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Objectives: This study aimed to explore the potential causal associations between serum uric acid (SUA) and the risk of colorectal cancer, colon cancer and rectal cancer. Methods: Twenty-six SUA-related single nucleotide polymorphisms which were identified by a large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) were used as instrumental variables in the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. Meta-analyses were used to synthesize the results of multiple GWASs which were extracted from the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit GWAS database for each type of cancer. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary MR method to analyze the association between SUA and colorectal cancer risk. Several sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of results. Results: The IVW method showed that there were no causal relationships between SUA and the risk of colorectal cancer [odds ratio (OR): 1.0015; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.9975-1.0056] and colon cancer (OR: 1.0015; 95% CI: 0.9974-1.0055). The SUA levels were negative correlated with rectal cancer risk (OR: 0.9984; 95% CI: 0.9971-0.9998). The similar results were observed in both males (OR: 0.9987; 95% CI: 0.9975-0.9998) and females (OR: 0.9985; 95% CI: 0.9971-0.9999). The sensitivity analyses suggested no evidence of heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy. The leave-one-out analyses showed that one SNP (rs1471633) significantly drove the causal effect of SUA on rectal cancer risk. The MR-Egger regression and weighted median both showed that there were no causal relationships between SUA and the risk of colorectal cancer and its subtypes. Conclusion: Overall, there was no linear causal association between SUA and the risk of colorectal cancer. However, further research is needed to investigate the role of higher SUA levels such as hyperuricemia or gout in the occurrence of colorectal cancer.

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Track irregularities directly affect the quality and safety of railway vehicle operations. Quantitative detection and real-time monitoring of track irregularities are of great importance. However, due to the frequent variable vehicle speed, vehicle operation is a typical non-stationary process. The traditional signal analysis methods are unsuitable for non-stationary processes, making the quantitative detection of the wavelength and amplitude of track irregularities difficult. To solve the above problems, this paper proposes a quantitative detection method of track irregularities under non-stationary conditions with variable vehicle speed by order tracking analysis for the first time. Firstly, a simplified wheel-rail dynamic model is established to derive the quantitative relationship between the axle-box vertical vibration and the track vertical irregularities. Secondly, the Simpson double integration method is proposed to calculate the axle-box vertical displacement based on the axle-box vertical acceleration, and the process error is optimized. Thirdly, based on the order tracking analysis theory, the angular domain resampling is performed on the axle-box vertical displacement time-domain signal in combination with the wheel rotation speed signals, and the quantitative detection of the track irregularities is achieved. Finally, the proposed method is validated based on simulation and field test analysis cases. We provide theoretical support and method reference for the quantitative detection method of track irregularities.

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Oridonin is the main bioactive component of Rabdosia rubescens, and its anticancer activity has been reported in a variety of cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of oridonin in laryngeal carcinoma remains unclear. In the present study, the cytotoxic effect of oridonin on laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 and TU212 cell lines were initially detected by modified MTT assay. The results showed that oridonin had a dose-dependent anti-proliferative effect on laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 and TU212 cells. Next, we found that oridonin significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of human laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 and TU212 cell lines by wound healing assay and transwell assay. Subsequently, the results of quantitative real-time PCR assay and western blotting assay confirmed that oridonin upregulated the expression of E-cadherin while downregulated the expression of N-cadherin in a concentration-dependent manner at mRNA and protein levels. In addition, phosphorylation levels of liver kinase B1 (p-LKB1) and AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) were also elevated upon oridonin treatment. To further verify the role of LKB1/AMPK signaling pathway in laryngeal carcinoma, overexpression of LKB1 was constructed by plasmid transfection. The data exhibited that overexpression of LKB1 could further reinforce the increase of E-cadherin level and decrease of N-cadherin level mediated by oridonin. Additionally, AMPK inhibitor compound C could reverse anti-metastatic effect of oridonin on laryngeal carcinoma, and antagonise EMT expression. In contrast, AMPK activator AICAR presented the opposite effect. In conclusion, our study revealed that oridonin could remarkably reverse the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of laryngeal carcinoma by positively regulating LKB1/AMPK signaling pathway, which suggested that oridonin may be a potential candidate for the treatment of laryngeal carcinoma in the future.

