Clinical Implementation of Cone Beam Computed Tomography-Guided Online Adaptive Radiation Therapy in Whole Breast Irradiation

Purpose: In postoperative breast irradiation, changes in the breast contour and arm positioning can result in patient positioning errors and offline replanning. This can lead to increased treatment burden and strain on departmental logistics because of the need for additional cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images or even a new radiation therapy treatment plan (TP). Online daily adaptive radiation therapy (oART) could provide a solution to these challenges. We have clinically implemented and evaluated the feasibility of oART for whole breast irradiation. Methods and Materials: Twenty patients treated with postoperative whole breast right irradiation (5 × 5.2 Gy) were included in BREAST-ART, a prospective single-arm trial. The dosimetry of the reference TP calculated on the daily anatomy and adaptive TP were compared. Duration of the oART workflow, in-house satisfaction questionnaires, and acute toxicity (National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event v5.0) were collected. The oART workflow was evaluated by investigating the impact of manual corrections of influencer and target contours on treatment time and quality. Results: In the first 17 patients (85 fractions), the on-couch time, ie, the time between the end of CBCT1 and CBCT3, was a median of 13.8 minutes (range, 11–25). Retrospective evaluation of the use of the influencer (ie, breast) in 4 patients (20 fractions) and manual correction of the most cranial and caudal target contours (ie, 4 mm) in 10 patients (36 fractions) was done. This resulted in a reduced on-couch time in the last 3 clinical patients to a median of 13.0 minutes (range, 11–19). No grade 3 or higher toxicity was observed, and 19 of 20 patients indicated that they preferred the same treatment again. Skin marks for patient positioning during treatment were no longer necessary. Conclusions: This study showed the feasibility, challenges, and practical solutions for the implementation of oART for breast cancer patients. Future work will focus on more complex breast indications, such as whole breast, including axillary nodes, to further investigate the benefits and challenges of oART in breast cancer

IBEWMS: Individual Band Spectral Feature Enhancement-Based Waterfront Environment AAV Multispectral Image Stitching

As the use of autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) for waterfront monitoring increases, combining multiple AAV multispectral (MS) images into a single, seamless panoramic image has become crucial. This process ensures the accuracy and effectiveness of waterfront monitoring. However, the varying reflective properties of different wavelengths bring challenges for existing single-band MS image stitching frameworks, especially in complex waterfront areas. To address this challenge, we developed the individual band enhanced waterfront multispectral stitching (IBEWMS) framework. Central to this framework is the individual band spectral feature enhancement (IBSFE) module, which enhances each spectral band based on varying reflectance of different land covers, yielding clearer and more reliable features. Using IBSFE, we designed a detector-free framework to effectively extract and match feature points in waterfront MS images. In addition, we implemented an image fusion technique to address issues, such as ghosting and global reflectance inconsistency, in panoramic images. To support this work, we provided the Wuhan AAV Waterfront Environment MS Dataset, comprising 12 315 high-resolution 5-band MS images. Experiments show that IBEWMS outperforms both deep learning and traditional stitching frameworks, offering valuable support for downstream applications

How PPAR-alpha mediated inflammation may affect the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for death in adults. Inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of CKD, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α) is a nuclear receptor and one of the three members (PPARα, PPARβ/δ, and PPARγ) of the PPARs that plays an important role in ameliorating pathological processes that accelerate acute and chronic kidney disease. Although other PPARs members are well studied, the role of PPAR-α is not well described and its role in inflammation-mediated chronic disease is not clear. Herein, we review the role of PPAR-α in chronic kidney disease with implications for the immune system

Monitoring semantic relatedness and revealing fairness and biases through trend tests

An emerging application domain concerning content-based recommender systems provides a better consideration of the semantics behind textual descriptions. Traditional approaches often miss relevant information due to their sole focus on syntax. However, the Semantic Web community has enriched resources with cultural and linguistic background knowledge, offering new standards for word categorization. This paper proposes a framework that combines the information extractor ReVerb with the WordNet taxonomy to monitor global semantic relatedness scores. Additionally, an experimental validation confronts human-based semantic relatedness scores with theoretical ones, employing Mann–Kendall trend tests to reveal fairness and biases. Overall, our framework introduces a novel approach to semantic relatedness monitoring by providing valuable insights into fairness and biases

