The aim of this study was to investigate the trend in testicular volume changes after orchiopexy in children with cryptorchidism. The clinical data of 854 children with cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy between January 2013 and December 2016 in Shenzhen Children's Hospital (Shenzhen, China) were retrospectively analyzed. The mean (standard deviation) age of the patients was 2.8 (2.5) years, and the duration of follow-up ranged from 1 year to 5 years. Ultrasonography was conducted preoperatively and postoperatively. The variables analyzed included age at the time of surgery, type of surgical procedure, laterality, preoperative testicular position, preoperative and postoperative testicular volumes, and the testicular volume ratio of them. The average testicular volumes preoperatively and at 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years postoperatively were 0.27 ml, 0.38 ml, 0.53 ml, 0.87 ml, and 1.00 ml, respectively ( P < 0.001). The corresponding testicular volume ratios were 0.67, 0.76, 0.80, 0.83, and 0.84 ( P < 0.001). The mean volume of the undescended testes was significantly smaller than the mean normative value ( P < 0.001, lower than the 10 th percentile). The postoperative testicular volumes in children with cryptorchidism were generally lower than those in healthy boys but were still greater than the 10 th percentile and exhibited an increasing trend. The older the child is at the time of surgery, the larger the gap in volume between the affected and normal testes. Although testicular volume tends to gradually increase after orchiopexy for cryptorchidism, it could not normalizes. Earlier surgery results in affected testicular volumes closer to those of healthy boys.
Humans ; Male ; Cryptorchidism/diagnostic imaging* ; Orchiopexy ; Child, Preschool ; Testis/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Organ Size ; Ultrasonography ; Infant ; Child ; Postoperative Period ; Follow-Up Studies

Objective To explore the differences in the radiological features,clinical,and laboratory indicators of frequent versus infrequent gout flares in the feet and ankles using dual-energy computed tomography(DECT).Methods A retrospective selection was made on 385 gout patients,who were divided into the frequent flare group(≥2 gout attacks per year,219 cases)and the infre-quent flare group(<2 gout attacks per year,166 cases).Clinical data,laboratory indicators,and DECT imaging findings were col-lected for statistical analysis.Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors for frequent gout flares and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was plotted.Results Statistically significant differences were found between the fre-quent flare group and the infrequent flare group in terms of disease duration,body mass index(BMI),blood pressure,triglyceride(TG),serum uric acid(SUA),monosodium urate(MSU)crystal deposition,total volume of MSU crystals,maximum diameter of individ-ual tophi,number of affected joints,bone erosion,maximum depth of bone erosion,soft tissue swelling,bone proliferation and sclero-sis,and joint space narrowing(P<0.05).SUA levels,MSU crystal deposition,total volume of MSU crystals,and maximum depth of bone erosion were identified as independent risk factors for frequent gout(P<0.05).Both the combination of four factors model and the maximum depth of bone erosion model had better diagnostic efficacy.Conclusion Gout patients with high SUA levels,MSU crystal deposition,larger total volume of MSU crystals,and greater maximum depth of bone erosion are more likely to experience frequent gout attacks.Patients with bone erosion depth>3.200 mm are more likely identified early as having frequent gout.

Objective:To investigate the effect of physical activity on mortality risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Sichuan Province.Methods:Based on baseline data from 2004 to 2008 from the China Kadoorie Biobank project site in Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province, a total of 8 501 COPD patients aged 30-79 years were enrolled and followed up for a long period to determine mortality outcomes. Quartiles were used to group physical activity levels. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the effect of physical activity level on mortality outcomes.Results:As of December 31, 2017, the cumulative follow-up of the participants totaled 85 600.58 person-years (mean follow-up duration: 10.07 years). During this period, a total of 2 000 deaths were recorded, yielding a cumulative mortality rate of 23.53%. Among these deaths, 665 were attributed to COPD, corresponding to a cumulative mortality rate of 7.82%; and 1 116 were attributed to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease (CVD), corresponding to a cumulative mortality rate of 13.13%. The Cox proportional hazards regression model analysis revealed that, after adjusting for confounding factors, total physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of mortality from COPD, CVD, and all causes in patients with COPD. Compared with the low-level group of total physical activity, the medium-high-level group had the lowest risk of COPD mortality, with an HR of 0.39 (95% CI: 0.30-0.49). The high-level group had the lowest risk of CVD death and all-cause death, with HRs of 0.46 (95% CI: 0.37-0.56) and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.48-0.64), respectively. The lowest risk of COPD death and CVD death was found in the medium-high level of work-based physical activity group, with HRs of 0.36 (95% CI: 0.28-0.46) and 0.43 (95% CI: 0.36-0.51), respectively; the risk of all-cause mortality was lowest in the medium-high and high-level groups, with HRs values of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.46-0.61) and 0.53 (95% CI: 0.45-0.61). The risk of COPD death was lowest in the high-level transportation physical activity group, with an HR of 0.66 (95% CI: 0.53-0.83), and the risk of CVD and all-cause death was lowest in the medium-high level group, with HRs of 0.63 (95% CI: 0.53-0.76) and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.64-0.84), respectively. The risk of COPD death and CVD death was the lowest in the high-level domestic physical activity group, with HRs of 0.66 (95% CI: 0.49-0.89) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.61-0.95), respectively, and the risk of all-cause death was the lowest in the medium-high level group, with an HR of 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72-0.94). There is no statistical association between leisure physical activity and the risk of death from three types of diseases. Conclusions:Total physical activity, including work-based, transportation-based, and domestic physical activity, reduced the risk of COPD, CVD, and all-cause mortality in patients with COPD in Sichuan Province. The magnitude of mortality risk was influenced by the type and level of physical activity.

