The Shehata technique for undescended testes that cannot be brought into the scrotum in one operation-a case series and meta-analysis.

Background: Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy is commonly used for testes that cannot be brought into the scrotum in one operation. However, this surgical technique may result in a higher rate of testicular atrophy postoperatively. Methods: During the period between 2019 and 2023, we analyzed the cases of 20 patients in whom the Shehata technique was applied for testes that could not be brought into the scrotum in one operation, and we conducted a meta-analysis to explore the incidence of testicular atrophy vis-à-vis the Shehata technique and Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy. Results: The average age of the 20 patients was 3.78 (0.76-11.42) years. The blood supply to the testes was satisfactory, with the absence of atrophy, and the testes could be brought into the scrotum in stage II surgery. A postoperative reexamination with ultrasound revealed that the testes were securely positioned within the scrotum, with good blood supply and no atrophy, which was in contrast to their condition before the operation. The volume of the testes postoperatively was significantly greater than that of the preoperative testes (p = 0.009). There were no statistically significant differences in the growth rate of volume of the testes between the surgically treated side and the contralateral side (p = 0.25). The meta-analysis showed that the Shehata technique resulted in a lower incidence of testicular atrophy compared with Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy (p = 0.01). Conclusions: The Shehata technique preserves the main vessels of the testes with a lower incidence of testicular atrophy, which may be a valid and safe alternative to the Fowler-Stephens technique.

Association between greenness and dyslipidemia in patients with coronary heart disease: A proteomic approach.

BACKGROUND: Residential surrounding greenness may be protective of dyslipidemia are often theorized but remain poorly quantified. In particular, the underlying biological mechanisms of blood lipid changes with green spaces remain unclear. METHODS: Our observational epidemiology study included a residentially stable sample of 1035 coronary heart disease patients, and proteomics study included 16 participants. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to evaluate residential greenness exposures. Proteomics technology was used to identify plasma greenness-related proteome disturbance, and the pathway analysis was employed to evaluate the potential biological mechanisms of greenness decreasing dyslipidemia risk. RESULT: Higher residential surrounding greenness in the 500-m area was associated with lower risks of dyslipidemia (odds ratio (OR) = 0.871, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.763, 0.994 for per one-quartile NDVI increase). Lymphocytes mediated 18.7% of the association between greenness and dyslipidemia. Greenness related proteins (including PLXDC1, IGFBP2 and LY6D) may regulate the biological functions of lipid metabolism and transport-related proteins (including ADIPOQ and CES1) through a series of biological processes. CONCLUSION: People in greener surroundings have a lower risk of dyslipidemia, which may be due to their lower inflammation, stronger lipid transporter activity, and normal cholesterol metabolism.

The Succession of the Gut Microbiota in Insects: A Dynamic Alteration of the Gut Microbiota During the Whole Life Cycle of Honey Bees (Apis cerana).

The Asian honey bee Apis cerana is a valuable biological resource insect that plays an important role in the ecological environment and agricultural economy. The composition of the gut microbiota has a great influence on the health and development of the host. However, studies on the insect gut microbiota are rarely reported, especially studies on the dynamic succession of the insect gut microbiota. Therefore, this study used high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence the gut microbiota of A. cerana at different developmental stages (0 days post emergence (0 dpe), 1 dpe, 3 dpe, 7 dpe, 12 dpe, 19 dpe, 25 dpe, 30 dpe, and 35 dpe). The results of this study indicated that the diversity of the gut microbiota varied significantly at different developmental stages (ACE, P = 0.045; Chao1, P = 0.031; Shannon, P = 0.0019; Simpson, P = 0.041). In addition, at the phylum and genus taxonomic levels, the dominant constituents in the gut microbiota changed significantly at different developmental stages. Our results also suggest that environmental exposure in the early stages of development has the greatest impact on the gut microbiota. The results of this study reveal the general rule of gut microbiota succession in the A. cerana life cycle. This study not only deepens our understanding of the colonization pattern of the gut microbiota in workers but also provides more comprehensive information for exploring the colonization of the gut microbiota in insects and other animals.

Comparative analysis of the gut microbiota of Apis cerana in Yunnan using high-throughput sequencing.

Gut microbes play an important role in host disease and health. The Asian honey bee Apis cerana is an important pollinator of agricultural crops in China. However, there are still few studies on the structure and composition of the microbiota in the intestine of A. cerana, especially A. cerana in Yunnan. To understand the species and composition of the microbiota in the intestine of A. cerana in Yunnan, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to carry out 16S rRNA sequencing on 50 samples from Kunming, Xishuangbanna and Mengzi. The results show that both from the phylum level and the genus level, the structure and abundance of the microbiota in the gut of A. cerana from the three regions tended to be the same. At the phylum level, the abundance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and other species was high in A. cerana from different areas. At the genus level, the abundance of Lactobacillus, Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, Apibacter, Candidatus Schmidhempelia and other species was high in A. cerana from different areas. Due to its unique geographical environment and climatic conditions, at the genus level, the diversity of bacterial communities in Xishuangbanna was significantly lower than that in the other two regions, which was about 100 genera less. In conclusion, our results reveal the composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota of bees in Yunnan and deepen our understanding of the intestinal microbiota of bees.

Different Dynamics of Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Hive-Stored Bee Bread and Their Possible Roles: A Case Study from Two Commercial Honey Bees in China.

This study investigated both bacterial and fungal communities in corbicular pollen and hive-stored bee bread of two commercial honey bees, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana, in China. Although both honey bees favor different main floral sources, the dynamics of each microbial community is similar. During pH reduction in hive-stored bee bread, results from conventional culturable methods and next-generation sequencing showed a declining bacterial population but a stable fungal population. Different honey bee species and floral sources might not affect the core microbial community structure but could change the number of bacteria. Corbicular pollen was colonized by the Enterobacteriaceae bacterium (Escherichia-Shiga, Panteoa, Pseudomonas) group; however, the number of bacteria significantly decreased in hive-stored bee bread in less than 72 h. In contrast, Acinetobacter was highly abundant and could utilize protein sources. In terms of the fungal community, the genus Cladosporium remained abundant in both corbicular pollen and hive-stored bee bread. This filamentous fungus might encourage honey bees to reserve pollen by releasing organic acids. Furthermore, several filamentous fungi had the potential to inhibit both commensal/contaminant bacteria and the growth of pathogens. Filamentous fungi, in particular, the genus Cladosporium, could support pollen preservation of both honey bee species.

The effectiveness and safety of topical ß-receptor blocker in treating superficial infantile haemangiomas: A meta-analysis including 20 studies.

AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of topical ß-receptor blocker in treating superficial infantile haemangiomas (SIH) and compare the effectiveness and safety of topical ß-receptor blocker against other therapies. METHODS: A search of the literature using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Review database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang were performed to identify the studies that estimated the effectiveness and safety of topical ß-receptor blocker in treating SIH, the fixed-effect or random-effects meta-analytical techniques were applied to assess the outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty studies, involving 2098 patients, were included to conduct this analysis. Topical propranolol and topical timolol were discovered to be as effective as oral propranolol in treating SIH (propranolol, odds ratio [OR] = 0.486, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.165, 1.426, P = .189; timolol, OR = 0.955; 95%CI 0.700, 1.302; P = .769), and topical timolol was more effective than topical imiquimod (OR = 2.561; 95%CI 1.182, 5.550; P = .017), observation (OR = 18.458; 95%CI 5.660, 60.191; P < .001) and topical saline solutions (OR = 19.193; 95%CI 8.837, 41.683; P < .001) in treating SIH. The comparison between topical propranolol and oral propranolol led to no discovery of significant difference in the incidence of adverse effects (OR = 1.258; 95%CI 0.471, 3.358; P = .647). Compared with oral propranolol, topical timolol was associated with fewer incidences of adverse effects (OR = 0.191; 95%CI 0.043, 0.858; P = .031). No significant difference in the incidence of adverse effects was found when topical timolol and topical imiquimod were compared (OR = 0.077; 95%CI 0.005, 1.206; P = .068). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis provided evidence that topical ß-receptor blockers (propranolol and timolol), especially timolol, may replace oral propranolol as a first-line treatment for SIH.

Colonization of the gut microbiota of honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers at different developmental stages.

The role of the gut microbiome in animal health has become increasingly evident. Although the structure of the gut microbiome of A. mellifera is well known, little is known about the dynamic change across different developmental stages. In this study, we explored the dynamic changes of the gut microbiota of A. mellifera at different developmental stages covering the whole life cycle using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results indicated that the core (shared) gut microbiota changes significantly among different developmental stages. The diversity of the bacterial community in workers among different ages was significantly different. In addition, by comparing the core gut microbiota among different-aged workers, we found that newly emerged workers had fewer core microbiota. Three genera, Gilliamella, Frischella, and Snodgrassella, were significantly colonized at 1 day poste mergence (dpe); Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Commensalibacter were significantly colonized at 3 dpe and significantly reduced with Gilliamella. Lactobacillus kunkeei and Bartonella were significantly colonized at 12 dpe and were significantly decreased with Lactobacillus helsingborgensis. Commensalibacter and Bifidobacterium were significantly decreased at 25 dpe, and Bacteroides, Escherichia-Shigella, and Porphyromonadaceae were significantly decreased between 19 and 25 dpe. Our results reveal the succession of the gut microbiota of workers from birth to senescence, which provides a theoretical basis for further exploring the roles of gut microbiota during different developmental stages.

A completely controlled sphere-to-bilayer micellar transition: the molecular mechanism and application on the growth of nanosheets.

The combination of a simple modification of the sample addition method to generate a sort of continuously accumulated external stimulation with only minute increments in amplitude and the introduction of probe molecules (herein aniline) within the micelle allow the direct continuous in situ spectroscopic monitoring of possible micellar transitions. In this way, a sphere-to-ellipsoid and further an ellipsoid-to-bilayer micellar transition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) induced by camphor sulfuric acid (CSA) is observed to experience four stages in the time sequence: (i) the accumulated protons released from CSA in the hydration layer of the micelle stimulate the rearrangement of SDS micelles; (ii) the micelles transform into ellipsoidal shapes as evidenced by the characteristic chemical shift anisotropy and the corresponding molecular dynamic properties from probe molecules; (iii) further protonation of aniline induces the micelle to turn into lamellar structures; (iv) aniline is freed from the micelle while leaving the SDS bilayers undistorted. Moreover, polyaniline nanosheets incorporating SDS bilayers in sandwich structures, which can display excellent capacitive behavior at relatively high current densities for the fabricated supercapacitors, are prepared from the aniline oriented by the bending energy of the SDS bilayers.