We incorporate an explicit neural interlingua into a multilingual encoder-decoder neural machine translation (NMT) architecture. We demonstrate that our model learns a languageindependent representation by performing direct zero-shot translation (without using pivot translation), and by using the source sentence embeddings to create an English Yelp review classifier that, through the mediation of the neural interlingua, can also classify French and German reviews. Furthermore, we show that, despite using a smaller number of parameters than a pairwise collection of bilingual NMT models, our approach produces comparable BLEU scores for each language pair in WMT15.

Development of noninvasive techniques to discover new biomarkers in the live brain is important to further understand the underlying metabolic pathways of significance for processes such as anesthesia-induced apoptosis and cognitive dysfunction observed in the undeveloped brain. We used in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and two different signal processing approaches to test the hypothesis that volatile (isoflurane) and intravenous (propofol) anesthetics at equipotent doses produce distinct metabolomic profiles in the hippocampus and parietal cortex of the live rodent. For both brain regions, prolonged isoflurane anesthesia was characterized by higher levels of lactate (Lac) and glutamate compared with long-lasting propofol. In contrast, propofol anesthesia was characterized by very low concentrations of Lac ([lac]) as well as glucose. Quantitative analysis revealed that the [lac] was fivefold higher with isoflurane compared with propofol anesthesia and independent of [lac] in blood. The metabolomic profiling further demonstrated that for both brain regions, Lac was the most important metabolite for the observed differences, suggesting activation of distinct metabolic pathways that may impact mechanisms of action, background cellular functions, and possible agent-specific neurotoxicity.

Our results demonstrating higher glucose and lactate with sevoflurane in the human brain compared with propofol could reflect greater neuronal activity with sevofluane resulting in enhanced glutamate-neurotransmitter cycling, increased glycolysis, and lactate shuttling from astrocytes to neurons or mitochondrial dysfunction. Further, the association between emergence delirium and lactate suggests that anesthesia-induced enhanced cortical activity in the unconscious state may interfere with rapid return to "coherent" brain connectivity patterns required for normal cognition upon emergence of anesthesia.

P roton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 HMRS) can track biochemical abnormalities that precede or are directly associated with pathologic changes. When 1 HMRS was used in studies on the rodent brain, isoflurane anesthesia was characterized by a higher concentration of lactate, glutamate, and glucose compared with propofol. In this study, 1 HMRS was used to characterize the cerebral metabolic status in children undergoing general anesthesia for a routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.The 59 children, aged 2 to 7 years, were scheduled for an MRI under general anesthesia. They were randomized to receive either propofol (group P) or sevoflurane (group S) anesthesia. All received an inhalational mask induction for 1 to 2 minutes with sevoflurane. Children given propofol anesthesia were converted to an intravenous propofol infusion with oxygen via a nasal cannula; the average infusion rate was 165 T 17 Kg/kg per minute. In group S, the airway was secured, and sevoflurane was titrated to 1 to 1.5 minimum alveolar concentration (3.1%). All children received intravenous normal saline (10Y20 mL/kg) during the procedure. The 1 HMRS scans were acquired in the parietal cortex after about 60 minutes of anesthesia. During emergence from anesthesia, each child was assessed using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale. Total recovery time was defined as the time from arrival to the recovery room until the patient met postanesthetic modified Aldrete recovery score criteria for discharge home.The final analysis included 50 children, 23 in group P and 27 in group S. The 2 groups did not differ in age, weight, or sex or in the frequency of indications for brain MRI (seizure disorders, headaches, and workup for developmental delay or attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder). In group P, 20 (87%) of 23 scans were interpreted as B normal.[ In group S, 23 (85%) of the 27 scans were considered to be normal. The average total duration of anesthesia was 65.5 T 15.5 minutes in group P and 61.3 T 10.2 minutes in group S. Mean arterial pressures were 68 T 7 and 61 T 8 mm Hg in groups P and S, respectively, a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001). Average heart rates were lower (87 T 14 beats/min) in group P than in group S (100 T 13 beats/min; P = 0.001). All children recovered without complications, with shorter time for recovery in the group P patients compared with those in group S (42 T 17 and 53 T 15 minutes; P = 0.02). The average total PAED score in group S was 7.0 T 5.7, and in group P, 3.9 T 4.7, indicating more agitation and delirium with sevoflurane (P = 0.037). Concentrations of taurine, glucose, and lactate were higher in group S patients compared with group P children, when controlling for age. Lactate was 2-fold higher and glucose 1.2-fold higher in the parietal cortex of children given sevoflurane compared with propofol. Lactate and glucose correlated positively and total creatine correlated negatively with the score on the PAED.Routine use of sevoflurane and propofol in children undergo...

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Compared with 1–9, 10–13 displayed stronger cytotoxic activities against the tested A549/DDP cells. 11 and 13 could induce apoptosis and autophagy in A549/DDP cells and exhibited pronounced and selective activity against A549/DDP xenografts in vivo.

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