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An artificial intelligence-generated content-enhanced computer-aided diagnosis (AIGC-CAD) model, designated as ThyGPT, has been developed. This model, inspired by the architecture of ChatGPT, could assist radiologists in assessing the risk of thyroid nodules through semantic-level human-machine interaction. A dataset comprising 19,165 thyroid nodule ultrasound cases from Zhejiang Cancer Hospital was assembled to facilitate the training and validation of the model. After training, ThyGPT could automatically evaluate thyroid nodule and engage in effective communication with physicians through human-computer interaction. The performance of ThyGPT was rigorously quantified using established metrics such as the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity. The empirical findings revealed that radiologists, when supplemented with ThyGPT, markedly surpassed the diagnostic acumen of their peers utilizing traditional methods as well as the performance of the model in isolation. These findings suggest that AIGC-CAD systems, exemplified by ThyGPT, hold the promise to fundamentally transform the diagnostic workflows of radiologists in forthcoming years.

The mental health of older adults has become one of the major health challenges facing society today, which has attracted wide concerns from scholars in urban areas, but research in rural areas has been neglected. Therefore, this paper took rural older adult residents of 11 sample villages in Jintang County, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, as the research object. After controlling the demographic characteristics of older adults in rural areas, this paper attempted to explore the effects of the rural built Environment on the mental health of older adults. Through field investigation in the sample villages, 515 valid questionnaires were obtained. The results from the Binary Logistic Regression Model show that good marital status, physical health, education level, well-constructed roads, and safe neighborhoods had significant positive effects on the mental health of rural older adults. Rural older adults who prefer to walk, cycle, and use public transport have better mental health, and accessibility to the periodic market, health station, bus station, village committee, supermarket, and the main road is positively correlated with the mental health of rural older adults, while the distance from home to the town center and coach terminal has a significant negative impact on the mental health of rural older adults. The research results provide a theoretical reference for further construction of rural aging environments., Design & Construction Management

Simple Summary Interventional oncology provides minimally invasive alternatives to many traditional medical and surgical treatments, offering a potential cure, control, or palliative care for many types of cancer patients. The aim of this article is to comprehensively review new indications for locoregional interventional oncology treatments and summarize the expert discussion and report from the "MIOLive Meets SIO" (Society of Interventional Oncology) session during the last Mediterranean Interventional Oncology Live congress held in Rome, Italy. Interventional oncology (IO) employs image-guided techniques to perform minimally invasive procedures, providing lower-risk alternatives to many traditional medical and surgical therapies for cancer patients. Since its advent, due to rapidly evolving research development, its role has expanded to encompass the diagnosis and treatment of diseases across multiple body systems. In detail, interventional oncology is expanding its role across a wide spectrum of disease sites, offering a potential cure, control, or palliative care for many types of cancer patients. Due to its widespread use, a comprehensive review of the new indications for locoregional procedures is mandatory. This article summarizes the expert discussion and report from the "MIOLive Meet SIO" (Society of Interventional Oncology) session during the last MIOLive 2022 (Mediterranean Interventional Oncology Live) congress held in Rome, Italy, integrating evidence-reported literature and experience-based perceptions. The aim of this paper is to provide an updated review of the new techniques and devices available for innovative indications not only to residents and fellows but also to colleagues approaching locoregional treatments.

Ultrasound is a vital diagnostic technique in health screening, with the advantages of non-invasive, cost-effective, and radiation free, and therefore is widely applied in the diagnosis of nodules. However, it relies heavily on the expertise and clinical experience of the sonographer. In ultrasound images, a single nodule might present heterogeneous appearances in different cross-sectional views which makes it hard to perform per-nodule examination. Sonographers usually discriminate different nodules by examining the nodule features and the surrounding structures like gland and duct, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. To address this problem, we collected hundreds of breast ultrasound videos and built a nodule reidentification system that consists of two parts: an extractor based on the deep learning model that can extract feature vectors from the input video clips and a real-time clustering algorithm that automatically groups feature vectors by nodules. The system obtains satisfactory results and exhibits the capability to differentiate ultrasound videos. As far as we know, it's the first attempt to apply re-identification technique in the ultrasonic field.

Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) can capture non-Euclidean spatial dependence between different brain regions. The graph pooling operator, a crucial element of GCNs, enhances the representation learning capability and facilitates the acquisition of abnormal brain maps. However, most existing research designs graph pooling operators solely from the perspective of nodes while disregarding the original edge features. This confines graph pooling application scenarios and diminishes its ability to capture critical substructures. In this paper, we propose a novel edge-aware hard clustering graph pool (EHCPool), which is tailored to dominant edge features and redefines the clustering process. EHCPool initially introduced the 'Edge-to-Node' score criterion which utilized edge information to evaluate the significance of nodes. An innovative Iteration n-top strategy was then developed, guided by edge scores, to adaptively learn sparse hard clustering assignments for graphs. Additionally, a N-E Aggregation strategy is designed to aggregate node and edge features in each independent subgraph. Extensive experiments on the multi-site public datasets demonstrate the superiority and robustness of the proposed model. More notably, EHCPool has the potential to probe different types of dysfunctional brain networks from a data-driven perspective. Method code: https://github.com/swfen/EHCPool

An understanding of solid-liquid interfaces is of great importance for fundamental research as well as industrial applications. However, it has been very challenging to directly image solid-liquid interfaces with high resolution, thus their structure and properties are often unknown. Here, we report a quasi-liquid phase between metal (In, Sn) nanoparticle surfaces and an aqueous solution observed using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. Our real-time high-resolution imaging reveals a thin layer of liquid-like materials at the interfaces with the frequent appearance of small In nanoclusters. Such a quasi-liquid phase serves as an intermediate for the mass transport from the metal nanoparticle to the liquid. Density functional theory-molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the positive charges of In ions greatly contribute to the stabilization of the quasi-liquid phase on the metal surface.

