Spike-VisNet: A novel framework for visual recognition with FocusLayer-STDP learning.

Current vision-inspired spiking neural networks (SNNs) face key challenges due to their model structures typically focusing on single mechanisms and neglecting the integration of multiple biological features. These limitations, coupled with limited synaptic plasticity, hinder their ability to implement biologically realistic visual processing. To address these issues, we propose Spike-VisNet, a novel retina-inspired framework designed to enhance visual recognition capabilities.

Up-regulated ITGB4 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by activating hypoxia-mediated glycolysis and cancer-associated fibroblasts.

The pre-metastatic niche constructed by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) plays a key role in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME), promoting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. Integrin, which is involved in cell-to-cell or cell-to-matrix interactions and TME regulation, affects tumor metastasis. However, the complex interactions between integrin-mediated HCC cells and CAFs remain unclear.

All-fiber quantum relaxometry for biochemical sensing based on diamond NV centers.

The longitudinal relaxation time (termed as T) of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds can be affected by surface electric or magnetic noise, which has been exploited to develop cutting-edge quantum relaxometry for biochemical sensing. In this work, a tiny all-fiber quantum probe based on longitudinal relaxometry was developed by chemically-anchoring nanodiamonds on the surface of a cone fiber tip. The dependences of T on surface electric and magnetic noise were discussed in theories first and then experimentally demonstrated in varied pH and Gd concentration solutions, respectively.

Single cell-spatial transcriptomics and bulk multi-omics analysis of heterogeneity and ecosystems in hepatocellular carcinoma.

This study profiled global single cell-spatial-bulk transcriptome landscapes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ecosystem from six HCC cases and a non-carcinoma liver control donor. We discovered that intratumoral heterogeneity mainly derived from HCC cells diversity and pervaded the genome-transcriptome-proteome-metabolome network. HCC cells are the core driving force of taming tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) with pro-tumorigenic phenotypes for favor its dominant growth.

Advancements in programmed cell death research in antitumor therapy: a comprehensive overview.

Cell death is a normal physiological process within cells that involves multiple pathways, such as normal DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and programmed cell death (PCD). Cell death has been a hot spot of research in tumor-related fields, especially programmed cell death, which is a key form of cell death and is classified into different types according to the mechanism of occurrence, such as apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and disulfidptosis. Given the important role of PCD in maintaining tissue homeostasis and inhibiting tumorigenesis and development, more and more basic and clinical studies are devoted to revealing its potential application in anti-tumor strategies.

Theoretical study on ligand conformational self-adaptation for modulating reactivity.

The combination of Josiphos-type ligands with Pd catalysts has been instrumental in the rapid development of efficient catalytic processes. We performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate the mechanisms and dynamic conformational changes responsible for the reactivity and selectivity observed in Pd-catalysed bicyclization/carbonylation of 1,6-enynes. DFT calculations indicated that the most favourable reaction pathway involves an unusual alkene insertion into the carbon-palladium bond to give high level of enantioselectivity.

Retina-Inspired Lightweight Spiking Convolutional Neural Network for Single-Image Dehazing.

Suspended particles in hazy medium absorb and scatter light, severely degrading imaging quality. Numerous single-image dehazing methods have been proposed to reconstruct clear images from hazy ones. However, most of them focus on increasing depth and width to improve dehazing performance, which incurs high computation and energy costs.

[Corrigendum] (‑)‑Epigallocatechingallate induces apoptosis in B lymphoma cells via caspase‑dependent pathway and Bcl‑2 family protein modulation.

Subsequently to the publication of the above article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that, in Fig. 3 on p. 1510, the western blot images selected to portray the caspase 7 and PARP/cleaved PARP experiments were remarkably similar.

An Interpretable System for Screening the Severity Level of Retinopathy in Premature Infants Using Deep Learning.

Accurate evaluation of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) severity is vital for screening and proper treatment. Current deep-learning-based automated AI systems for assessing ROP severity do not follow clinical guidelines and are opaque. The aim of this study is to develop an interpretable AI system by mimicking the clinical screening process to determine ROP severity level.

A comprehensive review and comparison of existing computational methods for protein function prediction.

Protein function prediction is critical for understanding the cellular physiological and biochemical processes, and it opens up new possibilities for advancements in fields such as disease research and drug discovery. During the past decades, with the exponential growth of protein sequence data, many computational methods for predicting protein function have been proposed. Therefore, a systematic review and comparison of these methods are necessary.

Preclinical Therapeutic Efficacy of RAF/MEK/ERK and IGF1R/AKT/mTOR Inhibition in Neuroblastoma.

Activating mutations in the RAS/MAPK pathway are observed in relapsed neuroblastoma. Preclinical studies indicate that these tumors have an increased sensitivity to inhibitors of the RAS/MAPK pathway, such as MEK inhibitors. MEK inhibitors do not induce durable responses as single agents, indicating a need to identify synergistic combinations of targeted agents to provide therapeutic benefit.

Chlorogenic Acid as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for Cholangiocarcinoma.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) has demonstrated anti-tumor effects across various cancers, but its role in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) remains unclear. Our study revealed CGA's potent anti-tumor effects on CCA, significantly suppressing cell proliferation, migration, colony formation, and invasion while inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. CGA induced apoptosis, modulated cell cycle progression, and exhibited a stable binding affinity to AKR1B10 in CCA.

