Domain adaptation based on rough adjoint inconsistency and optimal transport for identifying autistic patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Computer aided diagnosis technology has been widely used to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from neural images. The performance of the model usually depends largely on a sufficient number of training samples that reflect the real sample distribution. Due to the lack of labelled neural images data, multisite data are often pooled together to expand the sample size. However, the heterogeneity among sites will inevitably lead to a decline in the generalization of models. To solve this problem, we propose a multisource unsupervised domain adaptation method using rough adjoint inconsistency and optimal transport. METHODS: First, we define the concept of rough adjoint inconsistency and propose a double quantization method based on rough adjoint inconsistency and Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory to estimate the weight coefficient of each source domain to accurately describe the importance of each source domain to the target domain. Second, using optimal transport theory, we weaken the data distribution differences between domains and solve the problem of class imbalance by adjusting the sampling weights among classes. RESULTS: The ASD recognition accuracy of the proposed method is improved on all eight tasks, which are 70.67%, 64.86%, 62.50%, 70.80%, 73.08%, 71.19%, 75.41% and 75.76%, respectively. Our proposed model achieves superior performance compared to traditional machine learning methods and other recently proposed deep learning model. CONCLUSIONS: Our method demonstrates that the fusion of rough adjoint inconsistency and optimal transport can be a powerful tool for identifying ASD and quantifying the correlations between domains.

Mitigation Effects of Bentonite and Yeast Cell Wall Binders on AFB1, DON, and OTA Induced Changes in Laying Hen Performance, Egg Quality, and Health.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mycotoxin binders in reducing the adverse effects of co-occurring dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA) on laying hens. Three hundred and sixty 26-week-old Roman laying hens were randomly allocated into four experimental groups with 10 replicates of nine birds each. The four groups received either a basal diet (BD; Control), a BD supplemented with 0.15 mg/kg AFB1 + 1.5 mg/kg DON + 0.12 mg/kg OTA (Toxins), a BD + Toxins with Toxo-HP binder (Toxins + HP), or a BD + Toxins with TOXO XL binder (Toxins + XL) for 12 weeks. Compared to the control, dietary supplementation of mycotoxins decreased (P < 0.10) total feed intake, total egg weight, and egg-laying rate, but increased feed/egg ratio by 2.5-6.1% and mortality during various experimental periods. These alterations induced by mycotoxins were alleviated by supplementation with both TOXO HP and XL binders (P < 0.10). Furthermore, dietary mycotoxins reduced (P < 0.05) eggshell strength by 12.3% and caused an accumulation of 249 µg/kg of DON in eggs at week 12, while dietary supplementation with TOXO HP or XL mitigated DON-induced changes on eggshell strength and prevented accumulation of DON in eggs (P < 0.05). Moreover, dietary mycotoxins increased relative liver weight, but decreased spleen and proventriculus relative weights by 11.6-22.4% (P < 0.05). Mycotoxin exposure also increased alanine aminotransferase activity and reduced immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgM, and IgG concentrations in serum by 9.2-26.1% (P < 0.05). Additionally, mycotoxin exposure induced histopathological damage and reduced villus height, villus height/crypt depth, and crypt depth in duodenum, jejunum and (or) ileum (P < 0.05). Notably, most of these histological changes were mitigated by supplementation with both TOXO HP and XL (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the mycotoxin binders TOXO HP and XL can help to mitigate the combined effects of AFB1, DON, and OTA on laying hen performance, egg quality, and health.

Yeast culture promotes the production of aged laying hens by improving intestinal digestive enzyme activities and the intestinal health status.

Yeast culture (YC) positively affects the performance of laying hens. The purpose of the present study was to explore the underlying mechanism for the YC-mediated performance improvement. Sixty 67-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly allocated into 2 experimental groups with 5 replicates of 6 birds each. One group was fed a control diet, whereas the other received the control diet supplemented with YC at 3.0 g/kg; treatment lasted for 8 wk. The results showed that dietary YC supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the total egg weight (11.2-13.6%) and egg-laying rate (13.0-13.5%) but decreased (P < 0.05) the feed/egg ratio by 9.3 to 11.0% during weeks 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 compared with the control. However, egg quality, including eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, egg weight, albumen height, egg yolk color, and Haugh unit, was not affected (P > 0.05) by YC supplementation. Furthermore, dietary YC supplementation increased (P < 0.05) chymotrypsin and ɑ-amylase activities by 54.8 to 62.5% in the duodenal chyme and reduced (P < 0.05) plasma endotoxin by 44.1%. YC dietary supplementation also upregulated (P < 0.05) the mRNA levels of intestinal barrier-related genes (occludin and claudin 1) and antimicrobial peptides genes (ß-defensin 1 and 7 and cathelicidin 1 and 3) in the duodenum or jejunum compared with the control. In conclusion, dietary YC supplementation improved the performance of aged laying hens, potentially through the upregulation of intestinal digestive enzyme activities and intestinal health-related gene expression.

[FSH, LH, PRL, E2 and T in 8-17 year old males: investigation and analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) in male adolescents of different ages by determining their levels in 8-17 years old boys. METHODS: We included in this study 627 male adolescents aged 8-17 years and qualified through physical examinations. All the subjects underwent determination of FSH, LH, PRL, E2 and T with an automatic ACCESS microparticle chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer and detection of liquid quality control by immunoassay. RESULTS: FSH remained at a low level in the 8-10 years old male adolescents and increased at 11 years; the levels of LH and T were low before the age of 12 years and began to increase at 13 years; and that of E2 was low before the age of 13 years and began to rise after that, all with statistically significant differences (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In the male adolescents, FSH, LH and T significantly increased at 11, 12 and 13 years old, respectively, which marked the beginning of sexual development.