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Objective To present our treatment experience of buried penis, which has no consensus therapeutic technique for all cases of buried penis, by using a new technique for the repair of this condition, in which the approach is through the ventral penile root. Materials and methods We performed a retrospective review of 153 patients (median age: 6.5 years) who underwent repair of a buried penis between March 2005 and March 2013. The technique involves the creation of a wedge-shaped cut of the ventral penile skin, followed by fixation of the subcutaneous penile skin at the base of the degloved penis to the Buck fascia at the 2- and 10-o'clock positions. The ventral outer preputial skin is split down the midline, and the dorsal inner preputial skin is cut with oblique incision. Results All patients were followed for an average of 12 months after repair. Other than 2 cases (1.3%) of trapped penis with a ring of scar tissue, which required subsequent excision, there were no complications and the cosmetic appearance was satisfactory. Conclusion The described ventral penile approach is a simple and effective procedure with good cosmetic outcomes and few complications.

People in Huaihe River Basin and Shanghai have been suffering from severe air pollution of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide due to the development of heavy industry. Traditional ambient monitoring station measurements can provide real-time accurate data, but it is limited due to the less number of monitoring sites. Satellite observation data from remote sensing can provide a wide range opollutants concentrations in long-time sequence. Top-down approaches based on satellite data can be effectively applied to estimate the ground concentrations of pollutants. In this paper, the tropospheric pollutants columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument(OMI) were used to analyse the seasonal variation of NO2 and SO2 in 2015. Moreover, the ground-level NO2 and SO2 concentrations of the Huaihe River Basin and Shanghai at this time were estimated by the data and meteorological data. The results show that: the concentrations of NO2 and SO2 are highest in winter, and high-value areas are mainly located in Shandong and Northern Henan. Estimating the ground-level NO2 and SO2 concentrations based on satellite observations is reliable with the validation R2 0.48 and 0.47 respectively. Finally, The spatial distribution of satellite-derived annual mean NO2 and SO2 has a similar characteristics to the satellite columns.

Air pollutants can cause serious effects on human health, especially fine particles in air, which can easily cause respiratory diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis, and also increase the probability of lung cancer and heart disease. The disease surveillance of the residents around the chemical plant is an effective means to understand the effects of the discharged pollutant on the health of the surrounding residents. The research area, Shanghai Chemical Industry Park is located at the junction of Jinshan and Fengxian, as the South Center of the six industrial bases of Shanghai. Applying the spatial distribution of population obtained from the extraction of residential land by using GF-2 data, and the disease data after cleaning treatment, can reach to the spatial distribution of the above two diseases. Through the integration of spatial characteristics and attribute characteristics, the disease surveillance of the surrounding residents can be realized, which directly reflects the impact of chemical industry on the health of the surrounding residents.

Fine particles less than 2.5 microns in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) has found to threat human health and environment. The formation and diffusion of PM2.5 are closely related to the meteorological elements. Many scholars have studied the influence mechanism of meteorological elements to PM2.5. However, most of these researches mainly focus on some serious short-term atmospheric pollution, long-term research is rare. In addition, the impact of meteorological elements on PM2.5 has regional characteristics. This paper takes Shanghai as study area, applying PM2.5 concentrations from China environmental monitoring stations and reanalysis meteorological data from 2014 to 2016.. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper got the change characteristics of PM2.5 in Shanghai in recent three years, and the correlation between PM2.5 and relative humidity, temperature, wind and boundary layer height. Relative humidity is positively correlated with PM2.5, while U wind is negatively correlated with PM2.5. And there are seasonal differences in the correlation between PM2.5 and temperature, V wind and boundary layer height.

With the rapid development of urbanization, the dynamic evolution of urban expansion has become one of the hot topics throughout the world. Thus, modeling and predicting the urban expansion in the future is one of the effective methods for the study of urban growth. Based on the rapid urbanization in Shanghai, our study uses four years of land use data (1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010), DEM and two years of traffic roads data (2005 and 2010) to obtain the optimal parameters of urban growth through model calibration. And the results of calibration were used to simulate and predict the land use change in 2040 under different scenarios of excluded layers. The results show that the urban growth in Shanghai is more often grow along the edge of existing urban centers and the transportation network with the relatively high spread coefficient (43) and road coefficient (66), while the dispersion, breed and slope coefficient are relatively low. The SLEUTH simulation with these five parameters possessed satisfactory capability of predicting land use changes with the kappa coefficient of 0.8628 and an appropriate Lee-Sallee index of 0.8139. The result shows that the urban areas in Shanghai increase significantly in 2040, while the rural area, grass and other construction area are decreased. Therefore, SLEUTH can better predict the spatial changes of land use and provide some theoretical support and decision-making basis for the urban-rural planning in Shanghai.