RDLR: A Robust Deep Learning-Based Image Registration Method for Pediatric Retinal Images.

Retinal diseases stand as a primary cause of childhood blindness. Analyzing the progression of these diseases requires close attention to lesion morphology and spatial information. Standard image registration methods fail to accurately reconstruct pediatric fundus images containing significant distortion and blurring.

BTLA deficiency promotes HSC activation and protects against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Background And Aims: Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is unavoidable even despite the development of more effective surgical approaches. During hepatic IRI, activated HSC (aHSC) are involved in liver injury and recovery.

Approach And Result: A proportion of aHSC increased significantly both in the mouse liver tissues with IRI and in the primary mouse HSCs and LX-2 cells during hypoxia-reoxygenation.

Recent advances in functional nucleic acid decorated nanomaterials for cancer imaging and therapy.

Nanomaterials possess unusual physicochemical properties including unique optical, magnetic, electronic properties, and large surface-to-volume ratio. However, nanomaterials face some challenges when they were applied in the field of biomedicine. For example, some nanomaterials suffer from the limitations such as poor selectivity and biocompatibility, low stability, and solubility.

Naked-Eye 3-Dimensional Vision Training for Myopia Control: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Early onset of myopia increases the risk of high myopia, which can lead to irreversible retinal damage and even loss of central vision.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of naked-eye 3-dimensional vision training (NVT) in preventing the progression of myopia in children.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical trial was conducted in 3 hospitals from May 25, 2022, to February 24, 2023.

Choriocapillaris flow features in children with myopic anisometropia.

Aims: To examine differences between the eyes in choriocapillaris perfusion and choroidal thickness in children with myopic anisometropia.

Methods: In this observational and prospective study, 46 children with myopic anisometropia were enrolled. Choriocapillaris perfusion parameters, including the percentage of flow voids, the total number of flow voids and the average flow void area were obtained by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

A universal ANN-to-SNN framework for achieving high accuracy and low latency deep Spiking Neural Networks.

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have become one of the most prominent next-generation computational models owing to their biological plausibility, low power consumption, and the potential for neuromorphic hardware implementation. Among the various methods for obtaining available SNNs, converting Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) into SNNs is the most cost-effective approach. The early challenges in ANN-to-SNN conversion work revolved around the susceptibility of converted SNNs to conversion errors.

Microstructure and Friction Properties of AlCrTiVNb High-Entropy Alloys via Annealing Manufactured by Vacuum Arc Melting.

To enhance the friction and wear properties of alloys, AlCrTiVNb high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with various Nb contents were prepared using the arc melting technique and then annealed at 1000 °C for 2 h. The microstructure and hardness changes in the AlCrTiVNb (x = 0.3, 0.

Regulation of Electronic Structures of the Urchin-Like NiCoP/CoP Nanocatalysts for Fast Hydrogen Evolution.

The exploration of stable, efficient, and low-cost catalysts toward ammonia borane hydrolysis is of vital significance for the practical implementation of this hydrogen production technology. Integrating interface engineering and nano-architecture engineering is a favorable strategy to elevate catalytic performance, as it can modify the electronic structure and provide sufficient active sites simultaneously. In this work, urchin-like NiCoP/CoP heterostructures are prepared via a three-step hydrothermal-oxidation-phosphorization synthesis route.

AMHGCN: Adaptive multi-level hypergraph convolution network for human motion prediction.

Human motion prediction is the key technology for many real-life applications, e.g., self-driving and human-robot interaction.

Biomass carbon and TiCMXene quantum dots as ratiometric fluorescent probes for sensitive detecting malachite green in fish sample.

A visual detection method for malachite green (MG) in food was established based on 'double-response-OFF' ratiometric fluorescent paper-based sensor. Biomass carbon quantum dots (BCQDs) using broad bean shell, and TiCMXene quantum (MQDs) dots modified by ethylenediamine were synthesized by solvothermal method. The MG and two kinds of quantum dots could undergo static quenching, and the fluorescence color of two kinds of quantum dots gradually changed from red to blue, eventually the fluorescence was quenched, and the pattern had a two-stage linear relationship using fluorescent spectrofluorometer in the range of 0.

Silencing of KIF2C enhances the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to cisplatin through regulating the PI3K/AKT/MAPK signaling pathway.

In the treatment of unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cisplatin is administered transhepatic arterially for local treatment, but the clinical application of cisplatin drugs is frequently hindered by the emergence of drug resistance. Kinesin family member 2C( KIF2C ) has been shown as oncogene in a variety of tumors. Nevertheless, its effect on cisplatin sensitivity has yet to be ascertained.

Experiences of Non-Family Paid Helpers Providing Palliative Care to Stroke Patients: The Toll of Professional Informal Caregiving in a Job Lacking Recognition.

Employing non-family paid helpers has become a prevalent practice across North America, Europe, and Asia, which families adopt to alleviate the stroke care burden, allowing family to take a break from their obligations and perform other social activities. However, paid helpers' experiences of providing palliative care to stroke patients are under-explored. This study aimed to explore the caregiving experiences of non-family paid helpers providing palliative care to stroke patients.