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Background: Paclitaxel plays a pivotal role in the chemotherapy of breast cancer, but resistance to this drug is an important obstacle in the treatment. It is reported that microRNA-152-3p (miR-152-3p) is involved in tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer, but whether it is involved in paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer remains unknown. Materials and methods: We examined the expression of miR-152-3p in breast cancer tissues and cells by qRT-PCR. After transfecting paclitaxel-resistant MCF-7/TAX cells with miR-152-3p mimics, we analyzed the function of miR-152-3p in these cells by MTT assay and flow cytometry. We screened the target gene, endothelial PAS domain-containing protein 1 (EPAS1), using bioinformatics analysis and verified it with the dual luciferase reporter gene experiment. The relationship between EPAS1 and miR-152-3p and their roles in paclitaxel resistance of breast cancer were further investigated using RNA interference and transfection techniques. Results: The expression of miR-152-3p in normal breast tissues and cells was markedly higher than that in breast cancer. Overexpression of miR-152-3p decreased the survival rate and increased the apoptosis rate and sensitivity of MCF-7/TAX cells to paclitaxel. We confirmed that EPAS1 is the target of miR-152-3p and is negatively regulated by this miRNA. Moreover, transfection with EPAS1 siRNA enhanced the susceptibility and apoptosis rate of MCF-7/TAX cells to paclitaxel. Co-transfection of miR-152-3p mimics and EPAS1 increased paclitaxel sensitivity and apoptosis induced by the drug. Conclusion: miR-152-3p inhibits the survival of MCF-7/TAX cells and promotes their apoptosis by targeting the expression of EPAS1, thereby, enhancing the sensitivity of these breast cancer cells to paclitaxel.

Breast cancer (BC) is a common malignancy worldwide. More than 3 700 000 women die of BC every year. DSCAM-AS1 was overexpressed several kinds of cancer and miR-204-5p was lowly expressed, which indicated that miR-204-5p had anti-tumor activity and DSCAM-AS1 had pro-tumor activity. We intended to analyze DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p, and ribonucleotide reductase M2 (RRM2). Microarray analysis and quantitative Real Time fluorescence Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) were employed to determine DSCAM-AS1 and miR-204-5p expression. Luciferase reporter assay was applied to examine the target relationship between DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p, and RRM2. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8 assay), transwell assay, and flow cytometry were used to detect cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis. The expression of DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p, and RRM2 were confirmed by Western blot. We also conducted in vivo assay to verify the effect of DSCAM-AS1. DSCAM-AS1 was up-regulated, while miR-204-5p was down-regulated in BC tissues and cells. DSCAM-AS1 directly targeted miR-204-5p. DSCAM-AS1 promoted the proliferation and invasion of BC cells by reducing miR-204-5p and inhibiting miR-204-5p expression. DSCAM-AS1 expression was related to the expression of RRM2, and miR-204-5p could reverse the function of DSCAM-AS1. RRM2 was up-regulated in BC cells, and miR-204-5p inhibited RRM2 expression by targeting RRM2. Overexpression of RRM2 stimulated proliferation and cell invasion and impeded apoptosis. In vivo experiments showed that knockdown of DSCAM-AS1 decreased the tumorigenesis of BC cells, increased the expression of miR-204-5p. DSCAM-AS1 promoted proliferation and impaired apoptosis of BC cells by reducing miR-204-5p and enhancing RRM2 expression. DSCAM-AS1/miR-204-5p/RRM2 may serve as novel therapeutic targets for BC.

The nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays an important role in physiological bile acid synthesis, secretion and transport. Defects of FXR regulation in these processes can cause cholestasis and subsequent pathological changes. FXR regulates the synthesis and uptake of bile acid via enzymes. It also increases bile acid solubility and elimination by promoting conjugation reactions and exports pump expression in cholestasis. The changes in bile acid transporters are involved in cholestasis, which can result from the mutations of transporter genes or acquired dysfunction of transport systems, such as inflammation-induced intrahepatic cholestasis. The modulation function of FXR in extrahepatic cholestasis is not identical to that in intrahepatic cholestasis, but the discrepancy may be reduced over time. In extrahepatic cholestasis, increasing biliary pressure can induce bile duct proliferation and bile infarcts, but the absence of FXR may ameliorate them. This review provides an update on the function of FXR in the regulation of bile acid metabolism, its role in the pathophysiological process of cholestasis and the therapeutic use of FXR agonists.

