Developmental Learning: A Case Study in Understanding “Object Permanence”

The concepts of muddy environment and muddy tasks set the ground for us to understand the essence of intelligence, both artificial and natural, which further motivates the need of Developmental Learning for machines. In this paper, a biologically inspired computational model is proposed to study one of the fundamental and controversial issues in cognitive science – “Object Permanence.” This model is implemented on a robot, which enables us to examine the robot’s behavior based on perceptual development through realtime experiences. Our experimental result shows consistency with prior researches on human infants, which not only sheds light on the highly controversial issue of object permanence, but also demonstrates how biologically inspired developmental models can potentially develop intelligent machines and verify computationalmodeling that has been established in cognitive science

Intelligent E-Learning System with Personalized Misconception Diagnose and Learning Path Guidance

In recent years, to advances network technology, IT-enabled learning and support learning are important in on-line education. More learners obtain knowledge by the Web-Learning Instruction (WBI). Learners usually induce the problem of misconception and cognitive overload when they use Web-based learning system. At present, most of the studies in the on-line education either concentrate on the technological aspect (e.g. personalization technology development) or focus on adapting learner’s interests or browsing behaviors, while, learner’s ability and level of knowledge is neglected. Therefore, it is important to consider learner’s ability while designing web-based learning system. This study developed an On-line Knowledge Diagnose System (OKDS) to diagnose learner’s misconception and provide personalized remedial guidance that based on a graphic organizer technology - concept map. The results indicate that the OKDS can effectiveness enhance learners learner’s learning performance and learner also has positive perception of OKDS

Small noncoding RNA modulates japanese encephalitis virus replication and translation in trans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sequence and structural elements in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) are known to regulate translation and replication. We previously reported an abundant accumulation of small subgenomic flaviviral RNA (sfRNA) which is collinear with the highly conserved regions of the 3'-UTR in JEV-infected cells. However, function of the sfRNA in JEV life cycle remains unknown.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Northern blot and real-time RT-PCR analyses indicated that the sfRNA becomes apparent at the time point at which minus-strand RNA (antigenome) reaches a plateau suggesting a role for sfRNA in the regulation of antigenome synthesis. Transfection of minus-sense sfRNA into JEV-infected cells, in order to counter the effects of plus-sense sfRNA, resulted in higher levels of antigenome suggesting that the presence of the sfRNA inhibits antigenome synthesis. <it>Trans</it>-acting effect of sfRNA on JEV translation was studied using a reporter mRNA containing the luciferase gene fused to partial coding regions of JEV and flanked by the respective JEV UTRs. <it>In vivo </it>and <it>in vitro </it>translation revealed that sfRNA inhibited JEV translation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that sfRNA modulates viral translation and replication <it>in trans</it>.</p

The Pragmatic Strategy to Detect Endocrine-Disrupting Activity of Xenobiotics in Food

Endocrine-disrupting activity induced by xenobiotics might pose a possible health threat. Facing so many chemicals, there is an issue on how we detect them precisely and effectively. The whole embryo culture (WEC) test, an ex vivo exposure lasting 48 hours with rat embryos of 10.5 days old, is used to detect prenatal developmental toxicity. We extended the WEC function to detect the endocrine-disrupting activity induced by environmental chemicals. Results showed that in the development of rat embryo, basically 17ß-estradiol, triiodothyronine, triadimefon, penconazole, and propiconazole exhibited no significant effect on yolk sac circulatory system, allantois, flexion, heart caudal neural tube, hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain, otic system, optic system, olfactory system, maxillary process, forelimb, hind limb, yolk sac diameter, crown-rump length, head length, and developmental score. In the immunohistochemistry, the positive control of 17ß-estradiol showed positive effect for its receptor expressions. These three triazoles induced expressions of ERα and ERß in WEC. This result basically meets the mode of action that triazoles were designed to disrupt the synthesis of steroid hormone. Here we gave a strategy to detect possible endocrine-disrupting activity induced by xenobiotics in food. This strategy is quick to initiate the whole rat embryo culture with 10.5 days to detect the hormone receptors such as androgen, estrogen, thyroid, aromatase activity and its related receptors

Modeling and Analysis of Channel Holding Time and Handoff Rate for Packet Sessions in All-IP Cellular Networks

It is essential to model channel holding time (CHT), cell residence time (CRT), and handoff rate for performance analysis and algorithm evaluation in mobile cellular networks. The problem has been extensively studied in the past for circuit-switched (CS) cellular networks. However, little research has been done on packet-switched (PS) cellular networks. Unlike that a call occupies a dedicated channel during its whole lifetime in CS networks, an active session in PS networks occupies and releases channels iteratively due to discontinuous reception (DRX) mechanism. In this paper, we investigate the key quantities in PS cellular networks. We present a set of comprehensive new models to characterize the quantities and their relationship in PS networks. The models shed light on the relationship between CHT and CRT and handoff rate. The analytical results enable wide applicability in various scenarios and therefore have important theoretical significance. Moreover, the analytical results provide a quick way to evaluate traffic performance and system design in PS cellular networks without wide deployment, which can save cost and time

Deltamethrin Alters Thyroid Hormones and Delays Pubertal Development in Male and Female Rats

Pyrethroid insecticides are suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Deltamethrin has been reported to antagonize thyroid hormone receptor activity in a reporter assay. We hypothesized that deltamethrin alters thyroid function. Male and female rats were administered daily oral gavages with 0, 0.3, 1, or 3 mg/kg/day deltamethrin on postnatal days 23–53 and 22–42, respectively. Results showed that deltamethrin decreased the relative thyroid weight in 0.3 and 1 mg/kg/day in female but not in male rats. Although the histology and several parameters of thyroid were not affected, the decreased relative weight exhibited underlying meaning. Deltamethrin delayed the age of vaginal opening (VO) and increased body weight upon VO in 3 mg/kg/day. Deltamethrin failed to delay the age of preputial separation in male rats. In the respective of serum hormone concentration, deltamethrin increased 17β-estradiol (E2) with dose-dependent manner in female rats. The novel finding is that deltamethrin decreased thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in the female rats. In contrast, deltamethrin increased T3 and TSH but not in T4 in male rats. We inferred that deltamethrin disrupts thyroid hormone and might be related to estrogen receptor agonist. The future work is to investigate if deltamethrin disrupts the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis

Ginseng essence, a medicinal and edible herbal formulation, ameliorates carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative stress and liver injury in rats

AbstractBackgroundGinseng essence (GE) is a formulation comprising four medicinal and edible herbs including ginseng (Panax ginseng), American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), lotus seed (Nelumbo nucifera), and lily bulb (Lilium longiflorum). This study was aimed at investigating the hepatoprotective effect of GE against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury in rats.MethodsWe treated Wistar rats daily with low, medium, and high [0.625 g/kg body weight (bw), 1.25 g/kg bw, and 3.125 g/kg bw, respectively] doses of GE for 9 wk. After the 1st wk of treatment, rats were administered 20% CCl4 (1.5 mL/kg bw) two times a week to induce liver damage until the treatment ended.ResultsSerum biochemical analysis indicated that GE ameliorated the elevation of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase and albumin decline in CCl4-treated rats. Moreover, CCl4-induced accumulation of hepatic total cholesterol and triglyceride was inhibited. The hepatoprotective effects of GE involved enhancing the hepatic antioxidant defense system including glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. In addition, histological analysis using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining showed that GE inhibited CCl4-induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Furthermore, immunohistochemical staining of alpha-smooth muscle actin indicated that CCl4-triggered activation of hepatic stellate cells was reduced.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that GE improves CCl4-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis by attenuating oxidative stress. Therefore, GE could be a promising hepatoprotective herbal formulation for future development of phytotherapy

Transformer-based Variable-rate Image Compression with Region-of-interest Control

This paper proposes a transformer-based learned image compression system. It is capable of achieving variable-rate compression with a single model while supporting the region-of-interest (ROI) functionality. Inspired by prompt tuning, we introduce prompt generation networks to condition the transformer-based autoencoder of compression. Our prompt generation networks generate content-adaptive tokens according to the input image, an ROI mask, and a rate parameter. The separation of the ROI mask and the rate parameter allows an intuitive way to achieve variable-rate and ROI coding simultaneously. Extensive experiments validate the effectiveness of our proposed method and confirm its superiority over the other competing methods.Comment: Accepted to IEEE ICIP 202

Association Between Thyroid Disorders and Colorectal Cancer Risk in Adult Patients in Taiwan

IMPORTANCE Thyroid hormones have been shown to affect several important pathways in cancer development, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Clinical studies examining the association between thyroid disorders and colorectal cancer have conflicting results and have predominantly involved white populations. OBJECTIVE To determine if a diagnosis of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism is associated with the risk of developing colorectal cancer in an East Asian population. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This nationwide population-based case-control study was conducted from April 27, 2018, to November 8, 2018, using the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. Participants were adults (n = 139 426) either with a new diagnosis (between 2008 and 2013) of primary colorectal cancer without a history of cancer, or without cancer. Cases and controls were matched 11 by age, sex, and index date. Diagnosis of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism prior to the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (or the same index date in controls) was then determined. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Risk differences in developing colorectal cancer among patients with a medical history of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. RESULTS A total of 139 426 patients were included in the study, and 69 713 individuals made up each case and control group, which were both predominantly male (39 872 [57.2%]). The mean (SD) age for those with CRC was 65.8 (13.7) years and for those without CRC was 66.0 (13.6) years. Both hyperthyroidism (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.77; 95% CI, 0.69-0.86; P < .001) and hypothyroidism (aOR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65-0.94; P = .008) were associated with a decreased risk of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. An inverse association of rectal cancer was found among patients aged 50 years or older with a history of hypothyroidism despite treatment (aOR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.39-0.74; P < .001). A history of hyperthyroidism in all age groups was associated with a lower risk of colon cancer (aOR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.64-0.85; P < .001), with a stronger association seen among those younger than 50 years (aOR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.36-0.85; P = .007). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this study, hypothyroidism appeared to be associated with a lower risk of rectal cancer, whereas hyperthyroidism appeared to be associated with a lower risk of colon cancer. Because of this, biochemical in vivo research and epidemiologic studies appear to be needed to further clarify the nature of these associations.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]