Interactive Free-Viewpoint Video Generation

Background Free-viewpoint video (FVV) is processed video content in which viewers can freely select the viewing position and angle. FVV delivers an improved visual experience and can also help synthesize special effects and virtual reality content. In this paper, a complete FVV system is proposed to interactively control the viewpoints of video relay programs through multimedia terminals such as computers and tablets. Methods The hardware of the FVV generation system is a set of synchronously controlled cameras, and the software generates videos in novel viewpoints from the captured video using view interpolation. The interactive interface is designed to visualize the generated video in novel viewpoints and enable the viewpoint to be changed interactively. Results Experiments show that our system can synthesize plausible videos in intermediate viewpoints with a view range of up to 180°

Protective effect of ethosuximide on hearing in NOD/LtJ mice via blockage of endogenous apoptosis

Purpose: To determine the protective effect of ethosuximide on the hearing of NOD/LtJ mice, and the underlying mechanism of action. Methods: The mice were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups (20 mice per group). Mice in the treatment group were administered ethosuximide intraperitoneally at a dose of 200mg/kg body weight (bwt), while those in the control group received an equivalent dose of saline via the same route. Both groups were subjected to auditory brainstem response (ABR) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) tests, as well as determination of mRNA expressions of α1G, α1H, α1I, m-calpain, μ-calpain, and caspase-3. Results: At ages of 6 and 9 weeks, ABR values were significantly lower in the treatment group than those in the control group (p < 0.05). At age 3, 6 and 9 weeks, control group DPOAE values were much lower than those in the treatment group. However, at signal frequency of 35344 Hz, DPOAE value was significantly reduced in the treatment group (p < 0.05). There was significant down-regulation in mRNA expressions of α1G, α1H, α1I, m-calpain, μ-calpain and caspase-3, in the treatment group, when compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Ethosuximide delays mice hearing loss and protects their hearing via a mechanism involving blockage of endogenous apoptotic pathways. This mechanism may provide guidance in the search for suitable new drugs. Keywords: Ethosuximide, Endogenous apoptosis, Hearing, Protectio

Robust model of fresh jujube soluble solids content with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy

A robust partial least square (PLS) calibration model with high accuracy and stability was established for the measurement of soluble solids content (SSC) of fresh jujube using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopytechnique. Fresh jujube samples were collected in different areas of Taigu and Taiyuan cities, central China in 2008 and 2009. A partial least squares (PLS) calibration model was established based on the NIR spectra of 70 fresh jujube samples collected in 2008. A good calibration result was obtained with correlation coefficient (Rc) of 0.9530 and the root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) of 0.3951 °Brix. Another PLS calibration model was established based on the NIR spectral of 180 samples collected in 2009; it resulted in the Rc of 0.8536 and the RMSEC of 1.1410 °Brix. It could be seen that the accuracy of established PLS models were different when samples harvested in different years were used for the model calibration. In order to improve the accuracy and robustness of model, different numbers (5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40) of samples harvested in 2008 were added to the calibration sample set of the model with samples harvested in 2009, respectively. The established PLS models obtained Rc with the range of 0.8846 to 0.8893 and RMSEC with the range of 1.0248 to 0.9645 °Brix. The obtained results werebetter than the result of the model which was established only with samples harvested in 2009. Moreover, the models established using different numbers of added samples had similar results. Therefore, it was concluded that adding samples from another harvest year could improve the accuracy and robustness of the model for SSC prediction of fresh jujube. The overall results proved that the consideration of samples from different harvest places and years would be useful for establishing an accuracy and robustness spectral model.Keywords: Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, Huping jujube, soluble solids content (SSC), partial least squares (PLS), accuracy, stabilit

Synergistic effect of a combination of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and thymosin α1 on Lewis lung cancer transplanted tumor in mice

Purpose: To study the synergistic effect of a combination of granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor and thymosin-α1 on the treatment of Lewis lung cancer transplanted tumor.Methods: C57BL/6 mice were used. A mouse model of Lewis lung cancer was established using Lewis lung cancer cell lines. The mice were randomly divided into blank control group, polyene taxol (DTX) group, DTX thymosin α1 (Tα-1) group, and DTX granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) group, with 8 mice per group. The degree of tumor inhibition, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4+, CD8+ T cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ were determined by ELISA and flow cytometry.Results: Body mass, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4+, CD8+ T cells and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ in DTX + Tα-1 group, DTX + GM-CSF group and DTX + Tα-1 + GM-CSF group were significantly elevated (p < 0.05), relative to the corresponding levels in DTXmice (p < 0.05). Body mass, degree of tumor inhibition, thymus mass, thymus index, spleen mass, spleen index, IL-6, TNF-1, IFN-1, CD4, CD8 T cells and CD4+/CD8+ ratio in DTX + Tα-1 + GM-CSF mice were significantly elevated, relative to the DTX + Tα-1 and DTX + GM-CSF groups (p < 0.05). Thestate of the tumor was significantly improved in the DTX + Tα-1 and DTX + GM-CSF mice.Conclusion: A combination treatment of GM-CSF, Tα-1 and DEX effectively enhances the resistance of mice and suppresses chemotherapy-induced decrease in body weight. This finding may be of clinical significance. Keywords: Granulocyte macrophage, Colony-stimulating factor, Thymosin, Docetaxel, Lewis lung cancer, Transplanted tumo

FaceScape: 3D Facial Dataset and Benchmark for Single-View 3D Face Reconstruction

In this paper, we present a large-scale detailed 3D face dataset, FaceScape, and the corresponding benchmark to evaluate single-view facial 3D reconstruction. By training on FaceScape data, a novel algorithm is proposed to predict elaborate riggable 3D face models from a single image input. FaceScape dataset provides 18,760 textured 3D faces, captured from 938 subjects and each with 20 specific expressions. The 3D models contain the pore-level facial geometry that is also processed to be topologically uniformed. These fine 3D facial models can be represented as a 3D morphable model for rough shapes and displacement maps for detailed geometry. Taking advantage of the large-scale and high-accuracy dataset, a novel algorithm is further proposed to learn the expression-specific dynamic details using a deep neural network. The learned relationship serves as the foundation of our 3D face prediction system from a single image input. Different than the previous methods, our predicted 3D models are riggable with highly detailed geometry under different expressions. We also use FaceScape data to generate the in-the-wild and in-the-lab benchmark to evaluate recent methods of single-view face reconstruction. The accuracy is reported and analyzed on the dimensions of camera pose and focal length, which provides a faithful and comprehensive evaluation and reveals new challenges. The unprecedented dataset, benchmark, and code have been released to the public for research purpose.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, journal extension of FaceScape(CVPR 2020). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2003.1398

The Effect of Traffic on Situation Awareness and Mental Workload: Simulator-Based Study

In the present study, we investigated the effects of the different traffic on the driver’s situation awareness and the mental workload (MWL). The task used in this study was a medium fidelity, 3-dimensional simulation of a driving environment. The simulation required participants to drive the user’s car and perform a real-world driving task. After the simulated driving, participants were asked to complete two tests which assessed their situation awareness (SA). The mental workload measures in this study consisted of the physiological measures and the subjective assessment. Every participant performed two different traffic simulated driving conditions, one was low traffic, the other was high traffic. The results showed that with the increasing of traffic, the driving performance did not worsen, however participant’s mental workload increased, at the same time, the participant’s situation awareness performance deteriorated.Meanwhile, our results also demonstrated that recall-based SA test and recognition-based test was heterogeneous

Water absorption and chloride diffusivity of concrete under the coupling effect of uniaxial compressive load and freeze-thaw cycles

In cold coastal area, the destruction mechanism of reinforced concrete structures is mainly governed by a combination of factors such as self-loading, freeze-thaw and chloride erosion. In this study, ordinary cube concretes (C30 and C50, while w/c = 0.53 and 0.35 respectively) underwent a coupling effect of pressure load with stress ratio of 0, 0.3 and 0.5 and freeze-thaw cycles, following by capillary water absorption test and chloride penetration test. Concrete samples with 0.3fc showed the best water and chloride penetration resistance under the coupling effect, followed by samples with 0.5fc and 0fc, which is consistent with the conclusion that under load only. Water and chloride ions penetration increased sharply when freeze-thaw cycles was over 100 times, which is different with samples without load. Outside part of concrete showed higher permeability and chloride content than inside part. MIP results confirmed that stress played an important role in the water absorption and chloride penetration of concrete under the coupling effect. These results provide important new insights into the permeability of concrete under a coupling effect. The applied load performed a more important role on the service life prediction of concrete structure