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Summary Objective Our objective was to compare the perioperative parameters of needle-assisted and conventional laparoendoscopic single-site adrenalectomy (LESS-A). Methods We compared 23 patients undergoing needle-assisted LESS-A with 29 patients undergoing conventional LESS-A at Hiroshima University Hospital between November 2009 and February 2014. Needle-assisted LESS-A was performed using a MiniLap instrument (Stryker, San Jose, CA, USA). We used this instrument to protectively retract the liver at the right side of the tumor and the spleen at the left side by grasping with a Securea endoscopic surgical spacer (Hogy Medical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Various parameters including insufflation time, estimated blood loss, pain scale, resumption of oral intake, transfusion rate, and complications were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test. Results In all cases, LESS-A was completed successfully with no major intraoperative complications. Patients in both treatment groups had similar age, body mass index, sex, and laterality. Significantly, needle-assisted LESS-A was performed using the transumbilical approach rather than the subcostal approach. The insufflation time of the needle-assisted LESS-A was shorter than that of the conventional LESS-A ( p = 0.0335). No patients required intraoperative or postoperative blood transfusions. Retrospective design and the small sample size are main limitations of this study. Conclusion Needle-assisted LESS-A was performed safely and in a manner that mitigated many of the difficulties of LESS surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Erectile dysfunction remains a major complication after surgery of pelvic organs, especially after radical prostatectomy. Aim The aim of this study was to assess the effect of endothelial progenitor cells on the regeneration of cavernous nerves in a rat injury model. Methods A 2 mm length of the right and left cavernous nerves of 8-week-old male nude rats were excised. Alginate gel sponge sheets supplemented with 1 × 104 CD133+ cells derived from human bone marrow were then placed over the gaps on both sides ( CD group). The same experiments were performed on sham-operated rats ( SH group), rats with only the nerve excision ( EX group), and rats with alginate gel sheets placed on the injured nerves ( AL group). Main Outcome Measures Immunofluorescence staining and molecular evaluation were performed 4 days later. Functional and histological evaluations were performed 12 weeks later. Results The intracavernous pressure elicited by electrical stimulation and the neuronal nitric oxide synthase-positive area in surrounding tissues of the prostate was significantly greater in the CD group. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that CD133+ cells were assimilated as vascular endothelial cells, and the real-time polymerase chain reaction showed upregulation of nerve growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in the alginate gel sponge sheets of the CD group. Conclusions Transplantation of CD133+ cells accelerated the functional and histological recovery in this cavernous nerve injury model, and the recovery mechanism is thought to be angiogenesis and upregulation of growth factors. CD133+cells could be an optional treatment for cavernous nerve injury after prostatectomy in clinical settings. Miyamoto K, Inoue S, Kobayashi K, Kajiwara M, Teishima J, and Matsubara A. Rat cavernous nerve reconstruction with CD133+ cells derived from human bone marrow. J Sex Med 2014;11:1148-1158. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the impact of baseline lower urinary tract symptoms on postoperative urinary morbidity in patients being treated for prostate cancer with 125-I permanent prostate brachytherapy. Methods: A total of 104 prostate cancer patients were enrolled in this study. Their urinary morbidity was followed up using the International Prostate Symptom Score and Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite for 12 months or more after permanent prostate brachytherapy. Patients were classified into two groups based on their baseline International Prostate Symptom Score: the low International Prostate Symptom Score group (score ≤ 7) and the high International Prostate Symptom Score group (score ≥ 8). Urinary morbidity was estimated in each group based on the results of the International Prostate Symptom Score and Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite measured before permanent prostate brachytherapy, and at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after the end of all radiation therapy. Results: The overall mean total International Prostate Symptom Score, International Prostate Symptom Score quality of life score, and urinary-related scores for Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite were significantly worse at 1 month after the end of treatment, but they improved gradually after the treatment and recovered to the baseline level within 12 months. Even in the high-International Prostate Symptom Score group, the International Prostate Symptom Score and International Prostate Symptom Score Quality of Life score were significantly worse at 1-3 months after permanent prostate brachytherapy, and then recovered to the baseline level without prolongation. Although the urination-related Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite score in the high-International Prostate Symptom Score group was significantly worse at 1 month after permanent prostate brachytherapy in comparison with that in the low-International Prostate Symptom Score group, it recovered to the baseline level without prolongation. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the presence of lower urinary tract symptoms before implantation does not prolong urinary morbidity after permanent prostate brachytherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the definite border between normal and tumor kidney tissues during partial nephrectomy (PN) procedures using intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG)-based fluorescence imaging. Methods: Sixteen potential candidates for PN with organ-confined, small renal masses treated between July 2008 and June 2011 at Shimane University Hospital were enrolled. An ICG-based fluorescence navigation (FN) system was used to evaluate the border between the tumor and normal kidney parenchyma (step 1), the cavity following tumor excision (step 2), and the negative surgical margin of resected tissues (step 3). The R.E.N.A.L nephrometry score (RNS) was applied to evaluate the correlation between tumor anatomy and ICG-based fluorescence imaging. Results: In step 1, in vivo probing revealed 14 tumors with a mean RNS of 7 points that showed quite low ICG fluorescence signals in the tumor mass as compared with normal kidney parenchyma. In step 2, in vivo probing around the bed revealed highly fluorescent signals with no remnant tumor residing in 10 cases with a mean RNS of 6 points. In step 3, ex vivo probing revealed cancer tissues involving normal parenchyma that were completely excised with minimum amounts of normal parenchyma in all 16 resected specimens. Conclusions: ICG-based FN system was very helpful for confirming negative margin status in even the most complex cases. Further evaluations may open the door for widespread use of this ICG-based FN system as a feasible and attractive alternative during a PN procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor excision and dermal-flap skin graft operations were performed on a 72-year-old woman diagnosed with extramammary Paget's disease at our hospital in August 2001. Paget cells were identified in the external urethral meatus even though nine local excisions of recurrent tumors had been performed. She was suffered from severe vesical pain from May 2007. Urine cytology was class V and physical examination revealed redness in external urethral meatus. Pelvic MRI did not show apparent lymph node swelling and the endoscopic multiple biopsies performed at multiple bladder mucosa and distal urethra. Pathological diagnosis of the endoscopic biopsy showed multiple Paget cells from urethra, posterior and bilateral lateral wall, and bladder neck. Because Paget's disease may infiltrate bladder mucosa and cause severe vesical pain due to bladder invasion, total cystorethrectomy, ileal conduit, and external skin excision were performed. Pathological findings were continuous infiltration of Paget cells from external urethral meatus to bladder mucosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: More than 200% current density enhancement in miniaturized microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has been successfully demonstrated by optimizing the contact electrode structure using micro and nano features. Two fundamental issues are addressed in this work: (1) a methodology to enhance current/power density of MFCs by changing micro and nano structural configurations of contact electrodes and (2) a study on the effectiveness of charge transfer between living cells with organic nanowire-pili and micro/nano interfacial electrodes. This paper details the fabrication and characterization processes of miniaturized MFCs with experimental results, and discusses the prospective power density of MFCs using micro/nano processes. Moreover, a hypothesis for the direct electron transport mechanism from living cells to electrodes is experimentally corroborated. As such, this work represents a step toward higher energy conversion efficiency as well as practical applications of MFCs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper proposes use of pitch-modulated interdigital transducers (IDTs) and reflectors for the realization of low-loss and wideband longitudinally coupled double-mode surface acoustic wave (DMS) filters. This technique offers drastic improvement of the device performances through the introduction of a sufficient number of degrees of freedom in the DMS filter design. Namely, the pass-band becomes wide and flat, and insertion loss can be reduced through the suppression of the bulk acoustic wave (BAW) scattering. First, it is shown how the BAW scattering loss can be reduced by the use of the pitch-modulated structure. The DMS filter with this structure is designed so that the frequency response becomes similar to that of the filter with the conventional unmodulated structure, and device performances are compared both theoretically and experimentally. It then is demonstrated how the total device performances are improved by the use of this technology when the device is designed optimally for given specifications. Adding to the reduced bulk wave scattering loss, various distinctive features offer drastic