Maintaining the epithelial status of cells in vitro and fabrication of a multilayered epithelial lining is one of the key problems in the therapy using cell technologies. When cultured in a monolayer, epithelial cells change their phenotype from epithelial to epithelial-mesenchymal or mesenchymal that makes it difficult to obtain a sufficient number of cells in a 2D culture and to use them in tissue engineering. Here, using buccal epithelial cells from the oral mucosa, we developed a novel approach to recover and maintain the stable cell phenotype and form a multilayered epithelial lining in vitro via the 2D/3D cell self-assembling. Transitioning the cells from the monolayer to non-adhesive 3D culture conditions led to formation of self-assembling spheroids, with restoration of their epithelial characteristics after epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In 7 days, the cells within spheroids restored the apical-basal polarity, and the formation of both tight (ZO1) and adherent (E-cadherin) intercellular junctions was shown. Thus, culturing buccal epithelial cells in a 3D system allowed us to recover and durably maintain the morphological and functional characteristics of epithelial cells. The multilayered epithelial lining formation was achieved after placing spheroids for 7 days onto a hybrid matrix, which consisted of collagen layers and reinforcing poly (lactide-co-glycolide) fibers and was proven promising for replacement of the urothelium. Thus, we offer an effective technique of forming multilayered epithelial linings on carrier-matrices using cell spheroids that was not previously described elsewhere and can find a wide range of applications in tissue engineering, replacement surgery, and regenerative medicine.

Background Renal fibrosis is characterized by infiltration of interstitial inflammatory cells and release of inflammatory mediators, activation and proliferation of fibroblasts, and deposition of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hucMSC) conditioned medium (CM) on renal tubulointerstitial inflammation and fibrosis. Methods Renal interstitial fibrosis was prepared in vivo using the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Rats were divided randomly into Sham group, Sham group with CM, UUO group, and UUO group with CM. The effect of hucMSC-CM on kidney injury induced by UUO was assessed by detecting kidney histopathology, serum creatinine (SCr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). The levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in serum and kidney tissues were detected by ELISA. The expression of proteins associated with fibrosis and renal inflammation was investigated using immunohistochemical staining and western blotting. The effects of hucMSC-CM on the TGF-β1-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and on inflammation in NRK-52E cells were investigated by immunofluorescent staining, ELISA, and western blotting. Results hucMSC-CM reduced extracellular matrix deposition and inflammatory cell infiltration as well as release of inflammatory factors in UUO-induced renal fibrosis. Furthermore, hucMSC-CM markedly attenuated the EMT process and proinflammatory cytokines in rats with UUO and TGF-β1-induced NRK-52E cells. hucMSC-CM also inhibited the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro. Conclusions Our results suggest that hucMSC-CM has protective effects against UUO-induced renal fibrosis and that hucMSC-CM exhibits its anti-inflammatory effects through inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway activation.

Table S4. Percentage of USC expressing tight junction markers 2Â weeks after urothelial induction assessed by immunofluorescence. (DOCX 16Â kb)

Showing characterization of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hucMSCs). A Flow cytometry analyses of phenotypic markers of hucMSCs; positive for CD73, CD90, and CD105, and negative for CD34, CD45, and HLA-DR. B Cell linage induced differentiation. Adipogenic differentiation analyzed by Oil Red O staining; after induction, hucMSCs formed numerous Oil-Red-O-positive lipid droplets. Osteogenic differentiation analyzed by Alizarin Red staining; after induction, hucMSCs formed Alizarin Red-positive mineral nodes. Table S1 presenting cytokines and growth factor levels present in conditioned medium derived from hucMSC. Levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), vascular cell adhesion protein (VCAM)-1, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in hucMSC-CM also measured using ELISA kits: human IGF-1 ELISA, human BDNF ELISA, human TGF-β ELISA (RayBiotech); and human CXCL12/SDF-1α quantikine ELISA kit, human HGF quantikine ELISA kit, human VCAM-1 quantikine ELISA kit (R&D Systems). Data expressed as mean ± SD. (DOCX 111 kb)

Over the past decade, China has experienced a rapid increase in urbanization. The urban built-up areas (population) of Shanghai increased by 16.1% (22.9%) from 2006 to 2015. This study aims to analyze the variations of tropospheric NO2 over Yangtze River Delta region and the impacts of rapid urbanization during 2006-2015. The results indicate that tropospheric NO2 vertical column density (VCD) of all cities in the study area showed an increasing trend during 2006-2011 whereas a decreasing trend during 2011-2015. Most cities showed a lower tropospheric NO2 VCD value in 2015 compared to that in 2006, except for Changzhou and Nantong. Shanghai and Ningbo are two hotspots where the tropospheric NO2 VCD decreased most significantly, at a rate of 22% and 19%, respectively. This effect could be ascribed to the implementation of harsh emission control policies therein. Similar seasonal variability was observed over all cities, with larger values observed in the summer and smaller values shown in the winter. Further investigations show that the observed increasing trend of tropospheric NO2 during 2006-2011 could be largely explained by rapid urbanization linked to car ownership, GDP, power consumption, population and total industrial output. Such effect was not prominent after 2011, mainly due to the implementation of emission control strategies.

