Deep Virtual-to-Real Distillation for Pedestrian Crossing Prediction

Pedestrian crossing is one of the most typical behavior which conflicts with natural driving behavior of vehicles. Consequently, pedestrian crossing prediction is one of the primary task that influences the vehicle planning for safe driving. However, current methods that rely on the practically collected data in real driving scenes cannot depict and cover all kinds of scene condition in real traffic world. To this end, we formulate a deep virtual to real distillation framework by introducing the synthetic data that can be generated conveniently, and borrow the abundant information of pedestrian movement in synthetic videos for the pedestrian crossing prediction in real data with a simple and lightweight implementation. In order to verify this framework, we construct a benchmark with 4667 virtual videos owning about 745k frames (called Virtual-PedCross-4667), and evaluate the proposed method on two challenging datasets collected in real driving situations, i.e., JAAD and PIE datasets. State-of-the-art performance of this framework is demonstrated by exhaustive experiment analysis. The dataset and code can be downloaded from the website \url{http://www.lotvs.net/code_data/}.Comment: Accepted by ITSC 202

Emergency Resource Layout with Multiple Objectives under Complex Disaster Scenarios

Effective placement of emergency rescue resources, particularly with joint suppliers in complex disaster scenarios, is crucial for ensuring the reliability, efficiency, and quality of emergency rescue activities. However, limited research has considered the interaction between different disasters and material classification, which are highly vital to the emergency rescue. This study provides a novel and practical framework for reliable strategies of emergency rescue under complex disaster scenarios. The study employs a scenario-based approach to represent complex disasters, such as earthquakes, mudslides, floods, and their interactions. In optimizing the placement of emergency resources, the study considers government-owned suppliers, framework agreement suppliers, and existing suppliers collectively supporting emergency rescue materials. To determine the selection of joint suppliers and their corresponding optimal material quantities under complex disaster scenarios, the research proposes a multi-objective model that integrates cost, fairness, emergency efficiency, and uncertainty into a facility location problem. Finally, the study develops an NSGA-II-XGB algorithm to solve a disaster-prone province example and verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed multi-objective model and solution methods. The results show that the methodology proposed in this paper can greatly reduce emergency costs, rescue time, and the difference between demand and suppliers while maximizing the coverage of rescue resources. More importantly, it can optimize the scale of resources by determining the location and number of materials provided by joint suppliers for various kinds of disasters simultaneously. This research represents a promising step towards making informed configuration decisions in emergency rescue work

Ramsey County Environmental Response Fund Impact Study

Report and poster completed by students participating in the Economic Development Fellowship Consulting Program, offered through the Office of University Economic Development in Spring 2019.This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. Ramsey County collects a small percentage of the mortgage registry and deed tax to help fund the clean-up of contaminated land. This Environmental Response Fund (ERF) is leveraged with private investment and other public funding for redevelopment projects within the county. Since the program’s inception, 22 projects have received $5.7 million in funding and 200 acres have been remediated. Although the fund has been successful in cleaning up brownfields, little was known about the broader outcomes of the redevelopment projects completed after 2012, the last time an impact assessment was undertaken. Ramsey County Project Lead Mary Lou Egan worked with students in the Economic Development Fellows Consulting Program to evaluate the impact of ERF projects in terms of public and private investment leveraged, tax revenue generated, and jobs and housing units generated, and identified ways to strengthen and improve the program going forward. The students' final report and a poster summarizing the project are available.This project was supported by the Resilient Communities Project (RCP), a program at the University of Minnesota whose mission is to connect communities in Minnesota with U of MN faculty and students to advance community resilience through collaborative, course-based projects. RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). More information at http://www.rcp.umn.edu

Effect of Oak Chip Aging on the Flavor of Persimmon Brandy

Mopan persimmon brandy with an alcohol content of 42% (V/V), prepared by fermentation and distillation, was aged after being added with 5–20 g/L of Chinese-made moderately roasted oak chips. The volatile and non-volatile components of persimmon brandy were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the total phenol content and antioxidant activity were determined, and sensory evaluation was also performed. The results showed that a total of 33 volatile components were identified by GC-MS, among which the major components were ethyl acetate, ethyl decanoate, and ethyl laurate. The content of volatile components was the highest upon the addition of 10 g/L of oak chips. The results of LC-MS showed that the number of non-volatile substances increased by 183 after aging. The total phenol content and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity increased with increasing addition of oak chips, but was basically stable after 90 days of aging. In the sensory evaluation, persimmon brandy with 15 g/L of oak chip scored the highest (72.5 points)

TRAF6 mediates human DNA2 polyubiquitination and nuclear localization to maintain nuclear genome integrity

The multifunctional human DNA2 (hDNA2) nuclease/helicase is required to process DNA ends for homology-directed recombination repair (HDR) and to counteract replication stress. To participate in these processes, hDNA2 must localize to the nucleus and be recruited to the replication or repair sites. However, because hDNA2 lacks the nuclear localization signal that is found in its yeast homolog, it is unclear how its migration into the nucleus is regulated during replication or in response to DNA damage. Here, we report that the E3 ligase TRAF6 binds to and mediates the K63-linked polyubiquitination of hDNA2, increasing the stability of hDNA2 and promoting its nuclear localization. Inhibiting TRAF6-mediated polyubiquitination abolishes the nuclear localization of hDNA2, consequently impairing DNA end resection and HDR. Thus, the current study reveals a mechanism for the regulation of hDNA2 localization and establishes that TRAF6-mediated hDNA2 ubiquitination activates DNA repair pathways to maintain nuclear genome integrity

Microbicidal Phagocytosis of Nucleus Pulposus Cells Against Staphylococcus aureus via the TLR2/MAPKs Signaling Pathway

Intervertebral disc (IVD) is an immune-privileged organ that lacks immunocytes, such as macrophages or neutrophils; therefore, it is unclear how IVD immunological defense against bacterial infection occurs. Here, we demonstrated that nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs), the vital machinery for maintaining the homeostasis of IVD, exerted microbicidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus via induction of phagolysosome formation. Moreover, we found that the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)/mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signaling pathway is critical for bacterial phagocytosis and phagolysosome formation of NPCs. These findings demonstrated for the first time that NPCs could function as non-professional phagocytes against S. aureus infection, thereby enhancing antimicrobial defense against bacterial infections in IVDs

In vivo partial cellular reprogramming enhances liver plasticity and regeneration.

Mammals have limited regenerative capacity, whereas some vertebrates, like fish and salamanders, are able to regenerate their organs efficiently. The regeneration in these species depends on cell dedifferentiation followed by proliferation. We generate a mouse model that enables the inducible expression of the four Yamanaka factors (Oct-3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, or 4F) specifically in hepatocytes. Transient in vivo 4F expression induces partial reprogramming of adult hepatocytes to a progenitor state and concomitantly increases cell proliferation. This is indicated by reduced expression of differentiated hepatic-lineage markers, an increase in markers of proliferation and chromatin modifiers, global changes in DNA accessibility, and an acquisition of liver stem and progenitor cell markers. Functionally, short-term expression of 4F enhances liver regenerative capacity through topoisomerase2-mediated partial reprogramming. Our results reveal that liver-specific 4F expression in vivo induces cellular plasticity and counteracts liver failure, suggesting that partial reprogramming may represent an avenue for enhancing tissue regeneration