Innovative endoscopic enucleations of the prostate--Xie’s Prostate Enucleations

In the past 2 decades,endoscopic enucleation of the prostate has become a safe and effective surgical treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH),with comparable outcomes to traditional surgeries.Transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of the prostate(TVERP),transurethral vapor enucleation of the prostate(TVEP),and ultrasound-navigated TVEP(US-TVEP)are new,innovative endoscopic enucleation procedures.These procedures are named Xie’s Prostate Enucleations(Xie’s Procedures for short).Current clinical data indicate that Xie’s Procedures are safe and effective treatment options for patients with BPH,especially for patients with larger prostates.Further prospective,randomized clinical trials compared with traditional transurethral resection of prostate(TURP)are still needed.

Prostate cancer in Asia:A collaborative report

The incidence of prostate cancer(PCa)within Asian population used to be much lower than in the Western population;however,in recent years the incidence and mortality rate of PCa in some Asian countries have grown rapidly.This collaborative report summarized the latest epidemiology information,risk factors,and racial differences in PCa diagnosis,current status and new trends in surgery management and novel agents for castration-resistant prostate cancer.We believe such information would be helpful in clinical decision making for urologists and oncologists,health-care ministries and medical researchers.

GYY4137 protects against myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury by attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis in rats

Hydrogen sulfide （H2S） is a gasotransmitter that regulates cardiovascular functions. The present study aimed to determine the protective effect of slow-releasing H2S donor GYY4137 on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion （I/R） injury and to investigate the possible signaling mechanisms involved. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with GYY4137 at 12.5 mg/（kg.day）, 25 mg/（kg.day） or 50 mg/（kg.day） intraperitoneally for 7 days. Then, rats were subjected to 30 minutes of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion for 24 hours. We found that GYY4137 increased the cardiac ejection fraction and fractional shortening, reduced the ischemia area, alleviated histological injury and decreased plasma creatine kinase after myocardial I/R. Both H2S concentration in plasma and cystathionine-γ-lyase （CSE） activity in the myocardium were enhanced in the GYY4137 treated groups. GYY4137 also decreased malondialdehyde and myeloperoxidase levels in serum, attenuated superoxide anion level and suppressed phosphorylation of mitogen activated protein kinases in the myocardium after I/R. Meanwhile, GYY4137 increased the expression of Bcl-2 but decreased the expression of Bax, caspase-3 activity and apoptosis in the myocardium. The data suggest that GYY4137 protects against myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury by attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis.

Adjuvant hormone therapy after radical prostatectomy in highrisk localized and locally advanced prostate cancer: First multicenter, observational study in China

Objective: Potential of combined androgen blockade(CAB) has not been explored extensively in Chinese males with prostate cancer(PCa). Therefore, this study evaluated the 2-year prostate-specific antigen(PSA) recurrence rate and quality of life(Qo L) in patients with high-risk localized and locally advanced PCa receiving adjuvant hormone therapy(HT) after radical prostatectomy(RP).Methods: This prospective, multicenter, observational study conducted in 18 centers across China enrolled patients with high-risk factor(preoperative PSA>20 ng/m L or Gleason score >7) or locally advanced PCa. Different adjuvant HT were administered after RP according to investigator’s decision in routine clinical practice.Relationship of baseline and postoperative characteristics was assessed with recurrence rate. PSA recurrence rate and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate(FACT-P) Qo L scores were recorded at 12 months and 24 months. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to construct the PSA recurrence rate during follow-up.Results: A total of 189 patients(mean age: 66.9±6.5 years) were recruited, among which 112(59.3%) patients showed serum PSA>20 ng/m L preoperatively. The highest postoperative pathological advancement noticed was from clinical T2(c T2) to pathological T3(p T3)(43.9%) stage. The majority of the patients(66.1%) received CAB as adjuvant HT, for a median duration of 20.0 months. The least recurrence(15.2%) was noticed in patients treated with CAB, followed by those treated with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist(LHRHa)(16.1%), and antiandrogen(19.0%), with non-significant difference noted among the groups. None of the baseline or postoperative characteristics was related with PSA recurrence in our study. The 24-month FACT-P Qo L score of119 patients treated for >12 months showed significant improvement above baseline compared with those treated for ≤12 months.Conclusions: Adjuvant CAB therapy after RP showed reduction trend in 2-year PSA recurrence rate in highrisk Chinese patients with localized and locally advanced PCa, compared with adjuvant anti-androgens(AA) or LHRHa therapy. Further long-term therapy(>12 months) significantly improved Qo L compared to short-term HT therapy, suggesting the beneficial effect of long-term CAB therapy in improving Qo L.

