European Association of Urology Section of Urolithiasis and International Alliance of Urolithiasis Joint Consensus on Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery for the Management of Renal Stones.

Background: Retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) has become the preferred treatment modality for nephrolithiasis. However, because of ongoing uncertainties regarding the optimal perioperative management, operative technique, and postoperative follow-up, as well as a lack of standardization for outcome reporting, consensus is needed to achieve more uniform clinical practice worldwide.

Objective: To develop recommendations for RIRS on the basis of existing data and expert consensus.

Metagenomic Investigation of a Low Diversity, High Salinity Offshore Oil Reservoir.

Oil reservoirs can represent extreme environments for microbial life due to low water availability, high salinity, high pressure and naturally occurring radionuclides. This study investigated the microbiome of saline formation water samples from a Gulf of Mexico oil reservoir. Metagenomic analysis and associated anaerobic enrichment cultures enabled investigations into metabolic potential for microbial activity and persistence in this environment given its high salinity (4.

Suture-Free Sealing of Tunical Defect with Collagen Fleece after Partial Plaque Excision in 319 Consecutive Patients with Peyronie's Disease: The Sealing Technique.

Purpose: We describe the sealing technique with collagen fleece in patients with advanced Peyronie's disease (PD) and provide the prospective long-term outcomes.

Materials And Methods: We performed a multicenter cohort study in patients with preserved erectile function and stable PD that precluded sexual intercourse. All patients underwent partial plaque excision with collagen fleece grafting.

Low-intensity shockwave therapy in Peyronie's disease: long-term results from a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled trial.

Low-intensity shockwave therapy (LiST) is an effective treatment for pain reduction in patients with Peyronie's disease (PD). We aimed to report the long-term results of a previously published randomized, sham-controlled trial on LiST for PD management. For the initial study, 102 patients with stable PD were randomly assigned to six sessions of LiST (n = 51) or sham (n = 51) therapy.

European Association of Urology Section of Urolithiasis and International Alliance of Urolithiasis Joint Consensus on Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy.

Context: Although percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has been performed for decades and has gone through many refinements, there are still concerns regarding its more widespread utilization because of the long learning curve and the potential risk of severe complications. Many technical details are not included in the guidelines because of their nature and research protocol.

Objective: To achieve an expert consensus viewpoint on PCNL indications, preoperative patient preparation, surgical strategy, management and prevention of severe complications, postoperative management, and follow-up.

Severe Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Oil Field Produced Water Can Be Linked to Methanogenic Archaea Containing a Special Type of [NiFe] Hydrogenase.

Methanogenic archaea have long been implicated in microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) of oil and gas infrastructure, yet a first understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms has only recently emerged. We surveyed pipeline-associated microbiomes from geographically distinct oil field facilities and found methanogens to account for 0.2 to 9.

Comparison of sulfide-oxidizing Sulfurimonas strains reveals a new mode of thiosulfate formation in subsurface environments.

Sulfur-oxidizing Sulfurimonas spp. are widespread in sediments, hydrothermal vent fields, aquifers and subsurface environments such as oil reservoirs where they play an important role in the sulfur cycle. We determined the genome sequence of the oil field isolate Sulfurimonas sp.

Long-Term Results after Surgical Treatment of Congenital Penile Curvature Using a Modified Nesbit Technique.

Purpose: Congenital penile curvature (CPC) is a rare condition with surgical correction being the standard therapy. In the current study, we report long-term results analyzing the surgical and functional outcomes using a modified Nesbit technique.

Materials And Methods: Patients with CPC were included.

Metabolites of an Oil Field Sulfide-Oxidizing, Nitrate-Reducing sp. Cause Severe Corrosion.

Oil reservoir souring and associated material integrity challenges are of great concern to the petroleum industry. The bioengineering strategy of nitrate injection has proven successful for controlling souring in some cases, but recent reports indicate increased corrosion in nitrate-treated produced water reinjection facilities. Sulfide-oxidizing, nitrate-reducing bacteria (soNRB) have been suggested to be the cause of such corrosion.

No evidence for point mutations in the novel renal cystine transporter AGT1/SLC7A13 contributing to the etiology of cystinuria.

Background: Cystinuria is caused by the defective renal reabsorption of cystine and dibasic amino acids, and results in cystine stone formation. So far, mutations in two genes have been identified as causative. The SLC3A1/rBAT gene encodes the heavy subunit of the heterodimeric rBAT-bAT transporter, whereas the light chain is encoded by the SLC7A9/ bAT gene.

