Federated edge learning with misaligned over-the-air computation

Over-the-air computation (OAC) is a promising technique to realize fast model aggregation in the uplink of federated edge learning (FEEL). OAC, however, hinges on accurate channel-gain precoding and strict synchronization among edge devices, which are challenging in practice. As such, how to design the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator in the presence of residual channel-gain mismatch and asynchronies is an open problem. To fill this gap, this paper formulates the problem of misaligned OAC for FEEL and puts forth a whitened matched filtering and sampling scheme to obtain oversampled, but independent samples from the misaligned and overlapped signals. Given the whitened samples, a sum-product ML (SP-ML) estimator and an aligned-sample estimator are devised to estimate the arithmetic sum of the transmitted symbols. In particular, the computational complexity of our SP-ML estimator is linear in the packet length, and hence is significantly lower than the conventional ML estimator. Extensive simulations on the test accuracy versus the average received energy per symbol to noise power spectral density ratio (EsN0) yield two main results: 1) In the low EsN0 regime, the aligned-sample estimator can achieve superior test accuracy provided that the phase misalignment is not severe. In contrast, the ML estimator does not work well due to the error propagation and noise enhancement in the estimation process. 2) In the high EsN0 regime, the ML estimator attains the optimal learning performance regardless of the severity of phase misalignment. On the other hand, the aligned-sample estimator suffers from a test-accuracy loss caused by phase misalignment

Injury severity analysis in right-turn lanes at signalised intersections

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Nuclear Translocation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Family Membrane Tyrosine Kinase Receptors

[[abstract]]Integral membrane proteins contain a hydrophobic transmembrane domain and mainly locate in the plasma membrane lipid bilayer. The receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) superfamily, including ErbB-1, ErbB-2, ErbB-3, and ErbB-4, constitute an important group of such membrane proteins, which have a profound impact on cancer initiation, progression, and patient outcome. Although studies of their functions have conventionally focused on their membrane-associated forms, documented observations of the presence of these membrane receptors and their functioning partners in the nucleus have reshaped the intracellular geography and highlight the need to modify the central dogma. The ErbB proteins in the membrane can translocate to the nucleus through different mechanisms. Nuclear RTKs regulate a variety of cellular functions, such as cell proliferation, DNA damage repair, and signal transduction, both in normal tissues and in human cancer cell. In addition, they play important roles in determining cancer response to cancer therapy. Nuclear presence of these ErbB proteins is emerging as an important marker in human cancers. An integrated picture of the RTK-centered signaling transduction network extending from the membrane-cytoplasm boundary to the nuclear compartment is looming in the foreseeable horizon for clinical application. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(21):6484-9

Association between Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Risk of Dementia in Men with Prostate Cancer

The risk of dementia after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in patients with advanced prostate cancer (PCa) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between ADT and the incidence of dementia in patients with PCa. We identified patients newly diagnosed with PCa in the National Health Insurance Database of Taiwan from 1 January 2002 to 30 June 2016 and in The Health Improvement Network of the United Kingdom (UK) from 1 January 1998 to 31 March 2018. We classified patients with PCa into ADT and ADT-naïve groups. Propensity score (PS) methods were used to minimize the differences in characteristics between the groups. We performed a Cox proportional hazard model to obtain the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) to compare the incidence of dementia between the groups. Our ADT group comprised 8743 and 73,816 patients in Taiwan and the UK, respectively, which were matched 1:1 to ADT-naïve patients by PS. The incidence rates of dementia in the ADT group were 2.74 versus 3.03 per 1000 person-years in the ADT naïve groups in Taiwan, and 2.81 versus 2.79 per 1000 person-years in the UK. There was no statistical difference between ADT and ADT-naïve groups (adjusted HR: 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.87–1.43 in Taiwan and adjusted HR: 1.02; 95% CI: 0.85–1.23 in the UK). We found no association between the incidence of dementia and ADT in patients with advanced PCa in either database. Further studies are warranted to evaluate other possible triggers of incident dementia in patients receiving ADT for advanced PCa

Effectiveness of denosumab for fracture prevention in real-world postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: a retrospective cohort study

Summary: To determine denosumab’s effectiveness for fracture prevention among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis in East Asia, the risk of fracture was compared between patients continuing denosumab therapy versus patients discontinuing denosumab after one dose. The real-world effectiveness was observed to be consistent with the efficacy demonstrated in the phase III trial. Introduction: After therapeutic efficacy is demonstrated for subjects in global clinical trials, real-world evidence may provide complementary knowledge of therapeutic effectiveness in a heterogeneous mix of patients seen in clinical practice. This retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare the fracture risk in real-world clinical care received in Taiwan and Hong Kong between a treatment cohort (patients receiving denosumab 60 mg subcutaneously every 6 months) versus an off-treatment cohort (patients discontinuing after 1 dose of denosumab, which has no known clinical benefit) among real-world postmenopausal women. Methods: This study included 38,906 and 2,835 postmenopausal women receiving denosumab in Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively. The primary endpoint was hip fracture, and secondary endpoints were clinical vertebral and nonvertebral fractures. Propensity-score-matched analysis, adjusting for known covariates, was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The robustness of findings was evaluated with a series of sensitivity and quantitative bias analyses. Results: In this study, 554 hip fractures were included in the primary Taiwan population analysis. The crude incidence rate was 0.9 per 100 person-years in the treatment cohort (n = 25,059) and 1.7 per 100 person-years in the off-treatment cohort (n = 13,847). After adjusting for prognostic differences between cohorts, denosumab reduced the risk of hip fractures by 38% (HR = 0.62, CI:0.52–0.75). Risk reductions of similar magnitude were observed for the secondary endpoints and for the analysis of the smaller Hong Kong population. Conclusion: The effectiveness of denosumab for fracture reduction among real-world postmenopausal women with osteoporosis was consistent with the efficacy demonstrated in a global clinical trial

