Intermediate-term outcomes after robotic ureteral reconstruction for long-segment (≥4 centimeters) strictures in the proximal ureter: A multi-institutional experience

Matthew Lee,Ziho Lee,Helaine Koster,Minsuk Jun,Aeen M. Asghar,Randall Lee,David Strauss,Neel Patel,Daniel Kim,Sreeya Komaravolu,Alice Drain,Michael J. Metro,Lee Zhao,Michael Stifelman,Daniel D. Eun 대한비뇨의학회 2021 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.62 No.1

Purpose: To report our intermediate-term, multi-institutional experience after robotic ureteral reconstruction for the management of long-segment proximal ureteral strictures. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our Collaborative of Reconstructive Robotic Ureteral Surgery (CORRUS) database to identify all patients who underwent robotic ureteral reconstruction for long-segment (≥4 centimeters) proximal ureteral strictures between August 2012 and June 2019. The primary surgeon determined the specific technique to reconstruct the ureter at time of surgery based on the patient's clinical history and intraoperative findings. Our primary outcome was surgical success, which we defined as the absence of ureteral obstruction on radiographic imaging and absence of obstructive flank pain. Results: Of 20 total patients, 4 (20.0%) underwent robotic ureteroureterostomy (RUU) with downward nephropexy (DN), 2 (10.0%) underwent robotic ureterocalycostomy (RUC) with DN, and 14 (70.0%) underwent robotic ureteroplasty with buccal mucosa graft (RU-BMG). Median stricture length was 4 centimeters (interquartile range [IQR], 4–4; maximum, 5), 6 centimeters (IQR, 5–7; maximum, 8), and 5 centimeters (IQR, 4–5; maximum, 8) for patients undergoing RUU with DN, RUC with DN, and RU-BMG, respectively. At a median follow-up of 24 (IQR, 14–51) months, 17/20 (85.0%) cases were surgically successful. Two of four patients (50.0%) who underwent RUU with DN developed stricture recurrences within 3 months. Conclusions: Long-segment proximal ureteral strictures may be safely and effectively managed with RUC with DN and RU-BMG. Although RUU with DN can be utilized, this technique may be associated with a higher failure rate.

Risk Factors of Treatment Failure in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients

Lee, Kyung Mook,Kim, Woon Hoe,Lee, Jang Hyun,Choi, Matthew Seung Suk Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surge 2013 Archives of Plastic Surgery Vol.40 No.2

Background Some diabetic feet heal without complication, but others undergo amputation due to progressive wounds. This study investigates the risk factors for amputation of diabetic feet. Methods A total of 55 patients who visited our institution from 2008 to 2012 were included in the study. The patients with abnormal fasting blood sugar levels, lower leg vascularity, and poor nutrition were excluded from the study group, and the wound states were unified. The patients were categorized into a treatment success group (n=47) and a treatment failure group (n=8), and their hemoglobin A1C (HgA1C), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and serum creatinine levels were analyzed. Results The initial CRP, WBC, and serum creatinine levels in the treatment failure group were significantly higher than that of the treatment success group, and the initial HgA1C level was significantly higher in the treatment success group. The CRP and WBC levels of both groups changed significantly as time passed, but their serum creatinine levels did not. Conclusions The initial CRP, WBC, and serum creatinine levels were considered to be risk factors for amputation. Among them, the serum creatinine level was found to be the most important predictive risk factor. Because serum creatinine represents the renal function, thorough care is needed for the feet of diabetic patients with renal impairment.

Overexpression of the mitogen-activated protein kinase gene OsMAPK33 enhances sensitivity to salt stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Lee, Seong-Kon,Kim, Beom-Gi,Kwon, Taek-Ryoun,Jeong, Mi-Jeong,Park, Sang-Ryeol,Lee, Jung-Won,Byun, Myung-Ok,Kwon, Hawk-Bin,Matthews, Benjamin F,Hong, Choo-Bong,Park, Soo-Chul Indian Academy of Sciences 2011 Journal of biosciences Vol.36 No.1

<P>Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signalling cascades are activated by extracellular stimuli such as environmental stresses and pathogens in higher eukaryotic plants. To know more about MAPK signalling in plants, aMAPK cDNA clone, OsMAPK33, was isolated from rice. The gene is mainly induced by drought stress. In phylogenetic analysis, OsMAPK33 (Os02g0148100) showed approximately 47-93% identity at the amino acid level with other plant MAPKs. It was found to exhibit organ-specific expression with relatively higher expression in leaves as compared with roots or stems, and to exist as a single copy in the rice genome. To investigate the biological functions of OsMAPK33 in rice MAPK signalling, transgenic rice plants that either overexpressed or suppressed OsMAPK33 were made. Under dehydration conditions, the suppressed lines showed lower osmotic potential compared with that of wild-type plants, suggesting a role of OsMAPK33 in osmotic homeostasis. Nonetheless, the suppressed lines did not display any significant difference in drought tolerance compared with their wild-type plants. With increased salinity, there was still no difference in salt tolerance between OsMAPK33-suppressed lines and their wild-type plants. However, the overexpressing lines showed greater reduction in biomass accumulation and higher sodium uptake into cells, resulting in a lower K+/Na+ ratio inside the cell than that in the wild-type plants and OsMAPK33-suppressed lines. These results suggest that OsMAPK33 could play a negative role in salt tolerance through unfavourable ion homeostasis. Gene expression profiling of OsMAPK33 transgenic lines through rice DNA chip analysis showed that OsMAPK33 altered expression of genes involved in ion transport. Further characterization of downstream components will elucidate various biological functions of this novel rice MAPK.</P>

