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

Coincidence of HPV11-Positive Urethral Condyloma Acuminatum and HPV-Negative Multiple Bladder Papillomas in a Female

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are associated with proliferative lesions in a variety of human epithelial types. A 38-year-old female presented with a diagnosis of urethral condyloma acuminatum. She underwent transurethral resection of the urethral condyloma. At that time, multiple (five) bladder tumors were simultaneously found and also removed by transurethral resection. Four of the bladder tumors were diagnosed as squamous papilloma, and the other was urothelial inverted papilloma. Postoperative course was uneventful. Genomic DNA was extracted from 10 μm thick sections of each bladder tumor as well as urethral condyloma. Then, 16 types of HPV DNA sequences were assessed with the PapiPlex method using genomic DNA samples extracted from each bladder tumor as well as urethral condyloma. HPV-11 was detected in DNA extracted from the urethral condyloma, while no HPV DNA sequences were positive in any of the genomic DNA samples extracted from the bladder tumors

Iris Morphological Features in Patients with 360° Angle-Closure Neovascular Glaucoma: An Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography Study

Purpose: To investigate iris morphological features in 360° angle-closure neovascular glaucoma (NVG) by swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT). Patients and Methods: In this retrospective, clinic-based, comparative study, 14 patients with 360° angle-closure NVG and 14 healthy age-matched control subjects were enrolled. All patients enrolled had no prior glaucoma surgery but underwent cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation. Horizontal scanning images of swept-source ASOCT were analyzed using software calipers in temporal and nasal angle areas. The iris thickness at 1 and 2 mm from the pupil edge, iris length, trabecular meshwork length, peripheral anterior synechia (PAS) length, PAS height ratio (PAS length/trabecular meshwork length), and pupil diameter were measured. Results: Between the groups, there were no statistically significant differences in iris length, trabecular meshwork length, and pupil diameter (p > 0.05). However, the iris thickness was significantly reduced in the NVG group compared with the control group in the temporal and nasal areas (0.306 vs. 0.563 mm/0.326 vs. 0.645 mm at 1 mm, 0.278 vs. 0.523 mm/0.282 vs. 0.546 mm at 2 mm, respectively) (mean, all p < 0.001). In the NVG group, PAS height ratios were 1.55 ± 0.45 (mean ± standard deviation) (range, 0.58–2.30) and 1.55 ± 0.78 (range, 0.68–3.68) at the temporal and nasal angles, respectively. Conclusions: In patients with 360° angle-closure NVG, the iris thickness decreased to about 50% of that in healthy subjects, and the PAS length exceeded the trabecular meshwork length by about 1.5 times

Efficient XML Storage based on DTM for Read-oriented Workloads

We propose an XML storage scheme based on Document Table Model (DTM) which expresses an XML document as a table form. When performing query processing on large scale XML data, XML storage schemes on secondary storage and their access methods greatly affect the entire performance. For this reason, we developed an XQuery processing scheme in which an XML document is internally represented as a set of DTM blocks and can be directly stored on secondary storage. Our scheme is tailored for read-oriented workloads, and an XML document is stored on disks as arrays of nodes. We analyzed the actual data access patterns to DTM appeared in processing XML queries, and employed the combination of informed prefetching and scan-resistant buffer management based on the analysis. Our experimental results showed that our storage scheme outperforms competing schemes with respect to I/O-intensive workloads, and our sophisticated prefetching and caching increase overall throughput without significant drawbacks.

Molecular Mechanism of Oocyte Activation in Mammals: Past, Present, and Future Directions

During mammalian fertilization, repetitive intracellular Ca2+ increases known as Ca2+ oscillations occur. These oscillations are considered crucial for successful fertilization and subsequent embryonic development. Numerous researchers have endeavored to elucidate the factors responsible for inducing Ca2+ oscillations across various mammalian species. Notably, sperm-specific phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) emerged as a prominent candidate capable of initiating Ca2+ oscillations, particularly in mammals. Genetic mutation of PLCζ in humans results in the absence of Ca2+ oscillations in mouse oocytes. Recent studies further underscored PLCζ’s significance, revealing that sperm from PLCζ-deficient (Plcz1−/−) mice fail to induce Ca2+ oscillations upon intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Despite these findings, observations from in vitro fertilization (IVF) experiments using Plcz1−/− sperm revealed some residual intracellular Ca2+ increases and successful oocyte activation, hinting at potential alternative mechanisms. In this review, we introduced the current hypothesis surrounding oocyte activation in mammals, informed by contemporary literature, and probed into the enigmatic mechanisms underlying mammalian fertilization-induced oocyte activation

Relationships between protein adsorption and isoelectric point (A) or hydrophobicity (B) of proteins.

<p>The solutions containing 0.1 mg/mL proteins and 58 m²/L PS particles in 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer at pH 7.0 was incubated at 25°C for 1 h. After centrifugation, protein concentrations in the supernatant were determined.</p

Effects of additives on lysozyme adsorption monitored by the concentration (A) and activity (B).

<p>The solutions containing lysozyme and additives were mixed with PS particles in 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer at pH 7.0, and then incubated at 25°C for 1 h. After centrifugation, protein concentration (A) and enzyme activity (B) in the supernatant were determined. The final concentrations of lysozyme and PS particles were 0.1 mg/mL and 58 m²/L, respectively.</p

Effects of additives on ChT adsorption monitored by concentration (A) and activity (B).

<p>The solutions containing ChT and additives were mixed with PS particles in 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer at pH 7.0, and then incubated at 25°C for 1 h. After centrifugation, protein concentration (A) and enzyme activity (B) in the supernatant were determined. The final concentrations of ChT and PS particles were 0.1 mg/mL and 58 m²/L, respectively.</p

Effects of additives on protein adsorption as a function of protein hydrophobicity.

<p>The solutions containing proteins and 500 mM additives were mixed with PS particles in 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer at pH 7.0, and then incubated at 25°C for 1 h. After centrifugation, protein concentration in the supernatant was determined. The concentration of proteins and PS particles were as follows: (i) Lysozyme, ChT, and BSA–0.1 mg/mL protein and 58 m²/L PS particles; (ii) RNase A–0.1 mg/mL protein and 116 m²/L PS particles; (iii) Subtilisin–0.25 mg/mL protein and 58 m²/L PS particles.</p