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Incorporating Neuro-Inspired Adaptability for Continual Learning in Artificial Intelligence

Continual learning aims to empower artificial intelligence (AI) with strong adaptability to the real world. For this purpose, a desirable solution should properly balance memory stability with learning plasticity, and acquire sufficient compatibility to capture the observed distributions. Existing advances mainly focus on preserving memory stability to overcome catastrophic forgetting, but remain difficult to flexibly accommodate incremental changes as biological intelligence (BI) does. By modeling a robust Drosophila learning system that actively regulates forgetting with multiple learning modules, here we propose a generic approach that appropriately attenuates old memories in parameter distributions to improve learning plasticity, and accordingly coordinates a multi-learner architecture to ensure solution compatibility. Through extensive theoretical and empirical validation, our approach not only clearly enhances the performance of continual learning, especially over synaptic regularization methods in task-incremental settings, but also potentially advances the understanding of neurological adaptive mechanisms, serving as a novel paradigm to progress AI and BI together

Energy metabolism and maternal-fetal tolerance working in decidualization

One pivotal aspect of early pregnancy is decidualization. The decidualization process includes two components: the differentiation of endometrial stromal cells to decidual stromal cells (DSCs), as well as the recruitment and education of decidual immune cells (DICs). At the maternal-fetal interface, stromal cells undergo morphological and phenotypic changes and interact with trophoblasts and DICs to provide an appropriate decidual bed and tolerogenic immune environment to maintain the survival of the semi-allogeneic fetus without causing immunological rejection. Despite classic endocrine mechanism by 17 β-estradiol and progesterone, metabolic regulations do take part in this process according to recent studies. And based on our previous research in maternal-fetal crosstalk, in this review, we elaborate mechanisms of decidualization, with a special focus on DSC profiles from aspects of metabolism and maternal-fetal tolerance to provide some new insights into endometrial decidualization in early pregnancy

Coal based carbon dots: recent advances in synthesis, properties, and applications

Carbon dots are zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials with quantum confinement effects and edge effects, which have aroused great interests in many disciplines such as energy, chemistry, materials, and environmental applications. They can be prepared by chemical oxidation, electrochemical synthesis, hydrothermal preparation, arc discharge, microwave synthesis, template method, and many other methods. However, the raw materials' high cost, the complexity and environmental-unfriendly fabrication process limit their large-scale production and commercialization. Herein, we review the latest developments of coal-based carbon dots about selecting coal-derived energy resources (bituminous coal, anthracite, lignite, coal tar, coke, etc.) the developments of synthesis processes, surface modification, and doping of carbon dots. The coal-based carbon dots exhibit the advantages of unique fluorescence, efficient catalysis, excellent water solubility, low toxicity, inexpensive, good biocompatibility, and other advantages, which hold the potentiality for a wide range of applications such as environmental pollutants sensing, catalyst preparation, chemical analysis, energy storage, and medical imaging technology. This review aims to provide a guidance of finding abundant and cost-effective precursors, green, simple and sustainable production processes to prepare coal-based carbon dots, and make further efforts to exploit the application of carbon dots in broader fields

Patterns of de novo metastasis and survival outcomes by age in breast cancer patients: a SEER population-based study

BackgroundThe role of age in metastatic disease, including breast cancer, remains obscure. This study was conducted to determine the role of age in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer.MethodsBreast cancer patients diagnosed with distant metastases between 2010 and 2019 were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Comparisons were performed between young (aged ≤ 40 years), middle-aged (41–60 years), older (61–80 years), and the oldest old (> 80 years) patients. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan–Meier method.ResultsThis study included 24155 (4.4% of all patients) de novo metastatic breast cancer patients. The number of young, middle-aged, older, and the oldest old patients were 195 (8.3%), 9397 (38.9%), 10224 (42.3%), and 2539 (10.5%), respectively. The 5-year OS rate was highest in the young (42.1%), followed by middle-aged (34.8%), older (28.3%), and the oldest old patients (11.8%). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that middle-aged (aHR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.10–1.27), older (aHR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.32–1.52), and the oldest old patients (aHR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.98–2.33) had worse OS than young patients. Consistently, middle-aged (aHR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08–1.25), older (aHR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.23–1.43), and the oldest old patients (aHR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.71–2.03) had worse BCSS than young patients.ConclusionThis study provided clear evidence that de novo metastatic breast cancer had an age-specific pattern. Age was an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer

Altered Brain Signal Variability in Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by a chronic, continuous symptom of worry and exaggerated startle response. Although functional abnormality in GAD has been widely studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the dynamic signatures of GAD are not fully understood. As a vital index of brain function, brain signal variability (BSV) reflects the capacity of state transition of neural activities. In this study, we recruited 47 patients with GAD and 38 healthy controls (HCs) to investigate whether or not BSV is altered in patients with GAD by measuring the standard deviation of fMRI signal of each voxel. We found that patients with GAD exhibited decreased BSV in widespread regions including the visual network, sensorimotor network, frontoparietal network, limbic system, and thalamus, indicating an inflexible brain state transfer pattern in these systems. Furthermore, the correlation between BSV and trait anxiety score was prone to be positive in patients with GAD but negative in HCs. The opposite relationships between BSV and anxiety level in the two groups indicate that the brain with moderate anxiety level may stay in the most stable rather than in the flexible state. As the first study of BSV in GAD, we revealed extensively decreased BSV in patients with GAD similar to that in other mental disorders but with a non-linear relationship between BSV and anxiety level indicating a novel neurodynamic mechanism of the anxious brain

Improved Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in the Early Life of Female Offspring by Maternal Dietary Genistein Is Associated With Alterations in the Gut Microbiota

Maternal over-nutrition can lead to metabolic disorders in offspring, whereas maternal dietary genistein may have beneficial effects on the metabolic health of offspring. Our objective was to determine whether maternal dietary genistein could attenuate the detrimental effects of a maternal high-fat diet on their offspring's metabolism and to explore the role of the gut microbiota on their offspring's glucose and lipid metabolism. C57BL/6 female mice were fed either a high-fat diet without genistein (HF), high-fat diet with low-dose genistein (0.25 g/kg diet) (HF.LG), high-fat diet with high-dose genistein (0.6 g/kg diet) (HF.HG) or normal control diet (Control) for 3 weeks prior to breeding and throughout gestation and lactation. The female offspring in the HF group had lower birth weights and glucose intolerance and higher serum insulin, triacylglycerol (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels at weaning compared with the Control group. Offspring from HF.LG dams had increased birth weight, improved glucose tolerance, and decreased fasting insulin, whereas the serum TG and TC levels were decreased in HF.HG offspring in comparison with HF offspring. The significant enrichment of Bacteroides and Akkermansia in offspring from genistein-fed dams might play vital roles in improving glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, and the significantly increased abundance of Rikenella and Rikenellaceae_RC9_ gut_group in the HF.HG group may be associated with the decreased serum levels of TG and TC. In conclusion, maternal dietary genistein negates the harmful effects of a maternal high-fat diet on glucose and lipid metabolism in female offspring, in which the altered gut microbiota plays crucial roles. The ability of maternal genistein intake to improve offspring metabolism is important since this intervention could fight the transmission of diabetes to subsequent generations

Probiotics for the Treatment of Docetaxel-Related Weight Gain of Breast Cancer Patients—A Single-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Trial

Background: Docetaxel is an important chemotherapy-agent for breast cancer treatment. One of its side-effects is weight gain, which increases the all-cause mortality rate. Considering gut microbiota is one important factor for weight regulation, we hypothesized that probiotics could be potentially used to reduce the docetaxel-related weight gain in breast cancer patients.Methods: From 10/8/2018 to 10/17/2019, 100 breast cancer (Stage I-III) patients underwent four cycles of docetaxel-based chemotherapy were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive probiotics (Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Enterococcus faecalis) or placebo (supplementary material of the probiotics capsule) treatment for 84 days with three capsules per time, twice/day. The primary outcome: the changes in body weight and body-fat percentage of the patients were measured by a designated physician using a fat analyzer, and the secondary outcomes: the fasting insulin, plasma glucose, and lipids were directly obtained from the Hospital Information System (HIS); The metabolites were measured using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS); The fecal microbiome was analyzed using bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence. All indicators were measured 1 day before the first cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy and 21 days after the last cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy.Results: Compared with the placebo group, the probiotic group showed significantly smaller changes in body weight (Mean [SD] 0.77 [2.58] vs. 2.70 [3.08], P = 0.03), body-fat percentage (Mean [SD] 0.04 [1.14] vs. 3.86 [11.09], P = 0.02), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) (Mean [SD]−0.05[0.68] vs. 0.39 [0.58], P = 0.002). Moreover, five of the 340 detected plasma metabolites showed significant differences between the two groups. The change of biliverdin dihydrochloride (B = −0.724, P = 0.02) was inverse correlated with weight gain. One strain of the phylum and three strains of the genus were detected to be significantly different between the two groups. Also, the changes of Bacteroides (B = −0.917, P < 0.001) and Anaerostipes (B = −0.894, P < 0.001) were inverse correlated with the change of LDL.Conclusions: Probiotics supplement during docetaxel-based chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment may help to reduce the increase in body weight, body-fat percentage, plasma LDL, and minimize the metabolic changes and gut dysbacteriosis.Clinical Trial Registration:http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=24294, ChiCTR-INQ-17014181