Challenges in Representation Learning: A report on three machine learning contests

The ICML 2013 Workshop on Challenges in Representation Learning focused on three challenges: the black box learning challenge, the facial expression recognition challenge, and the multimodal learning challenge. We describe the datasets created for these challenges and summarize the results of the competitions. We provide suggestions for organizers of future challenges and some comments on what kind of knowledge can be gained from machine learning competitions.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Cardioprotection of Electroacupuncture for Enhanced Recovery after Surgery on Patients Undergoing Heart Valve Replacement with Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Randomized Control Clinical Trial

We attempted to investigate cardioprotection of electroacupuncture (EA) for enhanced recovery after surgery on patients undergoing heart valve replacement with cardiopulmonary bypass. Forty-four patients with acquired heart valve replacement were randomly allocated to the EA group or the control group. Patients in the EA group received EA stimulus at bilateral Neiguan (PC6), Ximen (PC4), Shenting (GV24), and Baihui (GV20) acupoints twenty minutes before anesthesia induction to the end of surgery. The primary end point was cardioprotection effect of electroacupuncture postoperatively and the secondary endpoints were quality of recovery and cognitive functioning postoperatively. The present study demonstrated that electroacupuncture reduced the occurrence of complications and played a role of cardioprotective effect on patients after heart valve replacement surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, and it benefits patients more comfortable and contributes to recovery after surgery. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-IOC-16009123

Repeated isoflurane exposures of neonatal rats contribute to cognitive dysfunction in juvenile animals: the role of miR-497 in isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity

Introduction. Isoflurane anesthesia at the period of brain development can lead to neurotoxicity and long-term cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-497 on isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity. Material and methods. Neonatal rats (P7) were subject to isoflurane for 2 h at P7, P9, and P11. MiR-497 and neuron apoptosis were evaluated in hippocampal tissue by qRT-PCR and western blot. Fear conditioning test and Morris water maze were performed to determine cognitive function. The cell viability of isolated hippocampal neuronal cells exposed to isoflurane was measured using MTT test. The regulation of phospholipase D1 (PLD1) by miR-497 in isolated hippocampal neuronal cells was evaluated by luciferase reporter assays and western blot. Immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining were employed to examine the PLD1 expression and neuronal cell apoptosis in hippocampus of neonatal rats, respectively. Results. Repeated isoflurane anesthesia led to neurons’ apoptosis and long-term cognitive impairment. Isoflurane exposure led to apoptosis and viability reduction in hippocampal neuronal cells. MiR-497 was observed to be upregulated after isoflurane exposure both in vivo and in vitro. Knockdown of miR-497 attenuated isoflurane-induced neuronal cells apoptosis and viability reduction. Furthermore, PLD1 was predicted and then validated as a novel target of miR-497. miR-497 could negatively regulate PLD1 by binding to its 3’-untranslated region. Downregulation of PLD1 was also observed after isoflurane exposure in neonatal rat hippocampus and hippocampal primary neuronal cell cultures. Conclusions. Induction of miR-497 was involved in isoflurane anesthesia-induced cognitive impairment and neuronal cell apoptosis by targeting PLD1. miR-497 may be a novel potential mechanism in isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity so that our findings provide new insight into a better and understanding of the clinical application of isoflurane

Chromosome analysis of foetal tissue from 1903 spontaneous abortion patients in 5 regions of China: a retrospective multicentre study

Abstract Background Abnormal foetal tissue chromosome karyotypes are one of the important pathogenic factors for spontaneous abortion (SA). To investigate the age and abnormal foetal karyotypes of 1903 couples who experienced SA. Methods A retrospective multicentre study collected age and foetal tissue karyotypes CNV-seq data of 1903 SA couples from 6 hospitals in 5 regions from January 2017 to March 2022. The distribution and correlation of abnormal foetal tissue karyotypes were evaluated by using regions and age. Results In our study, 1140 couples (60.5% of the total) had abnormal foetal tissue chromosome karyotypes in all regions. We found that there were differences in the number of abnormal foetal tissue chromosome karyotypes, of which the incidence of trisomy was higher. At the same time, the populations situated in the eastern region had a more triploid (15.5%) distribution, trisomy (58.1%) in the southern region, mosaicism (14.8%) and microduplication (31.7%) in the southwestern region, microdeletion (16.7%) in the northern region. There are variances across areas, and it is more common in the north. The incidence risk of prenatal chromosomal abnormalities varied according to age group. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that the karyotypes of patients with abnormal foetal tissue chromosome abortion in different regions were different. Meanwhile, patients ≥ 35 years old had a higher risk of abnormal foetal tissue chromosome abortion

Additional file 1 of Chromosome analysis of foetal tissue from 1903 spontaneous abortion patients in 5 regions of China: a retrospective multicentre study

Additional file 1: Supplementary Table 1. The number of percentage of distribution for the 23 pairs chromosomes in abnormal fetal karyotypes. Supplementary Table 2. The distribution for the 23 pairs chromosomes in trisomy. Supplementary Table 3. The distribution for the 23 pairs chromosomes in trisomy mosaicism. Supplementary Table 4. The distribution for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in trisomy microduplication. Supplementary Table 5. The distribution for the 23 pairs chromosomes in trisomy microdeletion