Efficient Structure Slimming for Spiking Neural Networks

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) are deeply inspired by biological neural information systems. Compared to convolutional neural networks (CNNs), SNNs are low power consumption because of their spike based information processing mechanism. However, most of the current structures of SNNs are fully-connected or converted from deep CNNs which poses redundancy connections. While the structure and topology in human brain systems are sparse and efficient. This paper aims at taking full advantage of sparse structure and low power consumption which lie in human brain and proposed efficient structure slimming methods. Inspired by the development of biological neural network structures, this paper designed types of structure slimming methods including neuron pruning and channel pruning. In addition to pruning, this paper also considers the growth and development of the nervous system. Through iterative application of the proposed neural pruning and rewiring algorithms, experimental evaluations on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and DVS-Gesture datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the structure slimming methods. When the parameter count is reduced to only about 10% of the original, the performance decreases by less than 1%

A cytomegalovirus peptide-specific antibody alters natural killer cell homeostasis and ss shared in several autoimmune diseases

Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV), a ubiquitous beta-herpesvirus, has been associated with several autoimmune diseases. However, the direct role of hCMV in inducing autoimmune disorders remains unclear. Here we report the identification of an autoantibody that recognizes a group of peptides with a conserved motif matching the Pp150 protein of hCMV (anti-Pp150) and is shared among patients with various autoimmune diseases. Anti-Pp150 also recognizes the single-pass membrane protein CIP2A and induces the death of CD56bright NK cells, a natural killer cell subset whose expansion is correlated with autoimmune disease. Consistent with this finding, the percentage of circulating CD56bright NK cells is reduced in patients with several autoimmune diseases and negatively correlates with anti-Pp150 concentration. CD56bright NK cell death occurs via both antibody- and complement-dependent cytotoxicity. Our findings reveal that a shared hCMV-induced autoantibody is involved in the decrease of CD56bright NK cells and may thus contribute to the onset of autoimmune disorders

Changes in Cortical Thickness in Patients With Early Parkinson’s Disease at Different Hoehn and Yahr Stages

Objectives: This study was designed to explore changes in cortical thickness in patients with early Parkinson’s disease (PD) at different Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stages and to demonstrate the association of abnormally altered brain regions with part III of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III).Materials and Methods: Sixty early PD patients and 29 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. All PD patients underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and 3.0 T magnetic resonance scanning. Patients with H-Y stage ≤1.5 were included in the mild group, and all other patients were included in the moderate group. FreeSurfer software was used to calculate cortical thickness. We assessed the relationship between UPDRS-III and regional changes in cortical thinning, including the bilateral fusiform and the temporal lobe.Results: The average cortical thickness of the temporal pole, fusiform gyrus, insula of the left hemisphere and fusiform gyrus, isthmus cingulate cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, middle temporal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex of the right hemisphere exhibited significant decreasing trends in HCs group and PD groups (i.e., the mild group and moderate group). After controlling for the effects of age, gender, and disease duration, the UPDRS-III scores in patients with early PD were correlated with the cortical thickness of the left and right fusiform gyrus and the left temporal pole (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The average cortical thickness of specific brain regions reduced with increasing disease severity in early PD patients at different H-Y stages, and the UPDRS-III scores of early PD patients were correlated with cortical thickness of the bilateral fusiform gyrus and the left temporal pole

Effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 on the marine phytoplankton and bacterial metabolism during a bloom : a coastal mesocosm study

Increases of atmospheric CO2 concentrations due to human activity and associated effects on aquatic eco- systems are recognized as an environmental issue at a global scale. Growing attention is being paid to CO2 enrichment effects under multiple stresses or fluctuating environmental conditions in order to extrap- olate from laboratory-scale experiments to natural systems. We carried out a mesocosm experiment in coastal water with an assemblage of three model phytoplankton species and their associated bacteria under the influence of elevated CO2 concentrations. Net community production and the metabolic charac- teristics of the phytoplankton and bacteria were monitored to elucidate how these organisms responded to CO2 enrichment during the course of the algal bloom. We found that CO2 enrichment (1000 μatm) signifi- cantly enhanced gross primary production and the ratio of photosynthesis to chlorophyll a by approxi- mately 38% and 39%, respectively, during the early stationary phase of the algal bloom. Although there were few effects on bulk bacterial production, a significant decrease of bulk bacterial respiration (up to 31%) at elevated CO2 resulted in an increase of bacterial growth efficiency. The implication is that an eleva- tion of CO2 concentrations leads to a reduction of bacterial carbon demand and enhances carbon transfer efficiency through the microbial loop, with a greater proportion of fixed carbon being allocated to bacterial biomass and less being lost as CO2. The contemporaneous responses of phytoplankton and bacterial metabolism to CO2 enrichment increased net community production by about 45%, an increase that would have profound implications for the carbon cycle in coastal marine ecosystems

Long-range imaging LiDAR with multiple denoising technologies

The ability to capture and record high-resolution images over long distances is essential for a wide range of applications, including connected and autonomous vehicles, defense and security operations, as well as agriculture and mining industries. Here, we demonstrate a self-assembled bistatic long-range imaging LiDAR system. Importantly, to achieve high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data, we employed a comprehensive suite of denoising methods including temporal, spatial, spectral, and polarization filtering. With the aid of these denoising technologies, our system has been validated to possess the capability of imaging under various complex usage conditions. In terms of distance performance, the test results achieved ranges of over 4000 m during daylight with clear weather, 19,200 m at night, 6700 m during daylight with haze, and 2000 m during daylight with rain. Additionally, it offers an angular resolution of 0.01 mrad. These findings demonstrate the potential to offer comprehensive construction strategies and operational methodologies to individuals seeking long-range LiDAR data