZP gene mutations and phenotypes, which is beneficial for the genetic diagnosis of infertility in females.
JOURNAL OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Hisashi Udagawa, Hiroyuki Ichida, Takanori Takeuchi, Tomoko Abe, Yoshimitsu Takakura
Summary: In this study, a whole-exome sequencing (WES) procedure was developed in tobacco to characterize EMS-induced mutations in a test population, revealing a high number of single nucleotide variants. The amount of mutations detected by WES was 93.5% of those detected by whole-genome sequencing, while requiring significantly less sequencing data, making it a cost-effective tool for high-throughput mutation identification in tobacco.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yu-Wen Cheng, Chia-Tung Wu, Chi-Jen Chang, Yung-Hsin Yeh, Gwo-Jyh Chang, Hsin-Yi Tsai, Lung-An Hsu
Summary: Through whole-exome sequencing, we identified a novel AGCGACAC deletion (S981fs) in the hERG gene of an LQT2 patient. Functional expression of the mutant K channel was restored by lowering temperature and using potassium channel inhibitors or openers. Our study reveals the mechanisms underlying LQT2 and offers potential therapeutic avenues.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Yong Guo, Jing Jin, Zhenni Zhou, Yihui Chen, Li Sun, Chunwu Zhang, Xiaoru Xia
Summary: This study identified a rare CPT2 mutation in a large Chinese pedigree with gout. Functional studies revealed that the mutant protein induces protein degradation and affects the binding ability of CPT2 to UCP2. This study provides novel insight into the genetic etiology of gout.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kamila Dilimulati, Yulin Zhang, Fabiana Lica Imai, Naoto Yonezawa
Summary: Mammalian fertilization involves selective interactions between sperm proteins and oocyte zona pellucida glycoproteins. The middle region of bovine zona pellucida glycoprotein 4 (bZP4) contains a species-selective sperm-binding site. Mutations of the N-glycosylation sites in the hinge region of bZP4 and bZP3 reduce the sperm-binding activity of the complex.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Lei Li, Qixuan Sheng, Huajin Zeng, Wei Li, Qiang Wang, Guanjun Ma, Xinyun Xu, Ming Qiu, Wei Zhang, Chengxiang Shan
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the genetic characteristics of hyperplastic parathyroids in THPT, finding multiple driver mutations and enriched pathways involved in the development and progression of the disease.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Beibei Zhang, Guanggang Qu, Yuchen Nan, En-Min Zhou
Summary: The study found that infertility caused by ZP3 vaccination is associated with ovarian oxidative stress and follicle loss. Antioxidant stress drugs can reduce oxidative stress and apoptosis levels, restore follicle numbers, and improve fertility.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Reproductive Biology
Karina Canon-Beltran, Yulia N. Cajas, Encina Gonzalez, Raul Fernandez-Gonzalez, Natacha Fierro, Pedro L. Lorenzo, Maria Arias-Alvarez, Rosa M. Garcia-Garcia, Alfonso Gutierrez-Adan, Dimitrios Rizos
Summary: Guinea pig in vitro fertilization (IVF) is underdeveloped due to limited oocyte accessibility and lack of efficient sperm capacitation methods. In this study, we evaluated different capacitation protocols and validated them through sperm analysis and heterologous IVF with bovine oocytes. Protocols C and D showed higher viability, motility, and acrosome reaction of spermatozoa compared to protocols A and B. Further analysis revealed that protocol D achieved higher pro-nuclear formation and cleavage rate in heterologous IVF, suggesting its suitability for guinea pig IVF.
Article
Thermodynamics
Yanyu Qiao, Zhichao Chen, Zheng Yu, Guan Shuo, Jiawei Li, Zhenhua Yuan, Lingyan Zeng, Zhengqi Li
Summary: The combustion characteristics of pyrolytic semi-coke (SC) were studied by analyzing its physical and chemical properties. It was found that SC has a larger specific surface area, pore volume, and fractal dimension compared to anthracite. The main combustion stage of SC consists of fixed carbon combustion and CaCO3 decomposition, and it has a lower ignition temperature than anthracite.
COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Jia Xing Liu, Hang Guo, Fang Ye, Chong Fang Ma
Summary: This paper investigates the electrical performance changes during continuous mode switching between fuel cell and electrolytic modes through experimental research. It is found that the voltage slightly decreases during mode switching, and the two-phase flow phenomenon is similar in different modes. Bubbles are generated and water is consumed in electrolytic mode, while liquid water gathers in the fuel cell mode. The cycle test results show that the voltage of both electrolytic cell and fuel cell decreases periodically, especially under high current density.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Jia-Bao Liu, Sunny Kumar Sharma, Vijay Kumar Bhat, Hassan Raza
Summary: This paper investigates two chemical structures and computes their multiset dimension and mixed metric dimension. The mixed metric dimension refers to the cardinality of the minimum set of elements that can distinguish different elements in chemical structures through recognition.
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Lijuan Zhang, Jiajun Liu, Dongming Li, Jinyuan Liu, Xiangkun Liu
Summary: In this paper, a segmentation network called MSAA-Net, which combines multi-scale features and an improved attention-aware U-Net, is proposed. The architecture improves the performance of U-Net and reduces computational costs by extracting features of different scales on a single feature layer and performing attention perception in the channel dimension.