Objective:To study the relationship between microRNA (miRNA, miR)-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, miR-let-7b-3p and fluoride induced articular cartilage injury in rats.Methods:Using the factorial design, thirty 3-week-old specific pathogen free grade male Wistar rats (weighted 125 - 150 g) were selected and randomly divided into a control group, a 25 mg/L fluoride group, and a 50 mg/L fluoride group using a random number table method, with 10 rats in each group. The control group drank distilled water, while the fluoride exposure groups drank distilled water with fluoride ion concentrations of 25 and 50 mg/L, respectively. Five rats were euthanized in each group at 3 and 6 months of feeding, respectively. Visual observation was used to observe the occurrence of dental fluorosis in rats, and fluoride ion selective electrode method was used to detect the fluoride level in blood, urine, and cartilage. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and safranin O-fast green staining were used to observe the pathological changes of articular cartilage, and Mankin score was used to evaluate the grading of cartilage injury. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression levels of miR-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-let-7b-3p in cartilage.Results:After 3 and 6 months of fluoride exposure, no dental fluorosis was observed in the control group, while rats in the 25 and 50 mg/L fluoride groups showed varying degrees of dental fluorosis. There were statistically significant differences in the levels of blood fluoride (mg/L: 0.11 ± 0.04, 0.57 ± 0.32, 0.29 ± 0.06, 0.07 ± 0.01, 0.31 ± 0.05, 0.38 ± 0.06), urine fluoride (mg/L: 1.81 ± 0.58, 13.18 ± 2.29, 66.11 ± 20.74, 2.35 ± 1.08, 14.79 ± 3.87, 28.32 ± 4.79), and cartilage fluoride (mg/kg: 341.83 ± 44.07, 612.99 ± 174.72, 991.26 ± 227.32, 338.29 ± 72.53, 957.09 ± 195.86, 1 535.53 ± 89.01) among in rats the control group, 25 mg/L fluoride group, and 50 mg/L fluoride group ( F = 7.76, 42.78, 40.54, 23.10, 18.96, 80.81, P < 0.05). In the 50 mg/L fluoride group, there were statistically significant differences in the levels of urine fluoride and cartilage fluoride of rats exposed for different times ( t = 4.45, - 3.80, P < 0.05). The Mankin score grading for cartilage injury showed that at 3 months of fluoride exposure, there were 4, 0, and 0 rats with normal cartilage in the control group, 25 mg/L fluoride group, and 50 mg/L fluoride group, 1, 4, and 1 rats with mild injury, and 0, 1, and 4 rats with moderate injury, respectively. At 6 months of fluoride exposure, there were 4, 0, and 0 rats with normal cartilage in the control group, 25 mg/L fluoride group, and 50 mg/L fluoride group, 1, 3, and 0 rats with mild injury, 0, 1, and 3 rats with moderate injury, and 0, 1, and 2 rats with severe injury, respectively. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR results showed that fluoride exposure dose had individual effects on the expression of miR-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-let-7b-3p in cartilage ( F = 8.68, 7.97, 9.34, 10.14, P < 0.05). There was no individual effect of fluoride exposure time on the expression of miR-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-let-7b-3p in cartilage ( F = 0.00, 0.15, 0.63, 0.53, P > 0.05). However, there was no interaction effect between fluoride exposure time and dose on the above-mentioned miRNA ( F = 0.68, 0.05, 0.22, 0.24, P > 0.05). The correlation analysis results showed that miR-675-3p and miR-675-5p in cartilage were negatively correlated with blood fluoride, urine fluoride, and cartilage fluoride ( r = - 0.37, - 0.42, - 0.56, - 0.53, - 0.57, - 0.53, P < 0.05), while miR-29b-3p and miR-let-7b-3p were positively correlated with urine fluoride and cartilage fluoride ( r = 0.58, 0.40, 0.48, 0.47, P < 0.05). The results of ordered logistic regression analysis showed that miR-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-let-7b-3p were influencing factors of dental fluorosis grading ( OR = 0.13, 0.04, 1.55, 2.58, P < 0.05) and Mankin score grading ( OR = 0.04, 0.06, 1.41, 1.58, P < 0.05). Conclusion:MiR-675-3p, miR-675-5p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-let-7b-3p may be involved in the process of fluoride induced articular cartilage injury.

