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Objective: To investigate the effect of preoperative radiotherapy in the patients with primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma difficult to resect or unresectable and recognize the results of radiotherapy associated with resection and the effect of treatment on prognosis. Methods: It was analyzed retrospectively with 44 cases of primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma difficult to resect or unresectable in Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital from May 2017 to February 2022. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and helical tomotherapy (TOMO) were used to treat the patients, and the effects of conversion to resection treatment for patients with the prognosis and complications were analyzed. Results: A total of 44 cases received radiotherapy including 30 cases with IMRT and 14 cases with TOMO. The adverse events of radiotherapy were grade 1 to 2. After preoperative radiotherapy, 12 cases achieved partial response, 26 cases remained in stable condition and 6 cases progressed. There were 26 cases treated by surgical excision after radiotherapy with the rate of conversion to resection 59.1% (26/44). The 1- and 3-year survival rates of the cases were 93% and 72% respectively. Conclusions: The preoperative radiotherapy could have improve the conversion rates of resection for the patients with primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma difficult to resect or unresectable. The better postoperative survival was gotten with mild adverse events.

Wide-angle cameras are widely used in photogrammetry and autonomous systems which rely on the accurate metric measurements derived from images. To find the geometric relationship between incoming rays and image pixels, geometric camera calibration (GCC) has been actively developed. Aiming to provide practical calibration guidelines, this work surveys the existing GCC tools and evaluates the representative ones for wide-angle cameras. The survey covers the camera models, calibration targets, and algorithms used in these tools, highlighting their properties and the trends in GCC development. The evaluation compares six target-based GCC tools, namely BabelCalib, Basalt, Camodocal, Kalibr, the MATLAB calibrator, and the OpenCV-based ROS calibrator, with simulated and real data for wide-angle cameras described by four parametric projection models. These tests reveal the strengths and weaknesses of these camera models, as well as the repeatability of these GCC tools. In view of the survey and evaluation, future research directions of wide-angle GCC are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer continues to pose significant challenges to the medical community. Early detection, accurate molecular profiling, and adequate assessment of treatment response are critical factors in improving the quality of life and survival of cancer patients. Accumulating evidence shows that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shed by tumors into the peripheral blood preserves the genetic and epigenetic information of primary tumors. Notably, DNA methylation, an essential and stable epigenetic modification, exhibits both cancer- and tissue-specific patterns. As a result, ctDNA methylation has emerged as a promising molecular marker for noninvasive testing in cancer clinics. In this review, we summarize the existing techniques for ctDNA methylation detection, describe the current research status of ctDNA methylation, and present the potential applications of ctDNA-based assays in the clinic. The insights presented in this article could serve as a roadmap for future research and clinical applications of ctDNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the role and relevant mechanism of miR-30a-3p action in asthma. The results of this study revealed that the expression levels of miR-30a-3p were significantly decreased in the peripheral blood of asthmatic patients. In addition, we found that the CC chemokine receptor (CCR3) was a target of miR-30a-3p. Subsequently, an asthma mouse model was established using ovalbumin (OVA). The results showed that the expression of miR-30a-3p and CCR3 was downregulated and upregulated, respectively, in the peripheral blood of asthmatic mice. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in asthmatic mouse serum demonstrated that miR-30a-3p mimic treatment significantly decreased the secretion of OVA-specific IgE, eotaxin-1, interleukin (IL)-5, and IL-4. These results suggested that miR-30a-3p inhibited CCR3 signaling pathway and relieved the inflammatory response against asthma in vivo. Eosinophils have also been implicated in the asthmatic inflammatory response. Therefore, the in vitro effects of miR-30a-3p on eosinophil activity were determined. Findings suggested that miR-30a-3p mimic significantly reduced eosinophil viability and migration and induced apoptosis. In addition, CCR3 and eotaxin-1 downregulation were observed. The aforementioned results were significantly reversed following CCR3 overexpression. This study suggested that miR-30a-3p was involved in asthma by regulating eosinophil activity and targeting CCR3.

