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In this paper, combining the Newton method with matrix splitting technique, a class of Newton-based matrix splitting iteration methods is presented to solve the weakly nonlinear system with some special matrices. Theoretical analysis shows that this kind of iteration method for some special matrices is convergent under suitable conditions. Numerical results show that this kind of iteration method is feasible and effective for the weakly nonlinear system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the semi-convergence of the modified Hermitian and skew-Hermitian splitting (MHSS) iteration method for solving a broad class of complex singular linear systems. Some semi-convergence theories of the MHSS iteration method are established and are weaker than those appeared in previously published works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY In this note, some inaccuracies in the article (Numer. Linear Algebra Appl. 2012; 19:754-772) are pointed out and correct results are presented. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present some useful necessary and sufficient conditions for the unique solvability of a class of the new generalized absolute value equation (NGAVE) A x − | B x | = d with A , B ∈ R n × n from the optimization field. Incidentally, some sufficient conditions for the unique solvability of a class of the NGAVE are obtained as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The battle against COVID-19 remains ongoing, and social media has played an important role during the crisis for both communication and health promotion, particularly for health care organizations. Taiwan's success during the COVID-19 outbreak is well known and the use of social media is one of the key contributing factors to that success.Objective: This nationwide observational study in Taiwan aimed to explore the use of Facebook by academic medical centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: We conducted a nationwide observational study of all Facebook fan page posts culled from the official accounts of all medical centers in Taiwan from December 2019 to April 2020. All Facebook posts were categorized into either COVID-19-related posts or non-COVID-19-related posts. COVID-19-related posts were split into 4 categories: policy of Taiwan's Center for Disease Control (TCDC), gratitude notes, news and regulations from hospitals, and education. Data from each post was also recorded as follows: date of post, headline, number of "likes," number of messages left, number of shares, video or non-video post, and date of search.Results: The Facebook fan pages of 13 academic medical centers, with a total of 1816 posts, were analyzed. From January 2020, the percentage of COVID-19 posts increased rapidly, from 21% (January 2020) to 56.3% (April 2020). The trends of cumulative COVID-19 posts and reported confirmed cases were significantly related (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.93, P<.001). Pages from private hospitals had more COVID-19 posts (362 versus 289), as well as more video posts (72 posts, 19.9% versus 36 posts, 12.5%, P=.011), when compared to public hospitals. However, Facebook pages from public hospitals had significantly more "likes," comments, and shares per post (314, 5, 14, respectively, P<.001). Additionally, medical centers from different regions displayed different strategies for using video posts on Facebook.Conclusions: Social media has been a useful tool for communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nationwide observational study has helped demonstrate the value of Facebook for academic medical centers in Taiwan, along with its engagement efficacy. We believe that the experience of Taiwan and the knowledge it can share will be helpful to health care organizations worldwide during our global battle against COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper is devoted to the study of pulsating fronts and pulsating front-like entire solutions for a reaction–advection–diffusion model of two competing species in a periodic habitat. Under certain assumptions, the competition system admits a leftward and a rightward pulsating fronts in the bistable case. In this work we construct some other types of entire solutions by interacting the leftward and rightward pulsating fronts. Some of these entire solutions behave as the two pulsating fronts approaching each other from both sides of the x -axis, which turn out to be unique and Liapunov stable 2-dimensional manifolds of solutions, furthermore, the leftward and rightward pulsating fronts are on the boundary of these 2-dimensional manifolds. The others behave as the two pulsating fronts propagating from one side of the x -axis, the faster one then invades the slower one as t → + ∞. These kinds of pulsating front-like entire solutions then provide some new spreading ways other than pulsating fronts for two strongly competing species interacting in a heterogeneous habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic is a trace element and a global contaminant. There are currently large uncertainties associated with our understanding and quantification of the arsenic cycles in the global environment. This study proposes a research framework where the major anthropogenic processes affecting anthropogenic arsenic cycles (AACs) are identified. A characteristic of this framework is that it divides AACs into two parts: one related to intentional uses, and the other driven by unintentional uses. Several significant features of AACs are summarized as follows: (1) existing studies reveal that AACs at Earth's surface is at the same order of magnitudes as its natural cycles; (2) arsenic mostly enters modern anthroposphere as a companion element of nonferrous metal ores or fossil fuels, and currently there is abundant arsenic reserves relative to the limited intentional use of arsenic; (3) China owns the majority of arsenic reserves and is the biggest producer of arsenic for the present day, while U.S. was the biggest user of arsenic in the whole 20th century; (4) there were several waves of rise and fall of intentional arsenic use in the 20th century of U.S., with the rises driven by various applications of arsenic in agriculture and industry (such as glass making in the 1900s, agricultural applications in the 1920s, and wood preservatives in the 1970s), and the falls mainly resulting from the regulations in response to its toxicity; (5) the majority of intentional arsenic uses are in the form of chemical compounds rather than single substance, and almost all intentional uses of arsenic not only are unrecyclable but also result in emissions that may last years or decades after being used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, we are concerned with the existence and uniqueness of solution for tensor complementarity problem (TCP) and tensor absolute value equations (TAVEs) with special structure. First, we give a sufficient condition of P tensors by using the nonsingularity of the relevant tensors and the properties of eigenvalues. In addition, we give the conditions for the existence and uniqueness of solution for the TCP and prove that the TAVEs with a special structure are equivalent to the TCP. Based on these, using the equivalence relationship with the TCP, some sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of solution for the TAVEs with special structure are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respecting the selective inhibition of peptides on protein–protein interactions, they might become potent methods in ischemic stroke therapy. In this study, we investigated the effect of PDZ1 inhibitor peptide on ischemic neuron apoptosis and the relative mechanism. Results showed that PDZ1 inhibitor peptide, which significantly disrupted GluK2-PSD-95 interaction, efficiently protected neuron from ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis. Further, PDZ1 inhibited FasL expression, DISC assembly and activation of Caspase 8, Bid, Caspase 9 and Caspase 3 after global brain ischemia. Based on our previous report that GluK2-PSD-95 pathway increased FasL expression after global brain ischemia, the neuron protection effect of PDZ1 inhibitor peptide was considered to be achieved by disrupting GluK2-PSD-95 interaction and subsequently inhibiting FasL expression and Fas apoptosis pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to investigate the existence and stability of traveling wavefronts for competitive-cooperative systems with three species. The existence result can be derived by using the technique of monotone method with the help of a pair of explicit supersolution and subsolution. Moreover, some su cient conditions ensure the linear determinacy for the minimal speed is given. Then, applying the weighted energy method, we prove that the traveling wavefronts are asymptotically stable in the weighted Banach spaces provided that the initial perturbations of the traveling wavefronts also belong to the same spaces.