Objective In view of the potential threat of adverse drug reaction(ADR)to patients'health and the limitations of traditional monitoring methods,this study investigates the construction method of an ADR knowledge graph based on a knowledge-driven technology path to promote the intelligent upgrading of pharmacovigilance field.Methods In this study,an adverse drug reaction knowledge base was established,and the data within the knowledge base were preprocessed.The BERT-CRF model was utilized to identify and extract the relevant entities,relationships and attribute information,and knowledge alignment was carried out by combining the rule method and statistical method.The knowledge fusion data was stored in the Neo4j graph database to construct the knowledge graph.Results Based on the established knowledge base,this study explored the method of constructing knowledge graph of adverse drug reaction by knowledge-driven technology,laying the groundwork for data mining and the development of intelligent auxiliary system tools based on knowledge graph.Conclusions The study on the construction method of an ADR knowledge graph based on a knowledge-driven technology path provides a new perspective and technical path for the intelligent upgrading of pharmacovigilance field.It holds important theoretical and practical significance for improving drug safety,protecting patients'health,and promoting the healthy development of pharmaceutical industry.

A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P＜0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P＜0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.

Objective To retrospectively analyze the association between metabolic factors and high-risk colorectal adenoma(CRA).Methods The medical records of patients aged 18-75 years who underwent their initial colonoscopy at Karamay Central Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Jul 2000 to Mar 2017 were collected.The comparison between normal colonoscopy(NC)and high-risk CRA patients was conducted using an unpaired t-test,while chi-square test was used for categorical variables.Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)regression and Logistic regression were utilized to analyze the association between metabolic factors and high-risk CRA.Results A total of 1 798 patients meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled and divided into normal colonoscopy(NC)findings group(n=972)and high-risk CRA group(n=826).The high-risk CRA group exhibited significantly lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)in comparison to the NC group,while uric acid and fibrosis 4(FIB-4)index levels were significantly higher than those observed in the NC group(all P<0.05).Based on LASSO regression analysis,we identified 12 variables that potentially influence the occurrence of high-risk CRA,including age,gender,smoking history,alcohol consumption history,non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD),hypertension,coronary artery disease,hyperglycemia,hypercholesterolemia,low levels of HDL-C,elevated alanine aminotransferase,and elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase.Multivariate analysis revealed that individuals aged over 50 years,male gender,cigarette and alcohol consumption,low HDL-C levels,history of NAFLD and hypertension were identified as independent risk factors associated with high-risk CRA(P<0.05).In addition,without or with adjusting for age,sex,smoking,and drinking history,patients with a high TG/HDL-C ratio(the ratio≥2.68)had a significantly higher risk of high-risk CRA than those with a low TG/HDL-C ratio(the ratio<2.68)[odds ratios(ORs)were1.430 and 1.235 respectively,all P<0.05)].Without or with adjusting variables,the ORs for NAFLD patients with FIB-4 index>2.67 were 1.849(P=0.466)and 1.435(P=0.707),respectively.Conclusion A significant association exists between metabolic factors and high-risk CRA.Independent risk factors for high-risk CRA include older age(≥50 years),male,smoking history,alcohol consumption history,low levels of HDL-C,and a history of NAFLD and hypertension.Individuals exhibiting a TG/HDL-C ratio exceeding 2.68 manifest a significantly heightened susceptibility to the development of high-risk CRA.Therefore,elderly males with one or more aforementioned metabolic abnormalities should be considered a priority population for colorectal screening.