Percent free prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer diagnosis in Chinese men with a PSA of 4.0-10.0 ng/mL:Results from the Chinese Prostate Cancer Consortium

Objective:To test the diagnostic performance of percent free prostate-specific antigen(%fPSA)in predicting any prostate cancer(PCa)and high-grade prostate cancer(HGPCa)in a retrospective multi-center biopsy cohort with a PSA level of 4.0e10.0 ng/mL in China.Methods:Consecutive patients with a PSA of 4.0-10.0 ng/mL who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy were enrolled at 16 Chinese medical centers from January 1st,2010 to December 31st,2013.Total and free serum PSA determinations were performed using three types of electro-chemiluminescence immunoassays recalibrated to the World Health Organization(WHO)standard.The diagnostic accuracy of PSA,%fPSA,and %fPSA in combination with PSA(%fPSA t PSA)was determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve(AUC).Results:A total of 2310 consecutive men with PSA levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL were included,and the detection rate of PCa was 25.1%.The AUC of%fPSA and %fPSA t PSA in predicting any PCa was superior to PSA alone in men aged≥60 years(0.623 vs.0.534,p<0.0001)but not in men aged 40e59 years(0.517 vs.0.518,p=0.939).Similar result was yield in predicting HGPCa.Conclusion:In a clinical setting of Chinese men with 4.0e10.0 ng/mL PSA undergoing initial prostate biopsy,adding %fPSA to PSA can moderately improve the diagnostic accuracy for any PCa and HGPCa compared with PSA alone in patients≥60 but not in patients aged 40-59 years.

Efficacy and safety of degarelix in patients with prostate cancer:Results from a phase III study in China

Objective:To establish non-inferiority of gonadotropin-releasing hormone degarelix compared with goserelin in suppressing and maintaining castrate testosterone levels from Day 28 to Day 364 in Chinese patients with prostate cancer.Methods:This is an open-label,multi-centre study in which men aged18 years were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to once-a-month subcutaneous injection of either degarelix(240/80 mg)or goserelin(3.6 mg)for 12 months.The primary endpoint was difference in 1-year cumulative probability of suppressing testosterone to ≤0.5 ng/mL.Non-inferiority was to be established if the lower 95% confidence interval(CI)limit for difference in cumulative probability between the treatment arms was greater than -10%.Secondary endpoints included cumulative probability of prostate-specific-antigen-progression-free-survival(PSA-PFS).Safety was also assessed.Results:Baseline demographics and disease characteristics were similar between degarelix(n=142)and goserelin(n=141)treatment arms.The difference in cumulative probability of maintaining castrate levels from Day 28-364 was 3.6%(95%CI:-1.5%,8.7%),demonstrating non-inferiority of degarelix.The cumulative probability of PSA-PFS at Day 364 was higher for degarelix(82.3%,95%CI:74.7%,87.7%)versus goserelin(71.7%,95%CI:63.2%,78.5%,p=0.038).Adverse events(AEs)were similar between treatment arms,except for more injection site reactions with degarelix versus goserelin.Four(2.8%)and nine(6.4%)patients discontinued due to AEs in degarelix and goserelin groups,respectively.

