Objective:To investigate the therapeutic outcomes of patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis under different surgical approaches and with or without isthmus division.Methods:This study is a retrospective case series research. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 23 patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis who underwent pyeloplasty at the Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to December 2023. Among them, there were 11 males and 12 females, with an age of (33±15) years (range:7 to 64 years). Patients underwent preoperative examinations, including ultrasonography of the urinary system, intravenous urography, CT urography, or magnetic resonance urography. Retrograde urography or antegrade ureteropyelography was performed when necessary to clarify the degree of hydronephrosis, the location and length of ureteral stricture. For patients with severe hydronephrosis, a ureteral stricture segment >2 cm, a thick renal isthmus in horseshoe kidney, and markedly variant vasculature, open surgery or robotic surgery is preferred. For those with mild to moderate hydronephrosis, a ureteral stricture segment <2 cm, a thin renal isthmus in horseshoe kidney, and no significant vascular variations, laparoscopic surgery is the first choice. The decision to perform isthmectomy should be made based on a comprehensive intraoperative assessment, including the vascular supply to the isthmus, the degree of surrounding adhesions, and the thickness of the isthmus. Perioperative parameters and complications were recorded and analyzed, and regular follow-up was conducted for all patients.Results:All surgeries were successfully completed. Surgical approaches included open surgery in 4 cases, laparoscopic surgery in 14 cases, and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in 5 cases. The operative time for open surgery, laparoscopic surgery and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery was (125±12) minutes (range: 112 to 141 minutes), (122±50) minutes (range: 60 to 233 minutes), and (130±36) minutes (range: 76 to 174 minutes), respectively. The blood loss ( M(IQR)) was 100 (25) ml (range: 50 to 100 mL) for open surgery, 35 (30) ml (range: 10 to 100 mL) for laparoscopic surgery, and 20 (10) ml (range: 20 to 50 ml) for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Among 15 patients who underwent isthmus division with pyeloplasty (division group), the operation time was (138±42) minutes (range: 73 to 233 minutes), with blood loss of 50 (80) ml (range: 20 to 100 ml). For 8 patients in the non-division group who only underwent pyeloureteroplasty, the operation time was (98±27) minutes (range: 60 to 135 minutes), with blood loss of 20 (50) ml (range: 10 to 100 ml). The follow-up time of patients after surgery was 16.0 (49.0) months (range: 1.7 to 84.2 months), with a surgical success rate of 100%. Among the 8 patients in the non-division group, all demonstrated significant improvement in hydronephrosis severity compared to preoperative conditions. Notably, 6 patients who previously experienced frequent lower back pain showed no recurrence of symptoms after ureteral stent removal. In the division group of 15 patients, both subjective symptoms and hydronephrosis severity were markedly reduced. Conclusion:For patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis, the choice of surgical approach and isthmus management strategy should be determined based on a comprehensive consideration of the etiology of hydronephrosis, the degree of ureteral stricture, anatomical abnormalities, and vascular variations.

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic outcomes of patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis under different surgical approaches and with or without isthmus division.Methods:This study is a retrospective case series research. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 23 patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis who underwent pyeloplasty at the Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to December 2023. Among them, there were 11 males and 12 females, with an age of (33±15) years (range:7 to 64 years). Patients underwent preoperative examinations, including ultrasonography of the urinary system, intravenous urography, CT urography, or magnetic resonance urography. Retrograde urography or antegrade ureteropyelography was performed when necessary to clarify the degree of hydronephrosis, the location and length of ureteral stricture. For patients with severe hydronephrosis, a ureteral stricture segment >2 cm, a thick renal isthmus in horseshoe kidney, and markedly variant vasculature, open surgery or robotic surgery is preferred. For those with mild to moderate hydronephrosis, a ureteral stricture segment <2 cm, a thin renal isthmus in horseshoe kidney, and no significant vascular variations, laparoscopic surgery is the first choice. The decision to perform isthmectomy should be made based on a comprehensive intraoperative assessment, including the vascular supply to the isthmus, the degree of surrounding adhesions, and the thickness of the isthmus. Perioperative parameters and complications were recorded and analyzed, and regular follow-up was conducted for all patients.Results:All surgeries were successfully completed. Surgical approaches included open surgery in 4 cases, laparoscopic surgery in 14 cases, and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in 5 cases. The operative time for open surgery, laparoscopic surgery and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery was (125±12) minutes (range: 112 to 141 minutes), (122±50) minutes (range: 60 to 233 minutes), and (130±36) minutes (range: 76 to 174 minutes), respectively. The blood loss ( M(IQR)) was 100 (25) ml (range: 50 to 100 mL) for open surgery, 35 (30) ml (range: 10 to 100 mL) for laparoscopic surgery, and 20 (10) ml (range: 20 to 50 ml) for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Among 15 patients who underwent isthmus division with pyeloplasty (division group), the operation time was (138±42) minutes (range: 73 to 233 minutes), with blood loss of 50 (80) ml (range: 20 to 100 ml). For 8 patients in the non-division group who only underwent pyeloureteroplasty, the operation time was (98±27) minutes (range: 60 to 135 minutes), with blood loss of 20 (50) ml (range: 10 to 100 ml). The follow-up time of patients after surgery was 16.0 (49.0) months (range: 1.7 to 84.2 months), with a surgical success rate of 100%. Among the 8 patients in the non-division group, all demonstrated significant improvement in hydronephrosis severity compared to preoperative conditions. Notably, 6 patients who previously experienced frequent lower back pain showed no recurrence of symptoms after ureteral stent removal. In the division group of 15 patients, both subjective symptoms and hydronephrosis severity were markedly reduced. Conclusion:For patients with horseshoe kidney and hydronephrosis, the choice of surgical approach and isthmus management strategy should be determined based on a comprehensive consideration of the etiology of hydronephrosis, the degree of ureteral stricture, anatomical abnormalities, and vascular variations.

Objective: To explore the mediating role of psychological and physical aggression in the association between maternal emotional symptoms with emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children, so as to provide references for effective intervention of risk factors related to childrens emotional and behavioral problems. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted to select 12 kindergarten children and their mothers in Wuhu City, Anhui Province by using stratified clustering sampling. The baseline survey was carried out in June 2021, followed up every six months, and a total of 3 followups were administered. Totally 853 valid questionnaires of junior class children were included by the survey data from baseline, second and thirl followups. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to measure maternal emotional symptoms, psychological and physical aggression, and childrens emotional and behavioral problems, respectively. Results: The physical aggression of mothers towards children in boys was higher than in girls (t=3.53, P<0.05). The results of correlation analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms were positively correlated with psychological aggression, physical aggression and childrens SDQ scores (r=0.20, 0.21, 0.18, P<0.01), maternal anxiety symptoms were positively correlated with psychological aggression, physical aggression and childrens SDQ scores (r=0.24, 0.22, 0.10, P<0.01), respectively; maternal stress symptoms were positively correlated with psychological aggression, physical aggression. The SDQ scores were positively correlated (r=0.26, 0.25, 0.18, P<0.01), and the scores of maternal psychological aggression and physical aggression were positively correlated with the SDQ scores of children (r=0.12, 0.16, P<0.01). The mediating analysis showed that after controlling for related confounding factors, psychological aggression played a partial mediating effect in the association between maternal depressive symptoms and childrens emotional and behavioral problems, and the mediating effect ratio was 8.05%. Physical aggression played a partial mediating effect in the association between maternal depression, anxiety and stress symptoms and childrens emotional and behavioral problems, which were 15.94%, 11.73% and 12.54% (P<0.05), respectively. Conclusions Psychological and physical aggression play mediating roles in the association between maternal emotional symptoms and childrens emotional and behavioral problems, and actively improving maternal emotional symptoms and their childrens discipline methods can help reduce the occurrence of emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children.

【Objective】 To investigate the protective effects of aflexible sleeve penile protection device on reducing postoperative pain and wound edema in patients after circumcision. 【Methods】 A total of 54 patients who underwent circumcision at Yan’an Branch of Peking University Third Hospital during Feb.1 and May 31, 2023 were enrolled.The patients were randomly divided into the experimental group and control group, with 27 patients in either groups.Patients in the experimental group were treated with a flexible sleeve penis protection device after surgery, and patients in the control group were treated with traditional gauze bandage after surgery.Postoperative pain, wound edema and complications were compared between the two groups. 【Results】 In terms of pain, the visual analogue scale of the experimental group was significantly lower at 6 hours [(1.7±0.9) vs.(3.3±1.9), P<0.001] and 2 days [(2.0±1.3) vs.(3.3±1.3), P<0.001] after surgery than that of the control group, but there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups on the 4th and 7th postoperative days (P>0.05).In terms of edema, the edema score of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group on the 2nd postoperative day [(2.0±1.0) vs.(4.0±0.8), P<0.001] , the 4th postoperative day [(1.5±1.2) vs.(2.6±0.9), P<0.001] , and the 7th postoperative day [(0.9±1.3) vs.(2.3±1.5), P<0.001] .There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of complications between the two groups (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 The flexible sleeve penile protection device has significant effects of reducing early postoperative pain and reducing edema in patients undergoing circumcision.

