AIM: To investigate the effects of hypobaric hypoxia in plateau on tear indexes and related anatomical structures in rabbits.METHODS: A total of 18 healthy New Zealand rabbits were selected and randomly divided into plateau group and control group, with 9 rabbits(18 eyes)in each group. The plateau group was housed in the Simulated Climate Cabin for Special Environment of Northwest of China, simulating hypobaric hypoxia at an altitude of 6 000 m. The control group was housed in a clean animal room with atmospheric pressure and oxygen. Changes in the tear meniscus height and non-invasive tear break-up time were detected by using RHCT-1 corneal topographer dry eye comprehensive analysis system, changes in tear secretion was measured by Schirmer Ⅰ test, before intervention and on the 3, 7 d, 2 and 4 wk. Meanwhile, the changes in tear composition before and after intervention in the plateau environment were analyzed using Raman Spectroscopy. The histopathological changes of the lower lid conjunctiva, cornea, lacrimal gland, and Hardarian gland were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining after 4 wk of intervention, and the expression of mucin 5AC(MUC5AC)in conjunctiva was detected by immunohistochemistry.RESULTS: Compared with the control group, Schirmer Ⅰ test, tear meniscus height, first and average non-invasive tear break-up time in the plateau group decreased significantly since 3 d, and the difference was significant with the extension of observation time(P<0.05). The above indexes increased from 2 wk. After 4 wk of intervention, the protein and lipid content of the tear composition of rabbits in the plateau group increased, and the nucleic acid content decreased compared with the pre-intervention period. Compared with the control group, rabbits in the plateau group showed thickening of corneal stromal edema, an increase in the number of conjunctival cup cells, increase in the level of expression of MUC5AC, an increase in the level of expression of MUC5AC, an atrophy and flattening of cytoplasm in lacrimal epithelial cells, an enlargement of glandular lumen, and no obvious destructive changes in the Hardarian glands.CONCLUSION: Acute plateau environment can destroy the homeostasis of rabbit ocular surface, so that the tear secretion and the tear film stability decreases, but within a certain period of time, rabbits undergo compensation with the habituation to the hypobaric hypoxia environment, which can increase the tear secretion to a certain extent and restore the tear film stability.

Objective:To investigate the dosimetric impact of tumor treating fields (TTF) transducer arrays on concurrent radiotherapy for patients with glioblastoma (GBM).Methods:A strategy was developed to accurately simulate the dosimetric impact of TTF arrays on radiotherapy, including the establishment of accurate auto-segmentation technique for TTF arrays, determination of the relative electron density (RED) of the transducer arrays and validation of the dose calculation accuracy in the treatment planning system (TPS) for TTF arrays. Based on this strategy, the dosimetric impact of TTF arrays on clinical treatment plans of 10 patients with GBM was evaluated. Furthermore, the dosimetric comparison between the clinical plans with different beam energies were investigated when TTF arrays were used. The methods of analysis of variance were paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test based on whether the differences followed a normal distribution. Results:The auto-segmentation technique for TTF arrays was established by designing a workflow in Mim software and achieved a Dice coefficient of 0.93 and a Jaccard index of 0.87 compared to the standard contours. The RED of TTF arrays was 3.3 which was derived from the comparison between the measured and simulated percentage depth dose (PDD) with and without TTF arrays on phantom. Measured and calculated dose distributions were compared using the 2D gamma analysis. The gamma passing rates on the coronal plane of 4 mm and 5.1 cm depth were 96.64% and 94.55% at the criteria of 3% /3 mm, indicating that the calculation accuracy of algorithm in TPS for TTF arrays could meet clinical requirements. In the clinical treatment plans of patients with GBM, the presence of TTF arrays caused a mean reduction of planning target volume (PTV) dose of approximately 1%, and an increase in scalp dose of approximately 5%, with minimal impact on other organs at risk (OAR). The 10 MV plans resulted in a higher dose of PTV by 0.3% and lower dose of scalp by approximately 3% compared to the 6 MV plans, when considering TTF arrays.Conclusions:The accurate simulation strategy for the dosimetric impact of TTF arrays on radiotherapy established in this study ensures the accuracy and precision of the calculations. In TTF therapy combined with concurrent radiotherapy for GBM, TTF arrays have slight effect on PTV dose, but significantly increase scalp dose. High-energy beam can reduce the impact of TTF arrays.

