Machine Learning Based on a Multiparametric and Multiregional Radiomics Signature Predicts Radiotherapeutic Response in Patients with Glioblastoma.

METHODS: The MRI images, genetic data, and clinical data of 152 patients with GBM were analyzed. 122 patients from the TCIA dataset (training set: n = 82; validation set: n = 40) and 30 patients from local hospitals were used as an independent test dataset. Radiomics features were extracted from multiple regions of multiparameter MRI. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to verify the ability of the imaging signature to predict the response of GBM patients to radiotherapy before an operation. Multivariate Cox regression including radiomics signature and preoperative clinical risk factors was used to further improve the ability to predict the overall survival (OS) of individual GBM patients, which was presented in the form of a nomogram. RESULTS: The radiomics signature was built by eight selected features. The C-index of the radiomics signature in the TCIA and independent test cohorts was 0.703 (P < 0.001) and 0.757 (P = 0.001), respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that the radiomics signature (HR: 0.290, P < 0.001), age (HR: 1.023, P = 0.01), and KPS (HR: 0.968, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for OS in GBM patients before surgery. When the radiomics signature and preoperative clinical risk factors were combined, the radiomics nomogram further improved the performance of OS prediction in individual patients (C-index = 0.764 and 0.758 in the TCIA and test cohorts, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study developed a radiomics signature that can predict the response of individual GBM patients to radiotherapy and may be a new supplement for precise GBM radiotherapy.

[Measurements of Bacterial Community and Biodiversity from Activated Sludge for a Wastewater Treatment Containing Starch].

This study analyzes the microbial community and diversity composition of activated sludge in anoxic/oxic (A/O) treatment systems at different operation stages using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing to investigate the microbial community structure and diversity in activated sludge for starch wastewater treatment. The experimental results showed that the microbial community structure of activated sludge for starch production wastewater treatment in A/O systems was quite stable under the same wastewater condition, and that the dominant bacteria of the activated sludge were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. The most important dominant bacterial group was Proteobacteria (45.66%-66.30%), of which γ-subclass bacteria were the main member and occupied 36.38%-66.65%. The proportion of Sphingobacteria, the main member of the Bacteroidetes, decreased when the sludge settling performance was better, but the proportion of Anaerolineae, the main member of Chloroflexi, increased significantly when the sludge sedimentation performance was better. These changes may have been closely related to the behavior of sludge settleability. There were a large number of functional bacteria in the activated sludge, which played an important role in the degradation of pollutants and in nitrogen and/or phosphorus removal.