[Transurethral 180 W front-firing GreenLight laser vaporization of the prostate for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect and safety of transurethral 180 W front-firing GreenLight laser vaporization of the prostate (PVP) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: A total of 61 BPH patients underwent 180W front-firing GreenLight laser PVP (n = 30, the PVP group) or transurethral plasmakinetic resection of the prostate (n = 31, the control group) from March to December 2019. We collected the pre-, intra- and post-operative clinical data and compared them between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Operations were successfully completed in all the cases with no blood transfusion or serious complications. Compared with the controls, the patients of the PVP group showed remarkably less intra-operative blood loss (ï¼»62.3 ± 15.9ï¼½ vs ï¼»48.8 ± 9.6ï¼½ ml, P < 0.05), shorter operation time (ï¼»75.0 ± 9.9ï¼½ vs ï¼»57.5 ± 19.0ï¼½ min, P < 0.05), postoperative bladder lavage time (ï¼»64.4 ± 10.5ï¼½ vs ï¼»25.2 ± 11.5ï¼½ h, P < 0.05), catheter-indwelling time (ï¼»5.1 ± 0.5ï¼½ vs ï¼»2.5 ± 0.5ï¼½ d, P < 0.05) and hospitalization time (ï¼»7.3 ± 1.7ï¼½ vs ï¼»4.1 ± 0.6ï¼½ d, P < 0.05), and a lower incidence of postoperative hematuria (12.9% ï¼»4/31ï¼½ vs 0% ï¼»0/30ï¼½, P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences, however, were found between the two groups in the incidence rates of capsular perforation, transurethral resection syndrome (TURS), urinary incontinence, urethral stricture and post-extubation urinary retention. Significant improvement was observed in IPSS, QOL, Qmax and PVR in both groups post-operatively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with transurethral plasmakinetic resection of the prostate, 180W front-firing GreenLight laser PVP, with the advantages of less bleeding, shorter catheter-indwelling time and faster recovery, is safer and more effective for the treatment of BPH, with no need for drug withdrawal for those taking anticoagulants, and especially applicable to the elderly and high-risk patients.

Nab-paclitaxel plus S-1 versus oxaliplatin plus S-1 as first-line treatment in advanced gastric cancer: results of a multicenter, randomized, phase III trial (GAPSO study).

Background: This study aimed to investigate the superiority of nab-paclitaxel plus S-1 (AS) over oxaliplatin plus S-1 (SOX) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, phase III superiority trial, eligible patients with unresectable, locally advanced gastric adenocarcinoma were recruited and randomly assigned (1:1) to receive AS (nab-paclitaxel 260 mg/m2 on day 1 or 130 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8; oral S-1 40-60 mg twice daily for 14 days) or SOX (130 mg/m2 oxaliplatin on day 1; oral S-1 40-60 mg twice daily for 14 days) every 3 weeks for up to six cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoints were overall survival, objective response rate, and safety. Results: Owing to slow enrolment, an unplanned interim analysis was performed, resulting in the early termination of the study on 31 December 2021 (data cutoff). Between March 2019 and March 2021, 97 patients (AS, n = 48; SOX, n = 49) were treated and evaluated for efficacy and safety of AS and SOX. As of the data cutoff, the median follow-up was 23.13 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 13.39-32.87]. The median PFS was 9.03 months (95% CI, 6.50-11.56) in the AS group and 5.07 months (95% CI, 4.33-5.81) in the SOX group, demonstrating a better PFS tendency following AS treatment than SOX treatment (hazard ratio = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.37-0.94; p = 0.03). The most common grade 3 or worse adverse events were anemia, neutropenia, and leukopenia in both groups, with a higher incidence of thrombocytopenia in the SOX group. Conclusion: Although this study was terminated early, the results demonstrated a better PFS tendency in patients with AGC who were treated with AS than in those treated with SOX, with controllable toxicities. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov identifiers: NCT03801668. Registered January 11, 2019.

A Minibatch Proximal Stochastic Recursive Gradient Algorithm Using a Trust-Region-Like Scheme and Barzilai-Borwein Stepsizes.

