Intelligent Painter: Picture Composition With Resampling Diffusion Model

Have you ever thought that you can be an intelligent painter? This means that you can paint a picture with a few expected objects in mind, or with a desirable scene. This is different from normal inpainting approaches for which the location of specific objects cannot be determined. In this paper, we present an intelligent painter that generate a person's imaginary scene in one go, given explicit hints. We propose a resampling strategy for Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Model (DDPM) to intelligently compose unconditional harmonized pictures according to the input subjects at specific locations. By exploiting the diffusion property, we resample efficiently to produce realistic pictures. Experimental results show that our resampling method favors the semantic meaning of the generated output efficiently and generates less blurry output. Quantitative analysis of image quality assessment shows that our method produces higher perceptual quality images compared with the state-of-the-art methods.Comment: ICIP 202

Short-term effects of a gain-focused reappraisal intervention for dementia caregivers: A double-blind cluster-randomized controlled trial

Objectives To examine the effects of a benefit-finding intervention, the key feature being the use of gain-focused reappraisal strategies to find positive meanings and benefits in caring for someone with dementia. Design: Cluster-randomized double-blind controlled trial. Setting: Social centers and clinics. Participants: 129 caregivers. Inclusion criteria were (a) primary caregiver aged 18+ and without cognitive impairment, (b) providing ≥14 care hours per week to a relative with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, and (c) scoring ≥3 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Exclusion criterion was care-recipient having parkinsonism or other forms of dementia. Interventions: The benefit-finding intervention was evaluated against two treatment-as-usuals, namely, simplified psychoeducation (lectures only) and standard psychoeducation. Each intervention lasted eight weeks, with a 2-hour session per week. Randomization into these conditions was based on center/clinic membership. Measurements: Primary outcome was depressive symptom. Secondary outcomes were Zarit Burden Interview, role overload, and psychological well-being. Self-efficacy beliefs and positive gains were treated as mediators. Measures were collected at baseline and posttreatment. Results: Regression analyses showed BF treatment effects on all outcomes when compared with SIM-PE, and effects on depressive symptoms and Zarit burden when compared with STD-PE. Effect sizes were medium-to-large for depressive symptoms (d=-0.77– -0.96), and medium for the secondary outcomes (d=|0.42–0.65|). Furthermore, using the bootstrapping method, we found significant mediating effects by self-efficacy in controlling upsetting thoughts and positive gains, with the former being the primary mediator. Conclusions: Finding positive gains reduces depressive symptoms and burden and promotes psychological well-being primarily through enhancing self-efficacy in controlling upsetting thoughts

CREATOR: Tool Creation for Disentangling Abstract and Concrete Reasoning of Large Language Models

Large Language Models (LLMs) have made significant progress in utilizing tools, but their ability is limited by API availability and the instability of implicit reasoning, particularly when both planning and execution are involved. To overcome these limitations, we propose CREATOR, a novel framework that enables LLMs to create their own tools using documentation and code realization. CREATOR disentangles abstract tool creation and concrete decision execution, resulting in improved performance. We evaluate CREATOR on MATH and TabMWP benchmarks, respectively consisting of challenging math competition problems and diverse tabular contents. Remarkably, CREATOR outperforms existing chain-of-thought, program-of-thought, and tool-using baselines. Additionally, we introduce the Creation Challenge dataset, featuring 2K diverse questions, to emphasize the necessity and benefits of LLMs' tool creation ability. Further research demonstrates that leveraging LLMs as tool creators facilitates knowledge transfer, and LLMs exhibit varying levels of tool creation abilities, enabling them to adapt to diverse situations. The tool creation ability revolutionizes the LLM's problem-solving paradigm, driving us closer to the next frontier of artificial intelligence. All the codes and data are released

Arresting rampant dental caries with silver diamine fluoride in a young teenager suffering from chronic oral graft versus host disease post-bone marrow transplantation: a case report