Application of fluorescence in situ hybridization in the detection of bladder transitional-cell carcinoma: A multi-center clinical study based on Chinese population

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic value of fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)in bladder cancer.Methods:We enrolled healthy volunteers and patients who were clinically suspected to have bladder cancer and conducted FISH tests and cytology examinations from August 2007 to December 2008.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was performed and the area under curve(AUC)values were calculated for both the FISH and urine cytology tests.Results:A cohort of 988 healthy volunteers was enrolled to establish a reference range for the normal population.A total of 4807 patients with hematuria were prospectively,randomly enrolled for the simultaneous analysis of urine cytology,FISH testing,and a final diagnosis as determined by the pathologic findings of a biopsy or a surgically-excised specimen.Overall,the sensitivity of FISH in detecting transitional-cell carcinoma was 82.7%,while that of cytology was 33.4%(p<0.001).The sensitivity values of FISH for non-muscle invasive and muscle invasive bladder transitional-cell carcinoma were 81.7%and 89.6%,respectively(p=0.004).The sensitivity values of FISH for low and high grade bladder cancer were 82.6%and 90.1%,respectively(p=0.002).Conclusion:FISH is significantly more sensitive than voided urine cytology for detecting bladder cancer in patients evaluated for gross hematuria at all cancer grades and stages.Higher sensitivity using FISH was obtained in high grade and muscle invasive tumors.

Updates in prostate cancer detections and treatments--Messages from 2017 EAU and AUA

1.Updates in prostate cancer(PCa)detections 1.1.Screening of PCa The discovery of prostate specific antigen(PSA)undoubtedly marked a new era for the efficient screening of PCa.In addition,the screening of PCa has been the hot area of studies all the time,and it is still the most commonly discussed topic of European Association of Urology(EAU)and American Urological Association(AUA).

Study on Soil Nutrient Fertility of Cultivated Land in Laos

[Objectives] This study was conducted to explore the differences in soil nutrient contents of cultivated land in different regions of Laos,and to provide a basis for soil nutrient management and scientific fertilization in Laos. [Methods] By collecting 166 samples of the 0-20 cm cultivated soil layer from farmland in the farming areas of Luang Namtha Province in the northern part of Laos and Vientiane Province in the middle of the country,the contents of soil organic matter,total nitrogen,available phosphorus,available potassium,available calcium and available magnesium were analyzed,so as to evaluate the current status of soil nutrient fertility and explore the differences in soil nutrient contents of regional cultivated land. [Results] The soil organic matter was relatively abundant,the total nitrogen and available potassium contents were at the lower-middle level,and the available phosphorus,available calcium and available magnesium were insufficient or extremely insufficient. The soil nutrient contents of cultivated land were different in different regions. [Conclusions] It is suggested that lime or other alkaline fertilizers should be applied on the farmland with acid soil,and nitrogen,phosphorus,and potassium fertilizers should be added at the same time to improve soil nutrient fertility.

Overview of the Development of Facility Agriculture

This paper reviewed the meaning of facility agriculture and the development status and trends of facility agriculture at home and abroad,analyzed the development status and existing problems of facility agriculture in Guangxi,and proposed corresponding solutions to the problems in the development of facility agriculture in Guangxi,aiming to provide reference for promoting the sustainable development of facility agriculture in Guangxi.

Group Decision-Making Model of Renal Cancer Surgery Options Using Entropy Fuzzy Element Aczel-Alsina Weighted Aggregation Operators under the Environment of Fuzzy Multi-Sets

Since existing selection methods of surgical treatment schemes of renal cancer patients mainly depend on physicians’clinical experience and judgments,the surgical treatment options of renal cancer patients lack their scientifical and reasonable information expression and group decision-making model for renal cancer patients.Fuzzy multi-sets(FMSs)have a number of properties,which make them suitable for expressing the uncertain information of medical diagnoses and treatments in group decision-making(GDM)problems.To choose the most appropriate surgical treatment scheme for a patient with localized renal cell carcinoma(RCC)(T1 stage kidney tumor),this article needs to develop an effective GDM model based on the fuzzy multivalued evaluation information of the renal cancer patients.First,we propose a conversionmethod of transforming FMSs into entropy fuzzy sets(EFSs)based on the mean and Shannon entropy of a fuzzy sequence in FMS to reasonably simplify the information expression and operations of FMSs and define the score function of an entropy fuzzy element(EFE)for ranking EFEs.Second,we present the Aczel-Alsina t-norm and t-conorm operations of EFEs and the EFE Aczel-Alsina weighted arithmetic averaging(EFEAAWAA)and EFE Aczel-Alsina weighted geometric averaging(EFEAAWGA)operators.Third,we develop a multicriteria GDM model of renal cancer surgery options in the setting of FMSs.Finally,the proposed GDM model is applied to two clinical cases of renal cancer patients to choose the best surgical treatment scheme for a renal cancer patient in the setting of FMSs.The selected results of two clinical cases verify the efficiency and rationality of the proposed GDM model in the setting of FMSs.

