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To describe a concept of ideal 'puncture zone' as against any single ideal 'puncture tract' for percutaneous nephro-lithotomy (PCNL) and present our results. Through this narrative, we aim to reduce the gaps in inter-understanding of an erstwhile description of ideal tract and real-life puncture making. The puncture zone principle was applied for our novel puncture making technique during PCNL. The largest imaginary cone that can fit into a respective calyx, with its tip in the pelvis defines the 'puncture zone' for that calyx. This concept allows fine-tuning of the ideal puncture tract based upon the desired corresponding manipulation zone and also shifts the focus of puncture making to infundibulum anatomy from the tip of calyx. The surgical technique and retrospective review of 136 cases done between 2015 and 2021 using this concept are presented. Primary outcome included stone-free rate, pseudo-aneurysm and blood transfusion at 3 months of follow-up. 33 cases had multiple (> 3) stones, 21 only calyceal/infundibular stones, eight partial staghorn and 12 were complete staghorn stones. Mean stone size was 29 ± 15 (Range: 5-53) mm. Complete clearance was achieved in 127 cases, four of which required two tracts. Blood transfusion was required in one case. No pseudo-aneurysms were encountered. The puncture zone concept has provided good results in our hands. It may help easier understanding of PCN puncture making and provides a background for reconciliation between description of an ideal tract and practical puncturing techniques used by different surgeons., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Abnormal levels of heavy metals (HM) and trace elements (TE) affect body metabolism and can induce carcinogenesis. This study aims to evaluate the role of HM and TE in carcinoma urinary bladder (CAUB)., Methods: Patients with biopsy-proven CAUB ( n = 100) were taken as the study group, while age-and sex-matched healthy volunteers were taken as control ( n = 100). Blood and urine samples were compared for Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Selenium (Se), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), and Mercury (Hg) levels. Serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels were assessed to know the redox status between the two groups., Results: A significantly higher blood level of As, Mn, and Pb was observed in CAUB cases as compared to controls. Blood Se level was significantly lower in CAUB patients. On comparing urinary levels, CAUB patients had a higher As, Mn, and Pb levels compared to controls. Further, 68% and 59% of patients had their blood and urinary HM and TE levels above the permitted level, respectively. CAUB cases also had a lower GSH-Px (113.5 ± 44.7 vs. 163.9 ± 120.5, P = 0.0002), lower SOD levels (11.35 ± 5.6 vs. 13.75 ± 3.9, P = 0.008), and a higher LPO levels (15.5 ± 14.7 vs. 11.18 ± 11.2, P = 0.02) in the serum., Conclusions: A significantly higher concentration of As, Mn, and Pb was noted in the blood and urine of CAUB patients compared to controls. CAUB cases also had lower serum GSH-Px and SOD levels with a concomitant increased serum LPO assay suggesting underlying oxidative stress., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Indian Journal of Urology.)

Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

A woman in her 30s had robotic pyeloplasty done for right ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Incidentally she developed dengue viral fever starting on postoperative day 1 itself, which progressed to dengue haemorrhagic shock by 1 week, complicating pyeloplasty due to pelvicalyceal haematoma. Dengue associated shock was superimposed with subsequent gram-negative bacterial sepsis, further complicated later with Trichosporon fungal sepsis. She was managed under multidisciplinary care, involving urology, infectious disease and ICU care. Her diagnostic and difficult management issues due to these rare sequential medical issues in an otherwise usually uncomplicated postsurgical phase are discussed along with short review of literature. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis, timely supportive care and appropriate management in such tropical infections with significant associated mortality., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

A new approach for asymptotic stabilization of a general input-affine nonlinear system is presented. This relies upon the results of Matrosov's theorem to decompose the nth dimensional space. The construction of the [K,KL] sector for a nonlinear system is done with the suitable choice of control-Lyapunov function. The study of a nonlinear system is viewed from the perspective of comparison function for uniformity in solution. By means of designed sector, we design a switching controller which is well suited in the condition that shows its presence only outside of [K,KL] sector. Thus, it yields a stabilization scheme which saves the superfluous control termed as Lazy or Hands-Off control. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed approach which yields an asymptotically stable results for the simulation of an illustrative example., (Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper studies the formation of multiple mobile agents with double integrator dynamics and their target tracking. An algorithm consisting of an observer and a feedback control law of the nonsmooth type is proposed for the purpose of achieving finite-time formation and target tracking. The development is based on the Multi-input Multi-output (MIMO) super-twisting like approach aiming at finite time convergence without chattering. In addition to the formation; tracking, chattering prevention and robustness is also provided by the sliding mode mechanism which is demonstrated by simulations., (Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)