113 research outputs found
Unified Medical Image Pre-training in Language-Guided Common Semantic Space
Vision-Language Pre-training (VLP) has shown the merits of analysing medical
images, by leveraging the semantic congruence between medical images and their
corresponding reports. It efficiently learns visual representations, which in
turn facilitates enhanced analysis and interpretation of intricate imaging
data. However, such observation is predominantly justified on single-modality
data (mostly 2D images like X-rays), adapting VLP to learning unified
representations for medical images in real scenario remains an open challenge.
This arises from medical images often encompass a variety of modalities,
especially modalities with different various number of dimensions (e.g., 3D
images like Computed Tomography). To overcome the aforementioned challenges, we
propose an Unified Medical Image Pre-training framework, namely UniMedI, which
utilizes diagnostic reports as common semantic space to create unified
representations for diverse modalities of medical images (especially for 2D and
3D images). Under the text's guidance, we effectively uncover visual modality
information, identifying the affected areas in 2D X-rays and slices containing
lesion in sophisticated 3D CT scans, ultimately enhancing the consistency
across various medical imaging modalities. To demonstrate the effectiveness and
versatility of UniMedI, we evaluate its performance on both 2D and 3D images
across 10 different datasets, covering a wide range of medical image tasks such
as classification, segmentation, and retrieval. UniMedI has demonstrated
superior performance in downstream tasks, showcasing its effectiveness in
establishing a universal medical visual representation
MM-Fi: Multi-Modal Non-Intrusive 4D Human Dataset for Versatile Wireless Sensing
4D human perception plays an essential role in a myriad of applications, such
as home automation and metaverse avatar simulation. However, existing solutions
which mainly rely on cameras and wearable devices are either privacy intrusive
or inconvenient to use. To address these issues, wireless sensing has emerged
as a promising alternative, leveraging LiDAR, mmWave radar, and WiFi signals
for device-free human sensing. In this paper, we propose MM-Fi, the first
multi-modal non-intrusive 4D human dataset with 27 daily or rehabilitation
action categories, to bridge the gap between wireless sensing and high-level
human perception tasks. MM-Fi consists of over 320k synchronized frames of five
modalities from 40 human subjects. Various annotations are provided to support
potential sensing tasks, e.g., human pose estimation and action recognition.
Extensive experiments have been conducted to compare the sensing capacity of
each or several modalities in terms of multiple tasks. We envision that MM-Fi
can contribute to wireless sensing research with respect to action recognition,
human pose estimation, multi-modal learning, cross-modal supervision, and
interdisciplinary healthcare research.Comment: The paper has been accepted by NeurIPS 2023 Datasets and Benchmarks
Track. Project page: https://ntu-aiot-lab.github.io/mm-f
Xiezhi: An Ever-Updating Benchmark for Holistic Domain Knowledge Evaluation
New Natural Langauge Process~(NLP) benchmarks are urgently needed to align
with the rapid development of large language models (LLMs). We present Xiezhi,
the most comprehensive evaluation suite designed to assess holistic domain
knowledge. Xiezhi comprises multiple-choice questions across 516 diverse
disciplines ranging from 13 different subjects with 220,000 questions and
accompanied by Xiezhi-Specialty and Xiezhi-Interdiscipline, both with 15k
questions. We conduct evaluation of the 47 cutting-edge LLMs on Xiezhi. Results
indicate that LLMs exceed average performance of humans in science,
engineering, agronomy, medicine, and art, but fall short in economics,
jurisprudence, pedagogy, literature, history, and management. We anticipate
Xiezhi will help analyze important strengths and shortcomings of LLMs, and the
benchmark is released in https://github.com/MikeGu721/XiezhiBenchmark .Comment: Under review of NeurIPS 202
Geographically associated endophytic fungi contribute to the tropane alkaloids accumulation of Anisodus tanguticus