Research on Measurement Method of Muffler Performance under High Temperature and High-Speed Airflow Conditions

Ignoring the influence of flow velocity and flow temperature on muffling performance,performance tests were conducted without airflow in the development phase of the muffler which accounts to the difficulty of obtaining a perfect match between the actual noise reduction effect and the design goal.Based on the two-load test theory,a set of high-temperature and high-speed airflow simulation measurement devices for the muffler has been built.In order to avoid the impact of high-temperature and high-speed airflow on the sensor,a high temperature resistant sensor holder has been designed for the test rig.The sound pressure has been measured in the pipe by using the lead-out measurement.In addition,a variable impedance load is placed at the end of the test tube to realize the switch between two different impedance loads by the wave handle of the variable impedance load.A sound source correction method is proposed to decrease the random fluctuation of the spectral characteristics of the output noise signal,which is caused by the acoustic impedance variation at the connection between the transition pipeline and the combined sound source system.Finally,an acoustic software has been used to calculate the transmission loss of the muffler in the presence of high temperature airflow.In comparing the experimental measurements and the simulation results,the small difference shows that:the bench not only can effectively simulate high-temperature and flow velocity environment of the engine but also accurately test the transmission loss of the muffler.

γ-catenin alleviates cardiac fibrosis through inhibiting phosphorylation of GSK-3β

Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathological change of many cardiovascular diseases. β-catenin has been shown to promote fibrosis. However, the precise role of its homolog γ-catenin in the process of fibrosis remains largely unclear. In this study, we found that the expression of γ-catenin was significantly decreased in angiotensin Ⅱ(Ang Ⅱ)-induced cardiac fibrosis model, contrary to most reports of β-catenin. Overexpression of γ-catenin in cardiac fibroblasts(CFs) significantly inhibited the expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA), whereas knocking down the expression of γ-catenin with si RNA promoted the occurrence of cardiac fibrosis.Mechanistically, γ-catenin could bind to GSK-3β to inhibit the phosphorylation of GSK-3β, therefore preventing cardiac fibrosis. Our study shows that γ-catenin is an important protective factor in cardiac fibrosis, which provides a new potential target for the treatment of cardiac fibrosis.

Three-Stages Hyperspectral Image Compression Sensing with Band Selection

Compressed sensing(CS),as an efficient data transmission method,has achieved great success in the field of data transmission such as image,video and text.It can robustly recover signals from fewer Measurements,effectively alleviating the bandwidth pressure during data transmission.However,CS has many shortcomings in the transmission of hyperspectral image(HSI)data.This work aims to consider the application of CS in the transmission of hyperspectral image(HSI)data,and provides a feasible research scheme for CS of HSI data.HSI has rich spectral information and spatial information in bands,which can reflect the physical properties of the target.Most of the hyperspectral image compressed sensing(HSICS)algorithms cannot effectively use the inter-band information of HSI,resulting in poor reconstruction effects.In this paper,A three-stage hyperspectral image compression sensing algorithm(Three-stages HSICS)is proposed to obtain intra-band and inter-band characteristics of HSI,which can improve the reconstruction accuracy of HSI.Here,we establish a multi-objective band selection(Mop-BS)model,amulti-hypothesis prediction(MHP)model and a residual sparse(ReWSR)model for HSI,and use a staged reconstruction method to restore the compressed HSI.The simulation results show that the three-stage HSICS successfully improves the reconstruction accuracy of HSICS,and it performs best among all comparison algorithms.

