SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation

Generating talking head videos through a face image and a piece of speech audio still contains many challenges. ie, unnatural head movement, distorted expression, and identity modification. We argue that these issues are mainly because of learning from the coupled 2D motion fields. On the other hand, explicitly using 3D information also suffers problems of stiff expression and incoherent video. We present SadTalker, which generates 3D motion coefficients (head pose, expression) of the 3DMM from audio and implicitly modulates a novel 3D-aware face render for talking head generation. To learn the realistic motion coefficients, we explicitly model the connections between audio and different types of motion coefficients individually. Precisely, we present ExpNet to learn the accurate facial expression from audio by distilling both coefficients and 3D-rendered faces. As for the head pose, we design PoseVAE via a conditional VAE to synthesize head motion in different styles. Finally, the generated 3D motion coefficients are mapped to the unsupervised 3D keypoints space of the proposed face render, and synthesize the final video. We conduct extensive experiments to show the superior of our method in terms of motion and video quality.Comment: Project page: https://sadtalker.github.i

Simultaneous electrical-field-effect modulation of both top and bottom Dirac surface states of epitaxial thin films of three-dimensional topological insulators

It is crucial for the studies of the transport properties and quantum effects related to Dirac surface states of three-dimensional topological insulators (3D TIs) to be able to simultaneously tune the chemical potentials of both top and bottom surfaces of a 3D TI thin film. We have realized this in molecular beam epitaxy-grown thin films of 3D TIs, as well as magnetic 3D TIs, by fabricating dual-gate structures on them. The films could be tuned between n-type and p-type by each gate alone. Combined application of two gates can reduce the carrier density of a TI film to a much lower level than with only one of them and enhance the film resistance by 10000 %, implying that Fermi level is tuned very close to the Dirac points of both top and bottom surface states without crossing any bulk band. The result promises applications of 3D TIs in field effect devices.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Nano Letters, forthcomin

FSD-C10, a Fasudil derivative, promotes neuroregeneration through indirect and direct mechanisms.

FSD-C10, a Fasudil derivative, was shown to reduce severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), through the modulation of the immune response and induction of neuroprotective molecules in the central nervous system (CNS). However, whether FSD-C10 can promote neuroregeneration remains unknown. In this study, we further analyzed the effect of FSD-C10 on neuroprotection and remyelination. FSD-C10-treated mice showed a longer, thicker and more intense MAP2 and synaptophysin positive signal in the CNS, with significantly fewer CD4(+) T cells, macrophages and microglia. Importantly, the CNS of FSD-C10-treated mice showed a shift of activated macrophages/microglia from the type 1 to type 2 status, elevated numbers of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and oligodendrocytes, and increased levels of neurotrophic factors NT-3, GDNF and BDNF. FSD-C10-treated microglia significantly inhibited Th1/Th17 cell differentiation and increased the number of IL-10(+) CD4(+) T cells, and the conditioned medium from FSD-C10-treated microglia promoted OPC survival and oligodendrocyte maturation. Addition of FSD-C10 directly promoted remyelination in a chemical-induced demyelination model on organotypic slice culture, in a BDNF-dependent manner. Together, these findings demonstrate that FSD-C10 promotes neural repair through mechanisms that involved both immunomodulation and induction of neurotrophic factors

An extended COPRAS model for multiple attribute group decision making based on single-valued neutrosophic 2-tuple linguistic environment

In this article, we develop the COPRAS model to solve the multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) under single-valued neutrosophic 2-tuple linguistic sets (SVN2TLSs). Firstly, we introduce the relevant knowledge about SVN2TLSs in a nutshell, such as the definition, the operation laws, a few of fused operators and so on. Then, combine the traditional COPRAS model with SVN2TLNs, and structure as well as elucidate the computing steps of the SVN2TLNCOPRAS pattern. Furthermore, in this article, we propose a method for determining attribute weights in different situations relying on the maximizing deviation method with SVN2TLNs. Last but not least, a numerical example about assessing the safety of construction project has been designed. And for further demonstrating the advantage of the new designed method, we also select a number of existed methods to have comparisons. First published online 13 January 202

Enhanced Osteogenesis of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells by Regulating Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling Antagonists and Agonists.