BACKGROUND: Rampant caries is an advanced and severe dental disease that affects multiple teeth. This case describes the management of rampant caries in a young teenager suffering from chronic oral graft versus host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 14-year-old Chinese boy suffering from β–thalassemia major was referred to the dental clinic for the management of rampant dental caries. An oral examination revealed pale conjunctiva, bruising of lips, and depapillation of tongue indicating an underlying condition of anemia. The poor oral condition due to topical and systemic immunosuppressants was seriously aggravated, and rampant caries developed rapidly, affecting all newly erupted, permanent teeth. The teeth were hypersensitive and halitosis was apparent. Strategies for oral health education and diet modification were given to the patient. Xylitol chewing gum was used to stimulate saliva flow to promote remineralization of teeth. Silver diamine fluoride was topically applied to arrest rampant caries and to relieve pain from hypersensitivity. Carious teeth with pulpal involvement were endodontically treated. Stainless steel crowns were provided on molars to restore chewing function, and polycarbonate crowns were placed on premolars, upper canines and incisors. CONCLUSION: This case report demonstrates success in treating a young teenager with severe rampant dental decay by contemporary caries control and preventive strategy

Occurrence and distribution of anthropogenic persistent organic pollutants in coastal sediments and mud shrimps from the wetland of central Taiwan

Sediment profile and mud shrimp (Austinogebia edulis) from the coastal wetland of central Taiwan in 2017 and 2018 were analyzed for concentration, source, and composition of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs; DDT and HCB), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Sediment profiling indicated PAH concentrations reaching 254.38 ng/g dw in areas near industrial areas and PAH concentrations of 41.8 and 58.42 ng/g dw in sampling areas further from industrial areas, suggesting that the determining factor for spatial distribution of POPs might be proximity to contaminant sources in industrial zones. Based on molecular indices, PAHs were substantially of both pyrolytic and petrogenic origins. The main sources for PCBs were Aroclor 1016 and 1260 and the congener BDE-209 was the dominant component among PBDE congeners. While we were unable to obtain live mud shrimp samples from the heavily contaminated areas, in samples from less contaminated areas, the risk assessment on mud shrimp still illustrated a borderline threat, with DDT concentrations almost reaching standardized values of Effects Range-Low (ERL). Bioaccumulation factors for DDTs and PCBs (17.33 and 54.59, respectively) were higher than other POPs in this study. Further study is essential to assess and understand the impact of these chemicals on the wetland ecosystem near this heavily industrialized area.Fil: Das, Shagnika. National Taiwan Ocean University; República de China. Universite Lille; Francia. University Littoral Cote d’Opale; FranciaFil: Arias, Andres Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química; ArgentinaFil: Cheng, Jing O.. National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium; República de ChinaFil: Souissi, Sami. Universite Lille; Francia. University Littoral Cote d’Opale; FranciaFil: Hwang, Jiang Shiou. National Taiwan Ocean University; República de ChinaFil: Ko, Fung Chi. National Dong Hwa University; República de Chin

Source attack of decoy-state quantum key distribution using phase information

Quantum key distribution (QKD) utilizes the laws of quantum mechanics to achieve information-theoretically secure key generation. This field is now approaching the stage of commercialization, but many practical QKD systems still suffer from security loopholes due to imperfect devices. In fact, practical attacks have successfully been demonstrated. Fortunately, most of them only exploit detection-side loopholes which are now closed by the recent idea of measurement-device-independent QKD. On the other hand, little attention is paid to the source which may still leave QKD systems insecure. In this work, we propose and demonstrate an attack that exploits a source-side loophole existing in qubit-based QKD systems using a weak coherent state source and decoy states. Specifically, by implementing a linear-optics unambiguous-state-discrimination measurement, we show that the security of a system without phase randomization --- which is a step assumed in conventional security analyses but sometimes neglected in practice --- can be compromised. We conclude that implementing phase randomization is essential to the security of decoy-state QKD systems under current security analyses.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

The novel thiosemicarbazone, di-2-pyridylketone 4-cyclohexyl-4-methyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (DpC), inhibits neuroblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo via multiple mechanisms