Xue Ding,1 Lei-Lei Fan,2 Shi-Xi Zhang,3 Xiu-Xia Ma,4 Peng-Fei Meng,4 Liang-Ping Li,5 Ming-Yan Huang,5 Jia-Le Guo,5 Peng-Zhan Zhong,5 Li-Ran Xu5 1Department of Medical, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cardiovascular, Yellow River Central Hospital, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Infectious Disease, Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, Shangqiu, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of AIDS Clinical Research Center, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of the First Clinical Medical College, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Li-Ran Xu, Department of the First Clinical Medical College, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, 19 Renmin Road, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China, Email xuliran666@sina.comAbstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains an uncontained, worldwide pandemic. While battling the disease in China, the Chinese government has actively promoted the use of traditional Chinese medicine, and many studies have been conducted to determine the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine for treating COVID-19. The present review discusses the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in curing COVID-19 and provides clinical evidence from all confirmed cases in China. Applications of traditional Chinese medicine and specific recipes for treating other viral infections, such as those caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and influenza A viruses (including H1N1), are also discussed. Studies have reported that traditional Chinese medicine treatment plays a significant role in improving clinical symptoms. Therefore, further investigation may be of high translational value in revealing novel targeted therapies for COVID-19.Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine, coronav

Xiao Sun,1 Lu Guo,1 Mengmeng Shang,1 Dandan Shi,1 Ping Liang,2 Xuanxuan Jing,1 Dong Meng,1 Xinxin Liu,1 Xiaoying Zhou,1 Yading Zhao,1 Jie Li1 1Department of Ultrasound, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jie LiDepartment of Ultrasound, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Wenhua Western Road, 107#, Jinan Tel/Fax +86-531-82166101Email jieli301@163.comPurpose: To synthesize and evaluate a novel folate-conjugated ultrasonic nanobubble (HA-FOL-NB) loading low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LMW-HA) for specific tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) targeting and reeducation.Methods: The characteristics, cytotoxicity, contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging (CEUS), and targeting ability to TAMs of HA-FOL-NBs were investigated. The TAMs reprogramming function of HA-FOL-NBs combining ultrasound targeted nanobubble destruction was assessed as well.Results: HA-FOL-NBs (about 342 nm) showed remarkable contrast enhancement images, and higher targeting ability due to the folate to folate receptor interactions. Combined with ultrasound targeted nanobubble destruction, HA-FOL-NBs could specifically deliver LMW-HA into TAMs, thus exhibited stronger reeducation effect compared with free LMW-HA.Conclusion: These folate-conjugated and LMW-HA-loaded nanobubbles, with targeted CEUS imaging and TAMs reeducation, are expected to be a potential approach for tumor therapy based on TAMs, especially folate receptor-positive ones.Keywords: ultrasound contrast agent, ultrasonic nanobubble, tumor-associated macrophage, tumor microenvironment, contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging

Mengmeng Shang,1 Xiao Sun,1 Lu Guo,1 Dandan Shi,1 Ping Liang,2 Dong Meng,1 Xiaoying Zhou,1 Xinxin Liu,1 Yading Zhao,1 Jie Li1 1Department of Ultrasound, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jie LiDepartment of Ultrasound, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-531-82166101Fax +86-531-86927544Email jieli301@163.comBackground: Synergistic chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has become a primary effective curative approach for many solid cancers. However, CRT is still associated with several obstacles, including the increases in side effects and systemic toxicity. Incorporating nanocarriers into CRT is a new and exciting approach to solve these obstacles. The purpose of the present study was to design a unique pH- and ultrasound-responsive perfluoropentane-encapsulated, paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded carboxymethyl chitosan nanodroplets (NDs) for combined imaging and synergistic CRT.Materials and Methods: The NDs were prepared by a homogenization/emulsion method. Their physicochemical properties, echogenicity and biocompatibility were evaluated. PTX-loaded NDs with a high loading efficiency and encapsulation efficiency were prepared and their pH-responsive drug release profile was determined by dialysis sack method. Then, PC3 cells were exposed to (1) PTX (4 μg/mL), (2) NDs (30 μg/mL), (3) PTX-loaded NDs (34 μg/mL), (4) RT (6 Gy), (5) RT (10 Gy), (6) combination of PTX (4 μg/mL), ultrasound (0.5 W/cm2, 30 s) and RT (6 Gy), (7) combination of NDs (30 μg/mL), ultrasound (0.5 W/cm2, 30 s) and RT (6Gy), (8) combination of PTX-loaded NDs (30 μg/mL), ultrasound (0.5 W/cm2, 30 s) and RT (6 Gy). 24 hrs later, CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and migration assay were carried out to evaluate their

Yudong Zhou,1 Ping Liang,1 Wenyuan Ji,1 Zengpeng Yu,1 Hui Chen,1 Li Jiang1–4 1Department of Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014, People’s Republic of China; 2Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, People’s Republic of China; 3China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing 400014, People’s Republic of China; 4Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medical Research in Cognitive Development and Learning and Memory Disorders, Chongqing 400014, People’s Republic of China Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common brain tumors in adults. Current treatments cannot increase survival to a large extent, as the glioblastoma development mechanisms remain unknown. It has been well documented that ubiquitination contributes to tumor initiation and/or progression in many kinds of cancer. Ubiquitin-specific protease 4 (USP4), a member of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) family, can remove ubiquitin residues and play a role in cancer development. Methods: In the current study, lentiviruses were used to manipulate the expression of USP4. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to measure the expression level of USP4. Then, CCK-8 and annexin-V staining were used to detect cell proliferation and cell apoptosis, respectively. Results: First, we found that USP4 was highly upregulated in GBM tissues in comparison with that in normal tissues and high level of USP4 correlated with poor prognosis. Moreover, knockdown of USP4 could significantly inhibit cell proliferation and increase cell apoptosis in U87 and T98G cells. Cells with stable USP4 reduction exhibited slower tumor growth rate and smaller tumor size than the control group cells in a xenograft mouse model. Inhibition of USP4 downregulated the expression of PCNA, Bcl-2 and p-ERK1/2

Zhigang Cheng, Xin Li, Chao An, Xiaoling Yu, Jie Yu, Zhiyu Han, Fangyi Liu, Ping LiangDepartment of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, People’s Republic of ChinaPurpose: To retrospectively evaluate the clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (US-PMWA) for patients with rib metastases that caused severe intractable pain.Materials and methods: From Jan 2016 to Apr 2018, 9 rib metastases from 7 solid tumor patients were treated with US-PMWA. The visual analogue scale (VAS), daily opiate intake doses, local tumor control and complications were recorded and analyzed.Results: The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 33 months (median: 16 months). The procedures were successfully performed in all of the patients by one ablation. The ablation power ranged from 30 to 60 W, and the ablation time was 610.0±317.5 s. The mean preablation VAS pain score was 8.1±0.7, whereas the mean VAS pain score at 72 h postablation was 3.3±0.5 (P<0.001). All of the patients needed to apply oral and/or intravenous injection opiates to relieve severe intractable pain before ablation, with daily opiate intake doses of 61.4±30.8 mg. After ablation, five patients did not need to apply any opiate treatments 72 h after ablation, and only two patients needed oral opiates (daily opiate intake doses: 30 mg and 20 mg). Recurrence was detected in three lesions at 6, 11 and 9 months after ablation, with the maximum diameter observed being more than 4 cm. All of the patients were alive during the follow-up period. No minor or major complications occurred.Conclusion: US-PMWA appears to be feasible, convenient, safe and effective in the palliative management of refractory pain caused by rib metastases. This treatment can improve the quality of life of patients and may also achieve promising local control of tumors.Keywords

