Objective To propose a novel method for verifying the isocenter in radiotherapy based on markers and conduct a preliminary test. Methods A feasibility experiment was conducted on wooden box phantom for radiotherapy resetting. Fifteen groups of displacement data were randomly generated,corresponding to the position deviations of the isocenter in the radiotherapy plan relative to the original isocenter. According to each set of displacement data,with the aid of movable lasers and a CT scanning couch,CT scanning was performed with two sets of markers (3 per set) affixed to the phantom which were corresponding to the original and treatment isocenters,respectively. In the Eclipse treatment planning system,the coordinate data of the original and treatment isocenters were manually verified,and the difference of coordinate data was calculated to obtain the actual displacement value. The treatment isocenter position was finally confirmed by comparing with the actual displacement. In addition,the study attempts to use threshold segmentation algorithm to automatically detect metal markers and obtain coordinate values of the original isocenter on patient-positioned CT images. In the wooden box experiment,the absolute value of the difference between the actual displacement value and the planned displacement value (?d) was used to represent the position accuracy of treatment isocenter,and the deviation value obtained with threshold segmentation algorithm for isocenter detection was ?s. Results The ?d in the X (left-right),Y (superior-inferior) and Z (anterior-superior) directions was (0.83±0.37) mm,0 (0,0.5) mm and (0.45±0.29) mm,respectively. The ?s in the X,Y and Z directions was (0.46±0.22) mm,0 (0,0.5) mm and (0.33±0.29) mm,respectively. The mean values of ?s in 3 directions were all lower than 2 mm,within the range of permissible clinical positioning error. Conclusion The method of automatically verifying treatment isocenter position based on markers is feasible,and the study provides a useful reference for radiotherapy resetting using CT simulator.

OBJECTIVE To explore the main factors influencing the blood concentration of duloxetine， and provide a scientific basis for the individualized use of duloxetine. METHODS Retrospective analysis was conducted on 434 inpatients with depressive disorders at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University， who were treated with duloxetine and underwent blood concentration monitoring between January 2022 and April 2024. The study examined the impact of various factors， including gender， age， body mass index （BMI）， gene phenotypes， combined medication， drug type （original/generic）， and genotyping results of gene single nucleotide polymorphism loci， on blood concentration and the concentration-to-dose （C/D） after dose adjustment. RESULTS The blood concentration of duloxetine was 76.65 （45.57， 130.31） ng/mL， and C/D was 0.96 （0.63， 1.60） ng·d/（mL·mg）. The blood concentration of duloxetine was positively correlated with the daily dose of administration （R2＝0.253 7， P＜0.001）. Blood concentration of duloxetine in 38.94% of patients exceeded the recommended range specified in the guidelines. Gender， age， BMI， combined use of CYP2D6 enzyme inhibitors， and CYP2D6 and CYP1A2 phenotypes had significant effects on C/D of duloxetine （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The patient’s age， gender， BMI， combined medication， and genetic phenotypes are closely related to the blood concentration of duloxetine.

Objective:To investigate the effect of bed board of carbon fiber for treatment combined with fixed bottom board on verification results of Portal Dosimetry(PD)dose of intensity-modulated radiation therapy(IMRT)plan of fixed field for cervical cancer.Methods:A total of 15 patients with cervical cancer who admitted to Nanjing First Hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were retrospectively selected,and the IMRT plans of fixed field for all patients were designed.The radiation field with 180° gantry angle was selected for each case to make the corresponding PD dose verification plan,and each verification plan included two subfields:AA180_0 and AA180_1.Three types of materials were placed between the accelerator head and the electronic portal imaging device(EPID),which included material without carbon fiber,bed board with carbon fiber for treatment,and the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber,when the Clinac iX accelerator was used to conduct verification plan for each case.The γ passing rates of the subfields(AA180_0 and AA180_1)and the total field(AA180)among three kinds of conditions,which included material without carbon fiber,bed board with carbon fiber for treatment,and the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber,were compared and analyzed.Results:For the subfield AA180_0,the γ passing rates under three different material conditions were respectively(96.09±1.38)%,(90.48±2.24)%and(81.85±2.46)%.For the subfield AA180_1,the γ passing rates under the above conditions were respectively(96.05±1.06)%,(91.86±2.22)%and(86.26±2.74)%.For the total field AA180,the γ passing rates were respectively(90.78±1.40)%,(84.82±2.56)%and(78.49±3.18)%.The γ passing rates of the subfield AA180_0,subfield AA180_1,and the total field AA180 showed statistically significant differences among the three different material conditions(F=177.80,80.00,91.42,P<0.01).Compared with materials without carbon fiber,the γ passing rate of the total field AA180 of the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber significantly decreased by 12.29%.Conclusion:In the PD dose verification of IMRT for cervical cancer,the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment combined with the fixed bottom board will produce adverse effect for the verification results.The effect of the single use of bed board for treatment is relatively small.The combined use of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board will lead to a significant deterioration in the verification result of PD dose.

