Conditional BRUNO: A neural process for exchangeable labelled data

We present a neural process that models exchangeable sequences of high-dimensional complex observations conditionally on a set of labels or tags. Our model combines the expressiveness of deep neural networks with the data-efficiency of Gaussian processes, resulting in a probabilistic model for which the posterior distribution is easy to evaluate and sample from, and the computational complexity scales linearly with the number of observations. The advantages of the proposed architecture are demonstrated on a challenging few-shot view reconstruction task which requires generalisation from short sequences of viewpoints

DIAGNOSTICS OF POLYCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF FUTURE TEACHERS

Introduction. Nowadays, repeatedly increasing migration flows connected with labor international migration and cocurrent frequent ethnic conflicts directly touched upon the education as intolerance to representatives of other cultures is most considerably shown among youth. Taking into account those processes, the problem of teachers’ training capable to cope with their professional duties in the conditions of ethnic and religious variety is brought into focus. Polycultural competence of the professional standard of the teacher is counted as a basic one. At the same time, the components of polycultural education are insufficiently fully and accurately registered in obligatory results of development of the main programs of pedagogical specialties. The aim of the present publication is to discuss the need of subject content changes of teachers’ vocational training at Federal University taking into account the specifics of the multinational regional environment and justification of expediency of regular diagnostics development of polycultural competence among future teachers for dynamics tracking of the planned personal new growths and their timely correction. Methodology and research methods. The research is based on cross-cultural, theoretical and activity-based studies as the most relevant ones for the present stage of professional and pedagogical training. Theoretical and empirical methods of studying of formation of components of poly-cultural competence of students are used; interviewing and questioning of students, methods of quantitative-qualitative and content analysis are applied. Results and scientific novelty. The experience of complex diagnostics of level of polycultural competence of students of pedagogical specialties of the Siberian Federal University is presented (Krasnoyarsk). The analysis of monitoring results served as basis for creation of the model of components formation of this competence which is obligatory for a teacher carrying out the professional activity in the multinational and multireligious environment. The mechanisms of the organization of development of poly-cultural competence are described at the target, substantial, personal, strategic, organizational and technological levels.Practical significance. The research materials will be useful for educators to improve the quality of teacher training in terms of multicultural competence formation; school teachers working in multinational classes with migrant children whose training requires not only knowledge of the subject, but also the ways of socialization judging from national or religious specifics. Введение. Многократно увеличившиеся в последнее время миграционные потоки, связанные в том числе с трудовой международной миграцией, и сопутствующие им участившиеся конфликты на национальной почве непосредственно коснулись сферы образования, так как нетерпимость к представителям других культур наиболее радикально проявляется прежде всего среди молодежи. На фоне этих процессов актуализируется проблема подготовки педагогов, способных справляться со своими профессиональными обязанностями в условиях этнического и религиозного многообразия. Поликультурная компетентность в профессиональном стандарте педагога причисляется к числу базовых. Вместе с тем в обязательных результатах освоения основных программ педагогических специальностей компоненты поликультурного образования прописаны недостаточно полно и четко. Цель публикации – обсуждение необходимости изменения предметного содержания профессиональной подготовки учителей в федеральном университете с учетом специфики многонациональной региональной среды и обоснование целесообразности регулярной диагностики развития поликультурной компетентности у будущих педагогов для отслеживания динамики запланированных личностных новообразований и своевременной их коррекции. Методология и методы. Методологической базой исследования явились межкультурный, системный и деятельностный подходы как наиболее релевантные, с точки зрения авторов, для современного этапа профессионально-педагогической подготовки. Использовались теоретические и эмпирические методы изучения сформированности компонентов поликультурной компетентности студентов; применялись интервьюирование и анкетирование учащихся, методики количественно-качественного и контент-анализа. Результаты и научная новизна. Представлен опыт комплексной диагностики уровня поликультурной компетентности студентов педагогических специальностей Сибирского федерального университета (Красноярск). Анализ результатов мониторинга послужил базой для создания модели формирования компонентов данной компетентности, обязательной для педагога, осуществляющего свою профессиональную деятельность в многонациональной и многоконфессиональной среде. Описаны механизмы организации процесса развития поликультурной компетентности на целевом, содержательном, личностном, стратегическом, организационном и технологическом уровнях. Практическая значимость. Материалы исследования будут полезны работникам образования для повышения качества подготовки педагогов в части формирования поликультурной компетентности; учителям школ, работающим в многонациональных классах с детьми-мигрантами, обучение которых требует не только знания предмета, но и способов социализации школьников исходя из их национальных особенностей.The research was carried out with the support of the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation № 16-16-24005 «Development of scientific-educational complex of Krasnoyarsk region by means of electronic continuous education platform (PL2S)».Работа выполнена в рамках проекта РГНФ № 16-16-24005 «Развитие научно-образовательного комплекса Красноярского края средствами электронной платформы непрерывного образования (PL2S)»

