1.Heart-sparing strategy for breast cancer radiotherapy based on nnU-Net: regional optimization and automatic segmentation
Jinghan HUANG ; Maidina BATUER ; Chuanghui ZHOU ; Zhi ZHANG ; Limei DENG ; Yuan XU ; Junyuan ZHONG ; Linghong ZHOU ; Xia LI ; Genggeng QIN
Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology 2025;34(4):355-362
Objective:To investigate the feasibility and optimal expansion width of replacing the left anterior descending coronary artery (LADCA) with the region of heart sparing (RHS) to reduce cardiac radiation dose during breast cancer radiotherapy.Methods:Retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 88 patients with left-sided breast cancer who underwent radiotherapy at 2 centers: Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University (50 cases for the training set, 15 cases for the internal test set) and Ganzhou Hospital of Nanfang Hospital (23 cases for the external test set) from March 2022 to January 2024. All patients had left-sided invasive ductal carcinoma with axillary lymph node metastasis, and had undergone modified radical mastectomy and chemotherapy. Based on simulation CT images, 2 radiation oncologists delineated the LADCA and 8 RHSs. The RHSs were delineated by expanding the LADCA contour by 0.5 cm increments, totaling 8 expansions. The RHS widths were defined as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 cm. The nnU-Net model was trained for 3D automatic segmentation of the LADCA and RHSs. Model performance was evaluated using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), relative volume error (RVE), sensitivity, specificity, and 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95). Additionally, the minimum, maximum, and average relative dose variations (RDV) as well as V5% and V20% indicators were calculated for the LADCA and each RHS. Correlation analysis was performed using the least squares regression, with the slope and coefficient of determination ( R2) employed to evaluate the accuracy of the model fitting, the relationship between the LADCA and RHS, and the degree of their correlation, thereby assessing the substitutive effect of the RHS for the LADCA. Results:The DSC for the LADCA was 0.415, while the DSCs for RHS widths of 0.5 cm and 4.0 cm were 0.718 and 0.835, respectively. Overall, the automatic segmentation performance improved with increasing RHS width. The DSC, RVE, sensitivity, specificity, and HD95 for the external test set were largely consistent with those of the internal test set, demonstrating the model's good robustness across different datasets. All RDVmin values were negative, while RDVmax and RDVmean showed a positive correlation with RHS width. RDVmean increased from 39.01% to 75.89% as the RHS width increased. In the correlation analysis, the slopes for RHS widths of 1.5 cm and 2.0 cm were 0.95 and 1.05, respectively, with R2 values and coefficients of variation of 0.79 and 0.73, and 21.11% and 24.03%, respectively. Conclusions:The automatic segmentation model trained on nnU-Net can accurately segment RHSs. Based on geometric and dosimetric indicators, a 1.5 cm-wide RHS is the most suitable substitute for the LADCA, effectively limiting the radiation dose to the LADCA without compromising target dose coverage.
2.Deep learning-based dynamic generation of uterine geometry for cervical cancer radiotherapy
Batuer MAIDINA ; Jinghan HUANG ; Chuanghui ZHOU ; Junyuan ZHONG ; Lei YANG ; Linghong ZHOU ; Xia LI ; Genggeng QIN
Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology 2025;34(6):585-593
Objective:To propose a semi-supervised learning method for dynamic generation of organ geometric contours, leveraging bladder volume variations and its relative position to the uterus to accurately generate uterine contours in cervical cancer radiotherapy.Methods:A total of 120 sets of pelvic planning CT images (including both full and empty bladder scans) from 60 patients with cervical cancer treated at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University between January and December 2023 were retrospectively collected. A conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) based on a squeeze-and-excitation channel attention mechanism was proposed to accurately generate uterine geometric contours under varying bladder filling states. By emphasizing the critical spatial relationships between the bladder and uterus, the model learned the relative anatomical positions of pelvic organs and their motion correlations. The generative performance was quantitatively evaluated using the average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), intersection over union (IoU), and the 95 th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95), and was compared with GAN model, CGAN model, and Pix2Pix model. Pairwise comparisons were perfomed by paired-sample t-test. Results:The proposed SE-CGAN model achieved the best performance on the test set, with DSC of 0.83±0.09, IoU of 0.71±0.05, HD95 of (6.74±1.23) mm, improving DSC by 7.5%, 4.9%, and 3.6% compared to the GAN, CGAN, and Pix2Pix models, respectively (all P<0.001), and reducing the mean HD95 by 32.9%-45.3%. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between SE-CGAN model and the other 3 baseline models, whereas no significant difference was observed between CGAN model and Pix2Pix model. The visualization results further demonstrated that the GAN model produced uterine contours deviated greatly from the real shape, and the edge was fuzzy; CGAN and Pix2Pix model achieved better overlap but lacked of precision in boundary reconstruction. In contrast, the contours generated by SE-CGAN model closely matched the ground truth with clearly defined edges, indicating superior reconstruction accuracy. Conclusions:In this study, we propose a generative adversarial network method that establishes a dynamic modulation mechanism by which the bladder state influences the uterine geometric contour, enabling accurate generation of the uterine contours from the bladder contours of any given localization CT scan. This approach effectively addresses the uncertainty in radiotherapy target delineation caused by pelvic organ motion.
