A Heterogeneous Parallel Non-von Neumann Architecture System for Accurate and Efficient Machine Learning Molecular Dynamics

This paper proposes a special-purpose system to achieve high-accuracy and high-efficiency machine learning (ML) molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. The system consists of field programmable gate array (FPGA) and application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) working in heterogeneous parallelization. To be specific, a multiplication-less neural network (NN) is deployed on the non-von Neumann (NvN)-based ASIC (SilTerra 180 nm process) to evaluate atomic forces, which is the most computationally expensive part of MD. All other calculations of MD are done using FPGA (Xilinx XC7Z100). It is shown that, to achieve similar-level accuracy, the proposed NvN-based system based on low-end fabrication technologies (180 nm) is 1.6x faster and 10^2-10^3x more energy efficiency than state-of-the-art vN based MLMD using graphics processing units (GPUs) based on much more advanced technologies (12 nm), indicating superiority of the proposed NvN-based heterogeneous parallel architecture

Characteristics of regional activation strategy using local idols

text紀要論文 / Departmental Bulletin Paper本研究の目的は栃木県と群馬県のローカルアイドルグループの関係者、グループのファンをインタビュー対象として、サブカルチャー研究の視点からローカルアイドルを活用した地域活性化戦略の特質を明らかにする。 本論文は日本のサブカルチャーを活用した地域活性化の方法を提案する。まず地域の文化振興は地域活性化の重要な一環として、サブカルチャーを基に新たな地域活性化サービスを創出することによって新しい局面に推進すると予想できる。まだ、ローカルアイドル（地方に本拠地を構え，地元を中心に活動する地域限定アイドルのこと）はサブカルチャーの代表として、地域活性化に一定程度貢献した。departmental bulletin pape

Structural and pharmacological insights into cordycepin for neoplasms and metabolic disorders

Cytotoxic adenosine analogues were among the earliest chemotherapeutic agents utilised in cancer treatment. Cordycepin, a natural derivative of adenosine discovered in the fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, directly inhibits tumours not only by impeding biosynthesis, inducing apoptosis or autophagy, regulating the cell cycle, and curtailing tumour invasion and metastasis but also modulates the immune response within the tumour microenvironment. Furthermore, extensive research highlights cordycepin’s significant therapeutic potential in alleviating hyperlipidaemia and regulating glucose metabolism. This review comprehensively analyses the structure-activity relationship of cordycepin and its analogues, outlines its pharmacokinetic properties, and strategies to enhance its bioavailability. Delving into the molecular biology, it explores the pharmacological mechanisms of cordycepin in tumour suppression and metabolic disorder treatment, thereby underscoring its immense potential in drug development within these domains and laying the groundwork for innovative treatment strategies

Innovative Design of PEI‐Modified AMO‐Layered Double Hydroxide for Efficient and Stable Direct Air Capture of CO 2

Emerging as a critical technology for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) removal, the mass deployment of direct air capture (DAC) demands breakthrough innovations in efficient and stable adsorbent materials that simultaneously achieve high capacity, oxidative durability, and low cost. Herein, a hydroxyl‐rich Mg0.55Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) support is developed via aqueous miscible organic solvent treatment, circumventing energy‐intensive calcination while engineering mesopores for efficient polyethyleneimine (PEI) loading. The optimized 60 wt.% PEI modified Mg0.55Al‐CO3 AMO‐LDH achieves a CO2 uptake of 3.92 mmol g−1 under simulated wet air at 25 °C and retains 90.8% capacity over 20 cycles. Crucially, the abundant surface hydroxyls of uncalcined LDH, validated by 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and in situ X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, form hydrogen bonds with PEI, suppressing oxidative degradation. After 3 h at 120 °C in simulated air, PEI‐LDH retains a CO2 capacity of 1.06 mmol g−1, significantly outperforming PEI/mixed metal oxide and conventional silica‐based adsorbents. In situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy further reveals that hydroxyl‐mediated amine anchoring minimizes water co‐adsorption. This work establishes a dual strategy of hydroxyl preservation and mesopore engineering to design cost‐effective DAC adsorbents, achieving both high capacity and exceptional stability under realistic operating conditions

Design of Ultra-Stable Solid Amine Adsorbents and Mechanisms of Hydroxyl Group-Dependent Deactivation for Reversible CO 2 Capture from Flue Gas

Although supported solid amine adsorbents have attracted great attention for CO2 capture, critical chemical deactivation problems including oxidative degradation and urea formation have severely restricted their practical applications for flue gas CO2 capture. In this work, we reveal that the nature of surface hydroxyl groups (metal hydroxyl Al–OH and nonmetal hydroxyl Si–OH) plays a key role in the deactivation mechanisms. The polyethyleneimine (PEI) supported on Al–OH-containing substrates suffers from severe oxidative degradation during the CO2 capture step due to the breakage of amine-support hydrogen bonding networks, but exhibits an excellent anti-urea formation feature by preventing dehydration of carbamate products under a pure CO2 regeneration atmosphere. In contrast, PEI supported on Si–OH-containing substrates exhibits excellent anti-oxidative stability under simulated flue gas conditions by forming a robust hydrogen bonding protective network with Si–OH, but suffers from obvious urea formation during the pure CO2 regeneration step. We also reveal that the urea formation problem for PEI-SBA-15 can be avoided by the incorporation of an OH-containing PEG additive. Based on the intrinsic understanding of degradation mechanisms, we successfully synthesized an adsorbent 40PEI-20PEG-SBA-15 that demonstrates outstanding stability and retention of a high CO2 capacity of 2.45 mmol g−1 over 1000 adsorption–desorption cycles, together with negligible capacity loss during aging in simulated flue gas (10% CO2 + 5% O2 + 3% H2O) for one month at 60–70 °C. We believe this work makes great contribution to the advancement in the field of ultra-stable solid amine-based CO2 capture materials

Therapeutic potential of TRIM family proteins in gastric cancer: from signaling pathway regulation to precision targeting strategies

Gastric cancer (GC) is a globally prevalent malignant tumor, causing approximately 770,000 deaths in 2020, ranking fourth among all cancers. The tripartite motif (TRIM) protein family is involved in various cellular regulations and has become a key player in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. This review explores the therapeutic potential of TRIM proteins in gastric cancer, from signaling pathway regulation to precision targeting strategies. Structurally, there are differences in the C-terminal domain of TRIM proteins, which determine their subgroup classification and substrate recognition. Functionally, they regulate multiple signaling pathways that are crucial for the development of gastric cancer. Clinically, many TRIM proteins serve as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In terms of therapy, targeting TRIM proteins holds great potential. Strategies include developing small molecule inhibitors targeting specific TRIM domains, such as inhibitors targeting the bromodomain of TRIM24, and exploring PROTAC technology to degrade oncogenic TRIM proteins. Combination immunotherapy targeting TRIM-related pathways may also provide new therapeutic options. However, challenges persist, Including limited understanding of heterotypic polyubiquitination targets/functions of TRIM proteins, insufficient mechanistic/epidemiological insights into their immunomodulatory roles in the tumor microenvironment, underdeveloped TRIM inhibitors for gastric cancer, unevaluated pharmacokinetics/toxicity of inhibitors in preclinical models, and the need to construct complete TRIM biological systems. In summary, TRIM proteins are deeply involved in the biological processes of gastric cancer, and understanding their functions and regulation could lead to the development of more effective precision targeting strategies for gastric cancer treatment

Differentially expressed serum proteins associated with calcium regulation and hypocalcemia in dairy cows

Objective Hypocalcemia is an important metabolic disease of dairy cows during the transition period, although the effect of hypocalcemia on biological function in dairy cows remains unknown. Methods In this study, proteomic, mass spectrum, bioinformatics and western blotting were employed to identify differentially expressed proteins related to serum Ca concentration. Serum samples from dairy cows were collected at three time points: 3rd days before calving (day −3), the day of calving (day 0), and 3rd days after calving (day +3). According to the Ca concentration on day 0, a total of 27 dairy cows were assigned to one of three groups (clinical, subclinical, and healthy). Samples collected on day −3 were used for discovery of differentially expressed proteins, which were separated and identified via proteomic analysis and mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to determine the function of the identified proteins (gene ontology and pathway analysis). The differentially expressed proteins were verified by western blot analysis. Results There were 57 differential spots separated and eight different proteins were identified. Vitamin D-binding protein precursor (group-specific component, GC), alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M) protein, and apolipoprotein A-IV were related to hypocalcemia by bioinformatics analysis. Due to its specific expression (up-regulated in clinical hypocalcemia and down-regulated in subclinical hypocalcemia), A2M was selected for validation. The results were consistent with those of proteomic analysis. Conclusion A2M was as an early detection index for distinguishing clinical and subclinical hypocalcemia. The possible pathogenesis of clinical hypocalcemia caused by GC and apolipoprotein A-IV was speculated. The down-regulated expression of GC was a probable cause of the decrease in calcium concentration

Correlation between Vegetable and Fruit Intake and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chongqing, China

Objective: To explore the correlation between different types of vegetable and fruit intake and cognitive function among the older adults in Chongqing, China, and to provide a scientific basis for developing efficient lifestyle interventions for the prevention of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Method: Approximately 728 older adults in urban and rural areas of Chongqing were surveyed using face-to-face questionnaires. Cognitive function was assessed with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B) scale, and the vegetable and fruit intake groups were investigated with the Simple Food Frequency Counting Survey Scale. Binary logistic regression was used to explore the effect of the vegetable and fruit intake group on cognitive function. Subgroup analysis was used to demonstrate the robustness of the results. Result: Of the 728 participants in the study, 36.40% were likely to have MCI, which is higher than the national average for this condition. After adjusting for confounders, compared to the Q1 group, fruit and root vegetable intake was a protective factor for MCI, showing a dose–response relationship (p < 0.05). Only lower intake (Q2) of total vegetables, medium intake (Q2, Q3) of solanaceous vegetables, and medium–high intake (Q2, Q4) of fungi and algae was protective against MCI, whereas the leafy vegetables showed no relation to MCI. Apart from this, participants who were older, female, unmarried, non-smoking, and engaged in physical labor, and who had an average monthly income of less than 3000 RMB were more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment. Conclusion: This suggested that the fruit-intake groups and some vegetable-intake groups showed a protective effect on cognitive function, and might behave differently depending on their different intake and demographic characteristics. A sensible, healthy diet can help prevent MCI

Survival and immune response of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei following single and concurrent infections with WSSV and Vibrio parahaemolyticus

The survival and immune responses of Litopenaeus vannamei were evaluated during white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) or Vibrio parahaemolyticus single and concurrent infections. The mortality, WSSV load, activities of 4 immune enzymes: acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the transcription of Evolutionarily Conserved Signaling Intermediate in Toll pathways of L.vannamei (LvECSIT) were quantified at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post-infection (pi). The results showed: (i) the cumulative mortality of the co-infection group (WSSV and V. Parahaemolyticus 83%) was significantly lower than the WSSV infection group (97%) (P < 0.05) at 96 hpi; (ii) copies of WSSV in the co-infection group were significantly lower than that of the single infection group from 24 to 96 hpi (P < 0.05); (iii) ACP, AKP,POD and SOD activity in the gills of the co-infection group was higher than that of the WSSV group at12, 48 and 96 hpi (P < 0.05).The expression of LvECSIT mRNA in the co-infection group was significantly higher than in the WSSV infection group from 12 to 72 hpi (P < 0.05).The results indicate that proliferation of WSSV is inhibited by V.parahaemolyticus infection. In addition, infection with WSSV alone causes a significant reduction in some immune responses of shrimp than co-infection with WSSV and V.parahaemolyticus occurs at 26 °C. Third, LvECSIT, an essential member of TLR signaling pathway might play a crucial role in shrimp defense against WSSV – Vibrio co-infection