Stented ureterovesical anastomosis in renal transplantation: does it influence the rate of urinary tract infections?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Our objective was to evaluate the impact of routine use of double-J stents on the incidence of urinary tract infection after renal transplantation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective-comparative single-centre study in 310 consecutive adult deceased donor kidney recipients transplanted from 2002 to 2006. Patients were divided in two groups, with or without urinary stent implantation. To evaluate the predictive factors for UTI, donor and recipients pre- and post-transplantation data were analysed. Early urological complications and renal function within 12 months of transplantation were included as well.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 157 patients were enrolled to a stent (ST) and 153 patients to a no-stent (NST) group. The rate of urinary tract infection at three months was similar between the two groups (43.3% ST vs. 40.1% NST, p = 0.65). Of the identified pathogens Enterococcus and Escherichia coli were the most common species. In multivariate analysis neither age nor immunosuppressive agents, BMI or diabetes seemed to have influence on the rate of UTI. When compared to males, females had a significantly higher risk for UTI (54.0% vs. 33.5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Prophylactic stenting of the ureterovesical anastomosis does not increase the risk of urinary tract infection in the early postoperative period.</p

N-3 PUFA Supplementation Triggers PPAR-α Activation and PPAR-α/NF-κB Interaction: Anti-Inflammatory Implications in Liver Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Dietary supplementation with the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to rats preconditions the liver against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, with reduction of the enhanced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) functionality occurring in the early phase of IR injury, and recovery of IR-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine response. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that liver preconditioning by n-3 PUFA is exerted through peroxisone proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) activation and interference with NF-κB activation. For this purpose we evaluated the formation of PPAR-α/NF-κBp65 complexes in relation to changes in PPAR-α activation, IκB-α phosphorylation and serum levels and expression of interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in a model of hepatic IR-injury (1 h of ischemia and 20 h of reperfusion) or sham laparotomy (controls) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Animals were previously supplemented for 7 days with encapsulated fish oil (General Nutrition Corp., Pittsburg, PA) or isovolumetric amounts of saline (controls). Normalization of IR-altered parameters of liver injury (serum transaminases and liver morphology) was achieved by dietary n-3 PUFA supplementation. EPA and DHA suppression of the early IR-induced NF-κB activation was paralleled by generation of PPAR-α/NF-κBp65 complexes, in concomitance with normalization of the IR-induced IκB-α phosphorylation. PPAR-α activation by n-3 PUFA was evidenced by enhancement in the expression of the PPAR-α-regulated Acyl-CoA oxidase (Acox) and Carnitine-Palmitoyl-CoA transferase I (CPT-I) genes. Consistent with these findings, normalization of IR-induced expression and serum levels of NF-κB-controlled cytokines IL-lβ and TNF-α was observed at 20 h of reperfusion. Taken together, these findings point to an antagonistic effect of PPAR-α on NF-κB-controlled transcription of pro-inflammatory mediators. This effect is associated with the formation of PPAR-α/NF-κBp65 complexes and enhanced cytosolic IκB-α stability, as major preconditioning mechanisms induced by n-3 PUFA supplementation against IR liver injury

First measurement of R(Xτ/ℓ)R(X_{\tau/\ell}) as an inclusive test of the b→cτνb \to c \tau \nu anomaly

We measure the tau-to-light-lepton ratio of inclusive $B$-meson branching fractions $R(X_{\tau/\ell}) \equiv \mathcal{B}(B\to X \tau \nu)/\mathcal{B}(B \to X \ell \nu)$, where $\ell$ indicates an electron or muon, and thereby test the universality of charged-current weak interactions. We select events that have one fully reconstructed $B$ meson and a charged lepton candidate from $189~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of electron-positron collision data collected with the Belle II detector. We find $R(X_{\tau/\ell}) = 0.228 \pm 0.016~(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.036~(\mathrm{syst})$, in agreement with standard-model expectations. This is the first direct measurement of $R(X_{\tau/\ell})$

Precise measurement of the Ds+D^+_s lifetime at Belle II

We measure the lifetime of the $D_s^+$ meson using a data sample of 207 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the Belle II experiment running at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. The lifetime is determined by fitting the decay-time distribution of a sample of $116\times 10^3$ $D_s^+\rightarrow\phi\pi^+$ decays. Our result is \tau^{}_{D^+_s} = (498.7\pm 1.7\,^{+1.1}_{-0.8}) fs, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This result is significantly more precise than previous measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Physical Review Letter