3.Study on the current status and influencing factors of maximum tongue pressure in cardiac surgery inpatients based on a random forest model
Aimin SHAO ; Yilei ZHU ; Haiou XIA ; Jun ZHONG ; Run HUANG
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(8):620-627
Objective:To investigate the current status of maximum tongue pressure (MTP) in cardiac surgery inpatients and analyze its influencing factors, providing a basis for developing personalized nursing measures for high-risk groups.Methods:This cross-sectional study used a convenience sampling method to select cardiac surgery inpatients at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, from January 2022 to April 2023. General and clinical data questionnaires, a swallowing tongue muscle evaluation training device, and a hand dynamometer were used for data collection. The random forest model and Lasso regression were employed to identify key influencing factors, and multiple linear regression was used to analyze the factors affecting MTP.Results:A total of 501 cardiac surgery inpatients meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled, including 308 males and 193 females, with a mean age of (56.94 ± 14.02) years. The mean MTP was (45.92 ± 9.57) kPa. When the lambda (λ) value was 0.181, the model achieved the best fit, identifying 10 key influencing factors in descending order of importance: age, handgrip strength, gender, BMI, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), glomerular filtration rate, cardiac function grade, hemoglobin, history of stroke, and history of atrial fibrillation. Age, handgrip strength, low-level BMI, NT-proBNP, and history of stroke were determined as significant factors influencing MTP in cardiac surgery inpatients ( R2 = 0.324, F = 24.92, P<0.05). Conclusions:Nurses should pay close attention to the tongue muscle strength of cardiac surgery inpatients. Early assessment of MTP is essential for older patients, those with low handgrip strength, low BMI, elevated NT-proBNP, or a history of stroke. Targeted early identification and pre-rehabilitation measures should be implemented for patients with weakened tongue muscle strength.
4.Analysis of syncopal DRVR in blood donors: multicenter hemovigilance data (2020—2023)
Junhong YANG ; Qing XU ; Wenqin ZHU ; Fei TANG ; Ruru HE ; Zhenping LU ; Zhujiang YE ; Fade ZHONG ; Gang WU ; Guoqiang FENG ; Xiaojie GUO ; Jia ZENG ; Xia HUANG
Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion 2025;38(8):1071-1076
Objective: Data on syncopal donation-related vasovagal reaction (DRVR) collected from 74 blood centers between 2020 and 2023 was statistically analyzed to provide a reference for developing preventive strategies against syncopal DRVR. Methods: Data on blood donation adverse reactions and basic information of donors from 2020 to 2023 were collected through the information management system at monitoring sentinel sites. Statistical analysis was performed on the following aspects of syncopal DRVR: characteristics of donors who experienced syncope, reported incidence, triggers, duration, presence and occurrence time of syncope-related trauma, clinical management including outpatient and inpatient treatment, and severity grading. Results: From 2020 to 2023, 45 966 donation-related adverse reactions were recorded. Of these, 1 665 (3.72%) cases were syncopal DRVR. The incidence of syncopal DRVR decreased with age, being the highest in the 18-22 age group. Incidence was significantly higher in female donors than male donors, in first-time donors than repeat donors, and in university and individual donors than group donors (all P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference among different blood donation locations (P>0.05). The top three triggers were tension, fatigue, and needle phobia or fear of blood. Among syncopal DRVR cases, 60.36% occurred during blood collection, 87.63% lasted for less than 60 seconds, and 5.05% were accompanied by trauma. Notably, 57.14% of these traumas occurred after donor had left the blood collection site. Syncope severity was graded based on required treatment: grade 1 (fully recovered without treatment, 95.50%); grade 2 (recovered after outpatient treatment, 4.02%); and grade 3 (recovered after inpatient treatment, 0.48%). Conclusion: By analyzing the data of syncopal DRVR cases, it is possible to provide a reference for formulating blood donor safety policies.
