Data Fine-tuning

In real-world applications, commercial off-the-shelf systems are utilized for performing automated facial analysis including face recognition, emotion recognition, and attribute prediction. However, a majority of these commercial systems act as black boxes due to the inaccessibility of the model parameters which makes it challenging to fine-tune the models for specific applications. Stimulated by the advances in adversarial perturbations, this research proposes the concept of Data Fine-tuning to improve the classification accuracy of a given model without changing the parameters of the model. This is accomplished by modeling it as data (image) perturbation problem. A small amount of "noise" is added to the input with the objective of minimizing the classification loss without affecting the (visual) appearance. Experiments performed on three publicly available datasets LFW, CelebA, and MUCT, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed concept.Comment: Accepted in AAAI 201

Cooperative and individualistic functions of the microRNAs in the miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster and its implication in human diseases

The small RNA molecules of about 19-22 nucleotides in length, aptly called microRNAs, perform the task of gene regulation in the cell. Interestingly, till the early nineties very little was known about them but eventually, the microRNAs have become forefront in the area of research. The huge number of microRNAs plus each one of them targeting a vast number of related as well as unrelated genes makes them very interesting molecules to study. To add to the mystery of miRNAs is the fact that the same miRNA can have antagonizing role in two different cell types i.e. in one cell type; the miRNA promotes proliferation whereas in another cell type the same miRNA inhibits proliferation. Another remarkable aspect of the microRNAs is that many of them exist in clusters. In humans alone, out of 721 microRNAs known, 247 of them occur in 64 clusters at an inter-miRNA distance of less than 5000bp. The reason for this clustering of miRNAs is not fully understood but since the miRNA clusters are evolutionary conserved, their significance cannot be ruled out. The objective of this review is to summarize the recent progress on the functional characterization of miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster in humans in relation to various health and diseased conditions and to highlight the cooperative effects of the miRNAs of this cluster

Coronary artery disease in post-COVID patients: a prospective study

Background: Corona virus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is defined as infectious illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 has been a topic of immense interest amongst epidemiologists, physicians and cardiologists alike. Cytokine storm seen in patients with COVID-19 is known to cause damage to multiple organs including cardiac myocytes. Coronary arteries are also affected by direct damage as well as cytokine mediated injury to coronary endothelial cells.Methods: This was a prospective study conducted in the department of cardiology of a tertiary care hospital. 40 patients recovered from COVID-19 and having symptoms related to coronary artery disease were included in this study on the basis of a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The presenting complaints such as chest pain, breathlessness and fatigue were asked for and were documented. An informed written consent was obtained from all the participants. A standard Judkins technique was used to do coronary angiography. Severity of stenosis was assessed in all the cases. The statistical analysis was done using SSPS 21.0 software. P value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant.Results: Out of 40 post COVID-19 patients presenting with symptoms attributable to coronary artery disease there were 34 (85%) males and 6 (15%) females with a M:F ratio of 1:0.17. The mean age of male and female patients was found to be 51.33±6.47 years and 44.50±6.82 respectively. 12 (30%) patients had history of hypertension, 8 (20%) had history of diabetes mellitus. 3 (7.5%) patients had history of asthma. Chest pain (95%), breathlessness (67.5%), reduced exertional capacity (55%) and diaphoresis (40%) were common presenting complaints. Slow flow due to endothelial dysfunction was the most common single finding and was seen in 8 (20%) patients. In 7 (17.5%) 51-60% stenosis with thrombosis was found whereas in 6 (15%) patients 81-90% stenosis with thrombosis was seen. In 3 (15%) patients 70-80% stenosis with thrombosis was found and in remaining 3 (7.5%) total occlusion was seen.Conclusions: A high index of suspicion and timely intervention is necessary to diagnose and manage coronary artery disease in post covid patients

Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia: effect of addition of corticosteroids after failure of diethylcarbamazine therapy

Successful response in diethylcarbamazine (DEC) therapy in tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE) is not universal with a 20–40% failure rates in chronic cases. Corticosteroids have been used in such patients. However, their role in management remains ill-defined. A patient of TPE with incomplete clinical, haematological and physiological response to a standard 3 weeks DEC therapy received additional corticosteroids for the next two cycles, after which complete remission occurred. However, there was a relapse two months later with evidence of a chronic state requiring further treatment with corticosteroids with good response.Successful response in diethylcarbamazine (DEC) therapy in tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE) is not universal with a 20–40% failure rates in chronic cases. Corticosteroids have been used in such patients. However, their role in management remains ill-defined. A patient of TPE with incomplete clinical, haematological and physiological response to a standard 3 weeks DEC therapy received additional corticosteroids for the next two cycles, after which complete remission occurred. However, there was a relapse two months later with evidence of a chronic state requiring further treatment with corticosteroids with good response

