Emerging Artificial Synaptic Devices Based on Organic Semiconductors: Molecular Design, Structure and Applications.

In modern computing, the Von Neumann architecture faces challenges such as the memory bottleneck, hindering efficient processing of large datasets and concurrent programs. Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the brain's architecture, emerges as a promising alternative, offering unparalleled computational power while consuming less energy. Artificial synaptic devices play a crucial role in this paradigm shift.

Single-Nucleus Atlas of Cell-Type Specific Genetic Regulation in the Human Brain.

Genetic risk variants for common diseases are predominantly located in non-coding regulatory regions and modulate gene expression. Although bulk tissue studies have elucidated shared mechanisms of regulatory and disease-associated genetics, the cellular specificity of these mechanisms remains largely unexplored. This study presents a comprehensive single-nucleus multi-ancestry atlas of genetic regulation of gene expression in the human prefrontal cortex, comprising 5.

Dominant drivers of vegetation changes in key ecological barrier of northeastern Tibetan Plateau since 2000: Human impacts or natural forces?

Human activities and natural forces have profoundly influenced vegetation ecosystems in the Tibetan Plateau over the recent decades. However, contributions of these two driving forces to vegetation changes remain controversial, especially in the ecological barriers like the Qilian Mountains (QM) in the northeast where many protecting measures and strategies were applied to enhance ecosystem stability and services. Our study employed a process-based model and a multi-perspective assessment method to determine dominant drivers of vegetation changes in the QM since 2000.

Detoxification of Chlorfenapyr by a Parkin-GSTd2 Module in (Diptera: Tephritidae).

The oriental fruit fly, (Hendel), is a highly invasive and destructive pest. Chlorfenapyr is a widely used insecticide that disrupts mitochondrial activity. The Parkin protein plays conserved roles in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis, but the role of Parkin in response to chlorfenapyr remains largely unknown.

How does item wording affect participants' responses in Likert scale? Evidence from IRT analysis.

Researchers often combine both positively and negatively worded items when constructing Likert scales. This combination, however, may introduce method effects due to the variances in item wording. Although previous studies have tried to quantify these effects by using factor analysis on scales with different content, the impact of varied item wording on participants' choices among specific options remains unexplored.

Effectiveness of Lanzhou Lamb Rotavirus Vaccine and RotaTeq Against Hospitalized Rotavirus Infections Among Children During 2020-2023 in Guangdong Province, China: A Test-Negative Case-Control Study.

Introduction: The evidence regarding the effectiveness of Lanzhou Lamb Rotavirus Vaccine (LLR) and RotaTeq (RV5) against gastroenteritis (RVGE) caused by emerging genotypes in Chinese children remains limited.

Methods: We conducted a test-negative case-control study using gastroenteritis surveillance data from four cities (2020-2023) in Guangdong Province, China. Children aged 2 months to 5 years hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis were enrolled.

Personalized selection of unequal sub-arc collimator angles in VMAT for multiple brain metastases.

Purpose: Investigating the effects of unequal sub-arc personalized collimator angle selection on the quality of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) plans for treating multiple brain metastases.

Methods: This study included 21 patients, each with 2-4 target volumes of multiple brain metastases. Two stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) approaches were utilized: sub-arc collimator VMAT (SAC-VMAT) and fixed collimator VMAT (FC-VMAT).

Optimization of sub-arc collimator angles in volumetric modulated arc therapy: a heatmap-based blocking index approach for multiple brain metastases.

To develop and assess an automated Sub-arc Collimator Angle Optimization (SACAO) algorithm and Cumulative Blocking Index Ratio (CBIR) metrics for single-isocenter coplanar volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to treat multiple brain metastases. This study included 31 patients with multiple brain metastases, each having 2 to 8 targets. Initially, for each control point, the MLC blocking index was calculated at different collimator angles, resulting in a two-dimensional heatmap.

van der Waals Stacking-Determined Polymorphs of Quasi-One-Dimensional BiSCl Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition.

We report chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of two quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) polymorphs of BiSCl, denoted by y-BiSCl and r-BiSCl. The length of the CVD samples can reach about 0.4 mm.

MRI-based radiomics models predict cystic brain radionecrosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after intensity modulated radiotherapy.

Objective: To construct radiomics models based on MRI at different time points for the early prediction of cystic brain radionecrosis (CBRN) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods: A total of 202 injured temporal lobes from 155 NPC patients with radiotherapy-induced temporal lobe injury (RTLI) after intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were included in the study. All the injured lobes were randomly divided into the training ( = 143) and validation ( = 59) sets.

Primacy of mouth over eyes to perceive audiovisual Mandarin lexical tones.