5.A novel anti-ischemic stroke candidate drug AAPB with dual effects of neuroprotection and cerebral blood flow improvement.
Jianbing WU ; Duorui JI ; Weijie JIAO ; Jian JIA ; Jiayi ZHU ; Taijun HANG ; Xijing CHEN ; Yang DING ; Yuwen XU ; Xinglong CHANG ; Liang LI ; Qiu LIU ; Yumei CAO ; Yan ZHONG ; Xia SUN ; Qingming GUO ; Tuanjie WANG ; Zhenzhong WANG ; Ya LING ; Wei XIAO ; Zhangjian HUANG ; Yihua ZHANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(2):1070-1083
Ischemic stroke (IS) is a globally life-threatening disease. Presently, few therapeutic medicines are available for treating IS, and rt-PA is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US. In fact, many agents showing excellent neuroprotection but no blood flow-improving activity in animals have not achieved ideal clinical efficacy, while thrombolytic drugs only improving blood flow without neuroprotection have limited their wider application. To address these challenges and meet the huge unmet clinical need, we have designed and identified a novel compound AAPB with dual effects of neuroprotection and cerebral blood flow improvement. AAPB significantly reduced cerebral infarction and neural function deficit in tMCAO rats, pMCAO rats, and IS rhesus monkeys, as well as displayed exceptional safety profiles and excellent pharmacokinetic properties in rats and dogs. AAPB has now entered phase I of clinical trials fighting IS in China.
6.Preparation and Identification of a Novel Polypeptide Promoting Wound Healing
Yue-Xia ZHU ; Biao HUANG ; Yu-Bin LIAO ; Chen-Xin WANG ; Zhong-Hua LIU ; Qiong LIAO
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(10):1402-1409
Wound repair and infection have long posed significant challenges in clinical medicine.Am-phibians,adapting to complex environments through long-term natural selection,have evolved skin sys-tems with remarkable abilities to resist external damage and promote rapid wound healing,making them an important source for discovering candidate molecules for wound healing.In this study,a novel peptide composed of 22 amino acids,with the sequence"VGKAGLETAACKATNSCFNIDW"and a molecular weight of 2299.6 D,was screened from the cDNA library of Odorrana tormota and named PN-VW22.The peptide was synthesized by solid-phase synthesis,and its effects on cell proliferation were evaluated using the CCK-8 assay and scratch wound healing assay in human keratinocytes(HaCaT)and mouse em-bryonic fibroblasts(NIH3T3).Antibacterial activity was assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC).Results showed that PN-VW22 at various concentrations had no significant effect on the cell viability in NIH3T3 cells(P>0.05),but significantly enhanced HaCaT cell viability at 0.5μmol/L(P<0.001).Meanwhile,PN-VW22 induced cell proliferation and promoted wound healing in HaCaT cells,with a healing rate of 64.44%after 24 h incubation at 0.5 μmol/L.Furthermore,PN-VW22 exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with an MIC value of 13.92 μmol/L.In sum,this study identified PN-VW22 as a novel bifunctional peptide with both wound repair and anti-infective properties,providing a new toxin peptide template for the development of wound healing drugs.
7.Nurses' experience with nursing information systems: a Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
Teng LI ; Songmei CAO ; Zhuoran XIA ; Yimeng FAN ; Yu ZHONG ; Yao HUANG
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2025;31(10):1284-1292
Objective:To systematically evaluate and integrate the qualitative studies on nurses' experiences with nursing information systems, so as to provide a basis for improving the use and management of nursing information systems.Methods:The qualitative study on nurses' experiences, feelings, and attitudes toward nursing information systems was electronically searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, VIP, China Biology Medicine disc, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and PsycINFO. The retrieval period was from database establishment to December 2023. The quality of the literature was evaluated according to the Australia Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-Based Health Care Centre Quality Assessment Criteria for Qualitative Research (2020). Two researchers independently completed the extraction of data and applied the aggregative synthesis to integrate the results.Results:A total of 10 articles were included. A total of 36 results were extracted, and seven new categories were summarized to form three integrated results, namely, the vertical evolution of technology acceptance attitudes, the "mixed blessing" of information technology, and the future-oriented expectations of users.Conclusions:Managers need to dynamically assess nurses' acceptance of the nursing information system, emphasize nurses' experience of annoyance, reduce their psychological burden, establish a sound feedback mechanism and supportive work environment, and effectively promote the construction of information technology.