Objective:To compare the plan quality between coplanar and non-coplanar volumetric modulated arc therapy (co-VMAT and nco-VMAT) techniques for the whole brain radiotherapy with hippocampus and hypothalamic-pituitary (HT-P) axis sparing.Methods:A total of 15 patients who underwent prophylactic cranial irradiation in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from November 2021 to August 2023 were retrospectively selected. The hippocampus and HT-P axis were delineated according to Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0933 and contouring guidelines for hypothalamus. Co-VMAT and nco-VMAT plans were generated for each patient with a prescription dose of 30 Gy in 10 fractions. Then, dosimetric parameters, plan robustness, plan complexity, and delivery efficiency for both plans were compared using paired t-test. Results:Both co-VMAT and nco-VMAT plans could achieve dosimetric objectives. There were no significant differences in D 2%, D 95% and conformity index (CI) of planning target volume (PTV) between the two plans. The D 98% and homogeneity index (HI) of PTV in co-VMAT showed a slight inferiority compared to that in nco-VMAT (D 98%: 26.37 Gy vs. 26.96 Gy, P=0.001; HI: 0.25 vs. 0.24, P=0.002). The D min of bilateral hippocampus in co-VMAT were 8.55 Gy (left) and 8.32 Gy (right), which were lower than 9.31 Gy (left) and 9.26 Gy (right) in nco-VMAT. In addition, the D mean of the hypothalamus and pituitary in the co-VMAT plan were lower than those in the nco-VMAT plan (hypothalamus: 11.54 Gy vs. 12.27 Gy; pituitary: 11.72 Gy vs.12.1 Gy, both P<0.001). The doses to the hippocampus and HT-P axis were highly sensitive to errors in both co-VMAT and nco-VMAT plans, while the sensitivity of dose to errors in the PTV and other organs at risk was low. The co-VMAT plan had lower complexity compared to the nco-VMAT plan, with γ passing rate at 3%/3 mm criteria of 99.06%±0.60% and 98.05%±2.89%, respectively. The average beam-on time of the co-VMAT plan was 4.8 min, approximately 2/3 of the time for nco-VMAT, while the average treatment time was 6.3 min, approximately half of the treatment time for nco-VMAT. Conclusions:Both co-VMAT and nco-VMAT can achieve hippocampus and HT-P axis sparing in the whole brain radiotherapy. In the co-VMAT plan, the D 98% of the PTV is slightly smaller, but it provides better protection for the hippocampus and HT-P axis. The doses to the hippocampus and HT-P axis are sensitive to errors in both plans. However, the co-VMAT plan has lower complexity, higher delivery efficiency, and is more suitable for clinical treatment.

AIM:To investigate the impact and regulatory mechanisms of zinc finger protein 36-like protein 1(ZFP36L1)on pancreatic carcinoma cell growth.METHODS:The ZFP36L1 expression in pancreatic carcinoma and its correlation with patient prognosis were analyzed using online databases UALCAN and GEPIA.Western blot was utilized to detect ZFP36L1 protein expression in pancreatic ductal cells(HPNE)and three different pancreatic carcinoma cell lines.CCK-8 and cell colony formation assays were performed to evaluate the effects of ZFP36L1 on pancreatic cancer cell prolif-eration.Wound healing and Transwell assays were used to assess the impact of ZFP36L1 expression changes on pancreatic carcinoma cell migration and invasion.Flow cytometry experiments were used to analyze the effect of ZFP36L1 on the pan-creatic carcinoma cell cycle process.Bioinformatics analysis was conducted to predict potential ZFP36L1 interacting pro-teins.Co-immunoprecipitation experiments were carried out to confirm the interaction between ZFP36L1 and mitogen-acti-vated protein kinase 14(MAPK14).Rescue experiments were performed to assess the function of MAPK14 in ZFP36L1-regulated pancreatic carcinoma cell growth.RESULTS:(1)ZFP36L1 is highly expressed in pancreatic carcinoma and is positively correlated with poor prognosis in pancreatic carcinoma patients.Compared to HPNE,ZFP36L1 is highly ex-pressed in MIA PaCa-2 and ASPC-1 cells,but relatively low in PANC-1 cells.(2)ZFP36L1 overexpression significantly increased the cell viability,colony formation,migration,and invasion abilities of PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cells,while siRNA interference of ZFP36L1 led to opposite results.(3)ZFP36L1 promotes the entry of pancreatic carcinoma cells into the S phase of the cell cycle.(4)ZFP36L1 interacts with MAPK14 to regulate pancreatic cancer cell growth.MAPK14 overexpression reversed the cell viability and migration abilities of pancreatic carcinoma cells overexpressing ZFP36L1.Furthermore,it also decreased the cell viability and migration abilities of pancreatic carcinoma cells with ZFP36L1 inter-ference.CONCLUSION:ZFP36L1 is a potential oncogene in pancreatic carcinoma growth and may regulate pancreatic carcinoma cell growth through cell cycle modulation and interaction with MAPK14.

