A previous study showed that the length of the foreskin plays a role in the risk of sexually transmitted infections and chronic prostatitis, which can lead to poor quality of sexual life. Here, the association between foreskin length and sexual dysfunction was evaluated. A total of 5700 participants were recruited from the andrology clinic at The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China). Clinical characteristics, including foreskin length, were collected, and sexual function was assessed by the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) and Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) questionnaires. Men with sexual dysfunction were more likely to have redundant foreskin than men without sexual dysfunction. Among the 2721 erectile dysfunction (ED) patients and 1064 premature ejaculation (PE) patients, 301 (11.1%) ED patients and 135 (12.7%) PE patients had redundant foreskin, respectively. Men in the PE group were more likely to have redundant foreskin than men in the non-PE group ( P = 0.004). Logistic regression analyses revealed that the presence of redundant foreskin was associated with increased odds of moderate/severe ED (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.31, adjusted P = 0.04), moderate PE (aOR = 1.38, adjusted P = 0.02), and probable PE (aOR = 1.37, adjusted P = 0.03) after adjusting for confounding variables. Our study revealed a positive correlation between the presence of redundant foreskin and the risk of sexual dysfunction, especially in PE patients. Assessment of the length of the foreskin during routine clinical diagnosis may provide information for patients with sexual dysfunction.
Humans ; Male ; Foreskin ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Adult ; Erectile Dysfunction/epidemiology* ; Premature Ejaculation/epidemiology* ; Middle Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/epidemiology* ; Young Adult

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*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of varicocele ligation with mobile phone microscope. METHODS: The high-performance mobile phone and mobile phone stand were combined to act as a mobile phone microscope. And the varicocele ligation was performed under the mobile phone microscope. RESULTS: All five patients successfully underwent varicocelectomy under the guidance of a mobile phone microscope. The average operation time was （112.8 ± 52.2）with ranged from 74.0 to 195.0 minutes. Three patients completed the follow-up after the operation with the proportion of improved sperm quality reaching 100.0% (3/3). CONCLUSION High- performance mobile phone microscope can be used for varicocele ligation.
Humans ; Male ; Ligation/methods* ; Cell Phone ; Adult ; Varicocele/surgery* ; Microscopy ; Young Adult

Objective To design a nurse-driven intelligent individualized medication management system to enhance the whole-course patient management efficiency.Methods The system consisted of an in-hospital PC terminal,a mobile patient terminal and a mobile medical terminal.The in-hospital PC terminal was developed with B/S architecture and.NET;the patient and medical terminals both were realized with Java.The patient terminal was made up of a personal information module,a data reporting module and a message center module,and the in-hospital PC and medical terminals were composed of several modules for patient management,data management,statistical analysis and system management.Results The system developed provided whole-course intelligent management for out-of-hospital patients comprehensively,continuously and actively,lowering acute morbidity and nurses'workload for follow-up.Conclusion The system developed enhances patients'awareness of self-health management and improves nurses'efficiency for individualized medication management.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(11):44-48]

