Exploring causal mechanisms and essential factors in the prevention and control of chlamydia in Guangdong, Southern China: a study protocol.

Background: Chlamydia Trachomatis (CT) is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) globally. According to the World Health Organization, more than 131 million people get infected with CT annually. CT is usually transmitted via sexual contact or perinatal exposure and can result in severe long-term complications.

Development and validation of a Decision-Making Ability Scale for postpartum urinary incontinence women engaging in pelvic floor physical therapy.

Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a Decision-Making Ability Scale (DMA-S) for postpartum urinary incontinence (PPUI) women engaging in pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT).

Methods: Items were created in line with a review of the literature and exploratory qualitative study with 22 women. The items were submitted for expert opinion and a pilot implementation was made with 58 women with PPUI.

Association between plasma lysophosphatidic acid levels and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely preterm infants: A prospective study.

Background: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is implicated in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) pathogenesis, but clinical evidence is lacking. This study aimed to investigate LPA levels in preterm infants with and without BPD and explore LPA as a biomarker for predicting BPD occurrence.

Methods: Premature infants with a gestational age of <28 weeks or a birth weight of <1000 g were enrolled.

Diameter of ductus arteriosus on postnatal Day 7 is associated with late pulmonary hypertension in extremely preterm infants.

Objectives: A clinically feasible biomarker for pulmonary hypertension (PH) prediction is still lacking. Thus, we aim to assess the association between ductus arteriosus (DA) diameter and PH in extremely preterm infants.

Study Design: A retrospective case-control study was performed to compare the diameter of DA in infants with and without late PH.

Anti-inflammatory protein TSG-6 secreted by BMSCs attenuates silica-induced acute pulmonary inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in macrophages.

Silicosis is a severe occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of silica particles. Unfortunately, there are currently limited treatment options available for silicosis. Recent advances have indicated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have a therapeutic effect on silicosis, but their efficacy and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.

The perceptions and attitudes of obstetric staff and midwives towards perinatal mental health disorders screening: a qualitative exploratory study in Shenzhen, China.

Background: The perinatal period is a crucial time for women, as they experience various biological, psychological, and social stressors. Due to the complexity of this vulnerable time, there is a high prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders among pregnant women. In 2019, the Health Commission of Shenzhen initiated perinatal mental health screening programme in China.

An immune cell atlas reveals the dynamics of human macrophage specification during prenatal development.

Macrophages are heterogeneous and play critical roles in development and disease, but their diversity, function, and specification remain inadequately understood during human development. We generated a single-cell RNA sequencing map of the dynamics of human macrophage specification from PCW 4-26 across 19 tissues. We identified a microglia-like population and a proangiogenic population in 15 macrophage subtypes.

Comparison of menstruation recovery after ultrasound-guided suction curettage in patients with cesarean scar pregnancy pretreated using high-intensity focused ultrasound and uterine artery embolization.

Objectives: To investigate the menstruation recovery after two therapeutic regimens, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) or uterine artery embolization (UAE) combined with ultrasound-guided suction curettage, for premenopausal women with cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP).

Materials And Methods: Seventy patients with CSP treated with HIFU followed by ultrasound-guided suction curettage and 63 patients with CSP treated with UAE followed by ultrasound-guided suction curettage in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The treatment parameters and the menstrual blood loss (MBL) volume at 6 months after the two therapeutic regimens were compared between the two groups.

The enteric nervous system deficits in autism spectrum disorder.

Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are common comorbidities in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and abnormalities in these issues have been found to be closely related to the severity of core behavioral deficits in autism. The enteric nervous system (ENS) plays a crucial role in regulating various aspects of gut functions, including gastrointestinal motility. Dysfunctional wiring in the ENS not only results in various gastrointestinal issues, but also correlates with an increasing number of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as ASD.

Deep endpoints focusing network under geometric constraints for end-to-end biometric measurement in fetal ultrasound images.

Biometric measurements in fetal ultrasound images are one of the most highly demanding medical image analysis tasks that can directly contribute to diagnosing fetal diseases. However, the natural high-speckle noise and shadows in ultrasound data present big challenges for automatic biometric measurement. Almost all the existing dominant automatic methods are two-stage models, where the key anatomical structures are segmented first and then measured, thus bringing segmentation and fitting errors.

