Objective To investigate the dosimetric effects of tumor treating fields(TTFields)patches on different radiotherapy modes for glioblastoma(GBM)patients who wear TTFields patches during radiotherapy,thereby providing dosimetric guidance for determining the appropriate radiotherapy mode.Methods With the TTFields data from GBM patients,artifact-free radiotherapy CT images were obtained utilizing 3D-printed TPU TTFields patches(3D-Print-TTFields)and anthropomorphic phantoms,and then a TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy image model was constructed.Furthermore,the treatment planning system was used to construct a dosimetric calculation model for TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy by simulating and fitting the ray attenuation rate of TTFields patches measured by accelerators.Using these models,3 kinds of radiotherapy plans were simulated and developed.Specifically,P1 simulated the conventional radiotherapy mode;P2 simulated the TTFields-combined radiotherapy mode(TTF-Com-RT),in which patients underwent radiotherapy using the P1 plan while wearing TTFields patches;and P3 simulated the TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy(TTF-Syn-RT)mode where the TTFields patches were worn throughout the entire radiotherapy process.The paired t-test was used to analyze dosimetric parameters such as target dose(D95),average scalp dose(D-skin),conformity index(CI)and homogeneity index(HI)in 3 plans(P1,P2,and P3),as well as the D95 and D-skin parameters for intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT)and volumetric modulated arc therapy(VMAT)techniques in the P3 plan.Results The D95 simulated by P2 decreased by 1.35%as compared with P1(P<0.05),and the D95 simulated by P3 was 1.31%higher than that in P2(P<0.05).Compared with P1,P2 and P3 increased the D-skin by 12.56%and 14.30%,respectively(P<0.05),and the D-skin simulated by P3 increased by 1.55%as compared with P2(P<0.05).However,there were trivial differences in D95 between P3 and P1,CI and HI among all plans,D95 and D-skin between IMRT and VMAT techniques in P3 plan(P>0.05).Conclusion Based on GBM patient data,CT simulation images obtained from 3D-Print-TTFields combined with anthropomorphic phantom are artifact-free and meet radiotherapy requirements.The target and scalp dose differences between TTF-Com-RT and TTF-Syn-RT are less than 2%,and the dosimetric difference of TTF-Syn-RT using IMRT/VMAT techniques is insignificant.Therefore,clinicians can choose radiotherapy modes and techniques according to actual needs.

The diagnosis of Meige's syndrome predominantly relies on the clinical assessment by physicians.Given the complexity and similarity of its symptoms to other neurological disorders,the diagnosis is crucial for both doctors and patients.Herein a detection dataset for Meige's syndrome is compiled from video recordings of 31 patients,and an automated diagnostic system for Meige's syndrome(MS-Net)applicable to untrimmed videos is developed.The system utilizes RetinaNet and UNet3+to construct temporal detection and segmentation branches for multi-scale feature extraction and temporal segmentation,obtains probability vectors for detection windows and the probability of disease onset per frame via the decoding of temporal detection and segmentation branches,and finally generates a refined probability for each window by processing the probability predictions from both branches using a multi-layer perceptron.The model performance is optimized using additional loss functions and data augmentation techniques,operating on features interpretable by clinical physicians.MS-Net can assist in the diagnosis of Meige's syndrome,improving the accuracy,convenience,and efficiency of the early diagnosis.The comparison of MS-Net with other state-of-the-art networks indicates that MS-Net achieves comparable performance in terms of average precision while utilizing interpretable features required in clinical practice.

Gene synthesis is an enabling technology that supports the development of synthetic biology. The existing approaches for de novo gene synthesis generally have tedious operation, low efficiency, high error rates, and limited product lengths, being difficult to support the huge demand of synthetic biology. The assembly and error correction are the keys in gene synthesis. This study first designed the oligonucleotide sequences by reasonably splitting the virus genome of approximately 10 kb by balancing the parameters of sequence design software ability, PCR amplification ability, and assembly enzyme assembly ability. Then, two-step PCR was performed with high-fidelity polymerase to complete the de novo synthesis of 3.0 kb DNA fragments, and error correction reactions were performed with T7 endonuclease Ⅰ for the products from different stages of PCR. Finally, the virus genome was assembled by 3.0 kb DNA fragments from de novo synthesis and error correction and then sequenced. The experimental results showed that the proposed method successfully produced the DNA fragment of about 10 kb and reduced the probability of large fragment mutations during the assembly process, with the lowest error rate reaching 0.36 errors/kb. In summary, this study developed an efficient de novo method for synthesizing a viral genome of about 10 kb with T7 endonuclease Ⅰ-mediated error correction. This method enabled the synthesis of a 10 kb viral genome in one day and the correct plasmid of the viral genome in five days. This study optimized the de novo gene synthesis process, reduced the error rate, simplified the synthesis and assembly steps, and reduced the cost of viral genome assembly.
Genome, Viral/genetics* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; DNA, Viral/genetics* ; Bacteriophage T7/enzymology* ; Synthetic Biology/methods*

The diagnosis of Meige's syndrome predominantly relies on the clinical assessment by physicians.Given the complexity and similarity of its symptoms to other neurological disorders,the diagnosis is crucial for both doctors and patients.Herein a detection dataset for Meige's syndrome is compiled from video recordings of 31 patients,and an automated diagnostic system for Meige's syndrome(MS-Net)applicable to untrimmed videos is developed.The system utilizes RetinaNet and UNet3+to construct temporal detection and segmentation branches for multi-scale feature extraction and temporal segmentation,obtains probability vectors for detection windows and the probability of disease onset per frame via the decoding of temporal detection and segmentation branches,and finally generates a refined probability for each window by processing the probability predictions from both branches using a multi-layer perceptron.The model performance is optimized using additional loss functions and data augmentation techniques,operating on features interpretable by clinical physicians.MS-Net can assist in the diagnosis of Meige's syndrome,improving the accuracy,convenience,and efficiency of the early diagnosis.The comparison of MS-Net with other state-of-the-art networks indicates that MS-Net achieves comparable performance in terms of average precision while utilizing interpretable features required in clinical practice.

Objective To investigate the dosimetric effects of tumor treating fields(TTFields)patches on different radiotherapy modes for glioblastoma(GBM)patients who wear TTFields patches during radiotherapy,thereby providing dosimetric guidance for determining the appropriate radiotherapy mode.Methods With the TTFields data from GBM patients,artifact-free radiotherapy CT images were obtained utilizing 3D-printed TPU TTFields patches(3D-Print-TTFields)and anthropomorphic phantoms,and then a TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy image model was constructed.Furthermore,the treatment planning system was used to construct a dosimetric calculation model for TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy by simulating and fitting the ray attenuation rate of TTFields patches measured by accelerators.Using these models,3 kinds of radiotherapy plans were simulated and developed.Specifically,P1 simulated the conventional radiotherapy mode;P2 simulated the TTFields-combined radiotherapy mode(TTF-Com-RT),in which patients underwent radiotherapy using the P1 plan while wearing TTFields patches;and P3 simulated the TTFields-synchronized radiotherapy(TTF-Syn-RT)mode where the TTFields patches were worn throughout the entire radiotherapy process.The paired t-test was used to analyze dosimetric parameters such as target dose(D95),average scalp dose(D-skin),conformity index(CI)and homogeneity index(HI)in 3 plans(P1,P2,and P3),as well as the D95 and D-skin parameters for intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT)and volumetric modulated arc therapy(VMAT)techniques in the P3 plan.Results The D95 simulated by P2 decreased by 1.35%as compared with P1(P<0.05),and the D95 simulated by P3 was 1.31%higher than that in P2(P<0.05).Compared with P1,P2 and P3 increased the D-skin by 12.56%and 14.30%,respectively(P<0.05),and the D-skin simulated by P3 increased by 1.55%as compared with P2(P<0.05).However,there were trivial differences in D95 between P3 and P1,CI and HI among all plans,D95 and D-skin between IMRT and VMAT techniques in P3 plan(P>0.05).Conclusion Based on GBM patient data,CT simulation images obtained from 3D-Print-TTFields combined with anthropomorphic phantom are artifact-free and meet radiotherapy requirements.The target and scalp dose differences between TTF-Com-RT and TTF-Syn-RT are less than 2%,and the dosimetric difference of TTF-Syn-RT using IMRT/VMAT techniques is insignificant.Therefore,clinicians can choose radiotherapy modes and techniques according to actual needs.

