Robust Watermarking Using Inverse Gradient Attention

Watermarking is the procedure of encoding desired information into an image to resist potential noises while ensuring the embedded image has little perceptual perturbations from the original image. Recently, with the tremendous successes gained by deep neural networks in various fields, digital watermarking has attracted increasing number of attentions. The neglect of considering the pixel importance within the cover image of deep neural models will inevitably affect the model robustness for information hiding. Targeting at the problem, in this paper, we propose a novel deep watermarking scheme with Inverse Gradient Attention (IGA), combing the ideas of adversarial learning and attention mechanism to endow different importance to different pixels. With the proposed method, the model is able to spotlight pixels with more robustness for embedding data. Besides, from an orthogonal point of view, in order to increase the model embedding capacity, we propose a complementary message coding module. Empirically, extensive experiments show that the proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on two prevalent datasets under multiple settings.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Duration of untreated psychosis is associated with temporal and occipitotemporal gray matter volume decrease in treatment naive schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is associated with poor treatment outcome. Whether or not DUP is related to brain gray matter volume abnormalities in antipsychotic medication treatment naive schizophrenia remains unclear at this time. METHODS: Patients with treatment-naive schizophrenia and healthy controls went through brain scan using high resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging. DUP was evaluated using the Nottingham Onset Schedule (NOS), and dichotomized as short DUP ( 26 weeks). Voxel-based methods were used for volumetric measure in the brain. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients (27 short DUP and 30 long DUP) and 30 healthy controls were included in the analysis. There were significant gray matter volumetric differences among the 3 groups in bilateral parahippocampus gyri, right superior temporal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and right superior frontal gyrus (p\u27s \u3c 0.01). Compared with healthy controls, the long DUP group had significantly smaller volume in all these regions (p\u27s \u3c 0.05). Compared with the short-DUP group, the long-DUP group had significantly smaller volume in right superior temporal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus (p\u27s \u3c 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that DUP is associated with temporal and occipitotemporal gray matter volume decrease in treatment naive schizophrenia. The brain structural changes in untreated psychosis might contribute to poor treatment response and long-term prognosis in this patient population

Dietary Restriction Induced Longevity is Mediated by Nuclear Receptor NHR-62 in Caenorhabditis elegans

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in a wide variety of species, yet the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here we show that the C. elegans HNF4a- related nuclear hormone receptor NHR-62 is required for metabolic and physiologic responses associated with DR-induced longevity. nhr-62 mediates the longevity of eat- 2 mutants, a genetic mimetic of dietary restriction, and blunts the longevity response of DR induced by bacterial food dilution at low nutrient levels. Metabolic changes associated with DR, including decreased Oil Red O staining, increased autophagy, and changes in fatty acid composition are partly reversed by mutation of nhr-62. Expression profiles reveal that several hundred genes induced by DR depend on the activity of NHR-62, including a putative lipase required for the DR response. This study provides critical evidence that nuclear hormone receptors regulate the DR response, suggesting hormonal and metabolic control of life span

Cancer type-specific modulation of mitochondrial haplogroups in breast, colorectal and thyroid cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups and single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNP) have been shown to play a role in various human conditions including aging and some neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases and cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To investigate whether mtDNA haplogroups contribute to the occurrence of cancer in a specific Chinese population, we have carried out a comprehensive case-control study of mtDNA from large cohorts of patients with three common cancer types, namely, colorectal cancer (n = 108), thyroid cancer (n = 100) and breast cancer (n = 104), in Wenzhou, a southern Chinese city in the Zhejiang Province.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that patients with mtDNA haplogroup M exhibited an increased risk of breast cancer occurrence [OR = 1.77; 95% CI (1.03-3.07); P = 0.040], and that this risk was even more pronounced in a sub-haplogroup of M, D5 [OR = 3.11; 95%CI (1.07-9.06); p = 0.030]. In spite of this, in patients with breast cancer, haplogroup M was decreased in the metastatic group. On the other hand, our results also showed that haplogroup D4a was associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer [OR = 3.00; 95%CI (1.09-8.29); p = 0.028]. However, no significant correlation has been detected between any mtDNA haplogroups and colorectal cancer occurrence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our investigation indicates that mitochondrial haplogroups could have a tissue-specific, population-specific and stage-specific role in modulating cancer development.</p

Fibre Bragg grating inscription into a seven core fibre and its application as a vector bending sensor

This paper demonstrates a highly effective method for fibre Bragg grating (FBG) inscription into a seven core fibre (7CF) and its application as an effective vector bending sensor. The development of multicore fibres (MCFs) and enabling the fabrication of FBGs into them result in a solution for multi-parameter measurements such as temperature/strain/bending/twist. The FBG in the central core of 7CF is on the neutral axis and therefore it is sensitive only to thermal and insensitive to deformational change, whereas the FBGs in the none-central cores that are evenly distributed over the 7CF cross-section can facilitate the measurement of structure deformation, such as bending, loading and twist. Furthermore, the FBGs in different cores respond to the physical perturbations differently in various orientations, offering vector sensing to measure both amplitude and direction of the structure change. The 7CF-FBG sensors are highly applicable for mechanical structures and flexible medical instruments

Breast-conserving surgery without axillary surgery and radiation versus mastectomy plus axillary dissection in elderly breast cancer patients: A retrospective study

BackgroundThe high relative mortality rate in elderly breast cancer patients is most likely the result of comorbidities rather than the tumor load. Foregoing axillary lymph node dissection or omitting radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) does not affect the prognosis of elderly breast cancer patients. We sought to assess the safety of breast-conserving surgery without axillary lymph node dissection as well as breast and axillary radiotherapy (BCSNR) in elderly patients with early-stage breast cancer.MethodsWe retrospectively included 541 consecutive breast cancer patients aged over 70 years with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes in one clinical center. Of these patients, 181 underwent mastectomy plus axillary lymph node dissection (MALND) with negative axillary cleaning and 360 underwent BCSNR.ResultsAfter a median follow-up of 5 years, there was no significant difference between the BCSNR and MALND groups in either distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS) (p=0.990) or breast cancer-specific survival (p=0.076). Ipsilateral axillary disease was found in 11 (3.1%) patients in the BCSNR group and 3 (1.7%) patients in the MALND group; this difference was not significant (p=0.334). We did not observe a significant difference in distant recurrence between the groups (p=0.574), with 25 (6.9%) patients in the BCSNR group experiencing distant recurrence compared to 15 (8.3%) patients in the MALND group. Our findings did show a significant difference in ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence (IBTR), with 31 (8.6%) patients in the BCSNR group experiencing IBTR compared to only 2 (1.1%) patients in the MALND group (p=0.003).ConclusionBCSNR is a safe treatment option for elderly breast cancer patients with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes

Experimental investigation of photocatalytic effects of concrete in air purification adopting entire concrete waste reuse model

This research investigated the capacities of recycled aggregate concrete adopting entire concrete waste reuse model in degrading NO2. Two major issues within environmental sustainability were addressed: concrete waste reuse rate and mitigation of hazards substances in the polluted air. The study consisted of two stages: identification of proper replacement rates of recycled concrete wastes in new concrete mixture design, and the evaluation of photocatalytic performance of recycled aggregate concrete in degrading NO2. It was found that replacement rates up to 3%, 30%, and 50% for recycled power, recycled fine aggregate, and recycled coarse aggregate respectively could be applied in concrete mixture design without deteriorating concrete strength. Recycled aggregates contained both positive attributes (“internal curing”) and negative effects (e.g., lower hardness) to concrete properties. It was found that 30% to 50% of natural coarse aggregate replaced by recycled coarse aggregates coated with TiO2 would significantly improve the photocatalytic performance of concrete measured by degradation rate of NO2. Micro-structures of recycled aggregates observed under microscope indicated that soaking recycled aggregates in TiO2 solution resulted in whiskers that filled the porosity within recycled aggregates which enhanced concrete strength

A convenient co-precipitation method to prepare high performance LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 cathode for lithium ion batteries

Abstract(#br)A convenient and fast strategy to construct multistage spherical LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 by coprecipitation and following gradient temperature calcination has been developed. Considering about the effect of reaction kinetics, ethanol and water were used as co-solvent to accelerate the crystallite nucleation and reduce the reaction time. The precursors could be obtained within an hour with ethanol/water proportion of 1:3. Due to the synergistic effect of nanoscale primary particles and assembled micro-spheres of hierarchical LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 product, the material showed high electrochemical properties as cathode for lithium ion batteries. The cathode delivered 141 mAh g −1 at 1 C and maintained 94.2% after 200 cycles. Even at 10 C, 114 mAh g −1 could be retained. Furthermore, the full cell with Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 delivered 132.4 mAh g −1 at 1 C and kept 92.4% retention after 200 cycles. And the product at 55 °C also exhibited 133.2 mAh g −1 at 1 C and kept 93.2% after 100 cycles

Development and validation of a risk score model for predicting autism based on pre- and perinatal factors

BackgroundThe use of pre- and perinatal risk factors as predictive factors may lower the age limit for reliable autism prediction. The objective of this study was to develop a clinical model based on these risk factors to predict autism.MethodsA stepwise logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between 28 candidate risk factors and autism risk among 615 Han Chinese children with autism and 615 unrelated typically developing children. The significant factors were subsequently used to create a clinical risk score model. A chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID) decision tree was used to validate the selected predictors included in the model. The predictive performance of the model was evaluated by an independent cohort.ResultsFive factors (pregnancy influenza-like illness, pregnancy stressors, maternal allergic/autoimmune disease, cesarean section, and hypoxia) were found to be significantly associated with autism risk. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that the risk score model had good discrimination ability for autism, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.711 (95% CI=0.679-0.744); in the external validation cohort, the model showed slightly worse but overall similar predictive performance. Further subgroup analysis indicated that a higher risk score was associated with more behavioral problems. The risk score also exhibited robustness in a subgroup analysis of patients with mild autism.ConclusionThis risk score model could lower the age limit for autism prediction with good discrimination performance, and it has unique advantages in clinical application