Design and validation of a low-cost, high-fidelity model for robotic pyeloplasty simulation training.

Introduction/background: Owing to restrictions in operative experiences, urology residents can no longer solely rely on 'hands-on' operative time to master their surgical skills by the end of residency. Simulation training could help residents master basic surgical skills and steps of a procedure to maximize time in the operative room. However, simulators can be expensive or tedious to set up, limiting the availability to residents and training programs.

Design and Validation of a Low-Cost, High-Fidelity Model for Urethrovesical Anastomosis in Radical Prostatectomy.

Objective: We sought to develop and validate a low-cost, high-fidelity robotic surgical model for the urethrovesical anastomosis component of the robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Materials And Methods: A novel simulation model was constructed using a 3D-printed model of the male bony pelvis from CT scan data and silicone molds to recreate the soft tissue aspects. Using a da Vinci Si surgical robot, urology faculty and trainees performed simulated urethrovesical anastomosis.

Streamlining risk stratification in infants and young children with spinal dysraphism: Vesicoureteral reflux and/or bladder trabeculations outperforms other urodynamic findings for predicting adverse outcomes.

Background: Baseline and interval dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scans and urodynamic (UD) studies are often obtained in infants and young children with spinal dysraphism (SD).

Objective: To identify practical UD parameters which accurately stratify urologic risk young children with SD.

Study Design: 130 expectantly managed infants/young children with SD and initial DMSA and UD before age 2 were reviewed.

Examining the impact of surgical coaching on trainee physiologic response and basic skill acquisition.

Background: We examined how problem-solving coaching impacts trainee skill acquisition and physiologic stress as well as how trainee sensitivity to feedback, known as self-monitoring ability, impacts coaching effectiveness.

Methods: Medical students completed a pre-training demographics questionnaire, a 12-item self-monitoring ability scale (1 = always false, 5 = always true), and baseline FLS Task 5 with physiologic sensors. After watching a laparoscopic suturing instructional video, students practiced the task for 30 min, either with a surgical coach, or alone, depending on condition.

Unfolded protein response and associated alterations in toll-like receptor expression and interaction in the hippocampus of restraint rats.

Recent evidence suggests that the cellular response to stress often elicits the unfolded protein response (UPR), which has an active role in major depression in emotionally relevant regions of the brain, such as the hippocampus. Much of the UPR activity has been found to be coalesced with the pro-inflammatory environment of the depressed brain. Specifically, downstream transcriptions of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased regulation of candidate inflammatory mediators, such as toll-like receptors (TLRs), are promoted by the UPR.