Decoration of carbon nanotubes in the substrate or selective layer of polyvinyl alcohol/polysulfone thin-film composite membrane for nanofiltration applications

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes demonstrate considerable promise for desalinating saline water and wastewater containing mineral salts to overcome the lack of fresh water and improve drinking water quality. This research work aims to detect the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the filtration performance of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polysulfone (PSf) thin-film composite NF membranes. For this purpose, CNTs were incorporated in the PSf substrate/PVA selective layer to fabricate a thin-film composite (TFC) with nanocomposite substrate (nTFC) and a thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes, respectively. To fabricate TFC membranes, PSf substrates with different concentrations (16–20 wt%) were made using the phase inversion technique. Then, the selective layer of PVA was formed on the PSf support through cross-linking with glutaraldehyde during dip-coating. The membranes’ NF performance was assessed by filtration of NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions at a relatively low pressure of 0.3 MPa. The salt rejection of all prepared membranes followed the sequence of Na2SO4 > NaCl, indicating the characteristics of negatively charged membranes. By embedment of 0.05 wt% CNT in the PSf substrate/PVA selective layer, the rejections of over 43% for NaCl and over 80% for Na2SO4 were obtained, which is higher than that of TFC-16 as a control membrane (18.1% for NaCl and 74.7% for Na2SO4). Furthermore, in the presence of CNTs, the permeance and fouling resistance of the nTFC and TFN membranes have been improved compared to the TFC-16 membrane

Mandibular ramus distraction osteogenesis and Lefort I osteotomy for obstructive sleep apnea: A case report monitored with home respiratory polygraphy

A new monitoring protocol for orthognathic surgery for addressing obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in adult patients using bilateral internal ramus distraction (BIRD) followed by Lefort I osteotomy and monitored by HRP is presented. This strategy is part of an outpatient major surgery protocol and includes preoperative 3d virtual planning, followed by surgery under general anesthesia with endoscopic assistance.Following the procedure, patients are typically discharged on the same day, with the vertical lengthening of the mandibular ramus starting after a 5-day period and progressing at a speed of 0.5–1 mm per day over a period of 10–50 days. The process carries on until the negative dental overjet exceeds 10 mm or the apnea-hypopnea index falls beneath 15 events per hour, demonstrating a curative level.Mandibular advancement monitorization based on clinical, polygraphic, or polysomnographic criteria enables the surgeon to meet the individual needs of each patient. The distractors are typically maintained in position for six months following elongation of 10–25 mm to ensure proper consolidation.BIRD followed by LeFort I osteotomy, has demonstrated significant efficacy as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in adult patients, irrespective of the presence of retrognathia. Furthermore, this approach may offer particular advantages for patients with severe cardiovascular disease or diabetes

Presence of dengue virus RNA in urine and oral fluid of laboratory-confirmed dengue patients: Implications for wastewater surveillance

Introduction: Dengue cases in the Americas in 2024 have reached record highs, especially in Brazil. However, surveillance remains suboptimal and new methods are needed to monitor Dengue Virus (DENV) spread. To assess whether wastewater-based epidemiology would be a useful tool, we investigated the presence of DENV RNA in dengue patients’ urine and oral fluid from an endemic area to inform how shedding in these fluids occurs and provide insight for wastewater surveillance. Methods: We examined how often DENV RNA is detected in urine and oral fluid from dengue patients confirmed by serum RT-qPCR, NS1 ELISA or IgM seroconversion in Salvador, Brazil. Results: Of 88 confirmed cases, 9.1 % were positive for DENV RNA in urine (7/88) or oral fluid (1/88). Of 53 serum RT-qPCR-positive patients, 6 (11.3 %) showed detectable DENV RNA in acute- or convalescent-phase urine. Patients with RT-qPCR-positive urine had a lower frequency of DENV IgG in acute-phase serum (a proxy for secondary infection) (57 % vs. 74 %) and a lower median serum RT-qPCR cycle threshold than those with negative urine (21.8 vs. 23.9). Conclusion: The low presence of DENV RNA in urine suggests that additional research is needed to evaluate whether using wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor DENV transmission is possible

