Urinary DNA Methylation Test for Bladder Cancer Diagnosis.

Importance: An accurate noninvasive biomarker test is needed for the early diagnosis of bladder cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of a urinary DNA methylation test (PENK methylation) and compare its diagnostic accuracy with that of the nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) test or urine cytology test.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this prospective multicenter study at 10 sites in the Republic of Korea, individuals 40 years and older with hematuria undergoing cystoscopy within 3 months between March 11, 2022, and May 30, 2024, participated.

Implementing microfluidic flow device model in utilizing dural substitutes as pulp capping materials for vital pulp therapy.

Vital pulp therapy (VPT) has gained prominence with the increasing trends towards conservative dental treatment with specific indications for preserving tooth vitality by selectively removing the inflamed tissue instead of the entire dental pulp. Although VPT has shown high success rates in long-term follow-up, adverse effects have been reported due to the calcification of tooth canals by mineral trioxide aggregates (MTAs), which are commonly used in VPT. Canal calcification poses challenges for accessing instruments during retreatment procedures.

Decision regret after prostate biopsy for prostate cancer diagnosis: a Korean multicenter cohort study.

Background: Many people struggle with the choice in a series of processes, from prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis to treatment. We investigated the degree of regret after the prostate biopsy (PBx) and relevant factors in patients recommended for biopsy for suspected PCa.

Methods: From 06/2020 to 05/2022, 198 people who performed PBx at three institutions were enrolled and analyzed through a questionnaire before and after biopsy.

Nuclear Localization of Yes-Associated Protein Is Associated With Tumor Progression in Cutaneous Melanoma.

Yes-associated protein (YAP), an effector molecule of the Hippo signaling pathway, is expressed at high levels in cutaneous melanoma. However, the role of YAP in melanoma progression according to cellular localization is poorly understood. Tissues from 140 patients with invasive melanoma were evaluated by immunohistochemistry.

Diffraction-engineered holography: Beyond the depth representation limit of holographic displays.

Holography is one of the most prominent approaches to realize true-to-life reconstructions of objects. However, owing to the limited resolution of spatial light modulators compared to static holograms, reconstructed objects exhibit various coherent properties, such as content-dependent defocus blur and interference-induced noise. The coherent properties severely distort depth perception, the core of holographic displays to realize 3D scenes beyond 2D displays.

Liver-Directed Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy versus Sorafenib in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of liver-directed concurrent chemoradiotherapy (LD-CCRT) compared with sorafenib in patients with liver-confined locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presenting portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT). This single institute retrospective cohort study included patients treated with sorafenib or LD-CCRT between 2005 and 2016. Patients with extrahepatic disease and those without PVTT were excluded, leaving 28 and 448 patients in the sorafenib and LD-CCRT groups, respectively.

Albumin-to-Alkaline Phosphatase Ratio as a Novel Prognostic Factor in Patients Undergoing Nephrectomy for Non-Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Propensity Score Matching Analysis.

Introduction: To evaluate the prognostic value of albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR) on recurrence and survival in patients with non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with radical or partial nephrectomy.

Patients And Methods: Between June 1994 and December 2018, 491 patients with RCC who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy at 2 institutions were enrolled in this study. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) analyses were performed to distinguish the differences in postoperative recurrence and survival between patients stratified by an optimal cut-off value of AAPR.

Two-dimensional beam steering with tunable metasurface in infrared regime.

Tunable metasurfaces can change the optical properties of incident light at will such as amplitude, phase, and polarization in a time-dependent fashion. Ultrafast switching speed and the ability for the pixel size reduction of the tunable metasurface can allow various applications such as light detection and ranging, interferometric sensors, and free space optical communications, to name a few. Although there have been successful demonstrations of the wavefront shaping using the tunable metasurface, the implementation of the two-dimensional metasurface pixel array that can be individually addressed in the optical frequency regime still remains challenging.

Isolation and Characterization of Effective Bacteria That Reduce Ammonia Emission from Livestock Manure.

Ammonia from livestock manure reacts with chemical components discharged from various emission sources to produce airborne particulate matter. This study aimed to investigate a novel effective microbial agent to suppress ammonia gas emitted from manure. Both isolated L12I and 12III strains, identified as (PA), were selected for their superior activity in assays performed with the evaluation criteria such as acid production, ammonia decomposition, and urease inhibition, which are key factors influencing ammonia excretion.

Practice Patterns of Korean Urologists Regarding Positive Surgical Margins after Radical Prostatectomy: a Survey and Narrative Review.

