340 research outputs found
Detach and Adapt: Learning Cross-Domain Disentangled Deep Representation
While representation learning aims to derive interpretable features for
describing visual data, representation disentanglement further results in such
features so that particular image attributes can be identified and manipulated.
However, one cannot easily address this task without observing ground truth
annotation for the training data. To address this problem, we propose a novel
deep learning model of Cross-Domain Representation Disentangler (CDRD). By
observing fully annotated source-domain data and unlabeled target-domain data
of interest, our model bridges the information across data domains and
transfers the attribute information accordingly. Thus, cross-domain joint
feature disentanglement and adaptation can be jointly performed. In the
experiments, we provide qualitative results to verify our disentanglement
capability. Moreover, we further confirm that our model can be applied for
solving classification tasks of unsupervised domain adaptation, and performs
favorably against state-of-the-art image disentanglement and translation
methods.Comment: CVPR 2018 Spotligh
THE BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TAEKWONDO FRONT-LEG AXE-KICK
The purpose of the study was to analyze the biomechanics of taekwondo front-leg axekick. One force plates, two synchronized high-speed cameras were used to measure biomechanical parameters in each phase of the front-leg axe-kick. The results included: 1. The average reaction time and movement time were 0.423 sand 0.327 s, which respectively occupied about 56% and 44% of attack time. 2. The maximum velocity of hip, knee and ankle were 1.74 m/s, 5.25 m/s and 7.43 m/s respectively. When the kicking leg touched the target, the velocity of knee and ankle were 0.78m/s, 1.72m1s, and 4.64m1s respectively. 3. The peak vertical GRF and impulse were 0.96 SW and 77.57N-s. For decreasing the movement time, it's suggested that an athlete should increase the power and flexibility of lower extremities during the training section
Association between chronic viral hepatitis infection and breast cancer risk: a nationwide population-based case-control study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Taiwan, there is a high incidence of breast cancer and a high prevalence of viral hepatitis. In this case-control study, we used a population-based insurance dataset to evaluate whether breast cancer in women is associated with chronic viral hepatitis infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From the claims data, we identified 1,958 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer during the period 2000-2008. A randomly selected, age-matched cohort of 7,832 subjects without cancer was selected for comparison. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to calculate odds ratios of breast cancer associated with viral hepatitis after adjustment for age, residential area, occupation, urbanization, and income. The age-specific (<50 years and ≥50 years) risk of breast cancer was also evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant differences in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, hepatitis B virus (HBV), or the prevalence of combined HBC/HBV infection between breast cancer patients and control subjects (<it>p </it>= 0.48). Multivariable logistic regression analysis, however, revealed that age <50 years was associated with a 2-fold greater risk of developing breast cancer (OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.23-3.34).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HCV infection, but not HBV infection, appears to be associated with early onset risk of breast cancer in areas endemic for HCV and HBV. This finding needs to be replicated in further studies.</p
Temporal Bone Osteomyelitis: The Relationship with Malignant Otitis Externa, the Diagnostic Dilemma, and Changing Trends
Fifty-five patients hospitalized for osteomyelitis of the temporal bone between 1990 and 2011 were divided into two study groups: group 1 was patients collected from 1990 to 2001 and group 2 was composed of patients between 2002 and 2011. Clinical diagnostic criteria and epidemiologic data were analyzed to illustrate the altering features of osteomyelitis of the temporal bone. Group 1 patients were characterized by high prevalence of diabetes and more commonly suffered from otalgia, otitis externa and granulation tissue in the external auditory canal and higher positive culture for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Noticeable changing trends were found between both groups, including declining prevalence of diabetes, fewer patients complaining of pain or presenting with otitis externa, and canal granulation, and increased variety of pathogens in group 2. We should highlight the index of clinical suspicion for osteomyelitis of the temporal bone, even in nondiabetic or immunocompetent patients. Painless otorrhea patients were also at risk of osteomyelitis of the temporal bone, especially patients with previous otologic operation. Increased multiplicity of pathogens amplified the difficulty of diagnosis for osteomyelitis of the temporal bone
Regulatory T Cells: Potential Target in Anticancer Immunotherapy
SummaryThe concept of regulatory T cells was first described in the early 1970s, and regulatory T cells were called suppressive T cells at that time. Studies that followed have demonstrated that these suppressive T cells negatively regulated tumor immunity and contributed to tumor growth in mice. Despite the importance of these studies, there was extensive skepticism about the existence of these cells, and the concept of suppressive T cells left the center stage of immunologic research for decades. Interleukin-2 receptor α-chain, CD25, was first demonstrated in 1995 to serve as a phenotypic marker for CD4+ regulatory cells. Henceforth, research of regulatory T cells boomed. Regulatory T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of cancer, autoimmune disease, transplantation immunology, and immune tolerance in pregnancy. Recent evidence has demonstrated that regulatory T cellmediated immunosuppression is one of the crucial tumor immune evasion mechanisms and the main obstacle of successful cancer immunotherapy. The mechanism and the potential clinical application of regulatory T cells in cancer immunotherapy are discussed
Signal peptide-CUB-EGF-like repeat-containing protein 1-promoted FLT3 signaling is critical for the initiation and maintenance of MLL-rearranged acute leukemia
A hallmark of mixed lineage leukemia gene-rearranged (MLL-r) acute myeloid leukemia that offers an opportunity for targeted therapy is addiction to protein tyrosine kinase signaling. One such signal is the receptor tyrosine kinase Fms-like receptor tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) upregulated by cooperation of the transcription factors homeobox A9 (HOXA9) and Meis homeobox 1 (MEIS1). Signal peptide-CUB-EGF-like repeat-containing protein (SCUBE) family proteins have previously been shown to act as a co-receptor for augmenting signaling activity of a receptor tyrosine kinase (e.g., vascular endothelial growth factor receptor). However, whether SCUBE1 is involved in the pathological activation of FLT3 during MLL-r leukemogenesis remains unknown. Here we first show that SCUBE1 is a direct target of HOXA9/MEIS1 that is highly expressed on the MLL-r cell surface and predicts poor prognosis in de novo acute myeloid leukemia. We further demonstrate, by using a conditional knockout mouse model, that Scube1 is required for both the initiation and maintenance of MLL-AF9-induced leukemogenesis in vivo. Further proteomic, molecular and biochemical analyses revealed that the membrane-tethered SCUBE1 binds to the FLT3 ligand and the extracellular ligand-binding domains of FLT3, thus facilitating activation of the signal axis FLT3-LYN (a non-receptor tyrosine kinase) to initiate leukemic growth and survival signals. Importantly, targeting surface SCUBE1 by an anti-SCUBE1 monomethyl auristatin E antibody-drug conjugate led to significantly decreased cell viability specifically in MLL-r leukemia. Our study indicates a novel function of SCUBE1 in leukemia and unravels the molecular mechanism of SCUBE1 in MLL-r acute myeloid leukemia. Thus, SCUBE1 is a potential therapeutic target for treating leukemia caused by MLL rearrangements
Microcrystalline-Silicon-Oxide-Based N-Type Reflector Structure in Micromorph Tandem Solar Cells
N-type microcrystalline silicon oxide thin films (n-c-SiO:H) have been deposited by VHF-PECVD (40 MHz) with reactant gas mixtures of CO2/SiH4 and H2. N-c-SiO thin films exhibiting low refractive index value (n600nm∼2), and medium/high conductivity (≧10−9 S/cm) are suitable to be used as an “n-type reflector” in micromorph tandem solar cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results show that microstructures of n-c-SiO:H thin films contain nanocrystalline Si particles, which are randomly embedded in the a-SiO matrix. This specific microstructure provides n-c-SiO:H thin films excellent optoelectronic properties; therefore, n-c-SiO:H thin films are appropriate candidates for “n-type reflector” structures in Si tandem solar cells
Retrospective comparison between a regular and a split-dose protocol of 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and mitoxantrone for the treatment of far advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), combination chemotherapy using 5- fluorouracil, cisplatin, and mitoxantrone (FMP) could achieve a response rate > 20%, but the beneficial effect was compromised by formidable adverse events. Chemotherapy given in a split-dose manner was associated with reduced toxicities. In this retrospective study, we compared the efficacies and side effects between a regular and a split-dose FMP protocol approved in our medical center.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From 2005 to 2008, the clinical data of 84 patients with far advanced HCC, who had either main portal vein thrombosis and/or extrahepatic metastasis, were reviewed. Of them, 65 were treated by either regular (n = 27) or split-dose (n = 38) FMP and had completed at least one therapeutic course. The remaining 19 patients were untreated. Clinical parameters, therapeutic responses, survivals and adverse events were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median overall survival was 6.0, 5.2, and 1.5 months, respectively, in patients receiving regular FMP, split-dose FMP, and no treatment (regular versus split-dose group, P = 0.447; regular or split-dose versus untreated group; P < 0.0001). Patients receiving split-dose treatment had a significantly lower risk of grade 3/4 neutropenia (51.9 versus 10.5%, P = 0.0005). When the two treated groups were combined, the median overall survival was 10.6 and 3.8 months respectively for patients achieving disease control and progressive disease (P < 0.001). Cox proportion hazard model identified Child-Pugh stage B (hazard ratio [HR], 2.216; P = 0.006), presence of extrahepatic metastasis (HR, 0.574; P = 0.048), and achievement of disease control (HR, 0.228; P < 0.001) as independent factors associated with overall survival. Logistic regression analysis revealed that anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (odds ratio [OR], 9.219; P = 0.002) tumor size (OR, 0.816; P = 0.036), and previous anti-cancer therapy (OR, 0.195; P = 0.017) were significantly associated with successful disease control.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Comparable overall survival was observed between patients receiving regular and split-dose FMP therapies. Patients receiving split-dose therapy had a significantly lower risk of grade 3/4 neutropenia. Positive anti-hepatitis C virus antibody, smaller tumor size, and absence of previous anti-cancer therapy were independent predictors for successful disease control.</p
Detection of SARS-associated Coronavirus in Throat Wash and Saliva in Early Diagnosis
Early detection of SARS-CoV in throat wash and saliva suggests that these specimens are ideal for SARS diagnosis
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