New uniqueness results for boundary value problem of fractional differential equation

In this paper, uniqueness results for boundary value problem of fractional differential equation are obtained. Both the Banach's contraction mapping principle and the theory of linear operator are used, and a comparison between the obtained results is provided

Multi-stage Factorized Spatio-Temporal Representation for RGB-D Action and Gesture Recognition

RGB-D action and gesture recognition remain an interesting topic in human-centered scene understanding, primarily due to the multiple granularities and large variation in human motion. Although many RGB-D based action and gesture recognition approaches have demonstrated remarkable results by utilizing highly integrated spatio-temporal representations across multiple modalities (i.e., RGB and depth data), they still encounter several challenges. Firstly, vanilla 3D convolution makes it hard to capture fine-grained motion differences between local clips under different modalities. Secondly, the intricate nature of highly integrated spatio-temporal modeling can lead to optimization difficulties. Thirdly, duplicate and unnecessary information can add complexity and complicate entangled spatio-temporal modeling. To address the above issues, we propose an innovative heuristic architecture called Multi-stage Factorized Spatio-Temporal (MFST) for RGB-D action and gesture recognition. The proposed MFST model comprises a 3D Central Difference Convolution Stem (CDC-Stem) module and multiple factorized spatio-temporal stages. The CDC-Stem enriches fine-grained temporal perception, and the multiple hierarchical spatio-temporal stages construct dimension-independent higher-order semantic primitives. Specifically, the CDC-Stem module captures bottom-level spatio-temporal features and passes them successively to the following spatio-temporal factored stages to capture the hierarchical spatial and temporal features through the Multi- Scale Convolution and Transformer (MSC-Trans) hybrid block and Weight-shared Multi-Scale Transformer (WMS-Trans) block. The seamless integration of these innovative designs results in a robust spatio-temporal representation that outperforms state-of-the-art approaches on RGB-D action and gesture recognition datasets.Comment: ACM MM'2

Uniqueness theorem of differential system with coupled integral boundary conditions

The paper is devoted to study the uniqueness of solutions for a differential system with coupled integral boundary conditions under a Lipschitz condition. Our approach is based on the Banach's contraction principle. The interesting point is that the Lipschitz constant is related to the spectral radius corresponding to the related linear operators

Res-Tuning: A Flexible and Efficient Tuning Paradigm via Unbinding Tuner from Backbone

Parameter-efficient tuning has become a trend in transferring large-scale foundation models to downstream applications. Existing methods typically embed some light-weight tuners into the backbone, where both the design and the learning of the tuners are highly dependent on the base model. This work offers a new tuning paradigm, dubbed Res-Tuning, which intentionally unbinds tuners from the backbone. With both theoretical and empirical evidence, we show that popular tuning approaches have their equivalent counterparts under our unbinding formulation, and hence can be integrated into our framework effortlessly. Thanks to the structural disentanglement, we manage to free the design of tuners from the network architecture, facilitating flexible combination of various tuning strategies. We further propose a memory-efficient variant of Res-Tuning, where the bypass i.e., formed by a sequence of tuners) is effectively detached from the main branch, such that the gradients are back-propagated only to the tuners but not to the backbone. Such a detachment also allows one-time backbone forward for multi-task inference. Extensive experiments on both discriminative and generative tasks demonstrate the superiority of our method over existing alternatives from the perspectives of efficacy and efficiency. Project page: $\href{https://res-tuning.github.io/}{\textit{https://res-tuning.github.io/}}$.Comment: Accepted to NeurIPS 202

Contribution of Gray and White Matter Abnormalities to Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly exhibit cognitive impairments (CI). However, the neural mechanisms underlying CI remain unclear. The current study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and voxel-based morphometric (VBM) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to evaluate differences in white matter (WM) integrity and gray matter (GM) volume between MS patients with CI and MS patients with cognitive preservation (CP). Neuropsychological assessment and MRI were obtained from 39 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients and 29 healthy controls (HCs). Patients were classified as CI or CP according to cognitive ability, and demographic characteristics and MRI images were compared. Compared with HCs, MS patients exhibited widespread damage in WM integrity, and GM loss in several regions. Compared with CP patients, CI patients exhibited more extensive WM impairments, particularly in the corpus callosum, cerebellar peduncle, corona radiata, optic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus, anterior limb of the internal capsule, and cingulate, as well as decreased GM volume in the bilateral caudate, left insula and right temporal lobe. MS patients with CI exhibited more significant structural abnormalities than those with CP. Widespread impairments of WM integrity and selective GM atrophy both appear to be associated with impaired cognition in RRMS

Comparative Analysis of Al-Li Alloy and Aluminum Honeycomb Panel for Aerospace Application by Structural Optimization

Al-Li alloy and aluminum honeycomb panel (AHP) are both excellent materials for aeronautical structures. In this paper, a plate-type aeronautical structure (PAS), which is a base mounting structure for 172 kg functional devices, is selected for comparative analysis with different materials. To compare system-level performance under multidisciplinary constraints, mathematical models for optimization are established and then structural optimization is carried out using Altair OptiStruct. For AHP, its honeycomb core is regarded as orthotropic material and its mechanical properties are calculated by Allen’s model in order to establish finite element model (FEM). The heights of facing sheet and honeycomb core are selected as design variables for size optimization. For Al-Li alloy plate, topology optimization is carried out to obtain its most efficient load path; and then a reconstruction process is executed for practical manufacturing consideration; to obtain its final configuration, accurate size optimization is also used for reconstructed model of Al-Li alloy plate. Finally, the optimized mass and performance of two PASs are compared. Results show that AHP is slightly superior to Al-Li alloy

Liver organoids: a promising three-dimensional model for insights and innovations in tumor progression and precision medicine of liver cancer

Primary liver cancer (PLC) is one type of cancer with high incidence rate and high mortality rate in the worldwide. Systemic therapy is the major treatment for PLC, including surgical resection, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. However, mainly due to the heterogeneity of tumors, responses to the above drug therapy differ from person to person, indicating the urgent needs for personalized treatment for PLC. Organoids are 3D models derived from adult liver tissues or pluripotent stem cells. Based on the ability to recapitulate the genetic and functional features of in vivo tissues, organoids have assisted biomedical research to make tremendous progress in understanding disease origin, progression and treatment strategies since their invention and application. In liver cancer research, liver organoids contribute greatly to reflecting the heterogeneity of liver cancer and restoring tumor microenvironment (TME) by co-organizing tumor vasculature and stromal components in vitro. Therefore, they provide a promising platform for further investigation into the biology of liver cancer, drug screening and precision medicine for PLC. In this review, we discuss the recent advances of liver organoids in liver cancer, in terms of generation methods, application in precision medicine and TME modeling

Phosphorus adsorption characteristics and release risk in saline soils: a case study of Songnen Plain, China

IntroductionThe Songnen Plain is one of the three major saline-alkali areas in China, covering a vast area, where drought and overgrazing have exacerbated the salinization trend, and will have great potential for development if utilized rationally. Phosphorus, as one of important soil nutrients, plays a crucial role in plant growth. How to minimize its loss and migration has become a current research hotspot. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the adsorption properties of phosphorus in soils affected by salinization and to establish the correlation between the potential for phosphorus release and soil properties.MethodsA batch treatment test was conducted in this study using three soils with the various salinization degrees to examine the impact of environmental factors on the adsorption properties and potential release of phosphorus.Results and discussionIt was found that the maximum phosphorus adsorption by the three salinization soils in 0-360 minutes accounted for 86.8%-90.5% of the total adsorption capacity; the equilibrium adsorption capacity was: HS> MS> LS. In cases where the phosphorus level in the surrounding liquid is low, the three levels of salinized soils exhibited varying levels of phosphorus discharge, with the adsorbent acting as the origin of contaminants. The Pseudo-second-order model kinetics and Langmuir equation can well describe the adsorption process, and the adsorption process is spontaneous heat absorption with entropy increase. Increasing the pH led to an increase in the adsorption of phosphorus from the three salinized soils. Additionally, the adsorption was enhanced by introducing varying concentrations of Na+, Ca2+, and Al3+ to the background solution. The phosphorus eutrophication release risk (ERI) demonstrated a gradual decline as temperature increased. Correlation analysis revealed a noteworthy positive correlation between TN, TP, and ERI, as well as a significant negative correlation between CEC, K+, and ERI. Furthermore, there was a highly significant negative correlation between coarse silt and fine silt. Considering local climatic and environmental factors is crucial for controlling the adsorption capacity of phosphorus in various salinized soils, as it can unveil the mechanism of phosphorus adsorption and impact its migration and release risk