Objective The causes of bleeding after endoscopic duodenal papilloma resection were analyzed and discussed,and the prediction model of nomogram was established.Methods A total of 233 patients who underwent endoscopic duodenal papilloma resection in our hospital from January 2018 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed,and they were divided into bleeding group(n=31 cases)and non-bleeding group(n=202 cases)according to whether postoperative bleeding occurred.The clinical data of the two groups were compared,the independent risk factors for postoperative bleeding were analyzed by multi-factor logistic regression,the risk nomogram prediction model was constructed,and the Bootstrap method was used for 1000 repeated samples to carry out internal verification.Results Anticoagulant drugs(OR=9.063,95％CI:2.132-38.525),lesion diameter ≥2 cm(OR=2.802,95％CI:1.073-7.321),intraoperative fragment resection(OR=27.653,95％CI:3.055～619.174)and pancreatic complications(OR=6.859,95％CI:1.930～24.377)were independent risk factors for postoperative bleeding after endoscopic duodenal papilloma resection(P＜0.05).A risk prediction nomogram model was constructed according to the Logistic regression analysis results.The samples were repeatedly sampled 1000 times through Bootstrap method for internal verification.The area under the ROC curve was 0.850,and the 95％CI was 0.780-0.913,indicating good differentiation ability of the model.Calibration curve analysis indicated that the prediction probability of postoperative bleeding predicted by the nomogram prediction model was in good agreement with the actual probability of postoperative bleeding,and Hosmer-Lemeshow showed good goodness of fit(x2=3.304 9,P=0.913 8).Conclusion Taking anticoagulant drugs,lesion diameter ≥2 cm,intraoperative segmentary resection,and postoperative combination of pancreas were independent risk factors for bleeding after endoscopic duodenal papilloma resection.A nomogram prediction model was established to help clinical assessment of postoperative bleeding risk in patients and improve decision-making basis for early prevention.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of Tripterygium wilfordii multiglycoside (TGW) in the treatment of psoriatic dermatitis from a cellular immunological perspective. METHODS: Mouse models of psoriatic dermatitis were established by imiquimod (IMQ). Twelve male BALB/c mice were assigned to IMQ or IMQ₊TGW groups according to a random number table. Histopathological changes in vivo were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Ratios of immune cells and cytokines in mice, as well as PAM212 cell proliferation in vitro were assessed by flow cytometry. Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression was determined using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: TGW significantly ameliorated the severity of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like mouse skin lesions and restrained the activation of CD45⁺ cells, neutrophils and T lymphocytes (all P<0.01). Moreover, TGW significantly attenuated keratinocytes (KCs) proliferation and downregulated the mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-23, tumor necrosis factor α, and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Furthermore, it reduced the number of γ δ T17 cells in skin lesion of mice and draining lymph nodes (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS TGW improved psoriasis-like inflammation by inhibiting KCs proliferation, as well as the associated immune cells and cytokine expression. It inhibited IL-17 secretion from γ δ T cells, which improved the immune-inflammatory microenvironment of psoriasis.
Male ; Animals ; Mice ; Tripterygium ; Psoriasis/drug therapy* ; Keratinocytes ; Skin Diseases/metabolism* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Imiquimod/metabolism* ; Dermatitis/pathology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Skin/metabolism*

A biosynthetic gene cluster for the bioactive fungal sesterterpenoids variecolin ( 1) and variecolactone ( 2) was identified in Aspergillus aculeatus ATCC 16872. Heterologous production of 1 and 2 was achieved in Aspergillus oryzae by expressing the sesterterpene synthase VrcA and the cytochrome P450 VrcB. Intriguingly, the replacement of VrcB with homologous P450s from other fungal terpenoid pathways yielded three new variecolin analogues ( 5- 7). Analysis of the compounds' anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo revealed that although 5 and 1 had comparable activities, 5 was associated with significantly reduced toxic side effects in cancer-bearing mice, indicating its potentially broader therapeutic window. Our study describes the first tests of variecolin and its analogues in animals and demonstrates the utility of synthetic biology for creating molecules with improved biological activities.

