Regeneration Learning: A Learning Paradigm for Data Generation

Machine learning methods for conditional data generation usually build a mapping from source conditional data X to target data Y. The target Y (e.g., text, speech, music, image, video) is usually high-dimensional and complex, and contains information that does not exist in source data, which hinders effective and efficient learning on the source-target mapping. In this paper, we present a learning paradigm called regeneration learning for data generation, which first generates Y' (an abstraction/representation of Y) from X and then generates Y from Y'. During training, Y' is obtained from Y through either handcrafted rules or self-supervised learning and is used to learn X-->Y' and Y'-->Y. Regeneration learning extends the concept of representation learning to data generation tasks, and can be regarded as a counterpart of traditional representation learning, since 1) regeneration learning handles the abstraction (Y') of the target data Y for data generation while traditional representation learning handles the abstraction (X') of source data X for data understanding; 2) both the processes of Y'-->Y in regeneration learning and X-->X' in representation learning can be learned in a self-supervised way (e.g., pre-training); 3) both the mappings from X to Y' in regeneration learning and from X' to Y in representation learning are simpler than the direct mapping from X to Y. We show that regeneration learning can be a widely-used paradigm for data generation (e.g., text generation, speech recognition, speech synthesis, music composition, image generation, and video generation) and can provide valuable insights into developing data generation methods

Pointerformer: Deep Reinforced Multi-Pointer Transformer for the Traveling Salesman Problem

Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), as a classic routing optimization problem originally arising in the domain of transportation and logistics, has become a critical task in broader domains, such as manufacturing and biology. Recently, Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has been increasingly employed to solve TSP due to its high inference efficiency. Nevertheless, most of existing end-to-end DRL algorithms only perform well on small TSP instances and can hardly generalize to large scale because of the drastically soaring memory consumption and computation time along with the enlarging problem scale. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end DRL approach, referred to as Pointerformer, based on multi-pointer Transformer. Particularly, Pointerformer adopts both reversible residual network in the encoder and multi-pointer network in the decoder to effectively contain memory consumption of the encoder-decoder architecture. To further improve the performance of TSP solutions, Pointerformer employs both a feature augmentation method to explore the symmetries of TSP at both training and inference stages as well as an enhanced context embedding approach to include more comprehensive context information in the query. Extensive experiments on a randomly generated benchmark and a public benchmark have shown that, while achieving comparative results on most small-scale TSP instances as SOTA DRL approaches do, Pointerformer can also well generalize to large-scale TSPs.Comment: Accepted by AAAI 2023, February 202

Activating Transcription Factor 3 Deficiency Promotes Cardiac Hypertrophy, Dysfunction, and Fibrosis Induced by Pressure Overload

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), which is encoded by an adaptive-response gene induced by various stimuli, plays an important role in the cardiovascular system. However, the effect of ATF3 on cardiac hypertrophy induced by a pathological stimulus has not been determined. Here, we investigated the effects of ATF3 deficiency on cardiac hypertrophy using in vitro and in vivo models. Aortic banding (AB) was performed to induce cardiac hypertrophy in mice. Cardiac hypertrophy was estimated by echocardiographic and hemodynamic measurements and by pathological and molecular analysis. ATF3 deficiency promoted cardiac hypertrophy, dysfunction and fibrosis after 4 weeks of AB compared to the wild type (WT) mice. Furthermore, enhanced activation of the MEK-ERK1/2 and JNK pathways was found in ATF3-knockout (KO) mice compared to WT mice. In vitro studies performed in cultured neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes confirmed that ATF3 deficiency promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by angiotensin II, which was associated with the amplification of MEK-ERK1/2 and JNK signaling. Our results suggested that ATF3 plays a crucial role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy via negative regulation of the MEK-ERK1/2 and JNK pathways

