Establishment of an artificial urine model in vitro and rat or pig model in vivo to evaluate urinary crystal adherence.

The current study aimed to establish an experimental model in vitro and in vivo of urinary crystal deposition on the surface of ureteral stents, to evaluate the ability to prevent crystal adhesion. Non-treated ureteral stents were placed in artificial urine under various conditions in vitro. In vivo, ethylene glycol and hydroxyproline were administered orally to rats and pigs, and urinary crystals and urinary Ca were investigated by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer.

Ocean fronts as decadal thermostats modulating continental warming hiatus.

Over the past decade, an unexpected cooling trend has been observed in East Asia and North America during winter. Climate model simulations suggest that this pattern of stalled warming, besides accelerated warming, will repeat throughout the course of global warming, influenced by the natural decade-long variations in the climate system. However, understanding the exact factors affecting the pace of warming remains a challenge.

Intralesional Chemotherapy for Prostate Cancer: In vivo Proof of Principle.

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCA) is one of the most common cancers in the world, and current therapies are debilitating to patients. To develop a novel modality for the treatment of PCA, we evaluated the efficacy of intralesional administration of the Sirt3 activator Honokiol (HK) and the NADPH oxidase inhibitor Dibenzolium (DIB).

Methods: We used a well-established transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP-C2) model of hormone-independent PCA.

Molecular characteristics and genetic analysis of the genes related to carbapenemase, efflux pump, and outer membrane proteins in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is a life-threatening pathogen that has not been fully investigated on a molecular basis. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance in CRKP collected from medical institutions in Hyogo Prefecture has been analyzed. Antimicrobial susceptibilities and the presence of carbapenemase along with epidemiological analyzes using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) have been investigated.

A comparison of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urological surgeries in Japan and Taiwan.

Objective: We report the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urological surgeries and hospital policies at two hospitals in Japan and Taiwan.

Methods: We retrospectively surveyed the number of surgeries every 3 months in the Urology Department of Kobe University Hospital (KUH), Kobe, Japan before (January 2019-March 2020) and after (April 2020-September 2021) the COVID-19 outbreak, and in the Urology Department of Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University (SHH-TMU), Taiwan before (January 2021-March 2021) and after (April 2021-September 2021) the outbreak, and compared the averages and types of surgery.

Results: In Kobe, COVID-19 patients were stratified such that other regional hospitals gave priority to treating COVID-19 while KUH gave priority to treating non-COVID-19 patients.

Impact on quinolone resistance of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance gene and mutations in quinolone resistance-determining regions in extended spectrum beta lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from urinary tract infection patients.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a typical pathogen in urinary tract infections (UTI), and the emergence of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains has been frequently reported, accompanied by higher quinolone resistance rates. There are two major mechanisms of quinolone resistance, mutations in quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDR) and the presence of the plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. This study aimed to investigate quinolone resistance among 105 ESBL-producing K.

General circulation and global heat transport in a quadrupling CO pulse experiment.

To investigate the response of the general circulation and global transport of heat through both atmosphere and ocean to two-types of carbon dioxide removal scenario, we performed an earth system model experiment in which we imposed a pulse-type quadrupling of CO forcing for 50 years and a gradual peak-and-decline of four-time CO forcing. We found that the results from two experiments are qualitatively similar to each other. During the forcing-on period, a dominant warming in the upper troposphere over the tropics and on the surface at high latitudes led to a slowdown in the Hadley circulation, but the poleward atmospheric energy transport was enhanced due to an increase in specific humidity.

Correlation Between Changes in Syphilis Treatment and Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction.

The number of syphilis patients has significantly increased recently in Japan and worldwide. Previous reports, even in large institutions, may not accurately reflect the current situation in urological clinics. We therefore collected data from 11 urological clinics in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan over a 2-year period subdivided into 1) August 2016 to July 2017 and 2) August 2017 to July 2018 to compare changes in syphilis consults.

Retrospective Observational Study of Risk Factors for Febrile Infectious Complications after Urodynamic Studies in Patients with Suspected Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Disturbance.

Introduction: We retrospectively investigated the risk factors for post-urodynamic study (UDS) infectious complications in long-term hospitalized inpatients with suspected neurogenic lower urinary tract disturbance (NLUTD) in a monocenter study, to accurately assess post-UDS urinary tract infections (UTI).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data including background information, UDS-related data, and potential risk factors for infection from 489 NLUTD-suspected inpatients who underwent UDS from 2015 to 2019 and examined the risk factors for post-UDS infectious complications using univariate and multivariate statistical analyses.

Results: Symptomatic post-UDS UTI occurred in 20 out of 489 (4.