improvement of total device performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therefore, the revised authors' names and affiliations in this paper are as follows: Jun Teishima SP 1 sp , Daiki Murata SP 2 sp , Shogo Inoue SP 1 sp , Tetsutaro Hayashi SP 1 sp , Koji Mita SP 2 sp , Yasuhisa Hasegawa SP 3 sp , Masao Kato SP 4 sp , Mitsuru Kajiwara SP 5 sp , Masanobu Shigeta SP 6 sp , Satoshi Maruyama SP 7 sp , Hiroyuki Moriyama SP 8 sp and Seiji Fujiwara SP 9 sp SP 1 sp Department of Urology, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551; SP 2 sp Department of Urology, Hiroshima-City Asa Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima 731-0293; SP 3 sp Department of Urology, Fukuyama Medical Center, Fukuyama, Hiroshima 720-8520; SP 4 sp Department of Urology, Hiroshima General Hospital, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima 738-8503; SP 5 sp Department of Urology, Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital, Hiroshima 734-8530; SP 6 sp Department of Urology, Kure Medical Center and Chugoku Cancer Center, Kure, Hiroshima 737-0023; SP 7 sp Department of Urology, Miyoshi Central Hospital, Miyoshi, Tokushima 728-8502; SP 8 sp Department of Urology, Onomichi General Hospital, Onomichi, Hiroshima 722-8508; SP 9 sp Department of Urology, Higashi-Hiroshima Medical Center, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-0041, Japan The final author in the author list, Professor Akio Matsubara (of the Department of Urology, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University), contacted the Editorial Office to say that he should not have been listed as an author in this published article. Mol Clin Oncol 12:557-564, 2020; DOI: 10.3892/mco.2020.2020 Following the publication of the above article, the authors have requested a change in the authorship on the paper. [Extracted from the article]

Homeobox genes function as master regulatory transcription factors during embryogenesis. HOXB5 is known to play an important role in several cancers. However, the biological role of HOXB5 in prostate cancer (PCa) is not fully elucidated. This study aimed to analyze the expression and function of HOXB5 and involvement of HOXB5 in neuroendocrine differentiation in PCa. Immunohistochemistry showed that 56 (43.8%) of 128 cases of localized PCa were positive for HOXB5. HOXB5-positive cases were associated with poor prostate-specific antigen recurrence-free survival after prostatectomy. Among 74 cases of metastatic PCa, 43 (58.1%) were positive for HOXB5. HOXB5 expression was higher in metastatic PCa than that in localized PCa. HOXB5 knockdown suppressed cell growth and invasion, but HOXB5 overexpression increased cell growth and invasion in PCa cell lines. Furthermore, HOXB5 regulated RET expression. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that Nelson androgen response gene set was enriched in low HOXB5 expression group. RB1 knockout increased HOXB5 expression. Of note, additional p53 knockdown further increased HOXB5 expression in RB1 knockout cells. In silico analysis showed that HOXB5 expression was increased in neuroendocrine PCa (NEPC). These results suggest that HOXB5 may be a promising prognostic marker after prostatectomy and is involved in progression to NEPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The efficacy of abiraterone plus prednisolone (ABI) against nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) remains unclear. To evaluate enzalutamide and ABI as the first-line treatment for CRPC, we conducted the randomized controlled trial including both metastatic and nonmetastatic CRPC. As a sub-analysis, we focused on nonmetastatic CRPC in this study. ABI and enzalutamide had similar efficacy and safety profiles in patients with nonmetastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide (ENZ) and abiraterone plus prednisolone (ABI) can improve the survival of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, the agent that is more effective against nonmetastatic CRPC remains unclear. To evaluate the agent that can be used as the first-line treatment for CRPC, an investigator-initiated, multicenter, randomized controlled trial (ENABLE Study for PCa) including both metastatic and nonmetastatic CRPC was conducted in Japan. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate, overall survival, some essential survival endpoints, and safety of patients with nonmetastatic CRPC were also analyzed. In this subanalysis, 15 and 26 patients in the ENZ and ABI arms, respectively, presented with nonmetastatic CRPC. There was no significant difference in terms of the PSA response rate between the ENZ and ABI arms (80% and 64%, respectively; p = 0.3048). The overall survival did not significantly differ between the two arms (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.22–2.14, p = 0.5260). No significant differences were observed in terms of radiographic progression-free survival and cancer-specific survival between the ENZ and ABI arms (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.35–1.84; p = 0.6056 and HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.19–2.73; p = 0.6443, respectively). Only four and six patients in the ENZ and ABI arms, respectively, had ≥grade 3 adverse events. ABI and ENZ had similar efficacy and safety profiles in patients with nonmetastatic CRPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]