BackgroundBrugada syndrome (BrS), a disorder associated with characteristic electrocardiogram precordial ST-segment elevation, predisposes afflicted patients to ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death. Despite marked achievements in outlining the organ level pathophysiology of the disorder, the understanding of human cellular phenotype has lagged due to a lack of adequate human cellular models of the disorder.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to examine single cell mechanism of Brugada syndrome using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs).MethodsThis study recruited 2 patients with type 1 BrS carrying 2 different sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 5 variants as well as 2 healthy control subjects. We generated iPSCs from their skin fibroblasts by using integration-free Sendai virus. We used directed differentiation to create purified populations of iPSC-CMs.ResultsBrS iPSC-CMs showed reductions in inward sodium current density and reduced maximal upstroke velocity of action potential compared with healthy control iPSC-CMs. Furthermore, BrS iPSC-CMs demonstrated increased burden of triggered activity, abnormal calcium (Ca2+) transients, and beating interval variation. Correction of the causative variant by genome editing was performed, and resultant iPSC-CMs showed resolution of triggered activity and abnormal Ca2+ transients. Gene expression profiling of iPSC-CMs showed clustering of BrS compared with control subjects. Furthermore, BrS iPSC-CM gene expression correlated with gene expression from BrS human cardiac tissue gene expression.ConclusionsPatient-specific iPSC-CMs were able to recapitulate single-cell phenotype features of BrS, including blunted inward sodium current, increased triggered activity, and abnormal Ca2+ handling. This novel human cellular model creates future opportunities to further elucidate the cellular disease mechanism and identify novel therapeutic targets.

Nanoporous carbons were prepared by thermal conversion of zinc/cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8/ZIF-67) and their bimetallic ZIFs, and used for environmental remediation, energy storage and conversion. For wastewater treatment by adsorption, pristine ZIFs presented high adsorption capacities of phenol while the carbon derivatives showed a negligible capacity, due to the collapse of frameworks during the pyrolysis, resulting in a sharp decrease in specific surface area and micropore fraction. However, the as-derived carbons exhibited excellent catalytic performances in degradation of phenol and p-hydroxybenzoic acid by advanced oxidation using peroxymonosulfate. Moreover, ZIF-67 derived carbons also produced the best performances in electrochemical oxygen reduction and evolution reactions due to a high graphitic degree, while ZIF-8 derived carbons showed the highest specific supercapacitance, attributing to the large mesopore volume and specific surface area. This study illustrated that the structures of ZIFs-derived carbon materials are determined by the metal species and constituents of the parental ZIFs as well as the pyrolysis conditions, making the carbons varying performances in environmental and electrochemical applications.

Yanyan Hu,1,2 Erpeng Qi,1 Fangyi Liu,1 Yuhan Lu,1 Shuilian Tan,1 Ya Sun,1 Zhiyu Han,1 Ping Liang,1 Xiaoling Yu1 1Department of Interventional Ultrasound, General Hospital of People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, China; 2Medical Department, First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation for pancreatic cancer (PC), and preliminarily evaluate the clinical value of a self-developed three-dimensional (3D) visualized seed planning and navigation system in 125I seed implantation for treatment of PC. Patients and methods: Our team retrospectively reviewed 25 PC patients who underwent 125I seed implantation between December 2010 and November 2016. The patients were divided into two groups: 3D visualization preoperative planning group (12 patients, 13 lesions) and two-dimensional (2D) regular group (13 patients, 14 lesions). We compared and analyzed the parameters of the two groups, such as number of needle insertions, one-time treatment success rate, proportion of added seeds, local control rate, rate of complications, rate of pain relief, and the survival rate and risk factors of the two groups. There was no significant difference in clinical data of the two groups. Results: 125I seed implantation was performed successfully in all PC patients, with no occurrence of serious complications during and after the procedure. The one-time treatment success rate of 3D group (80%) was higher than that of 2D group (45.5%) (P<0.05), and the proportion of added seed number of 3D group was lower than that of 2D group (P<0.05). The local control rate of 3D group (76.9%) was higher than that of 2D group (35.7%) (P<0.05). The survival rate of 3D group was significantly higher than that of 2D group (P=0.026), and the median survival of 2D group vs 3D group was 5.00 vs 10.80 months. The median survival of all 25 patients was 7.10 months (95% confidence interval: 4.43

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulating iron carbide (Fe3C) nanocrystals (Fe3C@NCNT) were fabricated by a simple and direct pyrolysis method using melamine and ferric chloride as the C, N and Fe precursors. The surface morphology, structure and composition of the Fe3C@NCNT materials were thoroughly investigated. The nanomaterials were employed as novel catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation; outstanding efficiency, high stability and excellent reusability were observed in the catalytic oxidation of organics. The encapsulated Fe3C nanoparticles played a key role in the emerging synergetic effects of the carbide and the protective graphitic layers. In addition, the quaternary N and trace amounts of iron on the CNT surface acted as the active sites. Various quenching experiments were carried out to elucidate the catalytic mechanism of Fe3C@NCNT. It was found that singlet oxygen, superoxide, sulfate and hydroxyl radicals worked together to degrade phenol solutions. Due to their simple synthesis method, low-cost precursors, unique structure and excellent catalytic activity and stability, these novel iron-carbide-based composites have great potential as new strategic materials for environmental catalysis

Wastewater treatment technologies are widely reported during the past years. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been considered as promising materials for the mentioned above application, due to the tunable porous structures and good configuration of elements. This thesis is to report MOFs-derived catalysts and their effective uses in wastewater treatment. C and N co-doped zinc oxide, and N-doped graphene were synthesized by controlled pyrolysis of MOFs, showing excellent degradation of organic pollutants in water.

Ya Sun,1,* Fubo Zhou,1,* Fangyi Liu,1 Yanyan Hu,1 Shuilian Tan,1 Ping Liang,1 Enqiang Linghu,2 Xiaoling Yu1 1Department of Interventional Ultrasound, 2Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objectives: The preoperative diagnosis between serous cystadenomas (SCAs) and mucinous cystadenomas (MCAs) in pancreas is significant due to their completely different biological behaviors. The purpose of our study was to examine and compare detailed contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) images of SCAs and MCAs and to determine whether there are significant findings that can contribute to the discrimination between these two diseases. Methods: From April 2015 to June 2016, 61 patients (35 patients with SCAs and 26 patients with MCAs) were enrolled in this study. Forty-three cases were confirmed by surgical pathology and 18 by comprehensive clinical diagnoses. All of the CEUS characteristics of these lesions were recorded: size, location, echogenicity, shape, wall characteristics, septa characteristics, and the presence of a honeycomb pattern or nodules. CEUS examinations were performed by two ultrasound physicians. Results: Location (P=0.003), shape (P=0.000), thickness of the wall (P=0.005), the number of septa (P=0.001), and the honeycomb pattern (P=0.001) were statistically significantly different. A head–neck location, a lobulated shape, an inner regular honeycomb pattern, and a thin wall (<3 mm thick) were significant in diagnosing patients with SCAs. When two of these four findings were combined, we could achieve a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 80.8% to diagnose SCA; when three of these four findings were combined, the specificity was 100%. A body–tail location, a round/oval shape, 0–2 septa, and a thick wall (≥3 mm thick) were most often detected in patients with MCAs. When two of these four findings

Xiaojie Liu,1,* Yongchun Song,1,* Ping Liang,2 Tingshi Su,2 Huojun Zhang,3 Xianzhi Zhao,3 Zhiyong Yuan,1 Ping Wang1 1Department of Radiotherapy,Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, 2Cyberknife Center, Ruikang Hospital, Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning, 3Department of Radiotherapy, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the safety of robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and its related factors.Methods: A total of 74 HCC patients with Child–Turcotte–Pugh (CTP) Class A were included in a multi-institutional, single-arm Phase II trial (NCT 02363218) between February 2013 and August 2016. All patients received SBRT treatment at a dose of 45 Gy/3f. The liver function was compared before and after SBRT treatment by the analysis of adverse hepatic reactions and changes in CTP classification.Results: After SBRT treatment, eight patients presented with decreases in CTP classification and 13 patients presented with ≥ grade 2 hepatic adverse reactions. For patients presenting with ≥ grade 2 hepatic adverse reactions, the total liver volume of ≤1,162 mL and a normal liver volume (total liver volume – gross tumor volume [GTV]) of ≤1,148 mL were found to be independent risk factors and statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion: The total liver volume and normal liver volume are associated with the occurrence of ≥ grade 2 hepatic adverse reactions after SBRT treatment on HCC patients. Therefore, if the fractionat

Carbon and nitrogen co-doped ZnO was synthesized by simple, two-step pyrolysis of a zinc-based metal organic framework (Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8, ZIF-8). ZIF-8 was firstly carbonized in a nitrogen atmosphere, followed by pyrolysis in air forming carbon and zinc oxide hybrids. The hybrids were evaluated by photocatalytic dye degradation and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The contents of the dopants influenced the photocatalytic performances of the hybrids. The mechanism was illustrated and showed that hydroxyl radicals and photo-excited electrons contributed to the dye degradation. The carbon-zinc oxide hybrid also demonstrated a great potential for water oxidation because of the more active sites induced by dopants. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Hybrid beamforming (HB) has been widely studied for reducing the number of costly radio frequency (RF) chains in massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. However, previous works on HB are limited to a single user equipment (UE) or a single group of UEs, employing the frequency-flat first-level analog beamforming (AB) that cannot be applied to multiple groups of UEs served in different frequency resources in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system. In this paper, a novel HB algorithm with unified AB based on the spatial covariance matrix (SCM) knowledge of all UEs is proposed for a massive MIMO-OFDM system in order to support multiple groups of UEs. The proposed HB method with a much smaller number of RF chains can achieve more than 95% performance of full digital beamforming. In addition, a novel practical subspace construction (SC) algorithm based on partial channel state information is proposed to estimate the required SCM. The proposed SC method can offer more than 97% performance of the perfect SCM case. With the proposed methods, significant cost and power savings can be achieved without large loss in performance. Furthermore, the proposed methods can be applied to massive MIMO-OFDM systems in both time-division duplex and frequency-division duplex., Comment: accepted to journal

Ping Liang,1,* Cheng Huang,2,* Shi-Xiong Liang,2,3 Ye-Fei Li,3 Shang-Xiao Huang,2 Zu-Ping Lian,1 Jian-Min Liu,1 Yang Tang,1 Hai-Jie Lu4 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 4Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: To evaluate the safety of CyberKnife stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and identify the treatment-related risk factors of hepatic toxicity.Materials and methods: One hundred and four HCC patients treated with CyberKnife SBRT were included in this study between August 2009 and December 2012. The average dose of prescribed radiation was 42.81±4.78 Gy (28–55 Gy) with the average fraction size of 8–16 Gy to the planning target volume. The average fractions were 3.31±0.81 (2–6 fractions). Response rates were determined, and the Child–Pugh (CP) score and class following CyberKnife SBRT were obtained to evaluate hepatic toxicity.Results: Seventeen patients experienced progression in CP class and 24 patients experienced CTCAE V. 4.0 grade 2–3 hepatic toxicity during the five-month follow-up period, while no patient experienced grade 4 liver toxicity. Multivariate analysis indicated that only V25 was an independent factor in grade 2–3 hepatic toxicity (P=0.029, <0.05). Radiation-induced hepatic toxicity (RIHT), defined as an increase of at least two points within three months following CyberKnife SBRT, occurred in 13 of the 104 patients (13/104, 12.5%), and only the normal liver tissue was found to be associated with

Xuejuan Dong, Xin Li, Jie Yu, Ming-an Yu, Xiaoling Yu, Ping Liang Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Purpose: To retrospectively review the complications of ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) of renal cell carcinoma.Patients and methods: In this study, 101 patients with 105 tumors seen from April 2006 to Feb 2014 were enrolled retrospectively. The patients were treated with US-guided percutaneous MWA and were followed up with contrast-enhanced US and computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging at 1, 3, and 6 months and every 6 months thereafter.Results: Technical success was achieved in 99 of 105 tumors (94.3%). The median follow-up time was 25 (range 1.13–93.23) months. Among the 105 tumors, 26 complications in 24.8% of patients and 23 minor complications (Clavien–Dindo Grades I and II) in 21.9% of patients were noted, accounting for 88.5% of all complications. All the minor complications were cured. Three major complications (Clavien–Dindo Grade ≥III) occurred in 2.9% of the patients, accounting for 11.5% of all complications: hydrothorax in two patients and bowel injury in one. The two patients who had hydrothorax post-MWA had a history of cirrhosis and were treated with catheter drainage. The bowel injury was treated surgically. In all patients, the changes in serum creatinine and urea nitrogen levels from before to after the procedure were small.Conclusion: US-guided percutaneous MWA is a beneficial treatment for renal cell carcinoma in selected patients; however, if the renal tumor is close to the bowel, or the patient has serious comorbidities or has undergone abdominal surgery, the procedure must be performed more carefully. Keywords: microwave ablation, renal cell, complications, carcinoma

Chang Jiang,1–3,* Wan-Ming Hu,2–4,* Fang-Xin Liao,1–3 Qiong Yang,1–3 Ping Chen,1–3 Yu-Ming Rong,1–3 Gui-Fang Guo,1–3 Chen-Xi Yin,2,3,5 Bei Zhang,1–3 Wen-Zhuo He,1–3 Liang-Ping Xia1–3 1VIP Department, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 2State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, 3Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, 4Department of Pathology, 5Intensive Care Unit, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To investigate the prognostic relevance of preoperative peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients.Materials and methods: We enrolled 129 consecutive GIST patients who underwent initial curative surgical resection with or without adjuvant/palliative imatinib treatment in our study. Blood NLR was calculated as neutrophil count (number of neutrophils ×109/L) divided by lymphocyte count (number of lymphocytes ×109/L). Survival curves were constructed by using the Kaplan–Meier method. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to identify associations with outcome variable. All tests were two-sided, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The optimal cut-off value of NLR was 2.07 in the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The median overall survival (OS) of high NLR group was 113.0 months, whereas that of the low NLR group had not reached the median OS both in the general (P<0.001) and subgroup analyses. The elevated NLR suggested shorter OS in the high malignant potential groups (P=0.01) and the combined low and moderate groups (P=0.02). Increased NLR indicated poor OS in patients regardless of whether if received imatinib treatment or not (P=0.005, and P=

Shao-Bo Duan,1,2 Jie Yu,2 Xin Li,2 Zhi-Yu Han,2 Hong-Yan Zhai,2 Ping Liang21Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Medical Center Tsinghua University, 2Department of Interventional Ultrasound, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaObjective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictability of two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC).Materials and methods: One hundred and eighteen patients with 137 thyroid nodules (46 benign nodules, 91 malignant nodules) were included in this study who received conventional ultrasound (US) and 2D-SWE before fine-needle aspiration or surgery. The diagnostic performance was compared between US findings only and the combined use of US findings with 2D-SWE, which were correlated with pathology results.Results: Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of 2D-SWE. Conventional US findings and 2D-SWE values were analyzed and compared between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The mean values of SWE_mean, SWE_min, and SWE_max were 46.6±16.7, 26.2±9.5, and 73.6±18.1 kPa, respectively, in PTMC, which were significantly higher than those in benign tumors (27.8±12.4, 15.8±8.6, and 50.3±22.6 kPa, P<0.001). The optimal cut-off values of SWE_mean, SWE_min, and SWE_max for predicting malignancy were 34.5, 21.8, and 53.2 kPa, respectively. Taller than wide, micro-calcification, and SWE_mean were found to be independent risk factors for predicting PTMC. The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of combined conventional US features with 2D-SWE parameters were 95.7%, 94.5%, 94.9%, 89.8%, and 97.7%, respectively; these were superior to those of conventional US (89.1%, 90.1%, 89.9%, 82.0%, and 93.2%).Conclusion: The study indicates that the

ObjectivesPrevious attempts at meta-analysis and systematic review have not provided clear recommendations for the clinical application of thermal ablation in metastatic colorectal cancer. Many authors believe that the probability of gathering randomised controlled trial (RCT) data is low. Our aim is to provide a consensus document making recommendations on the appropriate application of thermal ablation in patients with colorectal liver metastases.MethodsThis consensus paper was discussed by an expert panel at The Interventional Oncology Sans Frontières 2013. A literature review was presented. Tumour characteristics, ablation technique and different clinical applications were considered and the level of consensus was documented.ResultsSpecific recommendations are made with regard to metastasis size, number, and location and ablation technique. Mean 31 % 5-year survival post-ablation in selected patients has resulted in acceptance of this therapy for those with technically inoperable but limited liver disease and those with limited liver reserve or co-morbidities that render them inoperable.ConclusionsIn the absence of RCT data, it is our aim that this consensus document will facilitate judicious selection of the patients most likely to benefit from thermal ablation and provide a unified interventional oncological perspective for the use of this technology.Key points• Best results require due consideration of tumour size, number, volume and location. • Ablation technology, imaging guidance and intra-procedural imaging assessment must be optimised. • Accepted applications include inoperable disease due to tumour distribution or inadequate liver reserve. • Other current indications include concurrent co-morbidity, patient choice and the test-of-time approach. • Future applications may include resectable disease, e.g. for small solitary tumours.

Zero-Forcing (ZF) has been considered as one of the potential practical precoding and detection method for massive MIMO systems. One of the most important advantages of massive MIMO is the capability of supporting a large number of users in the same time-frequency resource, which requires much larger dimensions of matrix inversion for ZF than conventional multi-user MIMO systems. In this case, Neumann Series (NS) has been considered for the Matrix Inversion Approximation (MIA), because of its suitability for massive MIMO systems and its advantages in hardware implementation. The performance-complexity trade-off and the hardware implementation of NS-based MIA in massive MIMO systems have been discussed. In this paper, we analyze the effects of the ratio of the number of massive MIMO antennas to the number of users on the performance of NS-based MIA. In addition, we derive the approximation error estimation formulas for different practical numbers of terms of NS-based MIA. These results could offer useful guidelines for practical massive MIMO systems., Comment: accepted to conference; Proc. IEEE ICC 2015

Radio self-interference cancellation has been a technological challenge for more than a century while it is the most critical enabler for full-duplex radios. The eventual success of radio self-interference cancellation may well depend on not only improved hardware technology but also innovative signal processing schemes. In this paper, we present a few latest discoveries on such schemes. The first is an improvement of time-domain transmit beamforming with robustness against the IQ imbalances in radio circuits, which is supported by both simulation and hardware experimental results. A key innovation here is due to the use of real-valued linear model instead of complex-valued linear (or widely linear) model. The second is a numerical investigation of the performance limits of an all-analog cancellation channel based on clustered-taps of attenuators when the interference channel has a large number of random multipaths. The third is a blind digital tuning method which uses only the baseband waveforms to determine the values of the variable attenuators embedded in the all-analog cancellation channel. This method is robust against imperfections in the knowledge of the transfer function of any component in the system provided that a real-valued linearity property holds (except for the transmit chain).

Image-guided tumor ablation has become a well-established hallmark of local cancer therapy. The breadth of options available in this growing field increases the need for standardization of terminology and reporting criteria to facilitate effective communication of ideas and appropriate comparison among treatments that use different technologies, such as chemical (eg, ethanol or acetic acid) ablation, thermal therapies (eg, radiofrequency, laser, microwave, focused ultrasound, and cryoablation) and newer ablative modalities such as irreversible electroporation. This updated consensus document provides a framework that will facilitate the clearest communication among investigators regarding ablative technologies. An appropriate vehicle is proposed for reporting the various aspects of image-guided ablation therapy including classification of therapies, procedure terms, descriptors of imaging guidance, and terminology for imaging and pathologic findings. Methods are addressed for standardizing reporting of technique, follow-up, complications, and clinical results. As noted in the original document from 2003, adherence to the recommendations will improve the precision of communications in this field, leading to more accurate comparison of technologies and results, and ultimately to improved patient outcomes.

Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome, DS) is the most common genetic cause of developmental cognitive deficits, and the so-called Down syndrome critical region (DSCR) has been proposed as a major determinant of this phenotype. The regions on human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) are syntenically conserved on mouse chromosome 10 (Mmu10), Mmu16 and Mmu17. DSCR is conserved between the Cbr1 and Fam3b genes on Mmu16. Ts65Dn mice carry three copies of ∼100 Hsa21 gene orthologs on Mmu16 and exhibited impairments in the Morris water maze and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). Converting the Cbr1-Fam3b region back to two copies in Ts65Dn mice rescued these phenotypes. In this study, we performed similar conversion of the Cbr1-Fam3b region in Dp(16)1Yey/+ mice that is triplicated for all ∼115 Hsa21 gene orthologs on Mmu16, which also resulted in the restoration of the wild-type phenotypes in the Morris water maze and hippocampal LTP. However, converting the Cbr1-Fam3b region back to two copies in a complete model, Dp(10)1Yey/+;Dp(16)1Yey/+;Dp(17)1Yey/+, failed to yield the similar phenotypic restorations. But, surprisingly, converting both the Cbr1-Fam3b region and the Hsa21 orthologous region on Mmu17 back to two copies in the complete model did completely restore these phenotypes to the wild-type levels. Our results demonstrated that the Hsa21 orthologous region on Mmu17 is a major determinant of DS-related developmental cognitive deficits. Therefore, the inclusion of the three copies of this Hsa21 orthologous region in mouse models is necessary for unraveling the mechanism underlying DS-associated developmental cognitive deficits and for developing effective interventions for this clinical manifestation.

Large-scale MIMO systems have been considered as one of the possible candidates for the next-generation wireless communication technique, due to their potential to provide significant higher throughput than conventional wireless systems. For such systems, Zero-Forcing (ZF) and Conjugate Beamforming (CB) precoding have been considered as two possible practical spatial multiplexing techniques, and their average achievable sum rates have been derived on the sum power constraint. However, in practice, the transmitting power at a base station is constrained under each antenna. In this case, the optimal power allocation is a very difficult problem. In this paper, the suboptimal power allocation methods for both ZF-based and CB-based precoding in large-scale MIMO systems under per-antenna constraint are investigated, which could provide useful references for practice., Comment: submitted to journal

This paper provides a solution to a critical issue in large-scale Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) communication systems: how to estimate the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratios (SINRs) and their expectations in MU-MIMO mode at the Base Station (BS) side when only the Channel Quality Information (CQI) in Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) mode and non-ideal Channel State Information (CSI) are known? A solution to this problem would be very beneficial for the BS to predict the capacity of MU-MIMO and choose the proper modulation and channel coding for MU-MIMO. To that end, this paper derives a normalized volume formula of a hyperball based on the probability density function of the canonical angle between any two points in a complex Grassmann manifold, and shows that this formula provides a solution to the aforementioned issue. It enables the capability of a BS to predict the capacity loss due to non-ideal CSI, group users in MU-MIMO mode, choose the proper modulation and channel coding, and adaptively switch between SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO modes, as well as between Conjugate Beamforming (CB) and Zero-Forcing (ZF) precoding. Numerical results are provided to verify the validity and accuracy of the solution.

Massive multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) systems, dense small-cells (SCs), and full duplex are three candidate techniques for next-generation communication systems. The cooperation of next-generation techniques could offer more benefits, e.g., SC in-band wireless backhaul in massive MIMO systems. In this paper, three strategies of SC in-band wireless backhaul in massive MIMO systems are introduced and compared, i.e., complete time-division duplex (CTDD), zero-division duplex (ZDD), and ZDD with interference rejection (ZDD-IR). Simulation results demonstrate that SC in-band wireless backhaul has the potential to improve the throughput for massive MIMO systems. Specifically, among the three strategies, CTDD is the simplest one and could achieve decent throughput improvement. Depending on conditions, with the self-interference cancellation capability at SCs, ZDD could achieve better throughput than CTDD, even with residual self-interference. Moreover, ZDD-IR requires the additional interference rejection process at the BS compared to ZDD, but it could generally achieve better throughput than CTDD and ZDD., Comment: accepted to journal

Xin Li, Zhiyu Han, Zhigang Cheng, Jie Yu, Xiaoling Yu, Ping Liang Department of Interventional Ultrasound, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China Purpose: To investigate the prognostic value of preoperative absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) in recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (RHCC) following thermal ablation. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between preoperative ALC and the clinicopathologic factors and long-term prognosis in 423 RHCC patients who underwent curative thermal ablation. Correlation analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) calculation, Kaplan–Meier curves, and multivariate regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: The median time to recurrence was 12 months for RHCC patients after thermal ablation. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, preoperative ALC was an independent risk factor for cancer recurrence, along with tumor differentiation and α-fetoprotein level. ALC ≥1.64×109/L defined by ROC calculation was associated with prolonged survival (area under the curve 0.741, P<0.001). Patients with ALC ≥1.64×109/L showed a mean survival of 20.2 months versus 11.6 months for patients with ALC <1.64×109/L (P<0.001). Patients were stratified into high and low groups according to ALC status. After excluding the basic parameters between groups, the 1- and 3-year recurrence rates in the high group were 20.9% and 29.5%, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of the low group (58.4% and 71.9%, respectively; P<0.001). The recurrence-free survival rates in the two groups analyzed by Kaplan–Meier curves were significantly different (P<0.001). Conclusion: Preoperative ALC is a powerful prognostic factor for RHCC recurrence after thermal ablation, which suggests that maintaining a high ALC in RHCC patients might improve cancer outcomes. Keywo

BackgroundDrug-induced arrhythmia is one of the most common causes of drug development failure and withdrawal from market. This study tested whether human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) combined with a low-impedance microelectrode array (MEA) system could improve on industry-standard preclinical cardiotoxicity screening methods, identify the effects of well-characterized drugs, and elucidate underlying risk factors for drug-induced arrhythmia. hiPSC-CMs may be advantageous over immortalized cell lines because they possess similar functional characteristics as primary human cardiomyocytes and can be generated in unlimited quantities.Methods and resultsPharmacological responses of beating embryoid bodies exposed to a comprehensive panel of drugs at 65 to 95 days postinduction were determined. Responses of hiPSC-CMs to drugs were qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with the reported drug effects in literature. Torsadogenic hERG blockers, such as sotalol and quinidine, produced statistically and physiologically significant effects, consistent with patch-clamp studies, on human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes hESC-CMs. False-negative and false-positive hERG blockers were identified accurately. Consistent with published studies using animal models, early afterdepolarizations and ectopic beats were observed in 33% and 40% of embryoid bodies treated with sotalol and quinidine, respectively, compared with negligible early afterdepolarizations and ectopic beats in untreated controls.ConclusionsWe found that drug-induced arrhythmias can be recapitulated in hiPSC-CMs and documented with low impedance MEA. Our data indicate that the MEA/hiPSC-CM assay is a sensitive, robust, and efficient platform for testing drug effectiveness and for arrhythmia screening. This system may hold great potential for reducing drug development costs and may provide significant advantages over current industry standard assays that use immortalized

The key technical challenge in making a full-duplex radio is self-interference cancelation (SIC). The self-interference received by a full-duplex radio has two major components: one corresponds to an information-carrying waveform meant for a remote radio and the other corresponds to the noisegenerated from the transmit chain of the full-duplex radio. The transmission signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a typical radio is only about 30dB. This severely limits the performance of any SIC methods which ignore the transmission noise. None of the previously known digital or hybrid methods for SIC has any built-in mechanism to handle the transmission noise. In this paper, we present a new analog-digital hybrid method whose performance is no longer limited by the transmission noise. This method also involves a blind system identification and equalization algorithm for finding the optimal parameters of the cancelation filter.

We present new quasars discovered in the vicinity of the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies with the LAMOST during the 2010 and 2011 observational seasons. Quasar candidates are selected based on the available SDSS, KPNO 4 m telescope, XSTPS optical, and WISE near infrared photometric data. We present 509 new quasars discovered in a stripe of ~135 sq. deg from M31 to M33 along the Giant Stellar Stream in the 2011 pilot survey datasets, and also 17 new quasars discovered in an area of ~100 sq. deg that covers the central region and the southeastern halo of M31 in the 2010 commissioning datasets. These 526 new quasars have i magnitudes ranging from 15.5 to 20.0, redshifts from 0.1 to 3.2. They represent a significant increase of the number of identified quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33. There are now 26, 62 and 139 known quasars in this region of the sky with i magnitudes brighter than 17.0, 17.5 and 18.0 respectively, of which 5, 20 and 75 are newly-discovered. These bright quasars provide an invaluable collection with which to probe the kinematics and chemistry of the ISM/IGM in the Local Group of galaxies. A total of 93 quasars are now known with locations within 2.5 deg of M31, of which 73 are newly discovered. Tens of quasars are now known to be located behind the Giant Stellar Stream, and hundreds behind the extended halo and its associated substructures of M31. The much enlarged sample of known quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33 can potentially be utilized to construct a perfect astrometric reference frame to measure the minute PMs of M31 and M33, along with the PMs of substructures associated with the Local Group of galaxies. Those PMs are some of the most fundamental properties of the Local Group., Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, AJ accepted

In this paper, the concept of possibilistic evidence which is a possibility distribution as well as a body of evidence is proposed over an infinite universe of discourse. The inference with possibilistic evidence is investigated based on a unified inference framework maintaining both the compatibility of concepts and the consistency of the probability logic., Comment: Appears in Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI1993)

We present a time-domain transmit beamforming (TDTB) method for self-interference cancelation (SIC) at the radio frequency (RF) frontend of the receivers on broadband full-duplex MIMO radios. It is shown that the conventional frequency-domain transmit beamforming (FDTB) method along with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) framework does not generally perform SIC in the prefix region of a transmitted frame. A hardware based test of the TDTB method shows a 50 dB SIC over a bandwidth of 30 MHz.

Background The further application of conventional ultrasound (US) image-guided microwave (MW) ablation of liver cancer is often limited by two-dimensional (2D) imaging, inaccurate needle placement and the resulting skill requirement. The three-dimensional (3D) image-guided robotic-assisted system provides an appealing alternative option, enabling the physician to perform consistent, accurate therapy with improved treatment effectiveness. Methods Our robotic system is constructed by integrating an imaging module, a needle-driven robot, a MW thermal field simulation module, and surgical navigation software in a practical and user-friendly manner. The robot executes precise needle placement based on the 3D model reconstructed from freehand-tracked 2D B-scans. A qualitative slice guidance method for fine registration is introduced to reduce the placement error caused by target motion. By incorporating the 3D MW specific absorption rate (SAR) model into the heat transfer equation, the MW thermal field simulation module determines the MW power level and the coagulation time for improved ablation therapy. Two types of wrists are developed for the robot: a ???remote centre of motion??? (RCM) wrist and a non-RCM wrist, which is preferred in real applications. Results The needle placement accuracies were < 3 mm for both wrists in the mechanical phantom experiment. The target accuracy for the robot with the RCM wrist was improved to 1.6 ?? 1.0 mm when real-time 2D US feedback was used in the artificial-tissue phantom experiment. By using the slice guidance method, the robot with the non-RCM wrist achieved accuracy of 1.8 ?? 0.9 mm in the ex vivo experiment; even target motion was introduced. In the thermal field experiment, a 5.6% relative mean error was observed between the experimental coagulated neurosis volume and the simulation result. Conclusion The proposed robotic system holds promise to enhance the clinical performance of percutaneous MW ablation of malignant liver t

BackgroundRestriction landmark genomic scanning (RLGS) is one of the most successfully applied methods for the identification of aberrant CpG island hypermethylation in cancer, as well as the identification of tissue specific methylation of CpG islands. However, a limitation to the utility of this method has been the ability to assign specific genomic sequences to RLGS spots, a process commonly referred to as "RLGS spot cloning."ResultsWe report the development of a virtual RLGS method (vRLGS) that allows for RLGS spot identification in any sequenced genome and with any enzyme combination. We report significant improvements in predicting DNA fragment migration patterns by incorporating sequence information into the migration models, and demonstrate a median Euclidian distance between actual and predicted spot migration of 0.18 centimeters for the most complex human RLGS pattern. We report the confirmed identification of 795 human and 530 mouse RLGS spots for the most commonly used enzyme combinations. We also developed a method to filter the virtual spots to reduce the number of extra spots seen on a virtual profile for both the mouse and human genomes. We demonstrate use of this filter to simplify spot cloning and to assist in the identification of spots exhibiting tissue-specific methylation.ConclusionThe new vRLGS system reported here is highly robust for the identification of novel RLGS spots. The migration models developed are not specific to the genome being studied or the enzyme combination being used, making this tool broadly applicable. The identification of hundreds of mouse and human RLGS spot loci confirms the strong bias of RLGS studies to focus on CpG islands and provides a valuable resource to rapidly study their methylation.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998., Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-146)., by Andrew Liang Ping Chang., M.S.

Author Posting. © 2001 Serres et al. The definitive version was published in Genome Biology 2 (2001): research0035.1–0035.7, doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-9-research0035., Background: Since the genome of Escherichia coli K-12 was initially annotated in 1997, additional functional information based on biological characterization and functions of sequence-similar proteins has become available. On the basis of this new information, an updated version of the annotated chromosome has been generated. Results: The E. coli K-12 chromosome is currently represented by 4,401 genes encoding 116 RNAs and 4,285 proteins. The boundaries of the genes identified in the GenBank Accession U00096 were used. Some protein-coding sequences are compound and encode multimodular proteins. The coding sequences (CDSs) are represented by modules (protein elements of at least 100 amino acids with biological activity and independent evolutionary history). There are 4,616 identified modules in the 4,285 proteins. Of these, 48.9% have been characterized, 29.5% have an imputed function, 2.1% have a phenotype and 19.5% have no function assignment. Only 7% of the modules appear unique to E. coli, and this number is expected to be reduced as more genome data becomes available. The imputed functions were assigned on the basis of manual evaluation of functions predicted by BLAST and DARWIN analyses and by the MAGPIE genome annotation system. Conclusions: Much knowledge has been gained about functions encoded by the E. coli K-12 genome since the 1997 annotation was published. The data presented here should be useful for analysis of E. coli gene products as well as gene products encoded by other genomes., This work was supported by NIH grant RO1 RR07861, the NASA Astrobiology Institute grant NCC2-1054, grants from the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr Foundation and the Sinsheimer Foundation, and NSF grants NSF DBI - 9984882 and NSF IIS - 9996304.

The identification and cloning of genes conferring mosquito refractoriness to the malaria parasite is critical for understanding malaria transmission mechanisms and holds great promise for developing novel approaches to malaria control. The mosquito midgut is the first major site of interaction between the parasite and the mosquito. Failure of the parasite to negotiate this environment can be a barrier for development and is likely the main cause of mosquito refractoriness. This paper reports a study on Aedes aegypti midgut expressed sequence tag (EST) identification and the determination of genes differentially expressed in mosquito populations susceptible and refractory to the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium gallinaceum. We sequenced a total of 1200 cDNA clones and obtained 1183 high-quality mosquito midgut ESTs that were computationally collapsed into 105 contigs and 251 singlets. All 1200 midgut cDNA clones, together with an additional 102 genetically or physically mapped Ae. aegypti clones, were spotted on single arrays with 12 replicates. Of those interrogated microarray elements, 28 (2.3%) were differentially expressed between the susceptible and refractory mosquito populations. Twenty-seven elements showed at least a two-fold increase in expression in the susceptible population level relative to the refractory population and one clone showed reduced expression. Sequence analysis of these differentially expressed genes revealed that 10 showed no significant similarity to any known genes, 6 clones had matches with unannotated genes of Anopheles gambiae, and 12 clones exhibited significant similarity to known genes. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR of selected clones confirmed the mRNA expression profiles from the microarray analysis.

This is a changing world. The most unbelievable change (triumph) was the break up of the U.S.S.R.. These changes signified the end of the Cold War. The costly arms race between East and West is over. At this moment the future of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has become the focus of world attention. Based on theory and facts the PRC's changing process can not be stopped any more. Our concern is how China will change, peaceful change or drastic and sudden change. No one will argue with peaceful change. Gradual change leading Mainland China to democracy will benefit everyone and is most preferred. But this most preferred change will not emerge on its own. It requires us, free world community, to work together to accelerate the PRC's peaceful evolution.

A hot-film sensor, a thin metal film deposited on a solid substrate, is mounted flush with the wall to measure the wall shear stress based on the heat transfer from the heated film in the viscous region. Hot-film sensors are a valuable tool for the measurement of the wall shear stress in steady flow. However, in unsteady flow a serious error is caused by the loss of heat in the substrate which retards the hot-film sensor response. This dissertation extends the use of hot-film sensor to unsteady flow measurements. A numerical calculation is carried out for the transient response of a flush-mounted hot-film sensor in a steady gas flow heated by a step change in the hot-film output flux. This calculation is part of a study of unsteady behavior of hot-film anemometers that involve substrate effects. The numerical method used is called the Unsteady Surface Element method. The numerical results show that the early-time film temperature agrees well with an analytical solution and the steady-state Nusselt number agrees with an existing numerical solution. The spatial average film temperature versus time is presented for several values of the rectangular hot-film aspect ratio. Through an inverse method, a hot-film sensor is investigated numerically for the phase lag and the amplitude reduction in step-like and oscillating flow. Accuracy of the recovered shear stress in these two flow pattern is also examined. Experimental measurements on the response behavior of the hot-film in unsteady flow compare favorably with the numerical simulation results. The distorted shear stress from the hot-film measurement in unsteady flow is recovered successfully by our inverse estimation scheme. A parameter estimation scheme is also applied to obtain the substrate thermal properties of hot-film sensors.

Liang, P., Zhang, C., Duan, X., Sun, H., Liu, S., Tade, M. O., & Wang, S. (2017) An insight into metal organic framework derived N-doped graphene for the oxidative degradation of persistent contaminants: formation mechanism and generation of singlet oxygen from peroxymonosulfate. Environmental Science: Nano, 4(2), 315-324. Available here.