Researchers have used quantum physics and machine learning to quickly and accurately understand a mound of data – a technique, they say, could help extract meaning from gargantuan datasets.
Their method works on groundwater monitoring, and they’re trialling it on other fields like traffic management and medical imaging.
“Machine learning and artificial intelligence is a very powerful tool to look at datasets and extract features,” Dr Muhammad Usman, a quantum scientist at CSIRO, tells Cosmos.
In this study, we have demonstrated the crucial role of NAD+ homeostasis, particularly through the de novo synthesis pathway mediated by Qprt, in maintaining spermatogenesis with age. The deletion of Qprt led to progressive declines in NAD+ levels, particularly after 6 months of age, which were associated with significant defects in germ cell survival and mitochondrial function in spermatocytes. These disruptions manifested as impaired progression through meiosis, defective DNA double-strand break repair, and abnormal meiotic sex chromosome inactivation. Our findings also highlight the therapeutic potential of NAD+ precursor supplementation, as nicotinamide riboside effectively rescued the observed spermatogenic abnormalities in Qprt-deficient mice, emphasizing the importance of NAD+ in reproductive health and aging.
NAD+ can be synthesized through three pathways: the Preiss-Handler pathway, the salvage pathway, and the de novo pathway (Liu et al. 2018 ; Harjes 2019). In the de novo pathway, the essential amino acid tryptophan serves as a substrate, with Qprt catalyzing the formation of nicotinic acid mononucleotide, which is subsequently converted into NAD+ via a series of enzymatic reactions in the Preiss-Handler pathway. Coordinated regulation of these three pathways is crucial for maintaining intracellular NAD+ levels, which are essential for cellular function, a decline in NAD+ levels can lead to various pathological and physiological conditions (Minhas et al. 2019 ; Zhang et al. 2019a). In this study, we identified that Qprt, the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD+ de novo synthesis pathway, is predominantly expressed in spermatocytes within the testes.
Recent advances in the fields of human-infrastructure interaction, electronic engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) have opened new possibilities for the development of assistive and medical technologies. These include devices that can assist individuals with both physical and cognitive disabilities, supporting them throughout their daily activities.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently developed CoNav, a smart wheelchair controlled via a Robot Operating System (ROS) based framework. The new wheelchair, presented in a paper on the arXiv preprint server, could help to improve the quality of life of individuals who are temporarily or permanently unable to walk, allowing them to move in their surroundings more intuitively and autonomously.
“The inspiration for this work stems from a broader challenge in assistive mobility for people with disabilities (PWD),” Vineet Kamat, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.
The Sudan virus, a close relative of Ebola, has a fatality rate of 50% but remains poorly understood in terms of how it infects cells. Currently, no approved treatments exist. To address this critical gap in pandemic preparedness, researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center investigated how this deadly virus attaches to human cells.
Like Ebola, the Sudan virus enters cells by binding to NPC1, a protein responsible for cholesterol transport. Using cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers mapped how the Sudan virus interacts with the human NPC1 receptor. Their findings revealed that four key amino acid differences in the receptor-binding proteins of Sudan and Ebola viruses enable the Sudan virus to bind to human NPC1 with nine times greater affinity than Ebola, which may contribute to its high fatality rate.
Building on this discovery, the team predicted the receptor-binding affinities of three other filoviruses closely related to Sudan and Ebola. They also examined how the Sudan virus binds to NPC1 receptors in bats, which are believed to be natural hosts of filoviruses. These findings provide crucial insights into the infection mechanisms and evolutionary origins of Sudan virus and related filoviruses, paving the way for potential treatments.
An international team of engineers and physicists have found a way to use quantum light to improve the performance of cutting-edge spectroscopy.
Their new technique enables measurements of infrared electric fields which are twice as sensitive as previous developments in a process called time-domain spectroscopy.
The researchers say their work could help open up new applications in security and medical diagnostics.
Question Were the liberalization of medical cannabis and the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in Canada associated with changes in the population-attributable fraction of cannabis use disorders associated with schizophrenia?
Findings In this population-based cohort study comprising 13 588 681 individuals, the population-attributable fraction of cannabis use disorder associated with schizophrenia increased significantly from 3.7% in the prelegalization period to 10.3% during the postlegalization period.
Meaning These findings suggest that the association between cannabis use disorders and schizophrenia is an important consideration for the legalization of cannabis.
Researchers using intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from deep within the brain found that meditation led to changes in activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, key brain regions involved in emotional regulation and memory.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published Tuesday, February 4, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain the positive impact these practices have and could contribute to the development of meditation-based approaches for improving memory and emotional regulation.
Previous research has shown that meditation—a set of mental techniques to focus attention and awareness—can improve mental well-being and potentially help improve psychiatric diseases like anxiety and depression. In combination with its beneficial clinical effect, previous brain research has shown a connection between meditative practice and brain activity. Yet the specific neural activity underlying meditative practices and their positive effects is still not well understood.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, affecting millions of people worldwide. Due to the complexity and variability of the disease, there are major challenges in the treatment of HCC in its intermediate and advanced stages; despite advances in various treatment modalities, there are still gaps in our understanding of effective therapeutic strategies. Key findings from several studies have shown that the combination of immunotherapy and targeted therapy has a synergistic anti-tumor effect, which can significantly enhance efficacy with a favorable safety profile. In addition, other studies have identified potential biomarkers of therapeutic response, such as tumor protein 53 (TP53) and CTNNB1 (encoding β-conjugated proteins), thus providing personalized treatment options for patients with intermediate and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this article is to review the recent advances in the treatment of intermediate and advanced HCC, especially targeted immune-combination therapy, chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy), and gene therapy for these therapeutic options that fill in the gaps in our knowledge of effective treatment strategies, providing important insights for further research and clinical practice.
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common malignant tumor, ranking sixth and fifth in incidence globally and in China, respectively. It ranks among the top three in mortality and has long been recognized as a global challenge. HCC is the most common type of liver cancer, accounting for 75% to 80% of cases. Its incidence and mortality vary significantly across regions, which is closely related to risk factors such as viral hepatitis (e.g., hepatitis B and C), alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis, and fatty liver. Treatment options for HCC include surgical resection, percutaneous anhydrous ethanol injection, Transcatheter arterial embolization (TACE), ablative therapy, chemotherapy and liver transplantation. Early stage HCC can be completely cured by surgery, but about 70% of patients have progressed to an intermediate and advanced stage at the time of diagnosis and are unable to undergo surgery.