Objective To observe the value of dual domain(projection domain and image domain)joint learning reconstruction network(DDRNet)for reconstructing chest limited angle CT images.Methods Totally 4 300 chest enhanced CT images of 65 patients with chest tumors were retrospectively enrolled and reconstructed with DDRNet,and 3D and 2D projection information fusion were performed.The reconstruction effect of DDRNet was evaluated and compared with that of single domain reconstruction and filtered back projection(FBP),residual encoder-decoder convolutional neural network(RED-CNN),Resnet and deconvolution network(RDN),as well as of generative adversarial network(GAN).Results The peak signal to noise ratio(PSNR)of DDRNet reconstructed images tended to stabilize after approximately 60 iterations,while the projection domain and image domain learning networks tended to stabilize after approximately 90 and 80 iterations.After stable training,compared to the projection domain learning network,the fluctuation of output results of DDRNet and image domain learning networks were less.After 200 rounds of training,PSNR of DDRNet reconstructed images was significantly higher than that of projection domain and image domain learning networks.The quality of DDRNet reconstructed image was significantly better than that of FBP,RED-CNN,RDN and GAN.Conclusion DDRNet could be used to effectively reconstruct high-quality chest limited angle CT images.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of selenoprotein M (SelM) in endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis in nickel-exposed mouse hearts and to explore the detoxifying effects of melatonin. At 21 d after intraperitoneal injection of nickel chloride (NiCl₂) and/or melatonin into male wild-type (WT) and SelM knockout (KO) C57BL/6J mice, NiCl₂ was found to induce changes in the microstructure and ultrastructure of the hearts of both WT and SelM KO mice, which were caused by oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and apoptosis, as evidenced by decreases in malondialdehyde (MDA) content and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) activity. Changes in the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression of genes related to endoplasmic reticulum stress (activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), inositol-requiring protein 1 (IRE1), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP)) and apoptosis (B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), Caspase-3, Caspase-9, and Caspase-12) were also observed. Notably, the observed damage was worse in SelM KO mice. Furthermore, melatonin alleviated the heart injury caused by NiCl₂ in WT mice but could not exert a good protective effect in the heart of SelM KO mice. Overall, the findings suggested that the antioxidant capacity of SelM, as well as its modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis, plays important roles in nickel-induced heart injury.
Animals ; Male ; Mice ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Apoptosis ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ; Melatonin/pharmacology* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nickel/adverse effects* ; Selenoproteins/genetics* ; Heart/drug effects*

Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) is a common strain disease in adolescents, which is more common in youth sports enthusiasts, athletes and soldiers. The clinical manifestations of OSD are typical, and the diagnosis can be made based on the medical history, physical examination and knee X-ray examination, but it needs to be differentiated from other diseases that may cause anterior knee pain. The risk factors of OSD development include males, 12-15 years of age in males and 8-12 years of age in females, high body mass index, skeletal-muscular anatomical variants, and large amount of exercise, etc. OSD is a self-limited disorder that gradually resolves as the skeleton maturates. Most patients do not need treatment or can also be treated with conservative methods such as exercise therapy, medications and physical therapy, but may be left with sequelae that affect motor function and quality of life. Clinical attention should be paid to it adequately. If the conservative treatment is ineffective, active operation should be performed. The principle of operation is to remove bone fragments and reconstruct tibial tuberosity. Common surgical procedures include traditional open surgery and arthroscopic surgery. Arthroscopic surgery, with its advantages of minimally invasive and rapid recovery, is currently advocated as the best surgical procedure, but the mid- and long-term efficacy is unclear.

Objective:Due to the low contrast between tumors and surrounding tissues in CBCT images, this study was designed to propose an automatic segmentation method for central lung cancer in CBCT images.Methods:There are 221 patients with central lung cancer were recruited. Among them, 176 patients underwent CT localization and 45 patients underwent enhanced CT localization. The enhanced CT images were set as the lung window and mediastinal window, and elastic registration was performed with the first CBCT validation images to obtain the paired data set. The CBCT images could be transformed into" enhanced CT" under the lung window and mediastinal window by loading the paired data sets into cycleGAN network for style transformation. Finally, the transformed images were loaded into the UNET-attention network for deep learning of GTV. The results of segmentation were evaluated by Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance (HD) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).Results:The contrast between tumors and surrounding tissues was significantly improved after style transformation. The DSC value of cycleGAN+ UNET-attention network was 0.78±0.05, HD value was 9.22±3.42 and AUC value was 0.864, respectively.Conclusion:The cycleGAN+ UNET-attention network can effectively segment central lung cancer in CBCT images.