Conjugated Polyelectrolytes as Efficient Hole Transport Layers in Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Lee, Bo Ram,Yu, Jae Choul,Park, Jong Hyun,Lee, Seungjin,Mai, Cheng-Kang,Zhao, Baodan,Wong, Matthew S.,Jung, Eui Dae,Nam, Yun Seok,Park, Song Yi,Di Nuzzo, Daniele,Kim, Jin Young,Stranks, Samuel D.,Baza American Chemical Society 2018 ACS NANO Vol.12 No.6

<P>Perovskite-based optoelectronic devices have been rapidly developing in the past 5 years. Since the first report, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) has increased rapidly through the control of morphology and structure from 0.1% to more than 11%. Here, we report the use of various conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) as the hole injection layer in PeLEDs. In particular, we find that poly[2,6-(4,4-bis-potassium butanylsulfonate)-4<I>H</I>-cyclopenta-[2,1-<I>b</I>;3,4-<I>b</I>′]-dithiophene)] (PCPDT-K) transfers holes effectively, blocks electron transport from the perovskite to the underlying ITO layer, and reduces luminescence quenching at the perovskite/PCPDT-K interface. Our optimized PeLEDs with PCPDT-K show enhanced EQE by a factor of approximately 4 compared to control PeLEDs with PEDOT:PSS, reaching EQE values of 5.66%, and exhibit improved device stability.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Concentrator photovoltaic module architectures with capabilities for capture and conversion of full global solar radiation

Lee, Kyu-Tae,Yao, Yuan,He, Junwen,Fisher, Brent,Sheng, Xing,Lumb, Matthew,Xu, Lu,Anderson, Mikayla A.,Scheiman, David,Han, Seungyong,Kang, Yongseon,Gumus, Abdurrahman,Bahabry, Rabab R.,Lee, Jung Woo,P National Academy of Sciences 2016 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol.113 No.51

<P>Emerging classes of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules reach efficiencies that are far greater than those of even the highest performance flat-plate PV technologies, with architectures that have the potential to provide the lowest cost of energy in locations with high direct normal irradiance (DNI). A disadvantage is their inability to effectively use diffuse sunlight, thereby constraining widespread geographic deployment and limiting performance even under the most favorable DNI conditions. This study introduces a module design that integrates capabilities in flat-plate PV directly with the most sophisticated CPV technologies, for capture of both direct and diffuse sunlight, thereby achieving efficiency in PV conversion of the global solar radiation. Specific examples of this scheme exploit commodity silicon (Si) cells integrated with two different CPV module designs, where they capture light that is not efficiently directed by the concentrator optics onto large-scale arrays of miniature multi-junction (MJ) solar cells that use advanced III-V semiconductor technologies. In this CPV+ scheme ('+' denotes the addition of diffuse collector), the Si and MJ cells operate independently on indirect and direct solar radiation, respectively. On-sun experimental studies of CPV+ modules at latitudes of 35.9886 degrees N (Durham, NC), 40.1125 degrees N (Bondville, IL), and 38.9072 degrees N (Washington, DC) show improvements in absolute module efficiencies of between 1.02% and 8.45% over values obtained using otherwise similar CPV modules, depending on weather conditions. These concepts have the potential to expand the geographic reach and improve the cost-effectiveness of the highest efficiency forms of PV power generation.</P>

Prediction Model for the Cellular Immortalization and Transformation Potentials of Cell Substrates

Lee, Min-Su,Matthews Clayton A.,Chae Min-Ju,Choi, Jung-Yun,Sohn Yeo-Won,Kim, Min-Jung,Lee, Su-Jae,Park, Woong-Yang Korea Genome Organization 2006 Genomics & informatics Vol.4 No.4

The establishment of DNA microarray technology has enabled high-throughput analysis and molecular profiling of various types of cancers. By using the gene expression data from microarray analysis we are able to investigate diagnostic applications at the molecular level. The most important step in the application of microarray technology to cancer diagnostics is the selection of specific markers from gene expression profiles. In order to select markers of Immortalization and transformation we used c-myc and $H-ras^{V12}$ oncogene-transfected NIH3T3 cells as our model system. We have identified 8751 differentially expressed genes in the immortalization/transformation model by multivariate permutation F-test (95% confidence, FDR<0.01). Using the support vector machine algorithm, we selected 13 discriminative genes which could be used to predict immortalization and transformation with perfect accuracy. We assayed $H-ras^{V12}$-transfected 'transformed' cells to validate our immortalization/transformation dassification system. The selected molecular markers generated valuable additional information for tumor diagnosis, prognosis and therapy development.

