Buried penis: a histological and histochemical study of dartos fascia.

This study aimed to determine whether the abnormal deep layer of dartos fascia plays an important role in buried penis. Forty-nine patients with buried penis were treated with anatomical resection of the deep layer of dartos fascia under a microscope. Penile length was measured before and after completely resecting the deep layer to investigate the role of this layer in penile retraction. The superficial and deep layers of dartos fascia were collected from 49 patients with buried penis, the normal superficial layers were collected from 25 children/adults who underwent circumcision for nonmedical reasons, and the normal deep layers were collected from 20 adult cadavers. The penile fascia samples were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome, Sirius red, and Verhoeff's Van Gieson, and subjected to immunohistochemical examination and scanning electron microscopy. The penile shaft (mean ± standard deviation) was found to be significantly elongated after resecting the deep layer compared with that before resection (6.8 ± 1.9 cm vs 6.0 ± 1.6 cm, P < 0.001). An abnormal deep layer of dartos fascia characterized by disordered and fragmented elastic fibers was observed in 87.8% (43/49) of buried penis samples, whereas no abnormal deep layer was observed in normal penises from cadavers (0/20, P < 0.001). Thus, the abnormal deep layer of dartos fascia plays an important role in the buried penis. Its resection is helpful for avoiding recurrence.

A yolk-shell V2O5 structure assembled from ultrathin nanosheets and coralline-shaped carbon as advanced electrodes for a high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor.

Various V2O5 three-dimensional nanostructures are synthesized using a facile template-free hydrothermal method and evaluated for use as supercapacitor electrode materials. As a result, the yolk-shell structure assembled from ultrathin nanosheets shows the best electrochemical performance, with a specific capacitance of 704.17 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1 and a high capacity retention of 89% over 4000 cycles at 3.0 A g-1. In addition, a continuous three-dimensional porous coralline-shaped carbon is synthesized from osmanthus and has a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 2840.88 m2 g-1. Then, an asymmetric supercapacitor is developed using the as-prepared yolk-shell V2O5 as a positive electrode and the osmanthus derived coralline-shaped carbon as a negative electrode. This exhibits an energy density of 29.49 W h kg-1 at a power density of 800 W kg-1 with a good cycling performance that retains 90.6% of its initial capacity after 2000 cycles at 3.0 A g-1. Furthermore, two cells in series can easily brightly light up a light-emitting diode (3 V), further demonstrating the great potential of the prepared materials for high-performance supercapacitor devices.

Correlation of serum ß2-microglobulin levels with prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score, clinical stage, tumor metastasis and therapy efficacy in prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite previous reports implying a role of ß2-microglobulin (ß2M) in the development of prostate cancer (PCa), the correlation of serum ß2M with the clinicopathological features, therapy efficacy and prognosis of patients with PCa have not been fully clarified. The present study aims to investigate the serum levels of ß2M in patients with PCa and explore the potential use of ß2M as a tumor marker for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of PCa. METHODS: Serum ß2M levels in 120 patients with PCa, 50 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and 85 healthy age-matched controls were measured by enzyme immunoassay. The correlation of serum ß2M with the clinicopathological features, therapy efficacy and the prognosis of PCa were subsequently assessed. RESULTS: Our results showed that: (i) PCa patients had significantly higher levels of ß2M compared to those of patients with BPH or those of healthy controls. (ii) Serum ß2M were markedly elevated in patients with high stage or grade PCa as compared to patients with low stage or grade PCa. (iii) We measured significantly higher levels of ß2M in patients with metastasis as compared to patients lacking metastasis. (iv) During follow-up, serum ß2M showed a marked decrease after successful therapy and a significant further increase in recurrent disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that serum ß2M is correlated closely with the clinical stage, Gleason grade, PSA, distant metastasis and therapy efficacy in patients with PCa. Serum ß2M may be a useful biomarker for clinical diagnosis, follow-up and prognosis of PCa.