Objective To investigate the influence of fixation of both lower limbs with negative pressure vacuum cushion and fixation of both ankles with self-made foam mat on setup errors in radiotherapy for rectal cancer.Methods A total of 12 patients with rectal cancer were enrolled in 2014 and randomly divided into group A (using negative pressure vacuum cushion) and group B (using self-made foam mat).An offline registration analysis was performed for the images of 108 times (A,B group of 54 times) of kilovoltage cone-beam CT (CBCT) before and after treatment.Grey scale translation error registration was used,and the results of registration were analyzed.The setup errors in x-axis (left-right direction),y-axis (cranial-caudal direction),and z-axis (anterior-posterior direction) were compared between the two groups.Results There was no significant difference in the absolute setup error in the y-axis between the two groups (2.13±0.64 mm vs.2.61±1.17 mm,P=0.399),while group A showed significantly lower absolute setup errors in the x-axis and z-axis than group B (x-axis:1.51±0.28 mm vs.2.70±1.05 mm,P=0.039;with an error rate of 7.41％ vs.42.59％;z-axis:1.10±0.29 mm vs.2.37±0.71 mm,P=0.002;with an error rate of 1.85％ vs.35.19％).Conclusions In the radiotherapy positioning for rectal cancer,fixation of both lower limbs with negative pressure vacuum cushion effectively avoids the translation and rotation of both lower limbs,reduces absolute setup errors,and has higher accuracy than fixation of both ankles with self-made foam mat.

Background and purpose: Radiation therapy has entered the era of precise radiotherapy. Set-up error becomes important factor affecting the effects of radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to analyze the set-up accuracy of the in-house developed technique of body plate with vacuum cushion and thermoplastic mask (Group A) and the conventional technique of arm support (Group B) in thoracic tumor radiotherapy. Methods: A total of 19 patients with thoracic tumor were enrolled in this study and randomly separated into Group A and Group B. The patients of Group A underwent the secondary set-up: align the marker on vacuum cushion and patient's body to the room laser, cover the patient's body with thermoplastic mask and align the marker on the mask to the room laser. The patients of Group B were directly setup by aligning the marker on the patient's body to the room laser. The kilo-voltage cone beam computed tomography (KV-CBCT) was performed on each patient to collect the pre- and post-treatment CBCT images. The CBCT images were registered to the planning CT to analyze the translational error of Group A and Group B. Results: The pre-treatment set-up errors of Group A vs Group B were (1.06±0.58) vs (1.82±0.82) mm in left and right (LR) direction, (1.31±0.40) vs (2.18±1.20) mm in superior and inferior (SI) direction, and (1.28±0.66) vs (2.94±1.81) mm in anterior and posterior (AP) direction. The post-treatment set-up errors of Group A vs Group B were (0.86±0.54) vs (1.29±0.58) mm in LR direction, (1.07±0.58) vs (1.08±0.45) mm in SI direction, and (0.98±0.53) vs (1.56±0.63) mm in AP direction.Conclusion: The in-house developed immobilization technique of body plate with vacuum cushion and thermoplastic mask was more accurate and reproducible than the conventional immobilization technique of arm support in thoracic tumor radiotherapy.

Aim TostudytheeffectsofCuO,ZnOand TiO2 nanoparticles on the viability and metastatic po-tential of EC-9706 and EC-109 esophageal squamous carcinomacelllineinvitro.Methods Characteristics of CuO,ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles were detected u-sing transmission electron microscope (TEM)and dy-namic light scattering (DLS ).EC-9706 and EC-109 cells were treated with different concentrations of CuO, ZnO and TiO2 (5 ~80 mg · L-1 ).The cell prolifera-tion was analyzed by MTT assay.The cell cycle and apoptotic rates were determined by flow cytometry (FCM).The cell invasion was assayed in Transwell chambers.The expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 pro-tein in cells was detected by Western blot method.Re-sults CuO,ZnOandTiO2nanoparticleswerespheri-cal with primary particle size 12,20. 6,12 nm.The particles were agglomerated in water and cell culture medium with negative charge.CuO and ZnO nanoparti-cles induced decreases in EC-9706 and EC-109 cell vi-ability dose-dependently.After exposed to increasing concentrations of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles,the cell cycle analysis revealed a decreasing proportion of cells in G2/Mand S phase,and up-regulation of the cells in G0/G1 phase.Apoptotic cells also increased along with decreased cell invasion upon CuO and ZnO treatment. Nanoparticles treatment after 48 h, the activated caspase-3 expression quantity increased significantly and the Bcl-2 expression quantity decreased obviously (P<0. 05 )compared with control group.TiO2 nanop-articles had no obvious effect on the EC-9706 and EC-109 cell proliferation,cell cycle,apoptosis and inva-sion.Conclusion ComparedwithTiO2,CuOand ZnO nanoparticles can inhibit EC-9706 and EC-109 cell viability and metastatic potential,the mechanism of action involves cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and apoptosis.These findings can help the development of nanoparticles as anti-cancer therapeutics for esophageal cancer.

