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Background: Complicated urinary tract infections are a significant cause of morbidity, hospitalization, and elevated hospital costs associated with kidney transplantations. The treatment of complicated urinary tract infections is very challenging, due to varying severities of infection and lower cure rates. The available drug options for treating these infections are limited, each with different mechanisms of action, efficacy, and safety profiles, making drug selection more difficult for healthcare professionals. Objectives: A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections between 2016 and 2023. The primary endpoint for all drugs used in treating complicated urinary tract infections was the cure rate. Results: Among the drugs used for treating complicated urinary tract infections, meropenem had the highest cure rate at 91.4%, followed by plazomicin at 88% and cefiderocol at 73% when used as monotherapy. In combination therapy, meropenem-vaborbactam had the highest cure rate at 98.4%, followed by piperacillin-tazobactam at 94%, and ceftazidime-avibactam at 87.5%. The safety profiles of the drugs indicated that almost all drugs caused gastrointestinal symptoms, with imipenem-relebactam and colistin-imipenem combinations having the most serious adverse events. Cefiderocol had a low magnitude of adverse events, with most side effects being mild gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusion: The study concludes that appropriate drug selection and treatment adherence are crucial for preventing complicated urinary tract infections and improving health outcomes.

Background: The incidence of prostate cancer (PC) is increasing in Asian countries. The epidemiology of PC, its treatment including the use of novel therapeutic options, impacts on quality of life, and clinical outcomes of patients with PC in Asia, are not well documented. Objectives: To describe the demographic and disease features of the full cohort of patients enrolled in the United in Fight against prOstate cancer (UFO) registry. Design: The UFO registry was a multi-national, longitudinal, observational study of patients with PC presenting to participating tertiary care hospitals in eight Asian countries/regions. Methods: Patients with high-risk localized PC (HRL), non-metastatic biochemically recurrent, or metastatic PC were consecutively enrolled from September 14, 2015 until September 1, 2020 and followed for up to 5 years. Results: Among the full cohort of 3635 patients, 425 had HRL, 389 had non-metastatic biochemically recurrent, and 2821 had metastatic PC. Median follow-up time was 4.2, 4.2, and 2.6 years, respectively. At first diagnosis, the mean age ranged from 65.7 to 69.1 years, 38.5% had extra-capsular tumor extension, 34.0% had regional lymph node metastases, and 65.1% had distant metastases. Quality-of-life scores at enrollment were significantly worse in patients with metastatic disease. Decisions to start therapy were mainly driven by treatment guidelines and disease progression. The decision to discontinue hormonal therapy was often due to disease progression. Few patients received novel hormonal therapies despite their availability. Conclusion: The UFO registry provides a detailed, contemporary picture of the characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of patients with PC in Asia. There is an unmet medical need to improve access to novel agents in Asia, aiming to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02546908, Registry Identifier: NOPRODPCR4001.

Abstract. Background. Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a necrotizing infection of the kidney and the surrounding tissues associated with considerable mortality. We aimed to formulate a score that classifies the risk of mortality in patients with EPN at hospital admission. Materials and methods. Patients diagnosed with EPN between 2013 and 2020 were retrospectively included. Data from 15 centers (70%) were used to develop the scoring system, and data from 7 centers (30%) were used to validate it. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent factors related to mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to construct the scoring system and calculate the risk of mortality. A standardized regression coefficient was used to quantify the discriminating power of each factor to convert the individual coefficients into points. The area under the curve was used to quantify the scoring system performance. An 8-point scoring system for the mortality risk was created (range, 0–7). Results. In total, 570 patients were included (400 in the test group and 170 in the validation group). Independent predictors of mortality in the multivariable logistic regression were included in the scoring system: quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment score ≥2 (2 points), anemia, paranephric gas extension, leukocyte count >22,000/μL, thrombocytopenia, and hyperglycemia (1 point each). The mortality rate was

The Asian Prostate Cancer (A-CaP) study is an Asia-wide initiative that was launched in December 2015 in Tokyo, Japan, with the objective of surveying information about patients who have received a histopathological diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) and are undergoing treatment and clarifying distribution of staging, the actual status of treatment choices, and treatment outcomes. The study aims to clarify the clinical situation for PCa in Asia and use the outcomes for the purposes of international comparison. Following the first meeting in Tokyo in December 2015, the second A-CaP meeting was held in Seoul, Korea, in September 2016. This, the third A-CaP meeting, was held on October 14, 2017, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with the participation of members and collaborators from 12 countries and regions. In the meeting, participating countries and regions presented the current status of data collection, and the A-CaP office presented a preliminary analysis of the registered cases received from each country and region. Participants discussed ongoing challenges relating to data input and collection, institutional, and legislative issues that may present barriers to data sharing, and the outlook for further patient registrations through to the end of the registration period in December 2018. In addition to A-CaP-specific discussions, a series of special lectures were also delivered on the situation for health insurance in the United States, the correlation between insurance coverage and PCa outcomes, and the outlook for robotic surgery in the Asia-Pacific region. Members also confirmed the principles of authorship in collaborative studies, with a view to publishing original articles based on A-CaP data in the future.