We consider the problem of minimizing the sum of an average of a large number of smooth convex component functions and a possibly nonsmooth convex function that admits a simple proximal mapping. This class of problems arises frequently in machine learning, known as regularized empirical risk minimization (ERM). In this article, we propose mSRGTR-BB, a minibatch proximal stochastic recursive gradient algorithm, which employs a trust-region-like scheme to select stepsizes that are automatically computed by the Barzilai-Borwein method. We prove that mSRGTR-BB converges linearly in expectation for strongly and nonstrongly convex objective functions. With proper parameters, mSRGTR-BB enjoys a faster convergence rate than the state-of-the-art minibatch proximal variant of the semistochastic gradient method (mS2GD). Numerical experiments on standard data sets show that the performance of mSRGTR-BB is comparable to and sometimes even better than mS2GD with best-tuned stepsizes and is superior to some modern proximal stochastic gradient methods.

[Quantitative characteristics and population dynamics of the endangered plant Thuja koraiensis in Changbai Mountain, China.] / 长白山区濒危植物朝鲜崖柏种群数量特征及动态.

Thuja koraiensis, a second-class nationally protected plant species, is a unique endangered tree species in Changbai Mountain, with important economic and ornamental value. In this study, the age structure, static life table, and survival function of T. koraiensis were established by using individual root diameter and age data based on investigation of wild resources in the main distribution areas of T. koraiensis. The population development trend was predicted by dynamic index and time series analysis. The results showed that the age-class structure of T. koraiensis population was in the shape of "∩", which was a decline type. The survival curve of T. koraiensis population under the dark coniferous forest was the Deevey-3 type, and was Deevey-2 type in pure forest community. Population survival analysis showed that the survival function of T. koraiensis appeared irregular fluctuation under the dark coniferous forest. The population distribution showed dynamic features of sharp drop in early age period, stable in middle age period, and decline in old age pe-riod. In the pure forest community, the dynamic pattern was characterized by the stability in early age period, growth in middle age period, and recession in old age period. Dynamic index and time series analysis showed that the decline rate of dark coniferous forest community was slightly higher than that of pure forest community. Our results showed that T. koraiensis had some recovery ability and that artificial tending should be used to promote its normal regeneration.

Effects of lentivirus-mediated silencing of Periostin on tumor microenvironment and bone metastasis via the integrin-signaling pathway in lung cancer.

The study aims to investigate the effects of Periostin gene silencing on tumor microenvironment and bone metastasis via the integrin-signaling pathway in lung cancer (LC). LC patients were divided into bone metastasis and non-bone metastasis groups; Healthy volunteers were selected as normal group. ELISA was performed to detect serum Periostin levels and plasma calcium ion concentration. SBC-5 cells were assigned into blank group (without transfection), negative control (NC) group (transfected with empty plasmid), si-Periostin group (transfected with si-Periostin plasmid), si-Integrin-αvß3 group (transfected with Integrin-αvß3 siRNA plasmid) and si-Periostin+si-Integrin-αvß3 group (transfected with si-Periostin and si-Integrin-αvß3 plasmid). qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to determine mRNA and protein expression of Periostin, metastasis-associated factors of tumor microenvironment and integrin signaling pathway-related proteins. CCK-8, scratch test and transwell assay were applied to detect cell proliferation, migration and invasion respectively. Nude mouse models of LC bone metastasis were established. TRAP Staining was employed to measure the number of osteoclasts. Bone metastasis group exhibited higher levels of Periostin compared to normal and non-bone metastasis groups. Si-Periostin, si-Integrin-αvß3 and si-Periostin+si-Integrin-αvß3 groups showed decreased Periostin expression, proliferation rate, migration distance, invasive cells, and expressions of metastasis-associated factors of tumor microenvironment and integrin signaling pathway-related proteins compared to blank and NC groups. Similarly, number of osteoclasts and expression of integrin signaling pathway-related proteins were decreased, and bone injury and calcium ion concentration were reduced. The study demonstrated that down-regulation of Periostin expression modulated tumor microenvironment and inhibited bone metastasis by blocking integrin-signaling pathway in LC.