244 research outputs found
Personalized Acoustic Modeling by Weakly Supervised Multi-Task Deep Learning using Acoustic Tokens Discovered from Unlabeled Data
It is well known that recognizers personalized to each user are much more
effective than user-independent recognizers. With the popularity of smartphones
today, although it is not difficult to collect a large set of audio data for
each user, it is difficult to transcribe it. However, it is now possible to
automatically discover acoustic tokens from unlabeled personal data in an
unsupervised way. We therefore propose a multi-task deep learning framework
called a phoneme-token deep neural network (PTDNN), jointly trained from
unsupervised acoustic tokens discovered from unlabeled data and very limited
transcribed data for personalized acoustic modeling. We term this scenario
"weakly supervised". The underlying intuition is that the high degree of
similarity between the HMM states of acoustic token models and phoneme models
may help them learn from each other in this multi-task learning framework.
Initial experiments performed over a personalized audio data set recorded from
Facebook posts demonstrated that very good improvements can be achieved in both
frame accuracy and word accuracy over popularly-considered baselines such as
fDLR, speaker code and lightly supervised adaptation. This approach complements
existing speaker adaptation approaches and can be used jointly with such
techniques to yield improved results.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, published in IEEE ICASSP 201
Factors Affecting Psychological and Health-Related Quality-of-Life Status in Children and Adolescents with Congenital Heart Diseases
Congenital heart disease (CHD), a severe cardiac defect in children, has unclear influences on young patients. We aimed to find the impacts of differently structure heart defects and various treatments on psychology and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in CHD children and adolescents. CHD patients aged between 6 and 18 years old visited our hospital from 1 May 2018 to 31 September 2018, and their principal caregivers were asked to participate. We used two validated questionnaires, Children Depression Inventory-TW (CDI-TW) and Child Health Questionnaire—Parent Form 50 (CHQ-PF 50), to evaluate CHD patients’ psychological and HRQoL conditions. Participants were grouped based on their cardiac defects and previous treatments. We analyzed the results via summary independent-samples t-test with post hoc Bonferroni correction and multivariant analysis. Two hundred and seventy-seven children and their principal caregivers were involved. There was no apparent depressive condition in any group. Single cardiac defect patients exhibited similar HRQoL to controls; simultaneously, those with cyanotic heart disease (CyHD), most multiple/complex CHDs children and adolescents, and those who received invasive treatments had poorer HRQoL. CyHD impacted the most on patients’ psychological and HRQoL status. Patients with sole cardiac defect could live near-normal lifes; on the other hand, CyHD had the worst effects on patients’ psychology and HRQoL
Personal, non-commercial use only
P e r s o n a l n o n -c o m m e r c i a l u s e o n l y . T h e J o u r n a l o f R h e u m a t o l o g y . C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 0 4 . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d The 's Hospital, 5 Fu-Hsin Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected] Submitted September 8, 2003; revision accepted April 19, 2004. Chemotactic cytokines (chemokines) are small signaling proteins that are released by a variety of cells and are involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory processes, through the process of attracting and stimulating specific subsets of leukocytes, adhesion of cells, and penetration across the endothelial cells. Chemokines, such as regulated upon activation, normally T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), are responsible for the recruitment of monocytes and T lymphocytes in both the acute and chronic phases of inflammation 1 . The RANTES and MCP-1 genes are located on human chromosome 17 2,3 . RANTES is associated with Th1 cytokine-related immune response in vitro and MCP-1 contributes more to the Th2 than Th1 cytokine-mediated inflammation in vivo Results. The frequency and distribution of genotypes of the -28(C/G) RANTES gene polymorphism were significantly different between the 2 groups (p < 0.001), and the RANTES -28G allele was significantly more frequent in patients with SLE than in healthy controls (23.9% vs 11%; p = 0.006, OR 2.37, 95% CI
Cardiac CT perfusion imaging of pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) highlights potential confounds in coronary CTA
Features of pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) assessed from coronary
computed tomography angiography (CCTA) are associated with inflammation and
cardiovascular risk. As PCAT is vascularly connected with coronary vasculature,
the presence of iodine is a potential confounding factor on PCAT HU and
textures that has not been adequately investigated. Use dynamic cardiac CT
perfusion (CCTP) to inform contrast determinants of PCAT assessment. From CCTP,
we analyzed HU dynamics of territory-specific PCAT, myocardium, and other
adipose depots in patients with coronary artery disease. HU, blood flow, and
radiomics were assessed over time. Changes from peak aorta time, Pa, chosen to
model the time of CCTA, were obtained. HU in PCAT increased more than in other
adipose depots. The estimated blood flow in PCAT was ~23% of that in the
contiguous myocardium. Comparing PCAT distal and proximal to a significant
stenosis, we found less enhancement and longer time-to-peak distally.