Anisodus tanguticus is a valuable plant for extracting tropane alkaloids. However, the mechanisms by which plant microbiome mediate the accumulation of tropane alkaloids in Anisodus tanguticus are still not well understood. In this study, we collected 55 wild Anisodus tanguticus populations on the Tibetan Plateau and the tropane alkaloids content, and root-related bacteria and fungi diversity were analyzed using HPLC and 16 s rDNA and ITS sequencing. The results showed that tropane alkaloids content has obvious geographical distribution characteristics. Anisodine content had a significant positive correlation with latitude, while anisodamine and atropine content had a significant negative correlation with latitude. Variation partition analysis (VPA) showed that root endophytes play a significant role in promoting tropane alkaloid production in Anisodus tanguticus roots. The root endophytes alone explained 14% of the variation, which was the largest contributor. Soil properties variables could independently explain 5% of the variation, and climate variables could explain 1% of the variation. Of these, endophytic fungi alone accounted for 11%, while bacteria explained only 5%. Random forests and Mantel test showed that different regionally enriched endophytic fungi have a greater impact on the accumulation of tropane alkaloids than the whole endophytic fungi. Richness and relative abundance of enriched endophytic fungi in Hengduan-Qilian Mountains (HQ) group has a significant positive correlation with anisodine content, while richness and relative abundance of enriched endophytic fungi in Himalayas-Hengduan Mountains (HH) group has a significant positive correlation with anisodamine and atropine content. And, these enriched endophytic fungi have high network connectivity and distributed in separate network modules. This study further confirmed that endophytes were closely related to tropane alkaloids accumulation in Anisodus tanguticus and contribute to promote sustainable development, cultivation, and precision medicine of Anisodus tanguticus
Observing GLUT4 Translocation in Live L6 Cells Using Quantum Dots
The glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) plays a key role in maintaining whole body glucose homeostasis. Tracking GLUT4 in space and time can provide new insights for understanding the mechanisms of insulin-regulated GLUT4 translocation. Organic dyes and fluorescent proteins were used in previous studies for investigating the traffic of GLUT4 in skeletal muscle cells and adipocytes. Because of their relative weak fluorescent signal against strong cellular autofluorescence background and their fast photobleaching rate, most studies only focused on particular segments of GLUT4 traffic. In this study, we have developed a new method for observing the translocation of GLUT4 targeted with photostable and bright quantum dots (QDs) in live L6 cells. QDs were targeted to GLUT4myc specifically and internalized with GLUT4myc through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Compared with traditional fluorescence dyes and fluorescent proteins, QDs with high brightness and extremely photostability are suitable for long-term single particle tracking, so individual GLUT4-QD complex can be easily detected and tracked for long periods of time. This newly described method will be a powerful tool for observing the translocation of GLUT4 in live L6 cells
Praziquantel Facilitates IFN-γ-Producing CD8+ T Cells (Tc1) and IL-17-Producing CD8+ T Cells (Tc17) Responses to DNA Vaccination in Mice
BACKGROUND: CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are crucial for eliminating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected cells. DNA vaccination, a novel therapeutic strategy for chronic virus infection, has been shown to induce CTL responses. However, accumulated data have shown that CTLs could not be effectively induced by HBV DNA vaccination. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we report that praziquantel (PZQ), an anti-schistoma drug, could act as an adjuvant to overcome the lack of potent CTL responses by HBV DNA vaccination in mice. PZQ in combination with HBV DNA vaccination augmented the induction of CD8(+) T cell-dependent and HBV-specific delayed hypersensitivity responses (DTH) in C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the induced CD8(+) T cells consisted of both Tc1 and Tc17 subtypes. By using IFN-γ knockout (KO) mice and IL-17 KO mice, both cytokines were found to be involved in the DTH. The relevance of these findings to HBV immunization was established in HBsAg transgenic mice, in which PZQ also augmented the induction of HBV-specific Tc1 and Tc17 cells and resulted in reduction of HBsAg positive hepatocytes. Adoptive transfer experiments further showed that PZQ-primed CD8(+) T cells from wild type mice, but not the counterpart from IFN-γ KO or IL-17 KO mice, resulted in elimination of HBsAg positive hepatocytes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that PZQ is an effective adjuvant to facilitate Tc1 and Tc17 responses to HBV DNA vaccination, inducing broad CD8(+) T cell-based immunotherapy that breaks tolerance to HBsAg
Sustainability Opportunities and Challenges of Bioplastics
