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QMAP: a benchmark for standardized evaluation of antimicrobial peptide MIC and hemolytic activity regression
Abstract Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics, but progress in computational AMP discovery has been difficult to quantify due to inconsistent datasets and evaluation protocols. We introduce QMAP, a domain-specific benchmark for predicting AMP antimicrobial potency (MIC) and hemolytic toxicity (HC50) with homology-aware, predefined test sets. QMAP enforces strict sequence homology constraints between training and test data, ensuring that model performance reflects true generalization rather than overfitting. Applying QMAP, we reassess existing MIC models and establish baselines for MIC and HC50 regression. Results suggest limited progress over six years, poor performance for high-potency MIC regression, and low predictability for hemolytic activity, emphasizing the need for standardized evaluation and improved modeling approaches for highly potent peptides. We release a Python package facilitating practical adoption, and with a Rust-accelerated engine enabling efficient data manipulation, installable with .
How Fe(II)/2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Chooses Chlorination over Hydroxylation: Electric Field-Driven Ligand Exchange Governs C–Cl Formation
Primary Neural Degeneration after Cochlear Implantation: Histological and Electrophysiological Evidence from a Mouse Model
Patients undergoing hearing-preservation cochlear implantation (HPCI) often retain low-frequency thresholds initially, yet many develop progressive loss of residual hearing and variable speech performance. The biological basis of this delayed functional decline remains unclear. Here we show that HPCI at the basal turn induces primary neural degeneration at the cochlear apex—a region anatomically remote from the electrode array and functionally important for low-frequency hearing and speech discrimination. Using a mouse model of HPCI (all male), we systematically quantified longitudinal electrophysiological and histopathological changes up to 16 weeks after implantation. Although low-frequency thresholds were preserved and remained stable, suprathreshold auditory brainstem response wave I amplitudes progressively declined. Correspondingly, afferent synapses were progressively reduced across the cochlea, with synapse loss exceeding inner hair cell (IHC) loss by 7.1-fold at the cochlear apex, demonstrating neural degeneration independent of IHC death. Cochlear nerve fiber loss followed synapse loss and was consistent with progressive neural disconnection. Notably, apical synapse survival was best predicted by the slope of the wave I amplitude-level function, directly linking CI-induced primary neural degeneration to suprathreshold electrophysiological decline. Together, these findings demonstrate that HPCI can induce primary neural degeneration at the cochlear apex, providing a mechanistic explanation for the delayed loss of residual acoustic hearing and for functional deficits not captured by audiometric threshold measures.
Acid Yellow 36, Methyl Red, and Methylene Blue adsorption using ammonia-modified red algae biochar: isotherm, kinetic, regeneration, and ANN studies
Abstract This paper examined the removal of Acid Yellow 36 (AY36), Methyl Red (MR), and Methylene Blue (MB) dyes using a novel Ammonia-decorated Red Algae Biochar (RAB-A) synthesized from red algae ( Pterocladia capillacea ) via a reflux technique in the presence of 25% ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH). The physicochemical properties of the synthesized RAB-A, including its surface area, morphology, functional groups, elemental composition, and thermal stability, were comprehensively characterized through Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) integrated with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). RAB-A demonstrated a low specific surface area (3.262 m 2 /g) and a monolayer adsorption capacity of 0.7495 cm 3 (STP)/g. The adsorbent demonstrated an overall pore volume of 0.011 cm³/g, accompanied by an average pore diameter of 13.648 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed an overall mass loss of 40.84% for RAB-A, demonstrating enhanced thermal stability relative to RAB, which showed a weight loss of 51.05%. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of diverse functional moieties on the surface of RAB-A. Adsorption experiments targeting Acid Yellow 36 (AY36), Methyl Red (MR), and Methylene Blue (MB) were conducted in batch mode by independently adjusting the initial dye concentration (100–200 mg/L), contact time (5–180 min), solution pH (2–12), and adsorbent dosage (0.5–1.5 g/L). The adsorption equilibrium behavior was best described by the Langmuir isotherm, which indicated maximum uptake capacities of 222.22 mg/g for AY36, 192.31 mg/g for MR dye, and 833.33 mg/g for MB dye. Kinetic analyses revealed that the adsorption of all examined dyes was best described by a pseudo-second-order model, thereby demonstrating the high suitability of the synthesized RAB-A for the efficient elimination of dyes from aqueous solutions. Additionally, adsorption was predicted and adjusted utilizing artificial neural networks (ANN).
Breathing Strategies to Influence Perception: Evidence for Interoceptive and Exteroceptive Active Sensing
Recent research indicates that humans continuously and automatically modulate their breathing to temporally align exteroceptive stimuli with specific phases of the respiratory cycle. This process has been interpreted as a form of active sensing and is associated with faster responses and improved perceptual accuracy. While converging evidence suggests that respiration also shapes interoceptive processing at both neural and behavioral levels, it remains unclear whether individuals actively adjust their breathing to optimize interoceptive performance. In this study, we examined whether healthy participants (25 females and 16 males) modulated their respiration during an interoceptive (heartbeat discrimination) and an exteroceptive (tactile detection) task. We analyzed respiration both in terms of time-locked activity and intertrial coherence relative to stimulus onset and assessed their relationship with perceptual accuracy. Our results demonstrated that participants systematically adjust their breathing in both amplitude and phase, synchronizing respiration to the anticipated (i.e., cued) onset of stimuli in both tasks. Crucially, task performance was enhanced during exhalation compared with inhalation, suggesting that respiratory modulation supports the perception of both interoceptive and exteroceptive signals.
Quantification of energy consumption of bridge crane in service under mechanical-electrical coupling field
Faces and Word Forms Can Coexist in the Right Ventro-occipital Temporal Cortex—Evidence from Left-Hemisphere Perinatal Stroke
In most healthy adult humans, the right ventro-occipital temporal cortex (vOTC) is more involved in face perception than its left-hemisphere counterpart. Several hypotheses link this right-lateralization for face processing to left-lateralization of language and visual word form processing. In its strongest form, this account assumes an encroachment by word form processing into left vOTC territory that would otherwise be dedicated to face processing, causing face processing that would otherwise be bilateral to rely relatively more on right vOTC. By this logic, if visual word recognition came to rely predominantly on the right hemisphere, face processing should become left-lateralized. Alternatively, it would have to share neural territory with words in right vOTC, which might negatively impact behavioral performance due to crowding. Here, we used functional MRI and the Cambridge Face Memory Test in 15 male and female adolescents and young adults with a history of left-hemisphere perinatal stroke (LHPS) who are right-lateralized for language and word form processing and whose vOTC is anatomically and functionally intact in both hemispheres. Comparison with 14 neurotypical controls revealed no significant group differences in strength or lateralization of face activation and no significant differences in face recognition. These results demonstrate that after LHPS, face and word form processing can both be right-lateralized without significant detriment to either. This is reminiscent of the observation that emotional prosody and sentence processing—typically lateralized to the right and left hemisphere, respectively—are both successfully supported by the right hemisphere in the same participant group.