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BACKGROUND: The evidence about the effects of trace elements on overall survival(OS) of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) is limited. This study aims to evaluate mixed effects of plasma trace elements on OS of ESCC. METHODS: This prospective cohort analysis included 497 ESCC patients with a median follow-up of 52.3 months. The concentrations of 17 trace elements were measured. We fitted Cox's proportional hazards regression, factor analysis and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models to estimate the association between trace elements and OS. RESULTS: Our analysis found that in the single-element model, Co, Ni, and Cd were associated with an increased risk of death, while Ga, Rb, and Ba were associated with a decreased risk. Cd had the strongest risk effect among all elements. As many elements were found to be mutually correlated, we conducted a factor analysis to identify common factors and investigate their associations with survival time. The factor analysis indicated that the factor with high factor loadings in Ga, Ba and B was linked to a decreased risk of death, while the factor with high factor loadings in Co, Ti, Cd and Pb was associated with a borderline significantly increased risk. Using BKMR analysis to disentangle the interaction between elements in significant factors, we discovered that Ga interacted with Ba and both elements had U-shaped effects with OS. Cd, on the other hand, had no interaction with other elements and independently increased the risk of death. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis revealed that Ga, Ba and Cd were associated with ESCC outcome, with Ga and Ba demonstrating an interaction. These findings provide new insights into the impact of trace elements on the survival of patients with ESCC.

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Vascular endothelial cells (ECs), locating at the inner side of vascular lumen, play critical roles in maintaining vascular function and participate in tissue repair and neovascularization. Although increasing studies have shown positive effects of transplantation of vascular ECs or their precursor cells on neovascularization and functional recovery of ischemic tissues, the quantity of in vivo ECs is limited and their quality is affected by age, gender, disease, and others, which hinder their clinical application and further study. Chemical transdifferentiation is a promising approach to generate patient-specific cells. In this process, somatic cells are directly converted into desired cell types without the risk of tumorigenicity by pluripotent cell transplantation and exogenous gene introduction by transgene technology. In the present study, we derived ECs from human cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) through an optimized chemical induction method. The derived ECs expressed endothelial specific markers, took up low-density lipoprotein, secreted angiogenic cytokines under hypoxic condition, and formed microvessels in vitro and in vivo. This CF-EC transition bypassed pluripotency and germ layer differentiation, but underwent a stage of endothelialization. Although p53 maintained the same level during the period of CF-EC transdifferentiation, we could modulate p53 transcriptional activity to further improve cell transition efficiency, which mainly functioned at the later stage of endothelialization. Optimization and exploring the regulatory mechanism of CF-EC transition complement each other, which not only broadens the sources of patient-specific ECs but also provides valuable references for the in vivo direct transdifferentiation study and the elucidation of endothelial development and dysfunction. Impact statement This study provides an optimized chemical induction method to derive endothelial cells (ECs) from human cardiac fibroblasts (CFs), which not only broadens the sources of patient-specific ECs but also provides a good research model of mesenchymal-endothelial transition. Studying the molecular process and regulatory mechanism of CF-EC transdifferentiation will provide valuable references for the in vivo direct transdifferentiation for clinical therapy and deepen the understanding of endothelial development and dysfunction.