Bruno: A deep recurrent model for exchangeable data

We present a novel model architecture which leverages deep learning tools to perform exact Bayesian inference on sets of high dimensional, complex observations. Our model is provably exchangeable, meaning that the joint distribution over observations is invariant under permutation: this property lies at the heart of Bayesian inference. The model does not require variational approximations to train, and new samples can be generated conditional on previous samples, with cost linear in the size of the conditioning set. The advantages of our architecture are demonstrated on learning tasks that require generalisation from short observed sequences while modelling sequence variability, such as conditional image generation, few-shot learning, and anomaly detectio

Comprehensive DNA methylation profiling in a human cancer genome identifies novel epigenetic targets

Using a unique microarray platform for cytosine methylation profiling, the DNA methylation landscape of the human genome was monitored at more than 21,000 sites, including 79% of the annotated transcriptional start sites (TSS). Analysis of an oligodendroglioma derived cell line LN-18 revealed more than 4000 methylated TSS. The gene-centric analysis indicated a complex pattern of DNA methylation exists along each autosome, with a trend of increasing density approaching the telomeres. Remarkably, 2% of CpG islands (CGI) were densely methylated, and 17% had significant levels of 5 mC, whether or not they corresponded to a TSS. Substantial independent verification, obtained from 95 loci, suggested that this approach is capable of large scale detection of cytosine methylation with an accuracy approaching 90%. In addition, we detected large genomic domains that are also susceptible to DNA methylation reinforced inactivation, such as the HOX cluster on chromosome 7 (CH7). Extrapolation from the data suggests that more than 2000 genomic loci may be susceptible to methylation and associated inactivation, and most have yet to be identified. Finally, we report six new targets of epigenetic inactivation (IRX3, WNT10A, WNT6, RARalpha, BMP7 and ZGPAT). These targets displayed cell line and tumor specific differential methylation when compared with normal brain samples, suggesting they may have utility as biomarkers. Uniquely, hypermethylation of the CGI within an IRX3 exon was correlated with over-expression of IRX3 in tumor tissues and cell lines relative to normal brain samples

Deep Neural Networks for Automatic Classification of Anesthetic-Induced Unconsciousness

Despite the common use of anesthetics to modulate consciousness in the clinic, brain-based monitoring of consciousness is uncommon. We com-bined electroencephalographic measurement of brain activity with deep neural networks to automatically discriminate anesthetic states induced by propofol. Our results with leave-one-participant-out-cross-validation show that convolutional neural networks significantly outperform multilayer perceptrons in discrimination accuracy when working with raw time series. Perceptrons achieved comparable accuracy when provided with power spec-tral densities. These findings highlight the potential of deep convolutional networks for completely automatic extraction of useful spatio-temporo-spectral features from human EEG

Пространственная организация объектов энергетики: особенности и перспективы развития (на примере белорусской практики)

The paper considers spatial organization of energy facilities with an emphasis on modern practice of the Republic of Belarus. The efficiency of enterprise operation in any industry including power industry is largely due to their architectural and planning organization. Knowledge of mechanisms and specific features of the changes taking place here makes it possible to justify a promising strategy for project activities, and therefore, it allows to manage development processes of the industry and thereby avoid many negative consequences. Energy facilities are a typological unit of industrial architecture, their formation has been started due to transition of industrial production to electric energy. Today the typology shows functional approach in architectural shaping, it includes a fairly large variety of constituent units and demonstrates a tendency towards diversification. In Belarus energy facilities in the architectural aspect of their classification are limited mostly to thermal power plants operating on different types of fuel. Currently the diversification is developing in the following areas: construction of hydropower facilities (small plants on reservoirs, medium power plants, low-pressure plants, run-of-the-river hydraulic power stations), alternative energy (wind power stations, photovoltaic power stations and biogas plants) and conventional energy (thermal power plant, mini-combined heat and power plant operating on renewable fuel). The results of Belarusian practice in construction of all types of facilities (hydropower, alternative and conventional energy), peculiarities of the architectural and planning organization of facilities at the current stage, correlation with global trends in the development of industrial architecture have been characterized in the paper. The paper has determined typological features of alternative energy facility architecture, opportunities and directions for implementation of architectural approaches, problems and prospects to develop scientific support for the project process.В статье рассматривается пространственная организация объектов энергетики с акцентом на современную практику Республики Беларусь. Эффективность функционирования предприятий любой отрасли, в том числе энергетической, в значительной степени обусловлена их архитектурно-планировочной организацией. Знание механизмов и особенностей происходящих здесь изменений дает возможность обосновывать перспективную стратегию проектной деятельности, а значит, позволяет управлять процессами развития отрасли и тем самым избежать многих негативных последствий. Объекты энергетики являются типологической группой промышленной архитектуры, их формирование началось в связи с переходом промышленного производства на электрическую энергию. Сегодня типология отражает функциональный подход в архитектурном формообразовании, включает достаточно большое многообразие составляющих единиц и демонстрирует тенденцию к диверсификации. В Беларуси объекты энергетики в архитектурном аспекте их классификации были представлены достаточно ограничено, основную массу составляли теплофикационные электростанции, работающие на разных видах топлива. В настоящее время диверсификация получила развитие в таких направлениях, как строительство объектов гидроэнергетики (малые станции на водохранилищах и станции средней мощности, низконапорные, русловые, на реках), альтернативной энергетики (ветроэлектростанции, фотоэлектрические станции и биогазовые установки) и традиционной энергетики (ТЭС и мини-ТЭЦ на возобновляемом топливе). Охарактеризованы результаты белорусской практики строительства объектов всех направлений (гидроэнергетика, альтернативная и традиционная энергетика), особенности архитектурно-планировочной организации объектов на современном этапе, корреляция с общемировыми тенденциями развития промышленной архитектуры. Определены типологические признаки архитектуры объектов альтернативной энергетики, возможности и направления практической реализации архитектурных подходов, проблемы и перспективы развития научного сопровождения проектного процесса

