Analysis of influence factors of cone beam CT calibration in prostate cancer

Objective To deeply explore influence of three objective factors-rectal muscle tension, intra-abdominal pressure and bone in pelvic on cone beam CT calibration data of prostate cancer before radiotherapy and obtain the main factors affecting prostate target movement, so as to provide reference for optimizing radiotherapy plan design and improving image guidance accuracy. Methods Ten eligible patients with prostate cancer were screened according to the inclusion-exclusion criteria for test and scanned twice a week before random treatment by using cone beam CT to obtain prostate target calibration data. After the scanning, the influence of rectal muscle tension was quantified by using shear wave elastography, the influence of intra-abdominal pressure was indirectly quantified by air bag pressure gauge which measured the intra-bladder pressure, and the influence of bone in pelvic was quantified by using root mean square. The relationships between the three factors and cone beam CT calibration data were analyzed by using regression analysis. Results The cone beam CT calibration result was 0.513 mm±0.072 mm, 1.369 mm±0.162 mm, 1.335 mm±0.271 mm on left-right, anterior-posterior and superior-inferior direction respectively for all the patients. Young’s modulus value was 8.965 kpa±1.391 kpa, 10.211 kpa±1.544 kpa, 3.926 kpa±0.693 kpa on three directions respectively, intra-abdominal pressure (without direction) was 4.844 mmhg±1.347 mmhg (1mmhg = 133.3 Pa) and root mean square was 0.020 mm±0.011 mm, 0.069 mm±0.049 mm, 0.062 mm±0.029 mm on three directions respectively. Rectal muscle tension (R = 0.895) and intra-abdominal pressure (R = 0.523) on anterior-posterior direction were statistically correlated with the cone beam CT calibration data, and intra-abdominal pressure (R = 0.717) on superior-inferior direction was statistically correlated. Conclusions Rectal muscle tension on anterior-posterior direction and intra-abdominal pressure on superior-inferior direction were the main factors that caused prostate cancer target movement. The results were of great significance to optimize radiotherapy plan design and improve image guidance accuracy and provided methodological guidance for future target displacement reduction

Control system design for a continuous positive airway pressure ventilator

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) ventilation remains a mainstay treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Good pressure stability and pressure reduction during exhalation are of major importance to ensure clinical efficacy and comfort of CPAP therapy. In this study an experimental CPAP ventilator was constructed using an application-specific CPAP blower/motor assembly and a microprocessor. To minimize pressure variations caused by spontaneous breathing as well as the uncomfortable feeling of exhaling against positive pressure, we developed a composite control approach including the feed forward compensator and feedback proportional-integral-derivative (PID) compensator to regulate the pressure delivered to OSAS patients. The Ziegler and Nichols method was used to tune PID controller parameters. And then we used a gas flow analyzer (VT PLUS HF) to test pressure curves, flow curves and pressure-volume loops for the proposed CPAP ventilator. The results showed that it met technical criteria for sleep apnea breathing therapy equipment. Finally, the study made a quantitative comparison of pressure stability between the experimental CPAP ventilator and commercially available CPAP devices

Anti-inflammatory effects of NaB and NaPc in Acinetobacter baumannii-stimulated THP-1 cells via TLR-2/NF-κB/ROS/NLRP3 pathway

This study evaluated the anti-inflammation effect of the three main short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) on Acinetobacter baumannii-induced THP-1 cells. The three main SCFAs could inhibit A. baumannii-stimulated THP-1 cell NF-κB pathway activity and the expressions of NLRP3 inflammasome and GSDMD, and increase autophagy. The three main SCFAs, especially the sodium butyrate (NaB), had the effect of down-regulation of ROS and TLR-2 expression in THP-1 cells. NaB and sodium propionate (NaPc), but not sodium acetate (NaAc), dramatically suppressed IL-1β and IFN-γ expression. The results indicated that NaB and NaPc could significantly inhibit the inflammation of THP-1 cells induced by A. baumannii, and the inhibitory effect was in the order of NaB＞NaPc＞NaAC. NaB and NaPc may inhibit inflammation through TLR-2/NF-κB/ROS/NLRP3 signaling pathway

Cross-Layer Software-Defined 5G Network

In the past few decades, the world has witnessed a rapid growth in mobile communication and reaped great benefits from it. Even though the fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system is just being deployed worldwide, proliferating mobile demands call for newer wireless communication technologies with even better performance. Consequently, the fifth generation (5G) system is already emerging in the research field. However, simply evolving the current mobile networks can hardly meet such great expectations, because over the years the infrastructures have generally become ossified, closed, and vertically constructed. Aiming to establish a new paradigm for 5G mobile networks, in this article, we propose a cross-layer software-defined 5G network architecture. By jointly considering both the network layer and the physical layer together, we establish the two software-defined programmable components, the control plane and the cloud computing pool, which enable an effective control of the mobile network from the global perspective and benefit technological innovations. Specifically, by the cross-layer design for software-defining, the logically centralized and programmable control plane abstracts the control functions from the network layer down to the physical layer, through which we achieve the fine-grained controlling of mobile network, while the cloud computing pool provides powerful computing capability to implement the baseband data processing of multiple heterogeneous networks. We discuss the main challenges of our architecture, including the fine-grained control strategies, network virtualization, and programmability. The architecture significantly benefits the convergence towards heterogeneous networks and it enables much more controllable, programmable and evolvable mobile networks.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Mobile Networks & Application

LncRNA CERS6-AS1, sponging miR-6838-5p, promotes proliferation and invasion in cervical carcinoma cells by upregulating FOXP2

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common disease in women characterized by high recurrence rate. LncRNA ceramide synthase 6 antisense RNA 1 (CERS6-AS1) has been found to play a crucial role in the progression of breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. Nevertheless, the regulatory role of CERS6-AS1 in CC remains largely unclear. Here, we found that the expression of CERS6- AS1 was upregulated in CC tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent tissues and normal human cervical epithelial cells. CERS6-AS1 overexpression promoted proliferation and invasion, and inhibited apoptosis in CC cells, while silencing of CERS6-AS1 led to the opposite results. CERS6-AS1 was verified as a sponge of miR-6838-5p by RNA pull-down and luciferase reporter gene assays. Functional investigations revealed that CERS6-AS1 knockdown inhibited proliferation and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in CC cells, which was reversed by miR-6838-5p inhibitor. Furthermore, forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) was identified as a target for miR-6838-5p, and overexpression of miR6838-5p decreased the expression level of FOXP2. Besides, CERS6-AS1 was able to sponge miR-6838-5p to accelerate CC cell proliferation and invasion and inhibited cell apoptosis through upregulating FOXP2 expression. In general, CERS6-AS1 was able to regulate CC cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis by the miR-6838-5p/FOXP2 axis, which suggested that CERS6-AS1 may be a potential target for the treatment of CC