UnlabelledAlthough adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are an attractive cell source for bone tissue engineering, direct use of ASCs alone has had limited success in the treatment of large bone defects. Although bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are believed to be the most potent osteoinductive factors to promote osteogenic differentiation of ASCs, their clinical applications require supraphysiological dosage, leading to high medical burden and adverse side effects. In the present study, we demonstrated an alternative approach that can effectively complement the BMP activity to maximize the osteogenesis of ASCs without exogenous application of BMPs by regulating levels of antagonists and agonists to BMP signaling. Treatment of ASCs with the amiloride derivative phenamil, a positive regulator of BMP signaling, combined with gene manipulation to suppress the BMP antagonist noggin, significantly enhanced osteogenic differentiation of ASCs through increased BMP-Smad signaling in vitro. Furthermore, the combination approach of noggin suppression and phenamil stimulation enhanced the BMP signaling and bone repair in a mouse calvarial defect model by adding noggin knockdown ASCs to apatite-coated poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) scaffolds loaded with phenamil. These results suggest novel complementary osteoinductive strategies that could maximize activity of the BMP pathway in ASC bone repair while reducing potential adverse effects of current BMP-based therapeutics.SignificanceAlthough stem cell-based tissue engineering strategy offers a promising alternative to repair damaged bone, direct use of stem cells alone is not adequate for challenging healing environments such as in large bone defects. This study demonstrates a novel strategy to maximize bone formation pathways in osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and functional bone formation by combining gene manipulation with a small molecule activator toward osteogenesis. The findings indicate promising stem cell-based therapy for treating bone defects that can effectively complement or replace current osteoinductive therapeutics

A study of strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 using Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540MHz

We report on the properties of strong pulses from PSR B0656+14 by analyzing the data obtained using Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz from August 2007 to September 2010. In 44 hrs of observational data, a total of 67 pulses with signal-to-noise ratios above a 5-{\sigma} threshold were detected. The peak flux densities of these pulses are 58 to 194 times that of the average profile, and the pulse energies of them are 3 to 68 times that of the average pulse. These pulses are clustered around phases about 5 degrees ahead of the peak of the average profile. Comparing with the width of the average profile, they are relatively narrow, with the full widths at half-maximum range from 0.28 to 1.78 degrees. The distribution of pulse-energies of the pulses follows a lognormal distribution. These sporadic strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 are different in character from the typical giant pulses, and from its regular pulses.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by RA

Species-specific and needle age-related responses of photosynthesis in two Pinus species to long-term exposure to elevated CO2 concentration

There is, so far, no common conclusion about photosynthetic responses of trees to long-term exposure to elevated CO2. Photosynthesis and specific leaf area (SLA) of 1-year-old and current-year needles in Pinus koraiensis and P. sylvestriformis grown in open-top chambers were measured monthly for consecutive two growing seasons (2006, 2007) after 8-9years of CO2 enrichment in northeastern China, to better understand species-specific and needle age-related responses to elevated CO2 (500μmolmol−1CO2). The light-saturated photosynthetic rates (P Nsat) increased in both species at elevated CO2, but the stimulation magnitude varied with species and needle age. Photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2, in terms of reduced V cmax (maximum carboxylation rate) and J max (maximum electron transport rate), was found in P. koraiensis but not in P. sylvestriformis. The photosynthetic parameters (V cmax, J max, P Nsat) measured in different-aged needles within each species responded to elevated CO2 similarly, but elevated CO2 resulted in much pronounced variations of those parameters in current-year needles than in 1-year-old needles within each species. This result indicated that needle age affects the magnitude but not the patterns of photosynthetic responses to long-term CO2 enrichment. The present study indicated that different species associated with different physioecological properties responded to elevated CO2 differently. As global change and CO2 enrichment is more or less a gradual rather than an abrupt process, long-term global change experiments with different plant species are still needed to character and better predict the global change effects on terrestrial ecosystem