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Chemical transdifferentiation is a technique that utilizes small molecules to directly convert one cell type into another without passing through an intermediate stem cell state. This technique offers several advantages over other methods of cell reprogramming, such as simplicity, standardization, versatility, no ethical and safety concern and patient-specific therapies. Chemical transdifferentiation has been successfully applied to various cell types across different tissues and organs, and its potential applications are rapidly expanding as scientists continue to explore new combinations of small molecules and refine the mechanisms driving cell fate conversion. These applications have opened up new possibilities for regenerative medicine, disease modeling, drug discovery and tissue engineering. However, there are still challenges and limitations that need to be overcome before chemical transdifferentiation can be translated into clinical practice. These include low efficiency and reproducibility, incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms, long-term stability and functionality of the transdifferentiated cells, cell-type specificity and scalability. In this review, we compared the commonly used methods for cell transdifferentiation in recent years and discussed the current progress and future perspective of the chemical transdifferentiation of somatic cells and its potential impact on biomedicine. We believe that with ongoing research and technological advancements, the future holds tremendous promise for harnessing the power of small molecules to shape the cellular landscape and revolutionize the field of biomedicine.

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Sprouting of mossy fibers, one of the most consistent findings in tissue from patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, exhibits several uncommon axonal growth features and has been considered a paradigmatic example of circuit plasticity that occurs in the adult brain. Clarifying the mechanisms responsible may provide new insight into epileptogenesis as well as axon misguidance in the central nervous system. Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) binds to methylated genomic DNA to regulate a range of physiological functions implicated in neuronal development and adult synaptic plasticity. However, exploring the potential role of MeCP2 in the documented misguidance of axons in the dentate gyrus has not yet been attempted. In this study, a status epilepticus-induced decrease of neuronal MeCP2 was observed in the dentate gyrus (DG). An essential regulatory role of MeCP2 in the development of functional mossy fiber sprouting (MFS) was confirmed through stereotaxic injection of a recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) to up- or down-regulate MeCP2 in the dentate neurons. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) was performed to identify the binding profile of native MeCP2 using micro-dissected dentate tissues. In both dentate tissues and HT22 cell lines, we demonstrated that MeCP2 could act as a transcription repressor on miR-682 with the involvement of the DNA methylation mechanism. Further, we found that miR-682 could bind to mRNA of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) in a sequence specific manner, thus leading to the suppression of PTEN and excessive activation of mTOR. This study therefore presents a novel epigenetic mechanism by identifying MeCP2/miR-682/PTEN/mTOR as an essential signal pathway in regulating the formation of MFS in the temporal lobe epileptic (TLE) mice. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Understanding the mechanisms that regulate axon guidance is important for a better comprehension of neural disorders. Sprouting of mossy fibers, one of the most consistent findings in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, has been considered a paradigmatic example of circuit plasticity in the adult brain. Although abnormal regulation of DNA methylation has been observed in both experimental rodents and humans with epilepsy, the potential role of DNA methylation in this well-documented example of sprouting of dentate axon remains elusive. This study demonstrates an essential role of methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 in the formation of mossy fiber sprouting. The underlying signal pathway has been also identified. The data hence provide new insight into epileptogenesis as well as axon misguidance in the central nervous system.

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PURPOSE: Previous anatomical studies of the urogenital fascia (UGF) have focused on males, and there is a lack of relevant anatomical studies on the distribution of the extraperitoneal UGF in females. METHODS: In this investigation, guided by the embryonic development of the female urogenital system, the ventral pelvic fascia structure of 10 female cadavers was dissected, and the distribution and morphology of female extraperitoneal UGF were observed, recorded in text, photographs and video, and 3D modeling was performed. RESULTS: We find that in the female extraperitoneal space there is a migratory fascial structure, the UGF, which surrounds the urogenital system and extends from the perinephric region to the pelvis along with the development of the urogenital organs. The two layers of the UGF are composed of loose connective tissue rich in fat that surrounds the urogenital organs, their accessory vascular structures, and the nerves of the abdominopelvic cavity. In the pelvis, it participates in the formation of the ligamentous structures around the rectum and uterus. Finally, it surrounds the bladder and gradually moves into the loose connective tissue of the medial umbilical fold. CONCLUSIONS: Sorting out the distribution characteristics of UGF has some reference value for studying the metastasis of gynecological tumors, the biomechanical structure of the female pelvis, and the surgical methods of gynecology, colorectal surgery, and hernia surgery.

