69 research outputs found
Estimating Causal Effects using a Multi-task Deep Ensemble
A number of methods have been proposed for causal effect estimation, yet few
have demonstrated efficacy in handling data with complex structures, such as
images. To fill this gap, we propose Causal Multi-task Deep Ensemble (CMDE), a
novel framework that learns both shared and group-specific information from the
study population. We provide proofs demonstrating equivalency of CDME to a
multi-task Gaussian process (GP) with a coregionalization kernel a priori.
Compared to multi-task GP, CMDE efficiently handles high-dimensional and
multi-modal covariates and provides pointwise uncertainty estimates of causal
effects. We evaluate our method across various types of datasets and tasks and
find that CMDE outperforms state-of-the-art methods on a majority of these
tasks.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, published at the 40th International
Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2023
Spatial-Temporal Feature Extraction and Evaluation Network for Citywide Traffic Condition Prediction
Traffic prediction plays an important role in the realization of traffic
control and scheduling tasks in intelligent transportation systems. With the
diversification of data sources, reasonably using rich traffic data to model
the complex spatial-temporal dependence and nonlinear characteristics in
traffic flow are the key challenge for intelligent transportation system. In
addition, clearly evaluating the importance of spatial-temporal features
extracted from different data becomes a challenge. A Double Layer - Spatial
Temporal Feature Extraction and Evaluation (DL-STFEE) model is proposed. The
lower layer of DL-STFEE is spatial-temporal feature extraction layer. The
spatial and temporal features in traffic data are extracted by multi-graph
graph convolution and attention mechanism, and different combinations of
spatial and temporal features are generated. The upper layer of DL-STFEE is the
spatial-temporal feature evaluation layer. Through the attention score matrix
generated by the high-dimensional self-attention mechanism, the
spatial-temporal features combinations are fused and evaluated, so as to get
the impact of different combinations on prediction effect. Three sets of
experiments are performed on actual traffic datasets to show that DL-STFEE can
effectively capture the spatial-temporal features and evaluate the importance
of different spatial-temporal feature combinations.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures, 5 table
A Transferable Intersection Reconstruction Network for Traffic Speed Prediction
Traffic speed prediction is the key to many valuable applications, and it is
also a challenging task because of its various influencing factors. Recent work
attempts to obtain more information through various hybrid models, thereby
improving the prediction accuracy. However, the spatial information acquisition
schemes of these methods have two-level differentiation problems. Either the
modeling is simple but contains little spatial information, or the modeling is
complete but lacks flexibility. In order to introduce more spatial information
on the basis of ensuring flexibility, this paper proposes IRNet (Transferable
Intersection Reconstruction Network). First, this paper reconstructs the
intersection into a virtual intersection with the same structure, which
simplifies the topology of the road network. Then, the spatial information is
subdivided into intersection information and sequence information of traffic
flow direction, and spatiotemporal features are obtained through various
models. Third, a self-attention mechanism is used to fuse spatiotemporal
features for prediction. In the comparison experiment with the baseline, not
only the prediction effect, but also the transfer performance has obvious
advantages.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure
Progress and summary of reinforcement learning on energy management of MPS-EV
The high emission and low energy efficiency caused by internal combustion
engines (ICE) have become unacceptable under environmental regulations and the
energy crisis. As a promising alternative solution, multi-power source electric
vehicles (MPS-EVs) introduce different clean energy systems to improve
powertrain efficiency. The energy management strategy (EMS) is a critical
technology for MPS-EVs to maximize efficiency, fuel economy, and range.
Reinforcement learning (RL) has become an effective methodology for the
development of EMS. RL has received continuous attention and research, but
there is still a lack of systematic analysis of the design elements of RL-based
EMS. To this end, this paper presents an in-depth analysis of the current
research on RL-based EMS (RL-EMS) and summarizes the design elements of
RL-based EMS. This paper first summarizes the previous applications of RL in
EMS from five aspects: algorithm, perception scheme, decision scheme, reward
function, and innovative training method. The contribution of advanced
algorithms to the training effect is shown, the perception and control schemes
in the literature are analyzed in detail, different reward function settings
are classified, and innovative training methods with their roles are
elaborated. Finally, by comparing the development routes of RL and RL-EMS, this
paper identifies the gap between advanced RL solutions and existing RL-EMS.
