LOWA: Localize Objects in the Wild with Attributes

We present LOWA, a novel method for localizing objects with attributes effectively in the wild. It aims to address the insufficiency of current open-vocabulary object detectors, which are limited by the lack of instance-level attribute classification and rare class names. To train LOWA, we propose a hybrid vision-language training strategy to learn object detection and recognition with class names as well as attribute information. With LOWA, users can not only detect objects with class names, but also able to localize objects by attributes. LOWA is built on top of a two-tower vision-language architecture and consists of a standard vision transformer as the image encoder and a similar transformer as the text encoder. To learn the alignment between visual and text inputs at the instance level, we train LOWA with three training steps: object-level training, attribute-aware learning, and free-text joint training of objects and attributes. This hybrid training strategy first ensures correct object detection, then incorporates instance-level attribute information, and finally balances the object class and attribute sensitivity. We evaluate our model performance of attribute classification and attribute localization on the Open-Vocabulary Attribute Detection (OVAD) benchmark and the Visual Attributes in the Wild (VAW) dataset, and experiments indicate strong zero-shot performance. Ablation studies additionally demonstrate the effectiveness of each training step of our approach

Evaluation and Mitigation of Agnosia in Multimodal Large Language Models

While Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) are widely used for a variety of vision-language tasks, one observation is that they sometimes misinterpret visual inputs or fail to follow textual instructions even in straightforward cases, leading to irrelevant responses, mistakes, and ungrounded claims. This observation is analogous to a phenomenon in neuropsychology known as Agnosia, an inability to correctly process sensory modalities and recognize things (e.g., objects, colors, relations). In our study, we adapt this similar concept to define "agnosia in MLLMs", and our goal is to comprehensively evaluate and mitigate such agnosia in MLLMs. Inspired by the diagnosis and treatment process in neuropsychology, we propose a novel framework EMMA (Evaluation and Mitigation of Multimodal Agnosia). In EMMA, we develop an evaluation module that automatically creates fine-grained and diverse visual question answering examples to assess the extent of agnosia in MLLMs comprehensively. We also develop a mitigation module to reduce agnosia in MLLMs through multimodal instruction tuning on fine-grained conversations. To verify the effectiveness of our framework, we evaluate and analyze agnosia in seven state-of-the-art MLLMs using 9K test samples. The results reveal that most of them exhibit agnosia across various aspects and degrees. We further develop a fine-grained instruction set and tune MLLMs to mitigate agnosia, which led to notable improvement in accuracy

Comprehensive analysis of the association between inflammation indexes and complications in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy

BackgroundDuring clinical practice, routine blood tests are commonly performed following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). However, the relationship between blood cell counts, inflammation-related indices, and postoperative complications remains unclear.MethodWe conducted a retrospective study, including patients who underwent PD from October 2018 to July 2023 at the First Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and compared baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes among different groups. Neutrophil count (NC), platelet count (PLT), lymphocyte count (LC), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the product of platelet count and neutrophil count (PPN) were derived from postoperative blood test results. We investigated the association between these indicators and outcomes using multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis. The predictive performance of these indicators was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultA total of 232 patients were included in this study. Multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis showed that all indicators, except for PLT, were associated with clinical postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). SII, NLR, and NC were linked to surgical site infection (SSI), while SII, NLR, and PLR were correlated with CD3 complication. PLT levels were related to postoperative hemorrhage. SII (AUC: 0.729), NLR (AUC: 0.713), and NC (AUC: 0.706) effectively predicted clinical POPF.ConclusionIn patients undergoing PD, postoperative inflammation-related indices and blood cell counts are associated with various complications. NLR and PLT can serve as primary indicators post-surgery for monitoring complications

Evaluation of the Characteristics of Trinidad Lake Asphalt and Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber Compound Modified Binder

A comprehensive experiment involving different Trinidad Lake Asphalt (TLA) and Styrene—Butadiene—Rubber (SBR) compound modified binders was conducted to investigate the rheological and aging properties of TLA and SBR compound modified binders. Four TLA (5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) and four SBR concentrations (0%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) were selected. Dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and bending beam rheometer (BBR) tests were performed to evaluate the rheological properties. Conventional tests (penetration, softening point, and ductility tests) were conducted on TLA and SBR compound modified binders with different aging states (i.e., original, RTFO aged, and PAV aged) to investigate the physical and durability properties. Rotational viscosity tests were performed to evaluate the workability. The results indicated that compound modified binders with TLA and SBR could improve the deformation resistance of binders by increasing the early stiffness and prolong the service life of the corresponding pavement by improving the durability, compared with base asphalt binder. The addition of TLA could degrade the low-temperature flow properties, but the degradation effect could be offset by adding SBR. The combination of 2% SBR and 20% TLA was recommended based on the comprehensive analysis of test results. The workability was degraded by introducing additives, but all binders studied met the Superpave specification

