Attentional Encoder Network for Targeted Sentiment Classification

Targeted sentiment classification aims at determining the sentimental tendency towards specific targets. Most of the previous approaches model context and target words with RNN and attention. However, RNNs are difficult to parallelize and truncated backpropagation through time brings difficulty in remembering long-term patterns. To address this issue, this paper proposes an Attentional Encoder Network (AEN) which eschews recurrence and employs attention based encoders for the modeling between context and target. We raise the label unreliability issue and introduce label smoothing regularization. We also apply pre-trained BERT to this task and obtain new state-of-the-art results. Experiments and analysis demonstrate the effectiveness and lightweight of our model.Comment: 7 page

CatGAN: Category-aware Generative Adversarial Networks with Hierarchical Evolutionary Learning for Category Text Generation

Generating multiple categories of texts is a challenging task and draws more and more attention. Since generative adversarial nets (GANs) have shown competitive results on general text generation, they are extended for category text generation in some previous works. However, the complicated model structures and learning strategies limit their performance and exacerbate the training instability. This paper proposes a category-aware GAN (CatGAN) which consists of an efficient category-aware model for category text generation and a hierarchical evolutionary learning algorithm for training our model. The category-aware model directly measures the gap between real samples and generated samples on each category, then reducing this gap will guide the model to generate high-quality category samples. The Gumbel-Softmax relaxation further frees our model from complicated learning strategies for updating CatGAN on discrete data. Moreover, only focusing on the sample quality normally leads the mode collapse problem, thus a hierarchical evolutionary learning algorithm is introduced to stabilize the training procedure and obtain the trade-off between quality and diversity while training CatGAN. Experimental results demonstrate that CatGAN outperforms most of the existing state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by AAAI 202

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel colchicine-magnolol hybrid for inhibiting the growth of Lewis lung carcinoma in Vitro and in Vivo

Colchicine is a bioactive alkaloid originally from Colchicum autumnale and possesses excellent antiproliferative activity. However, colchicine-associated severe toxicity, gastrointestinal side effects in particular, limits its further therapeutic use. In the current study, we thus designed and synthesized a novel hybrid (CMH) by splicing colchicine and magnolol, a multifunctional polyphenol showing favorable gastrointestinal protection. The antitumor activity of CMH in Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) was then evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Biologically, CMH inhibited the growth of LLC cells with an IC50 of 0.26 μM, 100 times more potently than cisplatin (26.05 μM) did. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of CMH was 10-fold lower than that of colchicine in normal human lung cells (BEAS-2B). In C57BL/6 mice xenograft model, CMH (0.5 mg/kg) worked as efficacious as colchicine (0.5 mg/kg) to inhibit tumor growth and 2 times more potently than cisplatin (1 mg/kg). In terms of mortality, 7 out of 10 mice died in colchicine group (0.75 mg/kg), while no death was observed in groups receiving CMH or cisplatin at 0.75 mg/kg. Mechanistic studies using Western blot revealed that CMH dose-dependently suppressed the protein expression of phosphorylated ERK. Molecular docking analysis further indicated that CMH was well fitted in the colchicine binding site of tubulin and formed several hydrogen bonds with tubulin protein. These results enable our novel hybrid CMH as a potential antineoplastic agent with lower toxicity, and provide perquisites for further investigation to confirm the therapeutic potentiality of this novel hybrid

The efficacy and safety of Niaoduqing granules in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the main cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal failure (ESRF), and the control of disease progression and adverse events during treatment needs to be improved.Objective: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Niaoduqing granules (NDQG) in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease (DKD).Method: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of NDQG for DKD from Chinese and English databases up to 31 August 2022 were included. The quality of the literature was assessed using the risk of bias tool of the Cochrane Handbook. At a 95% confidence interval (CI), relative risk (RR) and Cohen’s d were used for the categorical and continuous variables, respectively, and Stata 16.0 software was used for statistical analysis. A funnel plot and Egger’s tests were used to assess publication bias.Result: A total of 4,006 patients were included in 52 RCTs, including 1,987 cases in the control group and 2,019 cases in the treatment group. Compared with conventional treatment (CT), combined NDQG therapy is more effective in improving clinical efficiency [RR = 1.23, 95% confidence interval (1.17, 1.29), p < 0.001, I2 = 53.17%], kidney function (urinary albumin excretion rate [SMD = −0.90, 95% CI (−1.14, −0.66), p < 0.001, I2 = 78.19%], 24hUTP levels [SMD = −0.81, 95% CI (−1.08, −0.55), p < 0.001, I2 = 87.08%], blood urea nitrogen [SMD = −0.54, 95% CI (−0.69, −0.39), p < 0.01, I2 = 77.01%], SCr [SMD = −0.68, 95% CI (−0.90, −0.45), p < 0.001, I2 = 89.97%], CCr [SMD = 0.76, 95% CI (0.10,1.42), p = 0.02, I2 = 95.97%], and Cys-C [SMD = −1.32, 95% CI (−2.25, −0.40), p = 0.01, I2 = 93.44%]), the level of glucose metabolism (fasting blood glucose [SMD = −0.18, 95% CI (−0.38, 0.03), p = 0.10, I2 = 71.18%] and HbA1c [SMD = −0.42, 95% CI (−0.86, −0.02), p = 0.06, I2 = 81.64%]), the level of lipid metabolism (total cholesterol [SMD = −0.70, 95% CI (−1.01, −0.39), p < 0.001, I2 = 86.74%] and triglyceride [SMD = −0.61, 95% CI (−0.87,−0.36), p < 0.001, I2 = 80.64%]), inflammatory factors (Hs-CRP [SMD = −1.00, 95% CI (−1.54, −0.46), p < 0.001, I2 = 86.81%], IL-18 [SMD = −1.25, 95% CI (−1.58, −0.92), p < 0.001, I2 = 0], and TNF-α [SMD = −1.28, 95% CI (−1.64, −0.91), p < 0.001, I2 = 75.73%]), and indicators of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde [SMD = −0.88, 95% CI (−1.22, −0.54), p < 0.001, I2 = 66.01%] and advanced oxidation protein products [SMD = −0.92, 95% CI (−1.85, 0.00), p < 0.001, I2 = 90.68%]). In terms of improving uric acid [SMD = −1.59, 95% CI (−3.45, 0.27), p = 0.09, I2 = 94.67%], 2hPG [SMD = −0.04, 95% CI (−0.61, 0.53), p = 0.89, I2 = 84.33%], HDL-C [SMD = 0.71, 95% CI (0.02, 1.40), p = 0.04, I2 = 87.43%], Hb [SMD = 0.11, 95% CI (−0.10, 0.32), p = 0.32, I2 = 0.00]), and superoxide dismutase [SMD = 1.32, 95% CI (0.44, 2.20), p < 0.001, I2 = 93.48%], the effect is not obvious. Adjuvant treatment with NDQG did not increase the incidence of adverse reactions in the control group [SMD = 0.98, 95% CI (0.71, 1.34), p = 0.89, I2 = 1.59%]. Obvious publication bias was detected by funnel plot and Egger’s test.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis showed that adjuvant treatment with NDQG has more advantages than conventional treatment alone in the DKD treatment, which could improve clinical efficiency, kidney function, the level of glucose metabolism, the level of lipid metabolism, inflammatory factors, and oxidative stress indicators. At the same time, it also showed that NDQG are relatively safe. However, more high-quality studies are needed to provide more reliable evidence for clinical use.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022373726, identifier CRD42022373726

