Supervised Collective Classification for Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing utilizes the wisdom of crowds for collective classification via information (e.g., labels of an item) provided by labelers. Current crowdsourcing algorithms are mainly unsupervised methods that are unaware of the quality of crowdsourced data. In this paper, we propose a supervised collective classification algorithm that aims to identify reliable labelers from the training data (e.g., items with known labels). The reliability (i.e., weighting factor) of each labeler is determined via a saddle point algorithm. The results on several crowdsourced data show that supervised methods can achieve better classification accuracy than unsupervised methods, and our proposed method outperforms other algorithms.Comment: to appear in IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) Workshop on Networking and Collaboration Issues for the Internet of Everythin

Comparative Study of Immune Reaction Against Bacterial Infection From Transcriptome Analysis

Transcriptome analysis is a powerful tool that enables a deep understanding of complicated physiological pathways, including immune responses. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq)-based transcriptome analysis and various bioinformatics tools have also been used to study non-model animals, including aquaculture species for which reference genomes are not available. Rapid developments in these techniques have not only accelerated investigations into the process of pathogenic infection and defense strategies in fish, but also used to identify immunity-related genes in fish. These findings will contribute to fish immunotherapy for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections through the design of more specific and effective immune stimulants, adjuvants, and vaccines. Until now, there has been little information regarding the universality and diversity of immune reactions against pathogenic infection in fish. Therefore, one of the aims of this paper is to introduce the RNA-Seq technique for examination of immune responses in pathogen-infected fish. This review also aims to highlight comparative studies of immune responses against bacteria, based on our previous findings in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) against Nocardia seriolae, gray mullet (Mugil cephalus) against Lactococcus garvieae, orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) against Vibrio harveyi, and koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) against Aeromonas sobria, using RNA-seq techniques. We demonstrated that only 39 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were present in all species. However, the number of specific DEGs in each species was relatively higher than that of common DEGs; 493 DEGs in largemouth bass against N. seriolae, 819 DEGs in mullets against L. garvieae, 909 in groupers against V. harveyi, and 1471 in carps against A. sobria. The DEGs in different fish species were also representative of specific immune-related pathways. The results of this study will enhance our understanding of the immune responses of fish, and will aid in the development of effective vaccines, therapies, and disease-resistant strains

Development of an Intelligent Equipment Lock Management System with RFID Technology

The equipment lock has been an important tool for the power company to protect the electricity metering equipment. however, the conventional equipment lock has two potential problems: vandalism and counterfeiting. To fulfill the control and track the potential illegal behavior, the human labor and paper are required to proceed with related operations, resulting in the consumption of a large amount of human resources and maintenance costs. This study focused on the design of RFID technology applied to the traditional equipment lock, which, through the mobile and electronic technology, strengthens the management/operating convenience of the lock and provides the solutions for anti-counterfeiting and spoilage detection so that the national energy can be properly protected and fairly distributed

Autophagy regulation in heme-induced neutrophil activation is associated with microRNA expression on transfusion-related acute lung injury

AbstractTransfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the leading cause of death after transfusion therapy. The pathogenesis of TRALI is associated with neutrophil activation in the lungs, causing endothelial damage and capillary leakage, and thus neutrophil extravasation. Heme-related molecules derived from the hemolysis of red blood cell components have been recognized as a stimulator, inducing neutrophil activation at TRALI. To investigate post-transcriptional changes of the neutrophil at TRALI, we performed heme-related molecules induced reactive oxygen species production in the neutrophil as a model. Neutrophils were isolated from heparinized peripheral blood and stimulated with heme-related molecules. After stimulation, reactive oxygen species production, degranulation, phagocytosis activity, and miRNA expression profile of neutrophil were analyzed by luminol assay, flow cytometry, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression of miRNA targeting NADPH oxidase and autophagy in the neutrophil activation of TRALI was explored. The expression profile of miRNAs will be a useful predictor of disease severity and for the grading of patients for transfusion

Clonal dissemination of the multi-drug resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Braenderup, but not the serovar Bareilly, of prevalent serogroup C1 Salmonella from Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nontyphoidal <it>Salmonella </it>is the main cause of human salmonellosis. In order to study the prevalent serogroups and serovars of clinical isolates in Taiwan, 8931 <it>Salmonellae </it>isolates were collected from 19 medical centers and district hospitals throughout the country from 2004 to 2007. The pulsed-field eletrophoresis types (PFGE) and antibiotic resistance profiles of <it>Salmonella enterica </it>serovars Bareilly (<it>S</it>. Bareilly) and Braenderup (<it>S</it>. Braenderup) were compared, and multi-drug resistance (MDR) plasmids were characterized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 95% of human salmonellosis in Taiwan was caused by five <it>Salmonella </it>serogroups: B, C1, C2-C3, D1, and E1. <it>S</it>. Typhymurium, <it>S</it>. Enteritidis, <it>S</it>. Stanley and <it>S</it>. Newport were the four most prevalent serovars, accounting for about 64% of isolates. While only one or two major serovars from four of the most prevalent serogroups were represented, four predominant serovars were found in serogroup C1 <it>Salmonellae</it>. The prevalence was decreasing for <it>S</it>. Choleraeuis and <it>S</it>. Braenderup, and S. Virchow and increasing for <it>S</it>. Bareilly. <it>S</it>. Braenderup mainly caused gastroenteritis in children; in contrast, <it>S</it>. Bareiley infected children and elderly people. Both serovars differed by <it>Xba</it>I-PFGE patterns. Almost all <it>S</it>. Bareilly isolates were susceptible to antibiotics of interest, while all lacked plasmids and belonged to one clone. Two distinct major clones in <it>S</it>. Braenderup were cluster A, mainly including MDR isolates with large MDR plasmid from North Taiwan, and cluster B, mainly containing susceptible isolates without R plasmid from South Taiwan. In cluster A, there were two types of conjugative R plasmids with sizes ranging from 75 to 130 kb. Type 1 plasmids consisted of replicons F1A/F1B, <it>bla</it>_TEM, IS<it>26</it>, and a class 1 integron with the genes <it>dfrA12</it>-<it>orfF</it>-<it>aadA2-qacE</it>Δ1-<it>sulI</it>. Type 2 plasmids belonged to incompatibility group Inc<it>I</it>, contained <it>tnpA</it>-<it>bla</it>_CMY-2-<it>blc</it>-<it>sugE </it>genetic structures and lacked both IS<it>26 </it>and class 1 integrons. Although type 2 plasmids showed higher conjugation capability, type 1 plasmids were the predominant plasmid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Serogroups B, C1, C2-C3, D1, and E1 of <it>Salmonella </it>caused over 95% of human salmonellosis. Two prevalent serovars within serogroup C1, <it>S</it>. Bareilly and cluster B of S. Braenderup, were clonal and drug-susceptible. However, cluster A of <it>S</it>. Braenderup was MDR and probably derived from susceptible isolates by acquiring one of two distinct conjugative R plasmids.</p

以群集分析加強 van Genuchen 模式參數推估之研究

The purpose of this study is improving the ability of Continuous PTFs used to predict the parameters of van Genuchten model. This study focused on medium-texture soils. For solving the fuzzy area on a triangular texture figure, K-Means cluster analysis was used to classify samples according to particle size distribution rather than texture. Multiple leaner regression was used to develop models which included all samples and classified samples. The result showed that the classified models could improve the prediction in parameter α, however, they could do so in parameter n. Observation of each model revealed that the parameter n was affected by clay content. This study further compared continuous PTFs which were developed according to region, and the result showed that the models which were developed based on particle size distribution had better prediction. We also proved that classifying samples is necessary before developing a model.本研究旨在提升以連續土壤轉換函數 (Continuous PTFs) 預測van Genuchten 模式(vG-Model) 參數之能力。本研究針對中質地土壤進行分析，為解決三角質地圖界線上質地界定之模糊地帶，運用K-Means 群集分析法依據粒徑分布範圍做分類，取代依質地做分組。利用複線性迴歸分析發展分組前後之模式比較，結果顯示於參數α之預測，分組模式確實能提升整體預測力，而參數n 之預測，分組模式則未能精進預測能力；另發現黏粒含量 (C) 對於n 值具有 一定影響性，整體預測力與n 值本身具有不確定性有關。本研究進一步與國內以區域性發展之Continuous PTFs 比較，結果仍以粒徑分布範圍分組之模式預測力較佳，更印證模式發展前土樣分類之必要性

Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Protist Infections in Hospital Inpatients in Southwestern China

Cryptosporidium spp., Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia duodenalis, and Blastocystis sp. infections have been frequently reported as etiological agents for gastroenteritis, but also as common gut inhabitants in apparently healthy individuals. Between July 2016 and March 2017, stool samples (n = 507) were collected from randomly selected individuals (male/female ratio: 1.1, age range: 38-63 years) from two sentinel hospitals in Tengchong City Yunnan Province, China. Molecular (PCR and Sanger sequencing) methods were used to detect and genotype the investigated protist species. Carriage/infection rates were: Blastocystis sp. 9.5% (95% CI: 7.1-12.4%), G. duodenalis 2.2% (95% CI: 1.1-3.8%); and E. histolytica 2.0% (95% CI: 0.9-3.6%). Cryptosporidium spp. was not detected at all. Overall, 12.4% (95% CI: 9.7-15.6) of the participants harbored at least one enteric protist species. The most common coinfection was E. histolytica and Blastocystis sp. (1.0%; 95% CI: 0.3-2.2). Sequence analyses revealed that 90.9% (10/11) of the genotyped G. duodenalis isolates corresponded to the sub-assemblage AI. The remaining sequence (9.1%, 1/11) was identified as sub-assemblage BIV. Five different Blastocystis subtypes, including ST3 (43.7%, 21/48), ST1 (27.1%, 13/48), ST7 (18.8%, 9/48), ST4 (8.3%, 4/48), and ST2 (2.1%, 1/48) were identified. Statistical analyses confirmed that (i) the co-occurrence of protist infections was purely random, (ii) no associations were observed among the four protist species found, and (iii) neither their presence, individually or jointly, nor the patient's age was predictors for developing clinical symptoms associated with these infections. Overall, these protist mono- or coinfections are asymptomatic and do not follow any pattern.This research was supported by the fund of the 13th Five-Year National Science and Technology Major Project for Infectious Diseases (No. 2017ZX10305501-002, No. 2018ZX10725-509), the fund of Chinese traditional medicine for treating the novel Coronavirus pneumonia patients in convalescence (No. JJ202002), the Emergency Project of Shanghai for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in traditional Chinese medicine (Grant No. 2020NCP001), the fund of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2020T130022ZX), the fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81473022). In addition, E.S. was a recipient of a Ramon y Cajal agreement (RYC-2016-21120) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).S