Local structural and functional MRI markers of compulsive behaviors and obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosis within striatum-based circuits.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a classic disorder on the compulsivity spectrum, with diverse comorbidities. In the current study, we sought to understand OCD from a dimensional perspective by identifying multimodal neuroimaging patterns correlated with multiple phenotypic characteristics within the striatum-based circuits known to be affected by OCD.

Methods: Neuroimaging measurements of local functional and structural features and clinical information were collected from 110 subjects, including 51 patients with OCD and 59 healthy control subjects.

Tat-P combined with GAPR1 releases Beclin1 to promote autophagy and improve Bronchopulmonary dysplasia model.

Long-term exposure to hyperoxia can leading to the bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The progression of BPD is primarily driven by the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells, and the regulation of autophagy has an impact on apoptosis. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic potential and underlying mechanism of an autophagy-promoting peptide (Tat-P) in ameliorating BPD.

Adverse associations between maternal deoxynivalenol exposure and birth outcomes: a prospective cohort study in China.

Background: Deoxynivalenol (DON), one of the most prevalent mycotoxins, has been found to cause fetal growth retardation in animals. However, limited evidence exists regarding its effects on pregnant women.

Methods: Maternal urinary concentration of total DON (tDON) and free DON (fDON) in the second trimester was measured using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

Long-term exposure to ambient ozone and cardiovascular diseases: Evidence from two national cohort studies in China.

Introduction: The health effects of ambient ozone have been investigated in many previous studies. However, the effects of long-term exposure to ambient ozone on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) remain inconclusive.

Objectives: To estimate the associations of long-term exposure to maximum daily 8-hours average ozone (MDA8 O) with the incidence of total CVD, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke.

Discovery and Characterization of Moracin C as an Anti-Gouty Arthritis/Hyperuricemia Candidate by Docking-Based Virtual Screening and Pharmacological Evaluation.

In the present study, a natural product database of compounds associated with herbs traditionally verified to treat gout/hyperuricemia/arthritis was constructed. 3D-shape and docking-based virtual screening was conducted. To identify potential xanthine oxidase (XOD) inhibitors in the database, eight compounds with commercial availability were identified as high 3D-shape similarity with febuxostat (), a known XOD inhibitor.

Comparative evaluation of four treatments for postorthodontic white spot lesions: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the treatment efficacy of fluoride toothpaste alone and those of adjunctive use of resin infiltration, sodium fluoride varnish, and casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) on white spot lesions (WSLs).

Materials And Methods: Seventy-nine patients (356 teeth) with WSLs after orthodontic treatment were randomly allocated into four groups. The WSLs of the participants received resin infiltration only at baseline, and the other groups received fluoride varnish, CPP-ACP mousse, and placebo treatment every 6 months, respectively.

Next-generation sequencing analysis of the molecular spectrum of thalassemia in Southern Jiangxi, China.

Background: Thalassemia is an extremely prevalent monogenic inherited blood disorder in southern China. It is important to comprehensively understand the molecular spectrum of thalassemia in an area with such a high prevalence of thalassemia before taking appropriate actions for the prevention and treatment of this disorder. Herein, we explored the clinical feasibility of using next-generation sequencing (NGS) for large-scale population screening to illustrate the prevalence and spectrum of thalassemia in Southern Jiangxi.

A Novel Heterozygous TGFBI c.1613C>A Pathogenic Variant is Associated With Lattice Corneal Dystrophy in a Chinese Family.

Purpose: To investigate the gene mutations and relationship of clinical manifestation in a Chinese family with familial lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD).

Design: Single-family case-control study.

Methods: A family with familial LCD was recruited for this study.

Metabonomic analysis of seminal plasma in necrozoospermia patients based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Background: In the pathological study of necrozoospermia-a form of sperm mortality-the underlying metabolic mechanism remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize metabolic alterations in the seminal plasma of necrozoospermic patients and to provide insights into the etiology of the disease.

Methods: Seminal plasma samples were collected from patients diagnosed with necrozoospermia (n=28) as well as normozoospermia (n=37).

Abnormalities in Clostridioides and related metabolites before ACTH treatment may be associated with its efficacy in patients with infantile epileptic spasm syndrome.

Objective: Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is the first-line treatment of infantile epileptic spasm syndrome (IESS). Its reported effectiveness varies, and our current understanding regarding the role of gut microbiota composition in IESS treatment response is limited. This study assessed the microbiome-metabolome association to understand the role and mechanism of gut microbiota composition in IESS treatment outcomes.