Using neural networks for learning motion controllers from motion capture data is becoming popular due to the natural and smooth motions they can produce, the wide range of movements they can learn ...and their compactness once they are trained. Despite these advantages, these systems require large amounts of motion capture data for each new character or style of motion to be generated, and systems have to undergo lengthy retraining, and often reengineering, to get acceptable results. This can make the use of these systems impractical for animators and designers and solving this issue is an open and rather unexplored problem in computer graphics. In this paper we propose a transfer learning approach for adapting a learned neural network to characters that move in different styles from those on which the original neural network is trained. Given a pretrained character controller in the form of a Phase‐Functioned Neural Network for locomotion, our system can quickly adapt the locomotion to novel styles using only a short motion clip as an example. We introduce a canonical polyadic tensor decomposition to reduce the amount of parameters required for learning from each new style, which both reduces the memory burden at runtime and facilitates learning from smaller quantities of data. We show that our system is suitable for learning stylized motions with few clips of motion data and synthesizing smooth motions in real‐time.
Abstract Hind limb lameness detection in horses relies on the identification of movement asymmetry which can be based on multiple pelvic landmarks. This study explains the poorly understood ...relationship between hind limb lameness pointers, related to the tubera coxae and sacrum, based on experimental data in context of a simple rigid body model. Vertical displacement of tubera coxae and sacrum was quantified experimentally in 107 horses with varying lameness degrees. A geometrical rigid-body model of pelvis movement during lameness was created in Matlab. Several asymmetry measures were calculated and contrasted. Results showed that model predictions for tubera coxae asymmetry during lameness matched experimental observations closely. Asymmetry for sacrum and comparative tubera coxae movement showed a strong association both empirically ( R2 ≥0.92) and theoretically. We did not find empirical or theoretical evidence for a systematic, pronounced adaptation in the pelvic rotation pattern with increasing lameness. The model showed that the overall range of movement between tubera coxae does not allow the appreciation of asymmetry changes beyond mild lameness. When evaluating movement relative to the stride cycle we did find empirical evidence for asymmetry being slightly more visible when comparing tubera coxae amplitudes rather than sacrum amplitudes, although variation exists for mild lameness. In conclusion, the rigidity of the equine pelvis results in tightly linked movement trajectories of different pelvic landmarks. The model allows the explanation of empirical observations in the context of the underlying mechanics, helping the identification of potentially limited assessment choices when evaluating gait.
In this study, the complexation of Eu(III) and Cm(III) with aqueous phosphates was investigated using laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy. Experiments at 25 °C and different ionic strengths ...(0.6–3.1 mol·L–1 NaClO4) established the formation of EuH2PO4 2+ and CmH2PO4 2+. From the conditional stability constants, the respective values at infinite dilution as well as the ε(Me(H2PO4)2+;ClO4 –) (Me = Eu or Cm) ion interaction coefficients (using the specific ion interaction theory - SIT) were derived. Further experiments (at constant ionic strength of 1.1 mol·L–1) showed that upon increasing the temperature (25–80 °C), the formation of both EuH2PO4 2+ and CmH2PO4 2+ was favored. Using the van’t Hoff equation, the molal enthalpy Δ R H m ° and molal entropy Δ R S m ° of these reactions were derived, corroborating an endothermic and entropy driven complexation process. This work contributes to a better understanding of the coordination chemistry of both trivalent lanthanides and actinides with phosphate ions.
Aim
In 2015, the revised International Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Staging System was published. It mentions
18
F-FDG-PET/MRI as the latest method to perform whole-body imaging. However, ...supporting data are pending. Our aim was to investigate the performance of whole-body
18
F-FDG-PET/MRI in pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients by using a limited number of MRI sequences.
Materials and methods
Ten pediatric patients with histologically proven non-Hodgkin lymphoma underwent whole-body
18
F-FDG-PET/MRI at staging. The retrospective analysis included three steps: First,
18
F-FDG-PET and MR scans were evaluated separately by a nuclear medicine physician and a pediatric radiologist. Nineteen nodal and two extranodal regions as well as six organs were checked for involvement. Second, discrepant findings were reviewed together in order to reach consensus. Third,
18
F-FDG-PET/MRI findings were correlated with the results of other clinical investigations.