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Anesthetics-induced disruption of dentate neurogenesis in the young brain is strongly suggested to contribute to delayed neurocognitive deficit. In postnatal rodents, the neurogenesis of the dentate gyrus (DG) is sequentially derived from the secondary dentate matrix, tertiary dentate matrix and subgranular zone (SGZ). However, the effects of anesthetics on the dentate neurogenesis derived from specific sites are poorly understood. To trace the new cells generated from the postnatal secondary dentate matrix, peak stage of the tertiary dentate matrix and early stage of the SGZ after isoflurane exposure, mice at postnatal day 1 (P1), P7 and P31 were injected with BrdU at 12 h before the exposure. We found that isoflurane exposure significantly reduced the numbers of proliferating cells (1 day old), immature granule cells (21 days old) or mature granule cells (42 days old) derived from the peak stage of the tertiary dentate matrix and postnatal secondary dentate matrix, but not from the SGZ. Quantitative assessment of BrdU-/BrdU+NeuN-positive cells and cleaved caspase-3 level in the DG indicated that the reduction was correlated with cell loss rather than neuronal differentiation. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3ß pathway enriched by mRNA-sequencing is a requirement for the isoflurane-induced loss of 1-day-old proliferating cells generated from the tertiary dentate matrix. In addition, this study demonstrated that P1 and P7 mice, but not P31 mice exposure to isoflurane resulted in subsequent deficits in performance of the tasks of the Morris Water Maze.

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OBJECTIVE: Dietary antioxidants are associated with risk of death in cancer patients, and they were used to evaluate the prognosis of cancer patients. Dietary antioxidant index (DAI) can be used to evaluate dietary antioxidant content comprehensively; this study aimed to investigate the effect of preoperative DAI on health-related quality of life in patients with esophageal cell squamous carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Data on dietary intakes were collected using a validated food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). DAI was calculated for all study participants based on FFQ data of each participant. The study involved conducting several follow-up activities with patients diagnosed with ESCC to evaluate their quality of life. The approach employed in the study was to conduct a telephone interview. The EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0) and the Esophageal Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-OES18) were used to collect data on the quality of life of the patients; all patients completed the full follow-up. RESULTS: This prospective study was performed on 376 participants who were recruited from Fujian Cancer Hospital and First Hospital of Fujian Medical University. They all were diagnosed with ESCC. The results indicated that the time to deterioration of global health status (p = 0.043), cognitive functioning (p = 0.031), dry mouth (p = 0.019), and speech problems (p = 0.031) significantly delay in the high DAI group. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that global health status (HR = 0.718, 95% CI: 0.532-0.969), cognitive functioning (HR = 0.641, 95% CI: 0.450-0.913), dry mouth (HR = 0.637, 95% CI: 0.445-0.911), and speech problems (HR = 0.651, 95% CI: 0.449-0.945) were improved in the high DAI group. CONCLUSIONS: Prognostic value of preoperative DAI was significant for patients with ESCC who undergo surgical intervention. Its level was positively correlated with the postoperative quality of life of patients, which can delay and improve the occurrence of postoperative physical function and symptom deterioration.