In order to evaluate the pollution status, possible sources, and bioavailability of heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Sb, Zn, and Tl), 33 surface sediments were collected from Longjiang River, Southern China. The total concentrations and potential bioavailable concentrations of the heavy metals were analyzed using ICP-MS. Enrichment factors (EFs), Pearson correlation analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to further assess their pollution degree and potential sources. Results showed that the surface sediments of Longjiang River have been suffering heavy metal (As, Cd, Pb, Sb, and Zn) pollution to different degrees. The maximum concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Sb, and Zn were 67.0, 7.42, 227, 229, and 807 mg·kg -1 , respectively, while the Tl concentration were very low, with little variation. Moreover, the polluted sites were mostly located in the mid-lower of the main stem and in tributaries (Dongxioajiang and downstream of Dahuanjiang), and the pollution degree of the heavy metals, in a descending order, were Cd > Sb > Zn > Pb > As > Tl. Pearson correlation analysis and PCA indicated that As, Cd, Pb, Sb, and Zn predominantly originated from anthropogenic inputs, including nonferrous metal mining and smelting, municipal sewage, and agricultural activities, and Tl mostly derived from natural rock weathering. The bioavailability of heavy metals in the sediments tended to be controlled by their sources. The percentages of bioavailable heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Sb, and Zn) in the highly anthropogenic impacted areas (the mid-lower of the main stem and downstream of Dongxiaojiang tributary) were also high, with the average percentages of bioavailable As, Cd, Pb, Sb, and Zn of 26%, 51%, 49%, 38%, and 47%, respectively. High EF values and high bioavailable percentages of heavy metals easily and greatly cause high ecological risk of Longjiang River.

