Few-Shot Single-View 3-D Object Reconstruction with Compositional Priors

The impressive performance of deep convolutional neural networks in single-view 3D reconstruction suggests that these models perform non-trivial reasoning about the 3D structure of the output space. However, recent work has challenged this belief, showing that complex encoder-decoder architectures perform similarly to nearest-neighbor baselines or simple linear decoder models that exploit large amounts of per category data in standard benchmarks. On the other hand settings where 3D shape must be inferred for new categories with few examples are more natural and require models that generalize about shapes. In this work we demonstrate experimentally that naive baselines do not apply when the goal is to learn to reconstruct novel objects using very few examples, and that in a \emph{few-shot} learning setting, the network must learn concepts that can be applied to new categories, avoiding rote memorization. To address deficiencies in existing approaches to this problem, we propose three approaches that efficiently integrate a class prior into a 3D reconstruction model, allowing to account for intra-class variability and imposing an implicit compositional structure that the model should learn. Experiments on the popular ShapeNet database demonstrate that our method significantly outperform existing baselines on this task in the few-shot setting

Lipid-soluble smoke particles damage endothelial cells and reduce endothelium-dependent dilatation in rat and man

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is a strong risk factor for vascular disease and known to cause dysfunction of the endothelium. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are still not fully understood. METHODS: In order to reveal the direct effects of lipid-soluble smoke particles on the endothelium, ring segments isolated from rat mesenteric arteries and human middle cerebral arteries (MCA) obtained at autopsy were incubated for 6 to 48 hrs in the presence of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO)-soluble particles from cigarette smoke (DSP), i.e. lipid-soluble smoke particles. The endothelial microstructure was examined by transmission electron microscopy. The endothelial function was evaluated by acetylcholine (ACh)-induced endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, using a sensitive myograph. RESULTS: After DSP treatment, the arterial endothelium was swollen and loosing its attachment. In functional tests, the total ACh-induced dilatation, the nitric oxide (NO)-mediated and the endothelium-derived hyperpolarization factor (EDHF)-mediated dilatations were significantly decreased by DSP in a time- and concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Nicotine, an important compound in cigarette smoke had, in an equivalent concentration as in DSP, no such effects (p > 0.05). Similar results were obtained in the human MCA. CONCLUSION: Thus, we demonstrate that the lipid-soluble smoke particles, but not nicotine, caused damage to arterial endothelium and reduced the endothelium-dependent dilatation in man and rat

Semiquantitative Estimates of Rainfall Variability During the 8.2 kyr Event in California Using Speleothem Calcium Isotope Ratios

A multiproxy record from a fast-growing stalagmite reveals variable hydroclimate on the California coast across the 8.2 kyr event and a precursor event likely caused by initial drainage of proglacial Lake Agassiz. Using speleothem δ Ca, we develop the first semiquantitative estimates of paleorainfall variability for California through calibration with measurements of the modern climate and cave environment. We find that the magnitude of rainfall variability during the 8.2 kyr event approached the multiyear variability observable in the recent past (1950–2019) and the magnitude of variability during the precursor event likely exceeded this range. Additionally, we observe other instances of multidecadal variability comparable in magnitude to the precursor event during the record. Our work suggests that speleothem calcium isotope ratios are a powerful semiquantitative means to reconstruct paleorainfall, although numerous factors must be assessed in each cave system before applying this approach. 4

Extensive Classification of Visual Art Paintings for Enhancing Education System using Hybrid SVM-ANN with Sparse Metric Learning based on Kernel Regression

In recent decades, the collection of visual art paintings is large, digitized, and available for public uses that are rapidly growing. The development of multi-media systems is needed due to the huge amount of digitized artwork collections for retrieving and archiving this large-scale data. This multimedia system benefits from high-level tasks and has an essential step for measuring the similarity of visual between the artistic items. For modeling the similarities between the artworks or paintings, it is essential to extract useful features of visual paintings and propose the best approach for learning these similarity metrics. The infield of visual arts education, knowing the similarities and features, makes education more attractive by enhancing cognitive development in students. In this paper, the detailed visual features are listed, and the similarity measurement between the paintings is optimized by the Sparse Metric Learning-based Kernel Regression (KR-SML). A classification model is developed using hybrid SVM-ANN for semantic-level understanding to predict painting’s genre, artist, and style. Furthermore, the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) based formulation model is built to analyze the proposed technique. The simulation results show that the proposed model is better in terms of performance than other existing techniques

In situ epitaxial MgB2 thin films for superconducting electronics

A thin film technology compatible with multilayer device fabrication is critical for exploring the potential of the 39-K superconductor magnesium diboride for superconducting electronics. Using a Hybrid Physical-Chemical Vapor Deposition (HPCVD) process, it is shown that the high Mg vapor pressure necessary to keep the MgB$_2$ phase thermodynamically stable can be achieved for the {\it in situ} growth of MgB$_2$ thin films. The films grow epitaxially on (0001) sapphire and (0001) 4H-SiC substrates and show a bulk-like $T_c$ of 39 K, a $J_c$(4.2K) of $1.2 \times 10^7$ A/cm$^2$ in zero field, and a $H_{c2}(0)$ of 29.2 T in parallel magnetic field. The surface is smooth with a root-mean-square roughness of 2.5 nm for MgB$_2$ films on SiC. This deposition method opens tremendous opportunities for superconducting electronics using MgB$_2$

Gender difference in knowledge of tuberculosis and associated health-care seeking behaviors: a cross-sectional study in a rural area of China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tuberculosis (TB) detection under the national TB control program in China follows passive case-finding guidelines, which could be influenced by the accessibility of health service and patient's health-care seeking behaviors. One intriguing topic is the correlation between men and women's knowledge on TB and their health-care seeking behaviors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two cross-sectional studies were separately carried out in Yangzhong County, a rural area of China. One study, by using systematic sampling method, including 1,200 subjects, was conducted to investigate the TB knowledge among general population. Another study in the same source population screened 33,549 people aged 15 years or over among 20 stratified cluster-sampled villages for identifying prolonged cough patients at households and individual interviews were then carried out. Gender difference in the knowledge of TB and health-care seeking behaviors was analyzed particularly.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among general population, only 16.0% (men 17.1% vs. women 15.0%) knew the prolonged cough with the duration of 3 weeks or longer was a symptom for suspicious TB. Fewer women than men knew the local appointed health facility for TB diagnosis and treatment as well as the current free TB service policy. Moreover, women were less likely to learn information about TB and share it with others on their own initiatives. On the contrary, after the onset of the prolonged cough, women (79.2%) were more likely to seek health-care than men (58.6%) did. However, a large part of women preferred to visit the lower level non-hospital health facilities at first such as village clinics and drugstores.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TB and DOTS program were not well known by rural Chinese. Gender issues should be considered to reduce diagnostic delay of TB and improve both men and women's access to qualified health facility for TB care. Strengthening awareness of TB and improving the accessibility of health-care service is essential in TB control strategy, especially under the current vertical TB control system.</p

Search for Exotic Strange Quark Matter in High Energy Nuclear Reactions

We report on a search for metastable positively and negatively charged states of strange quark matter in Au+Pb reactions at 11.6 A GeV/c in experiment E864. We have sampled approximately six billion 10% most central Au+Pb interactions and have observed no strangelet states (baryon number A < 100 droplets of strange quark matter). We thus set upper limits on the production of these exotic states at the level of 1-6 x 10^{-8} per central collision. These limits are the best and most model independent for this colliding system. We discuss the implications of our results on strangelet production mechanisms, and also on the stability question of strange quark matter.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Nuclear Physics A (Carl Dover memorial edition

The protease associated (PA) domain in ScpA from Streptococcus pyogenes plays a role in substrate recruitment

Annually, over 18 million disease cases and half a million deaths worldwide are estimated to be caused by Group A Streptococcus. ScpA (or C5a peptidase) is a well characterised member of the cell enveleope protease family, which possess a S8 subtilisin-like catalytic domain and a shared multi-domain architecture. ScpA cleaves complement factors C5a and C3a, impairing the function of these critical anaphylatoxins and disrupts complement-mediated innate immunity. Although the high resolution structure of ScpA is known, the details of how it recognises its substrate are only just emerging. Previous studies have identified a distant exosite on the 2nd fibronectin domain that plays an important role in recruitment via an interaction with the substrate core. Here, using a combination of solution NMR spectroscopy, mutagenesis with functional assays and computational approaches we identify a second exosite within the protease-associated (PA) domain. We propose a model in which the PA domain assists optimal delivery of the substrate's C terminus to the active site for cleavage