Test-time Defense against Adversarial Attacks: Detection and Reconstruction of Adversarial Examples via Masked Autoencoder

Existing defense methods against adversarial attacks can be categorized into training time and test time defenses. Training time defense, i.e., adversarial training, requires a significant amount of extra time for training and is often not able to be generalized to unseen attacks. On the other hand, test time defense by test time weight adaptation requires access to perform gradient descent on (part of) the model weights, which could be infeasible for models with frozen weights. To address these challenges, we propose DRAM, a novel defense method to Detect and Reconstruct multiple types of Adversarial attacks via Masked autoencoder (MAE). We demonstrate how to use MAE losses to build a KS-test to detect adversarial attacks. Moreover, the MAE losses can be used to repair adversarial samples from unseen attack types. In this sense, DRAM neither requires model weight updates in test time nor augments the training set with more adversarial samples. Evaluating DRAM on the large-scale ImageNet data, we achieve the best detection rate of 82% on average on eight types of adversarial attacks compared with other detection baselines. For reconstruction, DRAM improves the robust accuracy by 6% ~ 41% for Standard ResNet50 and 3% ~ 8% for Robust ResNet50 compared with other self-supervision tasks, such as rotation prediction and contrastive learning

High serum levels of procalcitonin and soluble TREM-1 correlated with poor prognosis in pulmonary tuberculosis

SummaryObjectivesComparisons of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) would expand our knowledge of which biomarker is the best predictor for outcomes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 243 PTB patients, in whom PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 measurement were performed to evaluate their prognostic value for 6-month mortality.ResultsSerum PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels on diagnosis of PTB were significantly higher in nonsurvivors (2.22 ± 6.22 vs. 0.13 ± 0.31 ng/mL, P = 0.043; 42.1 ± 59.4 vs. 12.5 ± 29.1 mg/L, P = 0.004; 332 ± 362 vs. 128 ± 98 pg/mL, P = 0.001, respectively) as compared with 6-month survivors. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, PCT ≧0.5 ng/mL (hazard ratio 4.13, 95% CI, 1.99–8.58) and sTREM-1 ≧129 pg/mL (hazard ratio 3.39, 95% CI, 1.52–7.58) remained independent mortality predictors. Serum PCT and sTREM-1 levels above the cutoffs were also associated with the presence of disseminated tuberculosis.ConclusionsAmong PTB patients, higher PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels are observed in nonsurvivors than in 6-month survivors. Serum levels of PCT and sTREM-1 over the cutoffs are independently associated with a poor outcome. In addition, higher PCT and sTREM-1 levels would raise the clinical suspicion of disseminated tuberculosis

Plasma fatty acids and the risk of metabolic syndrome in ethnic Chinese adults in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence of predictive power of various fatty acids on the risk of metabolic syndrome was scanty. We evaluated the role of various fatty acids, including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, transfat, n-6 fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for the risk of the metabolic syndrome in Taiwan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A nested case-control study based on 1000 cases of metabolic syndrome and 1:1 matched control subjects. For saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and transfat, the higher the concentration the higher the risk for metabolic syndrome: participants in the highest quintile had a 2.22-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.66 to 2.97) higher risk of metabolic syndrome. In addition, the participants in higher EPA quintiles were less likely to have the risk of metabolic syndrome (adjusted risk, 0.46 [0.34 to 0.61] for the fifth quintile). Participants in the highest risk group (low EPA and high transfat) had a 2.36-fold higher risk of metabolic syndrome (95% CI, 1.38 to 4.03), compared with those in the lowest risk group (high EPA and low transfat). For prediction power, the area under ROC curves increased from 0.926 in the baseline model to 0.928 after adding fatty acids. The net reclassification improvement for metabolic syndrome risk was substantial for saturated fat (2.1%, <it>P </it>= 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Plasma fatty acid components improved the prediction of the metabolic syndrome risk in Taiwan.</p

Single-Cell Chemical Lysis on Microfluidic Chips with Arrays of Microwells

Many conventional biochemical assays are performed using populations of cells to determine their quantitative biomolecular profiles. However, population averages do not reflect actual physiological processes in individual cells, which occur either on short time scales or nonsynchronously. Therefore, accurate analysis at the single-cell level has become a highly attractive tool for investigating cellular content. Microfluidic chips with arrays of microwells were developed for single-cell chemical lysis in the present study. The cellular occupancy in 30-μm-diameter microwells (91.45%) was higher than that in 20-μm-diameter microwells (83.19%) at an injection flow rate of 2.8 μL/min. However, most of the occupied 20-μm-diameter microwells contained individual cells. The results of chemical lysis experiments at the single-cell level indicate that cell membranes were gradually lysed as the lysis buffer was injected; they were fully lysed after 12 s. Single-cell chemical lysis was demonstrated in the proposed microfluidic chip, which is suitable for high-throughput cell lysis

Prevalence of PIK3CA mutations in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer: a retrospective next-generation sequencing database analysis

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer type that affects women. In hormone receptor–positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2−negative (HER2–) advanced breast cancer (ABC), phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) is the most frequently mutated gene associated with poor prognosis. This study evaluated the frequency of PIK3CA mutations in the Taiwanese breast cancer population.MethodologyThis is a retrospective study; patient data were collected for 2 years from a next-generation sequencing database linked to electronic health records (EHRs). The primary endpoint was the regional prevalence of PIK3CA mutation. The secondary endpoints were to decipher the mutation types across breast cancer subtype, menopausal status, and time to treatment failure after everolimus (an mTOR inhibitor) or cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor treatment.ResultsPIK3CA mutations were identified in 278 of 728 patients (38%). PIK3CA mutations were reported in 43% of patients with HR−/HER2+ subtype and 42% of patients with HR+/HER2– postmenopausal status. A lower prevalence of PIK3CA mutations was observed in triple-negative (27%) and HR+/HER2– premenopausal patients (29%). The most common mutation was at exon 20 (H1047R mutation, 41.6%), followed by exon 9 (E545K mutation, 18.9% and E542K mutation, 10.3%). Among patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors, the median time to treatment failure was 12 months (95% CI: 7-21 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 16 months (95% CI: 11-23 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort, whereas patients receiving an mTOR inhibitor reported a median time to treatment failure of 20.5 months (95% CI: 8-33 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 6 months (95% CI: 2-9 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort.ConclusionA high frequency of PIK3CA mutations was detected in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer, which was consistent with previous studies. Early detection of PIK3CA mutations might influence therapeutic decisions, leading to better treatment outcomes

Planck Galactic Cold Clumps at High Galactic Latitude-a Study with CO Lines

Gas at high Galactic latitude is a relatively little noticed component of the interstellar medium. In an effort to address this, 41 Planck Galactic Cold Clumps at high Galactic latitude (HGal; divide b divide > 25 degrees) were observed in (CO)-C-12, (CO)-C-13, and (CO)-O-18 J = 1-0 lines, using the Purple Mountain Observatory 13.7 m telescope. (CO)-C-12 (1-0) and (CO)-C-13 (1-0) emission was detected in all clumps, while (CO)-O-18 (1-0) emission was only seen in 16 clumps. The highest and average latitudes are 71.degrees 4 and 37.degrees 8, respectively. Fifty-one velocity components were obtained, and then each was identified as a single clump. Thirty-three clumps were further mapped at 1 ' resolution, and 54 dense cores were extracted. Among dense cores, the average excitation temperature T (ex) of (CO)-C-12 is 10.3 K. The average line widths of thermal and nonthermal velocity dispersions are 0.19 and 0.46 km s(-1), respectively, suggesting that these cores are dominated by turbulence. Distances of the HGal clumps given by Gaia dust reddening are about 120-360 pc. The ratio of X (13)/X (18) is significantly higher than that in the solar neighborhood, implying that HGal gas has a different star formation history compared to the gas in the Galactic disk. HGal cores with sizes from 0.01 to 0.1 pc show no notable Larson's relation, and the turbulence remains supersonic down to a scale of slightly below 0.1 pc. None of the HGal cores that bear masses from 0.01 to 1 M (circle dot) are gravitationally bound, and all appear to be confined by outer pressure.Peer reviewe

Production of Inactivated Influenza H5N1 Vaccines from MDCK Cells in Serum-Free Medium

BACKGROUND: Highly pathogenic influenza viruses pose a constant threat which could lead to a global pandemic. Vaccination remains the principal measure to reduce morbidity and mortality from such pandemics. The availability and surging demand for pandemic vaccines needs to be addressed in the preparedness plans. This study presents an improved high-yield manufacturing process for the inactivated influenza H5N1 vaccines using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells grown in a serum-free (SF) medium microcarrier cell culture system. PRINCIPAL FINDING: The current study has evaluated the performance of cell adaptation switched from serum-containing (SC) medium to several commercial SF media. The selected SF medium was further evaluated in various bioreactor culture systems for process scale-up evaluation. No significant difference was found in the cell growth in different sizes of bioreactors studied. In the 7.5 L bioreactor runs, the cell concentration reached to 2.3 × 10(6) cells/mL after 5 days. The maximum virus titers of 1024 Hemagglutinin (HA) units/50 µL and 7.1 ± 0.3 × 10(8) pfu/mL were obtained after 3 days infection. The concentration of HA antigen as determined by SRID was found to be 14.1 µg/mL which was higher than those obtained from the SC medium. A mouse immunogenicity study showed that the formalin-inactivated purified SF vaccine candidate formulated with alum adjuvant could induce protective level of virus neutralization titers similar to those obtained from the SC medium. In addition, the H5N1 viruses produced from either SC or SF media showed the same antigenic reactivity with the NIBRG14 standard antisera. CONCLUSIONS: The advantages of this SF cell-based manufacturing process could reduce the animal serum contamination, the cost and lot-to-lot variation of SC medium production. This study provides useful information to manufacturers that are planning to use SF medium for cell-based influenza vaccine production

The genome sequence of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris

Orchidaceae, renowned for its spectacular flowers and other reproductive and ecological adaptations, is one of the most diverse plant families. Here we present the genome sequence of the tropical epiphytic orchid Phalaenopsis equestris, a frequently used parent species for orchid breeding. P. equestris is the first plant with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) for which the genome has been sequenced. Our assembled genome contains 29,431 predicted protein-coding genes. We find that contigs likely to be underassembled, owing to heterozygosity, are enriched for genes that might be involved in self-incompatibility pathways. We find evidence for an orchid-specific paleopolyploidy event that preceded the radiation of most orchid clades, and our results suggest that gene duplication might have contributed to the evolution of CAM photosynthesis in P. equestris. Finally, we find expanded and diversified families of MADS-box C/D-class, B-class AP3 and AGL6-class genes, which might contribute to the highly specialized morphology of orchid flowers. (Résumé d'auteur

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities