Human Strategy Adaptation in Reinforcement Learning Resembles Policy Gradient Ascent.

A hallmark of intelligence is the ability to adapt behavior to changing environments, which requires adapting one's own learning strategies. This phenomenon is known as learning to learn in cognitive science and meta-learning in artificial intelligence. While this phenomenon is well-established in humans and animals, no quantitative framework exists for characterizing the trajectories through which biological agents adapt their learning strategies.

Deep Learning Improves Parameter Estimation in Reinforcement Learning Models.

Cognitive models are widely used in psychology and neuroscience to formulate and test hypotheses about cognitive processes. These processes are characterized by model parameters, which are then used for scientific inference. The reliability of scientific conclusions from cognitive modeling depends critically on the reliability of parameter estimation, yet estimating parameters remains a universal challenge particularly when data are too limited to constrain them.

Clinical characteristics and genetic mutation analysis in 18 pediatric patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical features and genetic mutation spectrum of 18 children with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS).

Methods: Data from 18 children with SDS at Shandong University Affiliated Children's Hospital (Ji'nan Children's Hospital) between April 2016 and June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Variant sites were confirmed by Sanger sequencing in family lines.

A foundation model to predict and capture human cognition.

Establishing a unified theory of cognition has been an important goal in psychology. A first step towards such a theory is to create a computational model that can predict human behaviour in a wide range of settings. Here we introduce Centaur, a computational model that can predict and simulate human behaviour in any experiment expressible in natural language.

Discovering cognitive strategies with tiny recurrent neural networks.

Understanding how animals and humans learn from experience to make adaptive decisions is a fundamental goal of neuroscience and psychology. Normative modelling frameworks such as Bayesian inference and reinforcement learning provide valuable insights into the principles governing adaptive behaviour. However, the simplicity of these frameworks often limits their ability to capture realistic biological behaviour, leading to cycles of handcrafted adjustments that are prone to researcher subjectivity.

Language Models Are Capable of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control of Their Internal Activations.

Large language models (LLMs) can sometimes report the strategies they actually use to solve tasks, but they can also fail to do so. This suggests some degree of metacognition - the capacity to monitor one's own cognitive processes for subsequent reporting and self-control. Metacognitive abilities enhance AI capabilities but raise safety concerns, as models might obscure their internal processes to evade neural-activation-based oversight mechanisms designed to detect harmful behaviors.

Case report: Cervical suppurative lymphadenitis caused by burkholderia multivorans in a healthy child.

Background: Cervical suppurative lymphadenitis in children is commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes. However, cases caused by Burkholderia multivorans (BM) are rare. The clinical presentation lacks specificity, making it difficult for clinicians to recognize, which may delay diagnosis and treatment.

Notch Signaling Pathway Interfering as a Possible Asthma Treatment: A Narrative Review.

Asthma is a respiratory disease common among all age groups, and there is currently no cure that can be applied, as the patients react differently to the available treatments. Recent studies have shown that the Notch signaling pathway can regulate the dynamic balance between Th1 and Th2 cells, inhibit airway inflammation, reduce airway hyperresponsiveness and remodeling, and promote mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) homing. This study conducted a comprehensive search of multiple large databases and provided a narrative review of the role of the Notch signaling pathway in asthma.

RNA-seq reveals Lysyl oxidase as a potential biomarker of glomerular function in diabetic nephropathy in rats.

Purpose: We downloaded the gene expression profiles of patients with diabetic nephropathyfrom the GEO database and combined it with differential gene analysis of rat transcriptome,our study employed animal models to examine the role of key hub genes in diabetic nephropathy and to pinpoint significant gene regulation in this disease.

Methods: An examination of differential expression was performed using the online analysis tool GEO2R and the DN-related datasets GSE30528 and GSE1009 obtained from the GEO database. A comparison of gene expression between the normal and diabetic nephropathy groups was conducted using the RNA-seq technique.

Effects of autologous serum and artificial tears on corneal sensation and tear film stability in patients with mild to moderate xerophthalmia after cataract surgery.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the effects of autologous serum plus artificial tears on corneal sensation and tear film stability in patients with mild to moderate xerophthalmia after cataract surgery.

