SpikeSEE: An Energy-Efficient Dynamic Scenes Processing Framework for Retinal Prostheses

Intelligent and low-power retinal prostheses are highly demanded in this era, where wearable and implantable devices are used for numerous healthcare applications. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient dynamic scenes processing framework (SpikeSEE) that combines a spike representation encoding technique and a bio-inspired spiking recurrent neural network (SRNN) model to achieve intelligent processing and extreme low-power computation for retinal prostheses. The spike representation encoding technique could interpret dynamic scenes with sparse spike trains, decreasing the data volume. The SRNN model, inspired by the human retina special structure and spike processing method, is adopted to predict the response of ganglion cells to dynamic scenes. Experimental results show that the Pearson correlation coefficient of the proposed SRNN model achieves 0.93, which outperforms the state of the art processing framework for retinal prostheses. Thanks to the spike representation and SRNN processing, the model can extract visual features in a multiplication-free fashion. The framework achieves 12 times power reduction compared with the convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) processing-based framework. Our proposed SpikeSEE predicts the response of ganglion cells more accurately with lower energy consumption, which alleviates the precision and power issues of retinal prostheses and provides a potential solution for wearable or implantable prostheses

Label-free cell phenotypic assessment of the molecular mechanism of action of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the target of several clinically approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) drugs including gefitinib and erlotinib in the treatment of cancer. Multiple mechanisms have been implicated in the clinical features of these drugs. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of action of these drugs at the whole cell level. Here we applied a label-free biosensor-enabled dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) assay to assess the molecular mechanism of action of three EGFR inhibitors, gefitinib, erlotinib and AG1478, to alter the EGFR signaling in A431 and HT-29, two native cancer cell lines expressing the EGFR. The whole-cell DMR assays with the persistent inhibitor treatment showed that all inhibitors dose-dependently inhibited the EGFR signaling in both cell lines, but generally displayed higher potency in A431 than HT-29 cells. The DMR assays with the inhibitor washout showed that the washout unexpectedly increased the potency of gefitinib and AG-1478 to inhibit the EGFR signaling in A431, but slightly decreased the potency of all three inhibitors in HT29. The DMR assays under microfluidics showed that the removal of the inhibitors using buffer perfusion resulted in a timedependent recovery of EGF signaling that is slower in A431 than HT-29 cells. In contrast, DMR assays under microfluidics showed that the removal of reversible competitive antagonists led to the full recovery of the signalling of two distinct G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor in A431 and the GPR35 in HT-29 cells. Together, our results suggest that for EGFR inhibitors their uptake and retention, rather than binding kinetics, dominate their label-free cell phenotypic efficacy; however, for GPCR antagonists the binding characteristics are critical to the inhibitory effects. This study also implicates the potential of DMR assays under different simulation conditions for elucidating the cell phenotypic pharmacology, in particular transporter-related drug resistance, of kinase inhibitor drugs

Probing Biochemical Mechanisms Of Action Of Muscarinic M3 Receptor Antagonists With Label-Free Whole Cell Assays

Binding kinetics of drugs is increasingly recognized to be important for their in vivo efficacy and safety profiles. However, little is known about the effect of drug binding kinetics on receptor signaling in native cells. Here we used label-free whole cell dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) assays under persistent and duration-controlled stimulation conditions to investigate the influence of the binding kinetics of four antagonists on the signaling of endogenous muscarinic M3 receptor in native HT-29 cells. Results showed that DMR assays under different conditions differentiated the biochemical mechanisms of action of distinct M3 antagonists. When co-stimulated with acetylcholine, tiotropium, a relatively slow binding antagonist, was found to selectively block the late signaling of the receptor, suggesting that acetylcholine attains its binding equilibrium faster than tiotropium does, thereby still being able to initiate its rapid response until the antagonist draws up and fully blocks the signaling. Furthermore, DMR assays under microfluidics allowed estimation of the residence times of these antagonists acting at the receptor in native cells, which were found to be the determining factor for the blockage efficiency of M3 receptor signaling under duration-controlled conditions. This study demonstrates that DMR assays can be used to elucidate the functional consequence of kinetics-driven antagonist occupancy in native cells. © 2012 American Chemical Society

EMG-Centered Multisensory Based Technologies for Pattern Recognition in Rehabilitation: State of the Art and Challenges

In the field of rehabilitation, the electromyography (EMG) signal plays an important role in interpreting patients’ intentions and physical conditions. Nevertheless, utilizing merely the EMG signal suffers from difficulty in recognizing slight body movements, and the detection accuracy is strongly influenced by environmental factors. To address the above issues, multisensory integration-based EMG pattern recognition (PR) techniques have been developed in recent years, and fruitful results have been demonstrated in diverse rehabilitation scenarios, such as achieving high locomotion detection and prosthesis control accuracy. Owing to the importance and rapid development of the EMG centered multisensory fusion technologies in rehabilitation, this paper reviews both theories and applications in this emerging field. The principle of EMG signal generation and the current pattern recognition process are explained in detail, including signal preprocessing, feature extraction, classification algorithms, etc. Mechanisms of collaborations between two important multisensory fusion strategies (kinetic and kinematics) and EMG information are thoroughly explained; corresponding applications are studied, and the pros and cons are discussed. Finally, the main challenges in EMG centered multisensory pattern recognition are discussed, and a future research direction of this area is prospected

Modeling of fast charging station equipped with energy storage

The popularization of EVs (electric vehicles) has brought an increasingly heavy burden to the development of charging facilities. To meet the demand of rapid energy supply during the driving period, it is necessary to establish a fast charging station in public area. However, EVs arrive at the charging station randomly and connect to the distribution network for fast charging, it causes the grid power to fluctuate greatly and the peak-valley loads to alternate frequently, which is harmful to the stability of distribution network. In order to reduce the power fluctuation of random charging, the energy storage is used for fast charging stations. The queuing model is determined to demonstrate the load characteristics of fast charging station, and the state space of fast charging station system is described by Markov chain. After that the power of grid and energy storage is quantified as the number of charging pile, and each type of power is configured rationally to establish the random charging model of energy storage fast charging station. Finally, the economic benefit is analyzed according to the queuing theory to verify the feasibility of the model. Keywords: Electric vehicle, Energy storage, Fast charging, Markov chain, Queuing theor

Pulse Electrochemical Driven Rapid Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Polydopamine and Hydroxyapatite Nanofilms via Alternative Redox <i>in Situ</i> Synthesis for Bone Regeneration

Polydopamine (PDA) is an important candidate material for the surface modification of biomedical devices because of its good adhesiveness and biocompatibility. However, PDA nanofilms lack osteoinductivity, limiting their applications in bone tissue engineering. Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HA-NPs) are the major component of natural bone, which can be used to effectively enhance the osteoinductivity of PDA nanofilms. Herein, we developed a pulse electrochemical driven layer-by-layer (PED-LbL) assembly process to rapidly deposit HA-NPs and PDA (HA-PDA) multilayer nanofilms. In this process, PDA and HA-NPs are <i>in situ</i> synthesized in two sequential oxidative and reductive pulses in each electrochemical deposition cycle and alternately deposited on the substrate surfaces. PDA assists the <i>in situ</i> synthesis of HA-NPs by working as a template, which avoids the noncontrollable HA nucleation and aggregation. The HA-PDA multilayer nanofilms serve as a tunable reservoir to deliver bone morphogenetic protein-2 and exhibit high osteoinductivity both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. This PED-LbL assembly process breaks the limitation of traditional LbL assembly, allowing not only the rapid assembly of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes but also the <i>in situ</i> synthesis of organic/inorganic NPs that are uniformly incorporated in the nanofilm. It has broad applications in the preparation of versatile surface coatings on various biomedical devices

Probing Biochemical Mechanisms of Action of Muscarinic M3 Receptor Antagonists with Label-Free Whole Cell Assays

Binding kinetics of drugs is increasingly recognized to be important for their in vivo efficacy and safety profiles. However, little is known about the effect of drug binding kinetics on receptor signaling in native cells. Here we used label-free whole cell dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) assays under persistent and duration-controlled stimulation conditions to investigate the influence of the binding kinetics of four antagonists on the signaling of endogenous muscarinic M3 receptor in native HT-29 cells. Results showed that DMR assays under different conditions differentiated the biochemical mechanisms of action of distinct M3 antagonists. When co-stimulated with acetylcholine, tiotropium, a relatively slow binding antagonist, was found to selectively block the late signaling of the receptor, suggesting that acetylcholine attains its binding equilibrium faster than tiotropium does, thereby still being able to initiate its rapid response until the antagonist draws up and fully blocks the signaling. Furthermore, DMR assays under microfluidics allowed estimation of the residence times of these antagonists acting at the receptor in native cells, which were found to be the determining factor for the blockage efficiency of M3 receptor signaling under duration-controlled conditions. This study demonstrates that DMR assays can be used to elucidate the functional consequence of kinetics-driven antagonist occupancy in native cells. © 2012 American Chemical Society