Exploiting Synthetic Data for Data Imbalance Problems: Baselines from a Data Perspective

We live in a vast ocean of data, and deep neural networks are no exception to this. However, this data exhibits an inherent phenomenon of imbalance. This imbalance poses a risk of deep neural networks producing biased predictions, leading to potentially severe ethical and social consequences. To address these challenges, we believe that the use of generative models is a promising approach for comprehending tasks, given the remarkable advancements demonstrated by recent diffusion models in generating high-quality images. In this work, we propose a simple yet effective baseline, SYNAuG, that utilizes synthetic data as a preliminary step before employing task-specific algorithms to address data imbalance problems. This straightforward approach yields impressive performance on datasets such as CIFAR100-LT, ImageNet100-LT, UTKFace, and Waterbird, surpassing the performance of existing task-specific methods. While we do not claim that our approach serves as a complete solution to the problem of data imbalance, we argue that supplementing the existing data with synthetic data proves to be an effective and crucial preliminary step in addressing data imbalance concerns

Interferometric detection of prostate specific antigen based on enzyme immunoassay

AbstractInterferometric detection of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based on enzyme immunoassay are investigated. Refractive index changes of substrate are measured for PSA detection. Michelson scheme of optical interferometer was used so as to be applicable to a disposable fluidic chip. When interferometer is used for the measurements of refractive index changes, the detection is over 8 times more sensitive than that of absorbance changes for the same amount of target protein

bending resistance and cyclic fatigue resistance of waveone gold reciproc blue and hyflex edm instruments

Abstract Background/purpose Several single-file systems manufactured using different heat treatment and operated by different kinematics have been released. This study compared the bending resistance and cyclic fatigue resistance of three NiTi files, and examined their phase-transformation behavior. Materials and methods WaveOne Gold Primary (WOG), Reciproc Blue R25 (RPB), and HyFlex EDM OneFile (HDM) were tested (N = 40/instrument). A vertical load was applied to a point 3 mm from the tip, and the stress was measured until a displacement of 3 mm. Tests were conducted at either room temperature (RT: 22 °C) or body temperature (BT: 37 °C) (n = 10). Cyclic fatigue resistance tests were performed in an artificial canal, which had a curvature angle of 40° and a 5-mm radius. Tests were conducted at either RT or BT (n = 10). Instruments were operated according to the manufacturers' instructions. Test results were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis and the Mann–Whitney tests. Additional three instruments of each brand were subjected to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results At RT the bending resistance of three files were not significantly different. However, at BT the bending resistance of RPB was highest, followed by WOG, and HDM (P  Conclusion HDM presented superior flexibility and cyclic fatigue resistance at BT

Alcohol induces cell proliferation via hypermethylation of ADHFE1 in colorectal cancer cells

BACKGROUND: The hypermethylation of Alcohol dehydrogenase iron containing 1 (ADHFE1) was recently reported to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) differentiation. However, the effect of alcohol on ADHFE1 hypermethylation in CRC is still unclear. METHODS: The methylation status and expression levels of ADHFE1 were investigated in primary tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of 73 patients with CRC, one normal colon cell line, and 4 CRC cell lines (HT-29, SW480, DLD-1, and LoVo) by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (QMSP) and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real time PCR), respectively. The effect of alcohol on the methylation status of ADHFE1 was analyzed in HT-29, SW480, DLD-1, and CCD18Co cells using QMSP, real-time PCR, immunoblot, and cell proliferation assay. RESULTS: ADHFE1 was hypermethylated in 69 of 73 CRC tissues (95%) compared to adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression of ADHFE1 was significantly reduced in CRC compared to adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.05) and its expression was decreased in the alcohol consumption group (p < 0.05). ADHFE1 was hypermethylated and its expression was decreased in 4 CRC cell lines compared with normal colon cell line. Alcohol induced hypermethylation of ADHFE1, decreased its expression, and stimulated cell proliferation of HT-29, SW480, and DLD-1cells. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the promoter hypermethylation of ADHFE1 is frequently present in CRC and alcohol induces methylation-mediated down expression of ADHFE1 and proliferation of CRC cells

