Stratified Transfer Learning for Cross-domain Activity Recognition

In activity recognition, it is often expensive and time-consuming to acquire sufficient activity labels. To solve this problem, transfer learning leverages the labeled samples from the source domain to annotate the target domain which has few or none labels. Existing approaches typically consider learning a global domain shift while ignoring the intra-affinity between classes, which will hinder the performance of the algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel and general cross-domain learning framework that can exploit the intra-affinity of classes to perform intra-class knowledge transfer. The proposed framework, referred to as Stratified Transfer Learning (STL), can dramatically improve the classification accuracy for cross-domain activity recognition. Specifically, STL first obtains pseudo labels for the target domain via majority voting technique. Then, it performs intra-class knowledge transfer iteratively to transform both domains into the same subspaces. Finally, the labels of target domain are obtained via the second annotation. To evaluate the performance of STL, we conduct comprehensive experiments on three large public activity recognition datasets~(i.e. OPPORTUNITY, PAMAP2, and UCI DSADS), which demonstrates that STL significantly outperforms other state-of-the-art methods w.r.t. classification accuracy (improvement of 7.68%). Furthermore, we extensively investigate the performance of STL across different degrees of similarities and activity levels between domains. And we also discuss the potential of STL in other pervasive computing applications to provide empirical experience for future research.Comment: 10 pages; accepted by IEEE PerCom 2018; full paper. (camera-ready version

Permo-Triassic detrital records of South China and implications for the Indosinian events in East Asia

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41602105, 41672106 and 41530966) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2016M590655), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Ocean University of China. Peter Cawood acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council grant FL160100168.Provenance analyses of Lower to Middle Triassic strata from the Greater Youjiang Basin along with the Permian strata of Hainan Island, provide a record of the collisional assembly of the South China Craton and Indochina Block and their incorporation into Asia. Detrital zircons from Lower and Middle Triassic samples show similar overall age spectra ranging from Archean to Triassic with major age groups at 300–250 Ma, 480–420 Ma, and 1200–900 Ma, as well as at 400–300 Ma in one Triassic sample. Permian siltstones from Hainan Island, to the southeast of the Greater Youjiang Basin, record different age spectra with major age groups at 400–300 Ma and 530–420 Ma and subordinate components at 1200–900 Ma and 1900–1700 Ma. These age data in combination with available paleocurrent data and regional geological relations suggest that Precambrian detrital zircons were derived from the Precambrian basement or recycled from the overlying early Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that contain Precambrian detritus. Early Paleozoic detrital zircons were derived from igneous rocks in the South China Craton. Devonian-Triassic detrital zircons in the Triassic strata were likely sourced from coeval magmatic activity related to closure of Paleo-Tethys branch ocean that lay to the southwest, whereas 400–300 Ma detrital zircons in the Permian siltstones of Hainan Island were likely derived from a Paleozoic magmatic arc source that extended along the eastern-southeastern margin of China from Hainan Island to Japan in response to subduction of the Paleo-Pacific oceanic crust. Detrital zircon, trace element, and sandstone modal data for Permo-Triassic strata from the Greater Youjiang Basin indicate that the basin evolved from a trailing-edge passive margin setting to a peripheral foreland basin during closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and collision between Indochina and South China. The initiation time of the foreland basin decreases from southeast to southwest across the basin, probably reflecting oblique collision. In contrast, the Permian strata on Hainan Island record a provenance history distinct from the Greater Youjiang Basin, which is related to late Paleozoic to Mesozoic subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath South China.PostprintPeer reviewe

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Exacerbates Kidney Damages in IgA Nephropathy Mice via the C5a-C5aR1 Axis Orchestrating Th17 Cell Responses