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The reaction kinetics of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is largely determined by balancing the Volmer step in alkaline media. Bifunctionality as a proposed strategy can divide the work of water dissociation and intermediates (OH* and H*) adsorption/desorption. However, sluggish OH* desorption plagues water re-adsorption, which leads to poisoning effects of active sites. Some active sites may even directly act as spectators and do not participate in the reaction. Furthermore, the activity comparison under approximate nanostructure between bifunctional effect and single-exposed active sites is not fully understood. Here, a facile three-step strategy is adopted to successfully grow molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) on cobalt-containing nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (Co-NCNTs), forming obvious dual active domains. The active sites on domains of Co-NCNTs and MoS2  and the tuned electronic structure at the heterointerface trigger the bifunctional effect to balance the Volmer step and improve the catalytic activity. The HER driven by the bifunctional effect can significantly optimize the Gibbs free energy of water dissociation and hydrogen adsorption, resulting in fast reaction kinetics and superior catalytic performance. As a result, the Co-NCNTs/MoS2  catalyst outperforms other HER electrocatalysts with low overpotential (58 and 84 mV at 10 mA cm-2  in alkaline and neutral conditions, respectively), exceptional stability, and negligible degradation.

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of preoperative albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) on overall survival (OS) and health-related quality of life in patients with esophageal cell squamous carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Serum albumin and globulin were measured within one week before surgery. Multiple follow-ups were conducted among patients with ESCC in the study in order to assess their life quality. The method used in the study was a telephone interview. Quality of life was measured using the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0) and Esophageal Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ- OES18). RESULTS: A total of 571 ESCC patients were included in the study. The results illustrated that 5-year OS of high AGR group (74.3%) was better than the low one (62.3%) (P = 0.0068). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis found that preoperative AGR (HR = 0.642, 95%CI: 0.444-0.927) are prognostic factor for patients with ESCC after surgery. In terms of quality of life, found that low AGR associated with increased postoperative time to deterioration (TTD) events in ESCC patients, and compared to low AGR, high AGR could delay the deterioration of emotional functioning(P = 0.001), dysphagia(P = 0.033), trouble with taste(P = 0.043) and speech problems(P = 0.043). After using the multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high AGR could improve patients' emotional function (HR = 0.657, 95% CI: 0.507-0.852) and trouble with taste (HR = 0.706, 95% CI: 0.514-0.971). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative AGR in patients with ESCC after esophagectomy was positively correlated with overall survival rate and quality of life after operation.

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BACKGROUND: The architecture of retrorectal fasciae is complex, as determined by different anatomical concepts. The aim of this study was to examine the anatomical characteristics of the inferomedial extension of the urogenital fascia (UGF) involving the pelvis to explore its relationship with the adjacent fasciae. Furthermore, we have expounded on the clinical application of UGF. METHOD: For our study, we examined 20 adult male pelvic specimens fixed in formalin, including 2 entire pelvic specimens and 18 semipelvic specimens. Our department has performed 466 laparoscopic rectal cancer procedures since January 2020. We reviewed the surgical videos involving UGF preservation and analyzed the anatomy of the UGF. RESULTS: The bilateral hypogastric nerves ran between the visceral and parietal layers of the UGF. The visceral fascia migrated ventrally at the fourth sacral vertebra, which formed the rectosacral fascia together with the fascia propria of the rectum; the parietal layer continually extended to the pelvic diaphragm, terminating at the levator ani muscle. At the third to fourth sacral vertebra level, the two layers constituted the lateral ligaments. CONCLUSION: The double layers of the UGF are vital structures for comprehending the posterior fascia relationship of the rectum. The upper segment between the fascia propria of the rectum and the visceral layer has no evident nerves or blood vessels and is regarded as the " holy plane" for the operation.

