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GPU-accelerated simulated annealing based on p-bits with real-world device-variability modeling
Cathode Design Based on Nitrogen Redox and Linear Coordination of Cu Center for All-Solid-State Fluoride-Ion Batteries
Disruption of Extracellular Matrix and Perineuronal Nets Modulates Extracellular Space Volume and Geometry
Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a network of macromolecules which has two forms—perineuronal nets (PNNs) and a diffuse ECM (dECM)—both influence brain development, synapse formation, neuroplasticity, CNS injury and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. ECM remodeling can influence extrasynaptic transmission, mediated by diffusion of neuroactive substances in the extracellular space (ECS). In this study we analyzed how disrupted PNNs and dECM influence brain diffusibility. Two months after oral treatment of rats with 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU), an inhibitor of hyaluronan (HA) synthesis, we found downregulated staining for PNNs, HA, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, and glial fibrillary acidic protein. These changes were enhanced after 4 and 6 months and were reversible after a normal diet. Morphometric analysis further indicated atrophy of astrocytes. Using real-time iontophoretic method dysregulation of ECM resulted in increased ECS volume fractionαin the somatosensory cortex by 35%, fromα = 0.20 in control rats toα = 0.27 after the 4-MU diet. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed a decrease of mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy (FA) in the cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, pallidum, and spinal cord. This study shows the increase in ECS volume, a loss of FA, and changes in astrocytes due to modulation of PNNs and dECM that could affect extrasynaptic transmission, cell-to-cell communication, and neural plasticity.
LSTM and ResNet18 for optimized ambulance routing and traffic signal control in emergency situations
Total Synthesis of DMOA-Derived Meroterpenoids: Achieving Selectivity in the Synthesis of (+)-Berkeleyacetal D and (+)-Peniciacetal I
Enhanced Somatosensory Inhibition Sharpens Hand Representation and Sensorimotor Skills in Pianists
Dexterous motor skills, like those needed for playing musical instruments and sports, require the somatosensory system to accurately and rapidly process somatosensory information from multiple body parts. This is challenging due to the convergence of afferent inputs from different body parts into a single neuron and the overlapping representation of neighboring body parts in the somatosensory cortices. How do trained individuals, such as pianists and athletes, manage this? Here, a series of five experiments with pianists and nonmusicians (female and male) shows that pianists have enhanced inhibitory function in the somatosensory system, which isolates the processing of somatosensory afferent inputs from each finger. This inhibitory function was assessed using a paired-pulse paradigm of somatosensory evoked potentials in electroencephalography, which measures the suppressive effect of a first stimulus [i.e., conditioning stimulus (CS)] on the response to a subsequent second stimulus. We found that pianists and nonmusicians showed an inhibitory response to the sequential stimuli to the peripheral somatosensory nerve at the wrist when the CS was intense. However, only pianists exhibited an inhibitory response to a weak CS, indicating enhanced inhibitory function in pianists. Additionally, the CS increased the information content segregating individual fingers represented in the cortical activity evoked by passive finger movements and improved the perception of fast multifinger sequential movements, specifically for pianists. Our findings provide the first evidence for experience-dependent plasticity in somatosensory inhibitory function and highlight its role in the expert motor performance of pianists.
