Arterial specification precedes microvascular restitution in the peri-infarct cortex that is driven by small microvessels.

Evaluation of microvascular networks was impeded until recently by the need of histological tissue sectioning, which precluded 3D analyses. Using light-sheet microscopy, we investigated microvascular network characteristics in the peri-infarct cortex of mice 3-56 days after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. In animal subgroups, the sphingosine-1-phosphate analog FTY720 (Fingolimod) was administered starting 24 hours post-ischemia. Light-sheet microscopy revealed a striking pattern of microvascular changes in the peri-infarct cortex, that is, a loss of microvessels, which was most prominent after 7 days and followed by the reappearance of microvessels over 56 days which revealed an increased branching point density and shortened branches. Using a novel AI-based image analysis algorithm we found that the length density of microvessels expressing the arterial specification marker α-smooth muscle actin markedly increased in the peri-infarct cortex already at 7 days post-ischemia. The length and branch density of small microvessels, but not of intermediate or large microvessels increased above pre-ischemic levels within 14-56 days. FTY720 increased the length and branch density of small microvessels. This study demonstrates long-term alterations of microvascular architecture post-ischemia indicative of increased collateralization most notably of small microvessels. Light-sheet microscopy will greatly advance the assessment of microvascular responses to restorative stroke therapies.

Evaluation of large language models as a diagnostic aid for complex medical cases.

Background: The use of large language models (LLM) has recently gained popularity in diverse areas, including answering questions posted by patients as well as medical professionals. Objective: To evaluate the performance and limitations of LLMs in providing the correct diagnosis for a complex clinical case. Design: Seventy-five consecutive clinical cases were selected from the Massachusetts General Hospital Case Records, and differential diagnoses were generated by OpenAI's GPT3.5 and 4 models. Results: The mean number of diagnoses provided by the Massachusetts General Hospital case discussants was 16.77, by GPT3.5 30 and by GPT4 15.45 (p < 0.0001). GPT4 was more frequently able to list the correct diagnosis as first (22% versus 20% with GPT3.5, p = 0.86), provide the correct diagnosis among the top three generated diagnoses (42% versus 24%, p = 0.075). GPT4 was better at providing the correct diagnosis, when the different diagnoses were classified into groups according to the medical specialty and include the correct diagnosis at any point in the differential list (68% versus 48%, p = 0.0063). GPT4 provided a differential list that was more similar to the list provided by the case discussants than GPT3.5 (Jaccard Similarity Index 0.22 versus 0.12, p = 0.001). Inclusion of the correct diagnosis in the generated differential was correlated with PubMed articles matching the diagnosis (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.25-1.56 for GPT3.5, OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.13-1.40 for GPT4), but not with disease incidence. Conclusions and relevance: The GPT4 model was able to generate a differential diagnosis list with the correct diagnosis in approximately two thirds of cases, but the most likely diagnosis was often incorrect for both models. In its current state, this tool can at most be used as an aid to expand on potential diagnostic considerations for a case, and future LLMs should be trained which account for the discrepancy between disease incidence and availability in the literature.

Fabrication of microfibrillated cellulose from biomass by use of carbon nitride with high nitrogen/carbon ratio.

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) as an attractive green bio-based material has attracted widespread attention in recent years due to its non-toxicity, degradability, excellent performance, and high aspect ratio. In this study, the g-C3N5 with a high nitrogen/carbon ratio was prepared as a catalyst through the self-polymerization of a nitrogen-rich precursor. The triazole groups at the edges of g-C3N5 were proven to exhibit strong adsorption to biomass and strong alkalinity. In a low-acidic aqueous system with g-C3N5, MFC with diameters of 100-200 nm and lengths up to 100 µm was fabricated from various biomasses within 5 min under microwave radiation. The ultimate yield of the MFC produced from viscose reached 90 %. Young's modulus of the MFC reaches 3.7 GPa. This work provides a particular method with high efficiency to prepare MFC with excellent properties from biomass by chemical method.

Characterizing the Increase in Artificial Intelligence Content Detection in Oncology Scientific Abstracts From 2021 to 2023.

