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Purpose: This study aimed to analyze a feasible and suitable surgical precautionary preparatory technique. The techniques of double-gloving with hygienic hand wash (DH) and single-gloving with surgical hand wash (SS) were compared for their ability to prevent postoperative infection in robotic and laparoscopic minimally invasive surgeries. Materials and Methods: A prospective, non-randomized, multicenter study was conducted between January 2016 and June 2020. We divided the robotic and laparoscopic cases into two groups: DH and SS. Data on infectious outcomes were collected. Propensity score matching was performed to control for operative characteristics between the two groups. The primary endpoint was the presence of fever and surgical site infections (SSIs) indicating postoperative infection. Results: Among four medical centers, seven surgeons were allocated to either the DH or the SS group. A total of 221 and 251 patients underwent DH and SS, respectively. Propensity score matching, which included 171 cases from each group, showed that the incidence of fever during hospitalization was significantly lower in the DH group than that in the SS group (11.7% vs. 23.4%, p = 0.007). Multivariable analysis revealed that DH was associated with a reduced odds ratio for developing postoperative fever during hospitalization (risk ratio: 0.49, p = 0.043). No differences were found in SSI before and after hospitalization between the two groups. Conclusion: DH resulted in less postoperative fever and had a comparable effect in preventing SSIs. This procedure could be an alternative to the SS protocol in some minimally invasive surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Alternating Copolymerization of Propylene Oxide/Alkylene Oxide and Carbon Dioxide: Tuning Thermal Properties of Polycarbonates," by Atsushi Okada, Satoshi Kikuchi, and Tohru Yamada is presented.

An abstract of the article "New Class of Catalysts for Alternating Copolymerization of Alkylene Oxide and Carbon Dioxide," by Atsushi Okada and colleagues is presented.

The article introduces a new media storage and transportation system that utilizes Movable and Deployable information and communication technology (ICT) Resource Unit (MDRU) in disaster areas. Topics include the concept of layered coding in a cache server, disaster resilient layered data transmission, and the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) 2000 standard for layered image/video coding. It also discusses network distributed storage and forward error correction (FEC).

Purpose: To investigate factors determining the outcomes of endoscopic management for stone-related ureteral stricture.Materials and Methods: Data of patients who underwent endoscopic surgery for ureteral stricture due to stones from January 2016 to April 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. We compared cases successfully treated with endoscopic surgery with cases that resulted in failure. We focused on factors associated with treatment success, including cause and length of stricture, methods of stricture treatment, surgical time, and duration of hydronephrosis before the treatment. Treatment success was defined as improvement in hydronephrosis status.Results: Nineteen patients were treated for stone-related ureteral stricture. Hydronephrosis was successfully improved in 12 patients (63.2%). Seven patients with failed endoscopic management had ureteroscopic lithotripsy- related stricture, whereas 3/12 (25.0%) patients with ureteroscopic lithotripsy-related stricture and 7/12 (58.3%) patients with impacted stone-related stricture were successfully treated by endoscopic management (P = .004). The prevalence of stricture length > 15 mm was significantly higher in the patients with failed management than in the patients with successful management (71.4 vs 16.6%, P = .046). Intraoperative endoscopic observation demonstrated that the mucosa of the ureteroscopic lithotripsy-related stricture had ischemic appearance with relatively long stricture length (P = 0.13) compared to the impacted stone-related stricture. No association was observed between treatment outcome and method of endoscopic management, including laser incision, balloon dilation, or both.Conclusion: Ureteroscopic lithotripsy as a cause and stricture length > 15 mm could affect the success rate of endoscopic management of ureteral stricture. In such cases, reconstructive management should probably be considered in the early stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]