Fine particulates less than 2.5 microns in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) has been widely considered to be one of the main pollutant threating human health. Ground-level PM2.5 monitoring can provide accurate point data, but its value is hard to scale up to large scale. In this respects, satellite data with large coverage areas and long term range, could enhance our ability to estimate PM2.5 concentration. In this study, a Multilinear correlation model (MLC) based on MODIS AOD level 2 data was developed to estimate PM2.5 concentration in Northeastern China from 2013-2016, then ground-level PM2.5 monitoring data from 15 stations covering study area were used for validation. Results showed that 1) the annual PM2.5 is 63.98μg/m2, AOD values agreed well with estimated PM2.5 concentration, 2) the spatial variations of PM2.5 were not clear, while the temporal dynamic of PM2.5 were observed, the highest values were observed in winter, opposite to what were observed in fall. 3) the MLC model coupled with meteorological data could improve the precision of PM2.5 estimations. Therefore, we suggest that the developed MLC model is useful for the PM2.5 estimations in northeastern China.

Skeletal muscle precursor cells (MPCs) are considered a key candidate for cell therapy in the treatment of skeletal muscle dysfunction due to injury, disease, or age. However, expansion of a sufficient number of functional skeletal muscle cells in vitro from a small tissue biopsy has been challenging due to changes in phenotypic expression of these cells under traditional culture conditions. Thus, the aim of the study was to develop a better culture system for the expansion and myo-differentiation of MPCs that could further be used for therapy. For this purpose, we developed an ideal method of tissue decellularization and compared the ability of different matrices to support MPC growth and differentiation. Porcine-derived skeletal muscle and liver and kidney extracellular matrix (ECM) were generated by decellularization methods consisting of distilled water, 0.2 mg/mL DNase, or 5% fetal bovine serum. Acellular matrices were further homogenized, dissolved, and combined with a hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel decorated with heparin (ECM-HA-HP). The cell proliferation and myogenic differentiation capacity of human MPCs were assessed when grown on gel alone, ECM, or each ECM-HA-HP substrate. Human MPC proliferation was significantly enhanced when cultured on the ECM-HA-HP substrates compared to the other substrates tested, with the greatest proliferation on the muscle ECM-HA-HP (mECM-HA-HP) substrate. The number of differentiated myotubes was significantly increased on the mECM-HA-HP substrate compared to the other gel-ECM substrates, as well as the numbers of MPCs expressing specific myogenic cell markers (i.e., myosin, desmin, myoD, and myf5). In conclusion, skeletal mECM-HA-HP as a culture substrate provided an optimal culture microenvironment potentially due to its similarity to the in vivo environment. These data suggest a potential use of skeletal muscle-derived ECM gel for the expansion and differentiation of human MPCs for cell-based therapy for skeletal muscle dysfunction.

The reported incidence of arterial and venous thromboembolic events varies markedly between VEGFR-TKI-related clinical trials. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to determine the incidence and the relative risk (RR) of venous thromboembolism events (VTEs) and arterial thromboembolic events (ATEs) associated with these agents. Databases (PubMed, Web of Science) were searched for relevant studies. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate the summary incidences, RRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using either random-effects or fixed-effects models according to the heterogeneity of the included studies. A total of 24,855 patients from 48 studies were included. The overall incidence of all-grade and high-grade VTEs associated with VEGFR-TKIs was 3.6% (95% CI 2.3-5.2%) and 1.6% (95% CI 1.0-2.4%), respectively. The use of VEGFR-TKIs did not significantly increase the risk of developing all-grade (RR 0.91; 95% CI 0.68-1.22; P = 0.558) and high-grade (RR 1.05; 95% CI 0.84-1.31; P = 0.769) VTEs. The overall incidence of all-grade and high-grade ATEs associated with VEGFR-TKIs was 2.7% (95% CI 1.7-3.6%) and 0.6% (95% CI 0.2-1.2%), respectively. The use of VEGFR-TKIs significantly increase the risk of developing all-grade (RR 3.09; 95% CI 1.41-6.76; P = 0.033) ATEs, and a tendency to increase the risk of high-grade (RR 1.49; 95% CI 0.99-2.24; P = 0.101) ATEs was also detected. Patients with cancer that receive VEGFR-TKIs are at high risk of developing ATEs. Physicians should be aware of these adverse effects and should monitor cancer patients receiving VEGFR-TKIs.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs which can serve as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in human cancers. Herein, the transcriptomic differences of miRNAs in ccRCC were globally assessed using publicly available microarray dataset (GSE71302) from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and we identified miR-138 as a potential onco-suppressive miRNA. We further found that the expression of miR-138 was dramatically decreased in ccRCC cell lines and clinical ccRCC tissue samples, and the low miR-138 expression was closely correlated with tumor progression and prognosis in ccRCC patients. Overexpression of miR-138 inhibited, whereas downregulation of miR-138 promoted, the proliferation, migration and invasion of ccRCC cells in vitro, suggesting that miR-138 may function as a tumor suppressor in ccRCC. Furthermore, for the first time, we identified the EMT-related transcription factor SOX4 as a direct target gene of miR-138, evidenced by the direct binding of miR-138 with the 3’UTR of SOX4. Notably, the EMT marker E-cadherin or vimentin was also upregulated or downregulated upon miR-138 overexpression, and these effects were restored by SOX4 overexpression. We have also shown SOX4 overexpression reversed the attenuated migratory and invasive capacities mediated by miR-138. These results revealed that miR-138 functions as a tumor suppressor in ccRCC by targeting SOX4 and the EMT process and might represent a potential target in the treatment of human ccRCC.