We aim to reassess the safety of the monopolar transurethral resection of the prostate (M-TURP) without suprapubic cystostomy at our institution over the past decade. This retrospective study was conducted in patients who underwent M-TURP at Peking University First Hospital between 2003 and 2013. A total of 1680 patients who had undergone M-TURP were identified, including 539 patients in the noncystostomy group and 1141 patients in the cystostomy group. After propensity score matching, the number of patients in each group was 456. Smaller reductions in hemoglobin and hematocrit (10.9 g vs 17.6 g and 3.6% vs 4.7%, respectively) were found in the noncystostomy group. In addition, patients undergoing surgery without cystostomy had their catheters removed earlier (4.6 days vs 5.2 days), required shorter postoperative stays in the hospital (5.1 days vs 6.0 days), and were at lower risk of operative complications (5.7% vs 9.2%), especially bleeding requiring blood transfusion (2.9% vs 6.1%). Similar findings were observed in cohorts of prostates of 30-80 ml and prostates >80 ml. Furthermore, among patients with a resection weight >42.5 g or surgical time >90 min, or even propensity-matched patients based on surgical time, those with cystostomy seemed to be at a higher risk of operative complications. These results suggest that M-TURP without suprapubic cystostomy is a safe and effective method, even among patients with larger prostates, heavier estimated resection weights, and longer surgical times.

In order to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics of Sb and selected heavy metals, and to discriminate their sources and potential ecological risks in surface sediments of the Duliujiang river,a total of 62 surface sediment samples were collected in this study. Total contents of Sb, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Tl, Zn and Fe in these samples were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS) and the inductive plasma optical emission spectrometry(ICP-OES). Principal component analysis(PCA) and Pearson correlation analysis were used to deduce the potential sources of these elements. Geo-accumulation index(I geo ), enrichment factor(EF) and Hakanson's potential ecological risk index( E r i and RI) were calculated to evaluate the pollution degree of heavy metals in sediments. The results indicated that the contents of heavy metals in sediments were impacted by human activities to different extents, and the Duliujiang River was significantly contaminated by Sb. The contents of Sb in sediments reached up to 7080 mg·kg -1 , and gradually decreased from upstream to downstream, while the contents of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Tl and Zn varied indistinctively. The PCA results showed that the cumulative proportion of the first two components accounted for 77.67% of the total variables, suggesting that two major sources of Sb and other heavy metals were mining/smelting industry and natural sources. The calculated I geo and EFs also showed that the surface sediments of the Duliujiang River were majorly polluted by Sb, followed by As and Co, lightly contaminated with Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb and Tl, and uncontaminated with Cr. The ecological hazards( E r i ) for each metals in a descending order were Sb > Cd > As > Co > Ni > Pb > Cu > Zn > Cr. The comprehensive index of potential ecological risks(RI) for heavy metals indicated that 58.1% of the 62 sediments samples had more than moderate ecological risks, and the sites with high RIs were generally located around Sb mining area and the downstream of the Baluo River. In addition, the E r i of Sb was a predominant component of RI, indicating that the Duliujiang River is an area with extremely high potential ecological risk of Sb.

