Objective To analyze the status of occupational disease hazards in Shantou City for 2019 to 2022 and propose corresponding management measures. Methods Technical reports on various occupational-disease-specific activities in Shantou City from 2019 to 2022 were collected and the data were comprehensively analyzed. Results Among the 3 066 enterprises surveyed in the 2020 occupational disease hazard investigation in Shantou City, occupational hazards were reported in 2 982 enterprises (accounting for 97.3%), with 2 955 being small and micro enterprises, accounted for 99.1%(2 955/2 982). The exposure rate of occupational hazards was 58.7% (42 894/73 054) among workers in the surveyed enterprises, with dust and noise exposure rates of 59.7% and 77.8%, respectively. The reported rate of occupational disease hazard projects by employers, regular detection rate of workplace occupational hazards, detection rate of occupational medical examination among workers, and occupational health training rate of key responsible personnel and occupational health management staff were 8.4%, 1.4%, 2.4%, and 4.3%, respectively. The results of occupational hazards monitoring of workplace in key industries from 2019 to 2022 showed that noise had the highest rate of exceeding national standards workplace, followed by silica dust, accounting for 34.2% and 13.8%, with the on-site exceedance rate of 32.2% and 10.0%, respectively. From 2019 to 2022, 31 suspected occupational disease cases were identified in key occupational disease monitoring, including 27 suspected cases of occupational pneumoconiosis and four suspected cases of occupational noise-induced deafness. Conclusion The workers in Shantou City have a high exposure rate to occupational hazards, and the occupational health management level of employers remains low, with noise and silica dust being the most severe occupational hazards. It is essential to improve technical support and service system development for occupational disease prevention and treatment, strengthen supervision and management in key industries and positions, explore occupational health assistance mechanisms for small and micro enterprises, and enforce employers' responsibility in occupational disease prevention to protect workers' occupational health and safety.

At present, the incidence and mortality of tumors are increasing, and the treatment of tumors has attracted much attention. Radiotherapy is a key method for tumor treatment; however, its effectiveness is often constrained by radioresistance. During tumor radiotherapy, DNA damage response (DDR) is a key factor in the radioresistance of tumor cells. Research has shown that the radiosensitivity of tumor cells can be effectively improved by regulating the expression of key proteins in the DDR pathway. Targeting the DDR signaling pathway has become an effective strategy to reduce tumor radioresistance. This article focuses on the mechanisms, clinical research status, limitations, and current challenges associated with the key DDR proteins DNA-PKcs, ATM, ATR, and PARP as therapeutic targets for tumor radiotherapy sensitization, in order to provide a reference for the development of radiotherapy sensitization agents.

Objective To evaluate the potential risk of transmission of angiostrongyliasis by common freshwater snails in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, so as to provide insights into local surveillance of angiostrongyliasis. Methods Common freshwater snails were collected from Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province from March to April, 2020, and identified and bred in laboratory. SD rats were infected with third-stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis that were isolated from commercially available Pomacea canaliculata snails in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, and freshwater snails were infected with the first-stage larvae of A. cantonensis that were isolated from the feces of SD rats 39 days post-infection at room temperature. The developmental process and morphological characteristics of worms in hosts were observed, and the percentages of A. cantonensis infections in different species of freshwater snails were calculated. Then, SD rats were infected with the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis that were isolated from A. cantonensis-infected freshwater snails, and the larval development and reproduction was observed. Results More than 3 000 freshwater snail samples were collected from farmlands, ditches and wetlands around Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, and Cipangopaludina chinensis, P. canaliculata, Parafossarulus striatulus, Oncomelania hupensis robertsoni, Galba pervia, Physa acuta, Radix swinhoei, Assiminea spp., Tricula spp. and Bellamya spp. were morphologically identified. A total of 105 commercially available P. canaliculata snails were tested for A. cantonensis infections, and 2 P. canaliculata snails were found to be infected with A. cantonensis, in which the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis were isolated. Ten species of freshwater snails were artificially infected with the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis, and all 10 species of freshwater snails were found to be infected with A. cantonensis, with the highest positive rate of A. cantonensis infections in Bellamya spp. (62.3%, 137/204), and the lowest in C. chinensis (35.5%, 11/31). After SD rats were infected with the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis isolated from different species of freshwater snails, mature adult worms of A. cantonensis were yielded. Conclusions Multiple species of freshwater snails may serve as intermediate hosts of A. cantonensis under laboratory conditions in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Further investigations on natural infection of A. cantonensis in wild snails in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture seem justified.

