Unifying and Merging Well-trained Deep Neural Networks for Inference Stage

We propose a novel method to merge convolutional neural-nets for the inference stage. Given two well-trained networks that may have different architectures that handle different tasks, our method aligns the layers of the original networks and merges them into a unified model by sharing the representative codes of weights. The shared weights are further re-trained to fine-tune the performance of the merged model. The proposed method effectively produces a compact model that may run original tasks simultaneously on resource-limited devices. As it preserves the general architectures and leverages the co-used weights of well-trained networks, a substantial training overhead can be reduced to shorten the system development time. Experimental results demonstrate a satisfactory performance and validate the effectiveness of the method.Comment: To appear in the 27th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 23rd European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2018. (IJCAI-ECAI 2018

A 90-DAY SUBCHRONIC TOXICOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT of DEINOCOCCUS GRANDIS FERMENTED SOYMILK IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS

Objective: Despite the fact that there was no adverse effect observed in previous animal safety studies of Deinococcus grandis (D. grandis) fermented soymilk, including acute oral toxicity assay, 3 different test systems of genotoxicity test and teratogenicity study, whether D. grandis fermented soymilk is safe for long-term use remains unknown. Therefore, the study was conducted further to clarify the edible safety of D. grandis fermented soymilk for long term use.Methods: Eighty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into four groups, each consisting of ten male and ten female rats. Rats were orally administrated with reverse osmosis water (control) or 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 mg/kg b.w./d freeze dried D. grandis fermented soymilk powder for 90 consecutive days. Clinical observation of the rats was carried out daily. The body weight and feed intake of the rats were recorded weekly. At the end of the study, all rats were sacrificed and the blood and organs were collected for hematology, clinical biochemistry and histopathological examination.Results: During the study period, no abnormality occurred in clinical signs, body weight, and ophthalmological examination. There were no significant differences in urinalysis, hematology and clinical biochemistry parameters between the treatment and control group. Necropsy and histopathological examination showed no treatment-related change.Conclusion: According to the results, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of D. grandis fermented soymilk was greater than 3,000 mg/kg b.w./d in SD rats.Keywords: Deinococcus grandis (D. grandis), 90-day subchronic toxicity, NOAEL, Safety assessment, GKB-Aid 199

Neonatal-Onset Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction Syndrome with In Utero Urological Manifestation as Megacystis

SummaryObjectiveWe describe a case of neonatal-onset chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction syndrome (CIPS) with in utero urological manifestation as congenital megacystis. Pitfalls in the interpretation of prenatal sonographic appearance, genetic counseling, and differential diagnosis are discussed.Case ReportA 28-year-old Taiwanese woman, gravida 6, para 3, was referred for further sonographic examination because of a suspected fetal abdominal cyst. Targeted ultrasound at 28 weeks' gestation showed megacystis filling the abdominal cavity. The renal parenchyma appeared normal, and there was no evidence of reflux hydroureteronephrosis. At 38 weeks of gestation, the patient spontaneously delivered a female infant weighing 3,350 g with Apgar scores of 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. At the age of 12 days, the infant still required Foley catheterization because of voiding difficulty, so reduction cystoplasty was performed. The infant presented with recurrent episodes of intestinal obstruction thereafter and underwent ileostomy and resections of segmental intestine loops (3 times) in the ensuing years. At the age of 6 years, she is orally fed with partial parenteral infusion support, and the voiding act is satisfactory.ConclusionAttention should be given to the prenatal diagnosis of neonatal-onset CIPS when fetal congenital megacystis with unknown etiology is first detected. Whether there is any relationship between the megacystismicrocolon-intestinal-hypoperistalsis syndrome, CIPS, and pure congenital megacystis requires further study

4-Meth­oxy-2-nitro-4′-(trifluoro­meth­yl)biphen­yl

The title compound, C14H10F3NO3, was prepared by a palladium-catalysed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. The dihedral angle between the nitro group and its parent benzene ring is 66.85 (19)° while the dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 49.98 (9)°. The CF3 group is disordered over two sets of sites with occupancies of 0.457 (8) and 0.543 (8)

A model for predicting physical function upon discharge of hospitalized older adults in Taiwan—a machine learning approach based on both electronic health records and comprehensive geriatric assessment

BackgroundPredicting physical function upon discharge among hospitalized older adults is important. This study has aimed to develop a prediction model of physical function upon discharge through use of a machine learning algorithm using electronic health records (EHRs) and comprehensive geriatrics assessments (CGAs) among hospitalized older adults in Taiwan.MethodsData was retrieved from the clinical database of a tertiary medical center in central Taiwan. Older adults admitted to the acute geriatric unit during the period from January 2012 to December 2018 were included for analysis, while those with missing data were excluded. From data of the EHRs and CGAs, a total of 52 clinical features were input for model building. We used 3 different machine learning algorithms, XGBoost, random forest and logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 1,755 older adults were included in final analysis, with a mean age of 80.68 years. For linear models on physical function upon discharge, the accuracy of prediction was 87% for XGBoost, 85% for random forest, and 32% for logistic regression. For classification models on physical function upon discharge, the accuracy for random forest, logistic regression and XGBoost were 94, 92 and 92%, respectively. The auROC reached 98% for XGBoost and random forest, while logistic regression had an auROC of 97%. The top 3 features of importance were activity of daily living (ADL) at baseline, ADL during admission, and mini nutritional status (MNA) during admission.ConclusionThe results showed that physical function upon discharge among hospitalized older adults can be predicted accurately during admission through use of a machine learning model with data taken from EHRs and CGAs

3,4-Dimeth­oxy-4′-nitro-1,1′-biphen­yl

The title compound, C14H13NO4, was prepared through a palladium-catalysed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. The asymmetric unit comprises two mol­ecules related by pseudo-inversion symmetry. The dihedral angles between the benzene rings in the two mol­ecules are 44.30 (6) and 48.50 (6)° while those between the benzene ring and the nitro group are 6.54 (13) and 5.73 (10)°. The crystal packing is defined only by Van der Waals inter­actions

Functional variant of the carboxypeptidase M (CPM) gene may affect silica-related pneumoconiosis susceptibility by its expression: a multistage case-control study.

ObjectivesIn a genome-wide association study, we discovered chromosome 12q15 (defined as rs73329476) as a silica-related pneumoconiosis susceptibility region. However, the causal variants in this region have not yet been reported.MethodsWe systematically screened eight potentially functional single-neucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in the genes near rs73329476 (carboxypeptidase M (CPM) and cleavage and polyadenylation specific factor 6 (CPSF6)) in a case-control study including 177 cases with silicosis and 204 healthy controls, matched to cases with years of silica dust exposure. We evaluated the associations between these eight SNPs and the development of silicosis. Luciferase reporter gene assays were performed to test the effects of selected SNP on the activity of CPM in the promoter. In addition, a two-stage case-control study was performed to investigate the expression differences of the two genes in peripheral blood leucocytes from a total of 64 cases with silicosis and 64 healthy controls with similar years of silica dust exposure as the cases.ResultsWe found a strong association between the mutant rs12812500 G allele and the susceptibility of silicosis (OR=1.45, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.04, p=0.034), while luciferase reporter gene assays indicated that the mutant G allele of rs12812500 is strongly associated with increased luciferase levels compared with the wild-type C allele (p<0.01). Moreover, the mRNA (peripheral blood leucocytes) expression of the CPM gene was significantly higher in subjects with silicosis compared with healthy controls.ConclusionsThe rs12812500 variant of the CPM gene may increase silicosis susceptibility by affecting the expression of CPM, which may contribute to silicosis susceptibility with biological plausibility

3′,4′-Dimeth­oxy­biphenyl-4-carbonitrile

The title compound, C15H13NO2, was prepared through a palladium-catalysed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction. The dihedral angle between the biphenyl rings is 40.96 (6)°. The meth­oxy groups are twisted slightly out of the plane of the benzene ring [C—C—C—C torsion angles = −3.61 (18) and 12.6 (2)°]. The packing of the molecules is stabilized by van der Waals inter­actions