Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Visual Motion Segmentation Using Event Surfaces

Event-based cameras have been designed for scene motion perception - their high temporal resolution and spatial data sparsity converts the scene into a volume of boundary trajectories and allows to track and analyze the evolution of the scene in time. Analyzing this data is computationally expensive, and there is substantial lack of theory on dense-in-time object motion to guide the development of new algorithms; hence, many works resort to a simple solution of discretizing the event stream and converting it to classical pixel maps, which allows for application of conventional image processing methods. In this work we present a Graph Convolutional neural network for the task of scene motion segmentation by a moving camera. We convert the event stream into a 3D graph in (x,y,t) space and keep per-event temporal information. The difficulty of the task stems from the fact that unlike in metric space, the shape of an object in (x,y,t) space depends on its motion and is not the same across the dataset. We discuss properties of of the event data with respect to this 3D recognition problem, and show that our Graph Convolutional architecture is superior to PointNet++. We evaluate our method on the state of the art event-based motion segmentation dataset - EV-IMO and perform comparisons to a frame-based method proposed by its authors. Our ablation studies show that increasing the event slice width improves the accuracy, and how subsampling and edge configurations affect the network performance.
Rapid inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 with LED irradiation of visible spectrum wavelenghts

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis. The difficulty to control the viral spread due to the absence of vaccines and prophylactics measures has raised concerns about prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, it becomes more and more crucial the reduction of environmental risk factors through viral inactivation of aerosols and fomites. Photodynamic inactivation of microorganisms by light energy emitted in the visible spectrum region (VIS), not harmful for mammalian cells and safe for humans, has recently been described. A LED-device emitting a special combination of frequencies in the visible light spectrum was tested on SARS-CoV-2 infected cell surnatant dilutions in order to evaluate the antiviral efficacy. This preliminary in vitro study showed for the first time the ability to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 through LED irradiation of visible spectrum wavelengths. If further and more extensive studies will confirm these data, the usage of this LED could potentially have a big impact on the sanitization of virtually all human environments.
PII: S0895-4356(00)00292-4

The aim of many epidemiological studies is the regression of a dichotomous outcome (e.g., death or affection by a certain disease) on prognostic covariables. Thereby the Poisson regression model is often used alternatively to the logistic regression model. Modelling the number of events and individual outcomes, respectively, both models lead to nearly the same results concerning the parameter estimates and their significances. However, when calculating the proportion of explained variation, quantified by an R 2 measure, a large difference between both models usually occurs. We illustrate this difference by an example and explain it with theoretical arguments. We conclude, the R 2 measure of the Poisson regression quantifies the predictability of event rates, but it is not adequate to quantify the predictability of the outcome of individual observations. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene C677T polymorphism and risk of alcohol dependence

Alcohol dependence is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder. Numerous studies investigated association between MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism and alcohol dependence (AD), but the results of this association remain conflicting. Accordingly, authors conducted a meta-analysis to further investigate such an association. PubMed, Elsevier Science Direct and Springer Link databases were searched for studies on the association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and AD. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using the fixed- or random-effects model. Statistical analysis was performed with the software program MetaAnayst and MIX. A total of 11 articles were identified through a search of electronic databases, up to February 28, 2020. The results of the present meta-analysis did not show any association between MTHFR C677T polymorphisms and AD risk (for T vs. C: OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.88-1.24; CT vs. CC: OR=1.02, 95%CI= 0.62-1.68; for TT + CT vs. CC: OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.94-1.29; for TT vs. CC: OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.66-1.51; for TT vs. CT + CC: OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.66-1.40). Results of subgroup analysis showed no significant association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism with AD in Asian as well as in Caucasian population. In conclusion, C677T polymorphism is not a risk factor for alcohol dependence.
MicroPost: 분산형 소셜 애플리케이션을

Emerging social networking services provide a new paradigm for human­to­human communication. However, these services are centralized and managed by single service provider. In this paper, we propose MicroPost, a decentralized event notification service architecture for social applications based on publish/subscribe model. In our design space, event brokers are structured as an overlay network which provides the substrate of distributed peer­to­peer lookup service for storing and retrieving subscriptions with hashed keys. Event clients interact with event brokers to publish or subscribe social messages over the wide­area network. Using XML standards, we present an efficient algorithm to forward events for rendezvous­based matching in this paper. In our design space, the cost of routing is    , where N is the number of event brokers, ω is the number of meta­data obtained from event messages, and k is a constant, which is selected by our design, to divide the identifier space and to conquer the lookup of given key. Consequently, what we achieved is an asynchronous social messaging service architecture which is decentralized, efficient, scalable, and flexible.
Monolithic Dielectric Waveguide filters with Multi-width Cavities