Bioplastics (BPs) can be defined as plastics made of biomass such as corn and sugarcane. These substances have been increasingly spotlighted as means to saving fossil fuels, reducing CO2 emission and plastic wastes. Biodegradability of BPs has been widely publicized in society and the demand for packaging is rapidly increasing among retailers and the food industry at large. However, there is little consensus on actual impacts of BPs production. This thesis therefore aims to identify current strengths and weaknesses and future threats and opportunities and leverage points for the bioplastics industry in a move towards sustainability?” The Strategic Life Cycle Management (SLCM) and Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD) approaches were used to reveal current ecological and social impacts in relation to Sustainability Principles from the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. Various sustainability challenges and opportunities were identified. Most threats were in agricultural production and in the disposal of products. Compelling measures for the BP industry include: having a consensus in BPs applications based on strategic sustainable development, universal labelling and recycling systems for BPs, government strategic policies to encourage research into new technologies in improving biodegradability and energy efficiency in manufacturing
Task Assignment for Multi-UAV under Severe Uncertainty by Using Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis
This paper considers a task assignment problem for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The UAVs are set to perform attack tasks on a collection of ground targets in a severe uncertain environment. The UAVs have different attack capabilities and are located at different positions. Each UAV should be assigned an attack task before the mission starts. Due to uncertain information, many criteria values essential to task assignment were random or fuzzy, and the weights of criteria were not precisely known. In this study, a novel task assignment approach based on stochastic Multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) method was proposed to address this problem. The uncertainties in the criteria were analyzed, and a task assignment procedure was designed. The results of simulation experiments show that the proposed approach is useful for finding a satisfactory assignment under severe uncertain circumstances
Sustainability Opportunities and Challenges of Bioplastics
Bioplastics (BPs) can be defined as plastics made of biomass such as corn and sugarcane. These substances have been increasingly spotlighted as means to saving fossil fuels, reducing CO2 emission and plastic wastes. Biodegradability of BPs has been widely publicized in society and the demand for packaging is rapidly increasing among retailers and the food industry at large. However, there is little consensus on actual impacts of BPs production. This thesis therefore aims to identify current strengths and weaknesses and future threats and opportunities and leverage points for the bioplastics industry in a move towards sustainability?” The Strategic Life Cycle Management (SLCM) and Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD) approaches were used to reveal current ecological and social impacts in relation to Sustainability Principles from the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. Various sustainability challenges and opportunities were identified. Most threats were in agricultural production and in the disposal of products. Compelling measures for the BP industry include: having a consensus in BPs applications based on strategic sustainable development, universal labelling and recycling systems for BPs, government strategic policies to encourage research into new technologies in improving biodegradability and energy efficiency in manufacturing
Precision Measurement System of High-Frequency Signal Based on Equivalent-Time Sampling
A high frequency periodic signal measurement system based on equivalent sampling method is developed. A high-speed sampling voltage tracking circuit, the core component of the system, is described in detail. The circuit can transform the amplitude corresponding to different phase points of the signal undertest into the equivalent DC level through successive approximation of multiple periods. The measurement system designed in this paper completes digital sampling with high accuracy only by connecting the low-cost voltage tracking circuit to the existing commercial instruments, such as two-channel waveform generator and high-precision digital multimeter, which makes the method easy to be generalized. The special structure of the sampling tracking circuit greatly reduces the influence of random noise and time jitter on the measurement results. The experimental results show that the non-linearity error of the system is as low as 0.002%, the bandwidth can reach 200 MHz, and the uncertainty of measuring the RMS of AC voltage with peak value of ±1 V and frequency of 10 kHz, 100 kHz and 1 MHz can reach 2.8 × 10−4 V, 4.6 × 10−4 V and 2.0 × 10−4 V (k = 2), respectively
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