Respiratory viral infections can directly lead to kidney damage such as IgA nephropathy (IgAN), partly due to mucosal immune system dysfunction. Although the activated C5a-C5aR1 axis results in increased Th1 and Th17 frequencies but reduced Treg frequencies in Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, how this axis affects Th cell disorders in RSV-induced IgAN exacerbation remains unknown. Here, we used a mouse model to dissect the activation of C5a-C5aR1 by RSV and the consequences on the regulation of Th1, Th17, and Treg immune responses in IgA nephropathy. RSV fusion protein was clearly deposited not only in the pulmonary interstitium but also in the glomerulus in RSV-IgAN mice, and RSV infection led to more severe pathological changes in the kidneys in IgAN mice. Blocking the C5a-C5aR1 axis resulted in a decrease in the albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and the attenuation of kidney damage in IgAN and RSV-IgAN mice might be partly attributed to the inhibition of Th cell and cytokine dysfunction. Th1, Th17 and Treg immune responses and their corelative cytokines were disrupted by RSV infection and rescued by C5aR1 inhibition. Moreover, we constructed a coculture system of human mesangial cells and CD4+ T cells and found that RSV infection might lead to CD4+ T cell production via human mesangial cells-enhanced CD4+ T cell proliferation, consequently increasing IL-17 levels. These pathological behaviors were augmented by C5a stimulation and decreased by C5aR1 inhibition. Thus, C5aR1 inhibition alters both kidney damage and Th1, Th17, and Treg cell dysfunction in RSV-induced IgAN exacerbation and locally regulates HMC antigen presentation function in the kidney. Taken together, our data offer profound evidence that blocking the C5a-C5aR1 axis might be a potential therapy for RSV-induced IgAN

Novel Y-chromosomal microdeletions associated with non-obstructive azoospermia uncovered by high throughput sequencing of sequence-tagged sites (STSs)

Y-chromosomal microdeletion (YCM) serves as an important genetic factor in non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is routinely used to detect YCMs by tracing sequence-tagged sites (STSs) in the Y chromosome. Here we introduce a novel methodology in which we sequence 1,787 (post-filtering) STSs distributed across the entire male-specific Y chromosome (MSY) in parallel to uncover known and novel YCMs. We validated this approach with 766 Chinese men with NOA and 683 ethnically matched healthy individuals and detected 481 and 98 STSs that were deleted in the NOA and control group, representing a substantial portion of novel YCMs which significantly influenced the functions of spermatogenic genes. The NOA patients tended to carry more and rarer deletions that were enriched in nearby intragenic regions. Haplogroup O2* was revealed to be a protective lineage for NOA, in which the enrichment of b1/b3 deletion in haplogroup C was also observed. In summary, our work provides a new high-resolution portrait of deletions in the Y chromosome.National Key Scientific Program of China [2011CB944303]; National Nature Science Foundation of China [31271244, 31471344]; Promotion Program for Shenzhen Key Laboratory [CXB201104220045A]; Shenzhen Project of Science and Technology [JCYJ20130402113131202, JCYJ20140415162543017]SCI(E)[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Knowledge atlas of antibody-drug conjugates on CiteSpace and clinical trial visualization analysis

ObjectiveAntibody-drugs conjugates (ADCs) are novel drugs with highly targeted and tumor-killing abilities and developing rapidly. This study aimed to evaluate drug discovery and clinical trials of and explore the hotspots and frontiers from 2012 to 2022 using bibliometric methods.MethodsPublications on ADCs were retrieved between 2012 and 2022 from Web of Science (WoS) and analyzed with CiteSpace 6.1.R2 software for the time, region, journals, institutions, etc. Clinical trials were downloaded from clinical trial.org and visualized with Excel software.ResultsA total of 696 publications were obtained and 187 drug trials were retrieved. Since 2012, research on ADCs has increased year by year. Since 2020, ADC-related research has increased dramatically, with the number of relevant annual publications exceeding 100 for the first time. The United States is the most authoritative and superior country and region in the field of ADCs. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is the most authoritative institution in this field. Research on ADCs includes two clinical trials and one review, which are the most influential references. Clinical trials of ADCs are currently focused on phase I and phase II. Comprehensive statistics and analysis of the published literature and clinical trials in the field of ADCs, have shown that the most studied drug is brentuximab vedotin (BV), the most popular target is human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and breast cancer may become the main trend and hotspot for ADCs indications in recent years.ConclusionAntibody-drug conjugates have become the focus of targeted therapies in the field of oncology. The innovation of technology and combination application strategy will become the main trend and hotspots in the future

Substance use and exercise participation among young adults: parallel trajectories in a national cohort‐sequential study

Aims  This study examined the extent to which the trajectory of participation in sports, athletics or exercising (PSAE) covaried with substance use in early adulthood controlling for team sports participation using parallel process latent growth curve modeling. Design, setting and participants  Analysis of data collected from a series of panel studies using a cohort‐sequential design. Specifically, the analyses used longitudinal data from 11 741 individuals from the graduating classes of 1986–2001, first surveyed as seniors in American high schools. Up to four additional follow‐up surveys were administered to age 26 years. Data were collected using in‐school and mailed self‐administered questionnaires. Measurements  Level of PSAE, past‐30‐day alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use frequency and any past‐30‐day use of illicit drugs other than marijuana (IOTM) were the main processes of interest. Self‐reported race/ethnicity, college status at age 19/20 years, parental education, gender and team sports participation during high school were included as covariates. Findings  Results indicate that higher initial levels of PSAE related to lower initial substance use prevalence rates other than alcohol, and lower initial prevalence rates of substance use then corresponded with lower substance use rates throughout early adulthood. Further, as individuals increased PSAE levels throughout early adulthood, the frequency of their use of cigarettes, marijuana and IOTM correspondingly decreased. Conclusions  Increased participation in sports, athletics or exercising (PSAE) is related to significantly lower substance use frequency at modal age 18 and through significantly and negatively correlated growth trajectories through early adulthood. Encouraging PSAE among adolescents and early adults may relate to lower substance use levels throughout early adulthood.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86876/1/j.1360-0443.2011.03489.x.pd

Evolution of DNA methylome from precancerous lesions to invasive lung adenocarcinomas

The evolution of DNA methylome and methylation intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH) during early carcinogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma has not been systematically studied. We perform reduced representation bisulfite sequencing of invasive lung adenocarcinoma and its precursors, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma in situ and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma. We observe gradual increase of methylation aberrations and significantly higher level of methylation ITH in later-stage lesions. The phylogenetic patterns inferred from methylation aberrations resemble those based on somatic mutations suggesting parallel methylation and genetic evolution. De-convolution reveal higher ratio of T regulatory cells (Tregs) versus CD8 + T cells in later-stage diseases, implying progressive immunosuppression with neoplastic progression. Furthermore, increased global hypomethylation is associated with higher mutation burden, copy number variation burden and AI burden as well as higher Treg/CD8 ratio, highlighting the potential impact of methylation on chromosomal instability, mutagenesis and tumor immune microenvironment during early carcinogenesis of lung adenocarcinomas

The Use of Co-Culturing in Solid Substrate Cultivation and Possible Solutions to Scientific Challenges

This perspective systematically summarizes the use of solid substrate co‐cultures in agriculture, food, plant, and industrial biotechnology applications. The summarization is organized by organism, i.e. fungus, bacteria, yeast and then co‐cultivation of either two or three organisms. Generally, in solid substrate co‐culture, the organisms synergistically penetrate and degrade the solid substrate, thereby increasing product yield and productivity over a monoculture. Efforts to increase co‐culture performance include optimizing process parameters (pH, temperature, moisture, and oxygen demand) and defining the acceptable types of substrate. Scientific challenges exist in understanding the interactions between microbial stains, such as viability, suite of products, and bio‐transformations. The perspective details possible solutions to these challenges and highlights future research directions for co‐cultures using either solid or liquid fermentation