To date, laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is one of the most developing areas in bioprinting. It is based on a precise nozzle-free laser-assisted hydrogel microdroplet transfer. Although this technique was first mentioned in the 1980s, it started to gain popularity in biomedicine only a decade ago. While the interest in LIFT bioprinting is constantly growing, it is essential to provide a framework of its possibilities and limitations. This review aims to facilitate the search for a common language between physicists and biologists and thus become a short guide to using LIFT technology for biomedicine. Here, we compared various points such as lasers, bioinks components, collector substrate, post-treatment, and printing processes that are crucial for LIFT bioprinting and applied in published studies on it. The core of this review is the discussion of biological and physical aspects to fabricate tissues and organs and the not-known difficulties that can be encountered during the laser printing process and were not given sufficient attention earlier.

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Surgical correction of the congenital completely buried penis (CCBP) is a difficult challenge and there is no unanimous consensus about the surgical ‘gold standard’ and patient eligibility for surgery. In the present study, dysgenetic fundiform ligaments were found to be attached to the distal or middle shaft of the penis. This abnormality can be successfully corrected by releasing the fundiform ligament and mobilising the scrotal skin to cover the length of the penile shaft. The study shows that the paucity and traction of the penile skin and an abnormal fundiform ligament are important anatomical defects in CCBP. Dorsal curve and severe shortage of penile skin in erectile conditions are the main indications for surgical correction. Objective To present our experience of anatomical findings for congenital completely buried penis (CCBP), which has no unanimous consensus regarding the ‘gold standard’ for surgical correction and patient eligibility, by providing our surgical technique and illustrations. Patients and Methods Between February 2006 and February 2011, 22 children with a median (range) age of 4.2 (2.5–5.8) years, with CCBP underwent surgical correction by one surgeon. Toilet training and photographs of morning erections by parents were advised before surgery. The abnormal anatomical structure of buried penis during the operation was observed. The technique consisted of the release of the fundiform ligament, fixation of the subcutaneous penile skin at the base of the degloved penis, penoscrotal Z-plasty and mobilisation of the penile and scrotal skin to cover the penile shaft. Results In reflex erectile conditions, CCBP presents varying degrees of dorsal curve and shortage of penile skin. Dysgenetic fundiform ligaments were found to be attached to the distal or middle shaft of the penis in all patients. All wounds healed well and the cosmetic outcome was good at 6-month follow-up after the repair. Conclusion The appearance of the dorsal curve in CCBP mainly results from the traction of penile dorsal skin and the abnormal attachment of the fundiform ligament to the shaft. This abnormality can be successfully corrected by releasing the abnormal fundiform ligament and mobilising scrotal skin to cover the length of the penile shaft.

Uncontrolled cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis are considered to be vital for cancer initiation, maintenance, infiltration, metastasis and recurrence after anti-cancer therapy. Here we report the generation of a novel cell line by reprogramming child foreskin fibroblast with the full length apoptosis inhibitor gene PIWIL2. The fibroblasts transfected with PIWIL2 expressed the stem cell markers OCT-4, NANOG, SOX-2, KLF-4 and C-MYC; endoderm marker AFP and GATA6; mesoderm markers ACTA2 and BRACHYURY; and ectoderm markers NESTIN and TUBB3. The karyotype was found to be hyperdiploid. The PIWIL2 transfected fibroblast cells grew into tumorous masses within 5 weeks of subcutaneous injection into adult nude mice. Although the injected cell expressed markers for all three germlines, ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm, they did not form teratomas in vivo. This study indicates that the PIWIL2 gene could play a key role in cancer induction and maintenance. This method for generating induced tumorigenic cells (ITGC) provides a new research tool to study oncogenesis that in turn may lead to a better understanding of cancer etiology and the development of novel anti-cancer therapies.

// Guangping Zeng 1, * , Deying Zhang 1, * , Xing Liu 1 , Qing Kang 1 , Yiyao Fu 1 , Bo Tang 1 , Wenhao Guo 1 , Yuanyuan Zhang 2 , Guanghui Wei 1 , Dawei He 1 1 Department of Urology, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Chongqing International Science and Technology Cooperation Center for Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China 2 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103, USA * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Dawei He, email: dw.he@163.com Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, molecular chaperone, Piwil2, Piwil4, prognosis Received: July 25, 2016 Accepted: October 28, 2016 Published: November 22, 2016 ABSTRACT Purpose: This study aimed to explore the localization and expression of P-element-induced wimpy testis-like 2 (piwil2)/Piwil4 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues, and analyze the correlation between co-expression pattern and prognosis of HCC. Results: Piwil2 showed 100% positive expression in the cell nucleus, with the intensity higher than in the cytoplasm. Piwil4 showed a lower intensity of expression in the cell nucleus than in the cytoplasm. The molecular chaperone Piwil2/Piwil4 had four co-expression patterns: nuclear co-expression, nuclear and cytoplasmic co-expression, cytoplasmic co-expression, and non-coexpression. The survival rate and the overall survival sequentially increased. The prognostic phenotype of the nuclear co-expression of Piwil2/Piwil4 was worse than that of non-coexpression, and the intracellular localization and expression of Piwil2 and Piwil4 were not significantly different. Methods: HCC pathological tissue samples with follow-up information (90 cases) and 2 normal control liver tissues were collected and made into a 92-site microarray. The expression of Piwil2 and Piwil4 was detected using the immunofluorescence double staining method. The differences in the expression and location of Piwil2 and Piwil4 in tumor cells were explored, and the influence of such differences on the long-term survival rate of HCC was studied using Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test. The clinical staging was analyzed according to the HCC international TNM staging criteria. Conclusions: The nuclear co-expression of Piwil2/Piwil4 indicated that patients with HCC had a worse prognostic phenotype. The molecular chaperone Piwil2/Piwil4 seems promising as a molecular marker for prognosis judgment; a single marker (Piwil2/Piwil4) cannot be used for prognosis judgment.

