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Owing to the complex anatomical structure and biomechanics, the current standard palliative treatments for cervical spinal metastases are associated with a high risk of recurrence and complications. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) can provide radical dose to tumors while protecting normal organs to the maximum extent. However, the efficacy and safety of SBRT for cervical spinal metastases is not well characterized. Data from 71 patients with cervical spine metastases who were treated with SBRT using CyberKnife between 2006 and 2021 were obtained from our prospectively maintained database. Primary endpoint was pain response at 12 weeks following SBRT completion; secondary endpoints included local control (LC), overall survival (OS), and adverse events. Standard-risk patients were planned to receive 30 Gy (range 21-36) with median fractions of 3 (range 1-3) and high-risk patients 35 Gy (range 24-50) with median fractions of 5 (range 4-5) according to the spinal cord and esophagus dose constraints. The median follow-up time was 17.07 months (range 3.1-118.9). After 12 weeks of SBRT completion, 54 (98.2%) of 55 patients with baseline pain achieved pain response and 46 (83.6%) achieved complete pain response. LC rates were 93.1% and 90% at 1 year and 2 year, respectively. The 1-year and 2-year OS rates were 66.2% and 37.4%, respectively. Eight patients experienced grades 1-4 adverse events (six vertebral compression fracture [VCF], five of them had VCF before SBRT; and two hemiparesis). No grade 5 adverse events were observed. Therefore, risk-adapted SBRT for cervical spine metastases achieved high pain control and LC rates with acceptable adverse events.

IntroductionGenetic epilepsy is a large group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures, which have a clear association with genetic defects. In this study, we have recruited seven families from China with neurodevelopmental abnormalities in which epilepsy was a predominant manifestation, aiming to elucidate the underlying causes and make a precise diagnosis for the cases.MethodsWhole-exome sequencing (WES) combined with Sanger sequencing was used to identify the causative variants associated with the diseases in addition to essential imaging and biomedical examination.ResultsA gross intragenic deletion detected in MFSD8 was investigated via gap-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), and mRNA sequence analysis. We identified 11 variants in seven genes (ALDH7A1, CDKL5, PCDH19, QARS1, POLG, GRIN2A, and MFSD8) responsible for genetic epilepsy in the seven families, respectively. A total of six variants (c.1408T>G in ALDH7A1, c.1994_1997del in CDKL5, c.794G>A in QARS1, c.2453C>T in GRIN2A, and c.217dup and c.863+995_998+1480del in MFSD8) have not yet been reported to be associated with diseases and were all evaluated to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines.MethodsBased on the molecular findings, we have associated the intragenic deletion in MFSD8 with the mutagenesis mechanism of Alu-mediated genomic rearrangements for the first time and provided genetic counseling, medical suggestions, and prenatal diagnosis for the families. In conclusion, molecular diagnosis is crucial to obtain improved medical outcomes and recurrence risk evaluation for genetic epilepsy.

Vehicle platoons were recently proposed to reduce energy consumption and emissions. However, the majority of platooning studies have focused on pure connected automated vehicle (CAV) environments with limited insights into energy consumption and emissions. This paper quantifies fuel consumption and emissions by studying the microscopic movements of CAVs and human driving vehicles (HDVs) in mixed traffic flows. With an extended cellular automaton model, a four-lane mixed traffic flow of CAVs and HDVs is investigated in detail. The results have shown that ad hoc platoon formation can lead to frequent acceleration and lane changing, resulting in more fuel consumption and emission. With a dedicated CAV lane (DCL) strategy, the interference of CAVs and HDVs is greatly reduced, thereby improving the fuel economy and emission reduction. The findings can benefit the organization of vehicle platoons in the persisting mixed traffic flow environment.