Pyrite-type ruthenium disulfide with tunable disorder and defects enables ultra-efficient overall water splitting

The exploration of efficient electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is significant for water splitting associated with the storage of clean and renewable energy. Here, we report a simple and scalable low-temperature sulfuration method to achieve simultaneous modulation of disorder and defects in pyrite-type RuS2 nanoparticles to dramatically enhance the HER and OER catalytic activity. The disordered structure can increase the electrochemically active surface area, while defect engineering can effectively regulate the electronic structure and thus improve the intrinsic activity, as revealed by combined experimental and theoretical density functional theory (DFT) investigations. Through controllable disorder and defect engineering, the optimized RuS2-500 catalyst (with a sulfuration temperature of 500 °C) supported on a glassy carbon electrode exhibits ultra-efficient bifunctional electrocatalytic activity with η-10 = 78 mV for the HER and η10 = 282 mV for the OER, superior to various Ru-based and pyrite-type catalysts. Remarkably, when used as both the anode and the cathode in an alkaline water electrolyzer, RuS2-500 delivers 10 mA cm-2 at an ultralow cell voltage of 1.527 V with long-term stability, outperforming the benchmark Pt/C//RuO2 couple and most state-of-the-art overall-water-splitting electrocatalysts ever reported. This work thus provides a new and facile way for improving the catalytic activity through a synergistic modulation strategy

Zika virus impairs the development of blood vessels in a mouse model of congenital infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with brain development abnormalities such as primary microcephaly, a severe reduction in brain growth. Here we demonstrated in vivo the impact of congenital ZIKV infection in blood vessel development, a crucial step in organogenesis. ZIKV was injected intravenously in the pregnant type 2 interferon (IFN)-deficient mouse at embryonic day (E) 12.5. The embryos were collected at E15.5 and postnatal day (P)2. Immunohistochemistry for cortical progenitors and neuronal markers at E15.5 showed the reduction of both populations as a result of ZIKV infection. Using confocal 3D imaging, we found that ZIKV infected brain sections displayed a reduction in the vasculature density and vessel branching compared to mocks at E15.5; altogether, cortical vessels presented a comparatively immature pattern in the infected tissue. These impaired vascular patterns were also apparent in the placenta and retina. Moreover, proteomic analysis has shown that angiogenesis proteins are deregulated in the infected brains compared to controls. At P2, the cortical size and brain weight were reduced in comparison to mock-infected animals. In sum, our results indicate that ZIKV impairs angiogenesis in addition to neurogenesis during development. The vasculature defects represent a limitation for general brain growth but also could regulate neurogenesis directly

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mononuclear cell transplantation: case series of 30 subjects with Hereditary Ataxia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The differential diagnosis for hereditary ataxia encompasses a variety of diseases characterized by both autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance. There are no curative treatments available for these neurodegenerative conditions. This open label treatment study used human umbilical cord blood-derived mononuclear cells (CBMC) combined with rehabilitation training as potential disease modulators.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>30 patients suffering from hereditary ataxia were treated with CBMCs administered systemically by intravenous infusion and intrathecally by either cervical or lumbar puncture. Primary endpoint measures were the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), serum markers of immunoglobulin and T-cell subsets, measured at baseline and pre-determined times post-treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A reduction of pathological symptoms and signs was shown following treatment. The BBS scores, IgG, IgA, total T cells and CD3+CD4 T cells all improved significantly compared to pre-treatment values (<it>P </it>< 0.01~0.001). There were no adverse events.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The combination of CBMC infusion and rehabilitation training may be a safe and effective treatment for ataxia, which dramatically improves patients' functional symptoms. These data support expanded double blind, placebo-controlled studies for these treatment modalities.</p

Automated Analysis of Cryptococcal Macrophage Parasitism Using GFP-Tagged Cryptococci

The human fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii cause life-threatening infections of the central nervous system. One of the major characteristics of cryptococcal disease is the ability of the pathogen to parasitise upon phagocytic immune effector cells, a phenomenon that correlates strongly with virulence in rodent models of infection. Despite the importance of phagocyte/Cryptococcus interactions to disease progression, current methods for assaying virulence in the acrophage system are both time consuming and low throughput. Here, we introduce the first stable and fully characterised GFP–expressing derivatives of two widely used cryptococcal strains: C. neoformans serotype A type strain H99 and C. gattii serotype B type strain R265. Both strains show unaltered responses to environmental and host stress conditions and no deficiency in virulence in the macrophage model system. In addition, we report the development of a method to effectively and rapidly investigate macrophage parasitism by flow cytometry, a technique that preserves the accuracy of current approaches but offers a four-fold improvement in speed