Search

In the scenario of class-incremental learning (CIL), deep neural networks have to adapt their model parameters to non-stationary data distributions, e.g., the emergence of new classes over time. However, CIL models are challenged by the well-known catastrophic forgetting phenomenon. Typical methods such as rehearsal-based ones rely on storing exemplars of old classes to mitigate catastrophic forgetting, which limits real-world applications considering memory resources and privacy issues. In this paper, we propose a novel rehearsal-free CIL approach that learns continually via the synergy between two Complementary Learning Subnetworks. Our approach involves jointly optimizing a plastic CNN feature extractor and an analytical feed-forward classifier. The inaccessibility of historical data is tackled by holistically controlling the parameters of a well-trained model, ensuring that the decision boundary learned fits new classes while retaining recognition of previously learned classes. Specifically, the trainable CNN feature extractor provides task-dependent knowledge separately without interference; and the final classifier integrates task-specific knowledge incrementally for decision-making without forgetting. In each CIL session, it accommodates new tasks by attaching a tiny set of declarative parameters to its backbone, in which only one matrix per task or one vector per class is kept for knowledge retention. Extensive experiments on a variety of task sequences show that our method achieves competitive results against state-of-the-art methods, especially in accuracy gain, memory cost, training efficiency, and task-order robustness. Furthermore, to make the non-growing backbone (i.e., a model with limited network capacity) suffice to train on more incoming tasks, a graceful forgetting implementation on previously learned trivial tasks is empirically investigated., 13 pages, 4 figures. Under review

Continual learning can incrementally absorb new concepts without interfering with previously learned knowledge. Motivated by the characteristics of neural networks, in which information is stored in weights on connections, we investigated how to design an Innately Forgetting-Free Network (IF2Net) for continual learning context. This study proposed a straightforward yet effective learning paradigm by ingeniously keeping the weights relative to each seen task untouched before and after learning a new task. We first presented the novel representation-level learning on task sequences with random weights. This technique refers to tweaking the drifted representations caused by randomization back to their separate task-optimal working states, but the involved weights are frozen and reused (opposite to well-known layer-wise updates of weights). Then, sequential decision-making without forgetting can be achieved by projecting the output weight updates into the parsimonious orthogonal space, making the adaptations not disturb old knowledge while maintaining model plasticity. IF2Net allows a single network to inherently learn unlimited mapping rules without telling task identities at test time by integrating the respective strengths of randomization and orthogonalization. We validated the effectiveness of our approach in the extensive theoretical analysis and empirical study., 16 pages, 8 figures. Under review

Multi-view learning (MVL) has gained great success in integrating information from multiple perspectives of a dataset to improve downstream task performance. To make MVL methods more practical in an open-ended environment, this paper investigates a novel paradigm called multi-view class incremental learning (MVCIL), where a single model incrementally classifies new classes from a continual stream of views, requiring no access to earlier views of data. However, MVCIL is challenged by the catastrophic forgetting of old information and the interference with learning new concepts. To address this, we first develop a randomization-based representation learning technique serving for feature extraction to guarantee their separate view-optimal working states, during which multiple views belonging to a class are presented sequentially; Then, we integrate them one by one in the orthogonality fusion subspace spanned by the extracted features; Finally, we introduce selective weight consolidation for learning-without-forgetting decision-making while encountering new classes. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets validate the effectiveness of our approach., 34 pages,4 figures. Under review

IntroductionChimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has achieved unprecedented efficacy recently. However, the factors related to responses and durable remission are elusive. This study was to investigate the impact of pre-lymphodepletion (pre-LD) absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) on CAR T cell therapy outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of 84 patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (R/R DLBCL) who underwent CAR T cell treatment at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University between March 1,2016 and December 31, 2021. The enrolled patients were divided into high group and low group according to the optimal cutoff value of pre-LD ALC. The Kaplan-Meier analyses was used to calculate survival curves. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis to assess the prognostic factors.ResultsThe ROC showed that the optimal cutoff value of pre-LD ALC was 1.05 x 109/L. The overall response (defined as partial response or complete response) rate was significantly higher in patients with a high pre-LD ALC (75% versus 52.08%; P=0.032). Patients with a low pre-LD ALC had significantly inferior overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared with those having a high pre-LD ALC (median OS, 9.6 months versus 45.17 months [P=0.008]; median PFS, 4.07 months versus 45.17 months [P= 0.030]). Meanwhile, low pre-LD ALC is an independent risk factor for PFS and OS.DiscussionThe data suggested that pre-LD ALC may serve as a helpful indicator to predict the outcomes of CAR T cell therapy in patients with R/R DLBCL.

As a class of randomized learner model, stochastic configuration networks (SCNs) have been successfully applied in a few data analytics tasks. Given the industrial big data modeling tasks, however, the original SCNs potentially lead to excessive training time. To this end, this paper extends SCNs to a hybrid parallel version, termed HPSCNs. In the hybrid parallel learning algorithm, two SCNs are synchronously constructed. The difference between the two of them is that one employs a point-incremental algorithm, and another one adopts a block-incremental algorithm. Moreover, a data parallel method is established based on a dynamic block strategy to accelerate the establishment of candidate node pool for each SCN. Additionally, this paper proposes an adaptive hyperparameter adjustment method, which allows the hyperparameters in the supervisory mechanism to be automatically adjusted along with the learning process. Comparative experiments are first conducted through four large-scale benchmark datasets, followed by the fully discussion on the algorithm parameters. Finally, a practical industrial application case is made, where a grinding particle size soft sensor is developed based on HPSCN, showing the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Background Splenic diffuse red pulp small B-cell lymphoma (SDRPSBCL) is rare and accounts for less than 1% of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As the first or accompanying symptoms of SDRPSBCL, gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) is rather unusual. Patients and Methods We reported on a patient with SDRPSBCL complicated with GIH. According to the enteroscopy, pathological sections of spleen and intestine, immunohistochemistry and other related laboratory examinations, the patient was diagnosed as SDRPSBCL (stage IVb) complicated with colon and rectal ulcers. The clinical manifestations were hematochezia, unformed stool, continuous anal pain and poor quality of life. Subsequently, the patient was treated by six cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine + hydroprednisone) regimens. The clinical features, diagnosis and treatment were analyzed retrospectively and the relevant literatures were reviewed. Results After the first course of chemotherapy, the patient did not have any more bloody stool and the stool was shaped. After six cycles of chemotherapy, the patient’s anus was no longer painful and he has been in complete remission according to the result of positron emission tomography CT. Conclusion Through analysis of this case, we could elucidate that after the primary disease was alleviated, the bleeding degree of digestive tract was relieved, which provided the basis for the clinical treatment of this rare disease.

Yanqiu Xu,1,* Xiaohui Fan,1,* Cai Sun,2 Lingling Yin,2 Tingting Qiu,2 Jieyun Xia,2 Xiaomin Zhong,3 Linyan Xu,1,4 Depeng Li,2 Zhenyu Li,1,2,4 Feng Zhu,1,2 Kailin Xu1,2,4 1Blood Disease Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221002, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221002, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Oncology, Affiliated Huai’an First People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province 223300, People’s Republic of China; 4Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221002, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Feng ZhuDepartment of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, 99, West Huaihai Road, Quanshan District, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221002, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 516 8580 6985Fax +86 516 8580 1527Email frankfeng_2004@126.comBackground: Splenic diffuse red pulp small B-cell lymphoma (SDRPSBCL) is rare and accounts for less than 1% of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As the first or accompanying symptoms of SDRPSBCL, gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) is rather unusual.Patients and Methods: We reported on a patient with SDRPSBCL complicated with GIH. According to the enteroscopy, pathological sections of spleen and intestine, immunohistochemistry and other related laboratory examinations, the patient was diagnosed as SDRPSBCL (stage IVb) complicated with colon and rectal ulcers. The clinical manifestations were hematochezia, unformed stool, continuous anal pain and poor quality of life. Subsequently, the patient was treated by six cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine + hydroprednisone) regimens. The clinical features, diagnosis and treatment were analyzed retrospectively and the relevant literatures were reviewed.Results: After the first course of chemotherapy, the patient did not have any more bloody stool and the stool was shaped. After six cycles of chemotherapy, the patient’s anus was no longer painful and he has been in complete remission according to the result of positron emission tomography CT.Conclusion: Through analysis of this case, we could elucidate that after the primary disease was alleviated, the bleeding degree of digestive tract was relieved, which provided the basis for the clinical treatment of this rare disease.Keywords: splenic diffuse red pulp small B-cell lymphoma, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, symptom, diagnosis, chemotherapy

