Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and disease burden of liver cancer in Guangdong Province in 2020, and to provide a scientific foundation for the development of regionalized prevention and control strategies for liver cancer. Methods According to the cancer registry data of Guangdong Province, the incidence, mortality and age-standardized rate by Chinese standard population in 2020 were calculated to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of liver cancer. The disability adjusted life years (DALYs), year of life loss (YLL), year of lived with disability (YLD), and cause-eliminated life expectancy were used to assess the disease burden of liver cancer. Results In 2020, the crude incidence rate and the age-standardized incidence rate of liver cancer in Guangdong Province were 27.79/100 000 and 20.84/100 000，respectively, and the crude mortality rate and the age-standardized mortality rate of liver cancer were 25.49/100,000 and 17.64/100 000, respectively. The total DALY and DALY rate of liver cancer in Guangdong Province were 515 311 person-years and 513.83/100 000, respectively. After eliminating the causes of death from liver cancer, the life expectancy in Guangdong Province increased from 84.60 years to 84.99 years. All indicators consistently demonstrated that the burden of liver cancer was higher in males than that in females, and the burden of liver cancer was higher in rural areas than that in urban areas. Conclusion Liver cancer in Guangdong Province exhibits a high incidence, mortality and disease burden level in 2020. There are obvious differences of gender, age and region in cancer burden. It is necessary to strengthen liver cancer screening and diagnosis and treatment in men, the elderly and those in rural areas to reduce the burden of liver cancer gradually in Guangdong Province.

Objective To investigate the impact of eccentric placement for various types of artificial aortic valves on downstream flow dynamics.Methods A physiological pulsatile circulation simulation system was employed and particle image velocimetry(PIV)was utilized to analyze the downstream flow field variations for bioprosthetic and mechanical valves under two placement conditions:centralized placement(0 mm)and eccentric placement(1 mm).Hemodynamic parameters such as velocity,vorticity,and viscous shear stress were assessed to evaluate the flow field characteristics.Results By analyzing the flow field variations at four characteristic time points,namely,early systole,acceleration phase,peak systole,and deceleration phase,a significant difference in flow field distribution between bioprosthetic and mechanical valves was observed.The bioprosthetic valve exhibited a centrally symmetric jet with a higher flow velocity,whereas the mechanical valve displayed a three-jet structure with a lower central flow velocity.Under eccentric placement,the blood flow in the aortic sinus region was sluggish,with a reduction in average velocity,hindering the formation and maintenance of vortices.During the peak systolic phase,the maximum viscous shear stresses in the sinus region for the bioprosthetic and mechanical valves were 0.45 and 0.67 Pa,respectively,approaching the threshold for endothelial cell damage.Conclusions Eccentric placement of both mechanical and bioprosthetic valves resulted in reduced sinus blood flow velocity and diminished viscous shear stress,creating favorable conditions for thrombus formation.In clinical practice,careful attention should be given to the placement of valve replacement to prevent eccentric placement.

Objective:To evaluate the safety and feasibility of radical hepatectomy after conversion therapy in patients with initially unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:Clinical data of 72 patients with initially unresectable advanced HCC admitted to the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and the Department of Hepatobi-liary and Pancreatic Surgery, Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2020 to July 2024 were retrospectively collected, including 61 males and 11 females, aged (58.4±9.1) years. The clinicopathological data of the patients, such as tumor characteristics, conversion treatment regimens, perioperative data, and follow-up situations were analyzed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and safety.Results:Among the patients, there were five cases of China liver cancer staging Ⅰb, six cases of Ⅱa, 22 cases of Ⅱb, 32 cases of Ⅲa and sevene cases of Ⅲb. There were 53 patients scored as Child-Pugh A and 19 as Child-Pugh B. Conversion treatment fashion included immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy and immunotherapy plus targeted therapy combined with hepatic arterial chemoembolization or hepatic arteryinfusion chemotherapy. Liver resection after conversion therapy was as follows: 16 cases of right hemihepatectomy, 20 cases of left hemihepatectomy, 11 cases of mesohepatectomy, seven cases of right posterior hepatectomy, 1 case of caudate lobectomy, 17 cases of local resection. Postoperative pathology showed that there were 17 cases of pathologic complete response and 55 cases of pathologic partial response. One patient died of liver failure after surgery, while the rest had no major complications. The postoperative hospital stay was (13.1±5.1) d. The follow-up time was 21.5(10.2, 32.1) months. The multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that pathologic partial response and adjuvant therapy duration shorter than 5 cycles were identified as independent risk factors-affecting both recurrence-free survival and overall survival in patients with HCC undergoing sequential surgery after conversion therapy (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Sequential surgical resection provides survival benefits for patients with initially unresectable and advanced HCC after conversion therapy, which is a safe and effective therapeutic strategy.