Fusobacterium nucleatum induces colon anastomosis leak by activating epithelial cells to express MMP9

BackgroundDespite advances in anastomotic techniques and perioperative care, the incidence of anastomotic leak (AL) has not substantially decreased over time. Although it is known that AL etiology is multifactorial and the mechanisms involved remain unclear, there is accumulating evidence pointing at AL related to gut microbiota.MethodWe firstly performed a clinical study to analyze the gut microbiota between colorectal cancer patients who developed AL and those who did not (nAL) using 16S-rRNA sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR to identify AL risk bacterial taxa. Then we built a rat anastomosis model and performed a bacteria transplantation to ensure the cause-effect relationship. The anastomotic healing score was used to evaluate the healing of anastomosis. In addition, we assessed the adhesion ability of bacteria by staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate and attachment assay. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) was detected by western blot, and the activity was detected by gelatin zymography.ResultsWe found that the abundance and positive rate of Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) were higher in the AL patients. Exposure of the rat’s colon anastomosis to Fn contributes to the loss of submucosa collagen I and III, leading to AL’s pathogenesis. Fn can attach to the gut epithelial cells and stimulate intestinal MMP9 expression in vitro and in vivo. We further confirmed that these effects of Fn depended on the E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling pathway.ConclusionThis work demonstrates that Fn attaches and then stimulates the expression of epithelial cells MMP9 by the E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling pathway. These effects contribute to collagen break down in the intestinal tissue, finally leading to AL

Do leaders matter? : Chinese politics, leadership transition and the 17th Party Congress

The opaque nature of decision making in China has generated considerable interest in the internecine machinations of elite politics. Particularly, but not only, when it comes to issues of leadership transition, considerations of factional formation and conflict come to the fore. This is partly to explain the transition process itself, but also out of concern for how new leaders might change the direction of Chinese policy. This paper suggests that whilst leaders and leadership changes do matter, they matter less than they once did. This is partly a result of the de-ideologicization and increasing diverse nature of elite interests and group formation. But it is also partly a result of the changed nature of China’s political economy; in short, there is less desire and less ability for new leaders to impose a clear paradigm shift

Optimizing the diagnostic power with gastric emptying scintigraphy at multiple time points

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy (GES) at intervals over 4 hours after a standardized radio-labeled meal is commonly regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing gastroparesis. The objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate the best time point and the best combination of multiple time points for diagnosing gastroparesis with repeated GES measures, and 2) to contrast and cross-validate Fisher's Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), a rank based Distribution Free (DF) approach, and the Classification And Regression Tree (CART) model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 320 patients with GES measures at 1, 2, 3, and 4 hour (h) after a standard meal using a standardized method were retrospectively collected. Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and the rate of false classification through jackknife cross-validation were used for model comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Due to strong correlation and an abnormality in data distribution, no substantial improvement in diagnostic power was found with the best linear combination by LDA approach even with data transformation. With DF method, the linear combination of 4-h and 3-h increased the Area Under the Curve (AUC) and decreased the number of false classifications (0.87; 15.0%) over individual time points (0.83, 0.82; 15.6%, 25.3%, for 4-h and 3-h, respectively) at a higher sensitivity level (sensitivity = 0.9). The CART model using 4 hourly GES measurements along with patient's age was the most accurate diagnostic tool (AUC = 0.88, false classification = 13.8%). Patients having a 4-h gastric retention value >10% were 5 times more likely to have gastroparesis (179/207 = 86.5%) than those with ≤10% (18/113 = 15.9%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With a mixed group of patients either referred with suspected gastroparesis or investigated for other reasons, the CART model is more robust than the LDA and DF approaches, capable of accommodating covariate effects and can be generalized for cross institutional applications, but could be unstable if sample size is limited.</p