Results
Of the 190 lymph node regions evaluated, four were rated controversial. Consensus was reached by considering metabolic, functional and morphologic information combined. Concordantly,
18
F-FDG-PET and MRI detected Waldeyer’s ring involvement in two patients whose Waldeyer’s ring was negative on clinical assessment. In four patients MRI showed pleural effusion. However, in only two of them an increased glucose metabolism as a reliable sign of pleural involvement was detectable. In six patients
18
F-FDG-PET and MRI detected skeletal lesions although bone marrow biopsy was positive in only one of them.
Conclusion
Despite the small number of cases evaluated, whole-body
18
F-FDG-PET turned out to be a valuable tool for staging of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a previous study, in goats, we showed that apart from variations in dietary calcium (Ca) and phosphorus intake, also low dietary nitrogen (N) intake altered plasma concentrations of hormones, ...which regulate Ca and phosphate (Pᵢ) homeostasis. These hormonal responses in goats were in accordance with findings in monogastric animals and humans with low protein intake. In the aforementioned studies, alterations of electrolyte transport in the kidneys were also observed. However, whether renal electrolyte transport in goats is also involved in the adaptation of Ca and Pᵢ homeostasis to low N intake remains unknown. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether in addition to the hormonal changes, as observed in our former study, renal Ca transport and renal Pᵢ transport were also altered by low N intake in goats. Therefore, in kidney samples from the goats used in our former study, the protein expression of Ca and Pᵢ transporters and of related regulatory proteins was examined. Furthermore, the uptake of Pᵢ into isolated brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) was detected. The results showed that the protein amount of the renal sodium‐dependent Pᵢ transporter NaPi IIa was elevated, and concomitantly, protein expression of its upstream regulators, the parathyroid hormone receptor and the extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2 was decreased. However, Pᵢ uptake into renal BBMV was not enhanced. Furthermore, protein expression of the renal Ca channel, the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 5 (TRPV5) and of the vitamin D receptor was not influenced by dietary N reduction. We conclude that regulation of renal Pᵢ transporter expression in goats is involved in the adaptation of electrolyte homeostasis to low N intake.
Summary
Reasons for performing the study: Flexion tests are a common tool during the prepurchase and clinical lameness examination, yet studies quantifying the effect of flexion, apart from distal ...forelimb flexion in sound horses, are sparse.
Objectives: To investigate the effect of proximal hindlimb flexion on perceivable and measurable changes in movement symmetry in horses with objective movement symmetry falling within the margins of ‘sound’.
Methods: Thirteen horses, selected based on objective movement symmetry, were instrumented with inertial sensors on left and right tuber coxae and over the os sacrum. Vertical movement symmetry was quantified at trot before and after proximal hindlimb flexion, with a repeat of flexion after 5 min. Video recordings of the horses were assessed visually.
Results: Proximal hindlimb flexion introduced additive changes in movement symmetry to the individual baseline movement, with a tendency towards smaller effects with increasing stride number. The main systematic effect was a decrease in upward movement of the os sacrum following mid‐stance of the flexed limb and an increase in upward movement following mid‐stance of the nonflexed limb, also manifesting in a ‘hip hike’ of the flexed limb; these findings reflected increased movement asymmetry following flexion. Depending on individual baseline asymmetry, flexion can also increase movement symmetry.
Conclusions: Proximal hindlimb flexion can exacerbate subtle asymmetry when performed carefully. Variation in measured symmetry following flexion within and between horses showed that the individual response to flexion is highly variable.
Potential relevance: Proximal hindlimb flexion may elevate the asymmetry of a slightly lame limb above the threshold for visibility, thus assisting in the clinical gait examination. Further work is needed to examine the causes for a positive response to flexion and possible differences between sound and lame horses as well as horses of different athletic disciplines.
Ruminants are known to be able to very effectively recycle urinary urea and reuse it as a source of N for ruminal microbes. It is presumed that urea recycling is accomplished by specialized urea ...transporters (UT) which are localized in the kidney. This could be especially important in times of increased N requirement, such as during growth or during reduced dietary N intake. The aim of our study was to characterize and to localize UT in the goat (capra hircus) kidney and to investigate its response to reduced dietary N intake in growing goats. Therefore, 12 growing, male goats were fed either a diet containing high (17% CP in complete diet) or low (9% CP in complete diet) N content for 6 wk. After harvesting, blood and kidney samples were taken and analyzed. The mRNA of the different UT isoforms, UT-A1, UT-A2 and UT-B, were detected semiquantitatively in renal tissue by Northern blot analysis. For UT-A2 and UT-B, no statistically significant effect of dietary N restriction on renal mRNA expression could be detected (UT-A2: P = 0.26, UT-B: P = 0.07). However, renal mRNA abundance of UT-A1 significantly increased in the kidney of low-N-fed goats (P = 0.01). Furthermore, protein amounts of UT-B were verified by western blotting; and the localization of UT-A2 and UT-B protein was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. No significant differences in protein amounts of UT-B could be observed comparing the 2 feeding groups (P = 0.78). The UT-B was localized in renal medulla and papilla, whereas UT-A2 was only found in renal medulla. In addition, comparison of UT-A and UT-BAA sequences of monogastric animals and ruminants showed a high degree of homology, indicating a similar function of the transporters among these species. In summary, we conclude that in ruminants, urea reabsorption in the kidney is most likely increased in response to a low-N diet via an upregulation of UT-A1 mRNA expression. Hypothetically, the reabsorbed urea can then be returned to the rumen via the bloodstream and thus be reused as a source of N for protein synthesis of ruminal microbial community.
Abstract In Phys. Rev. A 107 012427 (2023), Baldwin and Jones prove that Uhlmann–Jozsa’s fidelity between two quantum states ρ and σ , i.e., F ( ρ , σ ) ≔ Tr ρ σ ρ 2 , can be written in a simplified ...form as F ( ρ , σ ) = Tr ρ σ 2 . In this article, we give an alternative proof of this result, using a function power series expansion and the properties of the trace function. Our approach not only reinforces the validity of the simplified expression but also facilitates the exploration of novel dissimilarity functions for quantum states and more complex trace functions of density operators.
In the present work the dependence of the bulk etch rate
v
B
for solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) on the concentration
c and the temperature
T of the NaOH etching solution has been studied ...for material types PADC and cellulose nitrate. As commonly applied exponents of PADC and cellulose nitrate material, the commercial products CR-39 and LR-115 were investigated. The concentration and temperature have been varied in the ranges
0.5
mol
l
-
1
<
c
<
22
mol
l
-
1
and
313
<
T
<
353
K
for PADC and
c
=
7
mol
l
-
1
and
T between 313 and 333
K for cellulose nitrate, respectively. The application of a simple Arrhenius-law of chemical reactions fails in the interpretation of the dependence on the concentration. A constant activation energy cannot describe the behaviour of
v
B
(
c
,
T
)
over the whole range of concentration. To understand the deviation, more qualified models treating the superposition of chemical and physical processes including reaction kinetics and material transport phenomena by diffusion have to be developed and tested.
The historical hard coal mining area of the districts of Zwickau and Lugau/Oelsnitz in Saxony (Germany) is a source of heavy metals and arsenic polluting the adjacent ground- and surface waters. Some ...of the dumps are partially older than 150
years, and some of them were remediated more than 50
years ago. Today we still can learn from the more or less successful remediation measures after some decades of application. In this paper, three different dumps are presented and differences between their remediation measures and long-term success are pointed out. As a result, especially a sealing and covering of a dump turned out as very successful for the prevention of AMD (acid mine drainage) generation. Thus, a reduction of the specific seepage water load of SO
4
2
−, Zn
2+, Ni
2+ and Cd
2+ up to 85%, 98.6%, 98.5% and 99.98%, respectively, compared to a revegetated, but not additionally covered dump could be achieved. The covered dump has been stable since more than 50
years; only a low pyrite oxidation grade was detected. But also the infiltration of oxygen consuming organic substance from the top of the dumps and/or by inflowing groundwaters makes a further contribution to the long-term stabilization of a former coal mining dump by keeping the redox potential of such a material quiet low. Microbial investigations resulted in increased counts of sulfate reducers depending especially on the availability of infiltrating organic substance.
T. denitrificans seems to be abundant in a moderately acidic environment with nitrate infiltration and atmospheric input.
A further utilization of such a remediated and revegetated area is possible, or it can be “given back” to the nature. By contrast, only revegetation without covering of a dump results in a long-term AMD generation of such a mining site.
►Investigation of historical hard coal mining dumps with an age up to >150 years ►Acidification and environmental impact of the dumps less dependent on the age, but more on the covering of the dumps ►Sealing and covering gives long-term protection against biogeochemical acidification processes ►Activation of microbial sulfate reduction with covering of the dumps and organic inflow ►Reduction of specific seepage water load of SO
4
2-, Zn
2+, Ni
2+ and Cd
2+ up to 85%, 98.6%, 98.5% and 99.98%, respectively, compared to a dump with revegetation only, but no additional topsoil covering.
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