Objective:To provide a basis for its diagnosis and treatment for clinicians by analyzing the clinical manifestations, imaging features and surgical efficacy of primary intraspinal paraganglioma.Methods:The clinical data of 6 patients with intraspinal paraganglioma from April 2014 to January 2021 in Xiangyang Central Hospital were retrospectively analyzed, and all patients were treated with microsurgery via a posterior median approach.Results:All 6 patients achieved total tumor resection, and the postoperative pathological diagnosis was paraganglioma. Among them, 1 patient′s tumor located inside and outside the cervical spinal canal without destruction of the vertebral body; 1 patient′s tumor located lumbosacral canal with destruction of the vertebral body; the others 4 patients′ tumor located within the lumbar spinal canal. The patients were followed up for 12 to 120 months after surgery, with a median follow-up time of 61.5 months. MRI examination was performed at the last follow-up, and no recurrence was observed. The patients underwent MRI examination at the last follow-up, and none of the patients recurred.Conclusions:The intraspinal paraganglioma is a rare tumor, and nonfunctional benign tumors are predominant. Its clinical and imaging manifestations lack specificity and are often difficult to diagnose before surgery. Surgical resection, especially complete resection, has a better prognosis, and the effectiveness of adjuvant therapy is uncertain.

Self-organized blastoids from extended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells possess enormous potential for investigating postimplantation embryo development and related diseases. However, the limited ability of postimplantation development of EPS-blastoids hinders its further application. In this study, single-cell transcriptomic analysis indicated that the "trophectoderm (TE)-like structure" of EPS-blastoids was primarily composed of primitive endoderm (PrE)-related cells instead of TE-related cells. We further identified PrE-like cells in EPS cell culture that contribute to the blastoid formation with TE-like structure. Inhibition of PrE cell differentiation by inhibiting MEK signaling or knockout of Gata6 in EPS cells markedly suppressed EPS-blastoid formation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that blastocyst-like structures reconstituted by combining the EPS-derived bilineage embryo-like structure (BLES) with either tetraploid embryos or tetraploid TE cells could implant normally and develop into live fetuses. In summary, our study reveals that TE improvement is critical for constructing a functional embryo using stem cells in vitro.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Animals ; Mice ; Tetraploidy ; Blastocyst ; Embryo, Mammalian ; Cell Differentiation ; Embryonic Development

Chemically defined medium is widely used for culturing mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), in which N2B27 works as a substitution for serum, and GSK3β and MEK inhibitors (2i) help to promote ground-state pluripotency. However, recent studies suggested that MEKi might cause irreversible defects that compromise the developmental potential of mESCs. Here, we demonstrated the deficient bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signal in the chemically defined condition is one of the main causes for the impaired pluripotency. Mechanistically, activating the BMP signal pathway by BMP4 could safeguard the chromosomal integrity and proliferation capacity of mESCs through regulating downstream targets Ube2s and Chmp4b. More importantly, BMP4 promotes a distinct in vivo developmental potential and a long-term pluripotency preservation. Besides, the pluripotent improvements driven by BMP4 are superior to those by attenuating MEK suppression. Taken together, our study shows appropriate activation of BMP signal is essential for regulating functional pluripotency and reveals that BMP4 should be applied in the serum-free culture system.
Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4/metabolism* ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromosomal Instability ; Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport ; Mice ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases/metabolism* ; Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology* ; Pluripotent Stem Cells/cytology* ; Signal Transduction ; Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes

N

To explore the role of progesterone in the pathogenesis and development of hemangioma in nude mice.
 Methods: The hemangioma model was established. Progesterone was injected intramuscularly at different doses (0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mg/d) for one week. Camellia oil (0.4 mL/d) was injected intramuscularly as control. The size of hemangioma was observed dynamically. The subcutaneous implants were harvested on the 14th and 28th days. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in the tumor tissues were evaluated using immunohistochemistry and microvessel density (MVD) was counted under the microscope.
 Results: On the 14th day, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively) was higher, the volume of tumors (All P<0.01) and MVD (All P<0.01) were greater in the high-dose progesterone group than those in the control and low-dose progesterone group. On the 28th day, there was no significant difference in the volume of tumors among 4 groups (P>0.05). The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (P<0.01) was lower, and MVD (All P<0.05) were less in the middle-dose and high-dose progesterone group than those in the control and low-dose progesterone group.
 Conclusion: Progesterone promotes angiogenesis via upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor expression, promotion of hemangiomas proliferation, suggesting that excessive progesterone supplementation may be one of the initial factors for early hemangioma formation.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Hemangioma ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Progesterone ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

In May 2019, the International Diabetic Foot Working Group (IWGDF) updated and issued guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetic foot disease. This guide puts forward some suggestions for the diagnosis, treatment and effective prevention of diabetic foot: the prevention of diabetic foot should start with high-risk foot, early screening and treatment of diabetic foot infection, foot ulcer and peripheral vascular disease and early comprehensive treatment. Effective prevention and early treatment can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in patients with diabetes, reduce the amputation rate and mortality, and improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients.