PatchCT: Aligning Patch Set and Label Set with Conditional Transport for Multi-Label Image Classification

Multi-label image classification is a prediction task that aims to identify more than one label from a given image. This paper considers the semantic consistency of the latent space between the visual patch and linguistic label domains and introduces the conditional transport (CT) theory to bridge the acknowledged gap. While recent cross-modal attention-based studies have attempted to align such two representations and achieved impressive performance, they required carefully-designed alignment modules and extra complex operations in the attention computation. We find that by formulating the multi-label classification as a CT problem, we can exploit the interactions between the image and label efficiently by minimizing the bidirectional CT cost. Specifically, after feeding the images and textual labels into the modality-specific encoders, we view each image as a mixture of patch embeddings and a mixture of label embeddings, which capture the local region features and the class prototypes, respectively. CT is then employed to learn and align those two semantic sets by defining the forward and backward navigators. Importantly, the defined navigators in CT distance model the similarities between patches and labels, which provides an interpretable tool to visualize the learned prototypes. Extensive experiments on three public image benchmarks show that the proposed model consistently outperforms the previous methods. Our code is available at https://github.com/keepgoingjkg/PatchCT.Comment: accepted by ICCV2

Hierarchical Vector Quantized Transformer for Multi-class Unsupervised Anomaly Detection

Unsupervised image Anomaly Detection (UAD) aims to learn robust and discriminative representations of normal samples. While separate solutions per class endow expensive computation and limited generalizability, this paper focuses on building a unified framework for multiple classes. Under such a challenging setting, popular reconstruction-based networks with continuous latent representation assumption always suffer from the "identical shortcut" issue, where both normal and abnormal samples can be well recovered and difficult to distinguish. To address this pivotal issue, we propose a hierarchical vector quantized prototype-oriented Transformer under a probabilistic framework. First, instead of learning the continuous representations, we preserve the typical normal patterns as discrete iconic prototypes, and confirm the importance of Vector Quantization in preventing the model from falling into the shortcut. The vector quantized iconic prototype is integrated into the Transformer for reconstruction, such that the abnormal data point is flipped to a normal data point.Second, we investigate an exquisite hierarchical framework to relieve the codebook collapse issue and replenish frail normal patterns. Third, a prototype-oriented optimal transport method is proposed to better regulate the prototypes and hierarchically evaluate the abnormal score. By evaluating on MVTec-AD and VisA datasets, our model surpasses the state-of-the-art alternatives and possesses good interpretability. The code is available at https://github.com/RuiyingLu/HVQ-Trans

MicroRNA-646 inhibits the proliferation of ovarian granulosa cells via insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

Introduction: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy in women. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been proven to play a crucial role in balancing the proliferation and apoptosis of granulosa cells (GCs) in PCOS. Material and methods: The miRNA of PCOS was screened by bioinformatics analysis, and microRNA 646 (miR-646) was found to be involved in insulin-related pathways by enrichment analysis. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), cell colony formation, and the 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) assays were used to explore the effect of miR-646 on proliferation of GCs, flow cytometry was used to measure the cell cycle and apoptosis, and Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to explore the biological mechanism of miR-646. The human ovarian granulosa cells KGN were selected by measuring the miR-646 and via insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels and used for cell transfection. Results: Overexpressed miR-646 inhibited KGN cell proliferation, and silenced miR-646 advanced it. Most cells were arrested in the S phase of cell cycle with overexpressed-miR-646, while after silencing miR-646, cells were arrested in the G2/M phase. And the miR-646 mimic raised apoptosis in KGN cells. Also, a dual-luciferase reporter proved the regulation effect of miR-646 on IGF-1, miR-646 mimic inhibited IGF-1, and miR-646 inhibitor advanced IGF-1. The cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), and B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) levels were inhibited with overexpressed-miR-646, while silenced-miR-646 promoted their expression, and the bcl-2-like protein 4 (Bax) level was the opposite. This study found that silenced-IGF1 antagonized the promotive effect of the miR-646 inhibitor on cell proliferation. Conclusions: MiR-646 inhibitor treatment can promote the proliferation of GCs by regulating the cell cycle and inhibiting apoptosis, while silenced-IGF-1 antagonizes it

Engineering a Novel Antibody-Peptide Bispecific Fusion Protein Against MERS-CoV

In recent years, tremendous efforts have been made in the engineering of bispecific or multi-specific antibody-based therapeutics by combining two or more functional antigen-recognizing elements into a single construct. However, to the best of our knowledge there has been no reported cases of effective antiviral antibody-peptide bispecific fusion proteins. We previously developed potent fully human monoclonal antibodies and inhibitory peptides against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a novel coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory illness with high mortality. Here, we describe the generation of antibody-peptide bispecific fusion proteins, each of which contains an anti-MERS-CoV single-chain antibody m336 (or normal human IgG1 CH3 domain as a control) linked with, or without, a MERS-CoV fusion inhibitory peptide HR2P. We found that one of these fusion proteins, designated as m336 diabody-pep, exhibited more potent inhibitory activity than the antibody or the peptide alone against pseudotyped MERS-CoV infection and MERS-CoV S protein-mediated cell-cell fusion, suggesting its potential to be developed as an effective bispecific immunotherapeutic for clinical use

