Decorrelation of Neutral Vector Variables: Theory and Applications

In this paper, we propose novel strategies for neutral vector variable decorrelation. Two fundamental invertible transformations, namely serial nonlinear transformation and parallel nonlinear transformation, are proposed to carry out the decorrelation. For a neutral vector variable, which is not multivariate Gaussian distributed, the conventional principal component analysis (PCA) cannot yield mutually independent scalar variables. With the two proposed transformations, a highly negatively correlated neutral vector can be transformed to a set of mutually independent scalar variables with the same degrees of freedom. We also evaluate the decorrelation performances for the vectors generated from a single Dirichlet distribution and a mixture of Dirichlet distributions. The mutual independence is verified with the distance correlation measurement. The advantages of the proposed decorrelation strategies are intensively studied and demonstrated with synthesized data and practical application evaluations

Unpaired Caricature-Visual Face Recognition via Feature Decomposition-Restoration-Decomposition

Existing caricature-visual face recognition methods train the models based on caricature-visual image pairs from the same identities. Unfortunately, in many real-world applications, facial caricatures and visual facial images are usually unpaired in the training set due to the difficulty of collecting facial caricatures drawn by artists. In this paper, we study caricature-visual face recognition under the practical setting that only unpaired facial caricature and visual facial images are available as training samples, and define this setting as unpaired caricature-visual face recognition. To this end, we develop a novel feature decomposition-restoration-decomposition method (FDRD), which mainly consists of a backbone network, an identity-oriented feature decomposition module, and a modality-oriented feature restoration module, to extract modality-irrelevant identity features. To effectively train FDRD in the case of limited facial caricature training samples, we develop a two-stage learning framework. In the first stage, we perform single-modality restoration, enabling the model to have the basic ability of feature decomposition and restoration for each modality. In the second stage, we perform cross-modality recognition by exchanging new modality features between the two modalities, facilitating the model to focus on the decoupling of identity features and modality features. Experimental results demonstrate that our method performs favorably against several state-of-the-art face recognition methods and cross-modality methods. Our code is available at https://github.com/Capricorn-Karma/FDRD

Peripheral Direct Adjacent Lobe Invasion Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Has a Similar Survival to That of Parietal Pleural Invasion T3 Disease

IntroductionThe postoperative prognosis of peripheral adjacent lobe invasion non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the postoperative prognosis of NSCLC with direct adjacent lobe invasion by comparing it with that of visceral pleural invasion (primary lobe) T2 disease, and parietal pleural invasion T3 disease, and hence determine its most appropriate T category.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted to assess the survival of patients with peripheral direct adjacent lobe invasion NSCLC (group A), and it was compared with that of patients with visceral pleural invasion of the primary lobe (group B) and parietal pleural invasion (group C). All patients were node-negative on pathologic examination. Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the postoperative survival between groups.ResultsA total of 263 patients were analyzed. The overall survival rates in groups A (n = 28), B (n = 167), and C (n = 68) at 5 years were 40.7, 54.6, and 41.9%, respectively; corresponding median survival in three groups were 53, 71, and 40 months, respectively. The survival difference among three groups was statistically significant (p = 0.031). A similar survival was observed between groups A and C, whereas group B had a much better survival than other groups.ConclusionsPeripheral adjacent lobe invasion NSCLC has a similar survival prognosis with that of parietal pleural invasion T3 disease and hence should be classified as T3 rather than T2. However, further studies are warranted

Depletion of OLFM4 gene inhibits cell growth and increases sensitization to hydrogen peroxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced-apoptosis in gastric cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human olfactomedin 4 (OLFM4) gene is a secreted glycoprotein more commonly known as the anti-apoptotic molecule GW112. OLFM4 is found to be frequently up-regulated in many types of human tumors including gastric cancer and it was believed to play significant role in the progression of gastric cancer. Although the function of OLFM4 has been indicated in many studies, recent evidence strongly suggests a cell or tissue type-dependent role of OLFM4 in cell growth and apoptosis. The aim of this study is to examine the role of gastric cancer-specific expression of OLFM4 in cell growth and apoptosis resistance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>OLFM4 expression was eliminated by RNA interference in SGC-7901 and MKN45 cells. Cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, cell cycle and apoptosis were characterized in vitro. Tumorigenicity was analyzed in vivo. The apoptosis and caspase-3 activation in response to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF α) were assessed in the presence or absence of caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The elimination of OLFM4 protein by RNA interference in SGC-7901 and MKN45 cells significantly inhibits tumorigenicity both in vitro and in vivo by induction of cell G1 arrest (all P < 0.01). OLFM4 knockdown did not trigger obvious cell apoptosis but increased H₂O₂or TNF α-induced apoptosis and caspase-3 activity (all P < 0.01). Treatment of Z-VAD-fmk attenuated caspase-3 activity and significantly reversed the H₂O₂or TNF α-induced apoptosis in OLFM4 knockdown cells (all P < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study suggests that depletion of OLFM4 significantly inhibits tumorigenicity of the gastric cancer SGC-7901 and MKN45 cells. Blocking OLFM4 expression can sensitize gastric cancer cells to H₂O₂or TNF α treatment by increasing caspase-3 dependent apoptosis. A combination strategy based on OLFM4 inhibition and anticancer drugs treatment may provide therapeutic potential in gastric cancer intervention.</p

NEW METHODS TO DETERMINE 3-D ROTATIONAL INERTIA

Due to the different stature of the various nationalities and the limitation of the sample or the divergent research methods, the results on human-body inertia parameters of occidentals are not suitable to be applied to oriental adults. In this study, the 3-D principal inertia of each segment and of the entire body of Chinese adults was determined and the mathematical models for calculating their parameters were constructed. The results from this study can aid in the development of the prosthetic limbs for invalids, and analysis of the movements of astronauts, etc. In addition, the regression equations for calculating 3-D principal inertia of human standard postures and for each segment were derived. Their reliability are tested and verified by threestring pendulum method