OccupancyDETR: Making Semantic Scene Completion as Straightforward as Object Detection

Visual-based 3D semantic occupancy perception (also known as 3D semantic scene completion) is a new perception paradigm for robotic applications like autonomous driving. Compared with Bird's Eye View (BEV) perception, it extends the vertical dimension, significantly enhancing the ability of robots to understand their surroundings. However, due to this very reason, the computational demand for current 3D semantic occupancy perception methods generally surpasses that of BEV perception methods and 2D perception methods. We propose a novel 3D semantic occupancy perception method, OccupancyDETR, which consists of a DETR-like object detection module and a 3D occupancy decoder module. The integration of object detection simplifies our method structurally - instead of predicting the semantics of each voxels, it identifies objects in the scene and their respective 3D occupancy grids. This speeds up our method, reduces required resources, and leverages object detection algorithm, giving our approach notable performance on small objects. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method on the SemanticKITTI dataset, showcasing an mIoU of 23 and a processing speed of 6 frames per second, thereby presenting a promising solution for real-time 3D semantic scene completion

An Online Resource Scheduling for Maximizing Quality-of-Experience in Meta Computing

Meta Computing is a new computing paradigm, which aims to solve the problem of computing islands in current edge computing paradigms and integrate all the resources on a network by incorporating cloud, edge, and particularly terminal-end devices. It throws light on solving the problem of lacking computing power. However, at this stage, due to technical limitations, it is impossible to integrate the resources of the whole network. Thus, we create a new meta computing architecture composed of multiple meta computers, each of which integrates the resources in a small-scale network. To make meta computing widely applied in society, the service quality and user experience of meta computing cannot be ignored. Consider a meta computing system providing services for users by scheduling meta computers, how to choose from multiple meta computers to achieve maximum Quality-of-Experience (QoE) with limited budgets especially when the true expected QoE of each meta computer is not known as a priori? The existing studies, however, usually ignore the costs and budgets and barely consider the ubiquitous law of diminishing marginal utility. In this paper, we formulate a resource scheduling problem from the perspective of the multi-armed bandit (MAB). To determine a scheduling strategy that can maximize the total QoE utility under a limited budget, we propose an upper confidence bound (UCB) based algorithm and model the utility of service by using a concave function of total QoE to characterize the marginal utility in the real world. We theoretically upper bound the regret of our proposed algorithm with sublinear growth to the budget. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted, and the results indicate the correctness and effectiveness of our algorithm

Effectiveness and safety of Danshen injections in treatment of cardiac failure: a network meta-analysis

Objective: The purpose of this network meta-analysis (NMA) was to compare the therapeutic effects of various Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge [Lamiaceae; Salviae miltiorrhizae radix et rhizoma]) injections on heart failure to determine the optimal Danshen injection combined with conventional treatment.Methods: 8 databases were searched from the inception of these databases to May 2023 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness and safety of Danshen injections in the treatment of heart failure. This NMA was performed using Stata 16.0 software and R 4.1.3 software.Results: A total of 24 RCTs involving 2,186 subjects were included. The intervention group received Danshen injections plus conventional treatment, involving the following 7 Danshen injections. The results of the NMA showed that Compound Danshen injection + Common (SUCRA: 79.6%) and Sodium tanshinone ⅡA sulfonate injection + Common (SUCRA: 78.0%) exhibited higher total effective rates. Sodium tanshinone ⅡA sulfonate injection + Common (SUCRA: 94.3%) and Danshen injection + Common (SUCRA: 68.2%) were superior to other traditional Chinese medicines in improving left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Danshen injection + Common (SUCRA: 99.9%) and Shenxiong glucose injection + Common (SUCRA: 77.2%) were the most effective in reducing brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). In addition, compared with conventional treatment, all Danshen injections did not increase the risk of adverse reactions.Conclusion: Current evidence shows that all seven Danshen injections are effective for heart failure. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, our findings need to be verified by more high-quality studies

Pharmacokinetic model of unfractionated heparin during and after cardiopulmonary bypass in cardiac surgery