Objective To summarize the changing prevalence of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacterales based on the data of CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021 for improving antimicrobial treatment in clinical practice.Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using a commercial automated susceptibility testing system according to the unified CHINET protocol.The results were interpreted according to the breakpoints of the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)M100 31st ed in 2021.Results Over the seven-year period(2015-2021),the overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales(CRE)was 9.43％(62 342/661 235).The prevalence of CRE strains in Klebsiella pneumoniae,Citrobacter freundii,and Enterobacter cloacae was 22.38％,9.73％,and 8.47％,respectively.The prevalence of CRE strains in Escherichia coli was 1.99％.A few CRE strains were also identified in Salmonella and Shigella.The CRE strains were mainly isolated from respiratory specimens(44.23±2.80)％,followed by blood(20.88±3.40)％and urine(18.40±3.45)％.Intensive care units(ICUs)were the major source of the CRE strains(27.43±5.20)％.CRE strains were resistant to all the β-lactam antibiotics tested and most non-β-lactam antimicrobial agents.The CRE strains were relatively susceptible to tigecycline and polymyxins with low resistance rates.Conclusions The prevalence of CRE strains was increasing from 2015 to 2021.CRE strains were highly resistant to most of the antibacterial drugs used in clinical practice.Clinicians should prescribe antimicrobial agents rationally.Hospitals should strengthen antibiotic stewardship in key clinical settings such as ICUs,and take effective infection control measures to curb CRE outbreak and epidemic in hospitals.

Objective To characterize the changing species distribution and antibiotic resistance profiles of respiratory isolates in hospitals participating in the CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021.Methods Commercial automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems and disk diffusion method were used to test the susceptibility of respiratory bacterial isolates to antimicrobial agents following the standardized technical protocol established by the CHINET program.Results A total of 589 746 respiratory isolates were collected from 2015 to 2021.Overall,82.6％of the isolates were Gram-negative bacteria and 17.4％were Gram-positive bacteria.The bacterial isolates from outpatients and inpatients accounted for(6.0±0.9)％and(94.0±0.1)％,respectively.The top microorganisms were Klebsiella spp.,Acinetobacter spp.,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus,Haemophilus spp.,Stenotrophomonas maltophilia,Escherichia coli,and Streptococcus pneumoniae.Each microorganism was isolated from significantly more males than from females(P＜0.05).The overall prevalence of methicillin-resistant S.aureus(MRSA)was 39.9％.The prevalence of penicillin-resistant S.pneumoniae was 1.4％.The prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase(ESBL)-producing E.coli and K.pneumoniae was 67.8％and 41.3％,respectively.The overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant E.coli,K.pneumoniae,Enterobacter cloacae,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Acinetobacter baumannii was 3.7％,20.8％,9.4％,29.8％,and 73.3％,respectively.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 96.1％in Moraxella catarrhalis and 60.0％in Haemophilus influenzae.The H.influenzae isolates from children(＜18 years)showed significantly higher resistance rates to β-lactam antibiotics than the isolates from adults(P＜0.05).Conclusions Gram-negative bacteria are still predominant in respiratory isolates associated with serious antibiotic resistance.Antimicrobial resistance surveillance should be strengthened in clinical practice to support accurate etiological diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial therapy based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing results.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and survival rate of nasopharynx cancer (NPC) in Guangdong Province from 2011 to 2019.Methods:Based on the cancer registry data of Guangdong Province from 2011 to 2019, the crude rate, age-standardized rate (the standard population was the fifth Chinese national census of 2000) and age-specific rate of incidence and mortality of NPC were calculated, and the regional distribution characteristics were also explored. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) of the incidence and mortality rates were analyzed by using Joinpoint regression model. The observed survival rate was estimated by period survival method, and the expected survival rate was calculated by Ederer Ⅱ method.Results:The crude incidence rate and age standardized incidence rate of NPC showed a decreasing trend, and the AAPC was -1.9% and -2.1%, respectively ( P＜0.05). The crude mortality rate and age standardized mortality rate of NPC also showed a decreasing trend, and the AAPC was -4.8% and -4.6%, respectively ( P＜0.05). The incidence and mortality rates are both higher in men than those in women during the nine years. The age-specific incidence rate of NPC reached its peak in the 50-64 years old age group, and the mortality rate reached its peak in the 65-74 years old age group in Guangdong province. In 2019, the age-standardized incidence rate of NPC was 9.49/100 000 (13.89/100 000 in men and 5.19/100 000 in women). The incidence and mortality of NPC varied greatly among different areas, and the areas with highest incidence and mortality rate were both in Zhaoqing. In 2020, the five-year observed survival rate of NPC in Guangdong Province was 67.2%, the 5-year relative survival rate was 75.3% and the 5-year standardized relative survival rate was 68.9%. Conclusions:Both the incidence and mortality rates of NPC in Guangdong province show decreasing trend, and the decreasing level of the mortality rate is higher than that of the incidence rate, but the two rates are still at high levels. The prevention and control work should focus on male, middle-aged and elderly population and Zhaoqing, Zhongshan, Foshan areas.

Objective:To explore the interrelationship between brain functional networks and features in functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)of patients with Alzheimer's disease(AD),and to construct mixed-function networks(MFN),and apply them in machine learning classification models to improve the accuracy of AD classification.Methods:102 AD patients and 227 healthy subjects in the Alzheimer's Neuroimaging Initiative(ADNI)dataset were retrospectively analyzed.The partial correlation brain network of the blood oxygen level dependent(BOLD)signal was calculated and fused with low-frequency wave amplitude(ALFF),fractional low-frequency wave amplitude(fALFF)and local consistency(ReHo)features to construct MFN.Network topology parameters were extracted,and a variety of machine learning classification models were constructed based on MFN topological parameters,accuracy,precision,recall and area under the curve(AUC)were used to evaluate the predictive efficiency of the models.Results:By constructed MFN and calculated intra group to inter group ratio(IIGR),35 features could be obtained from ALFF,fALFF and ReHo feature topological parameter analysis,after rank sum test and FDR correction,there were statistical differences among 28 features(P＜0.05).The classification results show that,all the five classifiers have high classification performance on the test data set.The accuracy,precision and recall rates of random forest(RF),adaptive lifting algorithm(AdaBoost),guided aggregation algorithm(Bagging)and support vector machine(SVM)were all 99.7％,and the AUC values were up to 100％,99.5％,99.1％and 99.5％,respectively.The accuracy(98.5％),precision(98.5％),recall(98.5％),and AUC(99.1％)of the multi-layer perceptron(MLP)were slightly lower than other models,but remained excellent.It was worth noting that RF has the highest AUC value of all models at 100.0％,while Bagging has the lowest AUC value(99.1％)in the integrated approach.The results of performance comparison show that,MFN classification model can significantly improve the recognition and classification of AD disease,and greatly improve the performance of various indicators of the classifier.The results showed that,MFN classification model was superior to intelligent classification based fusion,DBN-based multitask learning,PVT-TSVM,unsupervised learning and clustering,SVM and SVM of degree 3 polynomial kernel function in key indicators such as accuracy(99.13％),AUC(99.42％),recall rate(99.46％)and specificity(99.42％)with plasma proteins,machine learning algorithms.It was further proved that MFN classification model has good generalization ability and robustness in AD disease classification.Conclusion:The AD classification model constructed based on brain mixed function network topology parameters and machine learning can improve the accuracy of AD classification.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in differentiating tumor deposits (TDs) from metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs) in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 70 patients with rectal cancer, including 168 lesions (70 TDs and 98 MLNs confirmed by histopathology), who underwent pretreatment MRI and subsequent surgery between March 2019 and December 2022. The morphological characteristics of TDs and MLNs, along with quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K trans , kep, and v e) and DWI (ADCmin, ADCmax, and ADCmean), were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Multivariable binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of significant individual quantitative parameters and combined parameters in distinguishing TDs from MLNs. Results: All morphological features, including size, shape, border, and signal intensity, as well as all DCE-MRI parameters showed significant differences between TDs and MLNs (all P < 0.05). However, ADC values did not demonstrate significant differences (all P > 0.05). Among the single quantitative parameters, v e had the highest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.772 for distinguishing TDs from MLNs. A multivariable logistic regression model incorporating short axis, border, v e, and ADC mean improved diagnostic performance, achieving an AUC of 0.833 (P = 0.027). Conclusion The combination of morphological features, DCE-MRI parameters, and ADC values can effectively aid in the preoperative differentiation of TDs from MLNs in rectal cancer.