Aim To investigate the effect of safflower yellow (SY) on learning and memory ability of APP/ PS1 mice at different disease stages, and to explore the mechanism of SY anti- Alzheimer's disease by using 3-,6- and 9-month-old APP/PS 1 transgenic mice as experimental animal models. Methods Behavioral experiments were conducted to observe the effects of SY on learning and memory of APP/PS1 mice of different months. ELISA was used to detect the effect of SY on the expression of inflammatory factors in cortex of mice of different months. Western blot was used to detect the microglia activation marker protein, and its mechanism of action was further analyzed. Results SY could enhance the learning and memory ability of mice aged 3, 6 and 9 months, reduce the content of IL-6 and increase the content of TGF-β1 in brain tissue, up-regulate the expression levels of arginase-1 (arg-1) and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (tREM2) in brain tissue of mice of different months, and down-regulate the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Toll-like receptors 4 (tlr4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (nf-KB). Conclusions Compared with 3- and 9-month-old mice, SY is the most effective in improving learning memory in 6-month-old APP/PS1 mice. SY inhibits TLR4/NF-KB pathway activation by inducing TREM2 expression in brain tissue of APP/PS 1 transgenic mice, promotes microglia phenotype shift to anti-inflammatory phenotype, reduces chronic neuroinflammatory response, and improves learning memory in APP/PS1 mice at all months of age.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy and influencing factors of omadacycline(OMC)in the treat-ment of patients with infectious diseases.Methods Data about hospitalized patients who received OMC monothera-py or combination therapy at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2022 to December 2023 were analyzed retrospectively.The influencing factors for failure of OMC treatment was analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results A total of 160 patients were included in analysis,with an overall effective treatment rate of 69.4％(n=111).After treatment with OMC,patients in effective group was observed that body temperature improved([36.83±0.52]℃ vs[37.85±0.92]℃,P＜0.001),white blood cell count([7.78±4.07]× 109/L vs[10.06±6.49]× 109/L,P＜0.001),procalcitonin([0.63±1.19]ng/mL vs[4.43±10.14]ng/mL,P=0.001),C-reactive protein([35.16±37.82]mg/L vs[105.08±99.47]mg/L,P＜0.001),and aspartate aminotransferase([50.50±40.04]U/L vs[77.17±91.43]U/L,P=0.004)all decreased signifi-cantly.Only one patient had adverse reactions such as diarrhea,but treatment was not interrupted.Univariate ana-lysis showed that patients in failure treatment group had a higher acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ(APACHE Ⅱ)score(17.0[9.5-22.0]vs 12.0[9.0-19.0],P=0.046)and sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA)score(7.0[4.5-10.0]vs 4.0[2.0-9.0],P=0.019).Multivariate analysis showed that end-stage liver disease(OR=77.691,95％CI:5.448-1 107.880,P=0.001),mechanical ventilation(OR=6.686,95％CI:1.628-27.452,P=0.008)and the combination treatment of vancomycin(OR=6.432,95％CI:1.891-21.874,P=0.003)were risk factors for the failure of OMC treatment,while the course of OMC treatment(OR=0.905,95％CI:0.825-0.994,P=0.037)was a protective factor for the effective treatment.Conclusion OMC can be used as an alternative therapy for refractory severe infection,with fewer adverse reaction.End-stage liver disease,mechanical ventilation and combination treatment of vancomycin are risk factors for failure of OMC treatment in in-fected patients.Adequate OMC treatment course can improve patients'clinical outcome,large-scale case studies are needed to confirm the initial conclusion.

Objective To evaluate the bioequivalence and safety of ezetimibe tablets in healthy Chinese subjects.Methods The study was designed as a single-center,randomized,open-label,two-period,two-way crossover,single-dose trail.Subjects who met the enrollment criteria were randomized into fasting administration group and postprandial administration group and received a single oral dose of 10 mg of the subject presparation of ezetimibe tablets or the reference presparation per cycle.The blood concentrations of ezetimibe and ezetimibe-glucuronide conjugate were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS),and the bioequivalence of the 2 preparations was evaluated using the WinNonlin 7.0 software.Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated to evaluate the bioequivalence of the 2 preparations.The occurrence of all adverse events was also recorded to evaluate the safety.Results The main pharmacokinetic parameters of total ezetimibe in the plasma of the test and the reference after a single fasted administration:Cmax were(118.79±35.30)and(180.79±51.78)nmol·mL-1;tmax were 1.40 and 1.04 h;t1/2 were(15.33±5.57)and(17.38±7.24)h;AUC0-t were(1 523.90±371.21)and(1 690.99±553.40)nmol·mL-1·h;AUC0-∞ were(1 608.70±441.28),(1 807.15±630.00)nmol·mL-1·h.The main pharmacokinetic parameters of total ezetimibe in plasma of test and reference after a single meal:Cmax were(269.18±82.94)and(273.93±87.78)nmol·mL-1;Tmax were 1.15 and 1.08 h;t1/2 were(22.53±16.33)and(16.02±5.84)h;AUC0_twere(1 463.37±366.03),(1 263.96±271.01)nmol·mL-1·h;AUC0-∞ were(1 639.01±466.53),(1 349.97±281.39)nmol·mL-1·h.The main pharmacokinetic parameters Cmax,AUC0-tand AUC0-∞ of the two preparations were analyzed by variance analysis after logarithmic transformation.In the fasting administration group,the 90％CI of the log-transformed geometric mean ratios were within the bioequivalent range for the remaining parameters in the fasting dosing group,except for the Cmax of ezetimibe and total ezetimibe,which were below the lower bioequivalent range.The Cmax of ezetimibe,ezetimibe-glucuronide,and total ezetimibe in the postprandial dosing group was within the equivalence range,and the 90％CI of the remaining parameters were not within the equivalence range for bioequivalence.Conclusion This test can not determine whether the test preparation and the reference preparation of ezetimibe tablets have bioequivalence,and further clinical trials are needed to verify it.