Energy-Constrained Programmable Matter Under Unfair Adversaries

Individual modules of programmable matter participate in their system's collective behavior by expending energy to perform actions. However, not all modules may have access to the external energy source powering the system, necessitating a local and distributed strategy for supplying energy to modules. In this work, we present a general energy distribution framework for the canonical amoebot model of programmable matter that transforms energy-agnostic algorithms into energy-constrained ones with equivalent behavior and an $\mathcal{O}(n^2)$-round runtime overhead -- even under an unfair adversary -- provided the original algorithms satisfy certain conventions. We then prove that existing amoebot algorithms for leader election (ICDCN 2023) and shape formation (Distributed Computing, 2023) are compatible with this framework and show simulations of their energy-constrained counterparts, demonstrating how other unfair algorithms can be generalized to the energy-constrained setting with relatively little effort. Finally, we show that our energy distribution framework can be composed with the concurrency control framework for amoebot algorithms (Distributed Computing, 2023), allowing algorithm designers to focus on the simpler energy-agnostic, sequential setting but gain the general applicability of energy-constrained, asynchronous correctness.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Submitted to OPODIS 202

Eozynofilowe zapalenie płuc na tle infestacji pasożytami — skuteczność leczenia kortykosteroidem po niepowodzeniu terapii dietylokarbamazyną

Dietylokarbamazyna w leczeniu eozynofilowego zapalenia płuc wywołanego infestacją pasożytem (tropical pulmonary eosinofilia) przynosi poprawę tylko u części pacjentów, a w przypadku fazy przewlekłej schorzenia leczenie jest nieskuteczne u 20–40% chorych. W tych przypadkach stosuje się kortykosteroidy, choć skuteczność tego postępowania nie została dotychczas potwierdzona. U opisywanej pacjentki po trzech tygodniach standardowego leczenia dietylokarbamazyną odnotowano jedynie częściową odpowiedź kliniczną, hematologiczną i fizjologiczną. Do dwóch kolejnych cykli leczenia dołączono kortykosteroid, co przyczyniło się do całkowitego wyleczenia. Dwa miesiące później doszło jednak do wznowy choroby, przy czym stwierdzono wykładniki fazy przewlekłej schorzenia, ale kontynuacja leczenia kortykosteroidem przyniosła zadowalającą odpowiedź kliniczną.Dietylokarbamazyna w leczeniu eozynofilowego zapalenia płuc wywołanego infestacją pasożytem (tropical pulmonary eosinofilia) przynosi poprawę tylko u części pacjentów, a w przypadku fazy przewlekłej schorzenia leczenie jest nieskuteczne u 20–40% chorych. W tych przypadkach stosuje się kortykosteroidy, choć skuteczność tego postępowania nie została dotychczas potwierdzona. U opisywanej pacjentki po trzech tygodniach standardowego leczenia dietylokarbamazyną odnotowano jedynie częściową odpowiedź kliniczną, hematologiczną i fizjologiczną. Do dwóch kolejnych cykli leczenia dołączono kortykosteroid, co przyczyniło się do całkowitego wyleczenia. Dwa miesiące później doszło jednak do wznowy choroby, przy czym stwierdzono wykładniki fazy przewlekłej schorzenia, ale kontynuacja leczenia kortykosteroidem przyniosła zadowalającą odpowiedź kliniczną

Parental High-Fat Diet Promotes Inflammatory and Senescence-Related Changes in Prostate

Background. Obesity and dietary habits are associated with increased incidences of aging-related prostatic diseases. The present study was aimed to investigate transgenerational effects of chronic high-fat diet (HFD) feeding on inflammation and senescence-related changes in prostate. Methods. Sprague-Dawley rats were kept on either normal or HFD one. Senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA β-gal) activity, inflammation, and cellular proliferation were determined in the prostate. Results. Increased SA β-gal activity, expression of p53, and cell proliferation marker PCNA were observed in ventral prostate of HFD-fed rats. Immunostaining for p53 and PCNA revealed that the p53 immunopositive cells were primarily in stroma while PCNA immunopositive cells were epithelial cells. An increase in expression of cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) and phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) was observed in prostate of weaning pups HFD-fed parents. However, in adult pups, irrespective of dietary habit, a significant increase in the expression of COX-2, PCNA, phosphorylation of NF-kB, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and SA β-gal activity was observed. Conclusions. Present investigation reports that HFD feeding promotes accumulation of p53 expressing cells, proliferation of epithelial cells, and senescence-related changes in prostate. Further, parental HFD-feeding upholds inflammatory, proliferative, and senescence-related changes in prostate of pups

Small Interfering RNA against Transcription Factor STAT6 Leads to Increased Cholesterol Synthesis in Lung Cancer Cell Lines

STAT6 transcription factor has become a potential molecule for therapeutic intervention because it regulates broad range of cellular processes in a large variety of cell types. Although some target genes and interacting partners of STAT6 have been identified, its exact mechanism of action needs to be elucidated. In this study, we sought to further characterize the molecular interactions, networks, and functions of STAT6 by profiling the mRNA expression of STAT6 silenced human lung cells (NCI-H460) using microarrays. Our analysis revealed 273 differentially expressed genes after STAT6 silencing. Analysis of the gene expression data with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software revealed Gene expression, Cell death, Lipid metabolism as the functions associated with highest rated network. Cholesterol biosynthesis was among the most enriched pathways in IPA as well as in PANTHER analysis. These results have been validated by real-time PCR and cholesterol assay using scrambled siRNA as a negative control. Similar findings were also observed with human type II pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells, A549. In the present study we have, for the first time, shown the inverse relationship of STAT6 with the cholesterol biosynthesis in lung cancer cells. The present findings are potentially significant to advance the understanding and design of therapeutics for the pathological conditions where both STAT6 and cholesterol biosynthesis are implicated viz. asthma, atherosclerosis etc