Background: There is no clear consensus on the optimal treatment with curative intent for patients with positive surgical margins (PSMs) following radical prostatectomy (RP). The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and treatment patterns of Korean urologists regarding the resection margin after RP.

Methods: A preliminary questionnaire was prepared by analyzing various studies on resection margins after RP.

Evaluation of the International Society for Cutaneous Lymphoma Algorithm for the Diagnosis of Early Mycosis Fungoides.

The International Society for Cutaneous Lymphoma (ISCL) proposes a diagnostic algorithm for early mycosis fungoides (MF) that includes clinical, histological, immunophenotypical, and molecular criteria. Here, we analyzed the immunologic markers and features of T-cell clonality in 38 early MF cases and 22 non-MF cases to validate the ISCL algorithm. We found that CD5 and CD7 expression differed significantly between early MF and non-MF cases, with epidermal discordance of CD7 expression more frequently identified in early MF.

Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effect and Probiotic Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Canine and Feline Feces.

Oxidative stress is a phenomenon caused by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defenses. It plays an important role in numerous disease states, including chronic kidney disease, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known to have prominent antioxidant properties.

Chondroradionecrosis of the trachea after definitive radiotherapy for cervical esophageal cancer: A case report.

Chondroradionecrosis (CRN) is an infrequent phenomenon after definitive RT. The clinical manifestation is usually difficult to distinguish from that of tumor recurrence; however, clinicians should be aware of the possibility of CRN.

Prognostic nutritional index and prognosis in renal cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) as a prognostic factor for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Materials And Methods: Eligible studies that evaluated the prognostic impact of pretreatment PNI in RCC patients were identified by comprehensive searching the electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Central Search library, and EMBASE. The end points were overall/cancer-specific survival (OS/CSS) and recurrence-free/disease-free survival (RFS/DFS).

The presence of prostate-specific antigen checked more than 1 year before diagnostic biopsy is an independent prognostic factor in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.

Purpose: In large scale prospective studies, prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-screening not only decreased prostate cancer mortality, but also reduced biochemical recurrence (BCR) in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP). We investigated the independent effect of the presence of PSA checked more than 1 year before diagnostic biopsy on the prognosis of patients undergoing RP in a real world setting without PSA-screening.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed the database of patients undergoing RP at Ajou University Hospital from March 1999 to May 2018.

A Case Report of Cholangiocarcinoma Arising from a Biliary Adenofibroma: Radiologic Findings and Review of Literature.

Biliary adenofibromas are rare biliary epithelial tumors that are classified as benign. Nevertheless, some cases have been reported to show malignant transformations. The radiologic findings of biliary adenofibromas and their malignant transformation are not well-established because of their rarity.

Cell membrane and nuclear expression of programmed death ligand-1 in prostate needle biopsy tissue in prostate cancer patients undergoing primary radiation therapy.

Background: Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in cancer is often associated with cancer aggressiveness and responsiveness to treatment with PD-1 pathway inhibitors. We conducted a systematic study on the expression of membranous PD-L1 (mPD-L1) and nuclear PD-1-L1 (nPD-L1) in prostate needle biopsy specimens of prostate cancer patients who underwent primary radiotherapy and analyzed the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients.

Method: A total of 971 cancer-containing prostate needle biopsy cores from 172 patients were immunohistochemically stained with anti-PD-L1 antibody.

TERT promoter mutations in penile squamous cell carcinoma: high frequency in non-HPV-related type and association with favorable clinicopathologic features.

Purpose: Penile carcinoma is a rare malignant neoplasm with a largely unknown molecular pathogenesis. Telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (TERT-p) mutations have been detected in several types of human malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of TERT-p mutations in penile squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and their associations with clinicopathologic features.

Visceral Adiposity as a Significant Predictor of Sunitinib-Induced Dose-Limiting Toxicities and Survival in Patients with Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Sunitinib is a first-line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Little is known about the predictive factors of sunitinib-induced dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) in Asian populations. We investigated whether body composition predicts sunitinib-induced DLT.

All-solid-state spatial light modulator with independent phase and amplitude control for three-dimensional LiDAR applications.

Spatial light modulators are essential optical elements in applications that require the ability to regulate the amplitude, phase and polarization of light, such as digital holography, optical communications and biomedical imaging. With the push towards miniaturization of optical components, static metasurfaces are used as competent alternatives. These evolved to active metasurfaces in which light-wavefront manipulation can be done in a time-dependent fashion.