Automatically determined effects of lithium, scopolamine and methamphetamine on motor activity of rats.

A device is described in which spontaneous motor activity of animals can be measured quantitatively in a capacitance field. By using multilevel detection in a homogeneous field the motions of the animals can be categorised according to their amplitudes and irrespective of the position of the animal in the cage. The effects of lithium ions, methamphetamine and scopolamine were assessed and compared with data in the literature.     

SCREENING SYSTEM: The Heart Disease Screening System for School Children in Japan and Its Results

The heart disease screening system for school children in Japan is useful for early detection of children with heart disease, and for their daily health care. In particular, the heart disease screening system using an electrocardiogram and/or phonocardiogram is an excellent one for finding atrial septal defect, pulmonic stenosis, idiopathic cardiomyopathy and arrythmia. Recently, computer-assisted electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram automatic analysis equipment for heart disease screening of school children has been developed, and a screening system using this equipment has been instituted.     

Toward Truly Water‐Soluble Rodlike Polyelectrolytes: Protonation–Deprotonation Equilibria in Aqueous Solutions of Poly(para‐phenylenes) Wrapped in Ethylene oxide and Amino Side Groups

The protonation/deprotonation behavior of rodlike poly(p‐phenylene)‐based polyamines is analyzed in aqueous solution using NMR spectroscopy and potentiometry. The observed features cannot be explained by a single acid constant, but shifting electrostatic potential—generated by the protonated ammonium side groups—has to be taken into account additionally. Consequently, the density of ionic groups attached to the polymer backbones and the ionic strength of the solutions contribute to the polybase behavior as well: the shift of basicity as observed with increasing degrees of protonation can be quantified by an apparent ionization constant, pK_app, for each value of pH. Due to intrinsic rigidity of the polymer backbone and true solubility in water effectuated by the highly polar side chains, the electrostatic effects influencing the polybase behavior can be observed free from conformational effects and over the whole range of accessible pH and degree of protonation for the first time.

     

Automatic detection of cortical arousals in sleep and their contribution to daytime sleepiness

ObjectiveSignificant interscorer variability is found in manual scoring of arousals in polysomnographic recordings (PSGs). We propose a fully automatic method, the Multimodal Arousal Detector (MAD), for detecting arousals.MethodsA deep neural network was trained on 2,889 PSGs to detect cortical arousals and wakefulness in 1-second intervals. Furthermore, the relationship between MAD-predicted labels on PSGs and next day mean sleep latency (MSL) on a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), a reflection of daytime sleepiness, was analyzed in 1447 MSLT instances in 873 subjects.ResultsIn a dataset of 1,026 PSGs, the MAD achieved an F1 score of 0.76 for arousal detection, while wakefulness was predicted with an accuracy of 0.95. In 60 PSGs scored by nine expert technicians, the MAD performed comparable to four and significantly outperformed five expert technicians for arousal detection. After controlling for known covariates, a doubling of the arousal index was associated with an average decrease in MSL of 40 seconds (p = 0.0075).ConclusionsThe MAD performed better or comparable to human expert scorers. The MAD-predicted arousals were shown to be significant predictors of MSL.SignificanceThis study validates a fully automatic method for scoring arousals in PSGs.     

Automatic detection of perforators for microsurgical reconstruction

The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) is the most commonly used free flap in mastectomy reconstruction.Preoperative imaging techniques are routinely used to detect location, diameter and course of perforators, with direct intervention from the imaging team, who subsequently draw a chart that will help surgeons choosing the best vascular support for the reconstruction.In this work, the feasibility of using a computer software to support the preoperative planning of 40 patients proposed for breast reconstruction with a DIEP flap is evaluated for the first time. Blood vessel centreline extraction and local characterization algorithms are applied to identify perforators and compared with the manual mapping, aiming to reduce the time spent by the imaging team, as well as the inherent subjectivity to the task.Comparing with the measures taken during surgery, the software calibre estimates were worse for vessels smaller than 1.5 mm (P = 6e-4) but better for the remaining ones (P = 2e-3). Regarding vessel location, the vertical component of the software output was significantly different from the manual measure (P = 0.02), nonetheless that was irrelevant during surgery as errors in the order of 2–3 mm do not have impact in the dissection step.Our trials support that a reduction of the time spent is achievable using the automatic tool (about 2 h/case).The introduction of artificial intelligence in clinical practice intends to simplify the work of health professionals and to provide better outcomes to patients. This pilot study paves the way for a success story.     

VAV2蛋白DH结构域与CDC42蛋白相互作用的亲和力和热力学参数研究

目的:利用等温滴定量热技术研究VAV2蛋白的DH结构域(VAV2-DH)与CDC42的相互作用.方法:首先分别将VAV2-DH和CDC42蛋白的编码基因克隆至pGEX-6p-1和pET28a载体上,构建VAV2-DH和CDC42蛋白的重组表达载体.再将重组表达载体转入大肠杆菌中诱导表达蛋白,并亲和层析、凝胶过滤层析纯化...     

Efficient molecular encoders for virtual screening

Molecular representations encoding molecular structure information play critical roles in molecular virtual screening (VS). In order to improve VS performance, an abundance of molecular encoders have been developed and tested by various VS challenges. Combinational strategies were also used to improve the performance. Deep learning (DL)-based molecular encoders have attracted much attention for their automatic information extraction ability. In this review, we present an overview of two-dimensional-, three-dimensional-, and DL-based molecular encoders, summarize recent progress of VS using DL technologies, and propose a general framework of DL molecular encoder-based VS. Perspectives on the future directions of molecular representations and applications in the prediction of active compounds are also provided.     

亚叶酸钙与DNA相互作用的热力学和光谱学研究

目的：研究DNA 与药物分子的相互作用机理。方法利用等温滴定微量热法（ITC）、紫外吸收光谱法（UV）和荧光光谱法研究了亚叶酸钙（CaFL）与小牛胸腺脱氧核糖核酸（ct‐DNA）在缓冲溶液中的结合反应。结果当药物分子与2类结合位点相结合时,标准吉布斯自由能（ΔG1°和ΔG2°）的变化几乎是一样的,然而,标准焓变（ΔH1°和ΔH 2°）却不相同,第1类结合发生在磷酸基团上,以焓驱动为主,而第2类结合则主要发生在碱基对形成的位点上,并显示为熵驱动为主的过程。结论热力学结果表明,ct‐DNA大分子上存在可结合FL2－阴离子的2类位点。