Instance-Aware Domain Generalization for Face Anti-Spoofing

Face anti-spoofing (FAS) based on domain generalization (DG) has been recently studied to improve the generalization on unseen scenarios. Previous methods typically rely on domain labels to align the distribution of each domain for learning domain-invariant representations. However, artificial domain labels are coarse-grained and subjective, which cannot reflect real domain distributions accurately. Besides, such domain-aware methods focus on domain-level alignment, which is not fine-grained enough to ensure that learned representations are insensitive to domain styles. To address these issues, we propose a novel perspective for DG FAS that aligns features on the instance level without the need for domain labels. Specifically, Instance-Aware Domain Generalization framework is proposed to learn the generalizable feature by weakening the features' sensitivity to instance-specific styles. Concretely, we propose Asymmetric Instance Adaptive Whitening to adaptively eliminate the style-sensitive feature correlation, boosting the generalization. Moreover, Dynamic Kernel Generator and Categorical Style Assembly are proposed to first extract the instance-specific features and then generate the style-diversified features with large style shifts, respectively, further facilitating the learning of style-insensitive features. Extensive experiments and analysis demonstrate the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art competitors. Code will be publicly available at https://github.com/qianyuzqy/IADG.Comment: Accepted to IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 202

Inhibition of Aurora B by CCT137690 sensitizes colorectal cells to radiotherapy

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Although surgery remains the best treatment for this disease, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy are also very important in clinical practice. However, the notorious refractory lack of responses to radiochemotherapy greatly limits the application of radiochemotherapy in the context of colorectal cancer. There is a growing interest in the role that Aurora B may play in colorectal cancer cell survival as well as other cancer subtypes. In the current study, we sought to ascertain whether blocking of Aurora B signaling machinery by a small molecule inhibitor, CCT137690, could synergize radiation-induced colorectal cancer cell death. Results showed that CCT137690 increases the sensitivity of SW620 cells to radiation. Mechanistic studies revealed that Aurora B-Survivin pathway may be involved in this synergistic effect. Taken together, our results for the first time show that Aurora B inhibition and radiation exert a synergistic effect, resulting in enhanced colorectal cancer cell death. This synergistic effect is clinically relevant as lower doses of radiation could be used for cancer treatment, and could provide significant clinical benefits in terms of colorectal cancer management, while reducing unwanted side-effects

Population pharmacokinetics of Amisulpride in Chinese patients with schizophrenia with external validation: the impact of renal function

Introduction: Amisulpride is primarily eliminated via the kidneys. Given the clear influence of renal clearance on plasma concentration, we aimed to explicitly examine the impact of renal function on amisulpride pharmacokinetics (PK) via population PK modelling and Monte Carlo simulations.Method: Plasma concentrations from 921 patients (776 in development and 145 in validation) were utilized.Results: Amisulpride PK could be described by a one-compartment model with linear elimination where estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR, had a significant influence on clearance. All PK parameters (estimate, RSE%) were precisely estimated: apparent volume of distribution (645 L, 18%), apparent clearance (60.5 L/h, 2%), absorption rate constant (0.106 h−1, 12%) and coefficient of renal function on clearance (0.817, 10%). No other significant covariate was found. The predictive performance of the model was externally validated. Covariate analysis showed an inverse relationship between eGFR and exposure, where subjects with eGFR= 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 had more than 2-fold increase in AUC, trough and peak concentration. Simulation results further illustrated that, given a dose of 800 mg, plasma concentrations of all patients with renal impairment would exceed 640 ng/mL.Discussion: Our work demonstrated the importance of renal function in amisulpride dose adjustment and provided a quantitative framework to guide individualized dosing for Chinese patients with schizophrenia

MiR-200a Suppresses the Proliferation and Metastasis in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma through Downregulation of DEK Gene

MiR-200a has been reported to be able to suppress the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in pancreatic cancer stem cells, suggesting that miR-200a could suppress the metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, its role in proliferation and metastasis of PDAC and the underlying mechanism by which miR-200a works in PDAC have not been elucidated. In our study, we for the first time identified that DEK gene is a direct downstream target of miR-200a. It was found that overexpression of miR-200a decreased DEK expression, suppressing the proliferation, migration, and invasion of PDAC cells. Meanwhile, knockdown of miR-200a can increase DEK level, promoting the proliferation, migration, and invasion of PDAC cells. Our study demonstrated that miR-200a suppresses the metastasis in pancreatic PDAC through downregulation of DEK, suggesting that miR-200a may be used as a novel potential marker in prediction of metastasis of PDAC

Trickster Geographies in Shakespeare\u27s Comedy of Errors

Because Shakespeare uses a wide spectrum of tricksters—from the merely mischievous Autolycus in Winter’s Tale to the irredeemably wicked Iago in Othello—Comedy of Errors is often overlooked when evaluating Shakespeare’s use of trickery. Indeed, the main characters of this comedy are confused victims of circumstance rather than deliberate deceivers, but that is precisely what makes the idea of the trickery in Comedy of Errors so provocative. Rather than a an archetypal trickster, there are instead three trickster geographies, the Mediterranean, Ephesus, and the marketplace, that affect the people within their borders, compelling them to take part in the deceit, however unwittingly. What results from the diffuse and disembodied trickster geographies is a series of inversions that threaten to destroy identities, relationships, and social order

IL-11 activated STAT3 in hepatocytes in vivo and in vitro.

<p>(A) IL-11 was administered in mice for the indicated time. The lysates from liver were immunoblotted with anti-p-STAT3 and anti-STAT3 antibody. Representative data are shown (lower). Quantative analyses of p-STAT3 are shown (upper). Data are exprresed as mean±SD (n = 6/group). **P<0.001. (B) Hepatocytes were treated by IL-11 for the indicated time. The lysates from hepatocytes were immunoblotted with anti-p-STAT3 and anti-STAT3 antibody. Representative data are shown (lower). Quantative analyses of p-STAT3 are shown (upper). Data are expressed as mean±SD (n = 6/group), **P<0.001.</p

IL-11 treatment decreased hepatocellular apoptosis induced by IR.

<p>(A)Liver apoptosis was examined by TUNEL staining: Sham group, IR group and IL-11+IR group. (B) Apoptotic cells were quantified in six high-power fields (400x), and expressed as percentages of apoptotic cells among total cells. (C) Western blot-assisted detection of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 and β-actin. (D) Caspase-3 activity. Data are expressed as mean±SD (n = 6/group), **P<0.001.</p

IL-11 treatment attenuated liver injury induced by IR.

<p>Mice were administered with recombinant human IL-IL-11 (500μg/kg, ip) or medium (PBS) 1 hour prior to ischemia, followed by 6h reperfusion. (A) sALT. (B) Histopathalogic analysis of livers harvested 6 hours after reperfusion. Sham group: Normal hepatic architecture; IR group: severe hepatic lobule distortion, sinusoidal congestion, apparent edema, vacuolization and massive necrosis; IL-11+IR group: mild vacuolization, punctate necrosis and edeman. (C) The severity of liver IRI by Suzuki’s histological grading. Data are expressed as mean±SD (n = 6/group), **P<0.001.</p

IL-11 expression was increased after IR.

<p>Mice were subjected to 90min of partial liver ischemia, followed by 0h, 1h, 3h and 6h reperfusion. Kinetics of IL-11 gene expression was analyzed in ischemic liver by RT-PCR. Expression of IL-11 was normalized with that of HPRT. Data are expressed as mean±SD (n = 6/group). *P<0.05, **P<0.001 vs sham group.</p