Silicon-organic hybrid thermo-optic switch based on a slot waveguide directional coupler

We propose and demonstrate a passively biased 2 by 2 thermo-optic switch with high power efficiency and fast response time. The device benefits from the highly concentrated optical field of a slot waveguide mode and the strong thermo-optic effect of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cladding. The NLC fills the nano-slot region and is aligned by the subwavelength grating inside. The measured power consumption and thermal time constant are 0.58 mW and 11.8 microsecond, respectively, corresponding to a figure-of-merit of 6.8. The proposed silicon-organic hybrid device provides a new solution to design thermo-optic actuators having lower power consumption and fast operation speed

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOYS’ SOCCER KICK SKILL ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study is aimed to analyze elementary school boys’ kicking skills on the perspective of motor skills. The data is collected by Vicon Motion Analysis System (250Hz). The parameters include the compare of the instant joint angles and the time proportion during the process of the kicking toward the different kick performance groups. The participants are 36 elementary boy soccer players (age: 11.7±0.3 yrs; height: 1.42±0.13 m; weight: 37.5±13.0 kg). The subjects were divided to two groups according to the instance kicking ball speed. The result indicated that the high ball speed group players have greater extremity joint angles than the low ball speed group. No difference was found on the time proportion during the process of the kicking. We suggest that the learning of kicking skill can start with the lower speed in the beginner stage

AGE-BSA down-regulates endothelial connexin43 gap junctions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Advanced glycation end products generated in the circulation of diabetic patients were reported to affect the function of vascular wall. We examined the effects of advanced glycation end products-bovine serum albumin (AGE-BSA) on endothelial connexin43 (Cx43) expression and gap-junction communication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) treated with a series concentrations of AGE-BSA (0-500 μg/ml) for 24 and 48 hours, Cx43 transcript and Cx43 protein were reduced in a dose dependent manner. In addition, gap-junction communication was reduced. To clarify the mechanisms underlying the down-regulation, MAPKs pathways in HAEC were examined. Both a MEK1 inhibitor (PD98059) and a p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) significantly reversed the reductions of Cx43 mRNA and protein induced by AGE-BSA. Consistently, phosphorylation of ERK and p38 MAPK was enhanced in response to exposure to AGE-BSA. However, all reversions of down-regulated Cx43 by inhibitors did not restore the functional gap-junction communication.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>AGE-BSA down-regulated Cx43 expression in HAEC, mainly through reduced Cx43 transcription, and the process involved activation of ERK and p38 MAPK.</p

Ceftriaxone attenuates hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Perinatal brain injury is the leading cause of subsequent neurological disability in both term and preterm baby. Glutamate excitotoxicity is one of the major factors involved in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Glutamate transporter GLT1, expressed mainly in mature astrocytes, is the major glutamate transporter in the brain. HIE induced excessive glutamate release which is not reuptaked by immature astrocytes may induce neuronal damage. Compounds, such as ceftriaxone, that enhance the expression of GLT1 may exert neuroprotective effect in HIE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used a neonatal rat model of HIE by unilateral ligation of carotid artery and subsequent exposure to 8% oxygen for 2 hrs on postnatal day 7 (P7) rats. Neonatal rats were administered three dosages of an antibiotic, ceftriaxone, 48 hrs prior to experimental HIE. Neurobehavioral tests of treated rats were assessed. Brain sections from P14 rats were examined with Nissl and immunohistochemical stain, and TUNEL assay. GLT1 protein expression was evaluated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pre-treatment with 200 mg/kg ceftriaxone significantly reduced the brain injury scores and apoptotic cells in the hippocampus, restored myelination in the external capsule of P14 rats, and improved the hypoxia-ischemia induced learning and memory deficit of P23-24 rats. GLT1 expression was observed in the cortical neurons of ceftriaxone treated rats.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that pre-treatment of infants at risk for HIE with ceftriaxone may reduce subsequent brain injury.</p

Image operator learning coupled with CNN classification and its application to staff line removal

Many image transformations can be modeled by image operators that are characterized by pixel-wise local functions defined on a finite support window. In image operator learning, these functions are estimated from training data using machine learning techniques. Input size is usually a critical issue when using learning algorithms, and it limits the size of practicable windows. We propose the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to overcome this limitation. The problem of removing staff-lines in music score images is chosen to evaluate the effects of window and convolutional mask sizes on the learned image operator performance. Results show that the CNN based solution outperforms previous ones obtained using conventional learning algorithms or heuristic algorithms, indicating the potential of CNNs as base classifiers in image operator learning. The implementations will be made available on the TRIOSlib project site.Comment: To appear in ICDAR 201

Non-Intrusive Adaptation: Input-Centric Parameter-efficient Fine-Tuning for Versatile Multimodal Modeling

Large language models (LLMs) and vision language models (VLMs) demonstrate excellent performance on a wide range of tasks by scaling up parameter counts from O(10^9) to O(10^{12}) levels and further beyond. These large scales make it impossible to adapt and deploy fully specialized models given a task of interest. Parameter-efficient fine-tuning (PEFT) emerges as a promising direction to tackle the adaptation and serving challenges for such large models. We categorize PEFT techniques into two types: intrusive and non-intrusive. Intrusive PEFT techniques directly change a model's internal architecture. Though more flexible, they introduce significant complexities for training and serving. Non-intrusive PEFT techniques leave the internal architecture unchanged and only adapt model-external parameters, such as embeddings for input. In this work, we describe AdaLink as a non-intrusive PEFT technique that achieves competitive performance compared to SoTA intrusive PEFT (LoRA) and full model fine-tuning (FT) on various tasks. We evaluate using both text-only and multimodal tasks, with experiments that account for both parameter-count scaling and training regime (with and without instruction tuning)

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