Background: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) due to variants of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-beta (HNF1β) (MODY5) has not been well studied in the Chinese population. This study aimed to estimate its prevalence and evaluate the application of a clinical screening method (Faguer score) in Chinese early-onset diabetes (EOD) patients. Methods: Among 679 EOD patients clinically diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (age at diagnosis ≤40 years), the exons of HNF1β were sequenced. Functional impact of rare variants was evaluated using a dual-luciferase reporter system. Faguer scores ≥8 prompted multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) for large deletions. Pathogenicity of HNF1β variants was assessed following the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines. Results: Two rare HNF1β missense mutations (E105K and G454R) were identified by sequencing in five patients, showing functional impact in vitro. Another patient was found to have a whole-gene deletion by MLPA in 22 patients with the Faguer score above 8. Following ACMG guidelines, six patients carrying pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant were diagnosed with MODY5. The estimated prevalence of MODY5 in Chinese EOD patients was approximately 0.9% or higher. Conclusion MODY5 is not uncommon in China. The Faguer score is helpful in deciding whether to perform MLPA analysis on patients with negative sequencing results.

Background/Aims: Endoscopic radiofrequency ablation (ERFA) is a treatment option for superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasia (ESCN), with a relatively low risk of stenosis; however, the long-term outcomes remain unclear. We aimed to compare the long-term outcomes of patients with widespread superficial ESCN who underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) or ERFA. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with superficial ESCN who underwent ESD or ERFA between January 2015 and December 2021. The primary outcome measure was recurrence-free survival. Results: Ninety-two and 33 patients with superficial ESCN underwent ESD and ERFA, respectively. The en bloc, R0, and curative resection rates for ESD were 100.0%, 90.2%, and 76.1%, respectively. At 12 months, the complete response rate was comparable between the two groups (94.6% vs 90.9%, p=0.748). During a median follow-up of 66 months, recurrence-free survival was significantly longer in the ESD group than in the ERFA group (p=0.004), while no significant differences in overall survival (p=0.845) and disease-specific survival (p=0.494) were observed.Preoperative diagnosis of intramucosal cancer (adjusted hazard ratio, 5.55; vs high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia) was an independent predictor of recurrence. Significantly fewer patients in the ERFA group experienced stenosis compare to ESD group (15.2% vs 38.0%, p=0.016). Conclusions The risk of recurrence was higher for ERFA than ESD for ESCN but overall survival was not affected. The risk of esophageal stenosis was significantly lower for patients who underwent ERFA.