Low temperature high performance indium tin oxide films and applications

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

LAUN Improved StarGAN for Facial Emotion Recognition

In the field of facial expression recognition, deep learning is extensively used. However, insufficient and unbalanced facial training data in available public databases is a major challenge for improving the expression recognition rate. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) can produce more one-to-one faces with different expressions, which can be used to enhance databases. StarGAN can perform one-to-many translations for multiple expressions. Compared with original GANs, StarGAN can increase the efficiency of sample generation. Nevertheless, there are some defects in essential areas of the generated face, such as the mouth and the fuzzy side face image generation. To address these limitations, we improved StarGAN to alleviate the defects of images generation by modifying the reconstruction loss and adding the Contextual loss. Meanwhile, we added the Attention U-Net to StarGAN's generator, replacing StarGAN's original generator. Therefore, we proposed the Contextual loss and Attention U-Net (LAUN) improved StarGAN. The U-shape structure and skip connection in Attention U-Net can effectively integrate the details and semantic features of images. The network's attention structure can pay attention to the essential areas of the human face. The experimental results demonstrate that the improved model can alleviate some flaws in the face generated by the original StarGAN. Therefore, it can generate person images with better quality with different poses and expressions. The experiments were conducted on the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces database, and the accuracy of facial expression recognition is 95.97%, 2.19% higher than that by using StarGAN. Meanwhile, the experiments were carried out on the MMI Facial Expression Database, and the accuracy of expression is 98.30%, 1.21% higher than that by using StarGAN. Moreover, experiment results have better performance based on the LAUN improved StarGAN enhanced databases than those without enhancement

Strain rate effects on the plastic flow in submicron copper pillars:Considering the influence of sample size and dislocation nucleation

Three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulations are performed to investigate the plastic flow behaviors of submicron copper pillars under different loading rates, in which both inertial effect of dislocation motion and surface nucleation are taken into account. It is found that: (1) for pillars with a diameter below similar to 400 nm, there is a transition from internal dislocation multiplication to surface dislocation nucleation as the strain rate increases (>= 10(4) s(-1)); (2) for similar to 1 um diameter pillars, stable internal dislocation sources dominate for both low and high strain rates; (3) in general, a larger strain rate, smaller sample size and less internal dislocation sources make it more probable for a surface nucleation process to take the place of dislocation multiplication. Furthermore, a theoretical model is proposed to predict the submicron plastic behavior at different strain rates when internal dislocation sources prevail. (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The influence of joints and composite floor slabs on effective tying of steel structures in preventing progressive collapse

The event of the terrorist attack at 11th September 2001 in the USA has attracted increasing attention of researchers and engineers on progressive collapse of structures. It has gradually become a general practice for engineers to consider progressive collapse resistance in their design. In this paper, progressive collapse of steel frames with composite floor slabs is simulated by the finite element method. The numerical results are compared with test results. The influence of the joints and the concrete slabs on the effective tying of steel beams is investigated through parametric studies. From the analysis, methods of preventing progressive collapse that can be considered in design and when retrofitting existing structures are proposed. The results show that retrofitting a structure with pre-stressed steel cables and an increase of crack resistance in the concrete near joints can effectively improve effective tying of a structure, which results in an enhanced structural capacity in preventing progressive collapse

Specificity for the correlation between the body surface and viscera in the pathological state of COPD: A prospective, controlled, and assessor-blinded trial

Background: The association between the body surface and viscera remains obscure, but a better understanding of the body surface-viscera correlation will maximize its diagnostic and therapeutic values in clinical practice. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the specificity of body surface-viscera correlation in the pathological state.Methods: The study subjects included 40 participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the COPD group and 40 age-matched healthy participants in the healthy control group. Laser Doppler flowmetry, infrared thermography, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy were respectively adopted to measure 1) the perfusion unit (PU), 2) temperature, and 3) regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) of four specific sites distributed in the heart and lung meridians. These three outcome measures reflected the microcirculatory, thermal, and metabolic characteristics, respectively.Results: Regarding the microcirculatory and thermal characteristics of the body surface, the PU and temperature of specific sites on the body surface [i.e., Taiyuan (LU9) and Chize (LU5) in the lung meridian] in the COPD group were significantly increased compared with healthy controls (p < 0.05), whereas PU and temperature of other sites in the heart meridian [i.e., Shenmen (HT7) and Shaohai (HT3)] did not change significantly (p > 0.05). Regarding the metabolic characteristics, rSO2 of specific sites in the lung meridian [i.e., Taiyuan (LU9) and Chize (LU5)] and Shaohai (HT3) of the heart meridian in the COPD group was significantly decreased compared with healthy controls (p < 0.01), whereas rSO2 of Shenmen (HT7) in the heart meridian did not change significantly (p > 0.05).Conclusion: In the disease state of COPD, the microcirculatory, thermal, and metabolic characteristics of specific sites on the body surface in the lung meridian generally manifest more significant changes than those in the heart meridian, thereby supporting relative specificity for the body surface-viscera correlation in the pathological state

Stevioside Prevents Wear Particle-Induced Osteolysis by Inhibiting Osteoclastogenesis and Inflammatory Response via the Suppression of TAK1 Activation

Aseptic loosening and periprosthetic osteolysis are the leading causes of total joint arthroplasty failure, which occurs as a result of chronic inflammatory response and enhanced osteoclast activity. Here we showed that stevioside, a natural compound isolated from Stevia rebaudiana, exhibited preventative effects on titanium particle-induced osteolysis in a mouse calvarial model. Further histological assessment and real-time PCR analysis indicated that stevioside prevented titanium particle-induced osteolysis by inhibiting osteoclast formation and inflammatory cytokine expression in vivo. In vitro, we found that stevioside could suppress RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis and titanium particle-induced inflammatory response in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, stevioside achieved these effects by disrupting the phosphorylation of TAK1 and subsequent activation of NF-κB/MAPKs signaling pathways. Collectively, our data suggest that stevioside effectively suppresses osteoclastogenesis and inflammatory response both in vitro and in vivo, and it might be a potential therapy for particle-induced osteolysis and other osteolytic diseases