Background Lipid metabolism in liver shows circadian-dependent profiles. The hepatotoxicity of environmental chemicals is dependent on circadian time. Objective To observe the effects of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure at different zeitgeber time (ZT) on hepatic and blood lipid metabolism and decipher the underlying mechanisms related to circadian rhythm in mice. Methods Thirty-five female C57BL/6J mice were sacrificed every 4 h in a light-dark cycle (12 h/12 h). The liver tissues were collected to describe the circadian profiles of hepatic Rev-erba, Bmal1, Clock, Srebp1c, and Chrebp mRNA expression levels within 24 h. Thirty female mice were divided into 6 groups by the timing (ZT3 represents the 3 h after light on, ZT15 represents the 3 h after light off) and dose (50 or 500 μg·kg⁻¹·d⁻¹) of BPA exposure to observe hepatotoxicity. Mice were gavaged with designed doses of BPA once per day for 4 weeks. Mice were maintained with ad libitum access to food and water and measured body weight weekly. After the experiment, mice were euthanatized and liver tissues were separated to determine the biochemical indicators of lipid metabolism and lipid metabolism- and circadian-related gene mRNA expressions. Results Hepatic Rev-erba, Bmal1, Clock, Srebp1c, and Chrebp mRNA expression levels were rhythmic during a 24 h period in mice. At ZT3 and ZT15, BPA did not alter body weight, plasma glucose, plasma total cholesterol, plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and plasma triglycerides (P>0.05). The plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased in the 50 μg·kg⁻¹·d⁻¹ BPA group at ZT3 by 14.56% compared with the control group (P<0.05). The liver triglycerides increased in the 50 μg·kg⁻¹·d⁻¹ BPA group at ZT15 by 115.20% compared with the control group (P<0.05). BPA decreased Srebp1c mRNA expression level when dosing at ZT3 and increased Chrebp, Srebp1c, and Acc1 mRNA expression levels when dosing at ZT15 compared with the control group (P<0.05). BPA increased Bmal1 mRNA expression level and decreased Rev-erbα mRNA expression level at ZT3 exposure and decreased Bmal1 and increased Rev-erbα mRNA expression level at ZT15 exposure (P<0.05). Conclusion BPA exposure at light or dark period has different effects on hepatic lipid metabolism in mice. Hepatic lipid deposit appears when BPA is dosed at dark period. Rev-erbα-Bmal1 regulation circuits and the subsequent upregulation of Srebp1c and Chrebp and the target gene Acc1 may be involved.

Objective: To analyze the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of new HIV/AIDS cases at ages of 50 years and older in Wenzhou City from 2006 to 2020, so as to provide insights into precise control of AIDS. Methods : The data of new HIV/AIDS cases aged 50 years and older in Wenzhou City from 2006 to 2020 were collected from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. The temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of new HIV/AIDS cases at ages of 50 years and older were identified using global and local spatial autocorrelation analyses and spatial-temporal scan analysis. Results: Totally 1 917 new HIV/AIDS cases aged 50 years and older were detected in Wenzhou City from 2006 to 2020, and there were 179 new HIV/AIDS cases in 58 townships ( streets ) from 2006 to 2010, 643 cases in 113 townships ( streets ) from 2011 to 2015 and 1 095 cases in 147 townships ( streets ) from 2016 to 2020, respectively. The distribution of new HIV/AIDS cases appeared positive spatial autocorrelations from 2006 to 2010 ( Moran's I value=0.05, Z=1.976, P=0.046 ), from 2011 to 2015 ( Moran's I value=0.08, Z=2.314, P=0.028) and from 2016 to 2020 (Moran's I value=0.18, Z=3.956, P=0.003 ). Spatial-temporal scan analysis identified two clusters. The primary cluster mainly covered 70 towns ( streets ) in Lucheng Distrct, Ouhai District, Longwan District, Economic and Technical Development Region, Rui' an City and Pingyang County of Wenzhou City from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2020, with a cluster radius of 34.30 km [log likelihood ratio ( LLR )=192.84, RR=2.60, P<0.001], and the secondary cluster was located in Hongqiao Township of Yueqing City from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2015, with a cluster radius of 0 ( LLR=90.60, RR=7.27, P<0.001 ). Conclusions The number of new HIV/AIDS cases aged 50 years and older appeared a tendency towards a rise in Wenzhou City from 2006 to 2020, with spatial clusters that were predominantly identified in urban areas, Rui' an City and Pingyang County of Wenzhou City.