Objective To observe inducing or inhibiting effects of Chinese medicine (CM) poly- saccharides on glycoprotein chain synthetized different glycosyltransferases, thus disclosing targets of CM polysaccharides and its mechanisms. Methods In vivo anti-tumor effects of CM polysaccharides were observed using the inhibiting rate of tumor growth by dividing different Aconitum containing groups. Effects of CM polysaccharides on liver cancer cell SK-HEP-1 glycosyltransferase and tumor related gene expressions were observed. Meanwhile, changes of polylactosamine expression were detected using flow cytometry (FCM) with polylactosamine specific biotin labeling lectin. Results Compared with the model group, the average tumor weight was significantly lower in each medication group (P <0. 01). Compared with the adriamycin group, no significant difference in average tumor weight of the three compound groups (P>0. 05). The expression level of polylactosamine was reduced after adding Aconitum polysac- charide; and CM compound polysaccharides respectively. Conclusions Polysaccharide compound showed similar anti-tumor effect as that of adriamycin. Besides, polylactosamine expression level was reduced in the three compound groups along with increased prepared Aconitum polysaccharide, with more obvious anti-tumor effects shown.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of chronic hyperlipidemia on bladder function and its possible mechanisms and examine the functional and histological changes of bladder in a diabetic hyperlipidemic model., Methods: A total of 30 male New Zealand white rabbits (2.5 to 3.0 kg) were numbered sequentially and randomly divided into 2 groups (hyperlipidemic group and control group). Then urodynamic test and detrusor strip contraction study were performed to assess bladder function.Histological studies of bladder and internal iliac arteries were performed with hematoxylin and eosin staining. The ultrastructure of bladder detrusor tissue was examined by transmission electron microscopy. Also the bladder tissue M2, 3-muscarinic receptor protein levels were examined by immunohistochemistry., Results: After 12 weeks, the urodynamic test of the test group showed significantly increased non-voiding contractions (10/14 vs 1/13, P < 0.05) and decreased compliance ((2.16 ± 0.17) vs (4.18 ± 0.21) ml/cm H2O, P < 0.01) versus the control group. The functional experiments showed that carbachol-induced contractions significantly decreased in hyperlipidemic rabbits than those in controls. As to the relaxant actions of selective muscarinic receptor M3 antagonist solifenacin, the bladder strips of hyperlipidemic rabbits were significantly more sensitive than those of the controls.Histological examination showed thickened intima of internal iliac arteries, urothelial disruption and mild fibrosis in the hyperlipidemic rabbits. Transmission electron microscopy of hyperlipidemic bladder muscle tissues showed swollen mitochondrial damage. As to the immunohistochemical results, compared with the control group, the hyperlipidemic group showed significantly increased M3 receptor expression both in bladder urothelium (146 ± 14 vs 108 ± 9, P < 0.01) and smooth muscle layer (131 ± 17 vs 116 ± 15, P < 0.05) . And the expression was more obvious in urothelium layer., Conclusions: Involuntary detrusor overactivity with decreased bladder compliance and decreased contractions of detrusor are present in hyperlipidemic rabbits. And chronic bladder ischemia and increased M3 receptor expression may contribute to bladder dysfunction.

Objective: To investigate diagnosis and therapeutic effects of knee joint synovial chondromatosis with arthroscopic., Methods: From March 1995 to July 2011, 28 patients with knee joint synovial chondromatosis were treated. Among them, 18 males and 10 females ranging age from 25 to 81 (mean 55.2) years,the course of disease ranged from 0.5 to 15 (mean 5.6) years. Clinical manifestation mainly included pain, swell and functional limitation of knee joint. Knee open surgery (17 cases) and laparoscopic surgery (10 cases) were respectively used. Clinical symptom,image data,pathological manifestation and effects under arthroscopy were observed, Lysholm scoring was used to evaluate effects., Results: All patients were followed up except one lost, the duration ranging from 6 to 24 months. Lysholm score in knee open surgery was increased from (41.89 +/- 6.81) preoperatively to (67.73 +/- 7.62) postoperatively;while in laparoscopic surgery it was increased from (40.78 +/- 7.54) preoperatively to (77.46 +/- 8.43) postoperatively., Conclusion: Arthroscopic surgery, which has no risk of rupture of incision, nonunion, earlier to exercise, is a good method to diagnosis and treat knee joint synovial chondromatosis.