Precise Measurement of the D0^{0} and D+^{+} Lifetimes at Belle II

We report a measurement of the D$^{0}$ and D$^{+}$ lifetimes using D$^{0}$→K$^{-}$π$^{+}$ and D$^{+}$→K$^{-}$π$^{+}$π$^{+}$ decays reconstructed in e$^{+}$e$^{-}$→$\overline{cc}$ data recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ collider. The data, collected at center-of-mass energies at or near the Υ(4S) resonance, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 72 fb$^{-1}$. The results, τ(D$^{0}$)=410.5±1.1(stat)±0.8(syst)  fs and τ(D$^{+}$)=1030.4±4.7(stat)±3.1(syst) fs, are the most precise to date and are consistent with previous determinations

Measurement of branching fractions and direct CPCP asymmetries for B→KπB \to K\pi and B→ππB\to\pi\pi decays at Belle II

We report measurements of the branching fractions and direct $\it{CP}$ asymmetries of the decays $B^0 \to K^+ \pi^-$, $B^+ \to K^+ \pi^0$, $B^+ \to K^0 \pi^+$, and $B^0 \to K^0 \pi^0$, and use these for testing the standard model through an isospin-based sum rule. In addition, we measure the branching fraction and direct $\it{CP}$ asymmetry of the decay $B^+ \to \pi^+\pi^0$ and the branching fraction of the decay $B^0 \to \pi^+\pi^-$. The data are collected with the Belle II detector from $e^+e^-$ collisions at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance produced by the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy collider and contain $387\times 10^6$ bottom-antibottom meson pairs. Signal yields are determined in two-dimensional fits to background-discriminating variables, and range from 500 to 3900 decays, depending on the channel. We obtain $-0.03 \pm 0.13 \pm 0.04$ for the sum rule, in agreement with the standard model expectation of zero and with a precision comparable to the best existing determinations

Search for a τ+τ−\tau^+\tau^- resonance in e+e−→μ+μ−τ+τ−e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow \mu^{+}\mu^{-} \tau^+\tau^- events with the Belle II experiment

We report the first search for a non-standard-model resonance decaying into $\tau$ pairs in $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow \mu^{+}\mu^{-} \tau^+\tau^-$ events in the 3.6-10 GeV/$c^{2}$ mass range. We use a 62.8 fb$^{-1}$ sample of $e^+e^-$ collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider. The analysis probes three different models predicting a spin-1 particle coupling only to the heavier lepton families, a Higgs-like spin-0 particle that couples preferentially to charged leptons (leptophilic scalar), and an axion-like particle, respectively. We observe no evidence for a signal and set exclusion limits at 90% confidence level on the product of cross section and branching fraction into $\tau$ pairs, ranging from 0.7 fb to 24 fb, and on the couplings of these processes. We obtain world-leading constraints on the couplings for the leptophilic scalar model for masses above 6.5 GeV/$c^2$ and for the axion-like particle model over the entire mass range

Observation of B→D(∗)K−KS0{B\to D^{(*)} K^- K^{0}_S} decays using the 2019-2022 Belle II data sample

We present a measurement of the branching fractions of four $B^{0,-}\to D^{(*)+,0} K^- K^{0}_S$ decay modes. The measurement is based on data from SuperKEKB electron-positron collisions at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance collected with the Belle II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of ${362~\text{fb}^{-1}}$. The event yields are extracted from fits to the distributions of the difference between expected and observed $B$ meson energy to separate signal and background, and are efficiency-corrected as a function of the invariant mass of the $K^-K_S^0$ system. We find the branching fractions to be: $$\text{B}(B^-\to D^0K^-K_S^0)=(1.89\pm 0.16\pm 0.10)\times 10^{-4},$$ $$\text{B}(\overline B{}^0\to D^+K^-K_S^0)=(0.85\pm 0.11\pm 0.05)\times 10^{-4},$$ $$\text{B}(B^-\to D^{*0}K^-K_S^0)=(1.57\pm 0.27\pm 0.12)\times 10^{-4},$$ $$\text{B}(\overline B{}^0\to D^{*+}K^-K_S^0)=(0.96\pm 0.18\pm 0.06)\times 10^{-4},$$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. These results include the first observation of $\overline B{}^0\to D^+K^-K_S^0$, $B^-\to D^{*0}K^-K_S^0$, and $\overline B{}^0\to D^{*+}K^-K_S^0$ decays and a significant improvement in the precision of $\text{B}(B^-\to D^0K^-K_S^0)$ compared to previous measurements