Research on the impact of ESG scores on corporate substantive and strategic green innovation

This paper studies the impact of ESG scores on corporate substantive and strategic green innovation of Chinese listed companies between 2007 and 2022. Results show that ESG scores have a significant positive impact on the company's green innovation, substantive and strategic green innovation. In addition, ESG scores primarily influence firm's green innovation through three channels: R&D expenditure, R&D human capital, and information transparency. Furthermore, the positive influence of ESG scores on a company's green innovation is more significant when the company has a higher shareholding ratio of the largest shareholder and institutional investors, as well as when it is a state-owned enterprise. Further researches show that only E-scores significantly positively impact green innovation. Additionally, ESG scores have significant positive impact on green innovation with a lag of 1–3 years, but no significant impact from the fourth year onwards. The results offer scientific implications for listed companies to enhance their level of green innovation, both substantively and strategically

A data science pipeline applied to Australia's 2022 COVID-19 Omicron waves

The field of software engineering is advancing at astonishing speed, with packages now available to support many stages of data science pipelines. These packages can support infectious disease modelling to be more robust, efficient and transparent, which has been particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a package for the construction of infectious disease models, integrated it with several open-source libraries and applied this composite pipeline to multiple data sources that provided insights into Australia's 2022 COVID-19 epidemic. We aimed to identify the key processes relevant to COVID-19 transmission dynamics and thereby develop a model that could quantify relevant epidemiological parameters.The pipeline's advantages include markedly increased speed, an expressive application programming interface, the transparency of open-source development, easy access to a broad range of calibration and optimisation tools and consideration of the full workflow from input manipulation through to algorithmic generation of the publication materials. Extending the base model to include mobility effects slightly improved model fit to data, with this approach selected as the model configuration for further epidemiological inference. Under our assumption of widespread immunity against severe outcomes from recent vaccination, incorporating an additional effect of the main vaccination programs rolled out during 2022 on transmission did not further improve model fit. Our simulations suggested that one in every two to six COVID-19 episodes were detected, subsequently emerging Omicron subvariants escaped 30–60% of recently acquired natural immunity and that natural immunity lasted only one to eight months on average. We documented our analyses algorithmically and present our methods in conjunction with interactive online code notebooks and plots.We demonstrate the feasibility of integrating a flexible domain-specific syntax library with state-of-the-art packages in high performance computing, calibration, optimisation and visualisation to create an end-to-end pipeline for infectious disease modelling. We used the resulting platform to demonstrate key epidemiological characteristics of the transition from the emergency to the endemic phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

ADAR1-regulated miR-142-3p/RIG-I axis suppresses antitumor immunity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Following the initial treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), tumor progression often portends an adverse prognosis for these patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of tumor immunity, yet their intricate mechanisms in NPC remain elusive. Through comprehensive miRNA sequencing, tumor tissue microarrays and tissue samples analysis, we identified miR-142-3p as a significantly upregulated miRNA that is strongly associated with poor prognosis in recurrent NPC patients. To elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism, we employed RNA sequencing, coupled with cellular and tissue assays, to identify the downstream targets and associated signaling pathways of miR-142-3p. Our findings revealed two potential targets, CFL2 and WASL, which are directly targeted by miR-142-3p. Functionally, overexpressing CFL2 or WASL significantly reversed the malignant phenotypes induced by miR-142-3p both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, signaling pathway analysis revealed that miR-142-3p repressed the RIG-I-mediated immune defense response in NPC by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of IRF3, IRF7 and p65. Moreover, we discovered that ADAR1 physically interacted with Dicer and promoted the formation of mature miR-142-3p in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, ADAR1-mediated miR-142-3p processing promotes tumor progression and suppresses antitumor immunity, indicating that miR-142-3p may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for NPC patients