Dosiomics: Extracting 3D Spatial Features From Dose Distribution to Predict Incidence of Radiation Pneumonitis

Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is one of the major toxicities of thoracic radiation therapy. RP incidence has been proven to be closely associated with the dosimetric factors and normal tissue control possibility (NTCP) factors. However, because these factors only utilize limited information of the dose distribution, the prediction abilities of these factors are modest. We adopted the dosiomics method for RP prediction. The dosiomics method first extracts spatial features of the dose distribution within ipsilateral, contralateral, and total lungs, and then uses these extracted features to construct prediction model via univariate and multivariate logistic regression (LR). The dosiomics method is validated using 70 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) radiotherapy. Dosimetric and NTCP factors based prediction models are also constructed to compare with the dosiomics features based prediction model. For the dosimetric, NTCP and dosiomics factors/features, the most significant single factors/features are the mean dose, parallel/serial (PS) NTCP and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) contrast of ipsilateral lung, respectively. And the area under curve (AUC) of univariate LR is 0.665, 0.710 and 0.709, respectively. The second significant factors are V5 of contralateral lung, equivalent uniform dose (EUD) derived from PS NTCP of contralateral lung and the low gray level run emphasis of gray level run length matrix (GLRLM) of total lungs. The AUC of multivariate LR is improved to 0.676, 0.744, and 0.782, respectively. The results demonstrate that the univariate LR of dosiomics features has approximate predictive ability with NTCP factors, and the multivariate LR outperforms both the dosimetric and NTCP factors. In conclusion, the spatial features of dose distribution extracted by the dosiomics method effectively improves the prediction ability

Potential Impacts of China 2030 High-Speed Rail Network on Ground Transportation Accessibility

China has proposed an ambitious high-speed rail (HSR) program by 2030 to connect all provincial capitals (excluding Lhasa) and large cities with more than half million people. Little attention has been paid to evaluate its potential impacts on ground transportation accessibility. To answer this question, we adopted a door-to-door approach to calculate two indicators: the weighted average travel time and daily accessibility. The results show that the HSR network follows the same spatial patterns of population size and regional development, thus preferentially serving eastern China. The two accessibility indicators suggest that the large-scale construction of HSR network by 2030 will substantially improve accessibility and alter the spatial disparities of accessibility. On average, accessibility of all cities will increase by 61.7%. Geographically, cities with higher accessibility are located in the quadrilateral area of ‘Wuhan-Zhengzhou-Jinan-Nanjing’ on the southeastern section of the ‘Hu Line.’ While the least accessible cities are distributed in peripheral areas. Although the HSR development can benefit accessibility throughout the country, the disparities of accessibility would widen slightly among regions, provinces and cities

Improved Virtual Gyroscope Technology Based on the ARMA Model

In view of the large output noise and low precision of the Micro-electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS) gyroscope, the virtual gyroscope technology was used to fuse the data of the MEMS gyroscope to improve its output precision. Random error model in the conventional virtual gyroscopes contained an angular rate random walk and angle random walk ignoring other noise items and the virtual gyroscope technology can not compensate all random errors of MEMS gyroscope. So, the improved virtual gyroscope technology based on the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model was proposed. First, the conventional virtual gyroscope technology was used to model the random error of three MEMS gyroscopes, and the data fusion was carried out by a Kalman filter to get the output of the virtual gyroscope. After that, the ARMA model was used to model the output of the virtual gyroscope, the random error model was improved with the ARMA model, and the Kalman filter was designed based on the improved random error model for data fusion of the MEMS gyroscopes. The experimental results showed that the 1σ standard deviation of the output of the virtual gyroscope based on the ARMA model was 1.4 times lower than that of the conventional virtual gyroscope output

Potential Impacts of China 2030 High-Speed Rail Network on Ground Transportation Accessibility

China has proposed an ambitious high-speed rail (HSR) program by 2030 to connect all provincial capitals (excluding Lhasa) and large cities with more than half million people. Little attention has been paid to evaluate its potential impacts on ground transportation accessibility. To answer this question, we adopted a door-to-door approach to calculate two indicators: the weighted average travel time and daily accessibility. The results show that the HSR network follows the same spatial patterns of population size and regional development, thus preferentially serving eastern China. The two accessibility indicators suggest that the large-scale construction of HSR network by 2030 will substantially improve accessibility and alter the spatial disparities of accessibility. On average, accessibility of all cities will increase by 61.7%. Geographically, cities with higher accessibility are located in the quadrilateral area of ‘Wuhan-Zhengzhou-Jinan-Nanjing’ on the southeastern section of the ‘Hu Line.’ While the least accessible cities are distributed in peripheral areas. Although the HSR development can benefit accessibility throughout the country, the disparities of accessibility would widen slightly among regions, provinces and cities

The Expression and Correlation of iNOS and p53 in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent form of oral cancer. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and p53 are associated with a variety of human cancers, but their expression and interaction in OSCC have not been fully explored. In this study, we investigated the expression of iNOS and p53 in OSCC and their correlation with tumor development and prognosis. In addition, we explored the interaction of iNOS and p53 in OSCC. The expression of iNOS and p53 in OSCC was investigated using immunohistochemical method and their interaction was studied using RNAi technique. Our results showed that the expression of both iNOS and p53 was significantly correlated with tumor stages and pathological grade of OSCC (P<0.05). In contrast, there was no correlation between iNOS and p53 expression and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The OSCC survival rate was negatively associated with iNOS expression, but not with p53. A significant increase in the expression of the p53 was observed when iNOS expression was knocked down. The immunoexpression of iNOS is correlated with tumorigenesis and prognosis of OSCC and may serve as a prognostic marker

Whole exome analysis reveals the genomic profiling related to chemo‐resistance in Chinese population with limited‐disease small cell lung cancer

Abstract Purpose The mechanism of chemo‐resistance in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is unclear. This study aims to explore the resistance‐related genomic profiles of residual tumors after neo‐adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in SCLC through the whole‐exome sequencing (WES). Experimental design A total of 416 limited diseases (LD) SCLC patients underwent surgery were retrospectively analyzed, of which 40 patients received NAC. Then we selected 29 patients undergoing NAC (n = 19) and chemotherapy naïve (CTN, n = 10) to perform WES sequence with formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded samples including tumor and paired para‐tumor. Results In total, single nucleotide variation and mutation rate were similar between NAC and CTN groups. The mutation signatures were significantly discrepant between NAC and CTN groups, as well as among patients with partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), and progressive disease. There were more copy number variation deletions in NAC group compared with CTN group. The inactivation of TP53 and RB1 were the most significantly events in both NAC and CTN groups. RB1 nonsense mutations were recurrent in NAC group (9/19 vs. 0/9, 47.4% vs. 0%) with favorable survival, while the frame‐shift deletions were frequent in CTN group (3/9 vs. 3/19, 33.3% vs.15.8%). Integrated function enrichment revealed that the frequently mutant genes were involved in cell cycle, metabolic reprogramming, and oncogenic signaling pathways in NAC group, such as BTG2 pathway, glycolysis in senescence and P53 pathway. A total of 27 genes presented frequently mutant in NAC group and might played a positive role in drug resistance. Multiple genes including BRINP3, MYH6, ST18, and PCHD15, which were associated with prognosis, occurred mutant frequently in PR and SD groups. Conclusion Residual tumors after neo‐adjuvant therapy exhibited different mutation signature spectrum. Multiple genes including RB1 nonsense mutations, BRINP3, MYH6, ST18, and PCHD15 were with frequent mutation in residual tumors, which might participate chemo‐resistance and influenced the prognosis in patients with limited disease SCLC

Use of isochrone maps to assess the impact of high-speed rail network development on journey times: a case study of Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, China

<p>It is well known that the increasing development of transport infrastructure will result in temporal and spatial convergence. As an important component of China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network, an ambitious HSR building program in Jiangsu province will extend the network to cover all cities and 95% of counties by 2030. This study aims to present and analyze the impacts of the evolving HSR network in Jiangsu province over the period of 2010–2030 by developing multi-phased isochrone maps of Nanjing city (the provincial capital of Jiangsu province). During the process, layered cost distance, a new method based on a door-to-door approach in actual travel time calculations, is proposed in order to draw the maps at a more detailed geographical level. Our results are expected to facilitate proactive public policy decisions related to improving the transport network.</p

Use of isochrone maps to assess the impact of high-speed rail network development on journey times: a case study of Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, China

<p>It is well known that the increasing development of transport infrastructure will result in temporal and spatial convergence. As an important component of China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network, an ambitious HSR building program in Jiangsu province will extend the network to cover all cities and 95% of counties by 2030. This study aims to present and analyze the impacts of the evolving HSR network in Jiangsu province over the period of 2010–2030 by developing multi-phased isochrone maps of Nanjing city (the provincial capital of Jiangsu province). During the process, layered cost distance, a new method based on a door-to-door approach in actual travel time calculations, is proposed in order to draw the maps at a more detailed geographical level. Our results are expected to facilitate proactive public policy decisions related to improving the transport network.</p

Surface bisphosphonation of polyetheretherketone to manipulate immune response for advanced osseointegration

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is deemed to be a promising alternative to biomedical metals for orthopedic and dental implantation attributed to its bone-like elastic modulus and good biocompatibility. Nevertheless, the bioinert PEEK elicits an acute and irreducible inflammatory immune response after implantation, resulting in fibrous encapsulation and ultimately inferior osseointegration. Therefore, endowing the PEEK surface with immunomodulatory function is essential for advanced osseointegration. Herein, surface bisphosphonation of PEEK is achieved by using mussel-inspired chemistry together with alendronate, which can not only mitigate the early servious inflammatory immune response by promoting macrophages polarization toward the pro-healing M2 phenotype, but also construct a favorable osteoimmune microenvironment to promote the angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the osteogenesis of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. In vivo evaluation reveals an ameliorative osseointegration of PEEK implant after surface bisphosphonation, confirming the in vitro results. Our findings elucidate that the PEEK implant after surface bisphosphonation can positively regulate early immune reaction to facilitate subsequent angiogenesis and osteogenesis processes, which is desirable for orthopedic and dental implantation