Miniaturisation of PCNL.

Conventional PCNL leads to a high stone-free rate but is associated with a significant treatment morbidity. To decrease the morbidity of PCNL but to achieve an equal stone-free rate, in 2001 a miniaturised version of a conventional PCNL (Mini-PCNL) was introduced. Meanwhile numerous modifications of the Mini-PCNL were reported.

European Association of Urology Section of Urolithiasis (EULIS) Consensus Statement on Simulation, Training, and Assessment in Urolithiasis.

Background: Simulation-based training offers an acceptable adjunct to the traditional mentor-apprentice model in helping trainees to traverse the early stages of the learning curve for ureteroscopy and percutaneous renal surgery. In addition, nontechnical skills are increasingly important in preventing adverse events in the operating room, and simulation-based training can be used for training in such skills. Incorporation of simulation into formalised, standardised, and validated curricula offers an applicable method for training residents.

Update of the ICUD-SIU consultation on stone technology behind ureteroscopy.

Introduction: Ureteroscopy is now the most frequent treatment used around the world for stone disease. Technological advancement, efficiency, safety, and minimally invasiveness of this procedure are some of the reasons for this change of trend.

Materials And Methods: In this review of the literature, a search of the PubMed database was conducted to identify articles related to ureteroscopy and accessories.

Signal-to-noise in femtosecond electron diffraction.

Pump-probe electron diffraction can directly record atomic-scale motion within molecules or materials. However, the available current in femtosecond experiments is limited, making it challenging to reach the sensitivity required for detecting the fastest structural dynamics, which are encoded in time-dependent diffraction intensities. Here we present a unified analysis of signal-to-noise for an ultrafast electron diffraction apparatus.

Benzoate mediates the simultaneous repression of anaerobic 4-methylbenzoate and succinate utilization in Magnetospirillum sp. strain pMbN1.

Background: At high concentrations of organic substrates, microbial utilization of preferred substrates (i.e., supporting fast growth) often results in diauxic growth with hierarchical substrate depletion.

Femtosecond single-electron diffraction.

Ultrafast electron diffraction allows the tracking of atomic motion in real time, but space charge effects within dense electron packets are a problem for temporal resolution. Here, we report on time-resolved pump-probe diffraction using femtosecond single-electron pulses that are free from intra-pulse Coulomb interactions over the entire trajectory from the source to the detector. Sufficient average electron current is achieved at repetition rates of hundreds of kHz.

Stone-free rate (SFR): a new proposal for defining levels of SFR.

There is a lack of consensus in the definition of stone-free rate (SFR) after ureteric or renal stone surgery. We propose a simple classification to define levels of SFR post-treatment.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in Peyronie's disease: results of a placebo-controlled, prospective, randomized, single-blind study.

Introduction: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for treatment of Peyronie's disease (PD) is controversial.

Aim: To study the efficacy of ESWT by a placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

Methods: Patients with PD (n=102) were randomly assigned (n=51) to each group (ESWT or placebo).

Surgical therapy of Peyronie's disease by partial plaque excision and grafting with collagen fleece: feasibility study of a new technique.

Surgery is gold-standard for correction of Peyronie's curvature. Grafting is preferred in advanced deviations. We present our novel surgical technique and early results of grafting with collagen fleece.

Murine guanylate binding protein 2 (mGBP2) controls Toxoplasma gondii replication.

IFN-γ orchestrates the host response against intracellular pathogens. Members of the guanylate binding proteins (GBP) comprise the most abundant IFN-γ-induced transcriptional response. mGBPs are GTPases that are specifically up-regulated by IFN-γ, other proinflammatory cytokines, toll-like receptor agonists, as well as in response to Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Physiological and proteomic adaptation of "Aromatoleum aromaticum" EbN1 to low growth rates in benzoate-limited, anoxic chemostats.

"Aromatoleum aromaticum" EbN1 was cultivated at different growth rates in benzoate-limited chemostats under nitrate-reducing conditions. Physiological characteristics, proteome dynamics, phospholipid-linked fatty acid (PLFA) composition, and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) content were analyzed in steady-state cells at low (μ(low)) (0.036 h(-1)), medium (μ(med)) (0.