BACKGROUND:The research of dental stem cells in the fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering has been deepening,bringing hope for the repair of tooth-related tissues and the treatment of systemic diseases.However,there is a lack of systematic research and analysis on the biological characteristics of dental stem cells in different age groups. OBJECTIVE:To explore the biological characteristics of the human deciduous tooth and permanent tooth pulp stem cells cultured in umbilical cord blood platelet lysate to provide a reliable basis for human platelet lysates to replace fetal bovine serum. METHODS:The pulp tissues of deciduous teeth,juvenile permanent teeth and adult permanent teeth were taken out and cultured in DMEM/F-12 medium supplemented with 10%fetal bovine serum or different concentrations(5%,10%and 15%)of human platelet lysates.Cell proliferation in the four groups was detected by cytometry.The optimal concentration of human platelet lysates was selected for subsequent experiments.Under the optimal concentration of human platelet lysates,human deciduous tooth and juvenile and adult permanent tooth pulp stem cells were cultured in vitro.The cell growth status was observed under the microscope.The specific antigen on the cell surface was detected by flow cytometry.The cell proliferation ability was tested by the cell counting method and CCK-8 assay.The cell differentiation ability in vitro was observed by a three-line differentiation assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The cell proliferation rate of the 10%human platelet lysate group was the highest.(2)In all three groups,fusiform fibrous cells grew and expanded from around the tissue block.There was no significant difference between deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent tooth cells,but the adult permanent tooth cells were larger than the deciduous and juvenile permanent tooth cells of the same generation.(3)The results of flow cytometry showed that deciduous teeth,juvenile permanent teeth and adult permanent teeth conformed to the phenotypic characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells.(4)The proliferative capacity of adult permanent dental pulp stem cells was significantly lower than those of deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent dental pulp stem cells(P<0.01).(5)mRNA expressions of osteoblast-related genes alkaline phosphatase and bone morphogenetic protein 2,lipoprotein lipase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2,mRNA expressions of chondroblast related gene type II collagen α1 and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in adult pulp stem cells of permanent teeth were significantly lower than those of deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent teeth pulp stem cells(P<0.01).(6)Compared with adult dental pulp stem cells,human deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent teeth dental pulp stem cells have the stronger proliferative capacity and multidirectional differentiation potential,and are more suitable for clinical research and disease treatment.

Objective:To investigate the effects of different radiotherapy regimens on the short-term and long-term prognosis of patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC).Methods:Sixty patients with limited-stage SCLC in the Third People′s Hospital of Yangquan City from September 2017 to September 2019 were selected. The patients who received concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy were in group A and the patients who received sequential radiotherapy and chemotherapy were in group B, 30 cases in each group. The short-term efficacy and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared, and the levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), gastrin release precursor (ProGRP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endostatin (ES), circulating endothelial cells (CEC) were compared between the two groups. The survival status of the two groups were followed-up.Results:After treatment, the disease control rate in group A was higher than that in the group B : 80.00%(24/30) vs. 53.33%(16/30), the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.80, P<0.05). The levels of serum NSE, ProGRP and CEA in the group A after treatment were lower than those in the group B: (19.42 ± 3.31) pg/L vs. (24.58 ± 4.42) pg/L, (95.45 ± 10.33) ng/L vs. (115.54 ± 15.66) ng/L, (8.25 ± 1.02) μg/L vs. (10.33 ± 1.15) μg/L, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The levels of VEGF and CEC in the group A were lower than those in the group B after treatment and ES was higher than that in the group B: (356.62 ± 56.63) ng/L vs. (442.21 ± 55.38) ng/L, (65.56 ± 5.41) × 10 6/L vs. (99.28 ± 7.24) ×10 6/L, (52.65 ± 6.44) μmol/L vs. (31.85 ± 5.49) μmol/L, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups ( P>0.05). The survival rate in the group A was higher than that in the group B at 1 year after treatment: 82.14%(23/28) vs. 56.00%(14/25), the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.28, P = 0.038). Conclusions:Compared with sequential radiotherapy and chemotherapy, concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy is effective in treating limited-stage SCLC, which can adjust the level of tumor markers and angiogenesis indicators, and improve the treatment effect and survival rate.