Background: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is widely used as a reversible anti-coagulant in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). However, the pharmacokinetic characteristics of UFH in CPB surgeries remain unknown because of the lack of means to directly determine plasma UFH concentrations. The aim of this study was to establish a pharmacokinetic model to predict plasma UFH concentrations at the end of CPB for optimal neutralization with protamine sulfate. Methods: Forty-one patients undergoing CPB during cardiac surgery were enrolled in this observational clinical study of UFH pharmacokinetics. Patients received intravenous injections of UFH, and plasma anti-F-IIa activity was measured with commercial anti-F-IIa assay kits. A population pharmacokinetic model was established by using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling (NONMEM) software and validated by visual predictive check and Bootstrap analyses. Estimated parameters in the final model were used to simulate additional protamine administration after cardiac surgery in order to eliminate heparin rebound. Plans for postoperative protamine intravenous injections and infusions were quantitatively compared and evaluated during the simulation. Results: A two-compartment pharmacokinetic model with first-order elimination provided the best fit. Subsequent simulation of postoperative protamine administration suggested that a lower-dose protamine infusion over 24 h may provide better elimination and prevent heparin rebound than bolus injection and other infusion regimens that have higher infusion rates and shorter duration. Conclusion: A two-compartment model accurately reflects the pharmacokinetics of UFH in Chinese patients during CPB and can be used to explain postoperative heparin rebound after protamine neutralization. Simulations suggest a 24-h protamine infusion is more effective for heparin rebound prevention than a 6-h protamine infusion.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000350506400005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Medicine, Research & ExperimentalSCI(E)[email protected]

Quantum size effects on the perpendicular upper critical field in ultra-thin lead films

We report the thickness-dependent (in terms of atomic layers) oscillation behavior of the perpendicular upper critical field $H_{c2\perp}$ in the ultra-thin lead films at the reduced temperature ($t=T/T_c$). Distinct oscillations of the normal-state resistivity as a function of film thickness have also been observed. Compared with the $T_c$ oscillation, the $H_{c2\perp}$ shows a considerable large oscillation amplitude and a $\pi$ phase shift. The oscillatory mean free path caused by quantum size effect plays a role in $H_{c2\perp}$ oscillation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Modeling Transmission of Tuberculosis with MDR and Undetected Cases

This paper presents a novel mathematical model with multidrug-resistant (MDR) and undetected TB cases. The theoretical analysis indicates that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if R0<1; otherwise, the system may exist a locally asymptotically stable endemic equilibrium. The model is also used to simulate and predict TB epidemic in Guangdong. The results imply that our model is in agreement with actual data and the undetected rate plays vital role in the TB trend. Our model also implies that TB cannot be eradicated from population if it continues to implement current TB control strategies

Demographic History and Natural Selection Shape Patterns of Deleterious Mutation Load and Barriers to Introgression across Populus Genome

Hybridization and resulting introgression are important processes shaping the tree of life and appear to be far more common than previously thought. However, how the genome evolution was shaped by various genetic and evolutionary forces after hybridization remains unresolved. Here we used whole-genome resequencing data of 227 individuals from multiple widespread Populus species to characterize their contemporary patterns of hybridization and to quantify genomic signatures of past introgression. We observe a high frequency of contemporary hybridization and confirm that multiple previously ambiguous species are in fact F-1 hybrids. Seven species were identified, which experienced different demographic histories that resulted in strikingly varied efficacy of selection and burdens of deleterious mutations. Frequent past introgression has been found to be a pervasive feature throughout the speciation of these Populus species. The retained introgressed regions, more generally, tend to contain reduced genetic load and to be located in regions of high recombination. We also find that in pairs of species with substantial differences in effective population size, introgressed regions are inferred to have undergone selective sweeps at greater than expected frequencies in the species with lower effective population size, suggesting that introgression likely have higher potential to provide beneficial variation for species with small populations. Our results, therefore, illustrate that demography and recombination have interplayed with both positive and negative selection in determining the genomic evolution after hybridization

Genomic insights into local adaptation and future climate-induced vulnerability of a keystone forest tree in East Asia

Assessment of population vulnerability and adaptive capacity under climate change is crucial for informing conservation strategies. Sang et al. assemble a reference genome for Populus koreana and combine population genomics and modelling to predict spatiotemporal responses to climate change.Rapid global climate change is posing a substantial threat to biodiversity. The assessment of population vulnerability and adaptive capacity under climate change is crucial for informing conservation and mitigation strategies. Here we generate a chromosome-scale genome assembly and re-sequence genomes of 230 individuals collected from 24 populations for Populus koreana, a pioneer and keystone tree species in temperate forests of East Asia. We integrate population genomics and environmental variables to reveal a set of climate-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms, insertion/deletions and structural variations, especially numerous adaptive non-coding variants distributed across the genome. We incorporate these variants into an environmental modeling scheme to predict a highly spatiotemporal shift of this species in response to future climate change. We further identify the most vulnerable populations that need conservation priority and many candidate genes and variants that may be useful for forest tree breeding with special aims. Our findings highlight the importance of integrating genomic and environmental data to predict adaptive capacity of a key forest to rapid climate change in the future