Corrigendum to "RPN (Radius, Position of tumour, iNvasion of renal sinus) Classification and Nephrometry Scoring System: An Internationally Developed Clinical Classification To Describe the Surgical Difficulty for Renal Masses for Which Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Is Planned" [Eur. Urol. Open Sci. 54 (2023) 33-42].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.euros.

RPN (Radius, Position of tumour, iNvasion of renal sinus) Classification and Nephrometry Scoring System: An Internationally Developed Clinical Classification To Describe the Surgical Difficulty for Renal Masses for Which Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Is Planned.

Background: The surgical difficulty of partial nephrectomy (PN) varies depending on the operative approach. Existing nephrometry classifications for assessment of surgical difficulty are not specific to the robotic approach.

Objective: To develop an international robotic-specific classification of renal masses for preoperative assessment of surgical difficulty of robotic PN.

NeoAdjuvant pembrolizumab and STEreotactic radiotherapy prior to nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (NAPSTER): A phase II randomised clinical trial.

Background: Surgery remains the standard of care for localised renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Nevertheless, nearly 50% of patients with high-risk disease experience relapse after surgery, with distant sites being common. Considering improved outcomes in terms of disease-free survival with adjuvant immunotherapy with pembrolizumab, we hypothesise that neoadjuvant SABR with or without the addition of pembrolizumab before nephrectomy will lead to improved disease outcomes by evoking better immune response in the presence of an extensive reserve of tumor-associated antigens.

A broadly distributed predicted helicase/nuclease confers phage resistance via abortive infection.

There is strong selection for the evolution of systems that protect bacterial populations from viral attack. We report a single phage defense protein, Hna, that provides protection against diverse phages in Sinorhizobium meliloti, a nitrogen-fixing alpha-proteobacterium. Homologs of Hna are distributed widely across bacterial lineages, and a homologous protein from Escherichia coli also confers phage defense.

Are non-invasive estimations of plasma volume an accurate measure of congestion in patients with chronic heart failure?

Aims: We report associations between different formulae for estimating plasma volume status (PVS) and clinical and ultrasound markers of congestion in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) enrolled in the Hull Lifelab registry.

Methods And Results: Cohort 1 comprised patients with data on signs and symptoms at initial evaluation (n = 3505). Cohort 2 included patients with ultrasound assessment of congestion [lung B-line count, inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter, jugular vein distensibility (JVD) ratio] (N = 341).

Surgical innovation revisited: A historical narrative of the minimally invasive "Agarwal sliding-clip renorrhaphy" technique for partial nephrectomy and its application to an Australian cohort.

Objective: To evaluate local clinical outcomes of sliding clip renorrhaphy, from inception to current utilization for open, laparoscopic, and robotically assisted partial nephrectomy.

Methods: We reviewed prospectively maintained databases of three surgeons performing partial nephrectomies with the sliding-clip technique at teaching hospitals between 2005 and 2019. Baseline characteristics, operative parameters, including surgical approach, RENAL Nephrometry Score, and post-operative outcomes, including Clavien-Dindo classification of complications, were recorded for 76 consecutive cases.

Protocol for CAMUS Delphi Study: A Consensus on Comprehensive Reporting and Grading of Complications After Urological Surgery.

Background: Reproducible assessment of postoperative complications is essential for reliable evaluation of quality of care to enable comparison between healthcare centres and ensure transparent patient counselling. Currently, significant discrepancies exist in complication reporting and grading due to heterogeneous definitions and methodologies.

Objective: To develop a standardised and reproducible assessment of perioperative complications and overall associated morbidity, to allow for the construction of a uniform language for complication reporting and grading.

Minimal gene set from () pSymA required for efficient symbiosis with .

Reduction of N gas to ammonia in legume root nodules is a key component of sustainable agricultural systems. Root nodules are the result of a symbiosis between leguminous plants and bacteria called rhizobia. Both symbiotic partners play active roles in establishing successful symbiosis and nitrogen fixation: while root nodule development is mostly controlled by the plant, the rhizobia induce nodule formation, invade, and perform N fixation once inside the plant cells.

Long-term oncological outcomes of the Agarwal loop-ligation technique for management of the distal ureter during laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy.

Objectives: To describe the Agarwal loop-ligation technique for the management of the distal ureter during laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (LRNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) and report on long-term oncological outcomes.

Patients And Methods: In the Agarwal loop-ligation technique, the distal ureteric stump is controlled using endoscopic Endoloop or PolyLoop ligation to ensure en bloc excision of the bladder cuff and prevent spillage of upper tract urine into the perivesical space. A retrospective review of the medical records of 76 patients who underwent the Agarwal loop-ligation technique for UTUC at participating centres from July 2004 to December 2017 was performed.

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning.

Background: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL).

The impact of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on mortality in patients presenting with breathlessness.

Background: Differentiating heart failure from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a patient presenting with breathlessness is difficult but may have implications for outcome. We investigated the prognostic impact of diagnoses of COPD and/or heart failure in consecutive patients presenting to a secondary care clinic with breathlessness.

Methods: In patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) by visual estimation, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) levels and spirometry were evaluated (N = 4986).

The urologist's role in multidisciplinary management of placenta percreta.

Objective: To evaluate urological interventions in patients with placental adhesive disorders in our collaborative experience at a tertiary referral centre.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected data set, consisting of all women that presented with placental adhesive disorders at the Royal Women's Hospital from August 2009 to September 2013. Patients who required urological intervention were identified and perioperative details were retrieved.

Patients with medical risk factors for chronic kidney disease are at increased risk of renal impairment despite the use of nephron-sparing surgery.

Objective: To determine whether patients with normal preoperative renal function, but who possess medical risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD), experience poorer renal function after partial nephrectomy (PN) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) compared with those without risk factors.

Patients And Methods: The effects of age, hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were investigated in 488 consecutive operations for RCC performed during 2005-2012 at six Australian tertiary referral centres; 156 patients underwent PN and 332 patients underwent radical nephrectomy (RN). We used chi-squared test and binary logistic regression to analyse new-onset CKD, and multiple linear regression to investigate determinants of postoperative eGFR.

A preliminary study to develop an intervention to facilitate communication between couples in advanced cancer.

Objective: Psychosocial interventions directed to couples where one has advanced cancer can reduce distress, enhance communication, and provide an opportunity for relational growth. The present study aimed to develop an intervention to facilitate communication about living with advanced cancer using the Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) as the focus of a clinical interview with couples toward the end of life.

Method: Couples were recruited from oncology and palliative care services at a Sydney hospital.

PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway inhibitors enhance radiosensitivity in radioresistant prostate cancer cells through inducing apoptosis, reducing autophagy, suppressing NHEJ and HR repair pathways.

The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has a central role in cancer metastasis and radiotherapy. To develop effective therapeutics to improve radiosensitivity, understanding the possible pathways of radioresistance involved and the effects of a combination of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors with radiotherapy on prostate cancer (CaP) radioresistant cells is needed. We found that compared with parent CaP cells, CaP-radioresistant cells demonstrated G0/G1 and S phase arrest, activation of cell cycle check point, autophagy and DNA repair pathway proteins, and inactivation of apoptotic proteins.

Proteomics for breast cancer urine biomarkers.

Although the survival of breast cancer (BC) patients has increased over the last two decades due to improved screening programs and postoperative adjuvant systemic therapies, many patients die from metastatic relapse. Current biomarkers used in the clinic are not useful for the early detection of BC, or monitoring its progression, and have limited value in predicting response to treatment. The development of proteomic techniques has sparked new searches for novel protein markers for many diseases including BC.

Cancer stem cells in prostate cancer chemoresistance.

There is currently no cure for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Chemoresistance and metastatic disease remain the main causes of treatment failure and mortality in CaP patients. Although several advances have been made in the control of CRPC with some newly developed drugs, there is still an urgent need to investigate the mechanisms and pathways of prostate cancer (CaP) metastasis and chemoresistance, identify useful therapeutic targets, develop novel treatment approaches, improve current therapeutic modalities and increase patients' survival.

CD44 variant 6 is associated with prostate cancer metastasis and chemo-/radioresistance.

Introduction: Prostate cancer (CaP) is the second leading malignancy in older men in Western countries. The role of CD44 variant 6 (CD44v6) in CaP progression and therapeutic resistance is still uncertain. Here, we investigated the roles of CD44v6 in CaP metastasis and chemo/radioresistance.

'Workshops in healing' for senior medical students: a 5-year overview and appraisal.

We report upon the design, content and feedback from an interactive, experiential series of Workshops in Healing for senior medical students. Fifty-six final year medical students enrolled in 2×3 h workshops designed around the core themes of 'physician know thyself' (Workshop 1) and 'confronting suffering' (Workshop 2). Of the 56 students who initially enrolled, 48 students completed both workshops and provided a written open-ended reflection of their learning experience.

Emerging roles of radioresistance in prostate cancer metastasis and radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy (RT) continues to be one of the most popular treatment options for localized prostate cancer (CaP). Local CaP recurrence after RT is a pattern of treatment failure attributable to radioresistance of cancer cells. One major obstacle to RT is that there is a limit to the amount of radiation that can be safely delivered to the target organ.

Acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell phenotypes is associated with activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in prostate cancer radioresistance.

Radioresistance is a major challenge in prostate cancer (CaP) radiotherapy (RT). In this study, we investigated the role and association of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in CaP radioresistance. We developed three novel CaP radioresistant (RR) cell lines (PC-3RR, DU145RR and LNCaPRR) by radiation treatment and confirmed their radioresistance using a clonogenic survival assay.

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is associated with prostate cancer metastasis and chemo/radioresistance via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the second leading malignancy in men. The role of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), also known as CD326, in CaP progression and therapeutic resistance is still uncertain. Here, we aimed to investigate the roles of EpCAM in CaP metastasis and chemo/radioresistance.