ASO Author Reflections: Do Shorter Tumor-to-Nipple Distances Compromise the Local Oncologic Safety of Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy?

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Time for a More Holistic Approach to Peri-Pancreatoduodenectomy Care

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

ASO Visual Abstract: Will It Play in Peoria? A Pilot Study of a Robotic Skills Curriculum for Surgical Oncology Fellows

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Phase Transformation Behavior of the Aluminosilicate Phase During High-Pressure Hydrothermal Reduction of High-Iron Red Mud

One-step separation and recovery of sodium, aluminum and iron in high-iron red mud in a high-calcium alkaline hydrothermal system is realized by a high-pressure hydrothermal reduction process. The transformation behavior of the aluminasilica phase in high-iron red mud is mainly investigated. The results show that under the optimized conditions, a temperature of 290℃, a Na₂O concentration of 240 g/L, a calcium to silicon ratio of 3.5, and a liquid–solid ratio of 5, the Na₂O content in the transition slag is reduced to 0.12%, the dealkalization rate can reach 98%, and the alumina dissolution rate is 73%. When the starch-free reductant is added, the transition slag mainly consists of hematite and hydroandradite, and when the starch reductant is added (the addition amount is 1/4 that of ω(Fe₂O₃) in the red mud), all Fe₂O₃ in the transition slag is completely reduced to Fe₃O₄, and the main phases are magnetite and hydrogrossular.

     

Safety and feasibility of single-incision laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair: a retrospective comparative analysis of 163 patients

European Surgery - To analyze the benefit and feasibility of single-incisional laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (SIL TEP) repair compared with those of conventional laparoscopic TEP...     

The role of Ureaplasma parvum serovar-3 or serovar-14 infection in female patients with chronic micturition urethral pain and recurrent microscopic hematuria

BackgroundUreaplasma parvum (UP) is commonly isolated in the genitor-urinary tract and may cause various clinical features, including microscopic hematuria (MH). Some UP serovars are more commonly related with specific urogenital disease, but the evidences have been conflicting. This study primarily aimed to research the possible associations between specific UP serotypes and genito-urinary pathogenicity in female patients showing MH with/without chronic micturition urethral pain (CMP).MethodsThis study retrospectively reviewed 276 female patients having MH with/without CMP, who visited health screening center or female infertility clinic. All patients underwent multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests with vaginal and urine samples to evaluate the infection rate and serotypes of UP. The antimicrobial susceptibility of UP and the predictors of CMP among UP infected patients were also analyzed. All patients were followed up at least for 6-months.ResultsForty-nine patients (17.8%) showed urinary UP infection. Urinary UP serotyping showed the prevalence of seorvar-1, -3, -6 and -14 were 24.5%, 30.6%, 18.4% and 26.5%, respectively. 79.6% of the urinary UP positive patients accompanied vaginal UP infection. 22 patients of the cohort (8.0%) had CMP whereas serovars-3 and -14 accompanied CMP in 54.5% and 41.0% cases, respectively. No serovars-6 infection case had CMP. 26.4% of the cohort were infertile whereas 10.9% of these infertile patients were positive for urinary tract infection with UP serotype-3 or -14. Doxycycline, josamycin and pristinamycin were the most active antibiotics with the lowest rate of resistance (0.0%) for treating UP. At 1-month post-initial treatment with doxycycline, all UP serotypes were eradicated and no patient complained of urethral discomfort. However, simultaneous urinary and vaginal reinfection of serovar-3 (5 cases) and serovar-5 (1 case) were confirmed at 3-months post-initial doxycycline therapy. The logistic regression analyses revealed that serovars-3 [hazard ratio (HR) 1.354, P value 0.018] and -14 (HR 1.103, P value 0.046) were significantly associated with CMP in female patients having MH.ConclusionsUP serovars-3 and -14 infections could be associated with CMP in female patients having MH. Doxycycline, josamycin and pristinamycin were effective for treating UP. Serovar-3 showed higher reinfection rate than other serotypes after antibiotics treatment.     

Akt/PKB activation in gastric carcinomas correlates with clinicopathologic variables and prognosis

Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) plays an important role in cell survival. However, the role of Akt in the biology of gastric cancer has not been well studied. We sought to investigate the expression of Akt or phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) in human gastric carcinomas and to analyze the relationship between Akt or pAkt and the clinicopathologic parameters. The expressions of Akt and pAkt were evaluated immunohistochemically in 311 gastric carcinomas using the tissue array method. Akt expression was detected in 74% of the tumors and pAkt expression in 78%. pAkt was highly expressed in the early stage of pTNM (p=0.011). We also found an inverse association between pAkt and lymphatic invasion (p=0.01) or lymph node metastasis (p=0.008). pAkt expression was significantly correlated with a higher survival in patients with stage I carcinomas (p=0.0003). Interestingly, combined evaluation revealed that the group with pAkt-positive and lymph node-negative carcinomas showed a better prognosis than the other groups (p<0.0001). In addition, pAkt was shown to correlate positively with APC (p=0.002) and Smad4 (p<0.0001) expression. These findings suggest that pAkt expression may help to predict the clinical outcome of gastric cancer patients.