Objective: To determine the distribution characteristics of cancerous foci in the prostate by retrospective analysis on the radical prostatectomy (RP) samples from patients with prostate cancer diagnosed by single positive core biopsy and treated by RP., Methods: Thirty-seven patients with prostate cancer diagnosed by ultrasound-guided biopsy and single positive core biopsy underwent RP. We reviewed the pre- and post-operative data of the patients, compared the results of biopsies and pathological examination of the RP samples, and analyzed the factors that led to the underestimation of the overall prostate cancer risks., Results: Post-operative pathological results showed multifocal distribution of the tumors in 70% of the patients (26/37) and obviously increased Gleason score (7-9) in 56% (21/37). The clinical stages of the tumors had been significantly underestimated preoperatively. The underestimation of their clinical stages might be due to a larger proportion of cancer tissues in a single positive core biopsy, and that of the overall cancer risks attributed to PSAD > 0.2 microg/L. Larger prostate volume (> or = 40 ml) increased the possibility of multifocal distribution., Conclusion: The risk of prostate cancer diagnosed by single positive core biopsy might be underestimated, and the cancerous foci were characterized by multifocal distribution in the prostate.

Objective: To study the variation of renal vessels with retroperitoneal laparoscopy so as to increase the safety of retroperitoneal laparoscopic surgeries., Methods: A total of 525 patients underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy at our hospital between January 2004 and June 2008. There were 316 males and 209 females with a mean age of (58 ± 13) years old. The procedures were as follows: (1) patients lay on one side with their waist up and the retroperitoneal cavity was established with our institutional method; (2) gerota's fascia was separated widely along the ventral surface of major psoas muscle; (3) the tissues around renal arteries and veins were isolated by ultrasonic scalpel. Careful observation was performed to explore if there were duplicated or accessory renal vessels; (4) renal vessels were cut by Endo-GIA/Hem-o-lok or blocked by bulldog clamps; (5) whole or partial kidney was finally resected (remaining procedures omitted)., Results: Among all patients, 58 patients (11.0%, 58/525) had a variation of renal vessels. There were double renal arteries on one side (n = 18), double renal veins (n = 10), 3 renal veins (n = 1) and double arteries and veins on one side (n = 3). Twenty-five patients (4.8%, 25/525) had one accessory renal artery on one side while 19 (76.0%, 19/25) accessory renal arteries went toward the upper kidney pole. The diameter of one patient's left spermatic vein was similar with that of renal vein and they were joined by lumber vein., Conclusion: The variation of renal artery is more common than that of renal vein. The accessory renal arteries are common and usually go toward the upper kidney pole. The variation of renal vessels should be considered before and during a laparoscopic procedure.

A novel member of the human beta3-galactosyltransferase family, the beta3GalT7 gene (AY277592, EC2.4.1.-) was first isolated and cloned by our laboratory. To further study its functions, we constructed a prokaryotic expression system of beta3GalT7 and obtained anti-beta3GalT7 polyclonal antiserum by immunizing rabbit with purified beta3GalT7 protein. Using the antiserum, the expression of beta3GalT7 in various tissues and cell lines was analyzed by Western blot and immunochemical assays. Immunochemistry analysis showed the enzyme was expressed significantly higher in some tumor tissues than in normal tissues, indicating its biofunction in tumorogenesis. By immunofluorescence, the enzyme was observed highly accumulated in cytoplasm around nuclear membrane, implying that beta3GalT7 may play an important role in the assembly of galactose in RER and Golgi.

Land use is one of the most important factors that determine the occurrence and pattern of non-point source pollution. This study selected 15 catchments of Hujiashan watershed to examine the effect of land use on non-point source pollution. Land uses of these 15 catchments were classified from Resources Satellite No.2 images. The total nitrogen and nitrate content of discharge were monitored from Jan. to Dec. of 2008. The relations between nitrogen export and land use were analyzed using the hydrological modeling and spatial analysis extensions of ArcGIS 9.2. The results showed that dry land and residential area exported significant amount of nitrogen, whilst forest and grassland could be considered as nitrogen sinks. Land use was a controlling factor that determined the amount of nitrogen export, although the effects varied with time. Annually, dry land was the top nitrogen producer. However, seasonally, top producers were dry land, residential, residential and dry land in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Rainfall, temperature and human activity are also important for influencing the nitrogen export.

