Objective:To investigate the differences in dosimetric parameters for target volumes and organs at risk (OARs), radiation doses to reconstructed tissues, and beam-on time in radiotherapy among helical tomotherapy (HT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and fixed-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (F_IMRT) following immediate breast reconstruction for breast cancer, thereby providing a reference for the selection of clinical radiotherapy techniques.Methods:This study retrospectively investigated 15 breast cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy following modified radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction at the Liuzhou Worker′s Hospital from August 2018 to July 2023. During target volume delineation, precautions were taken to avoid the reconstructed tissues, which were delineated separately. Customized HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT treatment plans were designed for each patient. The plans were categorized into the HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT groups based on different radiotherapy techniques employed. They were comparatively analyzed through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with multiple comparisons further conducted in the case of significant differences.Results:Statistical analyses reveal significant differences in various parameters of target volumes among the three groups of plans ( F = 38.73, 14.95, 37.01, 48.05, 35.55, 22.56, 34.30, P < 0.05). Pairwise comparisons indicate that the maximum dose ( D2%), minimum dose ( D98%), mean dose ( Dmean), and the proportion of high-dose volumes within the target volume ( V107%and V110%) in both the HT and VMAT groups were significantly better than those in the F_IMRT group. The HT group demonstrated the optimal conformity index (CI), while the VMAT group displayed the superior homogeneity index (HI) compared to the other two groups. In terms of OAR, the V20 of the ipsilateral lung was the lowest in the HT group ( F = 14.31, P < 0.05) and the highest in the F_IMRT group ( F = 14.31, P < 0.05). However, the V5 and Dmean for both the ipsilateral and contralateral lungs in the HT group significantly surpassed those of the other groups ( F = 39.16, 31.91, P < 0.05). The mean dose Dmean ( F = 5.57, P < 0.05) of the contralateral breast was significantly reduced in the VMAT group compared to the other two groups. No statistically significant differences were observed for other OARs, including the heart, spinal cord PRV, thyroid, and humeral head ( P > 0.05). The radiation doses to reconstructed tissues ( Dmax, V53.5, Dmean) ascended in the order of HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT groups ( F = 17.69, 17.53, 15.11, P < 0.05). The HT and F_IMRT groups showed similar beam-on times ( P > 0.05), both exceeding that of the VMAT group by several folds ( F = 28.72, P < 0.05). Conclusions:The comparative analysis indicates that the three radiotherapy techniques exhibit distinct advantages and limitations, with F_IMRT demonstrating the least comprehensive advantage. HT can enhance the conformity of target volumes while reducing the overall radiation doses to reconstructed tissues and the crucial indicator V20 in the ipsilateral lung. VMAT demonstrates the highest treatment efficiency, yielding improved dose uniformity in the target volume and reduced radiation doses to the contralateral breast. It is advisable to prioritize HT or VMAT based on actual clinical conditions.

Objective:To investigate the differences in dosimetric parameters for target volumes and organs at risk (OARs), radiation doses to reconstructed tissues, and beam-on time in radiotherapy among helical tomotherapy (HT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and fixed-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (F_IMRT) following immediate breast reconstruction for breast cancer, thereby providing a reference for the selection of clinical radiotherapy techniques.Methods:This study retrospectively investigated 15 breast cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy following modified radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction at the Liuzhou Worker′s Hospital from August 2018 to July 2023. During target volume delineation, precautions were taken to avoid the reconstructed tissues, which were delineated separately. Customized HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT treatment plans were designed for each patient. The plans were categorized into the HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT groups based on different radiotherapy techniques employed. They were comparatively analyzed through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with multiple comparisons further conducted in the case of significant differences.Results:Statistical analyses reveal significant differences in various parameters of target volumes among the three groups of plans ( F = 38.73, 14.95, 37.01, 48.05, 35.55, 22.56, 34.30, P < 0.05). Pairwise comparisons indicate that the maximum dose ( D2%), minimum dose ( D98%), mean dose ( Dmean), and the proportion of high-dose volumes within the target volume ( V107%and V110%) in both the HT and VMAT groups were significantly better than those in the F_IMRT group. The HT group demonstrated the optimal conformity index (CI), while the VMAT group displayed the superior homogeneity index (HI) compared to the other two groups. In terms of OAR, the V20 of the ipsilateral lung was the lowest in the HT group ( F = 14.31, P < 0.05) and the highest in the F_IMRT group ( F = 14.31, P < 0.05). However, the V5 and Dmean for both the ipsilateral and contralateral lungs in the HT group significantly surpassed those of the other groups ( F = 39.16, 31.91, P < 0.05). The mean dose Dmean ( F = 5.57, P < 0.05) of the contralateral breast was significantly reduced in the VMAT group compared to the other two groups. No statistically significant differences were observed for other OARs, including the heart, spinal cord PRV, thyroid, and humeral head ( P > 0.05). The radiation doses to reconstructed tissues ( Dmax, V53.5, Dmean) ascended in the order of HT, VMAT, and F_IMRT groups ( F = 17.69, 17.53, 15.11, P < 0.05). The HT and F_IMRT groups showed similar beam-on times ( P > 0.05), both exceeding that of the VMAT group by several folds ( F = 28.72, P < 0.05). Conclusions:The comparative analysis indicates that the three radiotherapy techniques exhibit distinct advantages and limitations, with F_IMRT demonstrating the least comprehensive advantage. HT can enhance the conformity of target volumes while reducing the overall radiation doses to reconstructed tissues and the crucial indicator V20 in the ipsilateral lung. VMAT demonstrates the highest treatment efficiency, yielding improved dose uniformity in the target volume and reduced radiation doses to the contralateral breast. It is advisable to prioritize HT or VMAT based on actual clinical conditions.