Objective:To compare the effects of two methods of marking surface landmarks on the patient’s positional stability when using a multifunctional body board in combination with thermoplastics to fix the abdominal and pelvic areas for radiotherapy patients.Methods:50 subjects who underwent positional fixation using a multifunctional body board in combination with thermoplastics from August 2022 to January 2023. The subjects were divided into two groups, A and B, with 25 cases each, according to the different methods of body surface marking. In group A, landmarks were marked on the body surface on the top edge of the thermoplastics. In group B, three sets of surface landmarks were marked on the patient’s body according to the laser line on the projection of the patient’s body surface when the thermoplastics were completed. Manual registration is performed using L3 to L5 as the main registration targets. The pre-treatment CBCT image is used to analyze the first-time positioning pass rate, setup errors in the x-, y-, and z-axis directions, and the distribution of positive and negative setup errors in both groups of patients. Results:The pass rates of the first-time positioning of patients in Groups A and B were 76.9% and 86.1%, respectively, which met the clinical requirements. Group B had a better first-time positioning pass rate than group A, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). The pendulum errors of group B were smaller than those of group A in both the x-axis and y-axis (all P < 0.05), and the difference between the two groups in terms of the pendulum errors in the z-axis direction was not statistically significant (all P > 0.05). The difference in the frequency distribution of the pendulum error in the positive and negative directions of the x- and z-axis between the two groups was not statistically significant (all P > 0.05). The difference in the frequency of distribution of the pendulum error in the positive and negative directions of the y-axis between the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). Conclusions:The proposed two methods of surface landmark marking are generally in line with the positioning requirements for conventional fractionation radiotherapy for abdominal and pelvic patients. Using a laser line on the projection of the patient’s body surface for three sets of surface landmark markings produces smaller setup errors and is better than using the top edge of the thermoplastics for surface landmark markings, improving the positional stability of abdominal and pelvic patients.

Objective:To investigate the radiation dose and fractionation regimens for limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) in Chinese radiation oncologists.Methods:Over 500 radiation oncologists were surveyed through questionnaire for radiation dose and fractionation regimens for LS-SCLC and 216 valid samples were collected for further analysis. All data were collected by online questionnaire designed by WJX software. Data collection and statistical analysis were performed by SPSS 25.0 statistical software. The differences in categorical variables among different groups were analyzed by Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. Results:Among 216 participants, 94.9% preferred early concurrent chemoradiotherapy, 69.4% recommended conventional fractionation, 70.8% preferred a total dose of 60 Gy when delivering conventional radiotherapy and 78.7% recommended 45 Gy when administering hyperfractionated radiotherapy.Conclusions:Despite differences in LS-SCLC treatment plans, most of Chinese radiation oncologists prefer to choose 60 Gy conventional fractionated radiotherapy as the main treatment strategy for LS-SCLC patients. Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO), National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and Chinese Medical Association guidelines or expert consensus play a critical role in guiding treatment decision-making.

The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B1900468 The original version of this article (Liu et al., 2020) unfortunately contained some mistakes. 1. Figs. 7c and 7d in p.229 were incorrect. The upper left and bottom left pictures in Fig. 7c were accidentally duplicated with the pictures at the same position of Fig. 1a. The upper right and bottom right pictures were mistakenly placed in Fig. 7c. Therefore, the calculation results in Fig. 7d were also mistaken. The correct versions should be as follows: 2. Because of the wrong pictures of Fig. 7c, the calculated results of "42.5%" in Abstract, Sections 3.9 and 5 are also mistaken. The correct result should be "45.2%." (1) Lines 10-12 of Abstract in p.218: "CSO-ss-SA/siRNA could effectively transmit siRNA into tumor cells, reducing the expression of RAC1 protein by 38.2% and decreasing the number of tumor-induced invasion cells by 42.5%." was incorrect. The correct version should be "CSO-ss-SA/siRNA could effectively transmit siRNA into tumor cells, reducing the expression of RAC1 protein by 38.2% and decreasing the number of tumor-induced invasion cells by 45.2%." (2) Lines 23-26 of Section 3.9 in p.227: "It was shown that the number of invasive tumor cells induced by DOX was reduced by 42.5% since CSO-ss-SA/siRNA downregulated the expression of RAC1 protein." was incorrect. The correct version should be "It was shown that the number of invasive tumor cells induced by DOX was reduced by 45.2% since CSO-ss-SA/siRNA downregulated the expression of RAC1 protein." (3) Lines 4-8 of Section 5 in p.231: "CSO-ss-SA, as an efficient redox-sensitive carrier for delivering siRNA silencing RAC1 into tumor cells, reduced the expression of RAC1 by 38.2% and decreased DOX-induced tumor invasion cells by 42.5% in vitro." was incorrect. The correct version should be "CSO-ss-SA, as an efficient redox-sensitive carrier for delivering siRNA silencing RAC1 into tumor cells, reduced the expression of RAC1 by 38.2% and decreased DOX-induced tumor invasion cells by 45.2% in vitro."