Problem
The definition of chronic endometritis (CE) differs among studies, and currently, there is no accepted consensus. This study aimed to establish the minimum number of immunohistochemical analysis of CD138+ plasma cells to identify a clinically relevant CE.
Method of study
We performed a retrospective study on 716 infertile patients who never did CE analysis and respective antibiotic treatment before. Samples were obtained by endometrial scratching in the mid‐luteal phase before IVF‐ET treatment. The number and distribution of CD138+ cells were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Thirty high‐power fields (HPF) were evaluated for each sample. Patients were classified in 2 main groups: (a) CD138low (<5 CD138+ cells in all HPFs), (b) CD138high (≥5 CD138+ cells in at least one HPF). Pregnancy outcome was compared among the groups.
Results
In the CD138high group, β‐hCG positive rate, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate were significantly decreased (P = .04, P = .01, P = .04, respectively). Also after adjusting for patient age, body mass index (BMI), and clinical characteristics, the β‐hCG positive rate (P = .05), clinical pregnancy rate (P = .01) and live birth rate (P = .02) were significantly lower in the CD138high than those in the CD138low group. Within the CD138low group, these parameters were not significantly different between patients without any plasma cells and patients with up to 4 plasma cells/HPF.
Conclusion
We conclude that immunohistochemical analysis of CD138+ cells is a reliable method to detect CE which can be identified by the presence of ≥5 plasma cells in at least one out of 30 HPF.
Electrochemical energy storage and conversion (EESC) technology is key to the sustainable development of human society. As an abundant and renewable source, biomass has recently shown widespread applications in EESC, achieving both low environmental impact and high performances. This article provides overview and perspectives on various types of biomass‐derived materials, their preparation, the role in EESC and the desired features, performances and limitations, and future research efforts.
Non‐noble metal electrocatalysis has witnessed rapid and profound performance improvements owing to the emergence of advanced nanosynthetic techniques. Integration of these nanotechniques can lead to synergistic performance enhancement, but such system‐engineering strategies are difficult to achieve because of the lack of effective synthesis method. We hereby demonstrate an integrated approach that combines most of the existing nanotechniques in a facile one‐pot synthesis. Material characterization reveals that the product shows key features intended by techniques including morphological, structural, doping, heterointerface, and surface wetting engineering. The as‐obtained nitrogen‐doped hierarchical heterostructured MoSx/Ni3S2 nanowires show an overpotential that is only 50 mV higher than commercial Pt/C for hydrogen evolution reaction over current densities from 10 to 150 mA cm−2. Correlations between the adopted nanotechniques and the electrochemical reaction rates are established by evaluating the impacts of individual techniques on the activation energy, pre‐exponential factor, and transfer coefficient. This in‐depth analysis provides a full account of the synergistic effects and the overall improvement in electrocatalytic performance of hydrogen evolution reaction. This work manifests a generic strategy for multipurpose material design in non‐noble metal electrocatalysis.
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