Two-second offsets [before, after] Pa resulted in [ 4-HU, 3-HU] differences in
PCAT. Due to changes in HU, the apparent PCAT volume reduced ~15% from the
first scan (P1) to Pa using a conventional fat window. Comparing radiomic
features over time, 78% of features changed >10% relative to P1. CCTP
elucidates blood flow in PCAT and enables analysis of PCAT features over time.
PCAT assessments (HU, apparent volume, and radiomics) are sensitive to
acquisition timing and the presence of obstructive stenosis, which may confound
the interpretation of PCAT in CCTA images. Data normalization may be in order.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
Pharmacogenetic variants and risk of remdesivir-associated liver enzyme elevations in Million Veteran Program participants hospitalized with COVID-19
Remdesivir is the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted a retrospective pharmacogenetic study to examine remdesivir-associated liver enzyme elevation among Million Veteran Program participants hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Pharmacogene phenotypes were assigned using Stargazer. Linear regression was performed on peak log-transformed enzyme values, stratified by population, adjusted for age, sex, baseline liver enzymes, comorbidities, and 10 population-specific principal components. Patients on remdesivir had higher peak alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values following treatment initiation compared with patients not receiving remdesivir. Remdesivir administration was associated with a 33% and 24% higher peak ALT in non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) participants (p < 0.001), respectively. In a multivariable model, NHW CYP2C19 intermediate/poor metabolizers had a 9% increased peak ALT compared with NHW normal/rapid/ultrarapid metabolizers (p = 0.015); this association was not observed in NHB participants. In summary, remdesivir-associated ALT elevations appear to be multifactorial, and further studies are needed
Advanced age affects the outcome-predictive power of RIFLE classification in geriatric patients with acute kidney injury
The RIFLE (risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage) classification is widely used to gauge the severity of acute kidney injury, but its efficacy has not been formally tested in geriatric patients. To correct this we conducted a prospective observational study in a multicenter cohort of 3931 elderly patients (65 years of age or older) who developed acute kidney injury in accordance with the RIFLE creatinine criteria after major surgery. We studied the predictive power of the RIFLE classification for in-hospital mortality and investigated the potential interaction between age and RIFLE classification. In general, the survivors were significantly younger than the nonsurvivors and more likely to have hypertension. In patients 76 years of age and younger, RIFLE-R, -I, or -F classifications were significantly associated with increased hospital mortality in a stepwise manner. There was no significant difference, however, in hospital mortality in those over 76 years of age between patients with RIFLE-R and RIFLE-I, although RIFLE-F patients had significantly higher mortality than both groups. Thus, the less severe categorizations of acute kidney injury per RIFLE classification may not truly reflect the adverse impact on elderly patients
Craniometrics reveal "two layers" of prehistoric human dispersal in eastern Eurasia
This cranio-morphometric study emphasizes a "two-layer model" for eastern Eurasian anatomically modern human (AMH) populations, based on large datasets of 89 population samples including findings directly from ancient archaeological contexts. Results suggest that an initial "first layer" of AMH had related closely to ancestral Andaman, Australian, Papuan, and Jomon groups who likely entered this region via the Southeast Asian landmass, prior to 65–50 kya. A later "second layer" shared strong cranial affinities with Siberians, implying a Northeast Asian source, evidenced by 9 kya in central China and then followed by expansions of descendant groups into Southeast Asia after 4 kya. These two populations shared limited initial exchange, and the second layer grew at a faster rate and in greater numbers, linked with contexts of farming that may have supported increased population densities. Clear dichotomization between the two layers implies a temporally deep divergence of distinct migration routes for AMH through both southern and northern Eurasia
The Sirtuin Family Members SIRT1, SIRT3 and SIRT6: Their Role In Vascular Biology and Atherogenesis
The sirtuins, silent mating-type information regulation 2 (SIRTs), are a family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent histone deacetylases with important roles in regulating energy metabolism and senescence. Activation of SIRTs appears to have beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and antioxidants, prompting investigation of the roles of these proteins in atherogenesis. Although clinical data are currently limited, the availability and safety of SIRT activators such as metformin and resveratrol provide an excellent opportunity to conduct research to better understand the role of SIRTs in human atherosclerosis. Encouraging observations from preclinical studies necessitate rigorous large, prospective, randomized clinical trials to determine the roles of SIRT activators on the progression of atherosclerosis and ultimately on cardiac outcomes, such as myocardial infarction and mortality
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