Case report: Management of recurrent pupillary optic capture with sutureless surgical technique using 7–0 polypropylene flange

BackgroundTo report a novel surgical technique for recurrent pupillary optic capture after flanged intraocular lens (IOL) fixation.MethodsIn this retrospective case series, we detail our use of two parallel 7–0 polypropylene sutures passed between the iris plane and the optic of scleral-fixated IOL to address pupillary optic capture. Flanges were created using ophthalmic cautery to secure it to the sclera without suture.ResultsTwo eyes with pupillary optic capture underwent a sutureless surgical technique using 7–0 polypropylene flanges. No recurrences of pupillary optic capture were observed during the 1-year follow-up.ConclusionOur sutureless surgical technique using a 7–0 polypropylene flange was an effective, efficient, and less invasive approach for treating recurrent pupillary optic capture

Obstructive Fibrinous Tracheal Pseudomembrane After Tracheal Intubation: A Case Report

Obstructive fibrinous tracheal pseudomembrane is a rare, but potentially fatal complication associated with endotracheal intubation. It has been known that the formation of tracheal pseudomembrane is related with intracuff pressure during endotracheal intubation or infectious cause. But in the patient described in this case, pseudomembrane formation in the trachea was associated with subglottic epithelial trauma or caustic injuries to the trachea caused by aspirated gastric contents during intubation rather than tracheal ischemia due to high cuff pressure. We report a patient with obstructive fibrinous tracheal pseudomembrane after endotracheal intubation who presented with dyspnea and stridor and was treated successfully with mechanical removal using rigid bronchoscopy

Refined prefrontal working memory network as a neuromarker for Alzheimer’s disease

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an important step in preventing pathological brain damage. Working memory (WM)-related network modulation can be a pathological feature of AD, but is usually modulated by untargeted cognitive processes and individual variance, resulting in the concealment of this key information. Therefore, in this study, we comprehensively investigated a new neuromarker, named “refined network,” in a prefrontal cortex (PFC) that revealed the pathological features of AD. A refined network was acquired by removing unnecessary variance from the WM-related network. By using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device, we evaluated the reliability of the refined network, which was identified from the three groups classified by AD progression: healthy people (N=31), mild cognitive impairment (N=11), and patients with AD (N=18). As a result, we identified edges with significant correlations between cognitive functions and groups in the dorsolateral PFC. Moreover, the refined network achieved a significantly correlating metric with neuropsychological test scores, and a remarkable three-class classification accuracy (95.0%). These results implicate the refined PFC WM-related network as a powerful neuromarker for AD screening. © 2021 Optical Society of America1

B-cell Complement Dependent Cytotoxic Crossmatch Positivity is an Independent Risk Factor for Long-term Renal Allograft Survival

The clinical significance of positive B-cell complement-dependent cytotoxicity crossmatching (B-CDC) in renal transplant recipients remains unclear. We reviewed 20 recipients with isolated B-CDC positivity at the time of transplantation. We compared the clinical characteristics, acute rejection and long-term graft survival between positive and negative B-CDC patients (n = 602). The number of retransplant recipients and positivity for T- and B-flowcytometric crossmatch was greater in positive B-CDC patients than in negative B-CDC patients. The overall acute rejection rate of positive B-CDC patients was significantly higher (P < 0.001), and Banff grade II or III cellular rejection was more frequently observed in positive B-CDC patients (P = 0.037). Compared with negative B-CDC patients, acute cellular rejection as a cause of graft loss was more prevalent (P = 0.020) and rescue rejection therapy was more frequently needed in positive B-CDC patients (P = 0.007). The allograft survival rate of positive B-CDC patients was significantly lower than that of negative B-CDC patients (P < 0.001), and B-CDC positivity independently increased the risk of allograft failure 2.31-fold (95% CI 1.15-4.67; P = 0.019) according to multivariate analysis. In conclusion, isolated B-CDC positivity is an independent long-term prognostic factor for allograft survival