Objective:To evaluate the value of shear wave elastography (SWE) in skin assessment of Systemic sclerosis (SSc).Methods:A total of 58 SSc patients admitted to Peking University Third Hospital from May 2021 to October 2022 and 41 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Skin shear wave elastography (SWE) was performed at 17 sites defined in modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) measurement, and shear wave velocity values were recorded to evaluate skin hardness. SPSS 22.0 software was used to analyze the skin hardness of SSc patients and healthy controls, and the correlation between skin hardness of SSc patients and clinical data was analyzed. A logistic regression model was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of skin hardness at different sites of SSc patients, and to further select the most practical measurement site.Results:The SWE value of SSc patients was significantly higher than that of healthy control group ( P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between SWE and mRSS in the measurement of bilateral fingers, bilateral dorsal hands, bilateral forearms, fore-chest, abdomen, bilateral thighs, and bilateral dorsal feet. Skin stiffness measured by SWE was significantly correlated with SSc disease activity score (EScSG-DAI), ( r=0.71, P<0.001), disease injury score (SCTC-DI), (P=0.55, P=0.005) and functional score (HAQ-DI), ( r=0.46, P=0.003). Reducing the number of measurement sites to 12 (bilateral fingers, bilateral hands, bilateral forearms, bilateral upper arms, forehead, fore-chest, bilateral dorsum of feet) performs as well as all 17 measurement sites simultaneously in assessing disease activity. Conclusion:SWE is a good evaluation tool to reflect the skin lesions of SSc, which is of great value for the diagnosis and evaluation of the disease. We can further standardize the measurement sites and select the most appropriate evaluation strategy, so as to achieve better clinical application.

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of 3D ResSE-Unet-based intelligent delineation of clinical target volume (CTV) in postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for breast cancer.Methods:A total of 974 cases of breast cancer treated in the Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from September 2018 to June 2022 were enrolled in this study, including 614 cases receiving total mastectomy and 360 cases treated with breast-conserving surgery. They were divided into a training set, a validation set, and a testing set. The training set consisted of 874 cases and was used to build a model of 3D ResSE-Unet-based intelligent CTV delineation. The validation set comprised 40 cases and was used to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the clinical application of AI-based CTV design in the radiotherapy for breast cancer. The testing set was composed of 60 cases and was used to test the accuracy of intelligent CTV. The Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95), and average surface distance (ASD) obtained using the intelligent delineation model.Results:The intelligent delineation model showed high precision. The CTV of cases treated with total mastectomy (CTV cw) and the CTV of cases treated with breast-conserving surgery (CTV b) had DSCs greater than 0.80 and greater than 0.88, respectively. Therefore, compared with CTV cw, CTV b had a higher DSC (0.91 ± 0.03 vs.0.83 ± 0.05, t = 7.11, P < 0.05). Both CTV cw and CTV b had lower HD 95 [(7.56 ± 3.42) mm vs.(8.77 ± 5.89) mm] and ASD [(1.85 ± 0.71) mm vs.(1.86 ± 0.83)mm], without statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). The left/right supraclavicular and infraclavicular CTV (CTV2) had DSCs greater than 0.8. CTV2 also had low average HD95 and ASD, without statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). Conclusions:The 3D ResSE-Unet-based intelligent CTV delineation has better consistency and feasibility in postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for breast cancer, especially the CTVs after breast-conserving surgery.

Background::Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s dementia. Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the pathology of PD. Coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain-containing 2 (CHCHD2) was identified as associated with autosomal dominant PD. However, the mechanism of CHCHD2 in PD remains unclear.Methods::Short hairpin RNA (ShRNA)-mediated CHCHD2 knockdown or lentivirus-mediated CHCHD2 overexpression was performed to investigate the impact of CHCHD2 on mitochondrial morphology and function in neuronal tumor cell lines represented with human neuroblastoma (SHSY5Y) and HeLa cells. Blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE analysis were used to illustrate the role of CHCHD2 in mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS). Co-immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting were used to address the interaction between CHCHD2 and Mic10. Serotype injection of adeno-associated vector-mediated CHCHD2 and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) administration were used to examine the influence of CHCHD2 in vivo.Results::We found that the overexpression of CHCHD2 can protect against methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and inhibit the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the MPTP-induced mouse model. Furthermore, we identified that CHCHD2 interacted with Mic10, and overexpression of CHCHD2 can protect against MPP +-induced MICOS impairment, while knockdown of CHCHD2 impaired the stability of MICOS. Conclusion::This study indicated that CHCHD2 could interact with Mic10 and maintain the stability of the MICOS complex, which contributes to protecting mitochondrial function in PD.

Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of memory alloy embracing fixators in fixation of the rib fractures and investigate the related surgical indications and surgical techniques.Methods Retrospectively review was conducted on the clinical data of 30 patients with rib fractures treated with memory alloy embracing fixators from October 2010 to April 2011 at General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command.The number of memory alloy embracing fixators used in operation,the number of fixed positions,and operation time were recorded.The pain scores before and after operation were comparatively studied.Operation efficacy and complications were analyzed.Results Of the 30 patients,the total operation time,number of fixators,and number of fixed ribs were (111.9±48.0) minutes,4.3±2.1 and 3.5±1.3,respectively.Meanwhile,the difference between pre-operative and post-operative pain scores was significant (6.93±0.88) points vs (4.04±0.62) points,P＜0.05).The ambulation perlod was (4.6±1.9) days and length of hospital stay was (27.2±10.8) days.Incisional and thoracic wall hematoma was detected in three patients and pulmonary infection in six post-operatively but none presented intractable chest pain,foreign body rejection or wound infection.Conclusion Memory alloy embracing fixators for rib fractures is reliable,easy,and effective in alleviating pain,improving lung function,reducing the frequency of ventilator use and preventing complications like lung infection.