PURPOSE: Artificial intelligence (AI) models can generate scientific abstracts that are difficult to distinguish from the work of human authors. The use of AI in scientific writing and performance of AI detection tools are poorly characterized. METHODS: We extracted text from published scientific abstracts from the ASCO 2021-2023 Annual Meetings. Likelihood of AI content was evaluated by three detectors: GPTZero, Originality.ai, and Sapling. Optimal thresholds for AI content detection were selected using 100 abstracts from before 2020 as negative controls, and 100 produced by OpenAI's GPT-3 and GPT-4 models as positive controls. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of predicted AI content with submission year and abstract characteristics, and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were computed. RESULTS: Fifteen thousand five hundred and fifty-three abstracts met inclusion criteria. Across detectors, abstracts submitted in 2023 were significantly more likely to contain AI content than those in 2021 (aOR range from 1.79 with Originality to 2.37 with Sapling). Online-only publication and lack of clinical trial number were consistently associated with AI content. With optimal thresholds, 99.5%, 96%, and 97% of GPT-3/4-generated abstracts were identified by GPTZero, Originality, and Sapling respectively, and no sampled abstracts from before 2020 were classified as AI generated by the GPTZero and Originality detectors. Correlation between detectors was low to moderate, with Spearman correlation coefficient ranging from 0.14 for Originality and Sapling to 0.47 for Sapling and GPTZero. CONCLUSION: There is an increasing signal of AI content in ASCO abstracts, coinciding with the growing popularity of generative AI models.

SERS Detection of Trace Carcinogenic Aromatic Amines Based on Amorphous MoO3 Monolayers.

Aromatic amines are important commercial chemicals, but their carcinogenicity poses a threat to humans and other organisms, making their rapid quantitative detection increasingly urgent. Here, amorphous MoO3 (a-MoO3) monolayers with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect in the visible region are designed for the trace detection of carcinogenic aromatic amine molecules. The hot-electron fast decay component of a-MoO3 decreases from 301 fs to 150 fs after absorption with methyl orange (MO) molecules, indicating the plasmon-induced hot-electron transfer (PIHET) process from a-MoO3 to MO. Therefore, a-MoO3 monolayers present high SERS performance due to the synergistic effect of electromagnetic enhancement (EM) and PIHET, proposing the EM-PIHET synergistic mechanism in a-MoO3. In addition, a-MoO3 possesses higher electron delocalization and electronic state density than crystal MoO3 (c-MoO3), which is conducive to the PIHET. The limit of detection (LOD) for o-aminoazotoluene (o-AAT) is 10-9 M with good uniformity, acid resistance, and thermal stability. In this work, trace detection and identification of various carcinogenic aromatic amines based on a-MoO3 monolayers is realized, which is of great significance for reducing cancer infection rates.

All-optical neuromorphic XOR and XNOR operation utilizing a photonic spiking neuron based on a passive add-drop microring resonator.

We propose a concise hardware architecture supporting efficient exclusive OR (XOR) and exclusive NOR (XNOR) operations, by employing a single photonic spiking neuron based on a passive add-drop microring resonator (ADMRR). The threshold mechanism and inhibitory dynamics of the ADMRR-based spiking neuron are numerically discussed on the basis of the coupled mode theory. It is shown that a precise XOR operation in the ADMRR-based spiking neuron can be implemented by adjusting temporal differences within the inhibitory window. Additionally, within the same framework, the XNOR function can also be carried out by accumulating the input power over time to trigger an excitatory behavior. This work presents a novel, to the best of our knowledge, and pragmatic technique for optical neuromorphic computing and information processing utilizing passive devices.

Slideflow: deep learning for digital histopathology with real-time whole-slide visualization.

Deep learning methods have emerged as powerful tools for analyzing histopathological images, but current methods are often specialized for specific domains and software environments, and few open-source options exist for deploying models in an interactive interface. Experimenting with different deep learning approaches typically requires switching software libraries and reprocessing data, reducing the feasibility and practicality of experimenting with new architectures. We developed a flexible deep learning library for histopathology called Slideflow, a package which supports a broad array of deep learning methods for digital pathology and includes a fast whole-slide interface for deploying trained models. Slideflow includes unique tools for whole-slide image data processing, efficient stain normalization and augmentation, weakly-supervised whole-slide classification, uncertainty quantification, feature generation, feature space analysis, and explainability. Whole-slide image processing is highly optimized, enabling whole-slide tile extraction at 40x magnification in 2.5 s per slide. The framework-agnostic data processing pipeline enables rapid experimentation with new methods built with either Tensorflow or PyTorch, and the graphical user interface supports real-time visualization of slides, predictions, heatmaps, and feature space characteristics on a variety of hardware devices, including ARM-based devices such as the Raspberry Pi.

Enhanced Chemoradiotherapy for MRSA-Infected Osteomyelitis Using Immunomodulatory Polymer-Reinforced Nanotherapeutics.

The eradication of osteomyelitis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a significant challenge due to its development of biofilm-induced antibiotic resistance and impaired innate immunity, which often leads to frequent surgical failure. Here, the design, synthesis, and performance of X-ray-activated polymer-reinforced nanotherapeutics that modulate the immunological properties of infectious microenvironments to enhance chemoradiotherapy against multidrug-resistant bacterial deep-tissue infections are reported. Upon X-ray radiation, the proposed polymer-reinforced nanotherapeutic generates reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. To robustly eradicate MRSA biofilms at deep infection sites, these species can specifically bind to MRSA and penetrate biofilms for enhanced chemoradiotherapy treatment. X-ray-activated nanotherapeutics modulate the innate immunity of macrophages to prevent the recurrence of osteomyelitis. The remarkable anti-infection effects of these nanotherapeutics are validated using a rat osteomyelitis model. This study demonstrates the significant potential of a synergistic chemoradiotherapy and immunotherapy method for treating MRSA biofilm-infected osteomyelitis.

Federated Graph Neural Networks: Overview, Techniques, and Challenges.

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have attracted extensive research attention in recent years due to their capability to progress with graph data and have been widely used in practical applications. As societies become increasingly concerned with the need for data privacy protection, GNNs face the need to adapt to this new normal. Besides, as clients in federated learning (FL) may have relationships, more powerful tools are required to utilize such implicit information to boost performance. This has led to the rapid development of the emerging research field of federated GNNs (FedGNNs). This promising interdisciplinary field is highly challenging for interested researchers to grasp. The lack of an insightful survey on this topic further exacerbates the entry difficulty. In this article, we bridge this gap by offering a comprehensive survey of this emerging field. We propose a 2-D taxonomy of the FedGNN literature: 1) the main taxonomy provides a clear perspective on the integration of GNNs and FL by analyzing how GNNs enhance FL training as well as how FL assists GNN training and 2) the auxiliary taxonomy provides a view on how FedGNNs deal with heterogeneity across FL clients. Through discussions of key ideas, challenges, and limitations of existing works, we envision future research directions that can help build more robust, explainable, efficient, fair, inductive, and comprehensive FedGNNs.

Microvascular Network Remodeling in the Ischemic Mouse Brain Defined by Light Sheet Microscopy.

BACKGROUND: Until now, the analysis of microvascular networks in the reperfused ischemic brain has been limited due to tissue transparency challenges. METHODS: Using light sheet microscopy, we assessed microvascular network remodeling in the striatum from 3 hours to 56 days post-ischemia in 2 mouse models of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion lasting 20 or 40 minutes, resulting in mild ischemic brain injury or brain infarction, respectively. We also examined the effect of a clinically applicable S1P (sphingosine-1-phosphate) analog, FTY720 (fingolimod), on microvascular network remodeling. RESULTS: Over 56 days, we observed progressive microvascular degeneration in the reperfused striatum, that is, the lesion core, which was followed by robust angiogenesis after mild ischemic injury induced by 20-minute middle cerebral artery occlusion. However, more severe ischemic injury elicited by 40-minute middle cerebral artery occlusion resulted in incomplete microvascular remodeling. In both cases, microvascular networks did not return to their preischemic state but displayed a chronically altered pattern characterized by higher branching point density, shorter branches, higher unconnected branch density, and lower tortuosity, indicating enhanced network connectivity. FTY720 effectively increased microvascular length density, branching point density, and volume density in both models, indicating an angiogenic effect of this drug. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing light sheet microscopy together with automated image analysis, we characterized microvascular remodeling in the ischemic lesion core in unprecedented detail. This technology will significantly advance our understanding of microvascular restorative processes and pave the way for novel treatment developments in the stroke field.

Aggregating intrinsic information to enhance BCI performance through federated learning.

Insufficient data is a long-standing challenge for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to build a high-performance deep learning model. Though numerous research groups and institutes collect a multitude of EEG datasets for the same BCI task, sharing EEG data from multiple sites is still challenging due to the heterogeneity of devices. The significance of this challenge cannot be overstated, given the critical role of data diversity in fostering model robustness. However, existing works rarely discuss this issue, predominantly centering their attention on model training within a single dataset, often in the context of inter-subject or inter-session settings. In this work, we propose a hierarchical personalized Federated Learning EEG decoding (FLEEG) framework to surmount this challenge. This innovative framework heralds a new learning paradigm for BCI, enabling datasets with disparate data formats to collaborate in the model training process. Each client is assigned a specific dataset and trains a hierarchical personalized model to manage diverse data formats and facilitate information exchange. Meanwhile, the server coordinates the training procedure to harness knowledge gleaned from all datasets, thus elevating overall performance. The framework has been evaluated in Motor Imagery (MI) classification with nine EEG datasets collected by different devices but implementing the same MI task. Results demonstrate that the proposed framework can boost classification performance up to 8.4% by enabling knowledge sharing between multiple datasets, especially for smaller datasets. Visualization results also indicate that the proposed framework can empower the local models to put a stable focus on task-related areas, yielding better performance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first end-to-end solution to address this important challenge.

Fabrication of a Nanosized g-C3N4-Loaded Cellulose Microfiber Bundle to Induce Highly Efficient Water Treatment via Photodegradation .

Graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with a suitable structure and strong amine activity is designed and prepared to serve as a hydrogen bond donor for the microfibrilization of corncob cellulose to form a cellulose microfiber (CMF) bundle. Simultaneously, well-dispersed nanosized g-C3N4 is loaded into the bundle to form a photocatalyst for efficient photodegradation of rhodamine B (Rh B) in water. Under the optimal preparation conditions at 165 °C, 10 min, and 0.08 mol/L H2SO4, the yield of g-C3N4-functionalized cellulose microfibers (CMF-g-C3N4) reaches to the highest over 70%. The catalytic rate of CMF-g-C3N4 is 3.3 times larger than that of pure g-C3N4. The degradation rate of Rh B is maintained at over 90% in 10 cycles of photocatalytic degradation. The obtained CMF-g-C3N4 also has good thermal stability and mechanical properties. This research suggests a particularly simple way to transform cellulose into a highly efficient photocatalyst for water treatment.

A spiropyran-decorated nanocoating for dynamically regulating bacteria/cell adhesion and detachment.

Microorganism adhesion and the resulting contamination of the biomaterial is one of the major causes of biomedical device failure. Stimuli-responsive materials based on dynamically regulating interactions with reversible characteristics of on-off states have attracted increasing attention. Here, a facile self-assembled biomaterial nanocoating constructed using acidity- and photoregulated spiropyran-modified nanoparticles was developed for reversibly regulating bacteria or mammalian cell adhesion-and-detachment. The coating was formed by coating a solution of spiropyran-conjugated nanoparticles around the surface of a silica gel followed by curing and drying at 60 °C for 30 min. Importantly, efficient adhesion-and-detachment of bacteria or cells could be controlled even after 8 cycles owing to the excellent acidity- and light-switched ability. Collectively, this well-defined self-assembled nanocoating as a dynamical and reversible agent provides promising insight for the development of biomedical devices, especially for biomaterial medical coatings.

Bacteria-Targeting Nanosilver-Based Antibacterial Drugs for Efficient Treatment of Drug-Resistant Bacterial-Infected Keratitis.

Keratitis caused by drug-resistant bacteria is a severe condition that can lead to corneal perforation and even blindness, making effective treatment a top priority amid growing antibiotic resistance. Eye drops for anti-inflammatory treatment necessitate frequent administration of high doses throughout every day due to bacterial resistance resulting from antibiotic overuse and the low bioavailability of drugs. To overcome these issues, an antibacterial nanocomposite is prepared via conjugating random copolymers of galactose and 3-(acrylamide)phenylboronic acid to the surface of silver nanoparticles. The customized nanocomposites trigger specific binding to bacteria, resulting in excellent retention of the drug on the ocular surface, resulting in rapid and powerful killing of bacteria and inhibition of bacterial proliferation. Due to its superior drug delivery capabilities to the ocular surface, the functionalized nanocomplex markedly amplifies the anti-inflammatory efficacy, even at low doses. This effect is achieved by impeding immune cell infiltration and diminishing the synthesis of inflammatory mediators and cytokines, thereby suggesting enhanced healing properties for corneal inflammation. This study demonstrates a promising nanocomposite which is an effective and safe antibacterial strategy for bacterial keratitis with favorable prognostic and clinical conversion potential.

All-optical synaptic neuron based on add-drop microring resonator with power-tunable auxiliary light.

We propose and demonstrate an all-optical synaptic neuron based on an add-drop microring resonator (ADMRR) with power-tunable auxiliary light. Dual neural dynamics of passive ADMRRs, having spiking response and synaptic plasticity, are numerically investigated. It is demonstrated that, by injecting two beams of power-tunable and opposite-direction continuous light into an ADMRR and maintaining their sum power at a constant value, linear-tunable and single-wavelength neural spikes can be flexibly generated, in virtue of the nonlinear effects triggered by perturbation pulses. Based on this, a weighting operation system based on cascaded ADMRRs is designed; it enables implementation of real-time weighting operations at a number of wavelengths. This work provides a novel, to the best of our knowledge, approach for integrated photonic neuromorphic systems based entirely on optical passive devices.

Stimulation of oxalate root exudate in arsenic speciation and fluctuation with phosphate and iron in anoxic mangrove sediment.

Mutual transformations of rhizospheric arsenic (As) in pollution-prone mangrove sediments affected by root exudate oxalate were simulated. This study focuses on the effect of oxalate on As release, mobilization, and phase speciation associated with P and Fe was examined under anoxic conditions in time-dependent changes. Results showed that oxalate addition significantly facilitated As-Fe-P release from As-contaminated mangrove sediments. Sediment As formed the adsorptive and the carbonate-binding fractionations, facilitating the re-adsorption processes. Solution As and As5+ correlated with NaOH-P positively but with NaHCO3-P and HCl-P negatively. Dominant Fe3+ (>84 %) from the amorphous Fe regulated suspension changes and then time-dependent co-precipitation with As and P. Sediment P formed strong complexes with Fe oxides and could be substituted for As via STEM analysis. Oxalate ligand exchange, competitive adsorption of oxalate, and Fe-reduced dissolution are confirmed to involve, allowing for an insight As/P/Fe mobilization and fate in mangrove wetland.

Stabilizing Single-Atomic Pt by Forming PtFe Bonds for Efficient Diboration of Alkynes.

Precisely tailoring the oxidation state of single-atomic metal in heterogeneous catalysis is an efficient way to stabilize the single-atomic site and promote their activity, but realizing this approach remains a grand challenge to date. Herein, a class of stable single-atomic catalysts with well-tuned oxidation state of Pt by forming PtFe atomic bonds is reported, which are supported by defective Fe2 O3  nanosheets on reduced graphene oxide (PFARFNs). These as-synthesized materials can greatly enhance the catalytic activity, stability, and selectivity for the diboration of alkynes. The PFARFNs exhibit high conversion of 99% at 100 °C with an outstanding turnover frequency (TOF) of 545 h-1 , and a relatively high conversion of 58% at room temperature (25 °C) with a TOF of 310 h-1 , which has been hardly achieved previously. Through both experimental and theoretical investigation, it is demonstrated that the fast electron transfer from Fe to Pt in Fe-Pt-O atomic sites in PFARFNs can not only stabilize the single-atomic Pt, but also significantly improve their catalytic activity.

Mechanistic Study on Transformation of Coamorphous Baicalein-Nicotinamide to Its Cocrystal Form.

Recently, coamorphization and cocrystal technologies are of particular interest in the pharmaceutical industry due to their ability to improve the solubility/dissolution and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs, while the coamorphous system often tends to convert into the stable crystalline form usually crystalline physical mixture of each component during formulation preparation or storage. In this paper, BCS II drug baicalein (BAI) along with nicotinamide (NIC) were prepared into a single homogeneous coamorphous system with a single transition temperature at 42.5 °C. Interestingly, instead of the physical mixture of crystalline BAI and NIC, coamorphous BAI-NIC would transform to its cocrystal form under stress of temperature and humidity. The transformation rate under isothermal condition was temperature-dependent, since the crystallinity of the cocrystal enhanced as the temperature increased. Further mechanic studies showed the activation energy for the transformation under non-isothermal condition was calculated to be 184.52 kJ/mol. Additionally, water vapor sorption tests with further solid characterizations indicated the transformation was faster under higher humidity condition due to the faster nucleation process of cocrystal BAI-NIC. This research not only discovered the mechanism of transformation from coamorphous BAI-NIC to cocrystal form, but also provided an unusual method for cocrystal preparation from its coamorphous form.

Guanidinium-Decorated Nanostructure for Precision Sonodynamic-Catalytic Therapy of MRSA-Infected Osteomyelitis.

Osteomyelitis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm infection is difficult to eradicate and can even be life-threatening. Given that the infection is persistent and deep-seated in the bone tissue, controlled and efficient treatment of osteomyelitis remains challenging. Herein, an activatable nanostructure (Au/TNT@PG) is presented for synergistic sonodynamic-catalytic therapy of MRSA-infected osteomyelitis. The Au/TNT@PG backbone is obtained by conjugating a guanidinium-rich polymer (PG), a component that penetrates the biofilm matrix, onto ultrasound (US)-absorbing gold-doped titanate nanotubes (Au/TNTs). Under deep-penetrating US irradiation, the nanocomposite generates 1 O2 for sonodynamic therapy and catalyzes the decomposition of endogenous H2 O2 into toxic •OH in the acidic infection microenvironment for catalytic therapy, leading to bacterial cell death. Its robust antibacterial effectiveness is attributable to its bacteria-capturing ability, the biofilm penetrability of positively charged guanidinium, and the subsequent synergistic effect of sonodynamic-catalytic action of Au/TNT. Such a remotely controlled approach potentiates the polarization of macrophages to M2-type while suppressing the M1-type, leading to topical inflammation resolution and enhanced osteoblast proliferation and differentiation to inhibit bone loss. Therefore, this study provides a generic nanotherapeutic approach for efficient sonodynamic-catalytic therapy with respect to osteomyelitis.

Molecular Engineering of Push-Pull Diphenylsulfone Derivatives towards Aggregation-Induced Narrowband Deep Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) Emitters.

Narrowband deep blue thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials have attracted significant attention. Herein, four asymmetrical structured TADF emitters based on diphenylsulfone (DPS) acceptor and 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine (DMAC) donor with progressive performances were developed. The tert-butyloxy auxiliary electron-donor was adopted to restrict the intramolecular rotations and provide efficient steric hindrance. Regioisomerization by altering the substitution position of DMAC on DPS unit further enhanced the intra- and inter-molecular interactions. The accompanying effects yielded increased energy level, minimized reorganization energy, and inhibited non-radiative transitions in the crystals of tBuO-SOmAD, which achieved narrowband deep-blue emission peaking at 424 nm (FWHM=64 nm, ΦF =33.6 %) through aggregation-induced, blue-shifted emission (AIBSE). In addition, deep-blue organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on tBuO-SOmAD realized the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum peaking located at 435 nm and CIE coordination of (0.12, 0.09).