(From left) Mr Duan Xin, Dr Lin Xudong, Dr Shi Peng, Professor Cheng Shuk Han and Dr Wang Xin. [Photo/City University of Hong Kong] HONG KONG - A research team led by the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a new platform to enhance the prediction of effectiveness of medicines treating brain diseases, the university told reporter on Monday. The result came after five years of collaboration between CityU's Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Department of Biomedical Sciences (BMS), and Harvard Medical School, the United States, aiming to provide a platform to predict compounds that have the potential to be developed into new drugs to treat brain diseases. The research team generated the maps from the brains of thousands of zebrafish larvae, each treated with a clinically used CNS drug. The maps showed the corresponding brain regions that reacted to those drugs. By employing machine learning strategy, the team predicted that 30 out of those 121 new compounds had anti-seizure properties. To validate the prediction, the research team randomly chose 14 from the 30 potential anti-seizure compounds to perform behavioral tests with induced seizure zebrafishes. The result showed that 7 out of 14 compounds were able to reduce the seizures of the zebrafish without causing any sedative effects, implying a prediction accuracy of around 50 percent. Shi Peng, Associate Professor of CityU's BME, said that the team used robotics, microfluidics and hydrodynamic force to trap and orient an awake zebrafish automatically in 20 seconds, which allowed the imaging for many zebrafishes to be carried out in one go. More importantly, our platform can immobilize the fish without anaesthesia, thus avoiding interference, he added. With this high-speed in vivo drug screening system combined with machine learning, Shi said that a shortcut is provided to help identify compounds with significantly higher therapeutic potentials for further development, hence speed up the drug development and reduce the failure rate in the process. The research is published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. custom bar braceletcustom sports braceletscustom logo wristbandsde securite pour personne ageeembossed wristbandscolorfilled wristbandsembossed printed wristbandsdual layer wristbands
Senior Colonel Wei Changjin, political commissar of the Zaozhuang Regional Military Command. [Photo/Xinhua] China's new generation of soldiers have developed better comprehensive qualities, are physically stronger, better educated and more enthusiastic in serving the country, said Senior Colonel Wei Changjin, political commissar of the Zaozhuang Regional Military Command, on Wednesday. With a stronger economy and enhanced education, the comprehensive qualities of newly-recruited soldiers have been greatly improved, Wei said before the closing of the Second Session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Newly recruited soldiers are physically stronger thanks to various fitness options and intensified physical training provided by schools, according to Wei, a member of the CPPCC national committee. The young soldiers in the new era are passionate, ambitious, and knowledgeable, with many holding a bachelor's or master's degree, he said. The young people enlisted in recent years are, in general, well-rounded, he said. In 2018, university graduates accounted for 60 percent of the intake, he added. They are also more skilled and qualified with more qualifications, including academic degrees, vocational skills certificates and other awards for participating in various competitions, he said. In addition, he said, their willingness to serve the country is growing increasingly intense and the generation born after 2000 are a major force. They are cheerful, aspirational and energetic. Talking with them you will feel that they have an urgent desire to thrive in the military and contribute to making our country and military stronger, he said.