Synergistic effects of intumescent flame retardant and nano-CaCO3 on foamability and flame retardant property of polypropylene composites and their foams were carefully investigated. The differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the intumescent flame retardant played a plasticizing effect on the polypropylene/intumescent flame-retardant composites and accelerated the crystallization rate. The rheological properties and supercritical CO2-assisted molding foaming behaviors of the polypropylene/intumescent flame retardant/nano-CaCO3 composites showed that the nano-CaCO3 could enhance their foamability. Scanning electron microscopy pictures and mechanical properties of the polypropylene/intumescent flame-retardant composites foams indicated that the agglomeration of intumescent flame retardant would reduce the cell uniformity and even cause the cell collapse. Furthermore, the stress concentration, caused by the agglomeration, could reduce the mechanical properties of the PP composites foams. The synergistic effect of the nano-CaCO3 could improve the cell uniformity and reduce the stress concentration so that the mechanical properties of the polypropylene/intumescent flame retardant /nano-CaCO3 composites foams were improved. Moreover, the polypropylene/intumescent flame retardant/nano-CaCO3 composites foams had the higher limit oxygen index values than the polypropylene/intumescent flame-retardant foams. TGA results also showed that the nano-CaCO3 could improve the thermal stability of the polypropylene composites foams by forming compact carbon layer. The experimental results indicated that the foamability of the polypropylene composites and the flame-retardant property of their foams could be improved by the synergistic effects of intumescent flame retardant and nano-CaCO3.

Characterization and forecasting in fractured reservoirs is one of the most challenging topics in oil and gas industry. Due to significant difference of fluid flow mechanism in fracture and in matrix, managing such reservoirs requires construction of representative reservoir models. Dual porosity & dual permeability model (DPDP) is the first choice of fractured reservoirs, but history matching and plan prediction of this model facing poor convergence and long running time. Other models like dual porosity & single permeability model (DPSP), single porosity & single permeability model (SPSP) sometimes can replace DPDP and can be able to improve convergence and save calculation time, but lack of model equivalence criterion. In this study, 84 cases of 4 reservoir models has been built and simulated to study the equivalence criterion. Permeability difference and oil viscosity are considered to be the main influencing factors affecting model equivalence. With the application of the equivalence criterion, weak convergence and time consuming of fractured reservoir simulation can be improved.

A novel anti-tumor agent 4-thio-5-(2′′-thienyl)uridine (6) was synthesized and the in vitro cytotoxicity activity against mice colon cancer cells (MC-38) and human colon cancer cells (HT-29) was evaluated by MTT assay. The results showed that the novel compound had antiproliferative activity toward MC-38 and HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry indicated that compound 6 exerted in tumor cell proliferation inhibition by arresting HT-29 cells in the G2/M phase. In addition, cell death detected by propidium iodide staining showed that compound 6 efficiently induced cell apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, the sensitivity of human fibroblast cells to compound 6 was far lower than that of tumor cells, suggesting the specific anti-tumor effect of 4-thio-5-(2′′-thienyl)uridine. Taken together, novel compound 6 effectively inhibits colon cancer cell proliferation, and hence would have potential value in clinical application as an antitumor agent.