Abstract Background Neuroblastoma is a relatively common and highly belligerent childhood tumor with poor prognosis by current therapeutic approaches. A novel anti-cancer agent of the di-2-pyridylketone thiosemicarbazone series, namely di-2-pyridylketone 4,4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (Dp44mT), demonstrates promising anti-tumor activity. Recently, a second-generation analogue, namely di-2-pyridylketone 4-cyclohexyl-4-methyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (DpC), has entered multi-center clinical trials for the treatment of advanced and resistant tumors. The current aim was to examine if these novel agents were effective against aggressive neuroblastoma in vitro and in vivo and to assess their mechanism of action. Methods Neuroblastoma cancer cells as well as immortalized normal cells were used to assess the efficacy and selectivity of DpC in vitro. An orthotopic SK-N-LP/Luciferase xenograft model was used in nude mice to assess the efficacy of DpC in vivo. Apoptosis in tumors was confirmed by Annexin V/PI flow cytometry and H&E staining. Results DpC demonstrated more potent cytotoxicity than Dp44mT against neuroblastoma cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. DpC significantly increased levels of phosphorylated JNK, neuroglobin, cytoglobin, and cleaved caspase 3 and 9, while decreasing IkBα levels in vitro. The contribution of JNK, NF-ĸB, and caspase signaling/activity to the anti-tumor activity of DpC was verified by selective inhibitors of these pathways. After 3 weeks of treatment, tumor growth in mice was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by DpC (4 mg/kg/day) given intravenously and the agent was well tolerated. Xenograft tissues showed significantly higher expression of neuroglobin, cytoglobin, caspase 3, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) levels and a slight decrease in interleukin-10 (IL-10). Conclusions DpC was found to be highly potent against neuroblastoma, demonstrating its potential as a novel therapeutic for this disease. The ability of DpC to increase TNFα in tumors could also promote the endogenous immune response to mediate enhanced cancer cell apoptosis

A targeted gene panel that covers coding, non-coding and short tandem repeat regions improves the diagnosis of patients with neurodegenerative diseases

Genetic testing for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) is highly challenging because of genetic heterogeneity and overlapping manifestations. Targeted-gene panels (TGPs), coupled with next-generation sequencing (NGS), can facilitate the profiling of a large repertoire of ND-related genes. Due to the technical limitations inherent in NGS and TGPs, short tandem repeat (STR) variations are often ignored. However, STR expansions are known to cause such NDs as Huntington\u27s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias type 3 (SCA3). Here, we studied the clinical utility of a custom-made TGP that targets 199 NDs and 311 ND-associated genes on 118 undiagnosed patients. At least one known or likely pathogenic variation was found in 54 patients; 27 patients demonstrated clinical profiles that matched the variants; and 16 patients whose original diagnosis were refined. A high concordance of variant calling were observed when comparing the results from TGP and whole-exome sequencing of four patients. Our in-house STR detection algorithm has reached a specificity of 0.88 and a sensitivity of 0.82 in our SCA3 cohort. This study also uncovered a trove of novel and recurrent variants that may enrich the repertoire of ND-related genetic markers. We propose that a combined comprehensive TGPs-bioinformatics pipeline can improve the clinical diagnosis of NDs

Cellular glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) status modulates the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on human foreskin fibroblasts

AbstractGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) plays an important role in cellular redox homeostasis, which is crucial for cell survival. In the present study, we found that G6PD status determines the response of cells exposed to nitric oxide (NO) donor. Treatment with NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), caused apoptosis in G6PD-deficient human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF1), whereas it was growth stimulatory in the normal counterpart (HFF3). Such effects were abolished by NO scavengers like hemoglobin. Ectopic expression of G6PD in HFF1 cells switched the cellular response to NO from apoptosis to growth stimulation. Experiments with 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one and 8-bromo-cGMP showed that the effects of NO on HFF1 and HFF3 cells were independent of cGMP signalling pathway. Intriguingly, trolox prevented the SNP-induced apoptosis in HFF1 cells. These data demonstrate that G6PD plays a critical role in regulation of cell growth and survival

Impacts of Seagrass on Benthic Microalgae and Phytoplankton Communities in an Experimentally Warmed Coral Reef Mesocosm

The effects of seagrass on microalgal assemblages under experimentally elevated temperatures (28°C) and CO2 partial pressures (pCO2; 800 μatm) were examined using coral reef mesocosms. Concentrations of nitrate, ammonium, and benthic microalgal chlorophyll a (chl-a) were significantly higher in seagrass mesocosms, whereas phytoplankton chl-a concentrations were similar between seagrass and seagrass-free control mesocosms. In the seagrass group, fewer parasitic dinoflagellate OTUs (e.g., Syndiniales) were found in the benthic microalgal community though more symbiotic dinoflagellates (e.g., Cladocopium spp.) were quantified in the phytoplankton community. Our results suggest that, under ocean acidification conditions, the presence of seagrass nearby coral reefs may (1) enhance benthic primary productivity, (2) decrease parasitic dinoflagellate abundance, and (3) possibly increase the presence of symbiotic dinoflagellates