Toward expert-level medical question answering with large language models.

Large language models (LLMs) have shown promise in medical question answering, with Med-PaLM being the first to exceed a 'passing' score in United States Medical Licensing Examination style questions. However, challenges remain in long-form medical question answering and handling real-world workflows. Here, we present Med-PaLM 2, which bridges these gaps with a combination of base LLM improvements, medical domain fine-tuning and new strategies for improving reasoning and grounding through ensemble refinement and chain of retrieval.

Rapid Determination of Crocin-I in Gardenia Fruits (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) by Combining Spectral and Image Data Through Hyperspectral Imaging.

Introduction: Crocin-I, a water-soluble carotenoid pigment, is an important coloring constituent in gardenia fruit. It has wide application in various industries such as food, medicine, chemical industry, and so on. So the content of crocin-I plays a key role in evaluating the quality of gardenia.

Prediction of the Quality of Anxi Tieguanyin Based on Hyperspectral Detection Technology.

Anxi Tieguanyin belongs to the oolong tea category and is one of the top ten most famous teas in China. In this study, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology was combined with chemometric methods to achieve the rapid determination of free amino acid and tea polyphenol contents in Tieguanyin tea. Here, the spectral data of Tieguanyin tea samples of four quality grades were obtained via visible near-infrared hyperspectroscopy in the range of 400-1000 nm, and the free amino acid and tea polyphenol contents of the samples were detected.

Refinement of post-COVID condition core symptoms, subtypes, determinants, and health impacts: a cohort study integrating real-world data and patient-reported outcomes.

Background: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) affects millions of people, and is an essential component of the long-term impact of COVID-19 during the post-pandemic era. Yet, consensus on clinical case definition and core components of PCC remains lacking, affecting our ability to inform research and evidence-based management. Our study aims 1) to identify the most specific symptoms for PCC, and identify clinical subtypes; 2) to evaluate both virus- and host-related determinants of PCC, and 3) assess the impact of PCC on physical and mental health.

Imlunestrant with or without Abemaciclib in Advanced Breast Cancer.

Background: Imlunestrant is a next-generation, brain-penetrant, oral selective estrogen-receptor (ER) degrader that delivers continuous ER inhibition, even in cancers with mutations in the gene encoding ERα ().

Methods: In a phase 3, open-label trial, we enrolled patients with ER-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer that recurred or progressed during or after aromatase inhibitor therapy, administered alone or with a cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor. Patients were assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive imlunestrant, standard endocrine monotherapy, or imlunestrant-abemaciclib.

Cycling alpha cells in regenerative drug-treated human pancreatic islets may serve as key beta cell progenitors.

Diabetes results from an inadequate number of insulin-producing human beta cells. There is currently no clinically available effective means to restore beta cell mass in millions of people with diabetes. Although the DYRK1A inhibitors, either alone or in combination with GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) or transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily inhibitors (LY), induce beta cell replication and increase beta cell mass, the precise mechanisms of action remain elusive.

A Nondestructive Detection Method for the Muti-Quality Attributes of Oats Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

This study aimed to achieve a precise and non-destructive quantification of the amounts of total starch, protein, β-glucan, and fat in oats using near-infrared technology in conjunction with chemometrics methods. Eight preprocessing methods (SNV, MSC, Nor, DE, FD, SD, BC, SS) were employed to process the original spectra. Subsequently, the optimal PLS model was obtained by integrating feature wavelength selection algorithms (CARS, SPA, UVE, LAR).

TMEM35B as a novel biomarker for diagnosing gliomas.

Aims: There is little information about transmembrane protein 35B (TMEM35B) expression in glioma, and its functions in glioma remains no clue.

Patients & Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to measure TMEM35B expression levels and CCK8 and Transwell assays were analyzed the proliferative and migratory and invasive.

Results: TMEM35B protein was significantly higher in gliomas and correlated with a higher tumor TNM stages.

Integrating progressive screening strategy-based continuous wavelet transform with EfficientNetV2 for enhanced near-infrared spectroscopy.

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has gained wide acceptance across various fields as a result of advances in portable equipment that can record spectra on site or at production lines. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) can transform traditional one-dimensional (1D) NIR spectra into more informative two-dimensional (2D) spectrograms, thus enhancing the analysis and interpretation of spectral information. This study introduces a high-efficiency 2D CWT-EfficientNetV2 regression model to optimize NIR spectroscopy applications.

Research on wireless channel model based on improved ray tracing algorithm that considers multiple diffuse scattering and employs pyramid-shaped ray tubes as the carrier.

This paper extensively utilizes fine three dimensional environmental data obtained from laser point clouds. Based on theories such as geometrical optics and effective roughness theory, a deterministic wireless channel model is established, which integrates higher-order diffuse scattering. This model is referred to as the ray tracing fusion with higher-order diffuse scattering model.

Reflection-type orientation-switchable optical differentiator exemplified by the BK7-MoS interface.

Optical differential operation is an ultra-fast edge information extraction technology that enables identifying the image features, whereas current optical differentiators mainly operate along one or two differential orientations and is incompetent for switching the differential orientation. A reflection-type orientation-switchable optical differentiator is proposed and the BK7-MoS interface is used as an example to analyze the edge detection performance. Theory suggests that there are dual modulation methods, one is tuning the incident polarization angle with a Brewster incident angle, and the other one is altering the incident angle with a nearly vertical incident polarization angle.

Non-destructive assessment of apple internal quality using rotational hyperspectral imaging.

