With the progress of 3D human pose and shape estimation, state-of-the-art methods can either be robust to occlusions or obtain pixel-aligned accuracy in non-occlusion cases. However, they cannot ...obtain robustness and mesh-image alignment at the same time. In this work, we present NIKI (Neural Inverse Kinematics with Invertible Neural Network), which models bidirectional errors to improve the robustness to occlusions and obtain pixel-aligned accuracy. NIKI can learn from both the forward and inverse processes with invertible networks. In the inverse process, the model separates the error from the plausible 3D pose manifold for a robust 3D human pose estimation. In the forward process, we enforce the zero-error boundary conditions to improve the sensitivity to reliable joint positions for better mesh-image alignment. Furthermore, NIKI emulates the analytical inverse kinematics algorithms with the twist-and-swing decomposition for better interpretability. Experiments on standard and occlusion-specific benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of NIKI, where we exhibit robust and well-aligned results simultaneously. Code is available at https://github.com/Jeff-sjtu/NIKI.
Small Seal script (Chinese called XiaoZhuan), as the earliest archaic form of standardized Chinese script, is the predecessor of modern Chinese characters. However, the Small Seal character ...recognition remains a challenging task, due to various un-/semi-structured pictographic glyphs and writing styles. This paper proposes a style-independent pictographic radical decomposition for the zero-shot recognition of Small Seal script, by taking advantage of the inherent consistency of pictographic representations between the Small Seal script and the Traditional Chinese script (Chinese called Fanti). Specifically, we design a feature-level collaboration framework of two tasks. One is the XiaoZhuan-to-Fanti translation task, which employs a generative adversarial network (GAN) based dual-learning mechanism to learn style-independent and consistent pictographic feature representations from different styles of Small Seal and their corresponding Traditional Chinese characters. The other is a transformer-based pictographic radical sequence learning from the pictographic feature representations. Experiments demonstrate that our model has satisfactory recognition ability to various styles of Small Seal scripts, especially for the zero-shot recognition of those with unknown glyphs and unseen styles. The code is available at https://github.com/windyz77/SmallSealRecon.
Estimating the articulated 3D hand-object pose from a single RGB image is a highly ambiguous and challenging problem, requiring large-scale datasets that contain diverse hand poses, object types, and ...camera viewpoints. Most real-world datasets lack these diversities. In contrast, data synthesis can easily ensure those diversities separately. However, constructing both valid and diverse hand-object interactions and efficiently learning from the vast synthetic data is still challenging. To address the above issues, we propose ArtiBoost, a lightweight online data enhancement method. ArtiBoost can cover diverse hand-object poses and camera viewpoints through sampling in a Composited hand-object Configuration and View-point space (CCV-space) and can adaptively enrich the current hard-discernable items by loss-feedback and sample re-weighting. ArtiBoost alternatively performs data exploration and synthesis within a learning pipeline, and those synthetic data are blended into real-world source data for training. We apply ArtiBoost on a simple learning baseline network and witness the performance boost on several hand-object benchmarks. Our models and code are available at https://github.com/lixiny/ArtiBoost.
Mycotoxins result in immune dysfunction and cause immune diseases in animals and humans. However, the mechanisms of immunotoxicity involved in mycotoxins have not been fully explored, and emerging ...evidence suggests that these toxins may promote their immunotoxicity via cellular senescence. Mycotoxins induce cell senescence after DNA damage, and activate signaling via the NF-κB and JNK pathways to promote the secretion of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) cytokines including IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. DNA damage can also over-activate or cleave poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), increase the expression of cell cycle inhibitory proteins p21, and p53, and induce cell cycle arrest and then senescence. These senescent cells further down-regulate proliferation-related genes and overexpress inflammatory factors resulting in chronic inflammation and eventual immune exhaustion. Here we review the underlying mechanisms by which mycotoxins trigger cell senescence and the potential roles of SASP and PARP in these pathways. This work will help to further understand the mechanisms of immunotoxicity involved in mycotoxins.
Deoxynivalenol (DON) and its modified forms, including DON-3-glucoside (DON-3G), pose a major agricultural and food safety issue in the world. Their metabolites are relatively well-characterized; ...however, their metabolizing enzymes have not been fully explored. UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, 3-O-acetyltransferase, and glutathione S-transferase are involved in the formation of DON-glucuronides, 3-acetyl-DON, and DON-glutathione, respectively. There are interindividual differences in the metabolism of these toxins, including variation with respect to sex. Furthermore, interspecies differences in DON metabolism have been revealed, including differences in the major metabolites of DON, the role of de-acetylation, and the hydrolysis of DON-3G. In this review, we summarized the major enzymes involved in metabolizing DON to its modified forms, focusing on the differences in metabolism of DON and its modified forms between individuals and species. This work provides important insight into the toxicity of DON and its derivatives in humans and animals, and provides scientific basis for the development of safer and more efficient biological detoxification methods.
Objective. To analyze the efficacy and safety of submucosal tunnel endoscopic resection (STER) for the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria. Method. A total of 272 patients ...with submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria diagnosed and treated in our hospital from February 2019 to January 2022 were randomly selected for the study and then were randomly divided into the STER group (n=136) and the endoscopic mucosal dissection (ESD) group (n=136) according to the random number table method. Patients in the STER and ESD groups were treated with STER and ESD, respectively. The clinical data of patients from the two groups were collected and compared. The clinical effects and the changes of surgery-related indexes of patients after ESD and STER treatment were observed. The safety of ESD and STER was compared. The factors influencing the efficacy of STER treatment for submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria were analyzed. Result. There were significant differences between the STER group and the ESD group in terms of tumor size, lesion level, adhesion and surgical approaches (P<0.05). The effective rates of ESD treatment and STER treatment were 98.53% and 88.97%, respectively. Meanwhile, the effective rates of STER treatment were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the patients in the STER group had longer operation time, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stay compared with those in the ESD group (P<0.05). Adverse reactions occurred during ESD treatment and STER treatment included delayed bleeding, adhesion, perforation, and pleural effusion with the total incidence of adverse reactions of 4.41% and 13.97%, respectively. The adverse reactions in STER group were prominently less than these in the ESD group (P<0.05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that independent risk factors, including tumor size, lesion level, adhesion, and surgical approaches, affected the efficacy of STER in the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria (P<0.05). Conclusion. STER is an effective method for the treatment of submucosal masses in esophageal muscularis propria, which can exhibit a good effect with faster postoperative recovery and higher safety, thereby being worthy of clinical application and promotion. Tumor size, lesion level, adhesion, and surgical approaches are all related factors affecting the effect of STER treatment.
Rural residential emissions contribute significantly to regional air pollution in China, but our understanding on how residential solid fuel burning influences the village outdoor air quality is ...limited. In this study, we compared the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) composition and individual particle characteristics from 11 to 18 January 2017 at a village and an urban site in northern China. At the village site, each day was divided into four periods: cooking (07:30–10:00; 16:00–17:00), daytime (10:00–16:00), heating (17:00–24:00), and midnight (00:00–07:30) periods. The highest PM2.5 concentration occurred during the cooking period (236 ± 88 μg m−3), which was characterized by high concentrations of K+ and abundant primary OM-K particles (i.e., organic matter mixed with K-salts) emitted from residential biomass burning. The second highest PM2.5 concentration was found during the heating period (161 ± 97 μg m−3), and the PM2.5 contained abundant spherical primary OM particles (i.e., tarballs) emitted from residential coal burning. The primary emissions from residential solid fuel burning resulted in 75% of the village OM by mass consisting of primary OM and 67% of the village aerosol particles by number internally mixing with primary OM particles. The village PM2.5 composition was different from that of the urban PM2.5, with the former containing more OM (47% vs 32%) and less secondary inorganic ions (30% vs 46%). Individual primary OM-K and tarballs were abundant in the village air. These results suggest a large contribution of village residential emissions in the winter to village air pollution. Our study highlights that the residential health in villages of northern China should be paid more attention because of high PM2.5 concentrations and abundant toxic particles during the cooking and heating periods per day in winter.
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•Aerosol particles of the village and urban sites in northern China in winter were analyzed.•Village aerosol contained more primary organic particles than urban aerosol.•The village air quality was heavily influenced by residential emissions.•Village residents were exposed to high PM2.5 concentration in winter.•Abundant tarballs were detected in the village air.
Residential emissions contributed abundant primary organic aerosols to village outdoor air.
This letter reports a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester which energy conversion efficiency is significantly improved by arraying piezoelectric sheets on cantilever beams, and the operation ...frequency band is widened by applying two-segment cantilever beams. A prototype is developed and tested. In this case, two group piezoelectric arrays are combined on the cantilever beams with the optimum load resistance. The total output power remains above 6.54 mW within the operation frequency band ranges from 27.5 Hz to 37.5 Hz when the generator is under an acceleration of 0.7 g and reaches two power peaks: 20.5 mW at 29.2 Hz and 12.95 mW at 35.4 Hz.
The development of metamaterials for advanced optical functions, especially optical metamaterials that can be synthesized through a colloidal assembly route, holds significance in nanophotonic ...research. A broadband absorber based on hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) with cuboidal patterns, constructed using 3D assembled nanorod arrays, is fabricated with the assistance of SU‐8 photoresist filling, photolithography, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Pt. The formation of cuboidal patterns creates a rod‐based metamaterial waveguide, enabling slow‐light dispersion in the visible frequency range. Slow light frequencies can be adjusted by varying the metal thickness and metal type, while they are minimally influenced by the width of each cuboidal framework. In addition to the absorption attributed to the rod metamaterial waveguides, the gap between the neighboring cuboidal frameworks induces a coupling effect that enhances light capture. The presence of curving morphologies on the side of each cuboidal framework further enhances optical absorption. The optimized broadband rod metamaterial absorber in cuboidal patterns can achieve an average absorptivity of 96.9% in the 400–1100 nm wavelength range.
Hyperbolic materials (HMMs) in cuboidal patterns are fabricated using the colloidal assembly method and present near‐perfect absorption in the 400–1100 nm wavelength range. The perfect absorption is contributed from the slow light effect from HMM waveguides with coupling and side‐enhanced absorption effect.
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