Identification of Novel High-Frequency DNA Methylation Changes in Breast Cancer

Recent data have revealed that epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation and chromatin structure changes, are among the earliest molecular abnormalities to occur during tumorigenesis. The inherent thermodynamic stability of cytosine methylation and the apparent high specificity of the alterations for disease may accelerate the development of powerful molecular diagnostics for cancer. We report a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation alterations in breast cancer. The approach efficiently identified a large collection of novel differentially DNA methylated loci (∼200), a subset of which was independently validated across a panel of over 230 clinical samples. The differential cytosine methylation events were independent of patient age, tumor stage, estrogen receptor status or family history of breast cancer. The power of the global approach for discovery is underscored by the identification of a single differentially methylated locus, associated with the GHSR gene, capable of distinguishing infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma from normal and benign breast tissues with a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 96%, respectively. Notably, the frequency of these molecular abnormalities in breast tumors substantially exceeds the frequency of any other single genetic or epigenetic change reported to date. The discovery of over 50 novel DNA methylation-based biomarkers of breast cancer may provide new routes for development of DNA methylation-based diagnostics and prognostics, as well as reveal epigenetically regulated mechanism involved in breast tumorigenesis

Systems-wide analysis of manganese deficiency-induced changes in gene activity of Arabidopsis roots

Manganese (Mn) is pivotal for plant growth and development, but little information is available regarding the strategies that evolved to improve Mn acquisition and cellular homeostasis of Mn. Using an integrated RNA-based transcriptomic and high-throughput shotgun proteomics approach, we generated a comprehensive inventory of transcripts and proteins that showed altered abundance in response to Mn deficiency in roots of the model plant Arabidopsis. A suite of 22,385 transcripts was consistently detected in three RNA-seq runs; LC-MS/MS-based iTRAQ proteomics allowed the unambiguous determination of 11,606 proteins. While high concordance between mRNA and protein expression (R = 0.87) was observed for transcript/protein pairs in which both gene products accumulated differentially upon Mn deficiency, only approximately 10% of the total alterations in the abundance of proteins could be attributed to transcription, indicating a large impact of protein-level regulation. Differentially expressed genes spanned a wide range of biological functions, including the maturation, translation, and transport of mRNAs, as well as primary and secondary metabolic processes. Metabolic analysis by UPLC-qTOF-MS revealed that the steady-state levels of several major glucosinolates were significantly altered upon Mn deficiency in both roots and leaves, possibly as a compensation for increased pathogen susceptibility under conditions of Mn deficiency

DNA Methylation of the First Exon Is Tightly Linked to Transcriptional Silencing

Tissue specific patterns of methylated cytosine residues vary with age, can be altered by environmental factors, and are often abnormal in human disease yet the cellular consequences of DNA methylation are incompletely understood. Although the bodies of highly expressed genes are often extensively methylated in plants, the relationship between intragenic methylation and expression is less clear in mammalian cells. We performed genome-wide analyses of DNA methylation and gene expression to determine how the pattern of intragenic methylation correlates with transcription and to assess the relationship between methylation of exonic and intronic portions of the gene body. We found that dense exonic methylation is far more common than previously recognized or expected statistically, yet first exons are relatively spared compared to more downstream exons and introns. Dense methylation surrounding the transcription start site (TSS) is uncoupled from methylation within more downstream regions suggesting that there are at least two classes of intragenic methylation. Whereas methylation surrounding the TSS is tightly linked to transcriptional silencing, methylation of more downstream regions is unassociated with the magnitude of gene expression. Notably, we found that DNA methylation downstream of the TSS, in the region of the first exon, is much more tightly linked to transcriptional silencing than is methylation in the upstream promoter region. These data provide direct evidence that DNA methylation is interpreted dissimilarly in different regions of the gene body and suggest that first exon methylation blocks transcript initiation, or vice versa. Our data also show that once initiated, downstream methylation is not a significant impediment to polymerase extension. Thus, the consequences of most intragenic DNA methylation must extend beyond the modulation of transcription magnitude