Objective: To analyze the genetic characteristics of HIV-1 CRF01&#95;AE strains prevailing in the four provinces of southern China., Methods: Plasma samples were collected from the newly diagnosed HIV-1 individuals reported in 2006 in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi and Hunan province. The gag and env gene fragments were amplified from RNA template extracted from plasma using RT and nested PCR methods. CRF01&#95;AE sequences were analyzed by phylogenetic methods and characterized by calculating the genetic distance and Entropy analysis., Results: Two main epidemic clusters were found to exist in the CRF01&#95;AE strains from 210 HIV-1 CRF01&#95; AE infected individuals collected in the 4 provinces, southern China. It was found that no international reference strain was closely correlated with cluster I, which including 123 samples. The strains in cluster II, consisting 57 cases of samples, were closely related with the strains identified in Vietnam. Genetic distance analysis of gag and env genes showed that the diversity of cluster I was obviously less than that of cluster II. Data on nucleotide polymorphism showed that nucleotides compositions of 42 sites in gag and 40 sites in env were significantly different between the two clusters. When compared with cluster II, the polymorphism decreased at 61 nucleotide sites but increased at 21 sites in cluster I., Conclusion: This was the first report describing that two main epidemic clusters were existed in CRF01&#95;AE strains prevailing in the 4 provinces, Southern China. The virus in cluster I was the dominant strain in this region, with shorter period of circulation and higher proportion seen in the HIV-infected population, which might belong to CRF01&#95;AE strain with certain features facilitating the spread of the virus. The virus in cluster II was highly homology with the CRF01&#95;AE strains from Vietnam, and seemed to have had several events of epidemics in populations in border regions of China and Vietnam.

Objective: To compare the urodynamic diagnostic types of dysuria in female patients of different age groups., Methods: Six hundred and sixteen female patients with dysuria were evaluated from March 1997 to July 2008. No patients had history of nervous system disease and history of lower urinary tract operations. They had detrusor pressure-flow studies and uroflowmetry. The urodynamic diagnostic types were analyzed in 3 different age groups., Results: In 3 groups of 18 - 40 years, 40 - 60 years and > or = 60 years, the diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) had the highest proportion (54.8%, 59.1% and 45.0% respectively). The distribution of detrusor overactivity, detrusor under-activity and normal function had no significant difference between 3 groups. The distribution of BOO and acontractile detrusor had significantly difference between 3 groups. When groups of 18 - 40 years and 40 - 60 years were combined into 18 - 60 years group and compared with the older group, the proportion of BOO, acontractile detrusor and detrusor under-activity showed significantly difference. The proportions of BOO in the two groups were 57.3% and 45.0%, acontractile detrusor 15.6% and 23.9%, detrusor under-activity 17.4% and 25.0%, respectively. The proportion of reduced bladder sensation among detrusor under-activity patients in the older group was significantly higher., Conclusions: In the urodynamic diagnoses of voiding difficulty in female patients, bladder outlet obstruction has the highest proportion. This proportion decreases in the older patients. The proportion of acontractile detrusor and detrusor under-activity increases in the older group.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and erectile dysfunction (ED) in men aged > or = 50 years and to achieve the correlation between LUTS (obstructive symptoms and stimulant symptoms) and ED., Methods: We investigated 245 men aged > or = 50 years and with regular sex mates using International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), designed diagnostic interrogation and medical examination, and statistically analyzed the results of IPSS, IIEF-5, LUTS and their correlation with erectile function., Results: The incidence of ED was 81.9% (140/171) among the men with LUTS, 73.1% (38/52), 82.1% (46/56) and 88.9% (56/63) respectively in the 50-59, 60-69 and > or = 70 age groups, with significant differences in IPSS, IIEF-5 (P < 0.01) and the severity of ED (P < 0.01) among different age groups. ED incidence was found significantly correlated with the severity of LUTS (r = 0.52, P < 0.01), 71.3% (57/80), 89.6% (60/67) and 95.8% (23/24) respectively in the groups of mild, moderate and severe LUTS. The mean scores on obstructive and stimulant symptoms were (3.1 +/- 3.6) and (6.8 +/- 4.9), and their correlation coefficients with IIEF-5 were r = -0.41 (P < 0.01) and r = -0.59 (P < 0.01), respectively., Conclusion: The incidence of ED is high in men with LUTS and positively correlated with the severity of LUTS. Stimulant symptoms have greater influence than obstructive symptoms on the sexual life of old and middle-aged males.