Two different configuration of monolithic ceramic waveguide filters with three different width resonators is described. To increase the gap between fundamental frequency and first spurious, the change of resonator geometry is required. Therefore, three different width resonators are used to spread out the spurious resonances without degrading the performance of a filter. The proposed designs offer 70% improvement in stop band rejection in comparison with uniform width ceramic waveguide filter. Improved out of band performance of two six order filters have been presented in comparison with ceramic waveguide filter.
Deep Kernel Density Estimation for Photon Mapping

Recently, deep learning‐based denoising approaches have led to dramatic improvements in low sample‐count Monte Carlo rendering. These approaches are aimed at path tracing, which is not ideal for simulating challenging light transport effects like caustics, where photon mapping is the method of choice. However, photon mapping requires very large numbers of traced photons to achieve high‐quality reconstructions. In this paper, we develop the first deep learning‐based method for particle‐based rendering, and specifically focus on photon density estimation, the core of all particle‐based methods. We train a novel deep neural network to predict a kernel function to aggregate photon contributions at shading points. Our network encodes individual photons into per‐photon features, aggregates them in the neighborhood of a shading point to construct a photon local context vector, and infers a kernel function from the per‐photon and photon local context features. This network is easy to incorporate in many previous photon mapping methods (by simply swapping the kernel density estimator) and can produce high‐quality reconstructions of complex global illumination effects like caustics with an order of magnitude fewer photons compared to previous photon mapping methods. Our approach largely reduces the required number of photons, significantly advancing the computational efficiency in photon mapping.
The tyrosine‐6 hydroxyl of γδ resolvase is not required for the DNA cleavage and rejoining reactions

Site‐specific recombinases of the resolvase and DNA invertase family all contain a tyrosine residue close to the N‐terminus, and four residues away from a serine that has been implicated in catalysis of DNA strand breakage and reunion. To examine the role of this tyrosine in recombination, we have constructed a mutant of γδ resolvase in which the tyrosine (residue 6) is replaced by phenytalanine. Characterization of the Y6F mutant protein in vitro indicated that although it was highly defective in recombination, it could cleave ONA at the cross‐over site, form a covalent resolvase‐DNA complex and rejoin the cleaved cross‐over site (usually restoring the parental site). These data rule out a direct role of the Tyr‐6 hydroxyl as the nucleophile In the DNA cleavage reaction and strengthen the conclusion that this nucleophile is the nearby invariant serine residue, Ser‐10. We conclude that Tyr‐6 is essential for fully coordinated strand cleavage and exchange, but is dispensable for individual strand cleavage and religation reactions.
Advanced Medical Imaging Visualisation Tool using ITK

A visualisation tool for radiological data, including algorithms for image processing and advanced visualisation technology is presented. The solution uses public domain algorithms from ITK and VTK and in-house developed methods for accelerated rendering and includes a data management step, multiplanar reformatting and volume rendering steps, followed by a virtual endoscopic view.
Exosomes-mediated Transfer of miR-125a/b in Cell-to-cell Communication: A Novel Mechanism of Genetic Exchange in the Intestinal Microenvironment

Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), a key factor in intestinal rehabilitation therapy of short bowel syndrome (SBS), may require cell-to-cell communication to exert its biological functions. However, understanding of the mechanism remains elusive. Here, we report participation of exosomal miR-125a/b in GLP-2 mediated intestinal epithelial cells-myofibroblasts cross-talk in intestinal microenvironment. Methods: The effects of GLP-2 on the proliferation and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells in SBS rat models were evaluated. Exosomes were extracted from residual jejunum tissue of GLP-2 or vehicle treated SBS rats using ultracentrifugation method, and identified by nanoparticle trafficking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy and western blotting. miRNA sequencing combined with qRT-PCR validation were used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs. miRNAs, which might be involved in proliferation and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells, were screened and further verified by miRNA functional experiments. Moreover, the proliferation-promoting and anti-apoptosis effects of GLP-2 on intestinal myofibroblasts, which expressing GLP-2 receptor, and whether GLP-2 could influence the content of miRNAs in the derived exosomes were studied. The downstream pathways were explored by miRNA function recovery experiment, luciferase reporter assay, pull down experiment, knockdown and overexpression of target gene and other experiments based on the bioinformatics prediction of miRNA target gene. Results: GLP-2 significantly promoted intestinal growth, facilitated the proliferation of intestinal crypt epithelial cells and inhibited the apoptosis of intestinal villi epithelial cells in type II SBS rats. GLP-2 significantly down-regulated exosomal miR-125a/b both in residual jejunums derived exosomes and in exosomes secreted by GLP-2R positive cells. Exosomal miR-125a/b was responsible for GLP-2 mediated intestinal epithelial cells proliferation promotion and apoptosis attenuation. miR-125a/b inhibited the proliferation and promotes apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells by suppressing the myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL1). Conclusions: miR-125a/b shuttled by intestinal myofibroblasts derived exosomes regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells. GLP-2 treatment significantly decreases the level of miR-125a/b in the exosomes of intestinal myofibroblasts. miR-125a/b modulates the proliferation and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells by targeting the 3'UTR region of MCL1. Hence, this study indicates a novel mechanism of genetic exchange between cells in intestinal microenvironment.
Molecular analysis of circulating tumor cells of metastatic castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients receiving 177Lu-PSMA-617 Radioligand Therapy