We intended to analyze the effects of DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p andRRM2on breast cancer (BC) cells growth. Microarray analysis and qRT-PCR were employed to determine DSCAM-AS1 and miR-204-5p expression in BC. Luciferase reporter assay and cell transfection assay were applied to examine the target relationship between DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p and MMR2. CCK-8 assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry were used to detect cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis of breast cancer cells. The expression of DSCAM-AS1, miR-204-5p and MMR2 were confirmed by Western Blot. We also conductedIn vivoassay to verify the effect of DSCAM-AS1 on tumor formation.DSCAM-AS1 was up-regulated, while miR-204-5p was down-regulated in BC tissues and cells. Meanwhile, DSCAM-AS1 directly targeted miR-204-5p. DSCAM-AS1 promoted the proliferation and invasion of BC cells and restrained cell apoptosis by reducing miR-204-5p and inhibiting miR-204-5p expression.RRM2was up-regulated in BC cells, and miR-204-5p inhibitedRRM2expression by targetingRRM2. Overexpression ofRRM2stimulated proliferation and cell invasion and impeded apoptosis of BC cells.In vivoexperiments showed that knockdown of DSCAM-AS1 decreased the tumorigenesis of BC cells, increased the expression of miR-204-5p while inhibitedRRM2expression.DSCAM-AS1 promoted proliferation and impaired apoptosis of BC cells by reducing miR-204-5p and enhancingRRM2expression. DSCAM-AS1/miR-204-5p/RRM2may serve as novel therapeutic targets for BC.Summary statementMicroarray analysis and qRT-PCR were employed to determine DSCAM-AS1 and miR-204-5p expression in BC. DSCAM-AS1 promoted proliferation and impaired apoptosis of BC cells by reducing miR-204-5p and enhancingRRM2expression.

We conducted a joint (pooled) analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in individuals of Chinese ancestry (5,337 ESCC cases and 5,787 controls) with 9,654 ESCC cases and 10,058 controls for follow-up. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, study and two eigenvectors, two new loci achieved genome-wide significance, marked by rs7447927 at 5q31.2 (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.82-0.88; P = 7.72 × 10(-20)) and rs1642764 at 17p13.1 (per-allele OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.85-0.91; P = 3.10 × 10(-13)). rs7447927 is a synonymous SNP in TMEM173, and rs1642764 is an intronic SNP in ATP1B2, near TP53. Furthermore, a locus in the HLA class II region at 6p21.32 (rs35597309) achieved genome-wide significance in the two populations at highest risk for ESSC (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.22-1.46; P = 1.99 × 10(-10)). Our joint analysis identifies new ESCC susceptibility loci overall as well as a new locus unique to the population in the Taihang Mountain region at high risk of ESCC.

Biomaterials used for vascular prostheses should possess certain strength that can keep the normal blood fluidity, as well as certain flexibility and elasticity that can resist blood pulsation pressure. In order to fabricate small diameter vascular prostheses (SDVP) that possess matchable mechanical properties with natural blood vessels, a bi-layered tubular structure composed of electrospinning blended nanofiber and silk fiber was designed and prepared in this study. The inner layer of the structure, prepared through electrospinning, was composed of Poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) and silk fibroin (SF) blended nanofibers. Braided silk tube was used as the outer layer of the structure. Morphological, structural and mechanical properties including peak stress, peak strain, and Youngs modulus of the prototype bi-layered SDVP were characterized initially. Results showed that the diameter range of the blended nanofiber was between 100 and 900 nm, and the fiber diameter increased with the content increase of PLCL. Through blending PLCL together with SF, peak stress and peak strain of the electrospun inner layer were improved, and that of the Youngs modulus decreased. Meanwhile, the outer layer of SDVP was stronger and had higher Youngs modulus. Those mechanical performances of the prototype bi-layered SDVP fabricated in this study are similar to natural blood vessels, which provide a promising biomaterial that could be applied on tubular tissue engineering scaffolds.

