H(2)S is a novel inhibitor of L-type calcium channels in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, H(2)S-induced inhibition of [Ca(2+)]i appears to be a secondary effect owing to its initial action towards I(Ca,L). The inhibitory effect of H(2)S on I(Ca,L) requires further investigation, particularly in the exploration of new pathways involved in cardiac calcium homeostasis and disease pathology.

Background and objectiveTo prospectively investigate the relationship between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and cellularity in lung cancer.MethodsSixty patients histopathologically confirmed with lung cancer (41 men, 19 women) underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the chest (with b values of 50 and 1000 s/mm2). The median mean ADC (ADCmean) value and median minimum ADC (ADCmin) value within each primary tumour were calculated and compared with the median nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio (NCR), which was selected to represent the cellularity. The correlation between the NCR and ADCmean/ADCmin was calculated with SPSS 18.0 software.ResultsThe mean ADCmean values, ADCmin values and median NCR were (1.07±0.12)×10−3 mm2/s, (0.86±0.14)×10−3 mm2/s, and (14.9±2.6) %, respectively, in adenocarcinoma; (0.88±0.10)×10−3 mm2/s, (0.73±0.12)×10−3 mm2/s, and (20.6±4.4) %, respectively, in squamous cell carcinoma; and (0.89±0.13)×10−3 mm2/s, (0.67±0.13)×10−3 mm2/s, and (18.3±3.5) %, respectively in small cell lung cancer. The NCR of squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung cancer is greater than that of adenocarcinoma (P<0.01 and P = 0.002, respectively). There was an inverse relationship between ADCmean/NCR and ADCmin/NCR (r = −0.60, P = 0.001 and r = −0.47, P<0.001, respectively).ConclusionThere is a significant inverse relationship between tumour cellularity and ADC in lung cancer. However, tumour cellularity most likely is not the sole determinant of the ADC.

BACKGROUND Autophagy has recently been found to play important roles in tumorigenesis and LRPPRC has been identified as an inhibitor that suppresses autophagy and mitophagy and maintains mitochondrial activity. We hypothesized that LRPPRC levels can be used as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. METHODS We performed immunochemistry analysis to evaluate the levels of LRPPRC in 112 samples collected from patients with prostate adenocarcinomas (PCa) and 38 samples from patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) enrolled in hospitals in Guangzhou city of China that have been followed up for 10 years. RESULTS We found that there were significant higher levels of LRPPRC in PCa than in BPH. More than three quarters of PCa patients showed high levels of LRPPRC while only 10% of BPH patients had similar levels of LRPPRC. The levels of LRPPRC protein were positively correlated with tumor grade, metastasis and serum PSA, but negatively correlated with hormone therapy sensitivity after 2 years of surgery and overall survival. The association of high levels of LRPPRC with late stage of PCa or hormone therapy insensitivity was confirmed in tissue samples collected from prostate-specific PTEN−/− mice or hormone-dependent and independent prostate cancer cell lines. CONCLUSION The levels of LRPPRC may be used as an independent biomarker for PCa patients at late-stage with poor prognosis.

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Electrode material aging leads to a decrease in capacity and/or a rise in resistance of the whole cell and thus can dramatically affect the performance of lithium-ion batteries. Furthermore, the aging phenomena are extremely complicated to describe due to the coupling of various factors. In this review, we give an interpretation of capacity/power fading of electrode-oriented aging mechanisms under cycling and various storage conditions for metallic oxide-based cathodes and carbon-based anodes. For the cathode of lithium-ion batteries, the mechanical stress and strain resulting from the lithium ions insertion and extraction predominantly lead to structural disordering. Another important aging mechanism is the metal dissolution from the cathode and the subsequent deposition on the anode. For the anode, the main aging mechanisms are the loss of recyclable lithium ions caused by the formation and increasing growth of a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and the mechanical fatigue caused by the diffusion-induced stress on the carbon anode particles. Additionally, electrode aging largely depends on the electrochemical behaviour under cycling and storage conditions and results from both structural/morphological changes and side reactions aggravated by decomposition products and protic impurities in the electrolyte.

This study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified single-armed suture technique for microsurgical vasoepididymostomy (VE) in patients with epididymal obstructive azoospermia. From September 2011 to December 2011, microsurgical two-suture longitudinal intussusception VEs were performed using our modified single-armed suture technique in 17 men with epididymal obstructive azoospermia at our hospital. Two of these patients underwent repeated VEs after previous failed VEs, and one patient underwent unilateral VE because of an occlusion of the left abdominal vas deferens. The presence of sperm in the semen sample at 3 months postoperation was used as the preliminary endpoint of this study. Each patient provided at least one semen sample at the 3-month time point, and the patency was assessed by the reappearance of sperm (>10(4) ml(-1)) in the semen. The mean operative time for the modified technique was 219 min. Patency was noted in 10 men (58.8%), including one patient who underwent repeated VE. The patient who underwent unilateral anastomosis manifested no sperm postoperatively in his semen. Sperm granulomas were not detected in this cohort. The results of this study demonstrate that our modified technique for microsurgical longitudinal intussusception VE is effective. We believe that it is a practical alternative that may reduce operation time and obviate the suture crossing.

Background:Brachial plexus block (BPB) for upper extremity surgery provides superior analgesia, but this advantage is limited by the pharmacological duration of local anesthetics. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) as a local anesthetics adjuvant for BPB has been utilized to prolong the duration of the nerve block in some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) but is far from unanimous in the efficacy and safety of the perineural route. Hence, an updated meta-analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of DEX as local anesthetic adjuvants on BPB.Methods:A search in electronic databases was conducted to collect the RCTs that investigated the impact of adding DEX to local anesthetics for BPB. Sensory block duration, motor block duration, onset time of sensory and motor block, time to first analgesic request, the common adverse effects were analyzed.Results:Eighteen trails (1014 patients) were included with 515 patients receiving perineural DEX. The addition of DEX prolonged the duration of sensory block (WMD 257 minutes, 95%CI 191.79–322.24, P < 0.001), motor block (WMD 242 minutes, 95%CI 174.94–309.34, P < 0.001), and analgesia (WMD 26 6 minutes, 95%CI 190.75–342.81, P < 0.001). Perineural DEX also increased the risk of bradycardia (OR=8.25, 95%CI 3.95–17.24, P < 0.001), hypotension (OR = 5.62, 95%CI 1.52–20.79, P < 0.01), and somnolence (OR = 19.67, 95%CI 3.94–98.09, P < 0.001). There was a lack of evidence that perineural DEX increased the risk of other adverse events.Conclusions:DEX is a potential anesthetic adjuvant that can facilitate better anesthesia and analgesia when administered in BPB. However, it also increased the risk of bradycardia, hypotension, and somnolence. Further research should focus on the efficacy and safety of the preneural administration of DEX.

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