Pyroptosis,an inflammatory caspase-dependent programmed cell death,plays a vital role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and activating inflammatory responses.Orthodontic tooth movement(OTM)is an aseptic force-induced inflammatory bone remodeling process mediated by the activation of periodontal ligament(PDL)progenitor cells.However,whether and how force induces PDL progenitor cell pyroptosis,thereby influencing OTM and alveolar bone remodeling remains unknown.In this study,we found that mechanical force induced the expression of pyroptosis-related markers in rat OTM and alveolar bone remodeling process.Blocking or enhancing pyroptosis level could suppress or promote OTM and alveolar bone remodeling respectively.Using Caspase-1-/-mice,we further demonstrated that the functional role of the force-induced pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells depended on Caspase-1.Moreover,mechanical force could also induce pyroptosis in human ex-vivo force-treated PDL progenitor cells and in compressive force-loaded PDL progenitor cells in vitro,which influenced osteoclastogenesis.Mechanistically,transient receptor potential subfamily V member 4 signaling was involved in force-induced Caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells.Overall,this study suggested a novel mechanism contributing to the modulation of osteoclastogenesis and alveolar bone remodeling under mechanical stimuli,indicating a promising approach to accelerate OTM by targeting Caspase-1.

Objective:To evaluate the endometrial implantation window in patients with recurrent implantation failure using endometrial receptive array(ERA)sequencing or endometrial histological detection methods,and to explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis of two technologies for improving clinical outcomes in such patients.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on clinical data of 125 patients diagnosed with repeated implantation failure in Gansu Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022.According to whether endometrial receptivity testing was accepted and different detection techniques were used,they were divided into a control group(n=36),a genomic group(n=35),and a histological group(n=54).The clinical data and pregnancy outcomes of the three groups were compared.Results:①The results of one-way ANOVA showed that the embryo implantation rate in the genomic group and histological group was significantly higher than that in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no sta-tistically significant difference in embryo implantation rate between genomic and histological groups(P=0.48).②There was no statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate among the three groups(P＞0.05).③Log rank test showed:The time for 50％of patients to reach live labor was significantly shorter than that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05);There was no sta-tistically significant difference in the time to live birth in 50％of patients between the genomic and histological groups of 50％of patients(P＞0.05).④The average number of embryos transferred in the control group was significantly higher than that in the genomic and histological groups,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).The cost of genomic patients was significantly higher than that of histology group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusions:①Endometrial implantation window detection is feasible for patients with re-peated implantation failure,which can effectively shorten the time to live birth and reduce the number of transplan-ted embryos;②Both ERA sequencing and endometrial histology detection have limitations as methods to evaluate endometrial implantation window,and it is not clear which detection method has more advantages in accuracy and practicability.

Pyroptosis,an inflammatory caspase-dependent programmed cell death,plays a vital role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and activating inflammatory responses.Orthodontic tooth movement(OTM)is an aseptic force-induced inflammatory bone remodeling process mediated by the activation of periodontal ligament(PDL)progenitor cells.However,whether and how force induces PDL progenitor cell pyroptosis,thereby influencing OTM and alveolar bone remodeling remains unknown.In this study,we found that mechanical force induced the expression of pyroptosis-related markers in rat OTM and alveolar bone remodeling process.Blocking or enhancing pyroptosis level could suppress or promote OTM and alveolar bone remodeling respectively.Using Caspase-1-/-mice,we further demonstrated that the functional role of the force-induced pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells depended on Caspase-1.Moreover,mechanical force could also induce pyroptosis in human ex-vivo force-treated PDL progenitor cells and in compressive force-loaded PDL progenitor cells in vitro,which influenced osteoclastogenesis.Mechanistically,transient receptor potential subfamily V member 4 signaling was involved in force-induced Caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells.Overall,this study suggested a novel mechanism contributing to the modulation of osteoclastogenesis and alveolar bone remodeling under mechanical stimuli,indicating a promising approach to accelerate OTM by targeting Caspase-1.