In the paper, we prepared superhydrophobic surfaces on copper foils via a facile solution-immersing method. The influence of experiment conditions, such as solution concentration, immersing time and temperature, on the surface structure is investigated in detail. When the concentration of stearic acid-ethanol solution, the immersing time and the temperature are 2 g/L, 120 min and 40°,respectively, the resulting copper surface possesses great superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of up to 159° and a sliding angle of only 3°.

In order to realize the adhesion between low-density polyethylene film and aluminium foil. Several nanofibre arrays were fabricated on low-density polyethylene film by template method to imitate strong adhesive nanohairs on the feet of gecko lizards. The results showed that the nanofiber arrays greatly improved the peel stength between low-density polyethylene film and aluminium foil and met the actual requirement. The peel strength increased with the decrease of the adjacent distance of the nanofibre arrays. when the distance and height of nanofibre kept unchangable, the peel strength increased with the deccrease of the diameter of the nanofire when the diameter is larger than 500nm. The peel strength decreased with the deccrease of the diameter of the nanofibres when the diameters were smaller than 500nm. The peel strength increased with the increase of the height of the nanofibres when the heights of nanofibres were lower than 5μm. When the heights of nanofibres were higher than 5μm, the peel strength decreased with the increase of the heights of nanofibre arrays.

This study aims to evaluate the cytotoxicity and damage of dexamethasone (DEX) on rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells by determining cell viability, Hoechst 33342 staining, mitochondrial depolarizati...

In this work, the anti-icing properties of different poly (vinyl chloride) coatings with different wettabilities were investigated in a climatic chamber with a working temperature of −10 °C. Compared with smooth poly (vinyl chloride) coating, the superhydrophobic poly (vinyl chloride) coating with high sliding angle did not show obvious anti-icing property. However, the superhydrophobic poly (vinyl chloride) coating with low sliding angle can largely prevent ice formation on the surface, showing excellent anti-icing property.

The nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays an important role in physiological bile acid synthesis, secretion and transport. Defects of FXR regulation in these processes can cause cholestasis and subsequent pathological changes. FXR regulates the synthesis and uptake of bile acid via enzymes. It also increases bile acid solubility and elimination by promoting conjugation reactions and exports pump expression in cholestasis. The changes in bile acid transporters are involved in cholestasis, which can result from the mutations of transporter genes or acquired dysfunction of transport systems, such as inflammation-induced intrahepatic cholestasis. The modulation function of FXR in extrahepatic cholestasis is not identical to that in intrahepatic cholestasis, but the discrepancy may be reduced over time. In extrahepatic cholestasis, increasing biliary pressure can induce bile duct proliferation and bile infarcts, but the absence of FXR may ameliorate them. This review provides an update on the function of FXR in the regulation of bile acid metabolism, its role in the pathophysiological process of cholestasis and the therapeutic use of FXR agonists.

A superhydrophobic coating was prepared on the surface of aluminum alloy. The adherence and the hydrophobicity were observed by adherometer and optical contact angle meter, respectively. The affection of silane coupling agent KH550 was also investigated by the analysis of FTIR. The result indicated that the coating owns satisfactory adherence and the hydrophobicity. The treatment of KH550 increases the polar of the surface, which is responsible for the superior adherence. A similar micro-nano structure is mainly attributed to the hydrophobicity. When the density of PP-g-MAH is 1.7 % (mass ratio), the coating shows an optimum super-hydrophobicity and its water contact angles are at range of 163.0-163.9°.

A novel and stable super-hydrophobic film was prepared by stearic acid (C18H36O2), which was chemically adsorbed onto the anodized aluminum surface. The maximum static water contact angle (WCA) of the super-hydrophobic surface was 157.5º ± 2.0º and the contact angle hysteresis was less than 3º. The superhydrophobic property is attributed to the micro-nanoporous surface morphology and stearic acid. The pore size on the surface of anodic aluminum oxide is an important factor for controlling the superhydrophobic adhesiveness. The superhydrophobic surface is a factor to reduce device-associated infection and can be used in metal packaging practice.

C-flute corrugated paperboards with length of 100mm were combined side by side with/without water soluble glue to study the static edgewise crush property. Combinations with different height (20, 25, 40, 60, 80, and 100mm), different number of layers, with or without glue were tested to obtain mechanical property and buffering property data of C-flute corrugated paperboard. The result indicates that the deformation of paperboard combinations can be divided into three stages as elastic-like deform stage, yield-like stage and high plastic deformation stage. The mechanical model of the elastic-like deform stage was built according to numerical fitting, which shows that the relationship between the stress and the quadratic function of strain is exponential.

Inspired by the “lotus effect”, a porous superhydrophobic PS/PVC composites film comprised of many micro-spheres and nanofibers was obtained by a simple approach. These micro-spheres were interlinked with nano-fibers. The sizes of the micro-spheres were 0.6-3 µm, and the diameters of these nano-fibers were between 100-600 nm. The water contact angle and sliding angle on the superhydrophobic film were 155±1.8ºand 3º, respectively. When water flowed through the PS/PVC composites film for 2 h, no water bead was adhered on the superhydrophobic PS/PVC composites film, and the contact angle value was remained about 155°. Moreover, the contact angle were still higher than 150° when contacting with water with the temperatures ranging from 10°C to 60°C. The surface morphology of the PS/PVC composites film can be adjusted by changing the addition of PVC.

A simple, cheap and environmental double thin super-hydrophobic composite film was prepared on the surface of tinplate by a simple casting method. The contact angle and sliding angle were measured by an optical contact angle meter. And the major factors that influenced the super-hydrophobic effect of the composite film were studied in our work. The results showed that when the melting temperature was 120°C, the weight radio of PP and PP-g-MAH was 1:4, the drying time was 24h, the dosage of ethanol was 0.4ml, the composite film showed a satisfactory super-hydrophobicity and its water contact angles reached a maximum value of 156.6° while the sliding angle reached a minimum value of 2°. Because of anti-oxidation, moisture-proof and anticorrosion performance of super-hydrophobic tinplate, it has potential practical applications in packaging material engineering.

We investigated the bacteriostasis of the super-hydrophobic surface on aluminum alloy by PP coating. The morphology of the surface was observed by a scanning electron microscopy. The contact angle (CA) was measured by an optical contact angle meter .Staphylococcus aureus and pathogenic escherichia coli adhesion on superhydrophobic surfaces were also evaluated. The inhibition ring test results show the inhibition of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 79.3% and 81.1%, respectively after 24 hours’ contact at 37oC, while the Quinn test demonstrates the surface possesses high resistance to bacterial contamination. The superhydrophobic surface is a factor to reduce device-associated infection and can be used in metal practice.

The theory and methods of damage boundary curve (DBC) based on input excitation accelerations have played important role in transportation packaging designs for commodities. However, in many cases the designed cushion pads according to the concept of traditional DBC can transmit a higher acceleration than the maximum critical acceleration and yet still not cause any damage to the products. That means the conservatism exist in the traditional theory and method, which would bring over package and result in the rise of transport cost and more wastes of packaging materials. Thus, constructing new DBC are necessary in cushioning packaging designs of commercial products. In this paper, we developed a new drawing method and procedure for constructing new DBC based on response accelerations and Biot Model which is different from traditional DBC based on excitation ones. The new DBC is beneficial to overcome the conversation brought by the traditional DBC in transport packaging design, and it may have a wider application in transport packaging design for commodities.

A facile and novel method was developed to fabricate highly porous CeO2 surface on aluminum via a combination of homogeneous precipitation method and in situ growth process. After the introduction of CeO2 film, aluminum exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity with contact angle of 152.9±1.5 o and a sliding angle of 5 o. SEM image of the film showed that the resulting surface exhibits a hierarchical micro-Superscript text and nanostructure, which comprised of nanoleaves that grew perpendicular to the substrate and interleaved together to form a highly porous structure. This porous architecture, along with the low surface energy renders the aluminum superhydrophobicity.

A superhydrophobic nickel oxide (NiO) surface with hierarchical micro- and nanostructures was obtained by a novel and facile method. The water contact angle and sliding angle of the superhydrophobic NiO surface were 156±1.9º and 3º, respectively. The superhydrophobic NiO surface made the substrate float on the water surface and showed high buoyancy. Execept for pure water, the superhydrophobicity of the superhydrophobic NiO surface remained unchanged when contacting with salt aqueous solutions. After being stored in ambient environment for 8 months, the superhydrophobic property remained constant, and no contamination was observed on the superhydrophobic NiO surface.

Genome-wide association studies have identified susceptibility loci for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We conducted a meta-analysis of all single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that showed nominally significant P-values in two previously published genome-wide scans that included a total of 2961 ESCC cases and 3400 controls. The meta-analysis revealed five SNPs at 2q33 with P5 × 10(-8), and the strongest signal was rs13016963, with a combined odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 1.29 (1.19-1.40) and P= 7.63 × 10(-10). An imputation analysis of 4304 SNPs at 2q33 suggested a single association signal, and the strongest imputed SNP associations were similar to those from the genotyped SNPs. We conducted an ancestral recombination graph analysis with 53 SNPs to identify one or more haplotypes that harbor the variants directly responsible for the detected association signal. This showed that the five SNPs exist in a single haplotype along with 45 imputed SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium, and the strongest candidate was rs10201587, one of the genotyped SNPs. Our meta-analysis found genome-wide significant SNPs at 2q33 that map to the CASP8/ALS2CR12/TRAK2 gene region. Variants in CASP8 have been extensively studied across a spectrum of cancers with mixed results. The locus we identified appears to be distinct from the widely studied rs3834129 and rs1045485 SNPs in CASP8. Future studies of esophageal and other cancers should focus on comprehensive sequencing of this 2q33 locus and functional analysis of rs13016963 and rs10201587 and other strongly correlated variants.

The Fe3+,La3+ co-doped polyvinyl acetate(PVAc)/titanium dioxide(TiO2) composite nanofibers were firstly prepared by combining sol-gel method and electrospinning process, and then calcined under 300°Cand 600°C separately. The effect of calcination temperature on structures, surface morphologies, crystalline state, elemental composition and photocatalysis activity were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) , energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer(UV-Vis) respectively. The SEM and AFM images showed that the nanofibers were randomly distributed to form the fibrous web, the diameters and surface roughness of nanofibers were obviously changed as the calcination tempreture increasing. The EDX analysis and XRD spectra indicated the percentage of C,O,Ti elements varied as the increase of tempreture and the formation of anatase crystal form TiO2 nanofibers under 600°C.The UV-Vis curves revealed strong adsorption to methylene blue under 600°C calcination.

A superhydrophobic polypropylene surface was obtained by a facile method. The water contact angle and sliding angle of the superhydrophobic polypropylene surface were 157±1.8ºand 1.6º, respectively. When the superhydrophobic polypropylene surface was contaminated, 99 % contaminant particles were removed from the superhydrophobic polypropylene surface by artificial rain, showing excellent self-cleaning property.

A facile and inexpensive environmental-friendly method was developed to prepare a biomimetic superhydrophobic CuO surface with hierarchical micro- and nanostructures by the combination of a simple solid state reaction and a convenient dipping-coating method. The biomimetic CuO surface showed superhydrophobicity even for some corrosive liquids including salt solutions and acidic and basic solutions at a wide pH range from 2 to 13. Moreover, the superhydrophobic CuO surface showed high stability in ambient environment even exposed to ultraviolet light for 10 h.

