Attentive Statistics Pooling for Deep Speaker Embedding

This paper proposes attentive statistics pooling for deep speaker embedding in text-independent speaker verification. In conventional speaker embedding, frame-level features are averaged over all the frames of a single utterance to form an utterance-level feature. Our method utilizes an attention mechanism to give different weights to different frames and generates not only weighted means but also weighted standard deviations. In this way, it can capture long-term variations in speaker characteristics more effectively. An evaluation on the NIST SRE 2012 and the VoxCeleb data sets shows that it reduces equal error rates (EERs) from the conventional method by 7.5% and 8.1%, respectively.Comment: Proc. Interspeech 2018, pp2252--2256. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1809.0931

A New Find of a Prboscidean Fossil from Nagano Prefecture, Central Japan

Article信州大学理学部紀要 6(1): 37-44(1971)departmental bulletin pape

Effect of Prefilmer Edge Thickness on Breakup Phenomena of Liquid Film in Prefilming Airblast Atomizer

[EN] This paper describes the investigation of the effect of a prefilmer edge thickness on the breakup phenomena of a liquid film in a prefilmer airblast atomizer. The breakup phenomena of the liquid film at five prefilmer edge thicknesses (160, 500, 1250, 2000, and 3000 μm) under various conditions was observed using a high-speed camera. The breakup length of the liquid film was calculated by an image processing technique developed in this study. In order to quantitatively evaluate the effect of the prefilmer edge thickness on the breakup frequency, the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) analysis was conducted based on the time evolution of the breakup length. The results indicated that the breakup length increase and the breakup frequency decreases by increasing prefilmer edge thickness due to a larger volume of a liquid accumulation attaching to the prefilmer edge. The FFT analysis showed that the increase in prefilmer edge thickness causes the transition of the maximal power spectrum to a lower frequency (i.e. less than 100 Hz) due to the increase in the liquid accumulation at the edge as well. Finally, a dimensionless correlation has been proposed for the breakup length of a liquid film.Okabe, T.; Katagata, N.; Sakaki, T.; Inamura, T.; Fumoto, K. (2017). Effect of Prefilmer Edge Thickness on Breakup Phenomena of Liquid Film in Prefilming Airblast Atomizer. En Ilass Europe. 28th european conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 154-161. https://doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4931OCS15416

Stimulation by nitric oxide synthase inhibitors of gastric and duodenal HCO, secretion in rats

ABSTRACT ABBREVIATIONS: PGs, prostaglandins; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; D-NAME, N#{176}-nitro-D-arginine methyl ester; L-NAME, N#{176}-nitro-L-arginine methy

A salmon DNA scaffold promotes osteogenesis through activation of sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporters.

We previously reported the promotion of bone regeneration in calvarial defects of both normal and ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats, with the use of biodegradable DNA/protamine scaffold. However, the method by which this DNA-containing scaffold promotes bone formation is still not understood. We hypothesize that the salmon DNA, from which this scaffold is derived, has an osteoinductive effect on pre-osteoblasts and osteoblasts. We examined the effects of salmon DNA on osteoblastic differentiation and calcification in MC3T3-E1 cells, mouse osteoblasts, in vitro and bone regeneration in a calvarial defect model of aged mouse in vivo. The salmon DNA fragments (300 bps) upregulated the expression of the osteogenic markers, such as alkaline phosphatase, Runx2, and osterix (Osx) in MC3T3E1 cells compared with incubation with osteogenic induction medium alone. Measurement of phosphate ion concentrations in cultures showed that the DNA scaffold degraded phosphate ions were released to the cell cultures. Interestingly, we found that the inclusion of DNA in osteoblastic cell cultures upregulated the expression of sodium-dependent phosphate (NaPi) cotransporters, SLC20A1 and SLC34A2, in MC3T3-E1 cells in a time dependent manner. Furthermore, the inclusion of DNA in cell cultures increased the transcellular permeability of phosphate. Conversely, the incubation of phosphonoformic acid, an inhibitor of NaPi cotransporters, attenuated the DNA-induced expression and activation of SLC20A1 and SLC34A2 in MC3T3-E1 cells, resulting in suppression of the osteogenic markers. The implantation of a salmon DNA scaffold disk promoted bone regeneration using calvarial defect models in 30-week-old mice. Our results indicate that the phosphate released from salmon DNA upregulated the expression and activation of NaPi cotransporters, resulting in the promotion of bone regeneration.福岡歯科大学2016年

Reactive oxygen species stimulates epithelial mesenchymal transition in normal human epidermal keratinocytes via TGF-beta secretion.

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in tumor progression, and is an early step in carcinogenesis. Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to be implicated in EMT in many tumor cell types, its exact role in EMT initiation in normal human cells, especially epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs), remains unknown. To clarify whether ROS induce EMT in NHEKs, and to establish how ROS regulate EMT, we examined the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) on the expression of molecules involved in EMT and cell morphology in NHEKs. H(2)O(2) altered the expression of EMT biomarkers, including downregulation of epithelial cadherin and upregulation of α-smooth muscle actin, through a transcriptional modulator, Snail1. H(2)O(2) also induced epithelial to fibroblast-like morphological changes, together with upregulation of EMT biomarkers, and promoted phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK in a time-dependent manner. Interestingly, H(2)O(2) stimulated the expression and secretion of TGF-β1 in NHEKs. Exogenous TGF-β1 also induced the expression of EMT biomarkers. In contrast, neutralizing antibody anti-TGF-β1 antibody or inhibitor of TGF-β receptor type I suppressed the expression of EMT biomarkers. Our results suggest that ROS stimulated TGF-β1 secretion and MAPK activation, resulting in EMT initiation in NHEKs.福岡歯科大学2013年

Cisplatin-induced programmed cell death ligand-2 expression is associated with metastasis ability in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Programmed cell death ligands (PD-Ls) are expressed in tumor cells where they bind to programmed cell death-1, an immunocyte co-receptor, resulting in tumor cell evasion from the immune system. Chemotherapeutic drugs have been recently reported to induce the expression of PD-L, such as PD-L1, in some cancer cells. However, little is known regarding PD-L2 expression and its role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In this study, we examined the effect of cisplatin on the expression and regulation of PD-L2 in OSCC cell lines and analyzed malignant behavior in PD-L2-expressing cells using colony, transwell and transformation assays. In addition, we examined PD-L2 expression in the tumor tissues of OSCC patients using cytology and tissue microarray methods. In OSCC cell lines, cisplatin treatment upregulated PD-L2 expression, along with that of the drug efflux transporter ABCG2, via signal transducers and activator of transcription (STAT) 1/3 activation. Moreover, PD-L2-positive or PD-L2-overexpressing cells demonstrated upregulation in both invasion and transformation ability but not in proliferation compared with PD-L2-negative or PD-L2-silencing cells. PD-L2 expression was also observed in OSCC cells of cytology samples and tissue from OSCC patients. The intensity of PD-L2 expression was correlated with more malignant morphological features in the histological appearance and an invasive pattern. Our findings indicate that cisplatin-upregulated PD-L2 expression in OSCC via STAT1/3 activation and the expression of PD-L2 are likely to be associated with malignancy in OSCC. The PD-L2 expression in cisplatin-resistant OSCC cells may be a critical factor in prognosis of advanced OSCC patients.福岡歯科大学2019年