Robust Principles: Architectural Design Principles for Adversarially Robust CNNs

Our research aims to unify existing works' diverging opinions on how architectural components affect the adversarial robustness of CNNs. To accomplish our goal, we synthesize a suite of three generalizable robust architectural design principles: (a) optimal range for depth and width configurations, (b) preferring convolutional over patchify stem stage, and (c) robust residual block design through adopting squeeze and excitation blocks and non-parametric smooth activation functions. Through extensive experiments across a wide spectrum of dataset scales, adversarial training methods, model parameters, and network design spaces, our principles consistently and markedly improve AutoAttack accuracy: 1-3 percentage points (pp) on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100, and 4-9 pp on ImageNet. The code is publicly available at https://github.com/poloclub/robust-principles.Comment: Published at BMVC'2

Baseline of Pollution of Heavy Metals and Physico-chemical Parameters in Surface Sediments from Quanzhou Bay, China, in 2006-2007

According to the monitoring results of the near-shore sediments of Quanzhou Bay in 2006-2007, we analyzed the near-shore depositional environmental quality of Quanzhou Bay and assessed it by the single-factor evaluation on the basis of corresponding standards of local marine functional areas. The results showed that the sediments from the inner part of Quanzhou Bay were polluted more seriously than that of the open part, which might be due to the increasing human activities in coastal areas. The main exceeding standard items are petroleum, Cu, Zn and Pb. In additions, the pollutions caused by sulfide and Cr are different in different regions. The contents of Hg and As are basically in according with the sedimentary quality standards of the corresponding marine functional areas. According the evaluating results, we also provided the corresponding measures to control the pollutions in sedimentary environment of Quanzhou Bay. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of National University of Singapore

Understanding virus-host interactions through single cell and whole genome analysis

Viruses and their microbial hosts are widely distributed in the environment, including in oceans, soils, fresh water, and even in extreme environments such as the deep ocean, hot springs and the upper atmosphere. Given the ubiquity of viruses of microbes, it is critical to understand virus-host interactions and their effects on ecosystem functioning. My work addresses the problem of virus-host interactions through three motivating questions: 1) to what extent do viruses and hosts interact in a given environment and who interacts with whom, 2) how do interactions shape the coevolutionary dynamics of viruses and hosts and 3) what is the genetic basis for determining both who infects whom and the efficiency of viral infections. Here, I report findings stemming from analysis of virus-host interactions in a natural environment (Yellowstone National Park hot springs) and from an experimental study of coevolution in vitro. First, I characterized virus-host interactions in a hot spring’s environment, combining evidence from single-amplified genomes and metagenomes to characterize a natural virus-host interaction network, finding that the majority of cells were infected by one (or more) viruses. Second, I developed a new approach to infer the genetic basis for both qualitative and quantitative changes in virus-host interactions unfolding during coevolution. In doing so, I leveraged whole genome analysis to identify novel mutational candidates that could drive large-scale changes in infectivity; the approach can also be applied to characterize the genotype-phenotype map in other phage-host systems. Overall, the findings help deepen our understanding of virus-host interactions and the consequences of infection on complex virus and microbe communities.Ph.D

Carbon Reduction and Pollutant Abatement by a Bio–Ecological Combined Process for Rural Sewage

In order to explore the treatment effect of a bio–ecological combined process on pollution reduction and carbon abatement of rural domestic wastewater under seasonal changes, the rural area of Lingui District, Guilin City, Guangxi Province, China was selected to construct a combined process of regulating a pond, biological filter, subsurface flow constructed wetland, and ecological purification pond. The influent water, effluent water, and the characteristics of pollutant treatment in each unit were investigated. The results showed that the average removal rates of COD, TN, and NH3–N in summer were 87.57, 72.18, and 80.98%, respectively, while they were 77.46, 57.52, and 64.48% in winter. There were significant seasonal differences in wastewater treatment results in Guilin. Meanwhile, in view of the low carbon:nitrogen ratio in the influent and the poor decontamination effect, the method of adding additional carbon sources such as sludge fermentation and rice straw is proposed to strengthen resource utilization and achieve carbon reduction and emission reduction. The treatment effect of ecological units, especially constructed wetland units, had a high contribution rate of TN treatment, but it was greatly impacted by seasons. The analysis of the relative abundance of the microbial community at the phylum level in constructed wetlands revealed that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetota, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla. The relative abundance of microbial communities of Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria decreased to a large extent from summer to winter, while Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Planctomycetota increased to varying degrees. These dominant bacteria played an important role in the degradation of pollutants such as COD, NH3–N, and TN in wetland systems

Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Myopia in Inner Mongolia Medical Students in China, a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background To further explore characteristics of myopia and changes in factors associated with myopia among students at Inner Mongolia Medical University. Methods Two cross-sectional censuses were conducted in 2011 and 2013. Participants were medical students residing on campus in 2011 and 2013. Logistic regression analysis was performed to ascertain associations with basic information, genetic factors, environmental factors. The χ2 test was used to test for differences in prevalence between 2011 and 2013. Prevalence was calculated at various myopia occurrence times among different parental myopia statuses. Results A total of 11,138 students enrolled from 2007 to 2012 completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of myopia in 2011 and 2013 was 70.50% and 69.21%, respectively, no statistically significant difference existed between the two censuses (p = 0.12). Both censuses were completed by 1015 students. There were no differences among the various year of study in 2011 or 2013. Myopic prevalence increased with an increased number of myopic parents: the prevalence if both parents were myopic was over 90%, nearly 80% if one parent was myopic, and less than 70% with non-myopic parents (p < 0.001). Myopic occurrence ranked from earliest to latest was in kindergarten and primary school when both parents were myopic, in middle school when one parent was myopic, and in university when no parent was myopic. Students staying up late, using a computer more than 3 h per day, not performing eye exercises, using eye drops, and rubbing the eyes at high risk for myopia. Conclusions Myopic status was stable during the university period. Genetic factors play a major role in myopia. Protective measures are useful for university students

A reverse dot blot assay for the screening of twenty mutations in four genes associated with NSHL in a Chinese population

<div><p>Background</p><p>Congenital deafness is one of the most distressing disorders affecting humanity and exhibits a high incidence worldwide. Most cases of congenital deafness in the Chinese population are caused by defects in a limited number of genes. A convenient and reliable method for detecting common deafness-related gene mutations in the Chinese population is required.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We developed a PCR-reverse dot blot (RDB) assay for screening 20 hotspot mutations of <i>GJB2</i>, <i>GJB3</i>, <i>SLC26A4</i>, and <i>MT-RNR1</i>, which are common non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL)–associated genes in the Chinese population. The PCR-RDB assay consists of multiplex PCR amplifications of 10 fragments in the target sequence of the four above-mentioned genes in wild-type and mutant genomic DNA samples followed by hybridization to a test strip containing allele-specific oligonucleotide probes. We applied our method to a set of 225 neonates with deafness gene mutations and 30 normal neonates.</p><p>Results</p><p>The test was validated through direct sequencing in a blinded study with 100% concordance.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The results demonstrated that our reverse dot blot assay is a reliable and effective genetic screening method for identifying carriers and individuals with NSHL among the Chinese population.</p></div

Allelic polymorphism shapes community function in evolving Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that chronically infects the lungs of individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) by forming antibiotic-resistant biofilms. Emergence of phenotypically diverse isolates within CF P. aeruginosa populations has previously been reported; however, the impact of heterogeneity on social behaviors and community function is poorly understood. Here we describe how this heterogeneity impacts on behavioral traits by evolving the strain PAO1 in biofilms grown in a synthetic sputum medium for 50 days. We measured social trait production and antibiotic tolerance, and used a metagenomic approach to analyze and assess genomic changes over the duration of the evolution experiment. We found that (i) evolutionary trajectories were reproducible in independently evolving populations; (ii) over 60% of genomic diversity occurred within the first 10 days of selection. We then focused on quorum sensing (QS), a well-studied P. aeruginosa trait that is commonly mutated in strains isolated from CF lungs. We found that at the population level, (i) evolution in sputum medium selected for decreased the production of QS and QS-dependent traits; (ii) there was a significant correlation between lasR mutant frequency, the loss of protease, and the 3O-C12-HSL signal, and an increase in resistance to clinically relevant β-lactam antibiotics, despite no previous antibiotic exposure. Overall, our findings provide insights into the effect of allelic polymorphism on community functions in diverse P. aeruginosa populations. Further, we demonstrate that P. aeruginosa population and evolutionary dynamics can impact on traits important for virulence and can lead to increased tolerance to β-lactam antibiotics

NSHL gene mutation detection probes.

<p>NSHL gene mutation detection probes.</p

Multiplex PCR primers.

<p>Multiplex PCR primers.</p