8.Preparation and Identification of a Novel Polypeptide Promoting Wound Healing
Yue-Xia ZHU ; Biao HUANG ; Yu-Bin LIAO ; Chen-Xin WANG ; Zhong-Hua LIU ; Qiong LIAO
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(10):1402-1409
Wound repair and infection have long posed significant challenges in clinical medicine.Am-phibians,adapting to complex environments through long-term natural selection,have evolved skin sys-tems with remarkable abilities to resist external damage and promote rapid wound healing,making them an important source for discovering candidate molecules for wound healing.In this study,a novel peptide composed of 22 amino acids,with the sequence"VGKAGLETAACKATNSCFNIDW"and a molecular weight of 2299.6 D,was screened from the cDNA library of Odorrana tormota and named PN-VW22.The peptide was synthesized by solid-phase synthesis,and its effects on cell proliferation were evaluated using the CCK-8 assay and scratch wound healing assay in human keratinocytes(HaCaT)and mouse em-bryonic fibroblasts(NIH3T3).Antibacterial activity was assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC).Results showed that PN-VW22 at various concentrations had no significant effect on the cell viability in NIH3T3 cells(P>0.05),but significantly enhanced HaCaT cell viability at 0.5μmol/L(P<0.001).Meanwhile,PN-VW22 induced cell proliferation and promoted wound healing in HaCaT cells,with a healing rate of 64.44%after 24 h incubation at 0.5 μmol/L.Furthermore,PN-VW22 exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with an MIC value of 13.92 μmol/L.In sum,this study identified PN-VW22 as a novel bifunctional peptide with both wound repair and anti-infective properties,providing a new toxin peptide template for the development of wound healing drugs.
9.Nurses' experience with nursing information systems: a Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
Teng LI ; Songmei CAO ; Zhuoran XIA ; Yimeng FAN ; Yu ZHONG ; Yao HUANG
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2025;31(10):1284-1292
Objective:To systematically evaluate and integrate the qualitative studies on nurses' experiences with nursing information systems, so as to provide a basis for improving the use and management of nursing information systems.Methods:The qualitative study on nurses' experiences, feelings, and attitudes toward nursing information systems was electronically searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, VIP, China Biology Medicine disc, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and PsycINFO. The retrieval period was from database establishment to December 2023. The quality of the literature was evaluated according to the Australia Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-Based Health Care Centre Quality Assessment Criteria for Qualitative Research (2020). Two researchers independently completed the extraction of data and applied the aggregative synthesis to integrate the results.Results:A total of 10 articles were included. A total of 36 results were extracted, and seven new categories were summarized to form three integrated results, namely, the vertical evolution of technology acceptance attitudes, the "mixed blessing" of information technology, and the future-oriented expectations of users.Conclusions:Managers need to dynamically assess nurses' acceptance of the nursing information system, emphasize nurses' experience of annoyance, reduce their psychological burden, establish a sound feedback mechanism and supportive work environment, and effectively promote the construction of information technology.
10.Study on the current status and influencing factors of maximum tongue pressure in cardiac surgery inpatients based on a random forest model
Aimin SHAO ; Yilei ZHU ; Haiou XIA ; Jun ZHONG ; Run HUANG
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(8):620-627
Objective:To investigate the current status of maximum tongue pressure (MTP) in cardiac surgery inpatients and analyze its influencing factors, providing a basis for developing personalized nursing measures for high-risk groups.Methods:This cross-sectional study used a convenience sampling method to select cardiac surgery inpatients at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, from January 2022 to April 2023. General and clinical data questionnaires, a swallowing tongue muscle evaluation training device, and a hand dynamometer were used for data collection. The random forest model and Lasso regression were employed to identify key influencing factors, and multiple linear regression was used to analyze the factors affecting MTP.Results:A total of 501 cardiac surgery inpatients meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled, including 308 males and 193 females, with a mean age of (56.94 ± 14.02) years. The mean MTP was (45.92 ± 9.57) kPa. When the lambda (λ) value was 0.181, the model achieved the best fit, identifying 10 key influencing factors in descending order of importance: age, handgrip strength, gender, BMI, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), glomerular filtration rate, cardiac function grade, hemoglobin, history of stroke, and history of atrial fibrillation. Age, handgrip strength, low-level BMI, NT-proBNP, and history of stroke were determined as significant factors influencing MTP in cardiac surgery inpatients ( R2 = 0.324, F = 24.92, P<0.05). Conclusions:Nurses should pay close attention to the tongue muscle strength of cardiac surgery inpatients. Early assessment of MTP is essential for older patients, those with low handgrip strength, low BMI, elevated NT-proBNP, or a history of stroke. Targeted early identification and pre-rehabilitation measures should be implemented for patients with weakened tongue muscle strength.

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