Re-Benchmarking Pool-Based Active Learning for Binary Classification

Active learning is a paradigm that significantly enhances the performance of machine learning models when acquiring labeled data is expensive. While several benchmarks exist for evaluating active learning strategies, their findings exhibit some misalignment. This discrepancy motivates us to develop a transparent and reproducible benchmark for the community. Our efforts result in an open-sourced implementation (https://github.com/ariapoy/active-learning-benchmark) that is reliable and extensible for future research. By conducting thorough re-benchmarking experiments, we have not only rectified misconfigurations in existing benchmark but also shed light on the under-explored issue of model compatibility, which directly causes the observed discrepancy. Resolving the discrepancy reassures that the uncertainty sampling strategy of active learning remains an effective and preferred choice for most datasets. Our experience highlights the importance of dedicating research efforts towards re-benchmarking existing benchmarks to produce more credible results and gain deeper insights

Effects of ranibizumab on human corneal endothelial cells

AbstractPurposeThis study aims to evaluate corneal endothelial changes occurring over a 3-month period after intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.MethodsThis is a prospective case series. A total of 29 patients (29 eyes) received a 0.5-mg intravitreal injection of ranibizumab. Specular microscopy, including measurement of central corneal thickness and endothelial cell count, was performed on each patient prior to and after completing three intravitreal injections.ResultsAll patients received three intravitreal injections and were followed up for a mean of 3 months. There was no significant change in corneal thickness (p = 0.32) or endothelial cell density (p = 0.38) after ranibizumab injections.ConclusionIntravitreal ranibizumab injections (0.5 mg) have no harmful effects on corneal endothelial cells

One-step metallization of weft-knitted fabrics for wearable biaxial strain sensors

One-step direct patterning of high definition conductive tracks in textiles is realized through laser direct writing in combination with a silver organometallic ink developed in-house. Photoreduction, nano-crystallization, and sintering are accomplished in one pass under the irradiation of a CW green laser light (λ = 532 nm) at moderate intensities (I ≥ 95 mW/mm(2)). By tailoring the surface tension and viscosity of the ink, high-definition conductive tracks are formed in weft-knitted polyester-Spandex composite fabrics, well-following the laser’s profile with negligible coffee stain effect. Length resistance as low as 4 Ω/cm is measured and anisotropy of the gauge factor as high as 25 is achieved. The metallized fabric exhibits reversible and hysteresis-free electromechanical responses subject to high strains. Durability assessment qualifies that the as-metallized strain sensors are able to sustain their performance for over 5000 stretch/release cycles, demonstrating its potential applications in biaxial strain sensing and interactive smart textiles

Kinematic strategies for obstacle-crossing in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

IntroductionMild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a transitional stage between soundness of mind and dementia, often involving problems with memory, which may lead to abnormal postural control and altered end-point control when dealing with neuromechanical challenges during obstacle-crossing. The study aimed to identify the end-point control and angular kinematics of the pelvis-leg apparatus while crossing obstacles for both leading and trailing limbs.Methods12 patients with MCI (age: 66.7 ± 4.2 y/o; height: 161.3 ± 7.3 cm; mass: 62.0 ± 13.6 kg) and 12 healthy adults (age: 67.7 ± 2.9 y/o; height: 159.3 ± 6.1 cm; mass: 61.2 ± 12.0 kg) each walked and crossed obstacles of three different heights (10, 20, and 30% of leg length). Angular motions of the pelvis and lower limbs and toe-obstacle clearances during leading- and trailing-limb crossings were calculated. Two-way analyses of variance were used to study between-subject (group) and within-subject (obstacle height) effects on the variables. Whenever a height effect was found, a polynomial test was used to determine the trend. A significance level of α = 0.05 was set for all tests.ResultsPatients with MCI significantly increased pelvic anterior tilt, hip abduction, and knee adduction in the swing limb during leading-limb crossing when compared to controls (p < 0.05). During trailing-limb crossing, the MCI group showed significantly decreased pelvic posterior tilt, as well as ankle dorsiflexion in the trailing swing limb (p < 0.05).ConclusionPatients with MCI adopt altered kinematic strategies for successful obstacle-crossing. The patients were able to maintain normal leading and trailing toe-obstacle clearances for all tested obstacle heights with a specific kinematic strategy, namely increased pelvic anterior tilt, swing hip abduction, and knee adduction during leading-limb crossing, and decreased pelvic posterior tilt and swing ankle dorsiflexion during trailing-limb crossing. The current results suggest that regular monitoring of obstacle-crossing kinematics for reduced toe-obstacle clearance or any signs of changes in crossing strategy may be helpful for early detection of compromised obstacle-crossing ability in patients with single-domain amnestic MCI. Further studies using a motor/cognitive dual-task approach on the kinematic strategies adopted by multiple-domain MCI will be needed for a complete picture of the functional adaptations in such a patient group

Crystal structure of tubulin folding cofactor A from Arabidopsis thaliana and its β-tubulin binding characterization

AbstractMicrotubules are composed of polymerized α/β-tubulin heterodimers. Biogenesis of assembly-competent tubulin dimers is a complex multistep process that requires sequential actions of distinct molecular chaperones and cofactors. Tubulin folding cofactor A (TFCA), which captures β-tubulin during the folding pathway, has been identified in many organisms. Here, we report the crystal structure of Arabidopsis thaliana TFC A (KIESEL, KIS), which forms a monomeric three-helix bundle. The functional binding analysis demonstrated that KIS interacts with β-tubulin in plant. Furthermore, mutagenesis studies indicated that the α-helical regions of KIS participate in β-tubulin binding. Unlike the budding yeast TFC A, the two loop regions of KIS are not required for this interaction suggesting a distinct binding mechanism of TFC A to β-tubulin in plants.Structured summaryMINT-7968902, MINT-7968915, MINT-7968951, MINT-7968966: KIS (uniprotkb:O04350) physically interacts (MI:0915) with Tub9 (uniprotkb:P29517) by anti tag coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0007)MINT-7968928: KIS (uniprotkb:O04350) and Tub9 (uniprotkb:P29517) physically interact (MI:0915) by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (MI:0809