The correlation between the atherogenic index of plasma and the severity of coronary artery disease in acute myocardial infarction patients under different glucose metabolic states
A new method for evaluating the coordinated relationship between vegetation greenness and urbanization
Viologen-Radical-Driven Hydrogen Evolution from Water Catalyzed by Co-NHC Catalysts: Radical Scavenging by Nitrate and Volmer-Heyrovsky-like CPET Pathway
Single-Nuclei Sequencing Reveals a Robust Corticospinal Response to Nearby Axotomy But Overall Insensitivity to Spinal Injury
The ability of neurons to sense and respond to damage is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and facilitating nervous system repair. For some cell types, notably dorsal root ganglia and retinal ganglion cells, extensive profiling has uncovered a significant transcriptional response to axon injury, which influences survival and regenerative outcomes. In contrast, the injury responses of most supraspinal cell types, which display limited regeneration after spinal damage, remain mostly unknown. In this study, we used single-nuclei sequencing in adult male and female mice to profile the transcriptional responses of diverse supraspinal cell types to spinal injury. Surprisingly, thoracic spinal injury induced only modest changes in gene expression across all populations, including corticospinal tract (CST) neurons. Additionally, CST neurons exhibited minimal response to cervical injury but showed a much stronger reaction to intracortical axotomy, with upregulation of numerous regeneration and apoptosis-related transcripts shared with injured DRG and RGC neurons. Thus, the muted response of CST neurons to spinal injury is linked to the injury's distal location, rather than intrinsic cellular characteristics. More broadly, these findings indicate that a central challenge for enhancing regeneration after a spinal injury is the limited detection of distant injuries and the subsequent modest baseline neuronal response.
Durability and microstructure of polymer-based cement joint sealant
Abstract To promote the engineering application of polymer-based cement joint sealant (PCJS), the durability of PCJS was studied by testing the bonding, tensile and shear properties of PCJS under different service conditions. The results show that PCJS has excellent water resistance, acid/alkali corrosions resistance, UV aging resistance and low temperature resistance. The retention rate of bonding property of PCJS can achieve 85%. After water soaking, dry–wet cycle, acid/alkali corrosion, the retention rates of tensile and shear properties of PCJS can achieve 80%. After UV aging and low temperature treatment, the tensile and shear properties of PCJS are improved. After gasoline corrosion and high temperature treatment, the retention rates of tensile and shear properties of PCJS exhibit larger than 60%. The durability indexes of PCJS fulfill the technical requirements, and PCJS exhibits even more superior properties. Consequently, PCJS can be applied to joint engineering of cement concrete pavement.
Ensemble fuzzy deep learning for brain tumor detection
Abstract This research presents a novel ensemble fuzzy deep learning approach for brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) analysis, aiming to improve the segmentation of brain tissues and abnormalities. The method integrates multiple components, including diverse deep learning architectures enhanced with volumetric fuzzy pooling, a model fusion strategy, and an attention mechanism to focus on the most relevant regions of the input data. The process begins by collecting medical data using sensors to acquire MRI images. These data are then used to train several deep learning models that are specifically designed to handle various aspects of brain MRI segmentation. To enhance the model’s performance, an efficient ensemble learning method is employed to combine the predictions of multiple models, ensuring that the final decision accounts for different strengths of each individual model. A key feature of the approach is the construction of a knowledge base that stores data from training images and associates it with the most suitable model for each specific sample. During the inference phase, this knowledge base is consulted to quickly identify and select the best model for processing new test images, based on the similarity between the test data and previously encountered samples. The proposed method is rigorously tested on real-world brain MRI segmentation benchmarks, demonstrating superior performance in comparison to existing techniques. Our proposed method achieves an Intersection over Union (IoU) of 95% on the complete Brain MRI Segmentation dataset, demonstrating a 10% improvement over baseline solutions.