Objective:To investigate the effect of bed board of carbon fiber for treatment combined with fixed bottom board on verification results of Portal Dosimetry(PD)dose of intensity-modulated radiation therapy(IMRT)plan of fixed field for cervical cancer.Methods:A total of 15 patients with cervical cancer who admitted to Nanjing First Hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were retrospectively selected,and the IMRT plans of fixed field for all patients were designed.The radiation field with 180° gantry angle was selected for each case to make the corresponding PD dose verification plan,and each verification plan included two subfields:AA180_0 and AA180_1.Three types of materials were placed between the accelerator head and the electronic portal imaging device(EPID),which included material without carbon fiber,bed board with carbon fiber for treatment,and the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber,when the Clinac iX accelerator was used to conduct verification plan for each case.The γ passing rates of the subfields(AA180_0 and AA180_1)and the total field(AA180)among three kinds of conditions,which included material without carbon fiber,bed board with carbon fiber for treatment,and the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber,were compared and analyzed.Results:For the subfield AA180_0,the γ passing rates under three different material conditions were respectively(96.09±1.38)%,(90.48±2.24)%and(81.85±2.46)%.For the subfield AA180_1,the γ passing rates under the above conditions were respectively(96.05±1.06)%,(91.86±2.22)%and(86.26±2.74)%.For the total field AA180,the γ passing rates were respectively(90.78±1.40)%,(84.82±2.56)%and(78.49±3.18)%.The γ passing rates of the subfield AA180_0,subfield AA180_1,and the total field AA180 showed statistically significant differences among the three different material conditions(F=177.80,80.00,91.42,P<0.01).Compared with materials without carbon fiber,the γ passing rate of the total field AA180 of the combination of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board with carbon fiber significantly decreased by 12.29%.Conclusion:In the PD dose verification of IMRT for cervical cancer,the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment combined with the fixed bottom board will produce adverse effect for the verification results.The effect of the single use of bed board for treatment is relatively small.The combined use of the bed board with carbon fiber for treatment and the fixed bottom board will lead to a significant deterioration in the verification result of PD dose.

Objective To propose a novel method for verifying the isocenter in radiotherapy based on markers and conduct a preliminary test. Methods A feasibility experiment was conducted on wooden box phantom for radiotherapy resetting. Fifteen groups of displacement data were randomly generated,corresponding to the position deviations of the isocenter in the radiotherapy plan relative to the original isocenter. According to each set of displacement data,with the aid of movable lasers and a CT scanning couch,CT scanning was performed with two sets of markers (3 per set) affixed to the phantom which were corresponding to the original and treatment isocenters,respectively. In the Eclipse treatment planning system,the coordinate data of the original and treatment isocenters were manually verified,and the difference of coordinate data was calculated to obtain the actual displacement value. The treatment isocenter position was finally confirmed by comparing with the actual displacement. In addition,the study attempts to use threshold segmentation algorithm to automatically detect metal markers and obtain coordinate values of the original isocenter on patient-positioned CT images. In the wooden box experiment,the absolute value of the difference between the actual displacement value and the planned displacement value (?d) was used to represent the position accuracy of treatment isocenter,and the deviation value obtained with threshold segmentation algorithm for isocenter detection was ?s. Results The ?d in the X (left-right),Y (superior-inferior) and Z (anterior-superior) directions was (0.83±0.37) mm,0 (0,0.5) mm and (0.45±0.29) mm,respectively. The ?s in the X,Y and Z directions was (0.46±0.22) mm,0 (0,0.5) mm and (0.33±0.29) mm,respectively. The mean values of ?s in 3 directions were all lower than 2 mm,within the range of permissible clinical positioning error. Conclusion The method of automatically verifying treatment isocenter position based on markers is feasible,and the study provides a useful reference for radiotherapy resetting using CT simulator.

Objective:To study the position of computed tomography(CT)slice of marker points of radiotherapy,which was determined by control scan(CS)method,on the application effect of patients with head and neck tumors who received radiotherapy.Methods:Based on Control Scan(CS)method,a calculator program of mark-point slice position was made,which was an enterprise WeChat program that could be used in calculating position and CT position scan of patients with head and neck tumor(slice thickness was 3mm).A total of 60 patients with head and neck tumor were selected,and the patients who underwent CT positioning scan by using CS method were divided into observation group,and patients who underwent CT position scan by using conventional method were divided into control group,with 30 cases in each group.The number of cases with three metal marker points displayed at the same slice,and the number of slices containing the CT images of marker point between the located CT scan were compared.Results:The number of patients in the observation group and the control group who showed three markers at the same level at the same time were respectively 26 cases and 13 cases,and observation group increased by 13 cases(43.4%)than control group,and the difference was significant(x2=12.382,P<0.05).The number of CT images with only 1 slice of observation group and control group were respectively 4 cases and 0 cases,which increased by 4 cases(13.3%)than the control group,and the difference was significant(x2=2.411,P<0.05).Conclusions:The CT localization scan of radiotherapy,which uses CS to assist patients with head and neck tumor,can precisely calculate and obtain the primary position of target of CT localization scan.It can take the images of 3 mental marker points of patient who receives radiotherapy to occur at the same CT slice as soon as possible,which has better application effect.It can effectively improve the convenience and work effectiveness of radiotherapy.

Objective To explore the effect of glioma stem cells with high expression of protein tyrosin phosphatase receptor type Z1 (PTPRZ1 )on the phenotypic polarization and phagocytosis of tumor-associated macrophages and its regulatory mechanism.Methods GSCs and non-stem tumor cells (NSTCs) were screened out from human glioblastoma (GBM) specimens using flow cytometry,and the PTPRZ1 expression in paired GSCs and NSTCs were detected.Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)-derived CD14+monocytes were exposed to the conditioned medium from glioma cells or recombinant chemokine C-C motif ligand 20 (CCL20)for TAM polarization.Stable PTPRZ1 knockout GSCs (PTPRZ1-KO GSCs) were constructed using CRISPR/Cas9. TAM phagocytosis to GSCs,NSTCs,PTPRZ1-Control GSCs (PTPRZ1-Ctrl GSCs)and PTPRZ1-KO GSCs and the expression of immunosuppressive phenotype (M2) polarization marker CD163 were examined using flow cytometry.Differentially expressed genes (DEGs ) between paired GSCs and NSTCs were determined using a bulk RNA-sequencing dataset (GSE54791 )from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).A gene set informing worse outcome of patients with GBM was generated using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-GBM cohort.By intersecting the aforementioned gene set with the gene set that encodes for human membrance proteins,the PTPRZ1 gene is obtained.Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA)was used for pathway enrichment analysis to compare the differentially regulated pathways between GBMs with high or low PTPRZ1 expression.Bulk RNA sequencing,qRT-PCR and Western blotting were used to identify the DEGs between PTPRZ1-KO GSCs and PTPRZ1-Ctrl GSCs.Results GSCs were more capable of escaping from TAM phagocytosis than NSTCs (P<0.05 )and had specifically up-regulated PTPRZ1 expression.PTPRZ1-KO significantly suppressed GSCs escaping from TAM phagocytosis (P<0.01 ). GBMs with high PTPRZ1 expression showed significant inhibition of pathways mediating phagocytosis (P<0.05).The expression of CCL20 as a M2 TAM polarization chemokine was significantly down-regulated in PTPRZ1-KO GSCs (P<0.05 ).Treatment with recombinant CCL20 up-regulated the expression of CD163 as a M2 TAM marker in TAM.Conclusion PTPRZ1+GSCs mediate M2 TAM polarization and inhibit TAM phagocytosis,which may be related to the up-regulation of CCL20 in PTPRZ1+GSCs.