OBJECTIVES To determine the current age at orchidopexy in China and whether changing targets have altered practice, as research suggesting progressive deterioration in an undescended testis (UDT) has led to the reduction in the target age for orchidopexy to 6-12 months but it is still unknown whether changing targets have altered practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS The demographics of orchidopexies performed in the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between 1993 and 2014 were reviewed. A survey of the general publics' awareness of UDT and survey of primary healthcare practitioners' current opinion on age at orchidopexy and referral patterns were performed. RESULTS In all, 3784 orchidopexies were performed over 22 years. The median age at orchidopexy fell between 1993 and 2014. There was an initial drop in the median age for orchidopexy between 2000 and 2010 (36 months) compared with 1993 and 2000 (48 months) (P < 0.05); however, beyond the corresponding target age (

// Bo Liu 1,3 , Fengxia Ding 2,3 , Yang Liu 1,3 , Geng Xiong 1,4 , Tao Lin 1 , Dawei He 1 , Yuanyuan Zhang 4 , Deying Zhang 1,3 and Guanghui Wei 1 1 Department of Urology, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China 3 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing International Science and Technology Cooperation Center for Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing, China 4 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA Correspondence to: Deying Zhang, email: // Guanghui Wei, email: // Keywords : meta-analysis, cancer, VEGFR-TKIs, hypertensive events Received : April 28, 2016 Accepted : August 23, 2016 Published : September 01, 2016 Abstract Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been developed during the last decade that target the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) are currently being evaluated as treatments for malignant tumors. The increased application of VEGFR-TKIs means that the probability of hypertension is a serious concern. However, the reported incidence varies markedly between clinical trials. Here, we undertook an up-to-date, comprehensive meta-analysis on clinical works to build the incidence of hypertension along with VEGFR-TKIs. The goal was to understand better of the overall venture of cancer patients’ hypertension treated with these drugs. Methods: Databases (EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane library) and the abstracts of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and European Society of Medical Oncology were searched to identify related studies. 95% confidence intervals (CIs), summary incidences, and relative risk (RR) were calculated utilizing either fixed-effects models on the basis of the heterogeneity of the included studies or random-effects. Results: Seventy-two randomized controlled trials (including 30013 patients) were involved. The total incidence of high-grade and all-grade hypertensive events along with VEGFR-TKIs was 23.0% (95% CI, 20.1–26.0%) and 4.4% (95% CI, 3.7–5.0%), respectively. The use of VEGFR-TKIs remarkably enhanced the venture of developing high-grade (RR, 4.60; 95% CI, 3.92–5.40; P < 0.001) and all-grade (RR, 3.85; 95% CI, 3.37–4.40; P < 0.001) hypertensive events. Subgroup analyses revealed that the risk of a hypertensive event varied significantly in accordance with tumor type, VEGFR-TKI, trial phase, VEGFR-TKIs-based regimen, control therapy, and chemotherapy regimen. Conclusions: Patients with cancer that receive VEGFR-TKIs are at a remarkable venture of developing hypertension. Therefore, suitable treatment and monitoring should be introduced to avoid cardiovascular complications.

In this paper, a solution of monitor system of Public Transport operation vehicles is presented for realizing intelligent management of public transport. The system adopts ARM and embedded Linux operation system as the development platform, and integrates GPS (Global Position System) technology, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technology and embedded technology and so on. The paper mainly completed the design of hardware circuit and transplantation of embedded Linux operating system on S3C2410 chip. The system realized location tracking, communication scheduling, stops broadcasting, video monitoring, and intelligent passenger counting of public transport vehicles. The result of experiment showed that the system could improve the operation efficiency of public transport vehicles.

