Development and experimental validation of an in-house treatment planning system with greedy energy layer optimization for fast IMPT.

Background: Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) using pencil beam technique scans tumor in a layer by layer, then spot by spot manner. It can provide highly conformal dose to tumor targets and spare nearby organs-at-risk (OAR). Fast delivery of IMPT can improve patient comfort and reduce motion-induced uncertainties.

Proton ARC based LATTICE radiation therapy: feasibility study, energy layer optimization and LET optimization.

LATTICE, a spatially fractionated radiation therapy (SFRT) modality, is a 3D generalization of GRID and delivers highly modulated peak-valley spatial dose distribution to tumor targets, characterized by peak-to-valley dose ratio (PVDR). Proton LATTICE is highly desirable, because of the potential synergy of the benefit from protons compared to photons, and the benefit from LATTICE compared to GRID. Proton LATTICE using standard proton RT via intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) (with a few beam angles) can be problematic with poor target dose coverage and high dose spill to organs-at-risk (OAR).

Parental experiences orchestrate locust egg hatching synchrony by regulating nuclear export of precursor miRNA.

Parental experiences can affect the phenotypic plasticity of offspring. In locusts, the population density that adults experience regulates the number and hatching synchrony of their eggs, contributing to locust outbreaks. However, the pathway of signal transmission from parents to offspring remains unclear.

Theoretical calculations and experimental verification of carbon dioxide reduction electrocatalyzed by metalloporphyrin.

Metal-functionalized porphyrin-like graphene structures are promising electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) as their metal centers can modulate activity. Yet, the role of metal center of metalloporphyrins (MTPPs) in CO reaction activity is still lacking deep understanding. Here, CORR mechanism on MTPPs with five different metal centers (M = Fe, Co, Cu, Zn and Ni) are examined by first-principles calculations.

Mechanochemical Synthesis of Cuprous Complexes for X-ray Scintillation and Imaging.

Cuprous complex scintillators show promise for X-ray detection with abundant raw materials, diverse luminescent mechanisms, and adjustable structures. However, their synthesis typically requires a significant amount of organic solvents, which conflict with green chemistry principles. Herein, we present the synthesis of two high-performance cuprous complex scintillators using a simple mechanochemical method for the first time, namely [CuI(PPh)R] (R = 4-phenylpyridine hydroiodide (PH, Cu-1) and 4-(4-bromophenyl)pyridine hydroiodide (PH-Br, Cu-2).

The Role of DNMT1 and C/EBPα in the Regulation of CYP11A1 Expression During Syncytialization of Human Placental Trophoblasts.

Progesterone synthesized in the placenta is essential for pregnancy maintenance. CYP11A1 is a key enzyme in progesterone synthesis, and its expression increases greatly during trophoblast syncytialization. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive.

A deep unrolled neural network for real-time MRI-guided brain intervention.

Accurate navigation and targeting are critical for neurological interventions including biopsy and deep brain stimulation. Real-time image guidance further improves surgical planning and MRI is ideally suited for both pre- and intra-operative imaging. However, balancing spatial and temporal resolution is a major challenge for real-time interventional MRI (i-MRI).

[Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of Patients with Primary Testicular Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma].

Objective: To analyze the clinical manifestations, therapeutic response and prognosis of patients with primary testicular diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PT-DLBCL).

Methods: Thirty-eight patients with PT-DLBCL were enrolled, who hospitalized from January 2010 to April 2021, and their clinical characteristics, treatment regimen and efficacy were collected and analyzed retrospectively.

Results: The median age of the patients was 56 years old (ranged from 38 to 79 years).

Oxidization and Chain-Branching Reaction for Recycling HDPE and Mixed HDPE/PP with In-situ Compatibilization by Ozone-Induced Reactive Extrusion.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) are widely used in industrial and residential applications due to their low cost and chemical stability, thus their recycling process can contribute to a circular economy. However, both polymers are non-polar materials, and the incompatibility with most other materials leads to substantially inferior properties of blends. In this work, we propose a flexible compatibilization strategy to improve the compatibility of HDPE/iPP blends.

Root canal morphology and bifurcating/merging sites of permanent mandibular incisors in 9- to 12-year-old children: An in-vivo 3D visualization analysis in China.

Objective: This retrospective study aims to analyze the root canal morphology of permanent mandibular incisors and the bifurcating/merging sites of root canal systems in children aged 9-12 in a Chinese subpopulation.Design Cone-beam computed tomography scans of 976 healthy, untreated and fully developed mandibular incisors were collected. Root canal morphology was identified by Vertucci's classification.

An orthogonal matching pursuit optimization method for solving minimum-monitor-unit problems: Applications to proton IMPT, ARC and FLASH.

