ChatAnything: Facetime Chat with LLM-Enhanced Personas

In this technical report, we target generating anthropomorphized personas for LLM-based characters in an online manner, including visual appearance, personality and tones, with only text descriptions. To achieve this, we first leverage the in-context learning capability of LLMs for personality generation by carefully designing a set of system prompts. We then propose two novel concepts: the mixture of voices (MoV) and the mixture of diffusers (MoD) for diverse voice and appearance generation. For MoV, we utilize the text-to-speech (TTS) algorithms with a variety of pre-defined tones and select the most matching one based on the user-provided text description automatically. For MoD, we combine the recent popular text-to-image generation techniques and talking head algorithms to streamline the process of generating talking objects. We termed the whole framework as ChatAnything. With it, users could be able to animate anything with any personas that are anthropomorphic using just a few text inputs. However, we have observed that the anthropomorphic objects produced by current generative models are often undetectable by pre-trained face landmark detectors, leading to failure of the face motion generation, even if these faces possess human-like appearances because those images are nearly seen during the training (e.g., OOD samples). To address this issue, we incorporate pixel-level guidance to infuse human face landmarks during the image generation phase. To benchmark these metrics, we have built an evaluation dataset. Based on it, we verify that the detection rate of the face landmark is significantly increased from 57.0% to 92.5% thus allowing automatic face animation based on generated speech content. The code and more results can be found at https://chatanything.github.io/

Boosting oxygen evolution over inverse spinel Fe-Co-Mn oxide nanocubes through electronic structure engineering

Fossil fuels are urgent to be replaced with renewable energies to achieve carbon neutrality. Intermittent renewable energies such as solar and wind could be stored in chemical bonds, such as hydrogen and carbon-containing chemicals through water and CO2 electrolyzers respectively. Those two energy systems share a common anodic reaction, the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which currently relies on precious noble metals to achieve a reasonable energy conversion efficiency. Herein, tuning the d-band center of Fe-based inverse spinel oxides has been achieved through compositions and morphologies engineering. Ternary Mn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 nanocubes exhibit oxygen evolution activity superior to the benchmark RuO2. Mössbauer and in-situ infrared spectra combined with density functional theory calculations prove that the optimized d-band center offers a balanced adsorption strength of intermediate *OOH on Mn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 nanocubes. This work provides a promising approach to the design and synthesis of highly efficient electrocatalysts beyond oxygen evolution.</p

Assessing Air–Surface Exchange and Fate of Mercury in a Subtropical Forest Using a Novel Passive Exchange-Meter Device

Embargo until 01 April 2020acceptedVersio

The impact of an abandoned mercury mine on the environment in the Xiushan region, Chongqing, southwestern China

Mercury contamination is a serious problem in the Hg mining area of Xiushan County, Chongqing, southwestern China. The concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in paddy soil, surface water, and rice (grain) samples were determined to investigate the regional distribution of Hg contamination. Simultaneously, gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) in ambient air near the sampling sites was measured. The total Hg concentrations in surface water were highly elevated, ranging from 13 to 2390 ng/L, and the total MeHg concentrations varied between 0.17 and 1.1 ng/L. The dissolved Hg and MeHg concentrations in surface water ranged from 4.7 to 470 ng/L and 0.14–0.35 ng/L, respectively. High THg and MeHg concentrations were also obtained in paddy soils from mining areas, ranging from 0.45 to 68 μg/g and 0.13–4.8 ng/g, respectively. Similar to the high concentrations in water and soil, the THg concentration in rice (grain) ranged from 4.7 to 550 ng/g and MeHg from 2.9 to 26 ng/g. Elevated Hg concentrations in rice, as a staple food of local residents, confirmed that rice consumption could be a vital pathway for MeHg exposure to native people. Humic acid and fulvic acid had significant correlations with soil MeHg, implying that they have important roles that influence MeHg production in soil. The spatial distribution characteristics of Hg and MeHg pollution in the local environment indicated their origins from historic Hg mining sites in the Xiushan area.acceptedVersio

The impact of an abandoned mercury mine on the environment in the Xiushan region, Chongqing, southwestern China

Mercury contamination is a serious problem in the Hg mining area of Xiushan County, Chongqing, southwestern China. The concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in paddy soil, surface water, and rice (grain) samples were determined to investigate the regional distribution of Hg contamination. Simultaneously, gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) in ambient air near the sampling sites was measured. The total Hg concentrations in surface water were highly elevated, ranging from 13 to 2390 ng/L, and the total MeHg concentrations varied between 0.17 and 1.1 ng/L. The dissolved Hg and MeHg concentrations in surface water ranged from 4.7 to 470 ng/L and 0.14–0.35 ng/L, respectively. High THg and MeHg concentrations were also obtained in paddy soils from mining areas, ranging from 0.45 to 68 μg/g and 0.13–4.8 ng/g, respectively. Similar to the high concentrations in water and soil, the THg concentration in rice (grain) ranged from 4.7 to 550 ng/g and MeHg from 2.9 to 26 ng/g. Elevated Hg concentrations in rice, as a staple food of local residents, confirmed that rice consumption could be a vital pathway for MeHg exposure to native people. Humic acid and fulvic acid had significant correlations with soil MeHg, implying that they have important roles that influence MeHg production in soil. The spatial distribution characteristics of Hg and MeHg pollution in the local environment indicated their origins from historic Hg mining sites in the Xiushan area.acceptedVersio

Large Variation of Mercury Isotope Composition During a Single Precipitation Event at Lhasa City, Tibetan Plateau, China