Persistent pain after endodontic treatment is often associated with evidence of periapical pathology. Nonetheless, this case report presents two instances of persistent pain in maxillary premolars post root canal treatment (RCT), without evident periapical radiolucency on imaging. A 35-year-old Asian female experienced dull, aching pain on biting in tooth #25, whereas a 40-year-old Caucasian female reported similar symptoms in tooth #15. Both teeth showed tenderness to percussion but not palpation. Periapical radiographs and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans revealed completed RCT with apical transportation but no detectable periapical pathology. Thus, both teeth were diagnosed as previously treated with symptomatic apical periodontitis. Non-surgical retreatment successfully addressed untreated canal spaces, resolving symptoms. This report suggested persistent pain following RCT might stem from endodontic reasons, even in the absence of visible apical pathology on CBCT scans, highlighting the importance of thorough canal debridement to resolve symptoms associated with untreated canal spaces in apical transportation. Furthermore, this case report demonstrates that clinicians should make a diagnosis through thorough dental history and other clinical investigations, without relying solely on CBCT for the diagnosis of posttreatment endodontic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we detected the expression levels of miR-21 in 38 clinical urine samples, obtained from 10 patients with PCa (with each sample obtained at three time points: before surgery, 1 month after surgery, and 3 months after surgery), 3 patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), and 5 healthy subjects (as a control group). All of the samples were examined using a silver nanoparticle-based biosensor, and the sensitivity of the biosensor was simultaneously confirmed via qRT-PCR. The results were further analyzed together with clinical data such as PSA values and cancer stages. The sensitivity of the biosensor ranged up to 100 fM, and it presented a rather high selectivity rate. Our results indicated a significantly decreased expression level of miR-21 in the patient cases at 3 months post-surgery when compared with pre-surgery levels (p-value < 0.001). In addition, when distinguishing the differences in the expression level of miR-21 between healthy subjects and patients with PCa or BPH, both groups showed highly significant differences (p = 0.008 and p < 0.001, respectively). The results strongly suggest that the proposed miR-21 biosensor can be used as an auxiliary screening tool for the early detection of PCa and may effectively facilitate tracking of the progression of PCa, thus enabling more accurate healthcare decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Multicenter, phase I study of concurrent and delayed nivolumab plus nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced NSCLC (ineligible for potentially curative radiation or surgery) received nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2 (days 1, 8, 15) and carboplatin area under the curve 6 (day 1) intravenously every 21 days (first 4 cycles); nivolumab 5 mg/kg was administered intravenously (day 15) beginning in cycle 1 (concurrent) or cycle 3 (delayed) in separate cohorts and continued beyond the 4 chemotherapy cycles. The primary objective was to assess safety. Secondary objectives were to assess tolerability and explore antitumor activity. Results: All 32 patients received chemotherapy; 20 of 22 and 6 of 10 patients also received concurrent or delayed nivolumab, respectively. No dose-limiting toxicities were reported in the concurrent cohort; 1 dose-limiting toxicity was reported in the delayed cohort. In the concurrent cohort, 20 patients (91%) had ≥1 grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), and 7 (32%) discontinued treatment due to TEAEs. In the delayed cohort, all patients had ≥1 grade 3/4 TEAE, and 2 (20%) discontinued due to TEAEs. The median progression-free and overall survival, respectively, were 10.5 and 29.3 months in the concurrent cohort and 4.1 and 8.2 months in the delayed cohort. Conclusions: The safety profile of the combination was consistent with that of individual agents and generally similar in the 2 cohorts. Efficacy outcomes in the concurrent cohort, but not in the delayed cohort, were encouraging and support the rationale for concurrent administration of nivolumab with nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin for the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02309177.