Estrogen-Regulated Lateral Septal Kisspeptin Neurons Abundantly Project to GnRH Neurons and the Hypothalamic Supramammillary Nucleus
While hypothalamic kisspeptin (KP) neurons play well-established roles in the estrogen-dependent regulation of reproduction, little is known about extrahypothalamic KP-producing (KPLS) neurons of the lateral septum. As established previously,Kiss1expression in this region is low and regulated by estrogen receptor- and GABABreceptor-dependent mechanisms. Our present experiments onKiss1-Cre/ZsGreenknock-in mice revealed that transgene expression in the LS begins at Postnatal Day (P)33–36 in females and P40–45 in males and is stimulated by estrogen receptor signaling. Fluorescent cell numbers continue to increase in adulthood and are higher in females. Viral tracing uncovered that the bulk of KPLSfibers joins the medial forebrain bundle and terminates in the hypothalamic supramammillary nucleus. Smaller subsets innervate the medial amygdala or project to other limbic structures. One-quarter of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-immunoreactive perikarya in the preoptic area and their dendrites receive appositions from KPLSaxons. OVX adultKiss1-Cre/ZsGreenmice treated for 4 d with 17β-estradiol or vehicle were used for RNA sequencing studies of laser-microdissected KPLSneurons. The transcriptome included markers of GABAergic and neuropeptidergic (Penk,Cartpt,Vgf) cotransmission and 571 estrogen-regulated transcripts. Estrogen treatment upregulated the acetylcholine receptor transcriptChrm2and, in slice electrophysiology experiments, caused enhanced muscarinic inhibition of KPLSneurons. Finally, we provided immunohistochemical evidence for homologous neurons in the postmortem human brain, suggesting that KPLSneurons may contribute to evolutionarily conserved regulatory mechanisms. Future studies will need to investigate the putative roles of KPLSneurons in the estrogen-dependent control of GnRH neurons and/or various hypothalamic/limbic functions.
Long term outcomes of patients with chronic kidney disease after COVID-19 in an urban population in the Bronx
Abstract We investigated the long-term kidney and cardiovascular outcomes of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) after COVID-19. Our retrospective cohort consisted of 834 CKD patients with COVID-19 and 6,167 CKD patients without COVID-19 between 3/11/2020 to 7/1/2023. Multivariate competing risk regression models were used to estimate risk (as adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)) of CKD progression to a more advanced stage (Stage 4 or 5) and major adverse kidney events (MAKE), and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow up. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients at 12 and 24 months (aHR 1.62 95% CI[1.24,2.13] and 1.76 [1.30, 2.40], respectively), but not non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, were at higher risk of CKD progression compared to those without COVID-19. Both hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients were at higher risk of MAKE at 6-, 12- and 24-months compared to those without COVID-19. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients at 6-, 12- and 24-months (aHR 1.73 [1.21, 2.50], 1.77 [1.34, 2.33], and 1.31 [1.05, 1.64], respectively), but not non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, were at higher risk of MACE compared to those without COVID-19. COVID-19 increases the risk of long-term CKD progression and cardiovascular events in patients with CKD. These findings highlight the need for close follow up care and therapies that slow CKD progression in this high-risk subgroup.
Suture versus stapler in distal pancreatectomy and its impact on postoperative pancreatic fistula
Exercise reduces the risk of falls in women with polypharmacy: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial
Abstract Polypharmacy has previously been found to increase and exercise interventions to reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries. In this study, women who had four or more regular medications benefitted the most from the exercise intervention and had the lowest fall risk compared to the reference group. Fall injuries among older people cause significant health problems with high societal costs. Previously, some exercise interventions have been found to reduce the number of falls and related injuries. We studied how different levels of medication use affect the outcome of an exercise intervention in terms of preventing falls. This exercise RCT involved 914 women born in 1932–1945 and randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 457) and control (n = 457) groups. Both groups participated in functional tests three times during the study. Baseline self-reported prescription drug use was trichotomized: 0–1, 2–3, and ≥ 4 drugs/day (i.e. polypharmacy group). We used Poisson regression for follow-up fall risk and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for fractures. During follow-up, 1380 falls were reported, 739 (53.6%) resulting in an injury and pain and 63 (4.6%) in a fracture. Women with polypharmacy in the intervention group had the lowest fall risk (IRR 0.713, 95% CI 0.586–0.866, p = 0.001) compared to the reference group that used 0–1 medications and did not receive the intervention. Overall, the number of medications associated with the fall incidence was only seen in the intervention group. However, the number of medications was not associated with fractures in either of the groups. Weaker functional test results were associated with polypharmacy in the control group. The most prominent decrease in fall risk with exercise intervention was seen among women with polypharmacy. Targeting these women might enhance fall prevention efficacy among the aging population. Trial Registration: The study has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. Trial registration number NCT02665169. Register date 27/01/2016.