The visual cues of lexical tones are more implicit and much less investigated than consonants and vowels, and it is still unclear what facial areas contribute to facial tones identification. This study investigated Chinese and English speakers' eye movements when they were asked to identify audiovisual Mandarin lexical tones. The Chinese and English speakers were presented with an audiovisual clip of Mandarin monosyllables (for instance, /ă/, /à/, /ĭ/, /ì/) and were asked to identify whether the syllables were a dipping tone (/ă/, / ĭ/) or a falling tone (/ à/, /ì/).

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 interventions on the hand, foot and mouth disease in Guangdong Province, China: a Bayesian modeling study.

Background: The non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 may have affected the transmission of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). We aimed to assess the impact of the NPIs on HFMD in the high epidemic area of HFMD, Guangdong Province.

Methods: The data of HFMD cases, etiological information, and meteorological factors in Guangdong from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2021, were collected.

Grafting Ultra-fine Nanoalloys with Amorphous Skin Enables Highly Active and Long-lived Acidic Hydrogen Production.

Large-scale deployment of proton exchange membranes water electrolysis (PEM-WE) requires a substantial reduction in usage of platinum group metals (PGMs) as indispensable electrocatalyst for cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Ultra-fine PGMs nanocatalysts possess abundant catalytic sites at lower loading, but usually exhibit reduced stability in long-term operations under corrosive acidic environments. Here we report grafting the ultra-fine PtRu crystalline nanoalloys with PtRuSe "amorphous skin" (c-PtRu@a-PtRuSe) by in situ atomic layer selenation to simultaneously improve catalytic activity and stability.

Evolution of radiation-induced temporal lobe injury after intensity-modulated radiation therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a large cohort retrospective study.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated conflicting findings regarding the initial MRI patterns of radiotherapy-induced temporal lobe injury (RTLI) and the evolution of different RTLI patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the initial MRI pattern and evolution of RTLI in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by means of a large cohort study.

Methods: Data of patients with RTLI were retrospectively collected from two hospitals between January 2011 and December 2021.

Long-read RNA-seq atlas of novel microglia isoforms elucidates disease-associated genetic regulation of splicing.

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the central nervous system, have been genetically implicated in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. We previously mapped the genetic regulation of gene expression and mRNA splicing in human microglia, identifying several loci where common genetic variants in microglia-specific regulatory elements explain disease risk loci identified by GWAS. However, identifying genetic effects on splicing has been challenging due to the use of short sequencing reads to identify causal isoforms.

CT-based dosiomics and radiomics model predicts radiation-induced lymphopenia in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

Purpose: This study aims to develop and validate a model predictive for the incidence of grade 4 radiation-induced lymphopenia (G4RIL), based on dosiomics features and radiomics features from the planning CT of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated by radiation therapy.

Methods: The dataset of 125 NPC patients treated with radiotherapy from August 2018 to March 2019 was randomly divided into two sets-an 85-sample training set and a 40-sample test set. Dosiomics features and radiomics features of the CT image within the skull bone and cervical vertebrae were extracted.

Effectiveness of booster vaccination with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 infection in Guangdong, China: a cohort study.

The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines wanes over time and the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant led to the accelerated expansion of efforts for booster vaccination. However, the effect and contribution of booster vaccination with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines remain to be evaluated. We conducted a retrospective close contacts cohort study to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and Omicron infection risk, and to evaluate the effectiveness of booster vaccination with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection, symptomatic COVID-19, and COVID-19 pneumonia during the outbreaks of Omicron BA.

Synthetic of functionalized magnetic titanium-based metal-organic frameworks to efficiently remove Hg(Ⅱ) from wastewater.

The rapid development of process technology has led to rapid daily industrial production, which also produced a large amount of waste liquid. At the same time, the existing treatment technology cannot keep up with the demand, resulting in the malicious destruction of the environment by wastewater, especially mercury-containing wastewater was very harmful. Effective means of removing mercury ions need to be found.

Exploring the acoustic and prosodic features of a lung-function-sensitive repeated-word speech articulation test.

Introduction: Speech breathing is a term usually used to refer to the manner in which expired air and lung mechanics are utilized for the production of the airflow necessary for phonation. Neurologically, speech breathing overrides the normal rhythms of alveolar ventilation. Speech breathing is generated using the diaphragm, glottis, and tongue.

Selective adsorption of mercury ion from water by a novel functionalized magnetic Ti based metal-organic framework composite.

In the context of industrialization and severe wastewater pollution, mercury ions pose a major threat due to their high toxicity. However, traditional adsorbents and common metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have limited effectiveness. This study focuses on combining magnetic materials with functionalized titanium-based MOF composite (SNN-MIL-125(Ti)@FeO) to improve mercury ion adsorption.