Methods: A total of 150 patients with mild to moderate xerophthalmia after one-time cataract surgery from March 2022 to September 2023 were selected and randomly divided into a control group (n = 75) and a study group (n = 75). The control group was treated with artificial tears (polyvinyl alcohol eye drops), while the study group was given autologous serum plus artificial tears.

Deep Learning without Weight Symmetry.

Backpropagation (BP), a foundational algorithm for training artificial neural networks, predominates in contemporary deep learning. Although highly successful, it is often considered biologically implausible. A significant limitation arises from the need for precise symmetry between connections in the backward and forward pathways to backpropagate gradient signals accurately, which is not observed in biological brains.

Mutasynthesis generates nine new pyrroindomycins.

Pyrroindomycins (PYRs) represent the only spirotetramate natural products discovered in nature, and possess potent activities against methicillin-resistant and vancomycin-resistant . Their unique structure and impressive biological activities make them attractive targets for synthesis and biosynthesis; however, the discovery and generation of new PYRs remains challenging. To date, only the initial components A and B have been reported.

Mechanisms of Action of Bunge in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification in .

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with reduced insulin uptake and glucose metabolic capacity. Bunge (PDB) has been used to treat T2DM; however, the fundamental biological mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to understand the active ingredients, potential targets, and underlying mechanisms through which PDB treats T2DM.

Total saponins can reverse type 2 diabetes mellitus-related intestinal dysbiosis and hepatic insulin resistance .

Objective: Intestinal flora homeostasis in rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was evaluated to explore the effects of total saponins (TAS) on hepatic insulin resistance (IR).

Methods: Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed high-fat and high-sugar diet for 4 weeks and intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin to induce T2DM, and they were then randomly divided into control, model, metformin, and TAS groups. Stool, serum, colon, and liver samples were collected after 8 weeks of drug administration for relevant analyses.

A specific nanobody-based affinity chromatography resin as a platform for small ubiquitin-related modifier fusion protein purification.

As an excellent fusion tag for expressing heterologous proteins, yeast SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) has unique advantages such as improving solubility, promoting stability, and reducing degradation, but it lacks a simple and rapid purification method. Camelid single-domain antibodies (VHHs or nanobodies) show great promise as an efficient tool in analytical application. In this study, VHHs against SUMO protein were isolated for the first time using biopanning of an immune camelid nanobody library.

Sanghuang Tongxie Formula Ameliorates Insulin Resistance in Through Regulating PI3K/Akt Signaling.

Insulin resistance (IR) is a pivotal pathological characteristic that affects the occurrence and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Thus, the effective control of IR is of great significance for diabetes prevention and treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) represents a valuable tool handed down to the world by the Chinese nation and has a long history of use for diabetes clinical therapy.

Spleen-kidney supplementing formula alleviates insulin resistance via regulating AKT/glycogen synthase kinase 3β pathway in rats with type 2 diabetic induced by high-fat diet.

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism underpinning the action by investigating its effect on glycogen content and AKT (also known as protein kinase B)/glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK- 3β) pathway in the liver of rats with type 2 diabetic induced by high-fat diet.

Methods: The rat model of type 2 diabetes was induced by high-fat diet and multiple low-dose streptozotocin injection. Diabetic rats were divided into five groups: the model control group, the Metformin group, spleen-kidney supplementing formula groups of low, medium and high doses.

An efficient procedure for preparing high-purity pingyangmycin and boanmycin from Streptomyces verticillus var. pingyangensis fermentation broth via macroporous cation-exchange resin and subsequent reversed-phase preparative chromatography.

Pingyangmycin (PYM) and boanmycin (BAM), two individual components of bleomycin (bleomycin A5 and bleomycin A6), are glycopeptide antitumor antibiotics. An efficient procedure for the preparation of PYM and BAM from Streptomyces verticillus var. pingyangensis fermentation broth using macroporous cation-exchange (MCE) resin followed by medium-pressure preparative liquid chromatography (MPLC) based on monodisperse poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (p(st-dvb)) microspheres was investigated in this paper.

Snail modulates JNK-mediated cell death in Drosophila.

Cell death plays a pivotal role in animal development and tissue homeostasis. Dysregulation of this process is associated with a wide variety of human diseases, including developmental and immunological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and tumors. While the fundamental role of JNK pathway in cell death has been extensively studied, its down-stream regulators and the underlying mechanisms remain largely elusive.