Background: The intensities (i.e., number of protons in monitor unit [MU]) of deliverable proton spots need to be either zero or meet a minimum-MU (MMU) threshold, which is a nonconvex problem.

Research progress of L-aspartate-α-decarboxylase and its isoenzyme in the β-alanine synthesis.

Driven by the massive demand in recent years, the production of β-alanine has significantly progressed in chemical and biological ways. Although the chemical method is relatively mature compared to biological synthesis, its high cost of waste disposal and environmental pollution does not meet the environmental protection standard. Hence, the biological method has become more prevalent as a potential alternative to the chemical synthesis of β-alanine in recent years.

[Clinical Features of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Transformed from Follicular Lymphoma].

Objective: To analyze the clinical manifestations, pathological characteristics, therapeutic effect and prognosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) transformed from follicular lymphoma (FL).

Methods: A total of 45 inpatients were eligible for criteria of histologic transformation from FL to DLBCL from January 2010 to January 2021, and their clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and efficacy were collected and analyzed retrospectively.

Results: Among the 45 patients, transformation occurred at diagnosis in 27 cases, during " watch and wait " phase in 7 cases and after treatment of FL in 11 cases.

Comprehensive silk gland multi-omics comparison illuminates two alternative mechanisms in silkworm heterosis.

Heterosis is a common phenomenon in plants and animals with diverse underlying mechanisms. Here, we applied two widely used silkworm hybrid systems and performed multi-omics analysis to identify possible intrinsic associations between different hybrid strategies and epigenetic mechanisms with silkworm heterosis. We found significant differences in the silk gland transcriptomic landscape between the two systems, including differentially expressed genes and expression patterns in the hybrid offspring compared to their parents.

The Bradykinin System Contributes to the Regulation of Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthase 2 Expression in Human Amnion Fibroblasts: Implications for Term and Preterm Birth.

Background: Bradykinin (BK) and its biologically active metabolite des-Arg9 bradykinin (DABK) play a pivotal role in inflammation. Since chorioamnionitis is the leading cause of preterm birth and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) derived from the amnion is key to labor initiation, we investigated if bradykinin peptides are part of the regulatory network of PGE2 synthesis in human amnion at parturition.

Methods: Human amnion tissue was obtained from term and preterm birth for the study of the changes of the bradykinin system at parturition.

Which Is Better for Hydrogen Evolution on Metal@MoS Heterostructures from a Theoretical Perspective: Single Atom or Monolayer?

Single atom (SA)- and monolayer (ML)-supported catalysts are two main technical routines to increase electrochemical catalytic performance and reduce cost. To date, it is still a debate which one is better for catalysis in experiments as both routines face a puzzling problem of searching for balance between stability and catalytic activity. Here, hydrogen evolution on two-dimensional 2H-MoS with SA- and ML-adsorbed metal atoms (23 kinds in total) is taken as an example to solve this question by first-principles calculations.

Role of EZH2-mediated H3K27me3 in placental ADAM12-S expression: implications for fetoplacental growth.

Background: Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2)-mediated histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) is a transcription silencing mark, which is indispensable for cell lineage specification at the early blastocyst stage. This epigenetic repression is maintained in placental cytotrophoblasts but is lifted when cytotrophoblasts differentiate into syncytiotrophoblasts. However, the physiological impact of this lift remains elusive.

Single cell transcriptomic analysis of human amnion identifies cell-specific signatures associated with membrane rupture and parturition.

Background: The human amnion is an intrauterine tissue which is involved in the initiation of parturition. In-depth understanding of gene expression signatures of individual cell types in the amnion with respect to membrane rupture at parturition may help identify crucial initiators of parturition for the development of specific strategies to prevent preterm birth, a leading cause of perinatal mortality.

Results: Six major cell types were revealed in human amnion including epithelial cells, fibroblasts and immunocytes as well as three other cell types expressing dual cell markers including epithelial/fibroblast, immune/epithelial and immune/fibroblast markers.

piRNA-guided intron removal from pre-mRNAs regulates density-dependent reproductive strategy.

Animal density-dependent experiences have profound effects on reproductive strategies with marked fecundity differences. Migratory locust adopts distinct population density-dependent reproductive strategies to cope with their respective life cycles, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we report that Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in the locust germline play key roles in this process.

A element contributes to the nuclear retention and transcriptional regulation of the resident lncRNA in locusts.

The majority of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) contain transposable elements (TEs). , a nuclear-retained lncRNA that is inserted by a retrotransposon, has been shown to be a vital regulator of phenylalanine hydroxylase () gene expression that controls dopamine biosynthesis and behavioural aggregation in the migratory locust. However, the role of the retrotransposon in the transcriptional regulation of remains unknown.