Robotic versus laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer: a meta-analysis of long-term survival and urogenital functional outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Robotic surgical technology has been widely introduced and applied in various fields of surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze long-term oncological and urogenital functional outcomes following laparoscopic/robotic total mesorectal excision (TME) in rectal cancer surgery. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We identified studies that compared oncological and functional outcomes following laparoscopic TME (LTME) and robotic TME (RTME) for treatment of rectal cancer over the past 16 years. Data related to overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) were subjected to meta-analysis. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: There was no difference in long-term OS and DFS in the pooled data. Compared with LTME, there were significant differences in the score of IPSS at 3, 6 and 12 months for RTME, in the pooled data for male patients. There were significant differences in IIEF score for male patients at 3 and 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with LTME, RTME has better preservation of urinary and sexual functions and comparable long-term oncological outcome in rectal cancer.

[Elevated CO2 concentration mitigate the effects of drought stress on soybean]. / CO2浓度升高对大豆干旱胁迫的缓解效应.

The climate change caused by elevated CO2 concentration and drought are bound to affect the growth of soybean. Few studies have addressed the effects of elevated CO2 concentration on the physiology and biochemistry of soybean under drought stress. Here, we examined the changes of photosynthetic ability, photosynthetic pigment accumulation, antioxidant level, osmotic adjustment substances, hormone levels, signal transduction enzymes and gene expression level of soybean at flowering stage under different CO2 concentration (400 and 600 µmol·mol-1) and drought stress (normal water: leaf relative water content was 83%-90%; drought stress: leaf relative water content was 64%-70%). The results showed that the transpiration rate, water use efficiency and net photosynthetic rate of soybean leaves were significantly increased by elevated CO2 concentration, but the content of chlorophyll b was decreased under drought stress. Elevated CO2 concentration significantly increased peroxidase activity and abscisic acid content of leaves under drought stress, decreased the content of proline, and did not affect the content of soluble saccharides. The increased CO2 concentration under drought stress significantly promoted the content of calcium-dependent protein kinase and glutathione-S-transferase, and up-regulated the expression of related genes, while significantly decreased the content of mitogen-activated protein kinase and the heat shock protein, and down-regulated the expression of their genes. The results would be helpful to understand the impacts of climate change on the growth, physiology and biochemistry of soybean, and to deal with the production problems of soybean under future climate change.