Denoising Cosine Similarity: A Theory-Driven Approach for Efficient Representation Learning

Representation learning has been increasing its impact on the research and practice of machine learning, since it enables to learn representations that can apply to various downstream tasks efficiently. However, recent works pay little attention to the fact that real-world datasets used during the stage of representation learning are commonly contaminated by noise, which can degrade the quality of learned representations. This paper tackles the problem to learn robust representations against noise in a raw dataset. To this end, inspired by recent works on denoising and the success of the cosine-similarity-based objective functions in representation learning, we propose the denoising Cosine-Similarity (dCS) loss. The dCS loss is a modified cosine-similarity loss and incorporates a denoising property, which is supported by both our theoretical and empirical findings. To make the dCS loss implementable, we also construct the estimators of the dCS loss with statistical guarantees. Finally, we empirically show the efficiency of the dCS loss over the baseline objective functions in vision and speech domains

食生活の多様性とうつ病および自殺の有病率との関連 ―26年間の国際比較研究―

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the associations of dietary diversity with depression and suicide rates by an ecological analysis using 26-years worldwide statistics.Methods: Average food supply and energy supply by country, excluding loss between production and household, were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics Division database (FAOSTAT). Dietary diversity scores were calculated from food group classifications. Age-standardized depression prevalence and suicide rates per 100,000 people by country were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 database. The association between food diversity scores and depression prevalence and suicide rates was analyzed by a mixed effects model controlling for covariates in 137 countries with populations of 1 million or greater.Results: A significant negative association was found in the analysis of the relationship between dietary diversity and the prevalence of major depression in the model controlled for all covariates [β (se) = –225.6 (61.9), p < 0.001]. In addition, a significant negative association between dietary diversity and the suicide rate was also found in the model controlled for all covariates [β (se) = –3.08 (1.50), p < 0.05].Conclusion: Dietary diversity was significantly negatively associated with the rates of major depression and suicide. Diets rich in foods may reduce the prevalence of depression and suicide rate.【目的】本研究は、26年間の世界的な統計を用いた生態学的分析により、食生活の多様性とうつ病や自殺率との関連を明らかにすることを目的とした。【方法】生産と家庭間の喪失を除く国別平均食料供給量とエネルギー供給量を国連食糧農業機関統計局データベース（FAOSTAT）から入手した。食物群分類から食事多様性スコアを算出した。年齢標準化された国別の人口10万人当たりのうつ病有病率と自殺率は、Global Burden of Disease（GBD）2017データベースから取得した。人口100万人以上の137カ国を対象に、食品多様性スコアとうつ病有病率および自殺率との関連を、共変量を制御した混合効果モデルで解析した。【結果】食生活の多様性とうつ病の有病率との関係を分析したところ、すべての共変量を調整したモデルにおいて、有意な負の関連が認められた［β（se）＝－225.6（61.9）、p < 0.001］。さらに、食生活の多様性と自殺率との間の有意な負の関連も、すべての共変量を調整したモデルで認められた［β（se）= －3.08（1.50）、p < 0.05］。【結論】食生活の多様性は、うつ病および自殺の発生率と有意に負の関連があった。食物を豊富に含む食事は、うつ病や自殺を減少させる可能性がある

Development of Disaster Education Digital Material for Elementary Schoolchild: Fostering an Attitude of Subjective Behavior toward Earthquakes

This study developed the disaster education digital material for elementary schoolchildren, and examined the teaching effectiveness of this material. Eighty-five schoolchildren attended the class using this material twice, and did homework with their parents. Before and after the class, they answered the questionnaire to measure their learning effect (attitude toward subjective behavior, motivation toward disaster prevention action in cooperation with parents: both 3 items) and their evaluation of the class (3 items)．The results generally indicated that their attitude of subjective behavior, and their motivation toward disaster prevention action was higher after the education, and their evaluation of class were high. These results generally showed the effectiveness of this material. In future studies, generalizability of these results should be examined.研究ノー

A study of light in the main staircases of the Mackintosh & Reid buildings at the Glasgow School of Art [dissertation]

In this dissertation, I will examine the difference of the quality of light of the two buildings’ staircases designed by Mackintosh and Steven Holl. Both staircases are located at the centre of the buildings and are considered as the feature of the buildings. These staircases are indispensable to students for their daily lives since these enable them to reach the multiple stories that comprise the two buildings. The methodology of this dissertation is an analysis of experience and measurement. Last December 2013, I visited architectural sites in France, Spain, and Portugal. There, I was able to have a pilgrimage of light that gave me a remarkable experience. To better examine and analyse the light of the two staircases, I took photographs of light and conducted some light measurements. Through these experiments and the several experiences that I had in the staircases, I tried to discover the difference of the quality of light of the two staircases

Hydrocellular foam dressing promotes wound healing along with increases in hyaluronan synthase 3 and PPARα gene expression in epidermis.

BACKGROUND: Hydrocellular foam dressing, modern wound dressing, induces moist wound environment and promotes wound healing: however, the regulatory mechanisms responsible for these effects are poorly understood. This study was aimed to reveal the effect of hydrocellular foam dressing on hyaluronan, which has been shown to have positive effects on wound healing, and examined its regulatory mechanisms in rat skin. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We created two full-thickness wounds on the dorsolateral skin of rats. Each wound was covered with either a hydrocellular foam dressing or a film dressing and hyaluronan levels in the periwound skin was measured. We also investigated the mechanism by which the hydrocellular foam dressing regulates hyaluronan production by measuring the gene expression of hyaluronan synthase 3 (Has3), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), and CD44. Hydrocellular foam dressing promoted wound healing and upregulated hyaluronan synthesis, along with an increase in the mRNA levels of Has3, which plays a primary role in hyaluronan synthesis in epidermis. In addition, hydrocellular foam dressing enhanced the mRNA levels of PPARα, which upregulates Has3 gene expression, and the major hyaluronan receptor CD44. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggests that hydrocellular foam dressing may be beneficial for wound healing along with increases in hyaluronan synthase 3 and PPARα gene expression in epidermis. We believe that the present study would contribute to the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the effects of hydrocellular foam dressing-induced moist environment on wound healing and practice evidence-based wound care

Biological responses of three-dimensional cultured fibroblasts by sustained compressive loading include apoptosis and survival activity.

Pressure ulcers are characterized by chronicity, which results in delayed wound healing due to pressure. Early intervention for preventing delayed healing due to pressure requires a prediction method. However, no study has reported the prediction of delayed healing due to pressure. Therefore, this study focused on biological response-based molecular markers for the establishment of an assessment technology to predict delayed healing due to pressure. We tested the hypothesis that sustained compressive loading applied to three dimensional cultured fibroblasts leads to upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSPs), CD44, hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2), and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) along with apoptosis via disruption of adhesion. First, sustained compressive loading was applied to fibroblast-seeded collagen sponges. Following this, collagen sponge samples and culture supernatants were collected for apoptosis and proliferation assays, gene expression analysis, immunocytochemistry, and quantification of secreted substances induced by upregulation of mRNA and protein level. Compared to the control, the compressed samples demonstrated that apoptosis was induced in a time- and load- dependent manner; vinculin and stress fiber were scarce; HSP90α, CD44, HAS2, and COX2 expression was upregulated; and the concentrations of HSP90α, hyaluronan (HA), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were increased. In addition, the gene expression of antiapoptotic Bcl2 was significantly increased in the compressed samples compared to the control. These results suggest that compressive loading induces not only apoptosis but also survival activity. These observations support that HSP90α, HA, and, PGE2 could be potential molecular markers for prediction of delayed wound healing due to pressure