Improving Multi-Scale Aggregation Using Feature Pyramid Module for Robust Speaker Verification of Variable-Duration Utterances

Currently, the most widely used approach for speaker verification is the deep speaker embedding learning. In this approach, we obtain a speaker embedding vector by pooling single-scale features that are extracted from the last layer of a speaker feature extractor. Multi-scale aggregation (MSA), which utilizes multi-scale features from different layers of the feature extractor, has recently been introduced and shows superior performance for variable-duration utterances. To increase the robustness dealing with utterances of arbitrary duration, this paper improves the MSA by using a feature pyramid module. The module enhances speaker-discriminative information of features from multiple layers via a top-down pathway and lateral connections. We extract speaker embeddings using the enhanced features that contain rich speaker information with different time scales. Experiments on the VoxCeleb dataset show that the proposed module improves previous MSA methods with a smaller number of parameters. It also achieves better performance than state-of-the-art approaches for both short and long utterances.Comment: Accepted to Interspeech 202

Transcriptional regulatory networks underlying the reprogramming of spermatogonial stem cells to multipotent stem cells

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are germline stem cells located along the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules in testes. Recently, SSCs were shown to be reprogrammed into multipotent SSCs (mSSCs). However, both the key factors and biological networks underlying this reprogramming remain elusive. Here, we present transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) that control cellular processes related to the SSC-to-mSSC reprogramming. Previously, we established intermediate SSCs (iSSCs) undergoing the transition to mSSCs and generated gene expression profiles of SSCs, iSSCs and mSSCs. By comparing these profiles, we identified 2643 genes that were up-regulated during the reprogramming process and 15 key transcription factors (TFs) that regulate these genes. Using the TF-target relationships, we developed TRNs describing how these TFs regulate three pluripotency-related processes (cell proliferation, stem cell maintenance and epigenetic regulation) during the reprogramming. The TRNs showed that 4 of the 15 TFs (Oct4/Pou5f1, Cux1, Zfp143 and E2f4) regulated cell proliferation during the early stages of reprogramming, whereas 11 TFs (Oct4/Pou5f1, Foxm1, Cux1, Zfp143, Trp53, E2f4, Esrrb, Nfyb, Nanog, Sox2 and Klf4) regulated the three pluripotency-related processes during the late stages of reprogramming. Our TRNs provide a model for the temporally coordinated transcriptional regulation of pluripotency-related processes during the SSC-to-mSSC reprogramming, which can be further tested in detailed functional studies.111Ysciescopuskc

Severe bimaxillary protrusion with adult periodontitis treated by corticotomy and compression osteogenesis

This paper describes the case of a 50-year-old female with a Class 11 malocclusion who presented with severe bimaxillary protrusion and generalized alveolar bone loss due to adult periodontitis. The treatment plan consisted of extracting both upper and lower first premolars and periodontal treatment. Anterior segmental osteotomy (ASO) of the mandible and upper anterior segment retraction using compression osteogenesis after peri-segmental corticotomy (Speedy orthodontics) was performed. Correct overbite and overjet, facial balance, and improvement of lip protrusion were obtained. However, a slight root resorption tendency was observed on the lower anterior dentition. The active treatment period was 9 months and the results were stable for 27 months after debonding. This new type of treatment mechanics can be an effective alternative to orthognathic surgery. (Korean J Orthod 2009;39(1):54-65)This study was partly supported by the Korean Society of Speedy Orthodontics, Alumni fund of the Department of Dentistry and Graduate School of Clinical Dental Science, The Catholic University of Korea.1

Harmonic (Quantum) Neural Networks

Harmonic functions are abundant in nature, appearing in limiting cases of Maxwell's, Navier-Stokes equations, the heat and the wave equation. Consequently, there are many applications of harmonic functions from industrial process optimisation to robotic path planning and the calculation of first exit times of random walks. Despite their ubiquity and relevance, there have been few attempts to incorporate inductive biases towards harmonic functions in machine learning contexts. In this work, we demonstrate effective means of representing harmonic functions in neural networks and extend such results also to quantum neural networks to demonstrate the generality of our approach. We benchmark our approaches against (quantum) physics-informed neural networks, where we show favourable performance.Comment: 12 pages (main), 7 pages (supplementary), 7 figure

Expression of Osteocalcin and Transglutaminase and Labelling of Bromodeoxyuridine during Fracture Healing in the Rat Tibia

The expression of osteocalcin and transglutaminase C(TGase C) during fracture healing was inwstigated with immunohistochemical studies. A transverse osteotomy was made at the proximal tibia in Sprague-Dawley male rats and immobilized with a small external skeletal fixator. The animals lU!l'e sacrificed serially I, 3, 5, 7, 14, 42 days respectively after fracture. Longitudinal sections of the healing bone were stained with pohclonal antibody against osteocalcin and TGase C, and monoclonal antibody against bromodeoxyuridine. During the intramembranous bone formation at the periosteum around the fracture site, osteocalcin was strongly expressed in the proliferating osteoprogenitor cells from the 1st day of fracture, and then, in osteoblasts, osteoid matrix and osteocytes. The expression of TGase C was weakly positive in both osteoprogenitor cells and osteoblasts. Ai the site of endochondral bone formation, which was first reoealed 5 days after fracture, cell proliferation occurred at the periphery of cartilaginous callus where the number of cells stained with BrdU was highest During the maturation of callus, those cells uere entrapped in the chondroid matrix and became larger and larger. Osteocalcin was demonstrated in the cytoplasm of chondrocytes, while chondroid matrix was negatiwly stained. TGase C was found in the cytoplasm of more centrally located and matured chondrocytes as compared with osteocalcin. Osteoid matrix was stained with osteocalcin but not with TGase C. These finding may suggest that osteocalcin participates in the early phase of endochondral bone formation, while TGase C participates in the late phase, suggesting the role of TGase C in matrix stabilization. But the reason for the difference in the expression of TGase C between the endochondral bone formation and intramembranous bone formation should be further inwstigated. Healing of IAA2Il immobilized fracture in this study was predominantly induced by intramembranous ossification rather than endochondral ossification. Periosteal osteoprogenitor cells appeared to initiate and to lead bone formation after osteotomy. These findings indicate that preservation of the periosteum is essential to achieve successful fracture healing

A contrasting function for miR-137 in embryonic mammogenesis and adult breast carcinogenesis

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