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Background/Objectives: In the current era, abiraterone acetate is mainstay of the treatment strategies of castration-resistant prostate cancer and proven to prolong overall survival. We aimed to prospectively identify factors associated with duration of response to abiraterone. Patients and methods: All metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients eligible for abiraterone were included in the study from February 2019 till March 2020. All baseline data and potential factors associated recorded and follow-up with prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and required investigations were done at 1 month interval. Duration of PSA response was recorded, and patients were divided in five groups on the basis of duration of response. Univariate and multivariate analyses of potential factors were done, and data analysis was done with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 21.0. Results: In this study, after univariate analysis, seven factors were associated with longer duration of response to abiraterone. These were PSA at diagnosis (hazard ratio (HR) = −1.011 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.003–1.020), p -value = 0.008), PSA at start of abiraterone (HR = −1.018 (95% CI = 1.011–1.025), p -value = 0.0001), nadir PSA (HR = −1.063 (95% CI = 1.024–1.104), p -value = 0.001), prostate-specific antigen doubling (PSAD) time (HR = −0.745 (95% CI = 0.672–0.827), p -value = 0.001), raised alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (HR = −1.002 (95% CI = 1.001–1.003), p -value = 0.001), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (HR = −2.16 (95% CI = 1.672–2.81), p -value = 0.001) and <5 bone metastasis (HR = −0.235 (95% CI = 0.130–0.422), p -value = 0.01). But after multivariate analysis, nadir PSA achieved, PSAD, NLR and ⩽5 bone metastasis were predictors of better response to abiraterone. Conclusion: This study had identified that less nadir PSA achieved, long PSAD time, low NLR and limited number of skeletal metastases were potential factors for better PSA response to abiraterone. Level of evidence: 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Pushpendra. Baghel, R. Sahu, Goto. Gangkok, H. Joshi, Vinay. Tomar, S. Yadav Introduction: In the year 2003, Joshi et al. developed a validated outcome assessment tool to measure the [...]

Objective: Low serum testosterone is highly prevalent in chronic kidney disease patients. The objective of the study was to determine levels of serum testosterone at the time of transplantation, the prevalence of testosterone deficiency/insufficiency in the pre- and post-transplant periods, and its correlation with patients' age, serum creatinine, duration of preoperative dialysis, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching, and graft outcomes. Methods: The study was conducted from January 2019 to April 2020. Forty-five male renal transplant patients were evaluated before and at one and six months following transplant for changes in testosterone and creatinine levels. Six-month follow-up was possible for 28 patients. Result: Renal transplantation resulted in significant improvement in testosterone levels as early as one month after transplantation. The duration of preoperative dialysis and HLA match had a negative and positive impact on postoperative serum testosterone levels, respectively. We did not find any impact of testosterone levels on graft function. Conclusion: Successful transplantation among the study population produced a positive impact on serum testosterone levels. The duration of preoperative dialysis and HLA match had a negative and positive impact on postoperative serum testosterone levels, respectively. Level of evidence: XXX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the first principle calculations, to investigate the electronic (and optical) attributes of NOx-adsorbed gas molecules. To begin, the electronic properties demonstrate the NOx molecules’ effect on the Mn-doped MoSe2 monolayer (ML) in terms of adsorption energy [ ${E}_{{({\mathrm {ads}}{)}}}$ ], charge transfer (${Q}_{\text {T}}{)}$ , sensitivity ($\eta {)}$ , and total density of states (TDOS). Second, the shift in the absorption spectrum ($\alpha {)}$ of NOx gas molecules adsorbed on the Mn-doped MoSe2 ML demonstrates the optical property. In addition, the adsorption of NO2 gas on the Mn-doped MoSe2 ML exhibits improved interaction, with the highest adsorption energy of −4.01 eV and a charge transfer of $- 0.06{e}$ , respectively. Later, the increased interaction is justified by the TDOS behavior, which exhibits an increase in impurities near the Fermi level in comparison with NO and $\text{N}_{{2}}\text{O}$ gas molecules. In addition, the activated Mn atom has a higher sensitivity to the NO2 gas molecule, measuring 56.24%. Finally, the NO2 gas molecule is more amenable to infrared (IR) detection than the Mn-doped MoSe2 ML, as the absorption spectrum shifts to the IR region. As a result, the NOx gas-adsorbed Mn-doped MoSe2 ML is well suited for IR photodetector applications due to its high-IR light