Rapid comparison of precipitation data between satellite and in situ observations.

The agriculture sector responsible for global food and nutrition security has an urgent need to examine climatic trends so that adaptations can be exercised in advance. Freely available dataset from satellite sources can greatly ease rainfall analysis, especially for smallholder farmers who typically operate under limited resources. Tests to determine their accuracy, however, are so far not deployed in tropical Southeast Asia.

The socio-economic and cultural impacts of the Pan Borneo Highway on Indigenous and local communities in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

Road and highway development can provide multiple benefits to society, but without careful planning, this development can result in negative social and environmental impacts. The 1,200 km Pan Borneo Highway project (PBH) in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is constructing new highways and up-grading 2-lane roads to 4-lane highways. We assessed the potential impact of the PBH on communities using three width scenarios of 50m, 75m and 100m for planned highway alignments, and identified potentially impacted dwellings and community lands.

What drives food security for wildlife in logged and intact forests of tropical Borneo?

Timber extraction is often cited as detrimental to wildlife ecology. Little information, however, in particular from the Southeast Asian tropics, is available on how exactly logging affects wildlife food security. To address the gap, this paper presents the first high-resolution comparison of fruit production between logged and intact forests in lowland Borneo.

Cryptic species and grey zone speciation of the Barbodes binotatus complex (Teleostei, Cyprinidae) in Sundaland.

Morphology-based taxonomy of freshwater fish is effective when there are representative specimens covering large regions. However, in Sundaland, where the presence of cryptic species is high, the technique has its limitations. This is compounded by uncritical descriptions of holotypes in old literature.

Population Management Approach to Kidney Stone Care Improves Patient Compliance to Preventive Measures and Reduces Resource Utilization in Patients at High Risk for Stone Recurrence.

Introduction: Nephrolithiasis is a chronic condition with 5 to 10-year recurrence rates as high as 50%. Stone recurrence can be reduced by implementing American Urological Association kidney stone medical management guidelines, which recommend additional metabolic testing for high risk, recurrent and interested first-time stone formers. However, clinician adherence to guidelines is variable, and patient compliance with preventive evaluations is low.

Evaluation of the New American Urological Association Guidelines Risk Classification for Hematuria.

Purpose: Microhematuria is a prevalent condition and the American Urological Association has developed a new risk-stratified approach for the evaluation of patients with microhematuria. Our objective was to provide the first evaluation of this important guideline.

Materials And Methods: This multinational cohort study combines contemporary patients from 5 clinical trials and 2 prospective registries who underwent urological evaluation for hematuria.

Betta nuluhon, a new species of fighting fish from western Sabah, Malaysia (Teleostei: Osphronemidae).

Betta nuluhon, new species, is described from a hill stream habitat in western Sabah. This species is allied to both B. chini and B.

Small habitat matrix: How does it work?

We present herein our perspective of a novel Small Habitats Matrix (SHM) concept showing how small habitats on private lands are untapped but can be valuable for mitigating ecological degradation. Grounded by the realities in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we model a discontinuous "stepping stones" linkage that includes both terrestrial and aquatic habitats to illustrate exactly how the SHM can be deployed. Taken together, the SHM is expected to optimize the meta-population vitality in monoculture landscapes for aerial, arboreal, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife communities.

Microhematuria: AUA/SUFU Guideline.

Purpose: Patients presenting with microhematuria represent a heterogeneous population with a broad spectrum of risk for genitourinary malignancy. Recognizing that patient-specific characteristics modify the risk of underlying malignant etiologies, this guideline sought to provide a personalized diagnostic testing strategy.

Materials And Methods: The systematic review incorporated evidence published from January 2010 through February 2019, with an updated literature search to include studies published up to December 2019.

First development of the Malaysian River Integrity Index (MyRII) based on biological, chemical and physical multi-metrics.

Anthropogenic pressures are causing substantial degradation to the freshwater ecosystems globally and Malaysia has not escaped such a bleak scenario. Prompted by the predicament, this study's objective was to pioneer a river assessment system that can be readily adopted to monitor, manage and drive improvement in a wholesome manner. Three sets of a priori metrics were selected to form the Ichthyofaunal Quality Index (IQI: biological), Water Quality Index (WQI: chemical) and River Physical Quality Index (RPQI: physical).

Provisional checklist of freshwater fish diversity and distribution in Perak, Malaysia, and some latest taxonomic concerns.

This study investigates the published literature and incorporates our field data from 1997 to September 2018 to generate an inventory report of primary freshwater fishes for Perak State in Malaysia. We critically examined and enumerated 186 species from 2 classes, 16 orders, 43 families and 114 genera in 57 localities. A total of 173 fish species (91.

Comparison of the Harms, Advantages, and Costs Associated With Alternative Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hematuria.

Importance: Existing recommendations for the diagnostic testing of hematuria range from uniform evaluation of varying intensity to patient-level risk stratification. Concerns have been raised about not only the costs and advantages of computed tomography (CT) scans but also the potential harms of CT radiation exposure.

