How to accelerate the upper urinary stone discharge after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) for < 15 mm upper urinary stones: a prospective multi-center randomized controlled trial about external physical vibration lithecbole (EPVL).

OBJECTIVE: To asset the efficacy and safety of EPVL plus ESWL compared with ESWL alone for the treatment of simple upper urinary stones (< 15 mm). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients with upper urinary stones (< 15 mm) were prospectively randomized into two groups. In treatment group, patients were assigned to immediate EPVL after ESWL, while in control group, ESWL alone was offered. All patients were reexamined at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after ESWL. Stone size, stone location, stone-free rate (SFR), and complication rate were compared. RESULTS: 56 males and 20 females in treatment group were compared to 52 male and 25 females in control group (p = 0.404). Median ages were 42.9 ± 1.5 years in treatment group and 42.7 ± 1.3 years in control group (p = 0.943). Median stone size was 10.0 ± 0.4 mm (3-15 mm) in treatment group and 10.4 ± 0.4 mm (4-15 mm) in control group (p = 0.622). The stone clearance rate in treatment and control group at 1 week after ESWL was 51.3% (39/76) and 45.4% (35/77) (p > 0.05), at 2 weeks was 81.6% (62/76) and 64.9% (50/77) (p < 0.05), and at 4 weeks was 90.8% (69/76) and 75.3% (58/77) (p < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: EPVL is a noninvasive, effective, and safe adjunctive treatment which increases and accelerates upper urinary stones discharge after ESWL treatment.

The Synthesis of a Coumarin Carbohydrazide Dinuclear Copper Complex Based Fluorescence Probe and Its Detection of Thiols.

Small-molecule thiols, such as cysteine (CYS) and glutathione (GSH), are essential for maintaining the cellular redox environment and play important roles in regulating various cellular physiological functions. A fluorescence probe (compound 1-Cu2+) for thiols based on coumarin carbohydrazide dinuclear copper complex was developed. Compound 1 was synthesized from the reaction of 7-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbohydrazide with 4-tert-butyl-2,6- diformylphenol. Accordingly, the copper complex (compound 1-Cu2+) was prepared by mixing compound 1 with 2 equivalents copper ions. Compound 1 had strong fluorescence while compound 1-Cu2+ hardly possessed fluorescence owing to the quenching nature of paramagnetism Cu2+ to the fluorescence molecule excited state. However, the fluorescence intensity of compound 1-Cu2+ was increased dramatically after the addition of thiol-containing amino acids, but not the other non-sulfhydryl amino acids. UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectra indicated that compound 1-Cu2+ had good selectivity and sensitivity for thiols such as glutathione in CH3CN:H2O (3:2, v/v) PBS solution. The fluorescence imaging experiments implied that compound 1-Cu2+ has potential application in thiol-containing amino acids detection in living cells.