The Antimicrobial Resistance Characteristics of Imipenem-Non-Susceptible, Imipenemase-6-Producing .

Imipenemase-6 (IMP-6) type carbapenemase-producing is regarded as dangerous due to its unique lack of antimicrobial susceptibility. It is resistant to meropenem (MEPM) but susceptible to imipenem (IPM). In addition to carbapenemase, outer membrane porins and efflux pumps also play roles in carbapenem resistance by reducing the antimicrobial concentration inside cells.

Comparison between antimicrobial stewardship program and intervention by infection control team for managing antibiotic use in neurogenic bladder-related urinary tract infection patients: A retrospective chart audit.

Background: Antimicrobial prescriptions are relatively common in urologic outpatients. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the impact of antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) interventions.

Methods: In urology outpatients, antimicrobial use density (AUD), antimicrobial agent costs, isolation of urinary tract infection (UTI)-causing organisms and their antimicrobial susceptibilities were compared between intervention by infection control team (ICT) era (pre-2014) and ASP era (post-2014) in 2739 patients with lower urinary tract symptoms, including neurogenic bladder patients with UTI or suspected UTI, from 2011 to 2020.

Polymicrobial Solitary Retroperitoneal Abscess Due to Sigmoid Colon Perforation.

We treated an 85-year-old man with an abscess perforating into the retroperitoneal space from the sigmoid colon, with retroperitoneal drainage combined with antibiotics. CT showed no abscess formation in the intraperitoneal space. The patient consulted a doctor with a chief complaint of left-side low back pain and fever.

Differential effects of chromosome and plasmid bla genes on antibiotic susceptibilities in extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli isolates from patients with urinary tract infection.

Objectives: To compare antibiotic susceptibilities between chromosomal and plasmid bla locations in urinary tract infection-causing extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing Escherichia coli bla isolated in Indonesia.

Methods: A total of 84 strains identified as extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing E. coli were isolated from patients with urinary tract infection in Indonesia in 2015.

Mean sea surface temperature changes influence ENSO-related precipitation changes in the mid-latitudes.

El Niño profoundly impacts precipitation in high-population regions. This demands an advanced understanding of the changes in El Niño-induced precipitation under the future global warming scenario. However, thus far, consensus is lacking regarding future changes in mid-latitude precipitation influenced by El Niño.

A global-scale multidecadal variability driven by Atlantic multidecadal oscillation.

Observational analysis shows that there is a predominant global-scale multidecadal variability (GMV) of sea-surface temperature (SST). Its horizontal pattern resembles that of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO) in the Pacific and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) in the Atlantic Ocean, which could affect global precipitation and temperature over the globe. Here, we demonstrate that the GMV could be driven by the AMO through atmospheric teleconnections and atmosphere-ocean coupling processes.

The Tibetan Plateau Uplift is Crucial for Eastward Propagation of Madden-Julian Oscillation.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Himalayas have been treated as an essential external factor in shaping Asian monsoon and mid-latitude atmospheric circulation. In this study we perform numerical experiments with different uplift altitudes using the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Earth System Model to examine potential impacts of uplift of the TP and Himalayas on eastward propagation of the MJO and the associated mechanisms. Analysis of experimental results with dynamics-based MJO diagnostics indicates two potential mechanisms.

Historical change of El Niño properties sheds light on future changes of extreme El Niño.

El Niño's intensity change under anthropogenic warming is of great importance to society, yet current climate models' projections remain largely uncertain. The current classification of El Niño does not distinguish the strong from the moderate El Niño events, making it difficult to project future change of El Niño's intensity. Here we classify 33 El Niño events from 1901 to 2017 by cluster analysis of the onset and amplification processes, and the resultant 4 types of El Niño distinguish the strong from the moderate events and the onset from successive events.

Metrics and tools for consistent cohort discovery and financial analyses post-transition to ICD-10-CM.

In the United States, International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM, the ninth revision) diagnosis codes are commonly used to identify patient cohorts and to conduct financial analyses related to disease. In October 2015, the healthcare system of the United States will transition to ICD-10-CM (the tenth revision) diagnosis codes. One challenge posed to clinical researchers and other analysts is conducting diagnosis-related queries across datasets containing both coding schemes.

Challenges and remediation for Patient Safety Indicators in the transition to ICD-10-CM.

Reporting of hospital adverse events relies on Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The US transition to ICD-10-CM in 2015 could result in erroneous comparisons of PSIs. Using the General Equivalent Mappings (GEMs), we compared the accuracy of ICD-9-CM coded PSIs against recommended ICD-10-CM codes from the Centers for Medicaid/Medicare Services (CMS).