A Multiple Source based Transfer Learning Framework for Marketing Campaigns

© 2018 IEEE. The rapid growing number of marketing campaigns demands an efficient learning model to identify prospective customers to target. Transfer learning is widely considered as a major way to improve the learning performance by using the generated knowledge from previous learning tasks. Most recent studies focused on transferring knowledge from source domains to target domains which may result in knowledge missing. To avoid this, we proposed a multiple source based transfer learning framework to do it reversely. The data in target domains is transferred into source domains by normalizing them into the same distributions and then improving the learning task in target domains by its generated knowledge in source domains. The proposed method is general and can deal with supervised and unsupervised inductive and transductive learning simultaneously with a compatibility to work with different machine learning models. The experiments on real-world campaign data demonstrate the performance of the proposed method

Effect of 2-(3-carboxy-1-oxopropyl) amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose on human esophageal cancer cell line

Aim: To determine whether 2-(3-carboxy-1-oxopropy1) amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose (COPADG), a derivative of D-amino-glucose, inhibited the growth of human esophageal cancer cell line Eca-109. Methods: Effects of COPADG on Eca-109 cells cultured in RPMI 1640 medium were examined by a tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay (MTT assay). Results: COPADG inhibited the growth of Eca-109 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner; the maximum inhibition rate was 83.75%. Conclusion: COPADG can directly inhibit the proliferation of Eca-109 cells, which may serve as the experimental evidence for development of new drugs for esophageal cancer therapy. Copyright © 2004 by The WJG.published_or_final_versio

Evaluation of Antihypertensive Effect of Aqueous Methanol Extract of Caralluma tuberculata N.E.Br in Sprauge Dawley Rats

Purpose: To evaluate the phytochemical profile and antihypertensive effect of Caralluma tuberculata N.E.Br (AMECT).Methods: The antihypertensive effect of the aqueous methanol extract of (AMECT) was evaluated in both normotensive and hypertensive rats. In normotensive rats, various doses (100, 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight, p.o.) were administered at 0, 1, 3 and 6 hr intervals. Anti-hypertensive activity of the crude extract was investigated in three experimental hypertensive models, viz, egg-fed diet, glucose-induced and cadmium-induced hypertensive rats. Cardiovascular parameters, including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean blood pressure (MBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured by tail cuff method using non-invasive blood pressure apparatus (NIBP) attached. AMECT was also investigated for its phytochemical profile.Results: The results indicate that AMECT produced a dose-dependent, significant (p < 0.05) decrease in SBP, DBP, MBP, and HR (p < 0.01) of normotensive rats, when compared to control groups, at all test doses. The 500 mg/kg dose produced a highly significant effect (mm Hg, p < 0.001) in SBP (85.9 ± 7.2), DBP (71.86 ± 12.1), MBP (75.1 ± 11.7) and HR (238.08 ± 8.3 beats/min), in comparison to 100 and 300 mg/kg doses; therefore, 500 mg/kg was selected for antihypertensive test in egg-fed, glucose-induced and cadmium-treated hypertensive rats. Significant (p < 0.05) antihypertensive and negative chronotropic effects were observed in hypertensive models compared to their respective normal controls. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, cardiac glycosides and flavonoids.Conclusion: The findings indicate that Caralluma tuberculata possesses significant anti-hypentensive activity in rats.Keywords: Phytochemical profile, Antihypertensive, Cardiovascular, Caralluma tuberculata N.E.Br, Blood pressur

Transient trimethylaminuria related to menstruation

BACKGROUND: Trimethylaminuria, or fish odor syndrome, includes a transient or mild malodor caused by an excessive amount of malodorous trimethylamine as a result of body secretions. Herein, we describe data to support the proposal that menses can be an additional factor causing transient trimethylaminuria in self-reported subjects suffering from malodor and even in healthy women harboring functionally active flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3). METHODS: FMO3 metabolic capacity (conversion of trimethylamine to trimethylamine N-oxide) was defined as the urinary ratio of trimethylamine N-oxide to total trimethylamine. RESULTS: Self-reported Case (A) that was homozygous for inactive Arg500stop FMO3, showed decreased metabolic capacity of FMO3 (i.e., ~10% the unaffected metabolic capacity) during 120 days of observation. For Case (B) that was homozygous for common [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] FMO3 polymorphisms, metabolic capacity of FMO3 was almost ~90%, except for a few days surrounding menstruation showing < 40% metabolic capacity. In comparison, three healthy control subjects that harbored heterozygous polymorphisms for [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] FMO3 or homozygous for wild FMO3 showed normal (> 90%) metabolic capacity, however, on days around menstruation the FMO3 metabolic capacity was decreased to ~60–70%. CONCLUSION: Together, these results indicate that abnormal FMO3 capacity is caused by menstruation particularly in the presence, in homozygous form, of mild genetic variants such as [Glu158Lys; Glu308Gly] that cause a reduced FMO3 function