Objective:To evaluate the endometrial implantation window in patients with recurrent implantation failure using endometrial receptive array(ERA)sequencing or endometrial histological detection methods,and to explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis of two technologies for improving clinical outcomes in such patients.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on clinical data of 125 patients diagnosed with repeated implantation failure in Gansu Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022.According to whether endometrial receptivity testing was accepted and different detection techniques were used,they were divided into a control group(n=36),a genomic group(n=35),and a histological group(n=54).The clinical data and pregnancy outcomes of the three groups were compared.Results:①The results of one-way ANOVA showed that the embryo implantation rate in the genomic group and histological group was significantly higher than that in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no sta-tistically significant difference in embryo implantation rate between genomic and histological groups(P=0.48).②There was no statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate among the three groups(P＞0.05).③Log rank test showed:The time for 50％of patients to reach live labor was significantly shorter than that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05);There was no sta-tistically significant difference in the time to live birth in 50％of patients between the genomic and histological groups of 50％of patients(P＞0.05).④The average number of embryos transferred in the control group was significantly higher than that in the genomic and histological groups,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).The cost of genomic patients was significantly higher than that of histology group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusions:①Endometrial implantation window detection is feasible for patients with re-peated implantation failure,which can effectively shorten the time to live birth and reduce the number of transplan-ted embryos;②Both ERA sequencing and endometrial histology detection have limitations as methods to evaluate endometrial implantation window,and it is not clear which detection method has more advantages in accuracy and practicability.

Pyroptosis,an inflammatory caspase-dependent programmed cell death,plays a vital role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and activating inflammatory responses.Orthodontic tooth movement(OTM)is an aseptic force-induced inflammatory bone remodeling process mediated by the activation of periodontal ligament(PDL)progenitor cells.However,whether and how force induces PDL progenitor cell pyroptosis,thereby influencing OTM and alveolar bone remodeling remains unknown.In this study,we found that mechanical force induced the expression of pyroptosis-related markers in rat OTM and alveolar bone remodeling process.Blocking or enhancing pyroptosis level could suppress or promote OTM and alveolar bone remodeling respectively.Using Caspase-1-/-mice,we further demonstrated that the functional role of the force-induced pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells depended on Caspase-1.Moreover,mechanical force could also induce pyroptosis in human ex-vivo force-treated PDL progenitor cells and in compressive force-loaded PDL progenitor cells in vitro,which influenced osteoclastogenesis.Mechanistically,transient receptor potential subfamily V member 4 signaling was involved in force-induced Caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis in PDL progenitor cells.Overall,this study suggested a novel mechanism contributing to the modulation of osteoclastogenesis and alveolar bone remodeling under mechanical stimuli,indicating a promising approach to accelerate OTM by targeting Caspase-1.

Objective:To evaluate the endometrial implantation window in patients with recurrent implantation failure using endometrial receptive array(ERA)sequencing or endometrial histological detection methods,and to explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis of two technologies for improving clinical outcomes in such patients.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted on clinical data of 125 patients diagnosed with repeated implantation failure in Gansu Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022.According to whether endometrial receptivity testing was accepted and different detection techniques were used,they were divided into a control group(n=36),a genomic group(n=35),and a histological group(n=54).The clinical data and pregnancy outcomes of the three groups were compared.Results:①The results of one-way ANOVA showed that the embryo implantation rate in the genomic group and histological group was significantly higher than that in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no sta-tistically significant difference in embryo implantation rate between genomic and histological groups(P=0.48).②There was no statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate among the three groups(P＞0.05).③Log rank test showed:The time for 50％of patients to reach live labor was significantly shorter than that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05);There was no sta-tistically significant difference in the time to live birth in 50％of patients between the genomic and histological groups of 50％of patients(P＞0.05).④The average number of embryos transferred in the control group was significantly higher than that in the genomic and histological groups,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).The cost of genomic patients was significantly higher than that of histology group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusions:①Endometrial implantation window detection is feasible for patients with re-peated implantation failure,which can effectively shorten the time to live birth and reduce the number of transplan-ted embryos;②Both ERA sequencing and endometrial histology detection have limitations as methods to evaluate endometrial implantation window,and it is not clear which detection method has more advantages in accuracy and practicability.