Objective:To evaluate the long-term constancy of image uniformity and noise of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for the on-board imager (OBI) system of a Varian linac.Methods:Monthly quality assurance (QA) tests were carried out for the OBI system of a Clinac iX linac, and CBCT images of Catphan 504 phantom were obtained with six scanning protocols. The 6 protocols were high-quality head (HQH), low-dose head (LDH), pelvis spot light (PSL), standard-dose head (SDH), low-dose thorax (LDT) and pelvis, respectively. The 144 series of CBCT images acquired from Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University between January 2020 and December 2021 were analyzed, and the data of image uniformity and noise were obtained by delineating regions of interest (ROI) in the images of CTP486 module. Image uniformity was expressed by the absolute value of the maximum difference between the average CT value of the ROI in the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock directions and the central ROI. Image noise was expressed by the standard deviation of CT value of large circular ROI. The smaller the values of image uniformity and noise, the better the image quality. Statistical description was applied to obtain data of the maximum, minimum, mean and standard deviation for the above mentioned two parameters. Y was defined as the difference between the average CT value of ROI in each direction and the average CT value of central ROI, which was used to represent the monthly changes of image quality.Results:The image uniformity and noise of CBCT images of the OBI system were generally stable during 2 years. For the 6 protocols of HQH, LDH, PSL, SDH, LDT and pevlis, the image uniformity was (21.5±1.0), (21.4±2.2), (21.3±0.9), (18.3±1.3), (3.4±1.9) and (7.2±1.9) HU, respectively. The image noise was (19.2±0.2), (41.0±0.3), (14.2±0.3), (38.2±0.2), (16.0±0.9) and (13.5±0.9) HU, respectively. The average image uniformity of LDT was the smallest, and the average image noise of pelvis was the smallest. Under the 6 scanning protocols, the average CT values of central ROI involved in image uniformity were (32.3±2.7), (24.0±3.3), (19.3±2.4), (11.1±2.5), (67.2±2.1), (-24.6±1.7) HU, respectively. The average CT values were stable. The standard deviation of Y was < 3 HU, suggesting that the stability of image quality was favorable every month.Conclusions:The image uniformity and noise of CBCT images for the OBI system are generally stable in 2 years. Among the 6 scanning protocols, LDT yields the best image uniformity, and pelvis has the lowest image noise.

Objective:To investigate the changes in structural brain network topology and microstructural damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to analyze its correlation with cognitive function.Methods:Clinical and imaging data of 114 patients with MS (MS group) diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from May 2021 to September 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. In addition, 71 volunteers were recruited as a healthy control group (HC group) during the same period. All subjects were performed on cognitive assessment and 3D-T 1 magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo, 3D-fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) scans. GRETNA software was used to obtain network topology attributes, and global attributes included global efficiency, local efficiency, and small-world attributes [clustering coefficient(Cp), shortest path length(Lp), normalized Cp(γ), normalized Lp, and small-world index (σ)]. Local attributes included betweenness centrality (BC), degree centrality (DC), nodal clustering coefficient (NCp), nodal efficiency, nodal local efficiency (NLe) and nodal shortest path length. The DKI parameter map generated by the post-processing software was used to extract the DKI parameter values of the brain region with abnormal local topology of the brain structure network. The differences of global attributes, local attributes and DKI parameter values [kurtosis fractional anisotropy (KFA), mean kurtosis (MK), radial kurtosis (RK) and axial kurtosis (AK) values] were analyzed by independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and corrected by false discovery rate (FDR). Spearman or Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between abnormal brain structure network topology attributes and cognitive scale scores in the MS group. Results:Both the MS group and the HC group structure network showed small-world attributes, and the γ and σ values of the MS group were significantly lower than those in the HC group (FDR correction, P<0.05). Compared with the HC group, BC, DC, NCp and NLe broadly reduced in the MS group, mainly involving in bilateral frontal, temporal, precuneus, amygdala, and thalamus (FDR correction, P<0.05). After FDR correction, compared with the HC group, the KFA, MK, RK and AK values of 23 brain regions with abnormal local attributes of the network in the MS group were significantly changed in several brain regions (FDR correction, P<0.05). The correlation analysis showed, after FDR correction, the DC value of the right putamen in MS patients was positively correlated with the digit span test (DST) scores ( r=0.318 ,P=0.001). Conclusion:There are extensive changes in the structural brain network of MS patients, accompanied by varying degrees of microstructural damage, and the reduction of degree centrality in the basal ganglia putamen region is associated with cognitive impairment.

Objective To delineate the normal stomach and thoracic stomach structure of patients with thoracic and abdominal tumor automatically using the AccuContour software based on deep learning in order to evaluate and compare the results. Methods Thirty-six patients with choracic and abdominal tumors were chosen for this study, and were divided into two groups. Group A included 18 patients with normal stomach, and group B included the other 18 patients undergoing esophageal carcinoma operation with thoracic stomach. The stomach structures were automatically delineated by the AccuContour software in the simulation CT series. Statistical analysis was carried out to data of the differences in volume, position and shape between the automatic and manual delineations, and data of the two kinds of stomach were compared. Results For group A, the differences in volume (ΔV%) between the automatic and manual delineations was (−1.82 ± 9.65)%, the total position difference (ΔL) was (0.51 ± 0.37) cm, the values of dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was 0.89 ± 0.04. There were significant differences in values of ΔV%、ΔL and DSC (P < 0.05). Conclusion The used version of AccuContour software in this study had a satisfactory result of automatic delineation of the normal stomach structure larger than certain volume, but could not delineate the thoracic stomach structures effectively for patients undergoing esophageal carcinoma operation.