Influence of Wetland Self-purification Capacity on the Utilization of Water Resources——A Case Study of the Project for Recycling Yanshan River Water

[ Objective] The study aims to resolve water resource problem availably. [ Method] On the basis of wetland self-purification capacity, Yanshan River water was purified by Xixi Wetland, and the feasibility of using treated Yanshan River water for urban greening and watering road was analyzed. [Result] Compared with direct utilization of tap water, it is more economic to recycle Yanshan River water purified by Xixi Wetland for urban greening and watering read, with obvious economic, ecological and social benefits, so it is an effective method to address shortage of water resources and is worth spreading. [ Conclusion] It is feasible to use Yanshan River water purified by Xixi Wetland for urban greening and watering read.

Clinical features and management of prostate cancer with bone metastases:the first report of our Institute

Objective:To summarize the experience of diagnosis and treatment outcomes for bone metastatic prostate cancer.Methods:A retrospective study with a total of 128 prostate cancer(Pca) was performed from 2000 to 2005,in our institute.We analyzed the clinical features and outcomes of patients with bone metastases and the data and follow-up of 63 bone metastases was collected by one registrar.Cochran Armitage trend test was used for statistic analysis and a P-value of < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant.Results:The mean age was 73(range 55 to 87) years.The PSA level was from 0.083 ng/mL to 6462 ng/mL.Bone metastases morbidity had good relationship with PSA level.With the mean follow up of 30(range 6 to 72) months for 52/63(82.5%) patients,15(28.8%) died from Pca with a mean survival of 21 months and 1 patient with PSA less than 4 ng/mL at the time died from cerebrovascular suddenness 6 months post-treatment.Conclusion:The early effect of endocrine treatment for bone metastases is obvious,and palliative prostatectomy is satisfactory and able to improve the quality of life rapidly for patients with obstructive symptoms.

Evaluation of Soil Nutrient Content and Fertility in Main Dry Farming Regions of Laos

[Objectives]To evaluate the status of soil nutrient and fertility in main dry farming regions of Laos,and to explore differences in soil nutrient content between regions and crop types.[Methods]By collecting 57 soil samples in the 0-20 cm layer of the main dryland in southern and northern provinces of Laos.Soil pH,organic matter,total nitrogen,available nitrogen,available phosphorus,available potassium,exchangeable calcium,exchangeable magnesium and available zinc content were analyzed.[Results]The soil in the main dry farming regions of Laos was acidic,the overall fertility level was good,and the exchangeable calcium and magnesium contents were low.There were differences in soil nutrient content in the dry farming regions of southern and northern Laos.Drylands where cassava and maize were growed had higher fertility.[Conclusions]It is suggested to apply lime or alkaline fertilizer in the dry land with acid soil to increase soil pH and increase the supply of soil calcium and magnesium.Organic fertilizer should be applied to improve soil water retention capacity,and it is necessary to pay attention to the fertilization ratio of macroelements to balance fertilization.

Echinatin inhibits tumor growth and synergizes with chemotherapeutic agents against human bladder cancer cells by activating p38 and suppressing Wnt/β-catenin pathways

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system.Due to the poor prognosis and high mortality rate of the disease,it is urgent to develop new drugs with high efficacy and low toxicity to treat BC.Echinatin (Ecn) is a bioactive natural flavonoid oflicorice that has attracted special attention for its promising anti-tumor potential.Herein,we explored the inhibitory effects of Echinatin on BC cells and probed the possible molecular mechanism.We found that Ecnin vitro inhibited the proliferation,migration,and invasion,arrested the cell cycle at the G2/M phase,and promoted apoptosis in BC cells.Besides,Ecn had no notable cytotoxicity towards human normal cells.We subsequently confirmed that Ecn restrained xenograft tumor growth and metastasis of BC cells in vivo .Mechanistically,Ecn activated the p38 signaling pathway but inactivated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway,while over-expression of β-catenin and the p38 inhibitor both attenuated the inhibitory effects of Ecn on BC cells.Remarkably,Ecn combined with cisplatin (DDP) or gemcitabine (Gem) had synergistic inhibitory effects on BC cells.In summary,our results validate that Ecn inhibits the tumor growth of human BC cells via p38 and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways.More meaningfully,our results suggest a potential strategy to enhance DDP- or Gem-induced inhibitory effects on BC cells by combining with Ecn.