Knowledge will Propel Machine Understanding of Content: Extrapolating from Current Examples

Machine Learning has been a big success story during the AI resurgence. One particular stand out success relates to learning from a massive amount of data. In spite of early assertions of the unreasonable effectiveness of data, there is increasing recognition for utilizing knowledge whenever it is available or can be created purposefully. In this paper, we discuss the indispensable role of knowledge for deeper understanding of content where (i) large amounts of training data are unavailable, (ii) the objects to be recognized are complex, (e.g., implicit entities and highly subjective content), and (iii) applications need to use complementary or related data in multiple modalities/media. What brings us to the cusp of rapid progress is our ability to (a) create relevant and reliable knowledge and (b) carefully exploit knowledge to enhance ML/NLP techniques. Using diverse examples, we seek to foretell unprecedented progress in our ability for deeper understanding and exploitation of multimodal data and continued incorporation of knowledge in learning techniques.Comment: Pre-print of the paper accepted at 2017 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1610.0770

Cdc42-mediated supracellular cytoskeleton induced cancer cell migration under low shear stress

Tumor microenvironment is composed of biological, chemical and physical factors. Mechanical factors are more and more focused these years. Therefore, mimicking mechanical factors' contribution to cancer cell malignancy will greatly improve the advance in this field. Although the induced malignant behaviors are present under many stimuli such as growth or inflammatory factors, the cell key physical migration mechanisms are still missing. In this study, we identify that low shear stress significantly promotes the formation of needle-shaped membrane protrusions, which is called filopodia and important for the sense and interact of a cell with extracellular matrix in the tumor microenvironment. Under low shear stress, the migration is promoted while it is inhibited in the presence of ROCK inhibitor Y27632, which could abolish the F-actin network. Using cell imaging, we further unravel that key to these protrusions is Cell division cycle 42 (Cdc42) dependent. After Cdc42 activation, the filopodia is more and longer, acting as massagers to pass the information from a cell to the microenvironment for its malignant phenotype. In the Cdc42 inhibition, the filopodia is greatly reduced. Moreover, small GTPases Cdc42 rather than Rac1 and Rho directly controls the filopodia formation. Our work highlights that low shear stress and Cdc42 activation are sufficient to promote filopodia formation, it not only points out the novel structure for cancer progression but also provides the experimental physical basis for the efficient drug anti-cancer strategies

Large-Scale Analysis of Framework-Specific Exceptions in Android Apps

Mobile apps have become ubiquitous. For app developers, it is a key priority to ensure their apps' correctness and reliability. However, many apps still suffer from occasional to frequent crashes, weakening their competitive edge. Large-scale, deep analyses of the characteristics of real-world app crashes can provide useful insights to guide developers, or help improve testing and analysis tools. However, such studies do not exist -- this paper fills this gap. Over a four-month long effort, we have collected 16,245 unique exception traces from 2,486 open-source Android apps, and observed that framework-specific exceptions account for the majority of these crashes. We then extensively investigated the 8,243 framework-specific exceptions (which took six person-months): (1) identifying their characteristics (e.g., manifestation locations, common fault categories), (2) evaluating their manifestation via state-of-the-art bug detection techniques, and (3) reviewing their fixes. Besides the insights they provide, these findings motivate and enable follow-up research on mobile apps, such as bug detection, fault localization and patch generation. In addition, to demonstrate the utility of our findings, we have optimized Stoat, a dynamic testing tool, and implemented ExLocator, an exception localization tool, for Android apps. Stoat is able to quickly uncover three previously-unknown, confirmed/fixed crashes in Gmail and Google+; ExLocator is capable of precisely locating the root causes of identified exceptions in real-world apps. Our substantial dataset is made publicly available to share with and benefit the community.Comment: ICSE'18: the 40th International Conference on Software Engineerin

Long-term outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with helical tomotherapy using simultaneous integrated boost technique: A 10-year result

BackgroundTo evaluate the long-term survival and treatment-related toxicities of helical tomotherapy (HT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.MethodsOne hundred and ninety newly diagnosed non-metastatic NPC patients treated with HT from September 2007 to August 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. The dose at D95 prescribed was 70-74Gy, 60-62.7Gy and 52-56Gy delivered in 33 fractions to the primary gross tumor volume (pGTVnx) and positive lymph nodes (pGTVnd), the high risk planning target volume (PTV1), and the low risk planning target volume (PTV2), respectively, using simultaneous integrated boost technique. The statistical analyses were performed and late toxicities were evaluated and scored according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (version 3.0).ResultsThe median follow-up time was 145 months. The 10-year local relapse-free survival (LRFS), nodal relapse-free survival (NRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) were 94%, 95%, 86%, and 77.8%; respectively. Fifty (26.3%) patients had treatment-related failures at the last follow-up visit. Distant metastasis, occurred in 25 patients, was the major failure pattern. Multivariate analysis showed that age and T stage were independent predictors of DMFS and OS, Concomitant chemotherapy improved overall survival, but anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy failed. The most common late toxicities were mainly graded as 1 or 2.ConclusionsHelical tomotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost technique offered excellent long-term outcomes for NPC patients, with mild late treatment-related toxicities. Age and clinical stage were independent predictors of DMFS and OS. And, concurrent chemotherapy means better OS. Further prospective study is needed to confirm the superiority of this technology and to evaluate the roles of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody treatment

NADPH oxidase mediates oxidative stress and ventricular remodeling through SIRT3/FOXO3a pathway in diabetic mice

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are important mechanisms of ventricular remodeling, predisposed to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we have successfully established a model of type 2 diabetes using a high-fat diet (HFD) in combination with streptozotocin (STZ). The mice were divided into three groups of six at random: control, diabetes, and diabetes with apocynin and the H9c2 cell line was used as an in vitro model for investigation. We examined the molecular mechanisms of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation on mitochondrial dysfunction and ventricular remodeling in the diabetic mouse model. Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress led to a reduced expression of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), thereby promoting forkhead box class O 3a (FOXO3a) acetylation in ventricular tissue and H9c2 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction promoted ventricular structural modeling and conduction defects. These alterations were mitigated by inhibiting NADPH oxidase with the pharmaceutical drug apocynin (APO). Apocynin improved SIRT3 and Mn-SOD expression in H9c2 cells transfected with SIRT3 siRNA. In our diabetic mouse model, apocynin improved myocardial mitochondrial function and ROS overproduction through the recovery of the SIRT3/FOXO3a pathway, thereby reducing ventricular remodeling and the incidence of DCM

Effects of biochar and vermicompost on growth and economic benefits of continuous cropping pepper at karst yellow soil region in Southwest China

Recently, biochar (B) and vermicompost (V) have been widely used as amendments to improve crop productivity and soil quality. However, the ameliorative effects of biochar and vermicompost on the continuous cropping of pepper under open-air conditions, particularly in the karst areas of southwestern China, remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of biochar and vermicompost application, alone or in combination, on the yield, quality, nutrient accumulation, fertilizer utilization, and economic benefits of continuous pepper cropping from 2021 to 2022. The experiment included six treatments: CK (no fertilizer), TF (traditional fertilization of local farmers), TFB (TF combined with biochar of 3000 kg·ha-1), TFV (TF combined with vermicompost of 3000 kg·ha-1), TFBV1 (TF combined with biochar of 1500 kg·ha-1 and vermicompost of 1500 kg·ha-1), and TFBV2 (TF combined with biochar of 3000 kg·ha-1 and vermicompost of 3000 kg·ha-1). Compared with the TF treatment, biochar and vermicompost application alone or in combination increased the yield of fresh pod pepper by 24.38–50.03% and 31.61–88.92% in 2021 and 2022, respectively, whereas the yield of dry pod pepper increased by 14.69–40.63% and 21.44–73.29% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The application of biochar and vermicompost reduced the nitrate content and increased the vitamin C (VC) and soluble sugar content of the fruits, which is beneficial for improving their quality. Biochar and vermicompost application alone or in combination not only increased nutrient uptake but also significantly improved agronomic efficiency (AE) and recovery efficiency (RE). In addition, although the application of biochar or vermicompost increased production costs, the increase in yield improved net income (ranging from 0.77 to 22.34% in 2021 and 8.82 to 59.96% in 2022), particularly in the TFBV2 treatment. In conclusion, the use of biochar and vermicompost amendments had a positive effect on the productivity and economic benefits of continuous pepper cropping, and the co-application of biochar and vermicompost could be an effective nutrient management strategy for the continuous cropping of pepper in the karst mountain areas of southwest China

Identification of Renal Long Non-coding RNA RP11-2B6.2 as a Positive Regulator of Type I Interferon Signaling Pathway in Lupus Nephritis

Objective: Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most serious complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Type I interferon (IFN-I) is associated with the pathogenesis of LN. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of SLE, however, the roles of lncRNAs in LN are still poorly understood. Here, we identified and investigated the function of LN-associated lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 in regulating IFN-I signaling pathway.Methods: RNA sequencing was used to analyze the expression of lncRNAs in kidney biopsies from LN patients and controls. Antisense oligonucleotides and CRISPRi system or overexpression plasmids and CRISPRa system were used to perform loss or gain of function experiments. In situ hybridization, imaging flow cytometry, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and ATAC sequencing were used to study the functions of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2. RT-qPCR, ELISA, and western blotting were done to detect RNA and protein levels of specific genes.Results: Elevated lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 was observed in kidney biopsies from LN patients and positively correlated with disease activity and IFN scores. Knockdown of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 in renal cells inhibited the expression of IFN stimulated genes (ISGs), while overexpression of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 enhanced ISG expression. Knockdown of LncRNA RP11-2B6.2 inhibited the phosphorylation of JAK1, TYK2, and STAT1 in IFN-I pathway, while promoted the chromatin accessibility and the transcription of SOCS1.Conclusion: The expression of lncRNAs is abnormal in the kidney of LN. LncRNA RP11-2B6.2 is a novel positive regulator of IFN-I pathway through epigenetic inhibition of SOCS1, which provides a new therapeutic target to alleviate over-activated IFN-I signaling in LN