Rationale: Lu-177-PSMA-617 radioligand therapy (RLT) is currently under approval for treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients with late stage disease. However, previous studies demonstrated both heterogeneity of prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression, as well as response to PSMA treatment among mCRPC patients. Thus, there is an unmet need for identifying predictive parametres prior or under PSMA-RLT treatment. We therefore aimed to correlate several clinical and molecular parameters with response to PSMA treatment in a cohort of mCRPC patients undergoing PSMA RLT followed by a detailed analysis of promising candidates. Methods: Nineteen patients, median age 68.8 years (range: 56.9 - 83.3) with mCRPC were included in this study. We performed baseline analysis of clinical parameters based on PSMA PET/CT, (metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total tumor volume (TTV)), serum PSA, ALP, LDH and gene expression analysis of circulating tumor cells (expression of AR full length (AR-FL), AR splice variant 7 (AR-V7), PSA and PSMA) as well as common markers for neuroendocrine differentiation (NED). Results: Patients presented with bone, lymph node, and visceral metastases (89%, 68%, and 21%, respectively). All patients were pretreated with docetaxel, either abiraterone or enzalutamide, or both. Biochemical response in terms of PSA decline ≥50 or ≥30% was observed in 42% and 63%, respectively. There were significant correlations between PSA and PSMA mRNA expression, as well as tumor volumes (both MTV and TTV), AR-FL and AR-V7 mRNA expression. However, there was no correlation with response to PSMA treatment. Furthermore, none of these parameters was significantly correlated with baseline serum PSA values. Common NED markers were shown to be specifically high expressed and revealed impact on OS independent from AR-V7 gene expression. Conclusion: We demonstrate that AR-FL and its splice variant AR-V7 might serve as prognostic biomarkers displaying high tumor burden in mCRPC patient prior to PSMA-RLT. Contrary, PSMA, which has been discussed as a biomarker for PSMA targeted treatment, does not display strong prognostic ability - at least on the mRNA level. Surprisingly, none of these parameters correlates to response to PSMA treatment. In contrast, commom NED markers such as SYP and ENO2 as well as FOXA1 expression level seem to predict OS, but not PFS, more reliably. We admit that a limitation of our study is the focus on mRNA expression of potential biomarkers only. Further investigations analyzing the potential role of protein expression of these markers are therefore warranted.
Development and Application of High Performance Liquid Chromatography Map of Glucuronyl N-glycans

Although the multi-dimensional HPLC maps of neutral, sialyl, and sulfated N-glycans have been reported and widely used for glycosylation profiling, those of glucuronyl oligosaccharides have not yet been available. In the present study, by in vitro enzymatic reactions, we prepared 55 different glucuronyl PA-oligosaccharides that include 6 kinds of HNK-1-containing N-glycans, and established their HPLC map. Furthermore, we applied this map to the characterization of branch specificity in glucuronylation reaction catalyzed by human GlcAT-S, revealing that this enzyme transfers the glucuronyl residues preferentially onto the Gal￻ 1�4GlcNAc￻ 1�4Man￻ 1�3 and Gal￻ 1�4GlcNAc￻ 1�2Man￻ 1�3 branches of a galactose-terminated tri-antennary oligosaccharide. The HPLC map developed in the present study will be a useful glycomics tool for identification and profiling of glucuronyl N-glycans expressed in the neural and other biological systems.
“Uncertainty-aware Score Distribution Learning for Action Quality Assessment” Supplementary Material

During our experiments, we explored three strategies to divide the videos into multiple segments. Table 1 presents the results on the Diving action of the AQA-7 dataset [3], where the length of each video clip is 103 frames. Specifically, “6-seg” denotes the scheme used in [4], which first normalized the video into 96 frames, and then divided them into 6 segments where each clip contained 16 frames1. In fact, as pointed in the recent work [2], 10 is more proper for the number of segments. Based
Comparative observations on the growth changes of the histochemical property and collagen architecture of the Musculus pectoralis from Silky, layer-type and meat-type cockerels