Objective: To compare the advantages, harms, and costs associated with 5 guidelines for hematuria evaluation.

Water quality variation during a strong El Niño event in 2016: a case study in Kampar River, Malaysia.

El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural forcing that affects global climate patterns, thereon influencing freshwater quality and security. In the advent of a strong El Niño warming event in 2016 which induced an extreme dry weather in Malaysia, water quality variation was investigated in Kampar River which supplies potable water to a population of 92,850. Sampling points were stratified into four ecohydrological units and 144 water samples were examined from October 2015 to March 2017.

Evaluation of microscopic hematuria and risk of urologic cancer in female patients.

Background: Urologic cancer has a lower prevalence in women compared with men; however, there are no differences in the recommended evaluation for women and men with microscopic hematuria.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that are associated with urologic cancer in women with microscopic hematuria and to determine the applicability of a hematuria risk score for women.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study within an integrated healthcare system in Southern California.

Face, content, construct and concurrent validity of dry laboratory exercises for robotic training using a global assessment tool.

Objectives: To evaluate robotic dry laboratory (dry lab) exercises in terms of their face, content, construct and concurrent validities. To evaluate the applicability of the Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS) tool to assess dry lab performance.

Materials And Methods: Participants were prospectively categorized into two groups: robotic novice (no cases as primary surgeon) and robotic expert (≥30 cases).

Laparoscopic and open partial nephrectomy: complication comparison using the Clavien system.

Background And Objectives: To compare postoperative complications in patients undergoing laparoscopic and open partial nephrectomy using a standardized complication-reporting system and a standardized tumor-scoring system.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 189 consecutive patients with nephrometry scores available who underwent elective partial nephrectomy for renal masses. Demographic, perioperative, and complication data were recorded.

Validation of a novel robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy surgical training model.

Unlabelled: What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? One area of particular growth for robotic surgery has been partial nephrectomy. Despite a perceived notion that robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy is more easily adaptable compared to laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, there is nonetheless an associated learning curve. Validated training models with a corresponding assessment method for robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy were previously unavailable.

Subclassification of pT3 urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvicalyceal system is associated with recurrence-free and cancer-specific survival: proposal for a revision of the current TNM classification.

Background: The clinical course of pT3 upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is highly variable.

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to validate the clinical and prognostic importance of pT3 subclassification in the renal pelvicalyceal system in a large international cohort of patients.

Design, Setting, And Participants: From a multi-institutional international database, 858 renal pelvicalyceal tumors treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) were systematically reevaluated by genitourinary pathologists.

Predicting clinical outcomes after radical nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Background: Novel prognostic factors for patients after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) have recently been described.

Objective: We tested the prognostic value of pathologic characteristics and developed models to predict the individual probabilities of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) after RNU.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Our study included 2244 patients treated with RNU without neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy at 23 international institutions.

Zero ischemia anatomical partial nephrectomy: a novel approach.

Purpose: We present a novel concept of zero ischemia anatomical robotic and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

Materials And Methods: Our technique primarily involves anatomical vascular microdissection and preemptive control of tumor specific, tertiary or higher order renal arterial branch(es) using neurosurgical aneurysm micro-bulldog clamps. In 58 consecutive patients the majority (70%) had anatomically complex tumors including central (67%), hilar (26%), completely intrarenal (23%), pT1b (18%) and solitary kidney (7%).

High-grade ureteroscopic biopsy is associated with advanced pathology of upper-tract urothelial carcinoma tumors at definitive surgical resection.

Background And Purpose: Accurate assessment of upper-tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) pathology may guide use of endoscopic vs extirpative therapy. We present a multi-institutional cohort of patients with UTUC who underwent surgical resection to characterize the association of ureteroscopic (URS) biopsy features with final pathology results.

Patients And Methods: URS biopsy data were available in 238 patients who underwent surgical resection of UTUC.

Concurrent and predictive validation of a novel robotic surgery simulator: a prospective, randomized study.

Purpose: We evaluated the concurrent and predictive validity of a novel robotic surgery simulator in a prospective, randomized study.

Materials And Methods: A total of 24 robotic surgery trainees performed virtual reality exercises on the da Vinci® Skills Simulator using the da Vinci Si™ surgeon console. Baseline simulator performance was captured.

Anatomic renal artery branch microdissection to facilitate zero-ischemia partial nephrectomy.

Background: Robot-assisted and laparoscopic partial nephrectomies (PNs) for medial tumors are technically challenging even with the hilum clamped and, until now, were impossible to perform with the hilum unclamped.

Objective: Evaluate whether targeted vascular microdissection (VMD) of renal artery branches allows zero-ischemia PN to be performed even for challenging medial tumors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A prospective cohort evaluation of 44 patients with renal masses who underwent robot-assisted or laparoscopic zero-ischemia PN either with anatomic VMD (group 1; n=22) or without anatomic VMD (group 2; n=22) performed by a single surgeon from April 2010 to January 2011.