Review of the Effect of Surface Coating Modification on Magnesium Alloy Biocompatibility

Magnesium alloy, as an absorbable and implantable biomaterial, has been greatly developed in the application field of biomaterials in recent years due to its excellent biocompatibility and biomechanics. However, due to the poor corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy in the physiological environment, the degradation rate will be unbalanced, which seriously affects the clinical use. There are two main ways to improve the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy: one is by adding alloying elements, the other is by surface modification technology. Compared with adding alloy elements, the surface coating modification has the following advantages: (1) The surface coating modification is carried out without changing the matrix elements of magnesium alloy, avoiding the introduction of other elements; (2) The corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy can be improved by relatively simple physical, chemical, or electrochemical improvement. From the perspective of corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of biomedical magnesium alloy materials, this paper summarizes the application and characteristics of six different surface coating modifications in the biomedical magnesium alloy field, including chemical conversion method, micro-arc oxidation method, sol-gel method, electrophoretic deposition, hydrothermal method, and thermal spraying method. In the last section, it looks forward to the development prospect of surface coating modification and points out that preparing modified coatings on the implant surface combined with various modification post-treatment technologies is the main direction to improve biocompatibility and realize clinical functionalization

Evaluation of Switching Power Amplifier Topology for Active Magnetic Bearings

Active magnetic bearings (AMBs) have led to great progress in the field of rotating machinery due to their many advantages, such as their non-contact and non-lubrication properties. As the key component of an AMB actuator, the switching power amplifier has an important impact on the performance of magnetic bearings and rotating machinery. In this paper, the topologies of switching power amplifiers for AMBs are introduced. The traditional half-bridge topology and two newly proposed topologies—the three-phase-half-bridge and neutralized-sharing-bridge topology—are analyzed and discussed. The volume, current output performance and cost of the power amplifier with different topologies are comprehensively evaluated, providing a theoretical basis and guidance for the selection and design of the topology of switching power amplifiers for AMBs under different conditions

Critical Vibration and Control of the Maglev High-Speed Motor Based on μ–Synthesis Control

The Maglev motor has the characteristics of high-speed and high-power density, and is widely used in compressors, molecular pumps and other high-speed rotating machinery. With the requirements of miniaturization and high speed of rotating machinery, the rotor of the maglev motor will operate above the bending critical speed, and the critical vibration control of the flexible rotor is facing challenges. In order to solve the problem of the critical vibration suppression of the maglev high-speed motor, the system model of the maglev motor is established, the rotordynamics of the flexible rotor are analyzed and the rotor model is modal truncated to reduce the order. Then, the μ–controller is designed, and the weighting functions are designed to deal with the modal uncertainty. Finally, an experimental platform of the maglev motor with the flexible rotor is built to verify the effect of the μ–control on the suppression of the critical vibration of the maglev rotor

The densification and mechanical behaviors of large-diameter polymer-bonded explosives processed by ultrasonic-assisted powder compaction

Improving the density of parts, structural homogeneity, and mechanical properties are the most challenging issues in the PBX compaction process. In this study, the ultrasonic-assisted PBX compaction technique and equipment were introduced and designed. With this equipment, it is found that the density of compacted PBX parts increases, and the diameter expansion and density differences decrease by applying ultrasonic vibration. The influences of compaction pressure, hold time and particle size on the compaction were also analyzed. The results indicate that increasing the pressure and time, while decreasing the particle size, results in a higher density and strength of PBX parts. Then, the microstructures were analyzed to show the mechanism of density distributions. It is found that the density increase is due to the particle’s rearrangement leading to a “dense” structure and smaller particle sizes with ultrasonic vibration. Finally, the compressive modulus and strength, and the tensile fracture and strength were found to increase by applying ultrasonic vibration. These mechanical properties decrease along the radial and axial direction, indicating the surface effect of the ultrasonic vibration