Introduction: Multicenter, phase I study of concurrent and delayed nivolumab plus nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced NSCLC (ineligible for potentially curative radiation or surgery) received nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2 (days 1, 8, 15) and carboplatin area under the curve 6 (day 1) intravenously every 21 days (first 4 cycles); nivolumab 5 mg/kg was administered intravenously (day 15) beginning in cycle 1 (concurrent) or cycle 3 (delayed) in separate cohorts and continued beyond the 4 chemotherapy cycles. The primary objective was to assess safety. Secondary objectives were to assess tolerability and explore antitumor activity. Results: All 32 patients received chemotherapy; 20 of 22 and 6 of 10 patients also received concurrent or delayed nivolumab, respectively. No dose-limiting toxicities were reported in the concurrent cohort; 1 dose-limiting toxicity was reported in the delayed cohort. In the concurrent cohort, 20 patients (91%) had ≥1 grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), and 7 (32%) discontinued treatment due to TEAEs. In the delayed cohort, all patients had ≥1 grade 3/4 TEAE, and 2 (20%) discontinued due to TEAEs. The median progression-free and overall survival, respectively, were 10.5 and 29.3 months in the concurrent cohort and 4.1 and 8.2 months in the delayed cohort. Conclusions: The safety profile of the combination was consistent with that of individual agents and generally similar in the 2 cohorts. Efficacy outcomes in the concurrent cohort, but not in the delayed cohort, were encouraging and support the rationale for concurrent administration of nivolumab with nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin for the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02309177.

In recent years, several strategies have been proposed and demonstrated to enhance the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In both types of devices, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is commonly used to enhance hole injection. The layer is further designed by incorporating metallic-based, carbon-based, organic, inorganic, and hybrid nanoparticles with the aim of improving the performance and hence the efficiency through the improvement of light out-coupling in OLEDs and enhancement in light absorption generation of hole-charge carriers in OPVs. This review elucidates the use of different types of nanoparticles that are doped into PEDOT:PSS and their effects on OLEDs or OPVs. The effects include surface plasmon resonance (SPR), scattering, better charge transport, improvement in surface morphology and electrical properties of PEDOT:PSS. Promising results have been obtained and can potentially lead to low cost, large-area manufacturing process.

Background: The incidence of prostate cancer (PC) is increasing in Asian countries. The epidemiology of PC, its treatment including the use of novel therapeutic options, impacts on quality of life, and clinical outcomes of patients with PC in Asia, are not well documented. Objectives: To describe the demographic and disease features of the full cohort of patients enrolled in the United in Fight against prOstate cancer (UFO) registry. Design: The UFO registry was a multi-national, longitudinal, observational study of patients with PC presenting to participating tertiary care hospitals in eight Asian countries/regions. Methods: Patients with high-risk localized PC (HRL), non-metastatic biochemically recurrent, or metastatic PC were consecutively enrolled from September 14, 2015 until September 1, 2020 and followed for up to 5 years. Results: Among the full cohort of 3635 patients, 425 had HRL, 389 had non-metastatic biochemically recurrent, and 2821 had metastatic PC. Median follow-up time was 4.2, 4.2, and 2.6 years, respectively. At first diagnosis, the mean age ranged from 65.7 to 69.1 years, 38.5% had extra-capsular tumor extension, 34.0% had regional lymph node metastases, and 65.1% had distant metastases. Quality-of-life scores at enrollment were significantly worse in patients with metastatic disease. Decisions to start therapy were mainly driven by treatment guidelines and disease progression. The decision to discontinue hormonal therapy was often due to disease progression. Few patients received novel hormonal therapies despite their availability. Conclusion: The UFO registry provides a detailed, contemporary picture of the characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of patients with PC in Asia. There is an unmet medical need to improve access to novel agents in Asia, aiming to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02546908, Registry Identifier: NOPRODPCR4001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian Prostate Cancer (A-CaP) Study is an Asia-wide initiative that has been developed over the course of 2 years. The A-CaP Study is scheduled to begin in 2016, when each participating country or region will begin registration of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients and conduct prognosis investigations. From the data gathered, common research themes will be identified, such as comparisons among Asian countries of background factors in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. This is the first Asia-wide study of prostate cancer and has developed from single country research efforts in this field, including in Japan and Korea. The inaugural Board Meeting of A-CaP was held on December 11, 2015 at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, attended by representatives of all participating countries and regions, who signed a memorandum of understanding concerning registration for A-CaP. Following the Board Meeting an A-CaP Launch Symposium was held. The symposium was attended by representatives of countries and regions participating in A-CaP, who gave presentations. Presentations and a keynote address were also delivered by representatives of the University of California San Francisco, USA, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia, who provided insight and experience on similar databases compiled in their respective countries.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is the most important transparent conducting electrode to date and the candidate for ultrafast signal processing in telecommunication region. ITO is normally selectively removed in a multiple-steps process for device application. In this work, we aimed to study single pulse removal of ITO-coated glass and PET by using a nanosecond (ns) laser (266 nm) and a femtosecond (fs) laser (1,025 nm) where each process is dominated by either linear or nonlinear process. For ns laser, ITO was removed from PET substrate at 0.01 J/cm2. Detachment likely occurred via thermal-induced process because of the high absorption by both ITO and PET and the thermomechanical properties of PET. At higher laser fluence (∼0.04 J/cm2), the ITO films on both substrates were damaged, and at 1.34 J/cm2, ITO was ablated from the glass substrate. For fs laser removal via nonlinear process, ITO was removed from PET substrate at 0.3 J/cm2, but at 0.8 J/cm2, the PET substrate was also modified. ITO layer was partially removed from glass substrate by fs laser pulse at 0.3 J/cm2 and full removal only occurred at 1.7 J/cm2. Thus, the fluence range for single fs pulse removal of ITO/PET was 0.3–0.8 J/cm2 and >1.7 J/cm2 for ITO/glass.

