Summary The interaction between tumor and immune system plays a crucial role in both cancer development and treatment response. To facilitate comprehensive investigation of tumor–immune interactions, we have designed a user-friendly web portal TISIDB, which integrated multiple types of data resources in oncoimmunology. First, we manually curated 4176 records from 2530 publications, which reported 988 genes related to anti-tumor immunity. Second, genes associated with the resistance or sensitivity of tumor cells to T cell-mediated killing and immunotherapy were identified by analyzing high-throughput screening and genomic profiling data. Third, associations between any gene and immune features, such as lymphocytes, immunomodulators and chemokines, were pre-calculated for 30 TCGA cancer types. In TISIDB, biologists can cross-check a gene of interest about its role in tumor–immune interactions through literature mining and high-throughput data analysis, and generate testable hypotheses and high quality figures for publication. Availability and implementation http://cis.hku.hk/TISIDB Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Equal treatment by race occurs in nonopioid-related therapies, but white patients are more likely than black patients to be treated with opioids. Further studies are needed to better explain this racial difference and define its effect on patient outcomes.

Complementary and alternative therapies were popular among patients with chronic pain disorders surveyed in academic primary care settings. When asked to choose between traditional therapies or CAM, most patients still preferred traditional therapies for pain relief. We found no association between reported CAM usage and pain severity, functional status, or self-efficacy.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to compare healing after root-end surgery by using grey mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and EndoSequence Root Repair Material (RRM) as root-end filling material in an animal model. Methods Apical periodontitis was induced in 55 mandibular premolars of 4 healthy beagle dogs. After 6 weeks, root-end surgeries were performed by using modern microsurgical techniques. Two different root-end filling materials were used, grey MTA and RRM. Six months after surgery, healing of the periapical area was assessed by periapical radiographs, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), micro computed tomography (CT), and histology. Results Minimal or no inflammatory response was observed in the majority of periapical areas regardless of the material. The degree of inflammatory infiltration and cortical plate healing were not significantly different between the 2 materials. However, a significantly greater root-end surface area was covered by cementum-like, periodontal ligament–like tissue, and bone in RRM group than in MTA group. When evaluating with periapical radiographs, complete healing rate in RRM and MTA groups was 92.6% and 75%, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (P = .073). However, on CBCT and micro CT images, RRM group demonstrated significantly superior healing on the resected root-end surface and in the periapical area (P = .000 to .027). Conclusions Like MTA, RRM is a biocompatible material with good sealing ability. However, in this animal model RRM achieved a better tissue healing response adjacent to the resected root-end surface histologically. The superior healing tendency associated with RRM could be detected by CBCT and micro CT but not periapical radiography.

This paper presents the software framework established to facilitate cloud-hosted robot simulation. The framework addresses the challenges associated with conducting a task-oriented and real-time robot competition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC), designed to mimic reality. The core of the framework is the Gazebo simulator, a platform to simulate robots, objects, and environments, as well as the enhancements made for the VRC to maintain a high fidelity simulation using a high degree of freedom and multisensor robot. The other major component used is the CloudSim tool, designed to enhance the automation of robotics simulation using existing cloud technologies. The results from the VRC and a discussion are also detailed in this work. Note to Practitioners-Advances in robot simulation, cloud hosted infrastructure, and web technology have made it possible to accurately and efficiently simulate complex robots and environments on remote servers while providing realistic data streams for human-in-the-loop robot control. This paper presents the software and hardware frameworks established to facilitate cloud-hosted robot simulation, and addresses the challenges associated with conducting a task-oriented robot competition designed to mimic reality. The competition that spurred this innovation was the VRC, a precursor to the DARPA Robotics Challenge, in which teams from around the world utilized custom human-robot interfaces and control code to solve disaster response-related tasks in simulation. Winners of the VRC received both funding and access to Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics. The Gazebo simulator, an open source and high fidelity robot simulator, was improved upon to met the needs of the VRC competition. Additionally, CloudSim was created to act as an interface between users and the cloud-hosted simulations.