264 research outputs found
Simple to Complex Cross-modal Learning to Rank
The heterogeneity-gap between different modalities brings a significant
challenge to multimedia information retrieval. Some studies formalize the
cross-modal retrieval tasks as a ranking problem and learn a shared multi-modal
embedding space to measure the cross-modality similarity. However, previous
methods often establish the shared embedding space based on linear mapping
functions which might not be sophisticated enough to reveal more complicated
inter-modal correspondences. Additionally, current studies assume that the
rankings are of equal importance, and thus all rankings are used
simultaneously, or a small number of rankings are selected randomly to train
the embedding space at each iteration. Such strategies, however, always suffer
from outliers as well as reduced generalization capability due to their lack of
insightful understanding of procedure of human cognition. In this paper, we
involve the self-paced learning theory with diversity into the cross-modal
learning to rank and learn an optimal multi-modal embedding space based on
non-linear mapping functions. This strategy enhances the model's robustness to
outliers and achieves better generalization via training the model gradually
from easy rankings by diverse queries to more complex ones. An efficient
alternative algorithm is exploited to solve the proposed challenging problem
with fast convergence in practice. Extensive experimental results on several
benchmark datasets indicate that the proposed method achieves significant
improvements over the state-of-the-arts in this literature.Comment: 14 pages; Accepted by Computer Vision and Image Understandin
Combination treatment with ethyl pyruvate and IGF-I exerts neuroprotective effects against brain injury in a rat model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury causes severe brain damage in newborns. Following HI injury, rapidly accumulating oxidants injure neurons and interrupt ongoing developmental processes. The antioxidant, sodium pyruvate, has been shown to reduce neuronal injury in neonatal rats under conditions of oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) and HI injury. In this study, we evaluated the effects of ethyl pyruvate (EP) and insulin‑like growth factor‑I (IGF‑I) alone or in combination in a similar setting. For this purpose, we used an in vitro model involving primary neonatal rat cortical neurons subjected to OGD for 2.5 h and an in vivo model involving unilateral carotid ligation in rats on post-natal day 7 with exposure to 8% hypoxia for 2.5 h. The cultured neurons were examined by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and cell viability assays. For the in vivo experiments, behavioral development was evaluated by the foot fault test at 4 weeks of recovery. 2,3,5‑Triphenyltetrazolium chloride monohydrate and cresyl violet staining were used to evaluate HI injury. The injured neurons were Fluoro‑Jade B-labeled, new neuroprecursors were double labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and doublecortin, new mature neurons were BrdU-labeled and neuronal nuclei were labeled by immunofluorescence. Under conditions of OGD, the LDH levels increased and neuronal viability decreased. Treatment with 0.5 mM EP or 25 ng/ml IGF‑I protected the neurons (P<0.05), exerting additive effects. Similarly, either the early administration of EP or delayed treatment with IGF‑I protected the neonatal rat brains against HI injury and improved neurological performance and these effects were also additive. This effect may be the result of reduced neuronal injury, and enhanced neurogenesis and maturation. On the whole, our findings demonstrate that the combination of the early administration of EP with delayed treatment with IGF‑I exerts neuroprotective effects against HI injury in neonatal rat brains
Comprehensive analysis of the microbiome and metabolome in pus from pyogenic liver abscess patients with and without diabetes mellitus
IntroductionPyogenic liver abscess (PLA) patients combined with diabetes mellitus (DM) tend to have more severe clinical manifestations than without DM. The mechanism responsible for this phenomenon is not entirely clear. The current study therefore aimed to comprehensively analyze the microbiome composition and metabolome in pus from PLA patients with and without DM, to determine the potential reasons for these differences.MethodsClinical data from 290 PLA patients were collected retrospectively. We analyzed the pus microbiota using 16S rDNA sequencing in 62 PLA patients. In addition, the pus metabolomes of 38 pus samples were characterized by untargeted metabolomics analysis. Correlation analyses of microbiota, metabolites and laboratory findings were performed to identify significant associations.ResultsPLA patients with DM had more severe clinical manifestations than PLA patients without DM. There were 17 discriminating genera between the two groups at the genus level, among which Klebsiella was the most discriminating taxa. The ABC transporters was the most significant differential metabolic pathway predicted by PICRUSt2. Untargeted metabolomics analysis showed that concentrations of various metabolites were significantly different between the two groups and seven metabolites were enriched in the ABC transporters pathway. Phosphoric acid, taurine, and orthophosphate in the ABC transporters pathway were negatively correlated with the relative abundance of Klebsiella and the blood glucose level.DiscussionThe results showed that the relative abundance of Klebsiella in the pus cavity of PLA patients with DM was higher than those without DM, accompanied by changes of various metabolites and metabolic pathways, which may be associated with more severe clinical manifestations