Calcium peroxide (CP) has been widely applied in environmental remediation, but few studies have reported its application in controlling Microcystis blooms. To recognize its feasibility for mitigating Microcystis blooms, the properties of CP in terms of hydrogen peroxide (HP) release and phosphate removal were investigated at different CP doses, temperatures, and initial pH values. HP release kinetics followed the Higuchi model. Batch experiments conducted in this study suggested that the HP yield and release rate were positively correlated with the CP dose. Increasing temperature decreased the HP yield but accelerated the HP release rate. The phosphate removal kinetics were well simulated by the pseudo-second-order model. The batch experiments suggested that an increased CP dose enhanced the phosphate removal capacity, but it did not affect the phosphate removal rate. Moreover, increased temperature accelerated both phosphate removal capacity and rate. However, the initial pH of low-buffer-capacity solutions did not notably affect HP release and phosphate removal. According to laboratory experiments, HP released from CP could impair photosynthetic activity, resulting in Microcystis mortality. Furthermore, the reduced phosphate concentration in the solutions suggested that CP could facilitate the control of eutrophication, which directly reduced bloom formation. Hence, our results confirmed CP as a promising algicide for Microcystis bloom control, and it is worthwhile to develop novel methods for bloom mitigation based on CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to get insight into the impacts of UVC/H 2 O 2 on Microcystis aeruginosa , physiological and morphological changes as well as toxicity were detected under different UVC/H 2 O 2 treatments. In the presence of sole UVC or H 2 O 2 , the net oxygen evolution rate decreased significantly ( p < 0.05) since activity of photosystem II (PSII) was inhibited. Meanwhile, increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), degradation of microcystin (MC) and ultrastructure destructions were observed. Under sole UVC treatment, no changes happened in the activity of photosystem I (PSI), but the degradation of D1 protein was observed. Under sole H 2 O 2 treatment, an increase of malondialdehyde, aggregation of D1 protein and deformation of the thylakoid membrane were observed. ROS content under H 2 O 2 treatment was about 5 times than that under UVC treatment. Combined use of UVC and H 2 O 2 , as well as 20 mJ cm −2 UVC and 60 μM H 2 O 2 , showed high synergetic effects. Obvious damage to membrane systems, the marked degradation of MC and inhibition of the photosystems were observed. It could be deduced that UVC worked on intracellular membrane components directly and the damaged oxygen-evolving complex, which was followed by the D1 protein degradation. H 2 O 2 oxidised the membrane lipids via an ROS-mediated process, with thylakoid injury and the aggregation of D1 protein being the lethal mechanisms, and both PSII and PSI being the attacking targets. With regard towards the effective inactivation of M. aeruginosa and high removal of MC, UVC/H 2 O 2 proposed a novel practical method in controlling cyanobacterial blooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a widely accepted algicide in controlling cyanobacterial blooms. However, this method includes two disadvantages: 1) a low H 2 O 2 concentration (<5 mg L -1 ) is required; 2) H 2 O 2 -induced cell lysis causes phosphorus (P) contamination. To overcome the drawbacks, a H 2 O 2 slow-releasing composite (HSRC) based on calcium peroxide (CaO 2 ) was fabricated to substitute liquid H 2 O 2 . According to the results, a higher CaO 2 dose increased H 2 O 2 yield and releasing rate. H 2 O 2 yield of 160 mg L -1 CaO 2 in HSRC reached 32.9 mg L -1 and its releasing rate was 0.407 h -1 . In addition, a higher temperature decreased H 2 O 2 yield and increased H 2 O 2 -releasing rate. Besides, HSRC endowed with a remarkable ability to immobilize P. Higher CaO 2 dose, pH value, and temperature increased the rate of P immobilization. The highest rate was 0.185 h -1 , which occurred with 160 mg L -1 CaO 2 in HSRC at 25 °C and pH 8.0. Toxicity assays showed that HSRC exerted sustaining oxidative stress on Microcystis aeruginosa. Accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species resulted in the disruption of enzymatic systems and inactivation of photosystem. Tracking the variations of cell growth and H 2 O 2 concentration during HSRC treatments, it suggested that the lethal effect on Microcystis aeruginosa was achieved with a super-low H 2 O 2 concentration (<0.3 mg L -1 ). In addition, cell lysis did not cause a sudden rise in P concentration due to the P immobilization by HSRC. Therefore, HSRC successfully offsets the drawbacks of liquid H 2 O 2 in mitigating cyanobacterial blooms. It may be a novel and promising algicide that not only kills cyanobacteria but also reduces eutrophication momentarily., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)