This work aims to predict the starch, vitamin C, soluble solids, and titratable acid contents of apple fruits using hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning approaches. First, a hyperspectral camera by rotating samples was used to obtain hyperspectral images of the apple fruit surface in the spectral range of 380~1018 nm, and its region of interest (ROI) was extracted; then, the optimal preprocessing method was preferred through experimental comparisons; on this basis, genetic algorithms (GA), successive projection algorithms (SPA), and competitive adaptive reweighting adoption algorithms (CARS) were used to extract feature variables; subsequently, multiple machine learning models (support vector regression SVR, principal component regression PCR, partial least squares regression PLSR, and multiple linear regression MLR) were used to model the inversion between hyperspectral images and internal nutrient quality physicochemical indexes of fruits, respectively. Through the comparative analysis of all the model prediction results, it was found that among them, for starch, vitamin C, soluble solids, and titratable acid content, 2 Der-CARS-MLR were the optimal prediction models with superior performance (the prediction coefficients of determination R exceeded 90% in all of them).

Plasma Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein and Phosphorated Tau 181 Association with Presynaptic Density-Dependent Tau Pathology at F-SynVesT-1 Brain PET Imaging.

Background Synaptic loss is an important factor in Alzheimer disease (AD); however, blood assays that conveniently and rapidly reflect changes in synaptic density are lacking. Purpose To correlate multiple potential synaptic blood markers with synaptic density measured using F-SynVesT-1, a fluorine 18 (F)-labeled radiotracer, brain PET and to explore the independent associations between these markers and synaptic density. Materials and Methods This prospective study included 50 cognitively unimpaired (mean age, 65.

Green and rapid quantitative detection of selenium in selenium-enriched kefir grain based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Rapid monitoring of total and organic selenium content in kefir grain was essential for microbial screening and selenium-enriched food development. Firstly, spectral information of selenium-enriched kefir grain was obtained using an attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Secondly, the performance of the quantitative prediction models established by the four-variable screening method with three machine learning algorithms, respectively, was compared.

Effect of adipose tissue deposition on insulin resistance in middle-aged and elderly women: Based on QCT and MRI mDIXON-Quant.

Objective: To explore the relationship between adipose tissue deposition and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, an indicator clinically used to assess insulin resistance (IR), in middle-aged and elderly women using quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and MRI mDIXON-Quant sequence.

Methods: All participants underwent quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and MRI mDIXON-Quant examination and calculated the TyG index based on the fasting blood glucose and triacylglycerol. Bounded by the median TyG index, all participants were divided into low TyG group and high TyG group.

Structural variation in the pangenome of wild and domesticated barley.

Pangenomes are collections of annotated genome sequences of multiple individuals of a species. The structural variants uncovered by these datasets are a major asset to genetic analysis in crop plants. Here we report a pangenome of barley comprising long-read sequence assemblies of 76 wild and domesticated genomes and short-read sequence data of 1,315 genotypes.

Determination of aflatoxin B1 in wheat using Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometrics.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is carcinogenic and highly susceptible to production in wheat. In this study, the quantitative detection of contaminant AFB1 in wheat was investigated by Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometric method realization. Firstly, Savitzky-Golay smoothing (SG) and baseline calibration methods were used to perform the necessary preprocessing of the collected raw Raman spectra.

Ligand-Enabled Cu-Catalyzed Stereoselective Synthesis of P-Stereogenic ProTides.

Nucleoside analogues have seen significant advancements in treating viral infections and cancer through ProTide technology, leading to a series of FDA-approved drugs such as sofosbuvir, tenofovir alafenamide, and remdesivir. The stereochemical configuration at the phosphorus center of ProTides significantly influences their pharmacological properties, necessitating efficient stereoselective synthesis. Traditional methods using chiral auxiliaries or nonracemic phosphorylating agents are labor-intensive and inefficient, while recent organocatalytic approaches, despite their promise, still face limitations.

Sevoflurane Activates PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway by Upregulating Expression to Attenuate Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Cardiomyocytes.

Background: Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury stands as a primary contributor to ischemic heart disease. Sevoflurane (SEVO), a commonly used inhalation anesthetic, has been shown to exert a direct protective effect on ischemic heart injury. However, the specific mechanism by which it exerts the protective effect remains unclear.

Air pollution is associated with persistent peanut allergy in the first 10 years.

Background: The role of air pollution in eczema and food allergy development remains understudied.

Objective: We aimed to assess whether exposure to air pollution is associated with eczema and food allergies in the first 10 years of life.

Methods: HealthNuts recruited a population-based sample of 1-year-old infants who were followed up at ages 4, 6, and 10 years.

Subclassification of obesity for precision prediction of cardiometabolic diseases.

Obesity and cardiometabolic disease often, but not always, coincide. Distinguishing subpopulations within which cardiometabolic risk diverges from the risk expected for a given body mass index (BMI) may facilitate precision prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. Accordingly, we performed unsupervised clustering in four European population-based cohorts (N ≈ 173,000).

Microvascular alterations of the ocular surface and retina in connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease.

Aim: To examine the disparities in macular retinal vascular density between individuals with connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) and healthy controls (HCs) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and to investigate the changes in microvascular density in abnormal eyes.

Methods: For a retrospective case-control study, a total of 16 patients (32 eyes) diagnosed with CTD-ILD were selected as the ILD group. The 16 healthy volunteers with 32 eyes, matched in terms of age and sex with the patients, were recruited as control group.