Resolved Raman sideband cooling of a single optically trapped cesium atom
We developed a resolved Raman sideband cooling scheme that can efficiently
prepare a single optically trapped cesium (Cs) atom in its motional ground
states. A two-photon Raman process between two outermost Zeeman sublevels in a
single hyperfine state is applied to reduce the phonon number. Our scheme is
less sensitive to the variation in the magnetic field than the commonly used
scheme where the two outermost Zeeman sublevels belonging to the two separate
ground hyperfine states are taken. Fast optical pumping with less spontaneous
emission guarantees the efficiency of the cooling process. After cooling for 50
ms, 82% of the Cs atoms populate their three-dimensional ground states. Our
scheme improves the long-term stability of Raman sideband cooling in the
presence of magnetic field drift and is thus suitable for cooling other trapped
atoms or ions with abundant magnetic sublevels.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Coherence time of 20 s with a single cesium atom in an optical dipole trap
We analyze the decoherence between two ground electronic states of an
optically trapped atom by adopting a full description of the atomic
wavefunction. The motional state, i.e., the phonon state, is taken into
account. In addition to the decoherence due to the variance of differential
light shift (DLS), a new decoherence mechanism, phonon-jumping-induced
decoherence (PJID), is discovered and verified experimentally. A coherence time
of s is then obtained for a single Cs atom by suppressing both
variances of DLS and PJID by trapping the atom in a blue-detuned BBT and
preparing the atom into its three-dimensional motional ground states. Our work
opens a new prospect to extend the coherence time of optically trapped single
atoms.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures in the main text; 6 pages, 8 figures in the
supplementary materia
Thrombocytopenia in Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess: a retrospective study on its correlation with disease severity and potential causes
ObjectiveThrombocytopenia is commonly associated with infectious diseases and serves as an indicator of disease severity. However, reports on its manifestation in conjunction with Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess (KPLA) are scarce. The present study sought to elucidate the correlation between thrombocytopenia and KPLA severity and delve into the etiological factors contributing to the incidence of thrombocytopenia.Materials and methodsA retrospective analysis of the clinical data from patients with KPLA admitted between June 2012 and June 2023 was performed. Baseline characteristics, biochemical assessments, therapeutic interventions, complications, and clinical outcomes were compared between patients with and without thrombocytopenia. To investigate the potential etiologies underlying thrombocytopenia, the association between platelet count reduction and thrombophlebitis was examined, with a particular focus on platelet consumption. Furthermore, bone marrow aspiration results were evaluated to assess platelet production anomalies.ResultsA total of 361 KPLA patients were included in the study, among whom 60 (17%) had concurrent thrombocytopenia. Those in the thrombocytopenia group exhibited significantly higher rates of thrombophlebitis (p = 0.042), extrahepatic metastatic infection (p = 0.01), septic shock (p = 0.024), admissions to the intensive care unit (p = 0.002), and in-hospital mortality (p = 0.045). Multivariate analysis revealed that thrombocytopenia (odds ratio, 2.125; 95% confidence interval, 1.114–4.056; p = 0.022) was independently associated with thrombophlebitis. Among the thrombocytopenic patients, eight underwent bone marrow aspiration, and six (75%) had impaired medullar platelet production. After treatment, 88.6% of thrombocytopenic patients (n = 47) demonstrated recovery in their platelet counts with a median recovery time of five days (interquartile range, 3–6 days).ConclusionsThrombocytopenia in patients with KPLA is indicative of increased disease severity. The underlying etiologies for thrombocytopenia may include impaired platelet production within the bone marrow and augmented peripheral platelet consumption as evidenced by the presence of thrombophlebitis
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