Determination of heavy metals in chinese prickly ash from different production areas using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Purpose: To determine the heavy metal content of Chinese prickly ash (CPA) produced in various areas of China.Methods: CPA samples collected from different production areas in China were subjected to microwave digestion, and the contents of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), tin (Sn), and antimony (Sb) were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Results: Heavy metal levels in the CPA samples followed the order: Cu (3.29-24.17 mg/kg) > Cr (0.04-7.33 mg/kg) > Ni (0.88-6.86 mg/kg) > Pb (0.00-3.84 mg/kg) > As (0.0011-1.08 mg/kg) > Cd (0.029-0.211 mg/kg) > Sb (0.03-0.21 mg/kg) > Sn (0.00-0.15 mg/kg) > Hg (0.000-0.032 mg/kg). Metal-to-metal correlation studies showed that there were significant correlations between Cu-Cr (p = -4.02), Cu-Ni (p = 0.561), Cu-As (p = 0.554) and Ni-As (p = 0.428) at the 0.01 level. Also, some metal-to-metal correlations were observed in Pb-Cr (p = 0.351), Pb-Cu (p = -0.310), Sb-Cd (p = 0.322), Sb-Hg (p = 0.311) and Cd-Sn (p = 0.309) at the 0.05 level. The highest concentrations of Pb and As in CPA exceeded the maximum permissible limits in China. Based on current safety standards, the concentrations of heavy metals in these CPA samples mean they are safe for human consumption.Conclusions: The status of heavy metal concentrations of CPA should be further investigated in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Jiangsu. In addition, ICP-MS is a reliable and rapid technique for the determination of the heavy metals in CPA.Keywords: Chinese prickly ash, Heavy metals, Inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, Food safet

Developing a new treatment for superficial fungal infection using antifungal Collagen-HSAF dressing

Fungal pathogens are common causes of superficial clinical infection. Their increasing drug resistance gradually makes existing antifungal drugs ineffective. Heat stable antifungal factor (HSAF) is a novel antifungal natural product with a unique structure. However, the application of HSAF has been hampered by very low yield in the current microbial producers and from extremely poor solubility in water and common solvents. In this study, we developed an effective mode of treatment applying HSAF to superficial fungal infections. The marine-derived Lysobacter enzymogenes YC36 contains the HSAF biosynthetic gene cluster, which we activated by the interspecific signaling molecule indole. An efficient extraction strategy was used to significantly improve the purity to 95.3%. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the Type I collagen-based HSAF (Col-HSAF) has a transparent appearance and good physical properties, and the in vitro sustained-release effect of HSAF was maintained for more than 2 weeks. The effective therapeutic concentration of Col-HSAF against superficial fungal infection was explored, and Col-HSAF showed good biocompatibility, lower clinical scores, mild histological changes, and antifungal capabilities in animals with Aspergillus fumigatus keratitis and cutaneous candidiasis. In conclusion, Col-HSAF is an antifungal reagent with significant clinical value in the treatment of superficial fungal infections

JCM-16021, a Chinese Herbal Formula, Attenuated Visceral Hyperalgesia in TNBS-Induced Postinflammatory Irritable Bowel Syndrome through Reducing Colonic EC Cell Hyperplasia and Serotonin Availability in Rats

The present study aimed to investigate the analgesic effect of JCM-16021, a revised traditional Chinese herbal formula, on postinflammatory irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) in rats. The trinitrobenzene sulfonic (TNBS) acid-induced PI-IBS model rats were orally administrated with different doses of JCM-16021 (1.2, 2.4, and 4.8 g/kg/d) for 14 consecutive days. The results showed that JCM-16021 treatment dose-dependently attenuated visceral hyperalgesia in PI-IBS rats. Further, the colonic enterochromaffin (EC) cell number, serotonin (5-HT) content, tryptophan hydroxylase expression, and mechanical-stimuli-induced 5-HT release were significantly ameliorated. Moreover, the decreased levels of mucosal cytokines in PI-IBS, especially the helper T-cell type 1- (Th1-) related cytokine TNF-α, were also elevated after JCM-16021 treatment. These data demonstrate that the analgesic effect of JCM-16021 on TNBS-induced PI-IBS rats may be medicated via reducing colonic EC cell hyperplasia and 5-HT availability

A simulation study on the measurement of D0-D0bar mixing parameter y at BES-III

We established a method on measuring the \dzdzb mixing parameter $y$ for BESIII experiment at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ collider. In this method, the doubly tagged $\psi(3770) \to D^0 \overline{D^0}$ events, with one $D$ decays to CP-eigenstates and the other $D$ decays semileptonically, are used to reconstruct the signals. Since this analysis requires good $e/\pi$ separation, a likelihood approach, which combines the $dE/dx$, time of flight and the electromagnetic shower detectors information, is used for particle identification. We estimate the sensitivity of the measurement of $y$ to be 0.007 based on a $20fb^{-1}$ fully simulated MC sample.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure