Robust Latent Representations via Cross-Modal Translation and Alignment

Multi-modal learning relates information across observation modalities of the same physical phenomenon to leverage complementary information. Most multi-modal machine learning methods require that all the modalities used for training are also available for testing. This is a limitation when the signals from some modalities are unavailable or are severely degraded by noise. To address this limitation, we aim to improve the testing performance of uni-modal systems using multiple modalities during training only. The proposed multi-modal training framework uses cross-modal translation and correlation-based latent space alignment to improve the representations of the weaker modalities. The translation from the weaker to the stronger modality generates a multi-modal intermediate encoding that is representative of both modalities. This encoding is then correlated with the stronger modality representations in a shared latent space. We validate the proposed approach on the AVEC 2016 dataset for continuous emotion recognition and show the effectiveness of the approach that achieves state-of-the-art (uni-modal) performance for weaker modalities

TO EVALUATE THE MORPHOLOGICAL AND MORPHOMETRIC FEATURES OF ADULT HUMAN CADAVERIC RIGHT LUNG IN NORTH INDIAN POPULATION

Objectives: In the present study, different morphological and morphometric features of adult human cadaveric right lungs were observed and noted on the predesigned pro forma. Not much of such measurements have been done in the past. The mean values and standard deviations are calculated. The data thus obtained were tabulated scrutinized, analyzed, and compared with the earlier studies wherever possible. If any variant from the normal is observed, an attempt has been made to explain the same on ontogenic or phylogenic basis. Methods: The present study has been conducted on 50 adult human cadaveric right lungs obtained from embalmed cadavers, used for dissection in the department of Anatomy, Govt. Medical College, Amritsar, formed the material for the current study. Results: Majority of the lungs (49 [98%]) were spongy in texture while 1 (2%) lung was firm to touch. It is evident that majority of lungs depicted mottling in the form of black, brown or grey in color in 38%, 28%, and 26% of the specimens, respectively. A complete grey, brown, or brownish black color was seen in 2% lungs each. In one lung yellow mottling was seen which could be because of fat deposition. Length of posterior border (19.9cm) was more as compared to anterior border (17.8 cm). Lungs were measured both along lateral and medial surfaces. Along the lateral surface its mean value was 18.52±3.178 cm (Range 12–25 cm) while along medial surface its mean value was 15.11±2.241 cm (Range 9–23 cm). The mean AP width of right lung at center was 11.05±2.864 cm (Range 7–23 cm) and along inferior border was 13.26±2.743 cm (Range 9–20 cm). The mean mediolateral width was found to be 7.536±2.318 cm with range being 4–15.2 cm. Conclusion: Knowledge of normal measurements of lungs and their variations may help cardiothoracic surgeons to avoid undue complications during surgery. Furthermore, it may help radiologist to resolve perplexed radiographic findings

A RANDOMIZED CASE–CONTROL PILOT STUDY ON THE NEUROCHEMICAL BASIS OF PAIN MODULATION IN PATIENTS WITH MIGRAINE, WHO PRACTICED INTEGRATED AMRITA MEDITATION TECHNIQUE

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the changes in duration and intensity of headache and associated changes in the plasma levels of neurochemicals, serotonin, glutamate, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and nitric oxide (NO) in patients with migraine after 6 months of regular practice of integrated Amrita meditation (IAM). Methods: Sixteen patients aged 18–50 with migraine were randomly assigned to 2 groups, one with standard medical care and IAM, and the other only standard medical care. Data were collected before IAM, after 3 and 6 months of IAM practice Results: After 6 months, a significant decrease in the duration of headache from 2.4±0.54 to 1.4±0.54 (p=0.034) hours and intensity of pain from 3.6±0.54 to 2.6±0.89, (p=0.035) was seen in patients who practiced IAM. Plasma levels of serotonin within the IAM group increased (47.29±26.85 to 53.85±29.73ng/ml), where as there was decrease in glutamate (38.47±8.2 to 29.68±12.57μg/ml), VIP (28.01±13.64 to 22.23±7.79pg/ml) and NO levels (642.26±167.42 to 423.18±97.96μmol/L). A correlating trend was seen in comparison with control group after 6 months showing a statistically significant difference in plasma Serotonin (p value 0.007) and NO (p value-0.023) levels. Discussion: The results of our study have been discussed with other migraine and meditation-related studies. Conclusion: Regular practice of IAM reduces the intensity and duration of headache in migraine patients and is associated with alterations in the neurotransmitter levels

Photosensitized INA-Labelled protein 1 (PhIL1) is novel component of the inner membrane complex and is required for Plasmodium parasite development.

Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria, possess a distinctive membranous structure of flattened alveolar vesicles supported by a proteinaceous network, and referred to as the inner membrane complex (IMC). The IMC has a role in actomyosin-mediated motility and host cell invasion. Here, we examine the location, protein interactome and function of PhIL1, an IMC-associated protein on the motile and invasive stages of both human and rodent parasites. We show that PhIL1 is located in the IMC in all three invasive (merozoite, ookinete-, and sporozoite) stages of development, as well as in the male gametocyte and locates both at the apical and basal ends of ookinete and sporozoite stages. Proteins interacting with PhIL1 were identified, showing that PhIL1 was bound to only some proteins present in the glideosome motor complex (GAP50, GAPM1-3) of both P. falciparum and P. berghei. Analysis of PhIL1 function using gene targeting approaches indicated that the protein is required for both asexual and sexual stages of development. In conclusion, we show that PhIL1 is required for development of all zoite stages of Plasmodium and it is part of a novel protein complex with an overall composition overlapping with but different to that of the glideosome

Is Cross-Attention Preferable to Self-Attention for Multi-Modal Emotion Recognition?