With the development of urban rail transit systems, the operation and management of the system faces various problems, among which the unreasonably long waiting time at transfer stations during the first train period is a major challenge for metro companies. To address this problem, some cities (e.g. Guangzhou, Hefei) are operating inter-regional trains to reduce the waiting time of passengers. With this motivation, we study the first train timetable synchronization problem with multiple departure stations. The problem is first formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. By using auxiliary intermediate variables, the nonlinear model is reformulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model, which can be solved directly by the commercial solver COPT. A real-world example of the Hefei urban rail transit network is applied to test the effectiveness of the proposed model. By adjusting the first ordinary train start service times and operating 12 additional inter-regional trains on 2 bidirectional lines, the total transfer waiting time and the number of long waiting time directions decreased by 39.09% and 56.25%, respectively.

Objectives This study was performed to investigate the short-term and long-term survival of patients who underwent reoperative tricuspid valve replacement (TVR). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of 273 patients who underwent TVRs while hospitalised in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from November 1993 to August 2018. Fifty-six (56) of them underwent reoperative TVR: 36 had previous tricuspid valve repair and 20 had previous TVR. Follow-up was 100% complete, with a mean follow-up of 8 years (range, 1–15 years). Results The overall in-hospital mortality was 17.9% (n=10). In the univariate analysis, the overall in-hospital mortality and renal failure rate in the replacement group were lower than those in the repair group (5.0% vs 25%; p=0.046 and 27.8% vs 5%; p=0.040). However, in-hospital mortality was no longer statistically significant after multivariate adjustment (adjusted OR, 0.318; 95% CI, 0.030–3.338; p=0.340). There was no significant difference in survival between the patients with previous repair and those with previous replacement (log-rank test, p=0.839). Factors that correlated with long-term mortality on multivariate analysis were age >60 years (adjusted HR, 11.753; 95% CI, 1.686–81.915; p=0.013); cardiopulmonary bypass time (adjusted HR, 1.019; 95% CI, 1.005–1.034; p=0.009); intensive care unit time (adjusted HR, 1.024; 95% CI, 1.006–1.042; p=0.009); and ventilation time (adjusted HR, 0.982; 95% CI, 0.965–0.998; p=0.030). Conclusions Reoperative TVR was associated with high in-hospital mortality and morbidity. Overall in-hospital mortality was similar between the previous replacement group and the previous repair group. Previous tricuspid valve repair and replacement had similar long-term survival.

Supplementary Material 4

We construct a family of one-dimensional (1D) quantum lattice models based on $G$-graded unitary fusion category $\mathcal{C}_G$. This family realize an interpolation between the anyon-chain models and edge models of 2D symmetry-protected topological states, and can be thought of as edge models of 2D symmetry-enriched topological states. The models display a set of unconventional global symmetries that are characterized by the input category $\mathcal{C}_G$. While spontaneous symmetry breaking is also possible, our numerical evidence shows that the category symmetry constrains the the models to the extent that the low-energy physics has a large likelihood to be gapless., Comment: 46 pages, 8 figures. Comment and suggestion are welcome

Supplementary Material 3

Here, we present a detailed protocol for the identification of potential oncofetal targets for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients through a hepatocyte differentiation model and a sorafenib refractory cell-line-derived xenograft model. We describe the procedures of tumor sphere formation, organoid generation, and subcutaneous tumor formation for functional studies. We then detail the procedures of immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence for examination of changes in lineage-specific markers. Finally, we describe the development of antibody-based therapeutics targeting tumor lineage plasticity in HCC. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Kong et al. (2021).

In the last two decades, network science has blossomed and influenced various fields, such as statistical physics, computer science, biology and sociology, from the perspective of the heterogeneous interaction patterns of components composing the complex systems. As a paradigm for random and semi-random connectivity, percolation model plays a key role in the development of network science and its applications. On the one hand, the concepts and analytical methods, such as the emergence of the giant cluster, the finite-size scaling, and the mean-field method, which are intimately related to the percolation theory, are employed to quantify and solve some core problems of networks. On the other hand, the insights into the percolation theory also facilitate the understanding of networked systems, such as robustness, epidemic spreading, vital node identification, and community detection. Meanwhile, network science also brings some new issues to the percolation theory itself, such as percolation of strong heterogeneous systems, topological transition of networks beyond pairwise interactions, and emergence of a giant cluster with mutual connections. So far, the percolation theory has already percolated into the researches of structure analysis and dynamic modeling in network science. Understanding the percolation theory should help the study of many fields in network science, including the still opening questions in the frontiers of networks, such as networks beyond pairwise interactions, temporal networks, and network of networks. The intention of this paper is to offer an overview of these applications, as well as the basic theory of percolation transition on network systems., 88 pages,19 figures, 5 tables

This paper presents a single-event burnout (SEB) resistance method for 4H-SiC Junction Barrier Schottky Diode (JBS) under high bias voltage and linear energy transfer (LET) conditions. The method is validated via two-dimensional numerical simulations. The analysis and comparison of conventional 4H-SiC JBS and 4H-SiC Multi-Buffer Layer JBS (MBL-JBS) diodes verify the resistance tolerance of the latter device to SEB. Silvaco TCAD simulation results prove that the 4H-SiC MBL-JBS modulates the drift region’s electric field distribution and disperses the high-peak electric field at the N−/N+ junction. Moreover, it reduces the impact generation rate at the Schottky, PN and N−/N+ junctions to achieve SEB tolerance. The device’s SEB performance is optimized by adjusting the 4H-SiC MBL-JBS structure parameters, and the SEB threshold voltage is significantly improved compared with the traditional structure.

In urban traffic systems, alleviating traffic congestion originated from left-turn/U-turn lanes at highly demanded intersections plays an important role in enhancing the traffic efficiency. For a typical intersection, the layout with double left-turn (DLT) lanes is a relatively common geometric feature. However, the effect of DLT scheme on the performance of the entire traffic system is not clear. This paper compares the performance of urban traffic system with different lane function schemes with extended cellular automaton (CA) model considering the car-following, lane-changing, intersection-traversing and route-choice behavior of vehicles. Using the flow-density relation, three macroscopic parameters (average trip completion rate, average traffic flow and average velocity) are examined to evaluate the system performance. With the wide application of DLT scheme, the vehicles can be distributed more evenly among the lanes. As a result, the traffic flow and the trip completion rate will be higher, especially at high density. Case studies of realistic Hefei city network and Sioux Falls networks are also carried out. The results show that the performance of traffic network will be better if more intersections adopt the DLT scheme.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Physicochemical features of the four types of synthetic AgNPs (SCS, LCS, SAS and LAS). (A) Particle size and morphology, revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (Scale bar: 20 nm, for SCS and SAS; 100 nm, for LCS and LAS); (B) Chemical composition, analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry; (C) and (D) Particle size distribution (in water- and medium-based suspensions, each), measured by the dynamic light scattering (DLS) method; (E) Absorbance spectrum (in water- or medium-based suspensions), determined by UV���Vis spectrophotometry. Fig. S2 Single-cell-line-versus-four-AgNP-types dose���response patterns at 24 and 48 h post-exposure. (A) BEAS-2B; (B) Clone 9; (C) HaCaT; (D) HEK293; (E) THP-1; (F) IEC-6; and (G) AML12, which are reorganized from the cell viability results depicted in Figs. 1 and 2. *(P

The study of traffic dynamics on couple networks is important for the design and management of many real systems. In this paper, an efficient routing strategy on coupled spatial networks is proposed, considering both traffic characteristics and network topology information. With the routing strategy, the traffic capacity can be greatly improved in both scenarios of identical and heterogeneous node capacity allocation. Heterogeneous allocation strategy of node delivery capacity performs better than identical capacity allocation strategy. The study can help to improve the performance of real-world multi-modal traffic systems.

Enhancing traffic flow plays an important role in the traffic management of urban arterial networks. The policy of prohibiting left-turn (PLT) at selected highly demanded intersections has been adopted as an attempt to increase the efficiency at these intersections. In this paper, we study the impact of PLT by mathematical analysis and simulations based on the cellular automaton model. Using the flow-density relation, three system performance indexes are examined: the average trip completion rate, the average traffic flow, and the average velocity of vehicles. Different route guidance strategies, including the shortest path and the quickest path, are investigated. We show that when left turn is prohibited, vehicles are distributed more homogeneously in the road network, and the system performs better and reaches a higher capacity. We also derive a critical length of link, above which the benefit of PLT will decrease.

Introduction: Lung metastasis is usually associated with poor outcomes in cancer patients. This study was performed to characterize and analyze the population of patients with de novo (synchronous) lung metastases using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.Materials and Methods: Baseline characteristics of lung metastasis patients were obtained from SEER case listings. Incidence rates and counts of synchronous lung metastasis were also obtained using the SEER*Stat software. Survival outcomes were analyzed using univariate and multivariable Cox regressions, controlling for confounders. An alpha threshold of 0.05 was used for statistical significance and p-values were subject to correction for multiple comparisons.Results: The age-adjusted incidence rate of synchronous lung metastasis was 17.92 per 100,000 between 2010 and 2015. Synchronous lung metastases most commonly arose from primary lung cancers, colorectal cancers, kidney cancers, pancreatic cancers and breast cancers. During this time period, 4% of all cancer cases presented with synchronous lung metastasis. The percentage of patients presenting with synchronous lung metastasis ranged from 0.5% of all prostate cancers to 13% of all primary lung cancers. The percentage of all cancer cases presenting with synchronous lung metastasis increased over time. De novo metastatic patients with lung metastases had worse overall survival [hazard ratio = 1.22 (1.21–1.23), p < 0.001] compared to those with only extrapulmonary metastases, controlling for potential confounders.Conclusions: Synchronous lung metastasis occurs frequently and is an independent predictors of poor patient outcomes. As treatment for lung metastases becomes more complicated, patients with synchronous lung metastasis represent a high-risk population.

The influence of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) on the vortex reversal driven by an out-of-plane spin-polarized current in an off-centered nanocontact structure is investigated. The simulation results show that DMI plays a vital role in vortex core reversal, including reversal current density, reversal velocity and reversal time. Under the influence of DMI, magnetic vortices still reverse polarity through the nucleation and annihilation of vortex and anti-vortex, with some peculiar characteristics. These results open up new possibilities for the application of magnetic vortex-based spin-transfer encryption nano-storage.

In order to ensure the data validity of the GNSS dam deformation monitor with high precision, a method for calibrating the GNSS satellite dam deformation monitor with high precision is presented, which makes the GNSS satellite dam deformation monitor with high precision trace to the national standard effectively. First, the working principle of the GNSS satellite dam deformation monitor with high precision is analyzed. Next, using the GNSS receiver calibration field, calibrate the indication error of the high-precision GNSS dam deformation monitor. Finally, the calibration data is summarized and analyzed, and the uncertainty of the calibration results is evaluated. The experimental results show that the plane measurement accuracy of the GNSS dam deformation monitor with high accuracy is 2mm. The height measurement accuracy is 1 mm and the uncertainty is 0. 6mm, to meet the traceability requirements of high-precision GNSS satellite dam deformation monitor.

To determine the therapeutic efficacy and safety of risk‐adapted stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) schedules for patients with early‐stage central and ultra‐central inoperable non‐small cell lung cancer. From 2006 to 2015, 80 inoperable T1‐2N0M0 NSCLC patients were treated with two median dose levels: 60 Gy in six fractions (range, 48‐60 Gy in 4‐8 fractions) prescribed to the 74% isodose line (range, 58%‐79%) for central lesions (ie within 2 cm of, but not abutting, the proximal bronchial tree; n = 43), and 56 Gy in seven fractions (range, 48‐60 Gy in 5‐10 fractions) prescribed to the 74% isodose line (range, 60%‐80%) for ultra‐central lesions (ie abutting the proximal bronchial tree; n = 37) on consecutive days. Primary endpoint was overall survival (OS); secondary endpoints included progression‐free survival (PFS), tumor local control rate (LC), and toxicity. Median OS and PFS were 64.47 and 32.10 months (respectively) for ultra‐central patients, and not reached for central patients. Median time to local failure, regional failure, and any distant failures for central versus ultra‐central lesions were: 27.37 versus 26.07 months, 20.90 versus 12.53 months, and 20.85 versus 15.53 months, respectively, all P

Solar selective absorbing coatings that absorb solar irradiation and emit infrared radiation have a significant impact on the thermal efficiency of the receivers. The spectrum parameters heat transfer model and the non-ideal coating curve model are established. The cutoff wavelength of coatings is comprehensively optimized, and the effect of the optical properties of the coating on overall performance is analyzed. Results show that the optimal cutoff wavelength rises with the solar irradiation flux but decreases with increased absorber temperature. Sensitivity analysis results of the coating optical properties indicates that the thermal efficiency significantly decreases with increasing slope width. The change range of the thermal efficiency at the temperature of 200 °C is ±0.1%, resulting from a ±1 μm variation in slope width, whereas the range at 600 °C is ±6.5%. Spectral absorptivity analysis shows that the coating absorptivity has nearly same positive influence on thermal efficiency under different temperatures and irradiation fluxes, whereas emissivity analysis reveals an evidently different negative effect on the receiver performance. Finally, the annual optimal cutoff wavelength decreases with increasing temperature but increases with solar irradiation. The optimal cutoff wavelength decreases from 2.23 μm at 200 °C to 0.78 μm at 600 °C in Phoenix.

Objectives. Stroke is a common condition after a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor ischemic stroke (IS). Adding clopidogrel to aspirin may yield more beneficial outcomes than aspirin...

When traffic control is demand-responsive, a bottleneck can have a queue-length-dependent capacity. Motivated by this fact, we studied the morning commute problem in which the bottleneck capacity increases from s1 to s2 as the queue length exceeds a threshold D1 and decreases back to s1 as the queue length reduces and becomes smaller than another threshold D2 (D2 ≤ D1). It has been found that multiple equilibria exist when D2

With the development of the Internet and mobile phone technology, it is much easier to access ridesharing information via mobile applications. In this paper, the relationship between the demand of ridesharing passengers (RPs), ridesharing drivers (RDs) and solo drivers (SDs) in a ridesharing compensation scheme is studied by a stochastic ridesharing user equilibrium (SRUE), which contains a mode choice model and a route choice model. The mode choice model and the route choice model influence each other. The SRUE is first expressed as a fixed-point problem mathematically. Six possible states of OD pairs are discussed. Then the existence of SRUE is proved. The method of successive weighted averages is adopted to solve the problem. It is found that there will be a higher demand of ridesharing passengers for journeys with longer travel time. Moreover, with the increase of the ridesharing compensation, the demand of ridesharing passengers is not always decreasing, and the demand of ridesharing drivers is not always increasing.

Recent researches indicate that real network systems are often coupled together by shared links or interconnecting nodes, through which different networks can communicate with each other. Therefore, both intra-traffic and inter-traffic coexist in these systems. In this paper, we study such kind of hybrid traffic flow considering three coupling mechanisms: (i) assortative coupling, (ii) disassortative coupling, and (ii) the newly proposed anti-assortative coupling. The results show that the anti-assortative coupling can achieve higher traffic capacity, especially when the inter-traffic level is high. The traffic capacity of system exhibits non-monotonic behavior with the coupling strength. With the anti-assortative coupling mechanism, the system capacity can be improved at an optimized coupling strength of β ≈ 0 . 3 . We further propose an index called effective betweenness, based on which the traffic capacity of such coupled systems can be theoretically predicted.

In this study, we investigate the leader-following consensus problem of a class of heterogeneous secondorder nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to disturbances. In particular, the nonlinear systems contain uncertainties that can be linearly parameterized. We propose a class of novel distributed control laws, which depends on the relative state of the system and thus can be implemented even when no communication among agents exists. By Barbalat’s lemma, we demonstrate that consensus of the second-order nonlinear multi-agent system can be achieved by the proposed distributed control law. The effectiveness of the main result is verified by its application to consensus control of a group of Van der Pol oscillators.

To investigate the car-following behavior under high speed driving conditions, we performed a set of 11-car-platoon experiments on Hefei airport highway. The formation and growth of oscillations have been analyzed and compared with that in low speed situations. It was found that there is considerable heterogeneity for the same driver over different runs of the experiment. This intra-driver heterogeneity was quantitatively depicted by a new index and incorporated in an enhanced two-dimensional intelligent driver model. Using both the new high-speed and the previous low-speed experimental data, the new and three existing models were calibrated. Simulation results show that the enhanced model outperforms the three existing car-following models that do not take into account this intra-driver heterogeneity in reproducing the essential features of the traffic in the experiments.

In this paper, the impact of holding an umbrella on the uni- and bi-directional flow has been investigated via experiment and modeling. In experiments, pedestrians walk clockwise/anti-clockwise in a ring-shaped corridor under the normal situation and holding umbrella situation. In the unidirectional flow, the flow rate under the holding umbrella situation decreases from 0.1 to 0.25 ped/s/m when compared to the normal situation. In the holding umbrella situation, the bidirectional flow rate even reduces to 0.2 ped/s/m in contrast to the unidirectional flow. In the bidirectional flow, pedestrians segregate into two opposite moving streams very quickly under the normal situation and have right-walking preference. Under the holding umbrella situation, spontaneous lane formation also occurs. However, pedestrians can easily separate into three or four lanes. Moreover, the merge of lanes is observed, and clockwise/anti-clockwise pedestrians are not always in the inner/outer lane. The simulation results b...

Traffic instability is an important but undesirable feature of traffic flow. This paper reports our experimental and empirical studies on traffic flow instability. We have carried out a large scale experiment to study the car-following behavior in a 51-car-platoon. The experiment has reproduced the phenomena and confirmed the findings in our previous 25-car-platoon experiment, i.e., standard deviation of vehicle speeds increases in a concave way along the platoon. Based on our experimental results, we argue that traffic speed rather than vehicle spacing (or density) might be a better indicator of traffic instability, because vehicles can have different spacing under the same speed. For these drivers, there exists a critical speed between 30 km/h and 40 km/h, above which the standard deviation of car velocity is almost saturated (flat) along the 51-car-platoon, indicating that the traffic flow is likely to be stable. In contrast, below this critical speed, traffic flow is unstable and can lead to the formation of traffic jams. Traffic data from the Nanjing Airport Highway support the experimental observation of existence of a critical speed. Based on these findings, we propose an alternative mechanism of traffic instability: the competition between stochastic factors and the so-called speed adaptation effect, which can better explain the concave growth of speed standard deviation in traffic flow.

In this paper, we study the application of perimeter flow control by simulation of cellular automaton model on urban traffic system. We find that the relation of traffic flow and vehicle density (Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram, MFD) will have different shapes for the core area and the peripheral area. The MFD shows free-flow state, saturate flow state and congestion state. But the magnitude of maximal flow and the position for congestion transition are different for the whole system and the core area. We suggest to realize the perimeter control strategy by assigning a special prohibiting phase to the perimeter traffic lights for the roads entering the core area. The strategy is controlled by two critical densities ρ 1 and ρ 2, which are determined by the MFD of the core area. Simulations show that both the average arrival rate and the average flow will be greatly improved with the perimeter flow control strategy. In addition, the perimeter flow control strategy can increase the critical density of traffic congestion. The probability of system-wide gridlock will decrease, and the system can perform well under both close and open boundary conditions. All the results indicate that the perimeter flow control strategy can effectively improve the performance of the traffic system.

Pre-signal is an additional traffic light proposed in traffic system to improve the left-turning efficiency of intersections. The efficiency of pre-signals in a networked environment will be affected by the coordination of pre-signals and the intersection traffic lights. In this paper, we study the implementation of pre-signal in a Manhattan-like urban traffic system based on a microscopic cellular automaton model. The pre-signals are located before the normal traffic lights, and have two phases (left-turning phase and through phase) for the aim of segregating left-turning and through vehicles into separate sets of lanes. We propose a reliable method to coordinate the intersection traffic light period and phases with the pre-signal period and phases. Simulation results show that the pre-signals can improve the performance of the system, for both closed and open boundaries. The macroscopic fundamental diagram of the system shows a much higher traffic flow for a wide range of densities. Moreover, the effect of pre-signal area length also needs to be considered in a networked environment. We find that the optimal length of pre-signal area should be determined by the number of vehicles passing the traffic light in a left-turning phase at the intersection. The results can help the implementation and application of pre-signal in real traffic system.

Purpose To investigate how necroptosis (ie, programmed necrosis) is involved in killing of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after ablative hypofractionated radiation therapy (HFRT). Methods and Materials Deoxyribonucleic acid damage, DNA repair, and the death form of NSCLC cells were assessed after radiation therapy. The overexpression and silencing of receptor-interacting protein kinases 3 (RIP3, a key protein involved activation of necroptosis)-stable NSCLC cell lines were successfully constructed. The form of cell death, the number and area of colonies, and the regulatory proteins of necroptosis were characterized after radiation therapy in vitro. Finally, NSCLC xenografts and patient specimens were used to examine involvement of necroptosis after ablative HFRT in vivo. Results Radiation therapy induced expected DNA damage and repair of NSCLC cell lines, but ablative HFRT at ≥10 Gy per fraction preferentially stimulated necroptosis in NSCLC cells and xenografts with high RIP3 expression, as characterized by induction and activation of RIP3 and mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein and release of immune-activating chemokine high-mobility group box 1. In contrast, RNA interference of RIP3 attenuated ablative HFRT-induced necroptosis and activation of its regulatory proteins. Among central early-stage NSCLC patients receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy, high expression of RIP3 was associated with improved local control and progression-free survival (all P Conclusions Ablative HFRT at ≥10 Gy per fraction enhances killing of NSCLC with high RIP3 expression via preferential stimulation of necroptosis. RIP3 may serve as a useful biomarker to predict favorable response to stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Metallic nanoparticles have unique optical properties such as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, which can be used to improve the energy absorption and photocatalytic properties of semiconductor bases. In this paper, we construct a model to study the influence of Ag or Au nanoparticles (cubes or spheres) on the solar energy absorption and photocatalytic properties of nitrogen doped TiO 2 (or N-TiO 2 ). Effects of specific nanoparticle coupling parameters, such as particle shape, size, doping period (metal–metal distance) and separation distance (metal–semiconductor distance), on the properties of N-TiO 2 are studied in detail. We show that the photocurrent improvement can be optimized by setting suitable geometric parameters. In particular, the separation distance between metallic nanoparticles and N-TiO 2 D should be around 6–7 nm, and the period of doping P should be around 360 nm. The silver cubes with edge length L = 120 n m show the best performance. The results can help the design of solar energy materials, in which metallic nanoparticles may play an important role.

In a real traffic system, information feedback has already been proven to be a good way to alleviate traffic jams. However, due to the massive traffic information of real system, the procedure is often difficult in practice. In this paper, we study the effects of the amount of feedback information based on a cellular automaton model of urban traffic. What we found most interesting is that when providing the traffic information of a part of a road to travelers, the performance of the system will be better than that providing the road's full traffic information. From this basis, we can provide more effective routing strategy with less information. We demonstrate that only providing the traffic information of about first half road from upstream to downstream can maximize the traffic capacity of the system. We also give an explanation for these phenomena by studying the distribution pattern of vehicles and the detailed turning environment at the intersections. The effects of the traffic light period are also provided.

Cycling has been advocated by many governments because it is a healthy and green transportation mode and it helps mitigate traffic congestion. However, compared with vast amounts of works on vehicle flow and pedestrian flow, the bicycle flow study currently lags behind. We have carried out experimental studies on bicycle flow on a 146 meters long circular road and on an on-ramp system. We present the fundamental diagram of bicycle flow and the trajectories of each bicycle on the circular road. We have analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of bicycle flow and found that jams spontaneously form above a critical density of approximately 0.37 bicycles/m. For the on-ramp system, no capacity drop has been observed. The similarity and difference between bicycle flow and vehicle flow has been discussed. We propose a cellular automaton model of bicycle flow, and the simulation results are in agreement with the experiments.

// Huan-Huan Wang 1, * , Lei Deng 2, * , Qing-Lian Wen 3, * , Chun-Ze Zhang 4, * , Nicholas G. Zaorsky 5 , Bai-Lin Zhang 1 , Jie Chen 1 , Xian-Liang Zeng 1 , Yao-Li Cui 6 , Yang-Yang Shi 7 , Hai-Ling Hou 1 , Wei Wang 1 , Bo Jiang 1 , Jun Wang 1 , Qing-Song Pang 1 , Lu-Jun Zhao 1 , Zhi-Yong Yuan 1 , Ping Wang 1 and Mao-Bin Meng 1 1 Department of Radiation Oncology and CyberKnife Center, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer and Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China 2 Department of Thoracic Cancer, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China 3 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, China 4 Department of Surgery, Nankai University Tianjin People’s Hospital, Tianjin People’s Hospital, Tianjin 300121, China 5 Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA 6 Department of Lymphoma, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer and Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China 7 Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Mao-Bin Meng, email: doctormm991@hotmail.com Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, postoperative radiotherapy, postoperative chemotherapy, multimodality therapy, overall survival Received: December 10, 2016 Accepted: April 24, 2017 Published: May 23, 2017 ABSTRACT Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ideal timing of PORT in the management of completely resected (R0) Stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC. Patients and Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2015, patients with known histologies of pathologic Stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC who underwent R0 resection and received PORT concurrent with or prior to two sequential cycles of chemotherapy (“early PORT”) or with PORT administered after two cycles of chemotherapy (“late PORT”) at multiple hospitals. The primary endpoint was OS; secondary end points included pattern of the first failure, LRRFS, and DMFS. Kaplan–Meier OS, LRRFS, and DMFS curves were compared with the log-rank test. Cox regression analysis was used to determine prognosticators for OS, LRRFS, and DMFS. Results: Of 112 included patients, 41 (36.6%) and 71 (63.4%) patients received early PORT and late PORT, respectively. The median OS, LRRFS, and DMFS were longer for those who received early PORT than for those who received late PORT at the median follow-up of 29.6 months (all p < 0.05). Uni- and multi-variate analyses showed that number of POCT cycles and the combination schedule of PORT and POCT were independent prognostic factors for OS, LRRFS, and DMFS. Conclusions: Early PORT is associated with improved outcomes in pathologic Stage IIIA-N2 R0 NSCLC patients.

This paper studies a bidirectional multilane driven diffusive system with two type of particles. Phase separation phenomenon emerges in the system. In particular, a novel dual phase separation could be observed under certain circumstance. Mean field analysis has been carried out, which indicates that occurrence of phase separation might be related to minimization of system current. Specifically, the occurrence of dual phase separation is due to (i) existence of a local minimum in the fundamental diagram of flow rate J versus density ρ and (ii) ∂ J / ∂ ρ | ρ = 1 0 . Our findings offer sights to understand deeply dynamic features of multilane transportation system, especially phase separation of nonequilibrium state systems.