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Rice has been reported to be highly sensitive to salt stress at the seedling stage. However, the lack of target genes that can be used for improving salt tolerance has resulted in several saline soils unsuitable for cultivation and planting. To characterize new salt-tolerant genes, we used 1,002 F2:3 populations derived from Teng-Xi144 and Long-Dao19 crosses as the phenotypic source to systematically characterize seedlings' survival days and ion concentration under salt stress. Utilizing QTL-seq resequencing technology and a high-density linkage map based on 4,326 SNP markers, we identified qSTS4 as a major QTL influencing seedling salt tolerance, which accounted for 33.14% of the phenotypic variation. Through functional annotation, variation detection and qRT-PCR analysis of genes within 46.9 Kb of qSTS4, it was revealed that there was one SNP in the promoter region of OsBBX11, which resulted in a significant response difference between the two parents to salt stress. Transgenic plants using knockout-based technology and demonstrated that Na+ and K+ in the roots of the functional-loss-type OsBBX11 were translocated largely to the leaves under 120 mmol/L NaCl compared with the wild-type, causing osbbx11 leaves to die after 12 days of salt stress due to an imbalance in osmotic pressure. In conclusion, this study identified OsBBX11 as a salt-tolerance gene, and one SNPs in the OsBBX11 promoter region can be used to identify its interacting transcription factors. This provides a theoretical basis for finding the molecular mechanism of OsBBX11 upstream and downstream regulation of salt tolerance and molecular design breeding in the future.

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Conventional spectrometers are bulky, and researchers have continuously made efforts in their miniaturization and integration in recent years. Among these studies, metalenses have attracted immense interest because of their merits of a flat shape and flexible regulation. Herein, we introduce a design of a polarization-insensitive metalens-based spectrometer that utilizes an off-axis high-efficiency broadband metalens in the wavelength range of 500-1000 nm. The demonstrated metalens consisting of nanopillars employs propagation phase and phase function optimization methods and can achieve spectral resolutions of 0.6 nm with efficiency as high as 77%. By stitching metalenses with different focal lengths, the functionality of the spectrometer can be expanded. Hence, a compact variable design with favorable focusing and dispersive properties can be achieved by one single component instead of traditional cascading optics, thus shrinking the volume to the millimeter scale and reducing cost. This research proves the potential for applications of metalenses in spectrometers as well as other consumer and industry products.

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Leisure dried tofu (LD-tofu) was prepared using two different marinating processes: the repeated heating method (RHM) and the vacuum pulse method (VPM). The quality characteristics and bacterial community succession of LD-tofu and the marinade were evaluated. The results showed that the nutrients in LD-tofu were easily dissolved into the marinade during the marinating process, while the protein and moisture content of RHM LD-tofu changed most dramatically. With the increase in marinade recycling times, the springiness, chewiness and hardness of VPM LD-tofu increased significantly. The total viable count (TVC) of the VPM LD-tofu decreased from the initial value of 4.41 lg cfu/g to 2.51-2.67 lg cfu/g as a result of the marinating process, which had a significant inhibitory effect. Additionally, 26, 167 and 356 communities in the LD-tofu and marinade were detected at the phylum, family and genus levels, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that Pseudomonadaceae, Thermaceae and Lactobacillaceae were closely related to the quality characteristics of LD-tofu, whereas Caulobacteriaceae, Bacillaceae and Enterobacteriae were closely related to the marinade. The present work provides a theoretical basis for the screening of functional strains and quality control in LD-tofu and marinade.

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After the publication of the article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that the Du145 'Control' migration panel in Fig. 2C appeared to overlap with the Du145 'Control' invasion panel in Fig. 5A; furthermore, two of the Du145 panels in Fig. 5A also appeared to overlap. The authors have consulted their original data, and realize that these figures were inadvertently assembled incorrectly. The corrected versions of Figs. 2 and 5, incorporating the correct data for the Du145 'Control' panel in Fig. 2C, and the TQ­/TGF­ß OE­ invasion and migration panels, and the TQ+/TGF­ß OE+ migration panel, in Fig. 5A, are shown on the next page. These further corrections do not grossly affect the results or the conclusions reported in this work. The authors all agree to this Corrigendum, and are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for granting them the opportunity to correct the errors that were made during the assembly of these figures. Lastly, the authors apologize to the readership for any inconvenience these errors may have caused. [Oncology Reports 38: 3592­3598, 2017; DOI: 10.3892/or.2017.6012].