SIGNAL IMAGE AND VIDEO PROCESSING
(2023)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jun-Jie Wu, Hanfei Gao, Xue-Dong Wang, Yuchen Wu, Lei Jiang, Liang-Sheng Liao
Summary: This article reviews the recent advances of near-infrared (NIR) organic micro/nanolasers on nondoped molecule aggregates, covering the aspects of gain materials, fabrication of self-assembled microcavities, NIR lasing actions, and applications. The article aims to offer valuable insights for further development of high-performance NIR organic micro/nanolasers.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhe An, Jiayu Liu, Meng Cao, Jian Zhang, Yanru Zhu, Hongyan Song, Xu Xiang, Jing He
Summary: This study reports a highly efficient one-pot conversion method from ethanol to DEE, achieving high ethanol conversion and DEE selectivity using a Bi/BiCeOx bifunctional catalyst. Efficient catalysis is achieved on the interfacial Bi delta+-O-v-Ce-III sites through strong metal-support interaction.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tiankai Chen, Jiali Li, Pengfei Cai, Qiaofeng Yao, Zekun Ren, Yixin Zhu, Saif Khan, Jianping Xie, Xiaonan Wang
Summary: Rapid and accurate chemical composition identification is crucial in chemistry. Optical absorption spectrometry has limitations in identifying complex chemical compositions, especially in nano-scale research. In this study, a machine-learning-based method is developed to identify the compositions of metal nanoclusters (NCs) from featureless spectra. The method achieves good matches and low error values on optical absorption spectra that are difficult for humans to interpret. This work opens up possibilities for precise identification of nanomaterials based on their optical properties.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Francielle C. F. Marcos, Raphael S. Alvim, Lili Lin, Luis E. Betancourt, Davi D. Petrolini, Sanjaya D. Senanayake, Rita M. B. Alves, Jose M. Assaf, Jose A. Rodriguez, Reinaldo Giudici, Elisabete M. Assaf
Summary: The role of copper crystallization in enhancing methanol production via CO2 hydrogenation over CuZrO2 catalysts was investigated using a combination of experimental and computational studies. It was found that the intermediate steps of the catalyzed reaction might depend on the incorporation of copper in the zirconia sample. Catalysts containing only amorphous interfacial sites showed higher activity in the CO2-to-methanol hydrogenation process compared to catalysts with high crystallinity of copper.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jun Yin, Jiali Li, Iftekhar A. Karimi, Xiaonan Wang
Summary: Modeling is crucial for reactor or process design, control, and optimization, but developing high-fidelity mechanistic models for complex reactor systems is time-consuming. Machine learning models using data-driven methods can fill the gap between complex systems and limited knowledge. This research presents a machine learning model architecture specifically for dynamic modeling of general flow reactors, achieving higher model accuracy, data efficiency, and model interpretability than commonly used models.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Junwei Zheng, Qian Ding, Aina He, Yaqiang Dong, Lei Xie, Xubin Li, Xincai Liu, Jiawei Li
Summary: Fe-Si-B-Cu-Nb nanocrystalline ribbons with increased annealing process window and insensitivity to impurities and surface-crystallized layer were successfully prepared using industrial raw materials.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Jicheng Wang, Luotao Zhang, Haibin Hu, Jiawei Li, Dongming Qi
Summary: The morphology of nanofibrils in composite fibers can be manipulated by controlling the crosslinking network structure of the dispersed phase. The heterogeneity of the crosslinking network can lead to smaller diameter nanofibrils, resulting in increased tensile strength and toughness of the composite fibers.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoyang Yang, Dongsheng Ji, Jiawei Li, Jun He, Chongshui Gong, Xiaojuan Xu, Zhe Wang, Yu Liu, Fang Bi, Zhongzhi Zhang, Yunbo Chen
Summary: Limited by the scarcity of in situ vertical observation data, the influences of biomass burning in Southeast Asia on major atmospheric carbonaceous compositions in downwind regions have not been thoroughly studied. Aircraft observations were conducted to obtain vertical distributions of black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Four types of profiles were identified. Simulations showed that considering the vertical BC distribution is crucial in estimating the radiative forcing (RF) and heating rate (HR) caused by BC.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fu Yanwen, Zhao Guojing, Dai Wenqian, Wang Yue, Li Jiawei, Tan Mengyu, Li Yan, Liu Haoran, Xie Bing, Jin Xiao, Fan Enyu, Zhao Lulu, Cao Jian, Yue Lei, Wu Chenghao, Chen Yongfeng, Chen Guoqiang, Zhang Yong, Luo Kezi, Yang Haitao, Han Xuemei, Ge Jianping, Zhu Jun, Feng Limin
Summary: The Chinese Loess Plateau has been severely impacted by anthropogenic activities, leading to minimal leopard sightings in recent decades. However, a recent discovery shows that the leopard population is recovering, offering hope for biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes. By applying the concept of ecological networks, researchers identified key factors promoting leopard restoration and found that the connectivity of these networks positively influenced leopard survival. This study highlights the effectiveness of establishing ecologically connected habitats and the importance of using ecological networks for conservation planning in fragmented ecosystems.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Economics
Jiaming Liu, Chengzhang Li, Peng Ouyang, Jiajia Liu, Chong Wu
Summary: Financial distress prediction is crucial in the fintech field. This study utilizes tree-based gradient boosting models to predict financial distress for Chinese listed companies. The results show that these models have better predictive performance and provide insights on the significant relationships between financial indicators and financial distress.
JOURNAL OF FORECASTING
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Xiang Shi, Yinpeng Liu, Jiawei Liu, Qikai Cheng, Wei Lu
Summary: Scientific papers are crucial for academic communication, but many of them lack in-depth research and present core content ambiguously, hindering the progression of science and technology. To address this challenge, the INTEGrity vERification (INTEGER) task is introduced to help researchers assess the integrity of their papers and verify the clarity of each knowledge unit. A multi-task learning model utilizing Tucker decomposition and span-level attention mechanism is proposed to accurately identify terms and their integrity. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the model.
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS
(2024)