Analysis of Postoperative Urinary Incontinence and Influencing Factors of Transurethral Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate.

INTRODUCTION: Aims of the study were to investigate the related factors of urinary incontinence after transurethral holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) and to provide guidance for clinical urinary control of HoLEP. METHODS: The clinical data of 548 patients who underwent HoLEP were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were followed up for the occurrence of urinary incontinence in the short term (2 weeks), medium term (3 months), and long term (6 months) after HoLEP. RESULTS: Among the 548 benign prostatic hyperplasia patients, 79 cases (14.42%) had urinary incontinence at 2 weeks, 19 cases (3.47%) at 3 months, and 2 cases (0.36%) at 6 months after surgery. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, prostate volume, diabetes mellitus, operation time, prostate tissue weight, and histological prostatitis were risk factors for recent urinary incontinence (p < 0.05). Age, diabetes, and operation time were risk factors for mid-term urinary incontinence (p < 0.05). The incidence of long-term urinary incontinence was low and no risk factor analysis was performed. CONCLUSIONS: For good urinary control after HoLEP, in addition to surgery-related factors such as surgical skills, proficiency, and precise anatomy, patients' risk factors should also be paid attention to in order to improve postoperative urinary control more effectively and reduce the incidence of urinary incontinence.

Triphase Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction over Silver-Decorated Titanium Oxide at a Gas-Water Boundary.

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) is an attractive process to convert CO2 into valuable chemicals. But this reaction is often restricted by the poor mass transfer of CO2 in the liquid phase. Here, we have developed a triphase photocatalytic CO2 RR system by supporting Ag-decorated TiO2 nanoparticles at a gas-water boundary with hydrophobic-hydrophilic abrupt interfacial wettability. Such a triphase system allows the rapid delivery of gas-phase CO2 to the surface of photocatalysts while maintaining an efficient water supply and uncovered active sites. Ag-TiO2 supported at the gas-water boundary showed a CO2 reduction rate of 305.7 µmol g-1 h-1 , without hole scavengers, approximately 8 times higher than the nanoparticles dispersed in the liquid phase. Even using diluted CO2 (10 %) as the reactant, the CO2 RR activity was superior to most reported Ag-TiO2 based photocatalysts using pure CO2 . The findings provide a general strategy to promote the interfacial CO2 mass transfer to improve photoactivity and selectivity.

Photothermal-Assisted Triphase Photocatalysis Over a Multifunctional Bilayer Paper.

Photocatalysis as one of the future environment technologies has been investigated for decades. Despite great efforts in catalyst engineering, the widely used powder dispersion and photoelectrode systems are still restricted by sluggish interfacial mass transfer and chemical processes. Here we develop a scalable bilayer paper from commercialized TiO2 and carbon nanomaterials, self-supported at gas-liquid-solid interfaces for photothermal-assisted triphase photocatalysis. The photogeneration of reactive oxygen species can be facilitated through fast oxygen diffusion over triphase interfaces, while the interfacial photothermal effect promotes the following free radical reaction for advanced oxidation of phenol. Under full spectrum irradiation, the triphase system shows 13 times higher reaction rate than diphase controlled system, achieving 88.4 % mineralization of high concentration phenol within 90 min full spectrum irradiation. The bilayer paper also exhibits high stability over 40 times cycling experiments and sunlight driven feasibility, showing potentials for large scale photocatalytic applications by being further integrated into a triphase flow reactor.

Synthesis and Luminescence Properties of a Novel Yellow-White Emitting NaLa(MoO4)2: Dy3+, Li+ Phosphor.

Intense yellow-white NaLa(MoO4)2: Dy3+ phosphors co-doped with Li+ ions have been successfully synthesized via facile sol-gel combustion approach. The dependence of the crystal structure and crystallinity, particle morphology, photoluminescence property, fluorescent lifetime and absolute quantum efficiency of the as-prepared phosphors has been investigated. Stable yellow-white emission from 440 nm to 600 nm and higher absolute quantum efficiency were studied on Dy3+ doped NaLa(MoO4)2, Dy3+ and Li+ co-doped NaLa(MoO4)2, respectively. Surprisingly, only a small amount of Li+ can lead to a remarkable increase of the PL intensity and the quantum efficiency. Especially, along with 0.75 mol% Li+ ions induced in the NaLa(MoO4)2: Dy3+ phosphors, the absolute quantum efficiency increased from 13.8% to 22%, and the possible mechanism has been deeply discussed. Outstanding luminescence properties have certified that NaLa(MoO4)2: Dy3+, Li+ phosphors are promising candidates as new yellow-white components for optical devices.

Construction of Ag─Co(OH)2 Tandem Heterogeneous Electrocatalyst Induced Aldehyde Oxidation and the Co-Activation of Reactants for Biomass Effective and Multi-Selective Upgrading.

The electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) provides a feasible way for utilization of biomass resources. However, how to regulate the selective synthesis of multiple value-added products is still a great challenge. The cobalt-based compound is a promising catalyst due to its direct and indirect oxidation properties, but its weak adsorption capacity restricts its further development. Herein, by constructing Ag─Co(OH)2 heterogeneous catalyst, the efficient and selective synthesis of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furanoic acid (HMFCA) and 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at different potential ranges are realized. Based on various physical characterizations, electrochemical measurements, and density functional theory calculations, it is proved that the addition of Ag can effectively promote the oxidation of aldehyde group to a carboxyl group, and then generate HMFCA at low potential. Moreover, the introduction of Ag can activate cobalt-based compounds, thus strengthening the adsorption of organic molecules and OH- species, and promoting the formation of FDCA. This work achieves the selective synthesis of two value-added chemicals by one tandem catalyst and deeply analyzes the adsorption enhancement mechanism of the catalyst, which provides a powerful guidance for the development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts.