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BACKGROUND: Controversies regarding the anatomical structure of Denonvilliers' fascia and its relationship with surrounding fasciae have sparked a heated discussion, especially concerning whether Denonvilliers' fascia is multilayered. This study aimed to expound on the anatomical structure of Denonvilliers' fascia and its correlation with the peritoneum from the sagittal view and clarify the complex fascial relationship. METHODS: Our study was performed on 20 adult male pelvic specimens fixed in formalin, including 2 entire pelvic specimens and 18 semipelvic specimens. The local adjacent organs and fasciae were dissected, and Denonvilliers' fascia was observed and removed for histological examination. RESULTS: Denonvilliers' fascia was typically single-layered and tough. On the sagittal plane, the peritoneum constituting the peritoneal reflection and Denonvilliers' fascia formed a "Y" shape. Denonvilliers' fascia originated from the peritoneal reflection, extended along the ventral side of the seminal vesicles and prostate, continuing caudally; its bilateral sides closely connected to the urogenital fascia (UGF) of the pelvic wall. In addition, histology preliminarily indicated that the basal cell layers of the peritoneum and Denonvilliers' fascia were continuous and formed a "Y" shape. Furthermore, the basal cells of the two peritonea extended to Denonvilliers' fascia, creating a fused double-layered structure. Some tiny blood vessels or a network of such vessels extended from the peritoneum to Denonvilliers' fascia. CONCLUSION: Denonvilliers' fascia, the extension of the peritoneum in the pelvic floor, appears as a single-layered "Y"-shape on the sagittal plane. Our study provides new support for the peritoneal fusion theory. Understanding the anatomical characteristics of Denonvilliers' fascia and its relationship with the UGF is of guiding significance for inexperienced colorectal surgeons to conduct rectal cancer surgery.

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OBJECTIVE: Chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) plays an important role in osteoarthritis (OA) treatment. Studies have reported the association of transforming growth factor beta-3 (TGF-ß3) with chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. In this study, the upstream mechanism and functions of TGF-ß3 in chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs were explored. METHODS AND RESULTS: Flow cytometry was performed for the positive and negative MSC markers. Chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs was evaluated by Alcian blue staining. Gene expression and protein expression levels were measured by RT-qPCR and western blotting, respectively. Relationship between let-7a-3p and TGF-ß3 was confirmed using bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter and RNA pulldown assays. Subcellular distributions of TGF-ß3 and let-7a-3p were determined by FISH. In this study, BMSCs were identified to possess the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells. TGF-ß3 was found to induce chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Mechanically, TGF-ß3 was verified to be targeted by let-7a-3p. In rescue assays, let-7a-3p overexpression reversed the effects of TGF-ß3 overexpression on chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. CONCLUSION: Let-7a-3p inhibits chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by targeting TGF-ß3.

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We aimed to investigate whether the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) can predict the postoperative overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Between 1 July 2015 and 31 July 2021, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with primary ESCC who underwent radical esophagectomy. A total of 352 patients were included, with median age of 63.00 (IQR (interquartile range) 56.00-68.00). The patients were divided into low (n = 300) and high (n = 52) ACCI groups based on the optimal cut-off value of 5 points. Chronic pulmonary disease (38.4%) was the most common comorbidity. The results of the multivariate Cox regression showed that the ACCI (HR = 1.63, 95%CI: 1.04-2.56), tumor size (HR = 1.67, 95%CI: 1.05-2.66), pTNM (II vs. I, HR = 4.74, 95%CI: 1.82-12.32; III vs. I, HR = 6.08, 95%CI: 2.37-15.60), and postoperative chemotherapy (HR = 0.60, 95%CI: 0.40-0.91) were significantly associated with the OS. Furthermore, the ACCI, tumor size, pTNM, and postoperative chemotherapy were also significantly associated with the CSS. Interactions were identified between the ACCI and postoperative chemotherapy, pTNM stage, and tumor size in relation to the OS and CSS. In conclusion, the ACCI may be an independent prognostic factor affecting the long-term prognosis of patients after radical esophagectomy.