Finally, this paper suggests potential development directions for implementing
advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in EMS
Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for cushing’s disease: single-center experience in 70 patients
ContextIntensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is a modern precision radiotherapy technique for the treatment of the pituitary adenoma.ObjectiveAim to investigate the efficacy and toxicity of IMRT in treating Cushing’s Disease (CD).Methods70 of 115 patients with CD treated with IMRT at our institute from April 2012 to August 2021 were included in the study. The radiation doses were usually 45-50 Gy in 25 fractions. After IMRT, endocrine evaluations were performed every 6 months and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) annually. Endocrine remission was defined as suppression of 1 mg dexamethasone test (DST) or normal 24-hour urinary free cortisol level (24hUFC). The outcome of endocrine remission, endocrine recurrence, tumor control and complications were retrieved from medical record.ResultsAt a median follow-up time of 36.8 months, the endocrine remission rate at 1, 2, 3 and 5 years were 28.5%, 50.2%, 62.5% and 74.0%, respectively. The median time to remission was 24 months (95%CI: 14.0-34.0). Endocrine recurrence was found in 5 patients (13.5%) till the last follow-up. The recurrence-free rate at 1, 2, 3 and 5 years after endocrine remission was 98.2%, 93.9%, 88.7% and 88.7%, respectively. The tumor control rate was 98%. The overall incidence of new onset hypopituitarism was 22.9%, with hypothyroidism serving as the most common individual axis deficiency. Univariate analysis indicated that only higher Ki-67 index (P=0.044) was significant favorable factors for endocrine remission.ConclusionIMRT was a highly effective second-line therapy with low side effect profile for CD patients. Endocrine remission, tumor control and recurrence rates were comparable to previous reports on FRT and SRS
Effects of Thioglycolic Acid on Parthenogenetic Activation of Xenopus Oocytes
BACKGROUND: Existing in Permanent-wave solutions (PWS), thioglycolic acid (TGA) is widely used in hairdressing industry for its contribution to hair styling. However, the toxicity of TGA, especially its reproductive toxicity, gradually calls the attention of more and more researchers. METHOD: In this work, xenopus oocytes were pretreated with different concentration of TGA, and then activated by calcium ionophore A23187. During culture, the oocytes activation rates were taken note at different time after adding calcium ionophore A23187. At the end of the culture period, the nuclear status was detected under confocal microscope. In addition, some other samples were collected for Western-Blotting analysis. RESULT: TGA significantly inhibited the oocytes activation rate and pronuclear formation. It may be resulted from the inhibition of the degradation of p-ERK1, Mos and CyclinB2. CONCLUSION: TGA inhibits in vitro parthenogenetic activation of xenopus oocytes with inhibited the degradation of proteins involved in mitogenic-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and maturation-promoting factor (MPF) pathways
Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world
Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality.
Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States.
Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis.
Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection
Effects of thioglycolic acid on in vivo oocytes maturation in mice.
BACKGROUND: Thioglycolic acid (TGA) is widely used in the hairdressing industry, which mostly caters to women. Recently, TGA has been reported to impair several organs, especially reproductive ones such as testes and ovaries. The reproductive toxicity of TGA on females has become an issue that cannot be neglected. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present work, superovulated female mice were percutaneously treated with different doses of TGA (37.81, 75.62, and 151.25 mg/kg). The mice were sacrificed to collect ovulated oocytes, whose numbers were counted and compared. Immunofluorescence-stained oocytes were observed under a confocal microscope to investigate the effects of TGA on spindle morphology, distribution of cortical granules (CGs), and parthenogenetic activation. The number of ovulated oocytes was decreased by TGA. The ovulated oocytes in the 151.25 mg/kg TGA group were significantly less than in the control and in the 37.81 mg/kg TGA groups. The ovulated oocytes in the 75.62 mg/kg TGA group were less than in the 37.81 mg/kg dose group. Abnormal spindle configuration in vivo was also induced by TGA. The spindle areas in the 75.62 and 151.25 mg/kg TGA groups were significantly larger than in the control and 37.81 mg/kg TGA groups. The parthenogenetic activation of ovulated oocytes in vitro was inhibited as well. The percentage of activated oocytes in the 75.62 and 151.25 mg/kg TGA groups was significantly lower than in the control and 37.81 mg/kg TGA groups. The percentage in the 151.25 mg/kg TGA group was also less than in the 75.62 mg/kg group. CG distribution was not affected by TGA. CONCLUSION: Mice were percutaneously treated with TGA. Consequently, the number of ovulated oocytes decreased, abnormal spindle configurations were induced, and the parthenogenetic activation of ovulated oocytes was inhibited. CG distribution was not affected
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