Objective:To explore the significance of enthesitis in psoriasis(PsO) and the value of high-frequency Doppler ultrasound (HDUS) in screening potential subclinical psoriatic arthritis(PsA) patients through enthesitis; Designing the semi-quantitative score of enthesitis explore the value of semi-quantitative score in evaluating the degree of joint structure damage and improving the curative effect in patients with subclinical PsA.Methods:Clinical and sonographic data were collected in 125 PsO patients and 50 osteoarthritis (OA) patients who attended hospital from January 2019 to March 2021, and healthy controls (HC) recruited during the same period. The prevalence of enthesitis of distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) of psoriasis patients, osteoarthritis patients and HC was compared. Meanwhile the semi-quantitative scoring system for ultrasound-guided enthesitis was designed, and the correlation between the severity of enthesitis and clinical score was analyzed. The correlation between psoriasis nail and enthesitis of extensor tendon of DIP finger was also analyzed.Results:The significant difference was found in the prevalence of enthesitis of DIP among PsO group, OA group and HC group (all P<0.001); There was a significant difference in the severity of enthesitis of DIP in PsO group before and after treatment ( P<0.001); In PsO group, the correlation between the severity of enthesitis of DIP and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index(PASI)score was moderate ( rs=0.538, P<0.001), and highly correlated with Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) scores( rs=0.877, P<0.001). There was a significant difference in the incidence of enthesitis between the patients with psoriasis nail and the patients without that ( P<0.001). The prevalance of enthesitis of nail disease free fingers was also found significantly different between PsO group and HC group( P<0.001). Conclusions:Enthesitis is a prominent characteristic of PsO.And the semi-quantitative scores designed in this research are in satisfied consistence with the clinical scores, and could be used to evaluate subclinical PsA structural damage.Furthermore, it is possible that the enthesitis of DIP is a relatively independent process from the nail disease.

Objective : To investigate the role of squalene epoxidase (SQLE) knockout in anti-tumor effect vial im- proving CD8 + T cell infiltration in melanoma tumor microenvironment． Methods : Both immunodeficient and immu- nocompetent mice were inoculated with SQLE knockout B16F10 cells to determine the cell-autonomous and non-au- tonomous regulation of malignancy．Antibody blockade ，Luminex multiplex assays ，and flow cytometry were em- ployed to explore the impact of SQLE gene knockout on the secretion of cytokines / chemokines and immune cell in- filtration．Bioinformatics analysis was conducted to validate the correlation between SQLE expression and immune infiltration as well as clinical prognosis in melanoma patients. Results : Compared with immunodeficient mice， SQLE knockout significantly inhibited melanoma proliferation in immunocompetent mice and prolonged their surviv- al．SQLE knockout induced the secretion of cytokines and chemokines from tumor cells，improved CD8 + T cell in- filtration in the tumor microenvironment，thereby potentiating anti-tumor immunity．Bioinformatics analysis sugges- ted a significant correlation between SQLE and its corresponding immune infiltration markers with the prognosis of melanoma patients． Conclusion SQLE regulates anti-tumor immunity by controlling cytokines and chemokines re- leasing in tumor microenvironment，thus holding promise as a novel tumor immunotherapy target and efficacy predic- tion molecular indicator.