Patient-derived iPSCs link elevated mitochondrial respiratory complex I function to osteosarcoma in Rothmund-Thomson syndrome

Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by poikiloderma, small stature, skeletal anomalies, sparse brows/lashes, cataracts, and predisposition to cancer. Type 2 RTS patients with biallelic RECQL4 pathogenic variants have multiple skeletal anomalies and a significantly increased incidence of osteosarcoma. Here, we generated RTS patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to dissect the pathological signaling leading to RTS patient-associated osteosarcoma. RTS iPSC-derived osteoblasts showed defective osteogenic differentiation and gain of in vitro tumorigenic ability. Transcriptome analysis of RTS osteoblasts validated decreased bone morphogenesis while revealing aberrantly upregulated mitochondrial respiratory complex I gene expression. RTS osteoblast metabolic assays demonstrated elevated mitochondrial respiratory complex I function, increased oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and increased ATP production. Inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory complex I activity by IACS-010759 selectively suppressed cellular respiration and cell proliferation of RTS osteoblasts. Furthermore, systems analysis of IACS-010759-induced changes in RTS osteoblasts revealed that chemical inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory complex I impaired cell proliferation, induced senescence, and decreased MAPK signaling and cell cycle associated genes, but increased H19 and ribosomal protein genes. In summary, our study suggests that mitochondrial respiratory complex I is a potential therapeutic target for RTS-associated osteosarcoma and provides future insights for clinical treatment strategies

Heavy metal characteristics of vegetables and their soils in Foshan City

Investigation of the vegetable garden soil in Foshan City 4 kinds of heavy metals Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd in the total and different forms of content, while also investigating a variety of vegetables and edible part of the Cd content. The results show that, Foshan City, the heavy metal content in vegetable field exceed the national and the background value of Guangdong Province, the pollution index to the maximum Cd, Cu, followed by, Cd elements of the highest validity coefficients. Foshan City, edible part of vegetables found excessive Cd, leafy soil Cd content and Cd the full amount of exchangeable manganese content and the amount of state showed a significant positive correlation. The state of heavy metal content of vegetable soil in Foshan city was investigated. The total content and available content of 4 heavy metal elements (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) were analyzed and measured. The result indicated that the heavy metal content of vegetable soil in Foshan city was greater than the average in other areas throughout Guangdong Province or even the whole country. The valid coefficient of Cd element was the greatest. The content of Cd in vegetables was greater than the state vegetable sanitation standard. In different kinds of vegetables, the content of Cd in leaf-vegetable had very significant correlation with the content of different sort Cd in soil. which indicated that the content of Cd in vegetables was affected by the content of Cd in soil

How does the host’s interaction style affect Airbnb guests’ response to service failure and recovery?

This study proposes a research model that investigates how interaction styles of the Airbnb host can shape consumers’ evaluative judgment (e.g., satisfaction and switch intentions) upon service failure and recovery via the intervening role of trust. The results from two sequential experiments suggest that a personal interaction style (vs. professional style) yields higher trust in the host (Experiment 1). When the service failure occurs, the host’s recovery style (e.g., personal vs. professional) does not interfere with the main effect of initial interactions on the recovery efficacy. Customers exposed to an initial personal (vs. professional) interaction with the host report greater satisfaction and lower switch intentions, regardless of recovery styles (Experiment 2). Serial mediation analyses suggest that trust fully accounts for the differential impacts of interaction styles on post service recovery outcomes. The findings have important implications for sharing service platforms (e.g., Airbnb)

The impact of shared governance on the adverse mood of parturients with gestational hypertension and perinatal indicators of newborns

This study aimed to investigate the effect of shared governance on the adverse mood of parturients with gestational hypertension and perinatal indicators of newborns. A total of 318 patients with gestational hypertension treated in our hospital were enrolled as study subjects and were divided into a study group (200 cases) and a control group (118 cases) using double-blind, controlled and randomised methods. Before intervention, the systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and Quality of Life Scale (SF-36) scores did not differ significantly between the two groups (p>.05). After intervention, the study group had lower SBP, DBP, HAMA and HAMD scores and higher SF-36 scores than the control group (p<.05). The neonates in the study group experienced a lower incidence of adverse outcomes than those in the control group (p<.05). Shared governance can regulate blood pressure and improve mood and quality of life in parturients with gestational hypertension. It can also reduce the incidence of adverse events in newborns during the perinatal period. Impact Statement What is already known on this subject? Gestational hypertension is the development of hypertension in pregnant women after 2 or 20 weeks of gestation and is characterised by headache, dizziness, nausea and swelling of the lower legs. Early intervention is key to improving maternal and neonatal prognosis. Shared governance is an emerging model of participatory decision-making in which nurses are empowered to make decisions about clinical practice standards, quality improvement, staff and professional development, and research, aiming to cultivate the patients' sense of responsibility for their health. What do the results of this study add? This study demonstrated that shared governance can regulate maternal blood pressure and improve maternal adverse mood, maternal quality of life and reduce the incidence of perinatal adverse events in the newborn, indicating the potential of shared governance and may promote the clinical application of shared governance. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? This study starts with adverse mood of parturients and perinatal outcomes of newborns, and demonstrates in detail the impact of shared governance in nursing interventions on parturients with gestational hypertension and neonates. The data are detailed and reliable, providing certain clinical references for follow-up research