absorption molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The change of magnetic properties by varying spin angle is focused in this article. The (Fe)-doped-MoSe2 monolayer (ML) has been studied for both ferromagnetic (FM) and anti-FM (AFM) stability with varying spin angle from 0° to 360° and is found to be AFM stable. Furthermore, the three different AFM configurations are analyzed namely AFM-A, C, and G. The minimum energy has been obtained for AFM-A configuration and the electronic stability is studied in terms of both formation ($E_{\mathrm {form}}$) and binding ($E_{b}$) energy. The total density of states (TDOS) and band structure have been reported as electronic properties with magnetic nature confirmed with asymmetry in TDOS of (Fe)-doped-MoSe2 ML. Secondly, the reduced band gap of 1.04 eV is witnessed with increased electron population in the conduction band (CB). The magnetic anisotropic energy (MAE) is emphasized as a critical magnetic property and is plotted graphically with varying spin angle. An asymmetrical lobe is obtained with maximum amplitude at 270° and minimum at 225° owing to different charge distribution in the d-orbital. The d-orbital contribution in the asymmetrical MAE is discussed in depth. Moreover, the two parameters namely, Neel’s temperature ($T_{N}$) and magnetic exchange coupling ($J$) is explored as an application of MAE. Interestingly, $T_{N}$ is extracted below the room temperature indicating robust AFM attitude and negative value of $J$ shows AFM nature which is in alignment with reported configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to find out the association of low serum vitamin D levels with the incidence of prostate cancer through a prospective case-control study. Material and methods: This study was carried out in the tertiary care hospital (India). All newly diagnosed patients of prostate cancer and age-matched controls were included. Serum vitamin D levels were measured in all of them. Vitamin D status (ng/mL) was classified as severe deficiency <10, moderate deficiency 10–<30, normal 30–100, and toxicity >100. Normality of the data was tested by the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, statistical analysis was done with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26.0, p -value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: In our study, 320 cases and 320 controls were included. The mean vitamin D levels in cases and controls were 15.71 ± 6.5 (ng/mL) and 17.63 ± 4.54 (ng/mL), respectively, (p -Value <0.01). Patients with severe vitamin D deficiency (73.58%) had a Gleason score ⩾8 on biopsy and 79.24% of them had a serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level >20 ng/mL. Conclusion: We had concluded that there was no significant association between vitamin D deficiency and increased risk of prostate cancer, although patients with higher-grade prostate cancer and with higher PSA level had severe vitamin D deficiency. Level of evidence: Not applicable for this multicentre audit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To our knowledge, the incidence of congenital meatal abnormalities associated with hypospadias varies from 9.6% to 31%, of which meatal stenosis is the most common, affecting 9.1–16.7% of patients. Traditionally, meatal stenosis has been dealt with by meatal dilatation, although ventral meatotomy until the normal urethra is encountered has also been used. Here, we report the outcome of a technique where, during hypospadias repair, a dorsal midline incision was performed instead of a ventral urethral incision, starting at the narrow meatus and subsequently extending proximally to treat the meatal stenosis. Methods: Patients having distal hypospadias with meatal stenosis were included in this study. In this technique, a dorsal midline incision was extended until normal calibre urethra was encountered. Patients with chordee >15°, proximal hypospadias, redo cases, glans width <14 mm, where separation of the skin from the underlying urethra was not possible and with a follow-up of less than three months were excluded from the study. A total of 73 patients were operated on using this technique. Results were assessed with regards to urethrocutaneous fistula (UCF) and stricture formation. Results: Five (6.85%) patients developed UCF: one (5%) in the subcoronal group, two (8.0%) in the distal penile group and two (14.3%) in the mid-penile hypospadias group. Postoperatively, only one patient had meatal stenosis. Conclusion: We think hypospadiac meatal stenosis is best treated by a dorsal midline incision, as it does not lead to a proximal shift of the meatus, and this defect heals by re-epithelisation without significant scarring, which in turn decreases the possibility of UCF. That is why the fistula rate in our study was 6.85%, which is lower than in various published series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Puneet. Khanna, Dalim. Baidya, Vinay. Tomar, Anil. Agarwal Sir, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterised by mental and growth retardation, craniofacial, vertebral, ocular and cardiac [...]