Optimal layer selection for latent data augmentation.

While data augmentation (DA) is generally applied to input data, several studies have reported that applying DA to hidden layers in neural networks, i.e., feature augmentation, can improve performance.

Discovery of the final primitive Frank-Kasper phase of clathrate hydrates.

In weakly bound materials such as water, one of the three primitive Frank-Kasper (FK) phases, the Z phase, is long absent due to the relatively unstable framework. The Z phase in clathrate hydrate, which is known as the HS-I structure, has now been found by precise tuning of the molecular guest structure. In the crystal structure, the never stabilized combination water cage of two 15-hedra and two 14-hedra formed with its original symmetries, providing sufficient gas capacity to the 12-hedral cages.

Booster responses by oral vaccination with transgenic plants against chicken leucocytozoonosis.

We developed a transgenic potato (TrP/R7) expressing the recombinant R7 (rR7) antigen for use as an oral vaccine to protect against a chicken protozoan disease, chicken leucocytozoonosis. The TrP/R7 potato was produced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and regeneration, and the R7 gene insertion into potato chromosomes was confirmed by genomic polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization. rR7 antigen expression in TrP/R7 potato was also confirmed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting using an antibody against the second-generation schizont of Leucocytozoon caulleryi.

Ability of orally administered IFN-α4 to inhibit naturally occurring gingival inflammation in dogs.

It has been reported that type I interferons (IFN-α/β) play an important role in innate immune responses against viral and bacterial infections. In this study, we used and examined naturally occurred canine periodontal disease to show the therapeutic efficacy of low dose oral administration (LDOA) of canine IFN-α subtype 4 (CaIFN-α4). We administered purified recombinant CaIFN-α4 expressed in a baculovirus system to dogs with or without gingival inflammation.

Production of immunogenic VP6 protein of bovine group A rotavirus in transgenic potato plants.

We report here the production of transgenic potato plants expressing the major capsid protein VP6 of bovine group A rotavirus (GAR). Transgenic plants under the control of a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, or a modified promoter linked to the tobacco mosaic virus 5'-untranslated sequence were positive for GAR antigens by ELISA. The expressed protein was consistent in size with VP6 of GAR by Western blot assay.