Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FineStyle: Semantic-Aware Fine-Grained Motion Style Transfer with Dual Interactive-Flow Fusion

We present FineStyle, a novel framework for motion style transfer that generates expressive human animations with specific styles for virtual reality and vision fields. It incorporates semantic awareness, which improves motion representation and allows for precise and stylish animation generation. Existing methods for motion style transfer have all failed to consider the semantic meaning behind the motion, resulting in limited controls over the generated human animations. To improve, FineStyle introduces a new cross-modality fusion module called Dual Interactive-Flow Fusion (DIFF). As the first attempt, DIFF integrates motion style features and semantic flows, producing semantic-aware style codes for fine-grained motion style transfer. FineStyle uses an innovative two-stage semantic guidance approach that leverages semantic clues to enhance the discriminative power of both semantic and style features. At an early stage, a semantic-guided encoder introduces distinct semantic clues into the style flow. Then, at a fine stage, both flows are further fused interactively, selecting the matched and critical clues from both flows. Extensive experiments demonstrate that FineStyle outperforms state-of-the-art methods in visual quality and controllability. By considering the semantic meaning behind motion style patterns, FineStyle allows for more precise control over motion styles. Source code and model are available on https://github.com/XingliangJin/Fine-Style.git.
Novel studies of the dynamics of mineral N species transformations and their mobilities relevant to assessing risks to drainage water.

ABSTRACT The biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen has been studied in detail at a predominantly acid grassland nature reserve, Hob Moor, just outside the city of York in the UK. Because of the risk of more frequent and/or extended summer droughts as a potential consequence of climate change, particular attention was paid to the influence of drying and rewetting upon the mobility of mineral N species. It was found that ammonification proceeds after net nitrification has ceased, and that subsequently nitrate is immobilized when the drying period is protracted. It is suggested that this is probably due to uptake by drought-tolerant microorganisms. The experimental work showed that much of the first flush of nitrate after a period of drying is therefore attributable to stored nitrate, as long as the drying out period is not excessively long. The mobility of ammonium-N in soils from Hob Moor was studied to test the hypothesis that in the heavily N-impacted soils at the site it would be more mobile than most soil scientists would predict, by measuring adsorption/desorption characteristics. The absorption isotherms confirmed that ammonium in these soils is potentially mobile, and when mobilized below the rooting depth may pass to the adjacent stream around the edge of the site. This helps explain the high ammonium-N and nitrate-N concentrations observed in this stream. A developing interest in the Gaia hypothesis prompted the author to make a brief preliminary investigation of the idea that deciduous trees have evolved naturally to provide a close match between the dynamics of N release by litter decomposition and the dynamics of plant N requirement. The experiment showed that initially the fresh litter with a high C/N ratio immobilized nitrate especially in the forest soil. Under the relatively warm conditions of the experiment decomposition was rapid, and the immobilization was not sustained as would be predicted. Further evaluation of this concept is advocated. The extent of immobilization by litter prompted a study of long-term seasonality of trends in nitrate concentration throughout the River Derwent in North Yorkshire using data obtained from the Environment Agency. It was thought that a ban on straw burning in 1993 might have reduced winter annual nitrate concentration peaks and possibly increased summer minima. The data partly supported this idea, but the timing match was not perfect, and it was thought that the foot and mouth disease impact and farmers’ responses to environmental concerns and policy and to increasing fertilizer and energy costs were probably also important. Finally a study was made of the importance of storage conditions upon extractable ammonium and nitrate concentrations in soils. Surprisingly nitrification was not sufficiently inhibited in some soils stored under refrigerated conditions overnight, and it is concluded that volumetric sampling and immediate extraction in the field may be a preferred option.
Hierarchical VAEs provide a normative account of motion processing in the primate brain

The relationship between perception and inference, as postulated by Helmholtz in the 19th century, is paralleled in modern machine learning by generative models like Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) and their hierarchical variants. Here, we evaluate the role of hierarchical inference and its alignment with brain function in the domain of motion perception. We first introduce a novel synthetic data framework, Retinal Optic Flow Learning (ROFL), which enables control over motion statistics and their causes. We then present a new hierarchical VAE and test it against alternative models on two downstream tasks: (i) predicting ground truth causes of retinal optic flow (e.g., self-motion); and (ii) predicting the responses of neurons in the motion processing pathway of primates. We manipulate the model architectures (hierarchical versus non-hierarchical), loss functions, and the causal structure of the motion stimuli. We find that hierarchical latent structure in the model leads to several improvements. First, it improves the linear decodability of ground truth factors and does so in a sparse and disentangled manner. Second, our hierarchical VAE outperforms previous state-of-the-art models in predicting neuronal responses and exhibits sparse latent-to-neuron relationships. These results depend on the causal structure of the world, indicating that alignment between brains and artificial neural networks depends not only on architecture but also on matching ecologically relevant stimulus statistics. Taken together, our results suggest that hierarchical Bayesian inference underlines the brain’s understanding of the world, and hierarchical VAEs can effectively model this understanding.
Low-Latency Beaming Display: Implementation of Wearable, 133 μs Motion-to-Photon Latency Near-Eye Display

This paper presents a low-latency Beaming Display system with a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$133\ \mu\mathrm{s}$</tex-math><alternatives><graphic position="float" orientation="portrait" xlink:href="tvcg-hiroi-3320212-eqinline-2-small.tif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> motion-to-photon (M2P) latency, the delay from head motion to the corresponding image motion. The Beaming Display represents a recent near-eye display paradigm that involves a steerable remote projector and a passive wearable headset. This system aims to overcome typical trade-offs of Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays (OST-HMDs), such as weight and computational resources. However, since the Beaming Display projects a small image onto a moving, distant viewpoint, M2P latency significantly affects displacement. To reduce M2P latency, we propose a low-latency Beaming Display system that can be modularized without relying on expensive high-speed devices. In our system, a 2D position sensor, which is placed coaxially on the projector, detects the light from the IR-LED on the headset and generates a differential signal for tracking. An analog closed-loop control of the steering mirror based on this signal continuously projects images onto the headset. We have implemented a proof-of-concept prototype, evaluated the latency and the augmented reality experience through a user-perspective camera, and discussed the limitations and potential improvements of the prototype.
SE(3)-Stochastic Flow Matching for Protein Backbone Generation

The computational design of novel protein structures has the potential to impact numerous scientific disciplines greatly. Toward this goal, we introduce $\text{FoldFlow}$ a series of novel generative models of increasing modeling power based on the flow-matching paradigm over $3\text{D}$ rigid motions -- i.e. the group $\text{SE(3)}$ -- enabling accurate modeling of protein backbones. We first introduce $\text{FoldFlow-Base}$, a simulation-free approach to learning deterministic continuous-time dynamics and matching invariant target distributions on $\text{SE(3)}$. We next accelerate training by incorporating Riemannian optimal transport to create $\text{FoldFlow-OT}$, leading to the construction of both more simple and stable flows. Finally, we design $\text{FoldFlow-SFM}$ coupling both Riemannian OT and simulation-free training to learn stochastic continuous-time dynamics over $\text{SE(3)}$. Our family of $\text{FoldFlow}$ generative models offer several key advantages over previous approaches to the generative modeling of proteins: they are more stable and faster to train than diffusion-based approaches, and our models enjoy the ability to map any invariant source distribution to any invariant target distribution over $\text{SE(3)}$. Empirically, we validate our FoldFlow models on protein backbone generation of up to $300$ amino acids leading to high-quality designable, diverse, and novel samples.
UniverSLU: Universal Spoken Language Understanding for Diverse Classification and Sequence Generation Tasks with a Single Network

Recent studies have demonstrated promising outcomes by employing large language models with multi-tasking capabilities. They utilize prompts to guide the model's behavior and surpass performance of task-specific models. Motivated by this, we ask: can we build a single model that jointly perform various spoken language understanding (SLU) tasks? To address this, we utilize pre-trained automatic speech recognition (ASR) models and employ various task and dataset specifiers as discrete prompts. We demonstrate efficacy of our single multi-task learning (MTL) model"UniverSLU"for 12 different speech classification and sequence generation tasks across 17 datasets and 9 languages. Results show that UniverSLU achieves competitive performance and even surpasses task-specific models. We also conduct preliminary investigations into enabling human-interpretable natural phrases instead of task specifiers as discrete prompts and test the model's generalization capabilities to new paraphrases.
Differential utilisation of subcellular skeletal muscle glycogen pools: A comparative analysis between 1 and 15 minutes of maximal exercise

Distinct subcellular pools of glycogen particles exist within skeletal muscle fibres, distributed both within and between myofibrils and can be found in proximity to, or at a distance from mitochondria. Their precise localisation may influence their degradation rate and role in muscle function. Here, we investigated how exercise at different intensities (1- and 15-min maximal exercise) with known variations in glycogenolytic rate and relative contribution from anaerobic metabolism affects the utilisation of the distinct pools. Further, we investigated how lowered carbohydrate and energy intake affected glycogen volume densities and the storage of glycogen particles (i.e., localisation, size, and number) and their subsequent utilisation during the exercises. Using a randomized, counterbalanced, cross-over design, participants performed two maximal cycle tests of either 1 (n=10) or 15 min (n=10), conducted following consumption of two distinct diets with either high or lowered carbohydrate and energy contents. Muscle biopsies from m. vastus lateralis were obtained before and after the exercises. Intermyofibrillar glycogen was preferentially utilised during the 1-min exercise, whereas intramyofibrillar glycogen was preferentially utilised during the 15-min exercise. The lowered carbohydrate and energy intake decreased the particle size across all subcellular pools and reduced the numerical density in the intramyofibrillar and subsarcolemmal pools, with no effects on the glycogen utilisation during the subsequent exercise. In conclusion, the distinct subcellular glycogen pools were differentially utilised during 1-min and 15-min maximal exercise. Additionally, lowered carbohydrate and energy consumption reduces particle size and numerical density, depending on subcellular localisation.
A locomotion-based assay to measure prepulse inhibition in zebrafish larvae

Sensory gating, assessed using a prepulse inhibition assay (PPI), is a promising endophenotype of neuropsychiatric disorders that can be measured in larval zebrafish models. However, current PPI assays require high-speed cameras to capture rapid c-bend startle behaviours. In this study, we designed and employed a PPI paradigm that uses locomotion as read-out of startle responses. PPI percentage was measured at a maximum of 86% and this was reduced to 42% upon administration of an NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801. This work provides the foundation for simpler and more accessible PPI assays using larval zebrafish to model key endophenotypes of neurodevelopmental disorders.
The influence of circadian rhythms on CD8 + T cell proliferation upon vaccination: a mathematical modeling perspective

Circadian rhythms have been implicated in the modulation of many physiological processes, including those associated with the immune system. For example, these rhythms influence CD8 + T cell responses that are part of the adaptive immune system. The mechanism underlying this immune-circadian interaction, however, remains unclear, particularly in the context of vaccination. Here, we devise a molecularly-explicit gene regulatory network model of early signaling in na¨ıve CD8 + T cell activation pathway, comprised of three axes (or subsystems) labeled ZAP70, LAT and CD28, to elucidate the molecular details of this immune-circadian mechanism and its relation to vaccination. This is done by coupling the model to a periodic forcing function to identify the molecular players targeted by circadian rhythms, and analyzing how these rhythms subsequently affect CD8 + T cell proliferation dynamics under differing levels of vaccine loads. By performing both bifurcation and parameter sensitivity analyses on the model at the single cell and population levels, we find that applying periodic forcing on molecular targets within the ZAP70 axis is sufficient to creating a day-night discrepancy in CD8 + T cell activation in a manner that is dependent on the bistable switch inherent in CD8 + T cell early signaling. We also demonstrate that the resulting CD8 + T cell activation is dependent on the strength of the periodic coupling as
Role of ascorbic acid in cardiac allograft vasculopathy

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a progressive fibroproliferative disease which occurs after heart transplantation and is associated with significant long‐term morbidity and mortality. Currently available strategies including statins, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, and revascularization, have limited overall effectiveness in treating this pathology once the disease process is established. mTOR inhibitors, while effective when used early in the disease process, are not well tolerated, and hence not routinely used in post‐transplant care.
Diverse middle Ordovician palaeoscolecidan worms from the Builth‐Llandrindod Inlier of central Wales

Abstract: Palaeoscolecidan worms are rare, Early Palaeozoic fossils with uncertain affinities within the Ecdysozoa. They are locally abundant in the Cambrian and scattered in the Early Ordovician, but very sparse thereafter. Forty‐four specimens have been collected from the Middle Ordovician of the Builth‐Llandrindod Inlier of Mid Wales and include well‐preserved material assigned to seven new genera, with four additional species in open nomenclature. An additional specimen from the Arenig Pontyfenni Formation of South Wales is also described in open nomenclature. The total demonstrates much greater palaeoscolecid diversity than hitherto suspected for this time. The specimens are preserved as cuticle fragments in shales and siltstones, often of submillimetre size but in many cases with excellent preservation. The level of detail preserved in some is equal to that found in Cambrian phosphatized faunas. The new approach to collecting, and the recognition that this material can yield taxonomically useful information, opens new avenues for palaeoscolecidan research in siliciclastic environments. The new taxa are the following: Radnorscolex bwlchi gen. et sp. nov., Aggerscolex murchisoni gen. et sp. nov., Bullascolex inserere gen. et sp. nov., Wernia eximia gen. et sp. nov., Ulexiscolex ormrodi gen. et sp. nov., Pluoscolex linearis gen. et sp. nov. and Loriciscolex cuspidus gen. et sp. nov. The high diversity, and the taxonomic separation from known groups described primarily from Cambrian carbonates, implies that palaeoscolecidans either diversified significantly during the Ordovician or were taxonomically segregated between carbonate and siliciclastic settings. Palaeobiological findings also include confirmation that some palaeoscolecid basal cuticles were solid and others reticulate, plates (and platelets) could form by lateral accretion, plates were in part primarily phosphatic and in part organic and that in at least some groups, platelet secretion occurred external to plate secretion.
Aedes albopictus is present in the lowlands of southern Zambia

Identifying the current geographic range of disease vectors is a critical first step towards determining effective mechanisms for controlling and potentially eradicating them. This is particularly true given that historical vector ranges may expand due to changing climates and human activity. The Aedes subgenus Stegomyia contains over 100 species, and among them, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes represent the largest concern for public health, spreading dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. While Ae. aegypti has been observed in the country of Zambia for decades, Ae. albopictus has not. In 2015 we sampled four urban and two rural areas in Zambia for Aedes species. Using DNA barcoding, we confirmed the presence of immature and adult Ae. albopictus at two rural sites: Siavonga and Livingstone. These genotypes seem most closely related to specimens previously collected in Mozambique based on CO1 sequence from mtDNA. We resampled Siavonga and Livingstone sites in 2019, again observing immature and adult Ae. albopictus at both sites. Relative Ae. albopictus frequencies were similar between sites, with the exception of immature life stages, which were higher in Siavonga than in Livingstone in 2019. While Ae. albopictus frequencies did not vary through time in Livingstone, both immature and adult frequencies increased through time in Siavonga. This report serves to document the presence of Ae. albopictus in Zambia, which will contribute to the process of determining the potential public health implications of this disease vector in Central Africa.
Structure-based humanization of a therapeutic antibody for Multiple Myeloma

