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PURPOSE: This study aims to evaluate the planned dose of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for treating early peripheral non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using the non-coplanar radiation from Cyberknife and Varian linac. Moreover, this study investigates whether Cyberknife and Varian linac are qualified for non-coplanar radiation SBRT for treating early peripheral NSCLC, and which one is better for protecting organs at risk (OARs). METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed based on the Cyberknife radiation treatment plans (RTPs) and Varian Eclipse RTPs of 10 patients diagnosed with early peripheral NSCLC. The dose distributions in the target and OARs were compared between the RTPs of Cyberknife and Varian Eclipse using Mim medical imaging software. RESULTS: For PTV, no significant difference in D98 and D95 between the Cyberknife and Eclipse was observed (t = –0.35, –1.67, P > 0.05). The homogeneity indexes (HIs) of Cyberknife plans are higher (t = 71.86, P 0.05) than Varian Eclipse plans. CONCLUSION: To fulfill SBRT by non-coplanar radiation, Cyberknife is recommended for the institutions equipped with Cyberknife, while Varian linac can be applied for the institutions that have not adopted Cyberknife in clinical radiotherapy yet.

Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a malignant tumour of the digestive system that is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. With the increased use of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, there is an urgent need to elucidate the immune-related mechanisms in ESCC and other digestive system carcinomas.In our study, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was first performed to analyse the expression profile downloaded from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then,Our analyses showed that the numbers of infiltrating macrophages were obviously higher in advanced stages in ESCC compared with other types of immunocytes. MEOX2 was identified as a biomarker correlated with macrophage infiltration in ESCC and other types of digestive system carcinomas. And MEOX2 expression was strongly associated with the mRNA expression of colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) and CSF-1 receptor (CSF-1R) in these kinds of carcinomas.We speculated that MEOX2 could facilitate macrophage infiltration

BackgroundEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a kind of digestive system malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. With the rise of immunotherapy applied in cancer treatment, immune-related mechanisms in ESCC and other digestive system carcinomas are in urgent need of being detected.MethodsIn our study, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was performed at first to analyze the expression profile downloaded from NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then via a series of bioinformatic analyses, including Mann-Whitney test, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), functional enrichment analysis and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis, we identified targeting immunocyte and related genes. Finally, we validated the results in TIMER database.ResultsOur analyses showed that macrophage infiltrating level is obviously higher in advanced stages in ESCC compared with other types of immunocytes. MEOX2 was detected as a biomarker correlated with macrophage infiltration in ESCC and other types of digestive system carcinomas. And MEOX2 expression was strongly associated with mRNA expression of colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) and CSF-1 receptor (CSF-1R) in these kinds of carcinomas. ConclusionWe speculated that MEOX2 could facilitate macrophage infiltration via CSF-1/CSF-1R signaling in ESCC and other kinds of digestive system carcinomas, which might serve as a novel target in prospective tumor immunotherapy.

The charge-trapping memory devices with a structure Pt/Al2O3/(Ta2O5) x (TiO2) 1−x /Al2O3/p-Si (x = 0.9, 0.75, 0.5, 0.25) were fabricated by using rf-sputtering and atomic layer deposition techniques. A special band alignment between (Ta2O5) x (TiO2) 1−x and Si substrate was designed to enhance the memory performance by controlling the composition and dielectric constant of the charge-trapping layer and reducing the difference of the potentials at the bottom of the conduction band between (Ta2O5) x (TiO2) 1−x and Si substrate. The memory device with a composite charge storage layer (Ta2O5) 0.5 (TiO2) 0.5 shows a density of trapped charges 3.84 × 1013/cm2 at ± 12 V, a programming/erasing speed of 1 µs at ± 10 V, a 8% degradation of the memory window at ± 10 V after 104 programming/erasing cycles and a 32% losing of trapped charges after ten years. The difference among the activation energies of the trapped electrons in (Ta2O5) x (TiO2) 1−x CTM devices indicates that the retention characteristics are dominated by the difference of energy level for the trap sites in each TTO CTM device.