Conditional GANs for Sonar Image Filtering with Applications to Underwater Occupancy Mapping

Underwater robots typically rely on acoustic sensors like sonar to perceive their surroundings. However, these sensors are often inundated with multiple sources and types of noise, which makes using raw data for any meaningful inference with features, objects, or boundary returns very difficult. While several conventional methods of dealing with noise exist, their success rates are unsatisfactory. This paper presents a novel application of conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (cGANs) to train a model to produce noise-free sonar images, outperforming several conventional filtering methods. Estimating free space is crucial for autonomous robots performing active exploration and mapping. Thus, we apply our approach to the task of underwater occupancy mapping and show superior free and occupied space inference when compared to conventional methods.Comment: 7 pages, 13 figures. This paper is published at 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA

Spatial genetic subdivision among populations of Pampus chinensis between China and Pakistan: testing the barrier effect of the Malay Peninsula

Tissue samples from 84 Pampus chinensis individuals were collected from four geographic regions within the Indo–Pacific Ocean and analyzed using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers. Distinct genetic heterogeneity was found for both types of markers between Chinese and Pakistani populations, while the diversity of this species was high in all populations. In combination with published information on marine species with similar distributions, these results suggested that the Malay Peninsula, or a less effective supplement, played a role in shaping the contemporary genetic structure. This population structure was presumably reflected in P. chinensis, whose populations were genetically isolated during Pleistocene glaciations and then did not experience secondary contact between previous refuge populations. However, P. chinensis showed genetic continuity in China or Pakistan, which indicated that the populations in different geographical regions constituted a single panmictic stock with high gene flow, respectively. The spatial genetic subdivision evident among populations indicates that P. chinensis in this Indo–Pacific region should be managed as different independent stocks to guide the sustainability of this fisheries resource

Example-based Image Recoloring in Indoor Environment

Color structure of a home scene image closely relates to the material properties of its local regions. Existing color migration methods typically fail to fully infer the correlation between the coloring of local home scene regions, leading to a local blur problem. In this paper, we propose a color migration framework for home scene images. It picks the coloring from a template image and transforms such coloring to a home scene image through a simple interaction. Our framework comprises three main parts. First, we carry out an interactive segmentation to divide an image into local regions and extract their corresponding colors. Second, we generate a matching color table by sampling the template image according to the color structure of the original home scene image. Finally, we transform colors from the matching color table to the target home scene image with the boundary transition maintained. Experimental results show that our method can effectively transform the coloring of a scene matching with the color composition of a given natural or interior scenery

Load prediction with an improved feature selection method for building energy management of an office park

Load prediction plays a significant role in building energy management. An accurate HVAC load prediction model highly depends on the feature selection and the quality of training data. In previous work on load prediction, the input features are majorly manually selected by expertise, which is relatively subjective and lacks theoretical supports. Using the real building operational data collected from an office park located in Hangzhou, this paper developed a short-term cooling load prediction model, in which the input features are selected based on an analysis on the heat transfer process. Combined with qualitative analysis of the real data, several features such as outdoor air enthalpy and indoor black-bulb temperatures from different orientations are introduced into the model. The proposed model was then applied to the HVAC control system of the office park. Compared to the load prediction model with commonly used features, the proposed model reduced CRVMSE by 21% and MAPE by 30% during the operation period of the system. Furthermore, the impacts of training dataset size and prediction time range on model’s accuracy and training time were discussed

Perioperative dynamic alterations in peripheral regulatory T and B cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intratumoral and circulating regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to be critical in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However there is limited knowledge on the alterations of regulatory B cells (Bregs). We here investigated perioperative dynamic alterations of peripheral circulating Tregs and Bregs in HCC patients to reveal the relationship between regulatory lymphocytes and its clinical implications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>36 patients with HCC, 6 with chronic hepatitis B infection and 10 healthy donors were enrolled for this study. Frequencies of peripheral Tregs and Bregs were measured by flow cytometry with antibodies against CD4, CD25, CD127, CD19 and IL-10 before, and after radical surgery. Then, clinical informatics of HCC patients was achieved through Digital Evaluation Score System (DESS) for the assessment of disease severity. Finally, we analysed correlations between digitalized clinical features and kinetics of circulating regulatory lymphocytes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Level of circulating CD4⁺CD25⁺CD127^-Tregs in HCC patients was significantly lower than that in healthy donors and patients with chronic hepatitis B infection before surgery, but was increased after surgery. Preoperative level of CD19⁺IL-10⁺Bregs in HCC patients was also significantly lower than the other groups. However it dramatically was elevated right after surgery and remained elevated compared to controls (about 7 days after surgery, <it>P </it>= 0.04). Frequency of circulating Tregs was correlated with circulating leukocytes, ferritin, and clinical features suggesting tumor aggressiveness including portal vein thrombosis, hepatic vein involvement and advanced clinical stages. Frequency of circulating Bregs was associated with Hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg) and Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA copy number. In addition, DESS was significantly and positively correlated with other staging systems.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Frequencies of peripheral Tregs and Bregs in HCC patients increased after surgery. These results suggest that a postoperative combination of therapies against Tregs and Bregs may be beneficial for better outcome of HCC patients after resection.</p