A facial chemical etching method was developed for fabricating stable super-hydrophobic surfaces on aluminum alloy foils. The microstructure and wettability of super-hydrophobic surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle (CA) measurement, and optical methods. The surfaces of the modified aluminum alloy substrates exhibit superhydrophobicity, with a CA of 164.8°±1.6° and a water sliding angle of about 5°. The etched surfaces have binary structure consisting of the irregular microscale plateaus and caves in which there are the nanoscale block-like convexes and hollows.

In order to improve the corrosion resistance property of the aluminum alloy surface, a simple chemical immersion method was developed for fabricating the super-hydrophobic surface on aluminum alloy. After treating the chemical etched surface using low surface energy material stearic-acid, the aluminum alloy surface exhibits a super-hydrophobic property with water contact angle of 154° and contact angle hysteresis of 7°. The surface morphology was inspected with scanning electron microscope, and it was found that the surface was configured in a labyrinth structure with convexity and caves of micro-nanostructure; this hierarchical micro-nanostructure plays an important role in the formation of the super-hydrophobic surface. The effects of the etching time and the etchant (potassium permanganate solution) concentration on the super-hydrophobic surface were investigated, and the optimum technical conditions are that etching the aluminum alloy in 0.1mol/L potassium permanganate solution concentration for 3 h. At the same time, we also studied the wettability of the aluminum alloy super-hydrophobic surface. The results showed that the super-hydrophobic aluminum alloy has good stability, corrosion resistance property and self-cleaning.

Li Dong Wang and colleagues report a genome wide association study for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the Chinese population. They identify two risk loci at PLCE1 and C20orf54.

Neuregulin-1 (Nrg-1)(1) gene has been considered as a schizophrenia susceptibility gene. In order to observe the association of Nrg-1 gene with schizophrenia, the study was designed to investigate the effect of anti-psychotic treatment on the Nrg-1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The Nrg-1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) was measured by using semi-quantitative RT-PCR in 31 first-onset schizophrenia patients, 16 sibling controls and 31 no-sibship controls. Results showed that Nrg-1 mRNA expression in PBLs of patients was lower than that in other two control groups (F=6.722, P=0.002). However, as follow-up time extended, from the second week, Nrg-1 mRNA expression of PBLs in antipsychotic treated patients gradually increased and has obvious statistical significance compared the efficacy of taking anti-psychotic before and after therapy. These results demonstrated that Nrg-1 gene has association with schizophrenia. It is possible to select Nrg-1 mRNA expression of PBLs in schizophrenia patients as a potential therapeutic marker.

We performed a genome-wide association study of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by genotyping 1,077 individuals with ESCC and 1,733 control subjects of Chinese Han descent. We selected 18 promising SNPs for replication in an additional 7,673 cases of ESCC and 11,013 control subjects of Chinese Han descent and 303 cases of ESCC and 537 control subjects of Chinese Uygur-Kazakh descent. We identified two previously unknown susceptibility loci for ESCC: PLCE1 at 10q23 (P(Han combined for ESCC) = 7.46 x 10(-56), odds ratio (OR) = 1.43; P(Uygur-Kazakh for ESCC) = 5.70 x 10(-4), OR = 1.53) and C20orf54 at 20p13 (P(Han combined for ESCC) = 1.21 x 10(-11), OR = 0.86; P(Uygur-Kazakh for ESCC) = 7.88 x 10(-3), OR = 0.66). We also confirmed association in 2,766 cases of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma cases and the same 11,013 control subjects (PLCE1, P(Han for GCA) = 1.74 x 10(-39), OR = 1.55 and C20orf54, P(Han for GCA) = 3.02 x 10(-3), OR = 0.91). PLCE1 and C20orf54 have important biological implications for both ESCC and GCA. PLCE1 might regulate cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. C20orf54 is responsible for transporting riboflavin, and deficiency of riboflavin has been documented as a risk factor for ESCC and GCA.

Nat. Genet. 42, 759–763 (2010); published online 22 August 2010; corrected after print 27 August 2014 In contrast to the version of this article initially published, the authors now find no evidence to support association with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma susceptibility for rs13042395[T] at 20p13 in their original data, in two independent sets of cases and controls collected in other Chinese populations or in the joint analysis of these three studies.