4-Octyl itaconate inhibits inflammation to attenuate psoriasis as an agonist of oxeiptosis.

Psoriasis is a highly prevalent chronic disease associated with a substantial social and economic burden. Oxeiptosis is a programmed cell death that occurs when cells are in a state of high oxidative stress, which has a potent anti-inflammatory effect. However, there is still no research on oxeiptosis in psoriasis, and the agonists or antagonists of oxeiptosis remain an unclear field. Here, we found that oxeiptosis of keratinocytes was inhibited in psoriasis lesions. KEAP1, as the upstream molecular component of oxeiptosis, is highly expressed in psoriasis lesions. Knockdown of KEAP1 in HaCaT cells caused oxeiptosis in the condition of M5 cocktail stimulation. Next, we found that the cell-permeable derivative of itaconate, 4-octylitaconate (OI) promoted oxeiptosis of keratinocytes by inhibiting KEAP1 and then activating PGAM5 which are two upstream molecular components of oxeiptosis. At the same time, OI can reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines induced by M5 cocktail stimulation in vitro. Similarly, we found that OI can alleviate IMQ-induced psoriatic lesions in mice and downregulate the levels of inflammatory cytokines in psoriatic lesions. In summary, our findings suggest that oxeiptosis of keratinocytes was inhibited in psoriasis and OI can significantly inhibit inflammation and alleviate psoriasis as an agonist of oxeiptosis, indicating that oxeiptosis may be involved in regulating the progression of psoriasis, which may provide new therapeutic targets for psoriasis treatment.

The advances of calcium oxalate calculi associated drugs and targets.

Kidney stones constitute a disease of the urinary system of high incidence that has only a few available stone dissolving drugs as treatment options. The mechanism of calcium oxalate stone formation is still largely unclear. Various aspects and theories for initiation and formation of the renal stones have been suggested, and the complex multistep formation process of the kidney stones includes supersaturation, nucleation, growth and aggregation of a crystal, and crystal retention in cells after adhesion. During the initial stage of crystal formation, high concentrations of oxalate exposure may damage the renal tubular cells and cause oxidative stress after which the cells may be attached to the crystal thus supporting the oxalate-induced injury as the driving factor of crystal precipitation and cellular adhesion. However, at present, although various drugs targeting kidney stones have been proposed and evaluated both in vitro and in vivo, clinical drugs for stone dissolution have rarely been explored. Moreover, numerous advances in renal calcium oxalate stone associated target and drugs warrant their summarization until now, which could be further discussed and may provide potential ideas or options for exploration of renal calcium oxalate stone treatment targets and drugs.

Clinical Significance of Plasma D-Dimer in COVID-19 Mortality.

It is not clear whether D-dimer can be an independent predictor of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality, and the cut-off of D-dimer for clinical use remains to be determined. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis is still necessary to illuminate the clinical significance of plasma D-dimer in COVID-19 mortality. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases until November 2020. STATA software was used for all the statistical analyses. The identifier of systematic review registration was PROSPERO CRD42020220927. A total of 66 studies involving 40,614 COVID-19 patients were included in our meta-analysis. Pooled data showed that patients in high D-dimer group had poor prognosis than those in low D-dimer group [OR = 4.52, 95% CI = (3.61, 5.67), P < 0.001; HR = 2.81, 95% CI = (1.85, 4.27), P < 0.001]. Sensitivity analysis, pooled data based on different effect models and the Duval and Tweedie trim-and-fill method did not change the conclusions. Subgroup analyses stratified by different countries, cutoffs, sample size, study design, and analysis of OR/HR still keep consistent conclusions. D-dimer was identified as an independent predictor for COVID-19 mortality. A series of values including 0.5 µg/ml, 1 µg/ml, and 2 µg/ml could be determined as cutoff of D-dimer for clinic use. Measurement and monitoring of D-dimer might assist clinicians to take immediate medical actions and predict the prognosis of COVID-19.

Can we predict the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 with a routine blood test?

INTRODUCTION: The ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID­19) has posed a huge threat to global public health. However, the issue as to whether routine blood tests could be used to monitor and predict the severity and prognosis of COVID­19 has not been comprehensively investigated so far. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to provide an overview of the association of markers in the routine blood test with the severity of COVID­19. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched to identify studies reporting data on markers in the routine blood test and the severity of COVID­19, published until March 20, 2020. The STATA software was used for meta­analysis. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies with 3090 patients with COVID­19 were included in this analysis. Patients in the nonsevere group, compared with those in the severe group, had lower counts of white blood cells (weighted mean difference [WMD], -0.85 [×109/l]; 95% CI, -1.54 to -0.16; P = 0.02) and neutrophils (WMD, -1.57 [×109/l]; 95% CI, -2.6 to -0.54; P = 0.003), greater counts of lymphocytes (WMD, 0.29 [×109/l]; 95% CI, 0.22-0.36; P <0.001) and platelets (WMD, 19.05 [×109/l]; 95% CI, 3.04-35.06; P = 0.02), and a lower neutrophil­to­lymphocyte (NLR) ratio (WMD, -2.48; 95% CI, -3.81 to -1.15; P <0.001). There was no difference in the monocyte count (WMD, 0.01 [×109/l]; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.03; P = 0.029) between these 2 groups. Sensitivity analysis and meta­analysis based on standard mean difference did not change the conclusions regarding neutrophils, lymphocytes, and NLR, but yielded inconsistent results for white blood cells and platelets. CONCLUSIONS: Severe patients had more neutrophils, higher NLR level, and fewer lymphocytes than non-severe patients with COVID-19. Measurement of these markers might assist clinicians to monitor and predict the severity and prognosis of COVID-19.