Humans express their emotions via facial expressions, voice intonation and word choices. To infer the nature of the underlying emotion, recognition models may use a single modality, such as vision, audio, and text, or a combination of modalities. Generally, models that fuse complementary information from multiple modalities outperform their uni-modal counterparts. However, a successful model that fuses modalities requires components that can effectively aggregate task-relevant information from each modality. As cross-modal attention is seen as an effective mechanism for multi-modal fusion, in this paper we quantify the gain that such a mechanism brings compared to the corresponding self-attention mechanism. To this end, we implement and compare a cross-attention and a self-attention model. In addition to attention, each model uses convolutional layers for local feature extraction and recurrent layers for global sequential modelling. We compare the models using different modality combinations for a 7-class emotion classification task using the IEMOCAP dataset. Experimental results indicate that albeit both models improve upon the state-of-the-art in terms of weighted and unweighted accuracy for tri- and bi-modal configurations, their performance is generally statistically comparable. The code to replicate the experiments is available at https://github.com/smartcameras/SelfCrossAtt

Morphometric Assessment of Tibial Tuberosity and its Clinical Relevance in Indian Population

Morphometric parameters of tibial tuberosity can be used to guide treatment and monitor outcome of total knee replacement surgeries. Tibial tuberosity being a tractional apophysis can be a site for recurrent avulsion fractures. Morphometric measurements of tibial tuberosity of 100 adult human tibiae were meticulously recorded with the help of Vernier calipers. Student’s t-test was used for statistical analysis with significant level of < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. The mean distance of tibial tuberosity from the anterior border of intercondylar area was found to be more in males on both sides and statistically significant only on right side (p-value=0.020 on right side). The length of upper smooth and lower rough part of tibial tuberosity were statistically significant on right side (p-value=0.001 and 0.019, respectively). Furthermore, comparison between the two sides of upper smooth part of tibial tuberosity showed the difference being statistically significant only in females (p-value= 0.027 in females). The mean values of breadth of upper smooth and lower rough part of tibial tuberosity were found to be statistically significant on both the sides (p-value on right side = 0.009 and on left side=0.002; p-value on right side=0.008 and on left side=0.012). The present study is an endeavor to provide a base line data with reference to unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty in Indian population. The results of this research work assume special importance in view of the technical advancements in reconstructive surgical procedures in orthopedic practice

A case of disseminated superficial porokeratosis associated with giant porokeratosis in pregnancy

A 23-year-old pregnant lady presented with dark raised lesions over face, axillae, and upper limbs of 15-day duration. She was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of onset of the lesions. Dermatological examination revealed hyperpigmented plaques on the face and papules with raised borders in the axillae and proximal arms. Skin biopsy from both the lesions revealed a diagnosis of porokeratosis. She was treated with emollients alone and the lesions regressed four weeks following delivery. This case is being reported for the rare occurrence of the combination of disseminated superficial porokeratosis with giant porokeratosis in pregnancy

Study of injection and transport properties of metal/organic interface using HAT-CN molecules as hole injection layer

1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylene-hexacarbonitrile (HAT-CN) molecule have been studied as hole injection layer for application in organic semiconductor based devices with potential to modify the electronic properties of electrodes due to its strong electron-withdrawing property. Thermally stable hole transport material 2, 7-bis [N, N-bis (4-methoxy-phenyl) amino] -9, 9-spirobifluorene (MeO-Spiro-TPD) has been used to fabricate hole only devices. To make the injection efficient at metal/organic interface and to reduce the driving voltage of the organic devices, the interface has been modified with a thin layer of highly electron accepting HAT-CN material. Modified interface has been investigated at a different range of thicknesses of HAT-CN. This interface modification resulted in the switching of injection limited transport to space charge limited conduction mechanism with the introduction of HAT-CN layer at metal/organic interfaces. The hole injection property has been found to increase with an increase in HAT-CN thickness. When these modified substrates were used as a hole injecting contacts in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), they have shown an increase in current density and device efficiency

Human tibial torsion - Morphometric assessment and clinical relevance

Background: Tibial torsion is an important anatomical parameter in clinical practice and displays variability among individuals. These variations are extremely significant in view of alignment guides such as those related to rotational landmarks of tibia in total knee arthroplasty. Further, precise knowledge and information pertaining to angle of tibial torsion also helps in correction of traumatic malunion or congenital maltorsion of tibia. Methods: The present study was carried out to determine the angle of tibial torsion in 100 adult dry tibia bones in the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Amritsar. The study group comprised 50 males and 50 females with equal number of right- and left-sided bones. The measurements were meticulously recorded and the data were subjected to statistical analysis. The results were analyzed and discussed in the light of existing literature. Results: On the right side, it was found to be 29.84° ± 4.86°° (range = 22.00° -38.00°) in males and 28.92° ± 5.10°° (range = 15.00°-38.00°) in females. On the left side, it was found to be 28.00° ± 4.94°° (range = 20.00°-40.00°°) in males and 28.12° ± 4.28°° (range = 20.00°-37.00°°) in females. Conclusion: The present study is an endeavor to provide baseline data with reference to the angle of tibial torsion in the Indian population. The results of the study assume special importance in view of the technical advancements in reconstructive surgical procedures in orthopedic practice