DWRSeg: Rethinking Efficient Acquisition of Multi-scale Contextual Information for Real-time Semantic Segmentation

Many current works directly adopt multi-rate depth-wise dilated convolutions to capture multi-scale contextual information simultaneously from one input feature map, thus improving the feature extraction efficiency for real-time semantic segmentation. However, this design may lead to difficult access to multi-scale contextual information because of the unreasonable structure and hyperparameters. To lower the difficulty of drawing multi-scale contextual information, we propose a highly efficient multi-scale feature extraction method, which decomposes the original single-step method into two steps, Region Residualization-Semantic Residualization. In this method, the multi-rate depth-wise dilated convolutions take a simpler role in feature extraction: performing simple semantic-based morphological filtering with one desired receptive field in the second step based on each concise feature map of region form provided by the first step, to improve their efficiency. Moreover, the dilation rates and the capacity of dilated convolutions for each network stage are elaborated to fully utilize all the feature maps of region form that can be achieved.Accordingly, we design a novel Dilation-wise Residual (DWR) module and a Simple Inverted Residual (SIR) module for the high and low level network, respectively, and form a powerful DWR Segmentation (DWRSeg) network. Extensive experiments on the Cityscapes and CamVid datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method by achieving a state-of-the-art trade-off between accuracy and inference speed, in addition to being lighter weight. Without pretraining or resorting to any training trick, we achieve an mIoU of 72.7% on the Cityscapes test set at a speed of 319.5 FPS on one NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti card, which exceeds the latest methods of a speed of 69.5 FPS and 0.8% mIoU. The code and trained models are publicly available

Expert Consensus on ECG Identification Applied in the Insurance Industry

Electrocardiograms (ECGs) have the potential to be used as a reliable source of information for human identity recognition due to their universality, portability, and unique and stable biological identification features. This method enriches and refines existing biometric identification techniques, and is suitable for customer identity identification in the insurance industry. This article has the following objectives: 1) to introduce biometric identification techniques commonly used in the insurance industry, including ECG biometric identification techniques, and their advantages; 2) to discuss major aspects of ECG biometric identification techniques; 3) to systematically review the most recent advances in ECG identification and extraction characteristics from research in China and other countries; 4) to outline the technical aspects of using ECGs for recognizing client identity in the insurance industry; and 5) to discuss the future of ECGs in identity recognition. This article is aimed at further promoting the application of living personal ECG identification techniques in the insurance industry, and extending it to areas including medical insurance, banking, justice, public security, military, government, enterprises, and other departments and areas in which identification is needed to promote social stability and national security

Mapping lightning in the sky with a mini array

Mini arrays are commonly used for infrasonic and seismic studies. Here we report for the first time the detection and mapping of distant lightning discharges in the sky with a mini array. The array has a baseline to wavelength ratio ∼4.2·10−2 to record very low frequency electromagnetic waves from 2 to 18 kHz. It is found that the mini array detects ∼69 lightning pulses per second from cloud-to-ground and in-cloud discharges, even though the parent thunderstorms are ∼900–1100 km away and a rigorous selection criterion based on the quality of the wavefront across the array is used. In particular, lightning pulses that exhibit a clockwise phase progression are found at larger elevation angles in the sky as the result of a birefringent subionospheric wave propagation attributed to ordinary and extraordinary waves. These results imply that long range lightning detection networks might benefit from an exploration of the wave propagation conditions with mini arrays.</p

Biomechanical analysis of sandwich vertebrae in osteoporotic patients: finite element analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the biomechanical stress of sandwich vertebrae (SVs) and common adjacent vertebrae in different degrees of spinal mobility in daily life.Materials and methodsA finite element model of the spinal segment of T10-L2 was developed and validated. Simultaneously, T11 and L1 fractures were simulated, and a 6-ml bone cement was constructed in their center. Under the condition of applying a 500-N axial load to the upper surface of T10 and immobilizing the lower surface of L2, moments were applied to the upper surface of T10, T11, T12, L1, and L2 and divided into five groups: M-T10, M-T11, M-T12, M-L1, and M-L2. The maximum von Mises stress of T10, T12, and L2 in different groups was calculated and analyzed.ResultsThe maximum von Mises stress of T10 in the M-T10 group was 30.68 MPa, 36.13 MPa, 34.27 MPa, 33.43 MPa, 26.86 MPa, and 27.70 MPa greater than the maximum stress value of T10 in the other groups in six directions of load flexion, extension, left and right lateral bending, and left and right rotation, respectively. The T12 stress value in the M-T12 group was 29.62 MPa, 32.63 MPa, 30.03 MPa, 31.25 MPa, 26.38 MPa, and 26.25 MPa greater than the T12 stress value in the other groups in six directions. The maximum stress of L2 in M-T12 in the M-L2 group was 25.48 MPa, 36.38 MPa, 31.99 MPa, 31.07 MPa, 30.36 MPa, and 32.07 MPa, which was greater than the stress value of L2 in the other groups. When the load is on which vertebral body, it is subjected to the greatest stress.ConclusionWe found that SVs did not always experience the highest stress. The most stressed vertebrae vary with the degree of curvature of the spine. Patients should be encouraged to avoid the same spinal curvature posture for a long time in life and work or to wear a spinal brace for protection after surgery, which can avoid long-term overload on a specific spine and disrupt its blood supply, resulting in more severe loss of spinal quality and increasing the possibility of fractures

Lightning Sferics:Analysis of the Instantaneous Phase and Frequency Inferred From Complex Waveforms

Analysis of very low frequency lightning waveforms, or radio sferics, can contribute to research into lower ionosphere perturbations and the corresponding atmospheric chemistry. Lightning waveforms can also be characterized on the basis of their propagation distance from receivers in order to study radio wave propagation. A bank of average waveforms, that is, the waveform bank, &lt;1,000 km with a spatial resolution of 10 km has been produced, based on the lightning waveforms recorded in Europe on 8 August 2014. These average lightning waveforms at different distances exhibit a sequence of consecutive maxima resulting from ionospheric reflections, named sky waves. The spectral waveform bank shows a sequence of consecutive modal maxima at different frequencies depending on distance. The Hilbert transform is applied to produce complex lightning waveforms, which provide additional information to the original real waveforms alone, that is, the instantaneous phase and frequency. The time differences calculated from the instantaneous phases of complex lightning waveforms give the minimum arrival time difference error when compared to other analyzed signal processing methods. The derivative of the instantaneous phase, that is, the instantaneous frequency, represents the amplitude-weighted average of frequency components at maximum amplitude according to theory and numerical simulation. In real experiments, the instantaneous frequency can be understood as the median value of the real frequency distribution calculated at maximum amplitude. It is found that the instantaneous frequencies at maximum amplitudes are distance dependent. This finding might enable the development of a novel method to determine lightning distances in the future.</p

Association between FGA gene polymorphisms and coronary artery lesion in Kawasaki disease

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between FGA gene polymorphisms and coronary artery lesion in Kawasaki disease.MethodsTwo hundred and thirty four children with Kawasaki disease (KD group), 200 healthy children (normal group) and 208 children with non-KD fever (fever group) were enrolled. General clinical indicators, the concentration of serum MMPs, TIMP-1, FG-α,fibrinogen level, molecular function (FMPV/ODmax) and FGA Thr312Ala polymorphism were detected individually by testing peripheral venous blood after fasting in the morning.ResultsThere was no significant difference in average age among the three groups, which were 3.03 ± 1.22 years, 3.17 ± 1.30 years, and 3.21 ± 1.31 years, respectively. Compared with those in the fever group, the levels of white blood cell count (WBC), platelet count (PLT), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and fibrinogen (Fg) levels were significantly increased in the KD group. Red blood cell count (RBC) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels were significantly decreased (p &lt; 0.05).The concentration of serum MMPs, TIMP-1, and FG-α in the KD and fever groups were significantly higher than those in the normal group (p &lt; 0.05). The concentration of MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, MMP-13, TIMP-1, and FG-α in the KD group were significantly higher than those in the fever group (p &lt; 0.05).The KD group was divided into two subgroups,55 patients with combined CAL and 179 patients without combined CAL. The plasma fibrinogen concentration in the combined CAL group was significantly higher than that in the non-combined CAL and normal groups (p &lt; 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in FMPV/ODmax among the three groups (p &gt; 0.05). Compared with normal group, the FGA GG, GA, and AA genotype and G, A allele frequency of the FGA gene polymorphism in the KD group showed no significant difference (p &gt; 0.05). In the KD group, the most common type in children with CAL was GA, while the most common type in children without CAL was GG.ConclusionMMPs and FG-α were significantly upregulated in KD patients. The proportion of FGA genotype GA in children with CAL was significantly higher than that in children without CAL, suggesting that FGA gene polymorphisms affect coronary artery lesion in children with KD

Divergence of a genomic island leads to the evolution of melanization in a halophyte root fungus

AbstractUnderstanding how organisms adapt to extreme living conditions is central to evolutionary biology. Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) constitute an important component of the root mycobiome and they are often able to alleviate host abiotic stresses. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial association between the DSE Laburnicola rhizohalophila and its host, the native halophyte Suaeda salsa, using population genomics. Based on genome-wide Fst (pairwise fixation index) and Vst analyses, which compared the variance in allele frequencies of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variants (CNVs), respectively, we found a high level of genetic differentiation between two populations. CNV patterns revealed population-specific expansions and contractions. Interestingly, we identified a ~20 kbp genomic island of high divergence with a strong sign of positive selection. This region contains a melanin-biosynthetic polyketide synthase gene cluster linked to six additional genes likely involved in biosynthesis, membrane trafficking, regulation, and localization of melanin. Differences in growth yield and melanin biosynthesis between the two populations grown under 2% NaCl stress suggested that this genomic island contributes to the observed differences in melanin accumulation. Our findings provide a better understanding of the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the adaptation to saline conditions of the L. rhizohalophila–S. salsa symbiosis.</jats:p

Studying the Differences of Bacterial Metabolome and Microbiome in the Colon between Landrace and Meihua Piglets

This study was conducted to compare the microbiome and metabolome differences in the colon lumen from two pig breeds with different genetic backgrounds. Fourteen weaned piglets at 30 days of age, including seven Landrace piglets (a lean-type pig breed with a fast growth rate) and seven Meihua piglets (a fatty-type Chinese local pig breed with a slow growth rate), were fed the same diets for 35 days. Untargeted metabolomics analyses showed that a total of 401 metabolites differed between Landrace and Meihua. Seventy of these 401 metabolites were conclusively identified. Landrace accumulated more short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and secondary bile acids in the colon lumen. Moreover, expression of the SCFAs transporter (solute carrier family 5 member 8, SLC5A8) and receptor (G protein-coupled receptor 41, GPR41) in the colon mucosa was higher, while the bile acids receptor (farnesoid X receptor, FXR) had lower expression in Landrace compared to Meihua. The relative abundances of 8 genera and 16 species of bacteria differed significantly between Landrace and Meihua, and were closely related to the colonic concentrations of bile acids or SCFAs based on Pearson's correlation analysis. Collectively, our results demonstrate for the first time that there were differences in the colonic microbiome and metabolome between Meihua and Landrace piglets, with the most profound disparity in production of SCFAs and secondary bile acids