To observe the histological features of tumor-bearing tissues formed by human fibroblasts after reprograming by spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal key regulating gene Piwil2 (Piwil2-iCSC).Piwil2-iCSC tumor spheroids-like colonies were selected for tumor formation assay in four nude mice. Pathological features of Piwil2-iCSC tumors were observed by histology. Stem cell markers and common triploblastic markers were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and immunohistochemistry. Germ cell tumor markers were detected by immunohistochemical examination.Two weeks after inoculation, subcutaneous tumors were formed in all the four nude mice with a tumor formation rate of 100%. In the Piwil2-iCSC tumor tissues, Piwil2-GFP(+) cells showed high-density nuclear expression and were widely observed in DAPI-stained sections. Numerous mitotic figure of the neoplastic cells were seen (10 cells/field of vision under high magnification) in HE-stained sections. Enlarged abnormal cell nuclei were observed. RT-PCR assay showed that Piwil2-iCSC tumors still expressed Piwil2 and some self-renewal and pluripotent markers of stem cells and some markers of triploblastic differentiation. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the tumors expressed stem cell markers, triploblastic markers and germ cell tumor markers AFP and HCG.Piwil2-iCSC tumors are probably undifferentiated embryonic small cell carcinoma, most likely to be immature teratoma, mixed with yolk sac tumor and choriocarcinoma components. It can be used as a useful model for the research of origin or genesis mechanism of cancer stem cells and the treatment of relevant tumors.

Phthalates are known to elicit marked effects on the developing male reproductive tract as evidenced by hypospadias. Recently, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) was postulated to play an essential role in the development of genital tubercles (GT), and TGF- beta1 was found to act as a phthalates-responsive gene. In this study, the effects of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were examined on the expression of TGF-beta1 in fetal mice, as GT development is dependent upon this factor. Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were exposed to corn oil or DEHP (100, 200, or 500 mg/kg/d orally) from embryonic day 12 (ED12) to ED17. Data showed a significant inhibition of male fetal GT development following DEHP treatment. Hypospadic-like urethral orifice and abnormal urethra were evaluated macroscopically and by histology at ED19. By using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot, the expression of TGF-beta1 was upregulated in DEHP-treated mice. These results suggest that hypospadias may be induced by DEHP exposure involving modification of TGF-beta1 levels.

Insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) regulates testicular descent during fetal life, and Insl3 gene inactivation results in cryptorchidism. Little is known, however, about whether the plasticizer diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a contaminant found widely in the environment, influences INSL3 expression. In this study, primary cultures of Leydig cells from mouse embryos were treated in vitro with DEHP. We also treated pregnant mice with DEHP from gestation day 12 to postnatal day 3 in order to study the effect of DEHP in vivo. INSL3 mRNA expression levels in primary Leydig cell cultures and in the testes of newborn mice were significantly lower following DEHP treatment. DEHP also caused detrimental morphological changes in both primary cultures of Leydig cells and the testes of newborn mice. These results suggest that the downregulation of INSL3 mRNA by DEHP might cause abnormalities of gubernacular development, which might be one of the mechanisms for development of cryptorchidism.

Copyright: © 2015 Zhang D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. *Corresponding authors: Yuanyuan Zhang, Wake Forest University, Institute for Regeneration Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA, Tel: 336-713-1189; E-mail: yzhang@wakehealth.edu Guanghui Wei, Department of Urology, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medial University, Chongqing, China

Despite the potential of stem cells in cell-based therapy, major limitations such as cell retention, ingrowth, and trans-differentiation after implantation remain. One technique for genetic modification of cells for tissue repair is the introduction of specific genes using molecular biology techniques, such as virus integration, to provide a gene that adds new functions to enhance cellular function, and to secrete trophic factors for recruiting resident cells to participate in tissue repair. Stem cells can be labelled to track cell survival, migration, and lineage. Increasing evidence demonstrates that cell therapy and gene therapy in combination remarkably improve myogenic differentiation of implanted mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), revascularization, and innervation in genitourinary tissues, especially to treat urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, lower urinary tract reconstruction, and renal failure. This review discusses the benefits, safety, side effects, and alternatives for using genetically modified MSCs in tissue regeneration in andro-urology.

Summary Introduction Primary obstructive ureter (POM) is an upper urinary tract malformation in children. Transvesicoscopic ureteral reimplantation is increasingly being used as the first choice to correct POM, replacing the open extravesical approach. Although several procedures have been reported, there is no universally accepted technique for endoscopic ureteral reimplantation. Objective To report on several modifications of the Glenn–Anderson ureteral advancement technique to make it suitable for a laparoscopic pneumovesical approach to treatment of POM. Patients and methods From February 2006 to December 2013, 63 children with POM, 45 male and 18 female (median age 4.2 years; range 2 months–14 years), underwent modified transvesicoscopic ureteral implantation surgery. The technique was modified by repositioning of the hiatus proximally to afford greater “tunnel” length, and use of a trough rather than a tunnel, avoiding the challenges of more adherent mucosa in the trigone. Ureter diameter was followed over a 12-month period post surgery. Voiding cystourethrography (VCUG), intravenous urogram (IVU), or radionuclide imaging were conducted in patients who still had ureteral dilation at 6 months and 12 months after surgery. Results The procedure was successfully performed in 62/63 patients. The mean operating time was 105 min. Twelve months after surgery 90% of ureters were considered cured and 10% were considered improved. In patients who showed improvement ureters, the ureter diameter was significantly reduced from preoperative measurements as early as 1 month post surgery. Discussion The Glenn–Anderson technique advances the ureteral orifice distal to the trigone near the bladder neck and allows relatively easy access to the upper urinary tract. However, the submucosal tunnel produced is relatively short, and the surgery is not recommended for patients with a small trigone or megaureter because of anatomical considerations. This study made two major modifications to the traditional Glenn–Anderson procedure: (1) the bladder wall was incised superiorolaterally to move the hiatus proximally along the course of the ureter and the detrusor muscle was sutured to the seromuscular layer of the ureter, and (2) a mucosal groove rather than tunnel was used for advancement from the ureteral hiatus to the bladder neck. This approach preserves conventional endourologic access to the upper tracts; however, the stabilizing distal stitch does leave the suture line in proximity to the mucosal suture line, a theoretical disadvantage from the standpoint of ureterovesical fistula. Conclusions These preliminary results indicate that this modified transvesicoscopic ureteral implantation is an effective procedure with minimal morbidity. Download : Download high-res image (123KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure . Transvesicoscopic ureteral reimplantation for an 11-month-old girl. After confirming the locations of trocars (left), we began the operation with a 5-mm trocar as the midline camera port and two 3-mm trocars as the working ports (right).