AbstractThis study examined for the first time the Hg isotope composition in rain samples from a single precipitation event at Lhasa City (China) on the Tibetan Plateau, the “world's third pole”. Large variations of both mass-dependent fractionation (MDF, δ202Hg from -0.80‰ to -0.42‰) and mass-independent fractionation (MIF, Δ199Hg from 0.38‰ to 0.76‰) were observed, with the latter increasing with time. Our results demonstrated that the large variation of Hg isotope ratios likely resulted from mixing of locally emitted Hg and long-term transported Hg, which were characterized by different Hg isotope signatures and mainly leached by below-cloud scavenging and in-cloud scavenging processes, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that Hg isotopes are a powerful tool for investigating the dynamics of precipitation events and emphasized the importance of systematic monitoring studies of the chemical and isotope variability of Hg and other elements during rainfall events

Shifts in mercury methylation across a peatland chronosequence: From sulfate reduction to methanogenesis and syntrophy

Peatlands are globally important ecosystems where inorganic mercury is converted to bioaccumulating and highly toxic methylmercury, resulting in high risks of methylmercury exposure in adjacent aquatic ecosystems. Although biological mercury methylation has been known for decades, there is still a lack of knowledge about the organisms involved in mercury methylation and the drivers controlling their methylating capacity. In order to investigate the metabolisms responsible for mercury methylation and methylmercury degradation as well as the controls of both processes, we studied a chronosequence of boreal peatlands covering fundamentally different biogeochemical conditions. Potential mercury methylation rates decreased with peatland age, being up to 53 times higher in the youngest peatland compared to the oldest. Methylation in young mires was driven by sulfate reduction, while methanogenic and syntrophic metabolisms became more important in older systems. Demethylation rates were also highest in young wetlands, with a gradual shift from biotic to abiotic methylmercury degradation along the chronosequence. Our findings reveal how metabolic shifts drive mercury methylation and its ratio to demethylation as peatlands age

Comprehensive review of the basic chemical behaviours, sources, processes, and endpoints of trace element contamination in paddy soil-rice systems in rice-growing countries

Rice is the leading staple food for more than half of the world’s population, and approximately 160 million hectares of agricultural area worldwide are under rice cultivation. Therefore, it is essential to fulfil the global demand for rice while maintaining food safety. Rice acts as a sink for potentially toxic metals such as arsenic (As), selenium (Se), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and chromium (Cr) in paddy soil-rice systems due to the natural and anthropogenic sources of these metals that have developed in the last few decades. This review summarizes the sources and basic chemical behaviours of these trace elements in the soil system and their contamination status, uptake, translocation, and accumulation mechanisms in paddy soil-rice systems in major rice-growing countries. Several human health threats are significantly associated with these toxic and potentially toxic metals not only due to their presence in the environment (i.e., the soil, water, and air) but also due to the uptake and translocation of these metals via different transporters. Elevated concentrations of these metals are toxic to plants, animals, and even humans that consume them regularly, and the uniform deposition of metals causes a severe risk of bioaccumulation. Furthermore, the contamination of rice in the global rice trade makes this a critical problem of worldwide concern. Therefore, the global consumption of contaminated rice causes severe human health effects that require rapid action. Finally, this review also summarizes the available management/remediation measures and future research directions for addressing this critical issue

Bioaccumulation of Hg in rice leaf facilitates selenium bioaccumulation in rice (Oryza sativa L.) leaf in the Wanshan mercury mine

Mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation in rice poses a health issue for rice consumers. In rice paddies, selenium (Se) can decrease the bioavailability of Hg through forming the less bioavailable Hg selenides (HgSe) in soil. Rice leaves can directly uptake a substantial amount of elemental Hg from the atmosphere, however, whether the bioaccumulation of Hg in rice leaves can affect the bioaccumulation of Se in rice plants is not known. Here, we conducted field and controlled studies to investigate the bioaccumulation of Hg and Se in the rice-soil system. In the field study, we observed a significantly positive correlation between Hg concentrations and BAFs of Se in rice leaves (r2 = 0.60, p < 0.01) collected from the Wanshan Mercury Mine, SW China, suggesting that the bioaccumulation of atmospheric Hg in rice leaves can facilitate the uptake of soil Se, perhaps through the formation of Hg-Se complex in rice leaves. This conclusion was supported by the controlled study, which observed significantly higher concentrations and BAFs of Se in rice leaf at a high atmospheric Hg site at WMM, compared to a low atmospheric Hg site in Guiyang, SW China

RORγ is a targetable master regulator of cholesterol biosynthesis in a cancer subtype.

Tumor subtype-specific metabolic reprogrammers could serve as targets of therapeutic intervention. Here we show that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits a hyper-activated cholesterol-biosynthesis program that is strongly linked to nuclear receptor RORγ, compared to estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of RORγ reduces tumor cholesterol content and synthesis rate while preserving host cholesterol homeostasis. We demonstrate that RORγ functions as an essential activator of the entire cholesterol-biosynthesis program, dominating SREBP2 via its binding to cholesterol-biosynthesis genes and its facilitation of the recruitment of SREBP2. RORγ inhibition disrupts its association with SREBP2 and reduces chromatin acetylation at cholesterol-biosynthesis gene loci. RORγ antagonists cause tumor regression in patient-derived xenografts and immune-intact models. Their combination with cholesterol-lowering statins elicits superior anti-tumor synergy selectively in TNBC. Together, our study uncovers a master regulator of the&nbsp;cholesterol-biosynthesis program and an attractive target for TNBC