Objective: To compare the differences of the efficacy and different therapeutic drugs on the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in order to ensure the optimal indication for different BPH patients., Methods: A randomized, parallel-controlled, multicenter clinical trial was conducted. From September 2002 to December 2003 906 BPH patients were enrolled into 7 therapeutic groups, including selective-adrenoceptor antagonist (terazosin, doxazosin tamsulosin and naftopidil), 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor (finasteride and epristeride) and natural product (cernilton). International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Quality of Life (QOL), uroflowmetry, total prostatic volume (TPV) and transitional zone volume and residual urine were used as efficacy criteria., Results: According to the baseline, the IPSS and Qmax were significantly correlated to the prostatic volume and transitional zone volume (P < 0.01). At average follow-up of 6 months, significant improvements in IPSS, QOL, Qmax and residual urine volume were observed in each therapeutic group, and no difference in IPSS improvement was found among the groups. Prostatic volume and transitional zone volume were significant decreased in 5alpha-reductase inhibitor groups (P < 0.05). In patients with baseline TPV greater than 35.5 cm3, the improvement of Qmax was more significant than that in patients with TPV less than 35.5 cm3 in finasteride group (P < 0.01) (5.7 ml/s and 2.2 ml/s respectively), and more significant symptomatic improvements were also found in cernilton, doxazosin and naftopidil group. In each group, the improvement of symptom were more significant in patients with IPSS higher than 20 points (P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Each drug observed in this study can improve the subjective and objective symptoms significantly for BPH patients, especially for patients with higher IPSS baseline. When using 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, prostatic volume can be decreased significantly and more obviously subjective and objective improvement can be found in the patients with TPV greater than 35.5 cm3.

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of estrogen action on bladder., Methods: By examining the functional, histological and ultrastructural changes that occurred in the bladder of rats with estrogen depletion and supplementation, we studied the actions of estrogen on bladder. A total of 30 female adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups, including control group, bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) group and bilateral ovariectomy plus estradiol valerate (OVX + E) group. After medication for 12 weeks, cystometry was performed. Masson stain was used to quantify the area densities of collagen fiber and smooth muscle and their ratios, and electron microscopy was used to evaluate ultrastructure of detrusor muscle., Results: In OVX group, bladder maximal capacity, (0.32 +/- 0.20) ml, compliance, (0.012 +/- 0.006) ml/cm H2O (1 cm H2O = 0.098 kPa), and maximal contraction force, (1.4 +/- 0.4) cm H2O were obviously lower than those in control group, which were (1.11 +/- 0.09) ml, (0.026 +/- 0.003) ml/cm H2O, and (4.4 +/- 0.3) cm H2O, respectively (P < 0.05). In OVX + E group, bladder maximal capacity (0.83 +/- 0.10) ml was lower than that in control group (P < 0.05), but compliance, (0.029 +/- 0.003) ml/cm H2O and maximal contraction force, (4.8 +/- 1.4) cm H2O were similar to those of control group (P > 0.05). Collagen fiber area density and collagen fiber to smooth muscle area density ratio in OVX group (0.218 +/- 0.041 and 0.54 +/- 0.08) were higher than those in control group (0.160 +/- 0.039 and 0.32 +/- 0.09, P < 0.05); however, there were no significant differences between OVX + E group (0.178 +/- 0.027, 038 +/- 0.06) and control group (P > 0.05). In OVX group, ultrastructure of detrusor muscle showed degenerative change, while it was not found in the other groups., Conclusions: When the rat was ovariectomized, bladder function became poor and supplementary estrogen could improve bladder function. This effect may be due to inhibition of collagen hyperplasia and protection of cell organelles. Estrogen replacement should be beneficial for treating postmenopausal lower urinary tract symptoms.