Non-obstructive azoospermia is the most challenging type of male infertility. Stem cell based therapy provides the potential to enhance the recovery of spermatogenesis following cancer therapy. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) possess the potential to differentiate or trans-differentiate into multi-lineage cells, secrete paracrine factors to recruit the resident stem cells to participate in tissue regeneration, or fuse with the local cells in the affected region. In this study, we tested whether spermatogenically-induced BMSCs can restore spermatogenesis after administration of an anticancer drug. Allogeneic BMSCs were co-cultured in conditioned media derived from cultured testicular Sertoli cells in vitro, and then induced stem cells were transplanted into the seminiferous tubules of a busulfan-induced azoospermatic rat model for 8 weeks. The in vitro induced BMSCs exhibited specific spermatogonic gene and protein markers, and after implantation the donor cells survived and located at the basement membranes of the recipient seminiferous tubules, in accordance with what are considered the unique biological characteristics of spermatogenic stem cells. Molecular markers of spermatogonial stem cells and spermatogonia (Vasa, Stella, SMAD1, Dazl, GCNF, HSP90α, integrinβ1, and c-kit) were expressed in the recipient testis tissue. No tumor mass, immune response, or inflammatory reaction developed. In conclusion, BMSCs might provide the potential to trans-differentiate into spermatogenic-like-cells, enhancing endogenous fertility recovery. The present study indicates that BMSCs might offer alternative treatment for the patients with azoospermatic infertility after cancer chemotherapy.

Engineered functional organs or tissues, created with autologous somatic cells and seeded on biodegradable or hydrogel scaffolds, have been developed for use in individuals with tissue damage suffered from congenital disorders, infection, irradiation, or cancer. However, in those patients, abnormal cells obtained by biopsy from the compromised tissue could potentially contaminate the engineered tissues. Thus, an alternative cell source for construction of the neo-organ or functional recovery of the injured or diseased tissues would be useful. Recently, we have found stem cells existing in the urine. These cells are highly expandable, and have self-renewal capacity, paracrine properties, and multi-differentiation potential. As a novel cell source, urine-derived stem cells (USCs) provide advantages for cell therapy and tissue engineering applications in regeneration of various tissues, particularly in the genitourinary tract, because they originate from the urinary tract system. Importantly, USCs can be obtained via a non-invasive, simple, and low-cost approach and induced with high efficiency to differentiate into three dermal cell lineages.

The fabrication processes and the display characteristics of color field emission display (FED) with screen diagonal of 20- inch were described. FEDs were developed with thin film, screen-print and surface activation techniques. They could display Chinese characters, English letters and simple cartoon images in 50 Hz. The pixel size of FED prototype was 0.15×0.5 mm2 for color FED or 0.5×0.5 mm2 for monochrome FED. The pixel number was 358×358×3 for color FED or 358×358 for monochrome FED. The thickness of FED panel was about 2.2 mm. Under about 300V anode bias, the maximum emission current of one pixel of monochrome FED was about 26 mA and the screen brightness of monochrome FED with conventional CRT phosphors was 300 cd/m2.

Software defined radio (SDR) hardware platform is in high demand for ultra-wideband digital EW receiver to carry out different mission requirements. Due to the limitations of current Analog-to-Digital conversion (ADC) techniques, the ideal receiver structure of SDR, with digital RF frequency conversion, cannot be achieved. In this article, a new channelization technique called ADC polyphase fast Fourier transformation (ADC PFFT) filter bank channelization is demonstrated. The key concept is to separate the speed at which the two functional units of an ADC - the sample and hold and the quantizer - operate. The sample and hold unit operates at the sampling frequency fs and the quantizer (the speed limiting factor in ADCs) can operate at a much slower rate, fs/M, where M is the decimation factor for digital filter bank. By integrated this ADC PFFT technique in ultra-wideband digital channelized EW receivers, directly digital RF down conversion can be achieved. With the ADC PFFT channelization for RF down conversion and polyphase FFT channelization for IF down conversion, 2-18 GHz frequency coverage can be accomplished in such ultra-wideband digital channelized EW receivers without the requirement of EW receivers being time-shared among outputs from many subbands due to bandwidth limitation in digital IF channelized EW receivers. Because the frequency down conversion from RF to BB are all processed digitally, issues such as image rejection and I/Q imbalance due to analog mixing will be eliminated in the ultrawideband digital channelized EW receivers.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Online identification of nonlinear systems is still an important while difficult task in practice. A general and simple online identification method, by delayed cellular neural networks, is proposed for multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems. The online identification framework is first formulated by delayed cellular neural networks, and the weights of the neural network are updated by the identification error by adaptive method. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the resulting closed-loop system is uniform ultimate bounded stable. Then, indirect adaptive controller is designed based on the delayed cellular neural networks.

Reproductive toxicity is one of the potential side effects of anticancer alkylating agents, with potential effects on vimentin intermediate filaments, one of the main components of the Sertoli cytoskeleton. Research suggests (Aumuller et al, 1988; Aumuller et al, 1992) that the highly organized and active Sertoli cytoskeleton is important in spermatogenesis. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of alkylating agents on vimentin filament expression in vitro. Sertoli cells, isolated from 20-day-old mice testes, were cultured for 5 days and then incubated with 0, 50, 100, and 200 micromol/L nitrogen mustard (HN2). Morphologic changes in Sertoli cells were observed per 30-minute interval at 12-hour exposure time points to 100 micromol/L HN2. Vimentin expression was investigated by immunocytochemistry at 6 hours and 24 hours posttreatment and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot at 12 hours posttreatment with 50, 100, and 200 micromol/L HN2. Exposure to HN2 resulted in a comparatively small Sertoli cell body with diminished cytoplasm. Sertoli cells were shrunk or detached. Cytoskeletal disruption increased with increasing HN2 concentration. The optical density values of vimentin antibody and expression of vimentin mRNA and protein were significantly decreased with increasing concentration of HN2. Significant treatment dose-dependent and time-dependent differences of vimentin mRNA and protein expression levels were also noted. Our data suggest that the change in the biochemical properties of vimentin may indicate that one of the mechanisms of reproductive toxicity resulting from HN2 is disruption of Sertoli cell vimentin filament structure, accompanied by a down-regulation of vimentin expression.

The distributed optical fiber sensing technique has significant application in the real-time monitoring and damagedetection of the large and critical engineering stmctures. In this paper, a distributed optical fiber sensor based on theoptical time domain reflectometry technique have been used for monitoring structural deformations, where a novelstructure ofthe microbend sensor was developed for measuring ofboth tensile and compressive strain in structures.Keywords: Optical Fiber Sensor, Monitoring, Strain, Deformation, Microbend Sensor. 1. INTRODUCTIONThe distributed optical fiber sensing technique can obtain the simultaneous measurements of both the spatial and temporal behavior of a measurand field. There are widespread interests in the development of distributed optical fiber sensor for the real-time monitoring the status of large andimportant engineering structures such as: submarines, space vehicles, bridges and dams etc. Severalmethods and principles of distributed sensing have been presented and investigated for the measuring ormonitoring of the distributed behavior of strain, force and temperature, as well as for using in the smart

Table S2. Antibodies used in this study. (DOCX 14Â kb)

Background Urethral reconstruction is one of the great surgical challenges for urologists. A cell-based tissue-engineered urethra may be an alternative for patients who have complicated long strictures and need urethral reconstruction. Here, we demonstrated the feasibility of using autologous urine-derived stem cells (USCs) seeded on small intestinal submucosa (SIS) to repair a urethral defect in a rabbit model. Methods Autologous USCs were obtained and characterized, and their capacity to differentiate into urothelial cells (UCs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) was tested. Then, USCs were labeled with PKH67, seeded on SIS, and transplanted to repair a urethral defect. The urethral defect model was surgically established in New Zealand white male rabbits. A ventral urethral gap was created, and the urethral mucosa was completely removed, with a mean rabbit penile urethra length of 2 cm. The urethral mucosal defect was repaired with a SIS scaffold (control group: SIS with no USCs; experimental group: autologous USC-seeded SIS; n = 12 for each group). A series of tests, including a retrograde urethrogram, histological analysis, and immunofluorescence, was undertaken 2, 3, 4, and 12 weeks after the operation to evaluate the effect of the autologous USCs on urethral reconstruction. Results Autologous USCs could be easily collected and induced to differentiate into UCs and SMCs. In addition, the urethral caliber, speed of urothelial regeneration, content of smooth muscle, and vessel density were significantly improved in the group with autologous USC-seeded SIS. Moreover, inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis were found in the control group with only SIS, but not in the experimental autologous USC-seeded SIS group. Furthermore, immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that the transplanted USCs differentiated into UCs and SMCs in vivo. Conclusions Autologous USCs can be used as an alternative cell source for cell-based tissue engineering for urethral reconstruction.

Table S2. Antibodies used in this study. (DOCX 14Â kb)

Table S3. Percentage of USC expressing urothelial cell markers 2Â weeks after urothelial induction assessed by immunofluorescence. (DOCX 14Â kb)