Noiseless nonreciprocity in a parametric active device

Nonreciprocal devices such as circulators and isolators belong to an important class of microwave components employed in applications like the measurement of mesoscopic circuits at cryogenic temperatures. The measurement protocols usually involve an amplification chain which relies on circulators to separate input and output channels and to suppress backaction from different stages on the sample under test. In these devices the usual reciprocal symmetry of circuits is broken by the phenomenon of Faraday rotation based on magnetic materials and fields. However, magnets are averse to on-chip integration, and magnetic fields are deleterious to delicate superconducting devices. Here we present a new proposal combining two stages of parametric modulation emulating the action of a circulator. It is devoid of magnetic components and suitable for on-chip integration. As the design is free of any dissipative elements and based on reversible operation, the device operates noiselessly, giving it an important advantage over other nonreciprocal active devices for quantum information processing applications.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures + 12 pages Supplementary Informatio

A random cell motility gradient downstream of FGF controls elongation of amniote embryos

Vertebrate embryos are characterized by an elongated antero-posterior (AP) body axis, which forms by progressive cell deposition from a posterior growth zone in the embryo. Here, we used tissue ablation in the chicken embryo to demonstrate that the caudal presomitic mesoderm (PSM) has a key role in axis elongation. Using time-lapse microscopy, we analysed the movements of fluorescently labelled cells in the PSM during embryo elongation, which revealed a clear posterior-to-anterior gradient of cell motility and directionality in the PSM. We tracked the movement of the PSM extracellular matrix in parallel with the labelled cells and subtracted the extracellular matrix movement from the global motion of cells. After subtraction, cell motility remained graded but lacked directionality, indicating that the posterior cell movements associated with axis elongation in the PSM are not intrinsic but reflect tissue deformation. The gradient of cell motion along the PSM parallels the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gradient1, which has been implicated in the control of cell motility in this tissue2. Both FGF signalling gain- and loss-of-function experiments lead to disruption of the motility gradient and a slowing down of axis elongation. Furthermore, embryos treated with cell movement inhibitors (blebbistatin or RhoK inhibitor), but not cell cycle inhibitors, show a slower axis elongation rate. We propose that the gradient of random cell motility downstream of FGF signalling in the PSM controls posterior elongation in the amniote embryo. Our data indicate that tissue elongation is an emergent property that arises from the collective regulation of graded, random cell motion rather than by the regulation of directionality of individual cellular movements

Gene network effects on brain microstructure and intellectual performance identified in 472 twins

A major challenge in neuroscience is finding which genes affect brain integrity, connectivity, and intellectual function. Discovering influential genes holds vast promise for neuroscience, but typical genome-wide searches assess approximately one million genetic variants one-by-one, leading to intractable false positive rates, even with vast samples of subjects. Even more intractable is the question of which genes interact and how they work together to affect brain connectivity. Here, we report a novel approach that discovers which genes contribute to brain wiring and fiber integrity at all pairs of points in a brain scan. We studied genetic correlations between thousands of points in human brain images from 472 twins and their nontwin siblings (mean age: 23.7 ± 2.1 SD years; 193 male/279 female). We combined clustering with genome-wide scanning to find brain systems with common genetic determination. We then filtered the image in a new way to boost power to find causal genes. Using network analysis, we found a network of genes that affect brain wiring in healthy young adults. Our new strategy makes it computationally more tractable to discover genes that affect brain integrity. The gene network showed small-world and scale-free topologies, suggesting efficiency in genetic interactions and resilience to network disruption. Genetic variants at hubs of the network influence intellectual performance by modulating associations between performance intelligence quotient and the integrity of major white matter tracts, such as the callosal genu and splenium, cingulum, optic radiations, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus

Preferential Paths of Air-water Two-phase Flow in Porous Structures with Special Consideration of Channel Thickness Effects.

Accurate understanding and predicting the flow paths of immiscible two-phase flow in rocky porous structures are of critical importance for the evaluation of oil or gas recovery and prediction of rock slides caused by gas-liquid flow. A 2D phase field model was established for compressible air-water two-phase flow in heterogenous porous structures. The dynamic characteristics of air-water two-phase interface and preferential paths in porous structures were simulated. The factors affecting the path selection of two-phase flow in porous structures were analyzed. Transparent physical models of complex porous structures were prepared using 3D printing technology. Tracer dye was used to visually observe the flow characteristics and path selection in air-water two-phase displacement experiments. The experimental observations agree with the numerical results used to validate the accuracy of phase field model. The effects of channel thickness on the air-water two-phase flow behavior and paths in porous structures were also analyzed. The results indicate that thick channels can induce secondary air flow paths due to the increase in flow resistance; consequently, the flow distribution is different from that in narrow channels. This study provides a new reference for quantitatively analyzing multi-phase flow and predicting the preferential paths of immiscible fluids in porous structures