AIM To observe the effects of Hugan Tablets on high-fat diet induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)in a mouse model,and the autophagy,pyroptosis and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway as well.METHODS The C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into the normal group,the model group,the Hugan Tablets group(0.7 g/kg)and the Yishanfu group(0.23 g/kg),with 10 mice in each group.The NAFLD mouse model was established by 16 weeks feeding of high-fat diet.From the 13th week,the mice started their corresponding dosing of the drug by gavage followed by killing of the mice at the end of 16th week and collection of their serum and liver tissue samples.The mice had their serum ALT,AST,TG,TC,LDL levels,liver TG,TC,NEFA,MDA levels and activities of SOD and GSH-Px detected;their serum levels of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-αdetected by ELISA;their hepatic pathological changes observed using HE staining and oil red O staining;and their hepatic protein expressions of ACC,CPT1A,FAS,p-PI3K,p-Akt,p-mTOR,P62,LC3,NLRP3,GSDMD and Caspase1 detected by Western blot.RESULTS Compared with the model group,the Hugan Tablets group displayed decreased body weight and hepatosmatic index level(P＜0.01);decreased levels of serum ALT,AST,TG,TC,LDL,IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);increased hepatic levels of TG,TC,NEFA and MDA(P＜0.05);decreased activities of SOD and GSH-Px(P＜0.05);improved pathological changes of hepatic lipid deposition and hepatocytic ballooning and decreased NAS score and oil red O staining area(P＜0.01);decreased hepatic protein expressions of ACC1,FAS,NLRP3,Caspase1,GSDMD,P62,p-PI3K,p-Akt and p-mTOR(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);and increased protein expressions of CPT1A and LC3(P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Hugan Tablets can effectively prevent and control the development of high-fat diet induced NAFLD in mice,and the mechanism may be associated with the promotion of autophagy in hepatocytes and the inhibition of pyroptosis via the inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

At present, robotic surgery system, as a cutting-edge technique in minimally invasive surgery, has become a crucial component in the training programs for outstanding surgeons. Given the relatively late start of this technique and immature faculty resources, there is an urgent need to optimize and improve the teaching philosophies and methodologies for robotic skill training in China, and Sino-foreign cooperation has emerged as a significant pathway to promote this reform. Taking the "International Robotic Surgery Training Center (IRSTC)" jointly established by The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and University of California as an example, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of collaboration background, construction of the training system, curriculum design, cooperation channels, and localization practices, in order to provide a reference and valuable experiences for Sino-foreign cooperation in clinical skill training.

Objective:To construct a competency-oriented assessment index system based on entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for 5-year undergraduate clinical medical students in oncology internship.Methods:From June to December 2023, the scoping review approach and Bicomb 2.0 were used to construct and manage an item pool. The draft of EPAs and competencies was designed based on truncated word frequency. SPSS 25.0 was used for cluster analysis and UCINET 6.0 was used for visualization. Combining the characteristics and consensus of oncology, a multi-center expert group used the KJ method to draft the framework of EPAs and competencies. Subsequently, the expert group defined milestones and mapped the milestones to the framework to establish the assessment system.Results:Based on 26 included studies, a draft was created containing 19 EPA indicators and 72 competency characteristic indicators. After cluster analysis, 13 experts from 6 medical institutions established a framework including 13 EPAs and 10 competencies as well as 50 milestones, leading to the construction of the "EPAs-competencies-milestones" assessment system.Conclusions:The "EPAs-competencies-milestones" assessment system aligns with the trend of reform, demonstrating universality, specificity, and scientificity. It provides a reference for the development and assessment of oncology internship courses in medical universities.

Testicular histology based on testicular biopsy is an important factor for determining appropriate testicular sperm extraction surgery and predicting sperm retrieval outcomes in patients with azoospermia. Therefore, we developed a deep learning (DL) model to establish the associations between testicular grayscale ultrasound images and testicular histology. We retrospectively included two-dimensional testicular grayscale ultrasound from patients with azoospermia (353 men with 4357 images between July 2017 and December 2021 in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) to develop a DL model. We obtained testicular histology during conventional testicular sperm extraction. Our DL model was trained based on ultrasound images or fusion data (ultrasound images fused with the corresponding testicular volume) to distinguish spermatozoa presence in pathology (SPP) and spermatozoa absence in pathology (SAP) and to classify maturation arrest (MA) and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) in patients with SAP. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were used to analyze model performance. DL based on images achieved an AUC of 0.922 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.908-0.935), a sensitivity of 80.9%, a specificity of 84.6%, and an accuracy of 83.5% in predicting SPP (including normal spermatogenesis and hypospermatogenesis) and SAP (including MA and SCOS). In the identification of SCOS and MA, DL on fusion data yielded better diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.979 (95% CI: 0.969-0.989), a sensitivity of 89.7%, a specificity of 97.1%, and an accuracy of 92.1%. Our study provides a noninvasive method to predict testicular histology for patients with azoospermia, which would avoid unnecessary testicular biopsy.
Humans ; Male ; Azoospermia/diagnostic imaging* ; Deep Learning ; Testis/pathology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Adult ; Ultrasonography/methods* ; Sperm Retrieval ; Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome/diagnostic imaging*