Structural characterization of small molecular ions by ion mobility mass spectrometry in nitrogen drift gas: improving the accuracy of trajectory method calculations

Lee, Jong Wha,Lee, Hyun Hee L.,Davidson, Kimberly L.,Bush, Matthew F.,Kim, Hugh I. The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018 The Analyst Vol.143 No.8

<P>The investigation of ion structures based on a combination of ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) experiments and theoretical collision cross section (CCS) calculations has become important to many fields of research. However, the accuracy of current CCS calculations for ions in nitrogen drift gas limits the information content of many experiments. In particular, few studies have evaluated and attempted to improve the theoretical tools for CCS calculation in nitrogen drift gas. In this study, based on high-quality experimental measurements and theoretical modeling, a comprehensive evaluation of various aspects of CCS calculations in nitrogen drift gas is performed. It is shown that the modification of the ion-nitrogen van der Waals (vdW) interaction potential enables accurate CCS predictions of 29 small ions with <I>ca.</I> 3% maximum relative error. The present method exhibits no apparent systematic bias with respect to ion CCS (size) and dipole moment, suggesting that the method adequately describes the long-range interactions between the ions and the buffer gas. However, the method shows limitations in reproducing experimental CCS at low temperatures (<150 K) and for macromolecular ions, and calculations for these cases should be complemented by CCS calculation methods in helium drift gas. This study presents an accurate and well-characterized CCS calculation method for ions in nitrogen drift gas that is expected to become an important tool for ion structural characterization and molecular identification. The experimental values reported here also provide a foundation for future studies aiming at developing more efficient computational tools.</P>

NEAR-INFRARED [Fe II] AND H₂LINE OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT 3C 396: PROBING THE PRESUPERNOVA CIRCUMSTELLAR MATERIALS

Lee, Ho-Gyu,Moon, Dae-Sik,Koo, Bon-Chul,Lee, Jae-Joon,Matthews, Keith IOP Publishing 2009 The Astrophysical journal Vol.691 No.2

Discovery of a Very Large (≈20 kpc) Galaxy at <i>z</i> = 3.72

Lee, Kyoung-Soo,Dey, Arjun,Matheson, Thomas,Shi, Ke,Hung, Chao-Ling,Xue, Rui,Inami, Hanae,Huang, Yun,Lee, Khee-Gan,Ashby, Matthew L. N.,Jannuzi, Buell,Reddy, Naveen,Hong, Sungryong,Mo, Wenli,Malavasi, American Astronomical Society 2018 The Astrophysical journal Vol.862 No.1

<P>We report the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of a very large star-forming galaxy, G6025, at z(spec) = 3.721 +/- 0.003. In the rest frame approximate to 2100 angstrom, G6025 subtends approximate to 24 kpc in physical extent when measured from the 1.5 sigma isophote, in agreement with the parametric size measurements that yield a half-light radius of 4.9 +/- 0.5 kpc and a semimajor axis of 12.5 +/- 0.1 kpc. It is also very UV-luminous (approximate to 5L(UV,z similar to 4)*) and young (approximate to 140 +/- 60 Myr). Despite its unusual size and luminosity, the stellar population parameters and dust reddening (M-star similar to M-z similar to 4*( )and E(B - V) similar to 0.18 +/- 0.05) estimated from the integrated light are similar to those of smaller galaxies at comparable redshifts. The ground-based morphology and spectroscopy show two dominant components, both located off-center, embedded in more diffuse emission. We speculate that G6025 may be a scaled-up version of chain galaxies seen in deep HST imaging or, alternatively, a nearly equal-mass merger involving two super-L* galaxies in its early stage. It lies close to but not within a known massive protocluster at z = 3.78. We find four companions within 6 Mpc from G6025, two of which lie within 1.6 Mpc. While the limited sensitivity of the existing spectroscopy does not allow us to robustly characterize the local environment of G6025, it likely resides in a locally overdense environment. The luminosity, size, and youth of G6025 make it uniquely suited to study the early formation of massive galaxies in the universe.</P>

Intraureteral and intravenous indocyanine green to facilitate robotic partial nephroureterectomy in a patient with complete ureteral triplication

Matthew Lee,Ziho Lee,Daniel Eun 대한비뇨의학회 2015 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.56 No.6

A patient with a complete right ureteral triplication presented with recurrent pyelonephritis and flank pain that was refractory tomedical management. Evaluation showed that the atrophic upper-most renal moiety had been chronically obstructed and was associatedwith a dilated ureter. Intraureteral and intravenous indocyanine green (ICG) were used as real-time contrast agents intraoperativelyto facilitate right robotic partial nephroureterectomy of the diseased system. Intraureteral ICG was used to accuratelydistinguish the pathologic ureter and associated renal pelvis from its normal counterparts. Intravenous ICG was used to assess perfusionin the right kidney and delineate the margins of diseased renal parenchyma.