This paper is devoted to the $L^p$ ($p>1$) solutions of one-dimensional backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs for short) with general time intervals and generators satisfying some non-uniform conditions in $t$ and $\omega$. An existence and uniqueness result, a comparison theorem and an existence result for the minimal solutions are respectively obtained, which considerably improve some known works. Some classical techniques used to deal with the existence and uniqueness of $L^p$ ($p>1$) solutions of BSDEs with Lipschitz or linear-growth generators are also developed in this paper., Comment: 16 pages

This paper is devoted to the $L^p$ ($p>1$) solutions of one-dimensional backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs for short) with general time intervals and generators satisfying some non-uniform conditions in $t$ and $��$. An existence and uniqueness result, a comparison theorem and an existence result for the minimal solutions are respectively obtained, which considerably improve some known works. Some classical techniques used to deal with the existence and uniqueness of $L^p$ ($p>1$) solutions of BSDEs with Lipschitz or linear-growth generators are also developed in this paper., 16 pages

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a valuable therapeutic strategy for a wide variety of diseases. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a major complication in up to 75% of allo-HSCT. The absence of a reliable predicative marker for aGVHD onset prevents preemptive treatment and impedes widespread and successful application of this therapy. In this study we found that after allo-HSCT, the levels of miR-181a were reduced significantly prior to the onset of aGVHD. More importantly, the degree of its reduction correlated with the severity of aGVHD. Mechanistically, miR-181a affects the function of T lymphocytes by down-regulating IFN-γ in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, we confirmed that miR-181a can effectively preserve the anti-leukemic effect in vitro. Using a murine allo-HSCT model, we demonstrated that murine miR-181b, the human miR-181a homolog, served as an effective predictor of aGVHD. Moreover, expression of this microRNA ameliorated the severity of aGVHD. Collectively, these results show that the level of miR-181a may serve as a reliable marker for the diagnosis and prognosis the onset of aGVHD. Am. J. Hematol. 90:998-1007, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

(E)-4-Thio-5-(2-brominevinyl)uridine/2'-deoxyuridine(8a/8b) were efficiently and in an environmental friendly way synthesized from uridine/2'-deoxyuridine (1a/1b) that were first transformed to (E)-(2-brominevinyl) uridine / 2'-deoxyuridine(5a/5b) via iodination, selective oxidation, Heck reaction steps. The resulting products (5a/5b) were then converted to the targets (8a/8b) through esterification, thio-reaction of carbonyl, hydrolysis steps. Two new compounds (8a/8b) and three new intermediates (7a 7b 10) were obtained, and their structures have been fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR, UV, HR-MS, X-Ray. The study of 8a and their derivatives regarding cytotoxicity was carried out by using MTT experiment method, and the initial findings suggest (E)-4-Thio-5-(2-brominevinyl) uridine/ 2'-deoxyuridine (8a / 8b) would be potential antitumor drugs.

Magnolol, a hydroxylated biphenyl compound isolated from Magnolia officinalis has been reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of magnolol on acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice. Male BALB/c mice were pretreated with dexamethasone or magnolol 1 h before intranasal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). 7 h after LPS administration, the myeloperoxidase in lung tissues, lung wet/dry weight ratio and inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were determined. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The extent of phosphorylation of nuclear factor of inhibitory kappa B alpha (IκB-α), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) p65 and the expression of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) were detected by western blot. The results showed that magnolol markedly attenuated the histological alterations in the lung; reduced the number of total cells, neutrophils, and macrophages in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; decreased the wet/dry weight ratio of lungs in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; down-regulated the level of pro-inflammatory mediators, including TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6; inhibited the phosphorylation of IκB-α, NF-κB p65 and the expression of TLR4, caused by LPS. Taken together, our results suggest that anti-inflammatory effects of magnolol against the LPS-induced acute lung injury may be due to its ability of inhibition TLR4 mediated NF-κB signaling pathways. Magnolol may be a promising potential therapeutic reagent for acute lung injury treatment.