The optimal efficacy of xenogeneically generated proteins intended for application in humans requires that their own antigenicity be minimized. This necessary adaptation of antibodies to a humanized version poses challenges since modifications even distant from the binding sites can greatly influence antigen recognition and this is the primary feature that must be maintained during all modifications. Current strategies often rely on grafting and/or randomization/selection to arrive at a humanized variant retaining the binding properties of the original molecule. However, in terms of speed and efficiency, rationally directed approaches can be superior, provided the requisite structural information is available. We present here a humanization procedure based on the high-resolution X-ray structure of a chimeric IgG against a marker for Multiple Myeloma. Based on in silico modelling of humanizing amino acid substitutions identified from sequence alignments, we devised a straightforward cloning procedure to rapidly evaluate the proposed sequence changes. Careful inspection of the structure allowed identification of a potentially problematic amino acid change that indeed disrupted antigen binding. Subsequent optimization of the antigen binding loop sequences resulted in substantial recovery of binding affinity lost in the completely humanized antibody. X-ray structures of the humanized and optimized variants demonstrate that the antigen binding mode is preserved, with surprisingly few direct contacts to antibody atoms. These results underline the importance of structural information for the efficient optimization of protein therapeutics.
Active faulting and cenozoic tectonics of the Tien Shan, Mongolia, and Baykal Regions

We present a study of the active tectonics of central Asia based on an interpretation of Landsat imagery and supplemented with published field observations and seismic data. Reverse faulting dominates the tectonics of the Tien Shan but is associated with prominent northwest trending right lateral strike slip fault systems. Both types of faulting imply approximately north-south maximum compressive stress. The active tectonics of the Altai and of southern Mongolia are controlled by largescale conjugate strike slip faulting; left lateral on east-west planes and right lateral on north-northwest planes. This implies that the maximum compressive stress is oriented approximately northeast-southwest. Farther north, strike slip faulting gives way to predominantly normal faulting in the Baykal rift system. We interpret all of the active faulting to be a consequence of lateral displacements of the crust caused by the penetration of the Indian subcontinent of Eurasia. We also interpret the gradual change from thrust faulting and high altitudes in the south and west to normal faulting and lower mean elevations in the north and east to reflect a smooth change in the average state of stress. This suggests that the details of the complex intracontinental deformation in Asia are better described by the deformation of a continuum than by the relative motion of a small number of rigid blocks. Intracontinental rifting in the northeast, in particular, may result from a state of stress analogous to the secondary tension that commonly arises within bounded plastic materials indented by a rigid die.
Mechanisms analysis for Formononetin counteracted-Osimertinib resistance in Non-small-cell lung cancer cells: from the insight into the gene transcriptional level

Backgrounds Osimertinib resistance in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancers (NSCLC) is a difficult problem to be solved in clinic. Formononetin is one of the main isoflavone components, which has strong anti-cancer effects in NSCLC. However, the potential effects and the mechanisms of Formononetin to counteract the Osimertinib resistant in NSCLC is remain to be uncovered. Methods Osimertinib-resistant NSCLC cell line (H1975_OR) was generated by increasingly adding of Osimertinib in H1975 cell culture medium. The Formononetin was used to induce H1975_OR cell apoptosis an to inhibit cell proliferation and clonal formation. The RNA-sequencing was used to study the potential mechanisms for Formononetin to counteract the Osimertinib resistant in NSCLC. Results Formononetin could significantly induced cell apoptosis, whereas, dramatically inhibited cell proliferation and clinal formation in H1975_OR cells. Formononetin induced tremendous alterations of gene expression in H1975_OR cells and these genes can be clustered into unique GO, KEGG and GSEA pathways. Conclusion Our results preliminarily uncovered the underlying mechanisms for Formononetin counteracted Osimertinib-resistance in NSCLC cells and provided a potential treatment method for Osimertinib resistant NSCLC patients.