Optical computing is attracting strong interest because light can carry and process information at extremely high speed while consuming less energy than many electronic approaches. In principle, optical systems can accelerate demanding tasks such as artificial intelligence inference, image processing, scientific simulation, and high-bandwidth signal processing. However, most proposed optical processors still depend on electronic memory to hold intermediate data. Each time information is converted between light and electronics, the system pays a penalty in speed, energy, and complexity.

A study in Chinese Medical Journal reports that SLC38A7, a lysosomal glutamine transporter, is overexpressed in gastric cancer and associated with poor prognosis. Using patient tissues, cell models, mutational analyses, and mouse xenografts, the researchers show that SLC38A7 binds MYH9, promotes GSK-3β ubiquitination and degradation, and activates Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The findings identify a metabolically linked oncogenic pathway, clarify a previously unrecognized disease mechanism, and suggest a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

For dogs with heart disease, a fraction of a centimeter can make a life-changing difference.

Veterinarians often rely on chest radiographs to monitor subtle changes in heart size that help determine when treatment should begin. But those measurements can vary from one doctor to the next, making it difficult to know whether a dog’s condition is truly changing or whether the difference is simply the result of human interpretation.

Now, researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) have shown that an artificial intelligence-powered tool can measure canine heart size on radiographs with accuracy comparable to trained clinicians, potentially helping veterinarians identify disease progression with greater consistency and confidence.

The study, recently published in PLOS ONE, evaluated RadAnalyzer, a web- and smartphone-based application that automatically measures vertebral heart size (VHS) and vertebral left atrial size (VLAS) — two metrics veterinarians use to assess heart enlargement and monitor disease progression.