To investigate the impact of preoperative serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels on the probability of testicular sperm retrieval, we conducted a study of nonobstructive azoospermic (NOA) men with different testicular volumes (TVs) who underwent microdissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE). A total of 177 NOA patients undergoing micro-TESE for the first time from April 2019 to November 2022 in Shenzhen Zhongshan Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (formerly Shenzhen Zhongshan Urology Hospital, Shenzhen, China) were retrospectively reviewed. The subjects were divided into four groups based on average TV quartiles. Serum hormone levels in each TV group were compared between positive and negative sperm retrieval subgroups. Overall sperm retrieval rate was 57.6%. FSH levels (median [interquartile range]) were higher in the positive sperm retrieval subgroup compared with the negative outcome subgroup when average TV was <5 ml (first quartile [Q1: TV <3 ml]: 43.32 [17.92] IU l -1 vs 32.95 [18.56] IU l -1 , P = 0.048; second quartile [Q2: 3 ml ≤ TV <5 ml]: 31.31 [15.37] IU l -1 vs 25.59 [18.40] IU l -1 , P = 0.042). Elevated serum FSH levels were associated with successful micro-TESE sperm retrieval in NOA men whose average TVs were <5 ml (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.06 per unit increase; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.11; P = 0.011). In men with TVs ≥5 ml, larger TVs were associated with lower odds of sperm retrieval (adjusted OR: 0.84 per 1 ml increase; 95% CI: 0.71-0.98; P = 0.029). In conclusion, elevated serum FSH levels were associated with positive sperm retrieval in micro-TESE in NOA men with TVs <5 ml. In men with TV ≥5 ml, increases in average TVs were associated with lower odds of sperm retrieval.
Humans ; Male ; Azoospermia/surgery* ; Sperm Retrieval/statistics & numerical data* ; Adult ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/blood* ; Retrospective Studies ; Testis/pathology* ; Microdissection ; Organ Size

OBJECTIVE: Pseudomonas aeruginosa( P. aeruginosa) is a prevalent pathogenic bacterium involved in meningitis; however, the virulence factors contributing to this disease remain poorly understood. METHODS: The virulence of the P. aeruginosa A584, isolated from meningitis samples, was evaluated by constructing in vitro blood-brain barrier and in vivo systemic infection models. qPCR, whole-genome sequencing, and drug efflux assays of A584 were performed to analyze the virulence factors. RESULTS: Genomic sequencing showed that A584 formed a phylogenetic cluster with the reference strains NY7610, DDRC3, Pa58, and Pa124. Its genome includes abundant virulence factors, such as hemolysin, the Type IV secretion system, and pyoverdine. A584 is a multidrug-resistant strain, and its wide-spectrum resistance is associated with enhanced drug efflux. Moreover, this strain caused significantly more severe damage to the blood-brain barrier than the standard strain, PAO1. qPCR assays further revealed the downregulation of the blood-brain barrier-associated proteins Claudin-5 and Occludin by A584. During systemic infection, A584 exhibited a higher capacity of brain colonization than PAO1 (37.1 × 10 ⁶ CFU/g brain versus 2.5 × 10 ⁶ CFU/g brain), leading to higher levels of the pro-inflammatory factors IL-1β and TNF-α. CONCLUSION This study sheds light on the virulence factors of P. aeruginosa involved in meningitis.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa/genetics* ; Virulence Factors/metabolism* ; Animals ; Virulence ; Mice ; Pseudomonas Infections/microbiology* ; Blood-Brain Barrier/microbiology* ; Humans ; Female

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of newly diagnosed occupational diseases in Guangdong Province from 2019 to 2023. Methods Data on newly diagnosed occupational diseases reported in Guangdong Province from 2019 to 2023 were collected from the national occupational disease network reporting system. The spectrum of occupational diseases and their distribution by region, industry, and population were analyzed. Results A total of 4 136 newly diagnosed occupational disease cases were reported in Guangdong Province from 2019 to 2023, showing an overall downward trend. Newly diagnosed cases were classified into eight categories and 53 types of occupational diseases. In terms of the number of cases, the top five categories were occupational diseases of the ear, nose, throat and oral cavity;occupational pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases; occupational diseases caused by physical factors; occupational chemical poisoning; and occupational tumors, accounting for 98.62% of all cases. The top ten specific disease types were occupational noise-induced deafness, occupational silicosis, occupational other pneumoconiosis, occupational chronic benzene poisoning, occupational heatstroke, occupational hand-arm vibration disease, occupational coal workers′ pneumoconiosis, occupational welders′ pneumoconiosis, occupational tumor (leukemia caused by benzene exposure), and occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning, accounting for 94.85% of all cases. Most of the cases were distributed in the Pearl River Delta region, accounting for 89.19%; as well as manufacturing industry, accounting for 84.89%. Male cases accounted for 87.02%. Most diagnoses occurred in individuals aged >40-60 years, accounting for 74.73%. Conclusion Newly diagnosed occupational diseases in Guangdong Province from 2019 to 2023 showed the following characteristics: concentration of categories and disease types, polarization of regional distribution, industry clustering, and population difference. The disease spectrum is evolving from a dual-disease predominance toward a multi-disease predominance.