Aim: The aim of the third Asia‐Pacific Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APAC APCCC 2023) was to discuss the application in the Asia‐Pacific (APAC) region of consensus statements from the 4th Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC 2022). Methods: The one‐day meeting in July 2023 brought together 27 experts from 14 APAC countries. The meeting covered five topics: (1) Intermediate‐ and high‐risk and locally advanced prostate cancer; (2) Management of newly diagnosed metastatic hormone‐sensitive prostate cancer; (3) Management of non‐metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer; (4) Homologous recombination repair mutation testing; (5) Management of metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer. Pre‐ and post‐symposium polling gathered APAC‐specific responses to APCCC consensus questions and insights on current practices and challenges in the APAC region. Results: APAC APCCC highlights APAC‐specific considerations in an evolving landscape of diagnostic technologies and treatment innovations for advanced prostate cancer. While new technologies are available in the region, cost and reimbursement continue to influence practice significantly. Individual patient considerations, including the impact of chemophobia on Asian patients, also influence decision‐making. Conclusion: The use of next‐generation imaging, genetic testing, and new treatment combinations is increasing the complexity and duration of prostate cancer management. Familiarity with new diagnostic and treatment options is growing in the APAC region. Insights highlight the continued importance of a multidisciplinary approach that includes nuclear medicine, genetic counseling, and quality‐of‐life expertise. The APAC APCCC meeting provides an important opportunity to share practice and identify APAC‐specific issues and considerations in areas of low evidence where clinical experience is growing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a necrotizing infection of the kidney and surrounding tissues with significant mortality. We aimed to assess the clinical factors and their influence on prognosis in patients being managed for EPN with and without ESBL-producing bacteria and to identify if those with EPN due to ESBL infections fared any different. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with EPN diagnosis from 22 centers across 11 countries (between 2013 and 2020). Demographics, clinical presentation, biochemical parameters, radiological features, microbiological characteristics, and therapeutic management were assessed. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to determine the independent variables associated with ESBL pathogens. A comparison of ESBL and non-ESBL mortality was performed evaluating treatment modality. Results: A total of 570 patients were included. Median (IQR) age was 57 (47–65) years. Among urine cultures, the most common isolated pathogen was Escherichia coli (62.2%). ESBL-producing agents were present in 291/556 urine cultures (52.3%). In multivariable analysis, thrombocytopenia (OR 1.616 95% CI 1.081–2.413, p = 0.019), and Huang–Tseng type 4 (OR 1.948 95% CI 1.005–3.778, p= 0.048) were independent predictors of ESBL pathogens. Patients with Huang–Tseng Scale type 1 had 55% less chance of having ESBL-producing pathogens (OR 1.616 95% CI 1.081–2.413, p = 0.019). Early nephrectomy (OR 2.3, p = 0.029) and delayed nephrectomy (OR 2.4, p = 0.015) were associated with increased mortality in patients with ESBL infections. Conservative/minimally invasive management reported an inverse association with mortality (OR 0.314, p = 0.001). Conclusions: ESBL bacteria in EPN were not significantly associated with mortality in EPN. However, ESBL infections were associated with poor prognosis when patients underwent nephrectomy compared conservative/minimally invasive management.