Comparative Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of Long-Term Use of Imidafenacin and Solifenacin in Patients with Overactive Bladder: A Prospective, Open, Randomized, Parallel-Group Trial (the LIST Study)

Objectives. Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic disease, but comparative trials of anticholinergics, which are commonly used for treatment of OAB, have generally been performed for up to 12 weeks only. There is no comparative study of a long-term intervention. Methods. We conducted a 52-week prospective randomized comparative study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of two anticholinergics. Results. Forty-one Japanese patients with untreated OAB were randomly assigned to imidafenacin and solifenacin groups. There was no difference in OABSS and KHQ scores between the two groups, but the severity and incidence of adverse events caused by the anticholinergics showed increased differences between the groups with time. The severity of dry mouth and the incidence of constipation were significantly lower in the imidafenacin group (P = 0.0092 and P = 0.0013, resp.). Conclusions. This study is the first long-term trial to show differences in the properties of anticholinergics that were not detected in short-term studies. Since OAB is a chronic disease, we conclude that imidafenacin is preferable to solifenacin from a perspective of safety

Characterization of wheat Bell1-type homeobox genes in floral organs of alloplasmic lines with Aegilops crassa cytoplasm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alloplasmic wheat lines with <it>Aegilops crassa </it>cytoplasm often show homeotic conversion of stamens into pistils under long-day conditions. In the pistillody-exhibiting florets, an ectopic ovule is formed within the transformed stamens, and female sterility is also observed because of abnormal integument development.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, four wheat <it>Bell1</it>-like homeobox (<it>BLH</it>) genes were isolated and named <it>WBLH1 </it>to <it>WBLH4</it>. <it>WBLH1</it>/<it>WBLH3</it>/<it>WBLH4 </it>expression was observed in the basal boundary region of the ovary in both normal pistils and transformed stamens. <it>WBLH2 </it>was also strongly expressed in integuments not only of normal ovules in pistils but also of the ectopic ovules in transformed stamens, and the <it>WBLH2 </it>expression pattern in the sterile pistils seemed to be identical to that in normal ovules of fertile pistils. In addition, WBLH1 and WBLH3 showed interactions with the three wheat KNOX proteins through the BEL domain. WBLH2, however, formed a complex with wheat KNOTTED1 and ROUGH SHEATH1 orthologs through SKY and BEL domains, but not with a wheat LIGULELESS4 ortholog.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Expression of the four <it>WBLH </it>genes is evident in reproductive organs including pistils and transformed stamens and is independent from female sterility in alloplasmic wheat lines with <it>Ae. crassa </it>cytoplasm. KNOX-BLH interaction was conserved among various plant species, indicating the significance of KNOX-BLH complex formation in wheat developmental processes. The functional features of <it>WBLH2 </it>are likely to be distinct from other <it>BLH </it>gene functions in wheat development.</p

A Case of Hydrocele Stone with Its Composition Analysis

Hydrocele stones are freely mobile calcified bodies lying between the tunica vaginalis layers, and they are relatively rare. We present here another case of hydrocele stone incidentally discovered when castration was being undergone for the endocrine treatment of prostate cancer. A 71-year-old man was diagnosed as stage D2 prostate cancer with his prostate-specific antigen 387 ng/ml. A white smooth stone of 11 mm in diameter was incidentally found moving freely in the right hydrocele space during castration. The hydrocele stone was of yellow hard center with white materials around it. Crystallographical analysis of the hydrocele stone by a infrared spectrophotometer showed that the center was composed of 64% calcium carbonate and 36% calcium phosphate, while the outer portion was protein. Our case is the fourth where crystallographical analysis was reported for hydrocele stones

A Case of Giant Bladder Carcinosarcoma without Submucosal Invasion

Carcinosarcoma is a rare biphasic neoplasia containing both malignant mesenchymal and epithelial elements. Bladder carcinosarcoma commonly presented as high-grade, advanced stage, and aggressive behavior with a poor prognosis. An 83-year-old male presented with painless gross hematuria to our hospital. Cystoscopy revealed massive nonpapillary bladder tumor on the right wall. The 91 g tumor could be completely removed with transurethral resection. Histology of the tumor was diagnosed as carcinosarcoma with no submucosal invasion composed of biphasic malignant epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Epithelial malignancy was urothelial cancer and mesenchymal one was chondrosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma. The specimens taken at the second-look TUR-Bt revealed that carcinoma in situ (urothelial cancer) but not sarcoma existed at the mucosa surrounding the previous tumor site. 80 mg of BCG instillation intravesically every week for six weeks was successfully administered to the patient. There is no tumor recurrence for 6 months after treatments

Efficient Model Selection for Predictive Pattern Mining Model by Safe Pattern Pruning

Predictive pattern mining is an approach used to construct prediction models when the input is represented by structured data, such as sets, graphs, and sequences. The main idea behind predictive pattern mining is to build a prediction model by considering substructures, such as subsets, subgraphs, and subsequences (referred to as patterns), present in the structured data as features of the model. The primary challenge in predictive pattern mining lies in the exponential growth of the number of patterns with the complexity of the structured data. In this study, we propose the Safe Pattern Pruning (SPP) method to address the explosion of pattern numbers in predictive pattern mining. We also discuss how it can be effectively employed throughout the entire model building process in practical data analysis. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conduct numerical experiments on regression and classification problems involving sets, graphs, and sequences

Transient Occlusion of Bilateral Internal Iliac Arteries Facilitates Bloodless Operative Field in Subcapsular Prostatectomy

Transurethral resection of the prostate is the gold standard of surgical treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Nevertheless, open subcapsular prostatectomy is still performed for large BPH. While enucleation of prostatic adenoma is being performed, unneglectable bleeding can occur and surgeons need to rush to remove adenomas, often using fingers and in a blinded fashion. The blood supply to the prostatic capsule and adenoma can be reduced to a marked extent in subcapsular prostatectomy if the bilateral internal iliac arteries are transiently occluded. Thus, a bloodless operative field is reasonably acquired during enucleation of adenoma, which would, otherwise, be a cause for concern to surgeons due to bleeding. It is not always applicable, but it could be an option if the estimated volume of BPH is more than 100 mL. In two cases, bilateral internal iliac arteries were occluded with Bulldog clamps, and then adenomas of 159 and 97 g were enucleated

A Case of Severe Hemorrhagic Cystitis Caused by Melphalan with Successful Bladder Preservation by Ligation of Bilateral Internal Iliac Arteries

Hemorrhagic cystitis is a disorder which causes bleeding from diffusely inflammatory bladder mucosa. Here we present a case of severe hemorrhagic cystitis caused by melphalan. A 70-year-old man with multiple myeloma was presented with suddenly commenced massive gross hematuria. During an attempt of transurethral coagulation of bladder mucosa, bladder perforation into peritoneal cavity was suspected, then open laparotomy was indicated. We isolated bilateral internal iliac arteries and ligated them in order to control continued bleeding. After that, bladder bleeding was suddenly diminished. Ligation of internal iliac arteries may be a choice in controlling massive bleeding from bladder with severe hemorrhagic cystitis when laparotomy was inevitable

Food Pyramid for Low Carbohydrate Diet (LCD) with its Efficacy and Actual Intake

U radu je prikazan glavni projekt poslovno-stambene zgrade u Put Brodarice u Splitu. Građevina se sastoji od dva dijela, a to su niži i viši toranj s ukupno 4, odnosno 6 katova iznad prizemlja i garažom ispod zemlje kojom su tornjevi povezani. Građevina je izvedena u armiranom betonu monolitnom izvedbom s armirano-betonskim temeljima, stupovima, zidovima te armirano betonskim pločama kao međukatnim konstrukcijama. Projekt sadrži: tehnički opis konstrukcije, proračun nosivih konstrukcijskih elemenata te karakteristične građevinske nacrte.Main design of the business and residential building, which is positioned in Put Brodarice street in Split, is presented in this work. The building has two parts. There are lower and higher tower with 4 and 6 floors above the ground floor and the garage underground to which the towers are connected with. The building is made of reinforced concrete in monolithic construction with reinforced concrete foundations, walls, columns, beams and reinforced concrete plates as ceiling slabs. The project includes: technical description of the construction, calculation of bearing structural elements and characteristic construction design