Growth-related changes in the histochemical properties and collagen architecture of the Musculus pectoralis were compared among Silky, layer-type and meat-type cockerels. Histochemical and immunohistochemical methods were used and collagen architecture was studied using scanning electron microscopy. The total amount of collagen present was also measured. The diameter of type IIB myofibers was similar or rather larger in the layer-type birds compared with the meat-type. The collagen content was generally low for 5–10 weeks across the breeds and then increased in the other breeds except for Silky. In the perimysium, the collagen bundles gradually increased in size and the density of the fibrils also increased during growth. At 30 weeks of age, the layer-type birds showed compact collagen bundles while the meat-type had loose bundles. The endomysial collagen network appeared relatively denser in the meat-type chicks compared to the others at week 1. At 30 weeks of age, compact and felt-like structure of endomysium was shown by Silky and layer-type chickens, while the meat-type showed a relatively loose arrangement of tissue in the endomysial collagen. From these results, it appears that the meat-type chicken can produce a large M. pectoralis with many, relatively thinner myofibers and a relatively undeveloped form of intramuscular collagen structure.
High-speed Object Detection in a Mobile Terminal Environment

In this paper, an image detection technique is proposed to extract image features in a mobile terminal environment. To detect objects, the HSI color model of the image is used. The object's corner points are detected using the Harris corner detection method. Finally we detect the object of interest using region growing The experiment results show that the proposed method improves detection performance and reduces the amount of computation
Computer-Aided Simulation of Nanoelectronic Devices

: An application of the hierarchical multi-scale approach to computer-aided simulation of nanoelectronic devices is described and its potentialities are shown. In particular, a transport analysis of a silicon-nanowire ﬁeld-effect-transistor is performed extracting from an atomistic study of a simpliﬁed structure a set of parameters that are successively employed in a less detailed envelope function description of the complete device, where the electrostatic and transport equations are self-consistently solved.
Process versus empirical models: which approach for forest ecosystem management?

The emergence of forest ecosystem management presents new information challenges for forest managers. Shifting views of the forest from primarily one as a production system for wood fibre to an ecosystem with spatially and temporally complex interrelationships is changing the demand for information about the forest. These new information needs are characterized by greater complexity, limited availability of mechanistic hypotheses, and a paucity of data. Empirical and process modelling approaches have evolved in forest management to solve different problems, and debate about the two approaches has existed for some time. Which approach to forest modelling will best be able to meet the challenges of ecosystem management? Empirical models seek principally to describe the statistical relationships among data with limited regard to an object's internal structure, rules, or behaviour. In contrast, process models seek primarily to describe data using key mechanisms or processes that determine an object's internal.
Urine biopsy technologies: Cancer and beyond

Since the discovery of circulating tumor cells in 1869, technological advances in the study of biomarkers from liquid biopsy have made it possible to diagnose disease in a less invasive way. Although blood-based liquid biopsy has been used extensively for the detection of solid tumors and immune diseases, the potential of urine-based liquid biopsy has not been fully explored. Advancements in technologies for the harvesting and analysis of biomarkers are providing new opportunities for the characterization of other disease types. Liquid biopsy markers such as exfoliated bladder cancer cells, cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and exosomes have the potential to change the nature of disease management and care, as they allow a cost-effective and convenient mode of patient monitoring throughout treatment. In this review, we addressed the advancement of research in the field of disease detection for the key liquid biopsy markers such as cancer cells, cfDNA, and exosomes, with an emphasis on urine-based liquid biopsy. First, we highlighted key technologies that were widely available and used extensively for clinical urine sample analysis. Next, we presented recent technological developments in cell and genetic research, with implications for the detection of other types of diseases, besides cancer. We then concluded with some discussions on these areas, emphasizing the role of microfluidics and artificial intelligence in advancing point-of-care applications. We believe that the benefits of urine biopsy provide diagnostic development potential, which will pave opportunities for new ways to guide treatment selections and facilitate precision disease therapies.
Changes in growth and superoxide dismutase activity in Hydrilla verticillata L. under abiotic stress

A study was made of the role of various heavy metals (chromium, zinc, copper and cadmium) together with the effects of NaCl-salinity, PEG-mediated water stress and temperature on growth and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata L.). Almost all metals studied reduced growth but presented a modulatory effect at lower concentrations. NaCl-salinity, water stress and temperature treatments also reduced growth. SOD activity was inhibited by both chromium and zinc but increased by copper and cadmium. NaCl-salinity increased SOD activity while water stress decreased it. SOD showed thermostability with a higher activity being recorded at 45oC.