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Abstract: A highly versatile method for the preparation of enantiopure 1-substituted, 1,2-disubstituted, and 1,4,5-trisubstituted imidazoles was developed by using the cyclocondensation reaction of a 1,2-dicarbonyl compound, an aldehyde, a 1,2-amino alcohol, and ammonium acetate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have made the Heusler-type Ni [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Soybean is one of the most important sources of plant protein for agricultural, food and industrial applications as well as health benefits. • Bioactive peptides have a beneficial effect on health by demonstrating various possible physiological roles in the body. • Significant advances in using soybean seed as bioreactor as well as to enhance its protein quality have been successfully carried out. • Elucidating the molecular mechanism of soybean storage protein trafficking will aid in the design of novel soybean crops with enhanced activity. • The design of novel soybean crops with enhanced protein functional activity can also serve as model for protein engineering other crops. Soybean is one of the most important sources of plant protein and is known for its wide range of agricultural, food, and industrial applications as well as health benefits. Interest in soybean proteins has been steadily growing as progressively more applications and benefits are discovered. This review article is focused on the major seed storage proteins of soybean, their three-dimensional structures, their nutritional importance and bioactive peptides, cellular synthesis, and accumulation in seeds. This will also summarize past efforts in the recombinant production of foreign proteins or bioactive peptides in soybean seed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular air embolism is a rare complication during transurethral surgery. A case of air embolism during holmium laser enucleation of the prostate in a 76-year-old man is presented. During the step of morcellation, the patient's blood pressure suddenly oscillated up and down, and end-tidal CO2 and arterial saturation decreased. Transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography showed air collection in the right atrium. It was also discovered that incorrect assembly of the tube from the morcellator caused rapid entrainment of air into the vein. Computed tomography and abdominal X-ray showed niveau formation in the femoral vein and air collection in the pelvic retroperitoneal space. The patient recovered with careful observation and was discharged 7 days after the operation with no sequelae. This report is presented to remind urologists of this unusual complication that can occur during holmium laser enucleation of the prostate procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess whether the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic affected the outcomes of robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and urologists' treatment behaviors. Methods: We retrospectively examined the medical records of 208 patients who had undergone RARP between August 2017 and December 2022. We compared the rate of preoperative androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), waiting period for RARP, patients' baseline characteristics and quality of life (QOL), proportion of adverse pathology on the RARP specimen, rate of Gleason grade group upgrading from biopsy to the RARP specimen, and prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) recurrence‐free survival between the pre‐pandemic and pandemic groups. Results: The rate of preoperative ADT was significantly higher during than before the COVID‐19 pandemic (13.7% vs. 1.9%; p = 0.002). The baseline physical and mental QOL scores did not differ significantly between the groups. The proportion of D'Amico low‐risk patients was significantly lower (13.6% vs. 1.2%, p = 0.005) and waiting period for RARP was significantly shorter (median 3.5 months vs. 4.0 months, p = 0.016) in the pandemic group than in the pre‐pandemic group. There was no significant difference in the proportion of adverse pathology between the groups (p = 0.104); however, the upgrading rate was significantly higher in the pre‐pandemic group (p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in PSA recurrence‐free survival between the groups (log‐rank, p = 0.752). Conclusions: The COVID‐19 pandemic did not adversely affect the oncologic outcomes of RARP and QOL before RARP. However, it caused urologists to increase the use of preoperative ADT and to reserve RARP for higher‐risk cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RRM1—an important DNA replication/repair enzyme—is the primary molecular gemcitabine (GEM) target. High RRM1-expression associates with gemcitabine-resistance in various cancers and RRM1 inhibition may provide novel cancer treatment approaches. Our study elucidates how RRM1 inhibition affects cancer cell proliferation and influences gemcitabine-resistant bladder cancer cells. Of nine bladder cancer cell lines investigated, two RRM1 highly expressed cells, 253J and RT112, were selected for further experimentation. An RRM1-targeting shRNA was cloned into adenoviral vector, Ad-shRRM1. Gene and protein expression were investigated using real-time PCR and western blotting. Cell proliferation rate and chemotherapeutic sensitivity to GEM were assessed by MTT assay. A human tumor xenograft model was prepared by implanting RRM1 highly expressed tumors, derived from RT112 cells, in nude mice. Infection with Ad-shRRM1 effectively downregulated RRM1 expression, significantly inhibiting cell growth in both RRM1 highly expressed tumor cells. In vivo, Ad-shRRM1 treatment had pronounced antitumor effects against RRM1 highly expressed tumor xenografts (p < 0.05). Moreover, combination of Ad-shRRM1 and GEM inhibited cell proliferation in both cell lines significantly more than either treatment individually. Cancer gene therapy using anti-RRM1 shRNA has pronounced antitumor effects against RRM1 highly expressed tumors, and RRM1 inhibition specifically increases bladder cancer cell GEM-sensitivity. Ad-shRRM1/GEM combination therapy may offer new treatment options for patients with GEM-resistant bladder tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of Gleason pattern (GP) 4 prostate cancers at prostate biopsy has a clinically significant impact on risk stratification for patients with prostate cancer. In pathological diagnosis including GP 4, a biopsy Gleason score (GS) of 3+4 has a more favorable prognosis than a GS of 4+3 and 4+4. However, the discrepancy between biopsy and prostatectomy specimens is well known. The current study investigated the clinical parameters and biopsy specimens associated with pathological downgrading after prostatectomy in biopsies with a GS of 4+3 or 4+4 prostate cancer. A total of 302 patients with prostate cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy between August 2013 and May 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 103 patients had biopsies with GSs of 4+3 and GS 4+4 (unfavorable pathology). The proportion of patients who were downgraded from unfavorable disease to GS ≤3+4 (favorable pathology) in prostatectomy specimens was investigated. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between clinical parameters and downgrading in prostatectomy specimens. A total of 43 patients (41.7%) were downgraded from biopsy GS to prostatectomy GS. The proportions of downgrade in biopsy GS 4+4 and 4+3 were 14.6 and 27.1%, respectively. The percentage of highest GS out of positive biopsy cores and the maximum percentage of cancer involvement within a positive core with the highest GS were lower in the downgrade group than in the no downgrade group (45 vs. 66.7%, P=0.025; 20 vs. 30%, P=0.048, respectively). When performing multivariate logistic regression analysis, the only significant predictor for downgrade was lower percentage of highest GS cores out of positive biopsy cores (odds ratio, 2.469; 95% confidence interval, 1.029-5.925 P=0.043). In conclusion, patients with biopsy GS 4+4 and 4+3 often exhibit a downgrade to GS 3+4 or less in prostatectomy specimens. The lower percentage of highest GS cores out of positive biopsy cores was associated with downgrade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plexiform schwannoma is a rare Schwann cell tumor that usually occurs in the head and neck. Here, we report a giant plexiform schwannoma (5.5 × 4.0 cm) in the right plantar aspect of the foot. This tumor presented from the dermis to the subcutaneous fat in the plantar aspect, forming a multiocular shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Enfortumab vedotin is a novel antibody–drug conjugate used as a third-line therapy for the treatment of urothelial cancer. We aimed to elucidate the effect of enfortumab vedotin-related peripheral neuropathy on its efficacy and whether enfortumab vedotin-induced early electrophysiological changes could be associated with peripheral neuropathy onset. Methods: Our prospective multicenter cohort study enrolled 34 patients with prior platinum-containing chemotherapy and programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1 inhibitor-resistant advanced urothelial carcinoma and received enfortumab vedotin. The best overall response, progression-free survival, overall survival, and safety were assessed. Nerve conduction studies were also performed in 11 patients. Results: The confirmed overall response rate and disease control rate were 52.9% and 73.5%, respectively. The median overall progression-free survival and overall survival were 6.9 and 13.5 months, respectively, during a median follow-up of 8.6 months. The patients with disease control had significantly longer treatment continuation and overall survival than did those with uncontrolled disease. Peripheral neuropathy occurred in 12.5% of the patients. The overall response and disease control rates were 83.3% and 100%, respectively: higher than those in patients without peripheral neuropathy (p = 0.028 and p = 0.029, respectively). Nerve conduction studies indicated that enfortumab vedotin reduced nerve conduction velocity more markedly in sensory nerves than in motor nerves and the lower limbs than in the upper limbs, with the sural nerve being the most affected in the patients who developed peripheral neuropathy (p = 0.011). Conclusion: Our results indicated the importance of focusing on enfortumab vedotin-induced neuropathy of the sural nerve to maximize efficacy and improve safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic inflammation is thought to be a major causative factor for the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5-I), which has been used for the treatment of BPH-LUTS in daily practice, is known to act at several urinary organs. In this study, focused on the prostate, we examined the effect of tadalafil on the pathological changes and inflammatory factors in a rat nonbacterial prostatitis (NBP) model.Methods: Forty ten-month-old male Wistar rats were divided into nonbacterial prostatitis (NBP), NBP with tadalafil treatment (NBP-tadalafil), control, and control treated with tadalafil (control-tadalafil) groups (n = 10 per group). The NBP and NBP-tadalafil groups were castrated and then received daily subcutaneous 17β-estradiol for 30 days. The control-tadalafil and NBP-tadalafil groups were administered daily oral tadalafil for 30 days. All rats were then sacrificed and pathological changes and inflammatory factors were assessed in the prostatic tissues.Results: In the NBP group, the stroma-to-epithelium (S/E) ratio in the ventral prostate was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.001). In the NBP-tadalafil group, the S/E ratio was significantly lower than in the NBP group (P < 0.001). The macrophage levels and the extent of T-cell infiltration in the NBP-tadalafil group were significantly lower than in the NBP group (P < 0.005; P < 0.001, respectively). Compared with the NBP group, tissue concentrations of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-8, and interleukin-1β, were significantly downregulated in the NBP-tadalafil group (P < 0.01; P < 0.05; P < 0.005, respectively).Conclusions: Tadalafil suppressed stromal predominance and showed anti-inflammatory effects in a rat NBP model in association with downregulation of inflammatory cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To elucidate the therapeutic benefits of using a surgical checklist during transurethral resection for non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer. Methods: A nine‐item surgical checklist was established in January 2016 to assess disease risk and resection adequacy, and it was prospectively implemented into clinical practice. Patients diagnosed with non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer who underwent complete resection from January 2009 to August 2019 were included in this study. The presence of detrusor muscle in the transurethral resection specimen and the intravesical recurrence‐free survival were compared between patients who underwent transurethral resection before and after surgical checklist implementation. Results: A total of 125 patients who underwent transurethral resection after surgical checklist implementation were reviewed and compared with 125 patients who underwent transurethral resection before surgical checklist implementation. The use of the surgical checklist led to an increase in the proportion of transurethral resection specimens containing detrusor muscle (92% vs 69.6%, P < 0.01) and a decrease in the recurrence rate (19.2% vs 49.6%, P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that transurethral resection without a surgical checklist was an independent predictive factor influencing the absence of detrusor muscle in the transurethral resection specimen (odds ratio 4.78, P < 0.01) and intravesical recurrence (hazard ratio 1.92, 95% confidence interval 1.14–3.23; P = 0.01). Kaplan–Meier plots showed that the recurrence‐free survival rate was significantly lower when the surgical checklist was not used (log‐rank test result P < 0.01). Conclusions: This study shows the therapeutic benefits of surgical checklist in improving the quality of resection during transurethral resection and reducing the recurrence rate in patients with non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]