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Electroencephalography (EEG) foundation models are often pretrained with a fixed channel vocabulary or a limited set of montages, making transfer difficult when electrode layouts change. We propose CortexBridge, a lightweight adapter that combines EEG features with electrode and atlas coordinates t…

A recent study published in the journal Science and subsequent research using UK Biobank data has revealed that individuals exposed to sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days of life - from conception to age three - have significantly lower risks of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, respiratory issues, dementia, and anxiety later in life. The research, led by Dr. Jiazhen Zheng at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Dr. Tadeja Gračner at the University of Southern California, examined the health outcomes of people born before, during, and after the end of sugar rationing in the UK in 1953. Those exposed to low sugar environments throughout their first 1,000 days had a 35% lower risk of type 2 diabetes and a 20% lower risk of high blood pressure compared to those not exposed to rationing. Further studies linked reduced sugar exposure to lower risks of various health conditions across multiple organ systems, including cardiovascular disease, liver disease, respiratory health, dementia, and broader measures of ageing. The research suggests that early-life nutrition, particularly sugar exposure during the critical first 1,000 days, may influence physiological pathways related to metabolism, insulin sensitivity, appetite regulation, and fat tissue development. The findings are not suggesting that severe dietary restriction is beneficial, but rather that the quality and timing of nutrition during early development can have lifelong consequences. Current UK guidelines recommend limiting free sugars to 30g per day for adults and older children, with lower amounts for younger children, but average consumption is roughly twice the recommended level. The research does not prove causation, but rather identifies associations that warrant further investigation. The study draws parallels to historical natural experiments like the Dutch 'hunger winter' of 1944-45, though the British sugar rationing was not a famine but rather a selective constraint on sugar intake while the broader diet remained adequate. The researchers caution that while the findings support existing recommendations to limit unnecessary free sugars, they should not be interpreted as evidence that severe dietary restriction is beneficial. The study highlights the importance of early nutrition in shaping long-term health outcomes and suggests that maintaining sugar intake closer to recommended levels may have benefits extending far beyond childhood.

As autonomous agents rapidly evolve, their ability to reliably manipulate ubiquitous digital documents has become critical for enabling general-purpose AI assistants and automating complex workspace workflows. In this paper, we introduce DocOps, a deterministically verifiable evaluation framework u…

PDD Holdings on Friday appointed co-chief executive officer Jiazhen Zhao as co-chairman of the Temu owner's board, joining the company's other chief executive Lei Chen.