Learnable Earth Parser: Discovering 3D Prototypes in Aerial Scans

We propose an unsupervised method for parsing large 3D scans of real-world scenes into interpretable parts. Our goal is to provide a practical tool for analyzing 3D scenes with unique characteristics in the context of aerial surveying and mapping, without relying on application-specific user annotations. Our approach is based on a probabilistic reconstruction model that decomposes an input 3D point cloud into a small set of learned prototypical shapes. Our model provides an interpretable reconstruction of complex scenes and leads to relevant instance and semantic segmentations. To demonstrate the usefulness of our results, we introduce a novel dataset of seven diverse aerial LiDAR scans. We show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art unsupervised methods in terms of decomposition accuracy while remaining visually interpretable. Our method offers significant advantage over existing approaches, as it does not require any manual annotations, making it a practical and efficient tool for 3D scene analysis. Our code and dataset are available at https://imagine.enpc.fr/~loiseaur/learnable-earth-parse

PhyloGFN: Phylogenetic inference with generative flow networks

Phylogenetics is a branch of computational biology that studies the evolutionary relationships among biological entities. Its long history and numerous applications notwithstanding, inference of phylogenetic trees from sequence data remains challenging: the high complexity of tree space poses a significant obstacle for the current combinatorial and probabilistic techniques. In this paper, we adopt the framework of generative flow networks (GFlowNets) to tackle two core problems in phylogenetics: parsimony-based and Bayesian phylogenetic inference. Because GFlowNets are well-suited for sampling complex combinatorial structures, they are a natural choice for exploring and sampling from the multimodal posterior distribution over tree topologies and evolutionary distances. We demonstrate that our amortized posterior sampler, PhyloGFN, produces diverse and high-quality evolutionary hypotheses on real benchmark datasets. PhyloGFN is competitive with prior works in marginal likelihood estimation and achieves a closer fit to the target distribution than state-of-the-art variational inference methods

Multisensory gaze stabilization in response to subchronic alteration of vestibular type I hair cells

The functional complementarity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and optokinetic reflex (OKR) allows for optimal combined gaze stabilization responses (CGR) in light. While sensory substitution has been reported following complete vestibular loss, the capacity of the central vestibular system to compensate for partial peripheral vestibular loss remains to be determined. Here, we first demonstrate the efficacy of a 6-week subchronic ototoxic protocol in inducing transient and partial vestibular loss which equally affects the canal- and otolith-dependent VORs. Immunostaining of hair cells in the vestibular sensory epithelia revealed that organ-specific alteration of type I, but not type II, hair cells correlates with functional impairments. The decrease in VOR performance is paralleled with an increase in the gain of the OKR occurring in a specific range of frequencies where VOR normally dominates gaze stabilization, compatible with a sensory substitution process. Comparison of unimodal OKR or VOR versus bimodal CGR revealed that visuo-vestibular interactions remain reduced despite a significant recovery in the VOR. Modeling and sweep-based analysis revealed that the differential capacity to optimally combine OKR and VOR correlates with the reproducibility of the VOR responses. Overall, these results shed light on the multisensory reweighting occurring in pathologies with fluctuating peripheral vestibular malfunction

Parks Canada’s adaptation framework and workshop approach: Lessons learned across a diverse series of adaptation workshops

In 2017, the Canadian Parks Council Climate Change Working Group, a team of federal, provincial, and territorial representatives, developed a Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Parks and Protected Areas, guiding practitioners through a simple, effective five-step adaptation process. This framework was adapted by Parks Canada into a two-day adaptation workshop approach, with 11 workshops subsequently held from September 2017 to May 2019 at Parks Canada sites in the Yukon, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Ontario. Lessons learned from each workshop have been integrated into the approach, with the development of tools and guidance for each phase of the process, and a shareable, visual “placemat” that describes each step of the framework, acting as a map for those navigating the process

Paradigms of Lung Microbiota Functions in Health and Disease, Particularly, in Asthma

Improvements in our knowledge of the gut microbiota have broadened our vision of the microbes associated with the intestine. These microbes are essential actors and protectors of digestive and extra-digestive health and, by extension, crucial for human physiology. Similar reconsiderations are currently underway concerning the endogenous microbes of the lungs, with a shift in focus away from their involvement in infections toward a role in physiology. The discovery of the lung microbiota was delayed by the long-held view that the lungs of healthy individuals were sterile and by sampling difficulties. The lung microbiota has a low density, and the maintenance of small numbers of bacteria seems to be a critical determinant of good health. This review aims to highlight how knowledge about the lung microbiota can change our conception of lung physiology and respiratory health. We provide support for this point of view with knowledge acquired about the gut microbiota and intestinal physiology. We describe the main characteristics of the lung microbiota and its functional impact on lung physiology, particularly in healthy individuals, after birth, but also in asthma. We describe some of the physiological features of the respiratory tract potentially favoring the installation of a dysbiotic microbiota. The gut microbiota feeds and matures the intestinal epithelium and is involved in immunity, when the principal role of the lung microbiota seems to be the orientation and balance of aspects of immune and epithelial responsiveness. This implies that the local and remote effects of bacterial communities are likely to be determinant in many respiratory diseases caused by viruses, allergens or genetic deficiency. Finally, we discuss the reciprocal connections between the gut and lungs that render these two compartments inseparable

Design method of constant phase-shifter microwave passive integrated circuit in 130-nm BiCMOS technology with bandpass-type negative group delay

The miniaturization and application development are the expected challenges on the today engineering design research on bandpass (BP) type negative group delay (NGD) circuit. To overcome this technical limit, an innovative contribution on integrated circuit (IC) design method of BP-NGD application to design constant phase shifter (PS) in 130-nm BiCMOS technology is developed in the present paper. The BP-NGD PS microwave passive IC is topologically consisted of cascade of CLC- and RLC-resonant networks. After the S-matrix modelling, the synthesis design equations enabling to calculate each lumped component values constituting the BP-NGD PS BiCMOS are established. The design equations are expressed knowing the targeted specifications as phase shift and operating frequency. The BiCMOS design methodology including the key steps as design rule checking (DRC), layout versus schematic (LVS) and post-layout simulation (PLS) is described. The miniaturized BP-NGD PS design feasibility is verified with schematic and layout simulations with IC CMOS standard commercial software tool. A proof-of-concept (POC) of 130-nm BiCMOS BP-NGD PS operating at the center frequency f(0) = 1.9 GHz and bandwidth Delta f = 0.1 GHz is designed and simulated. After DRC, the chip layout of miniaturized BP-NGD PS POC presents 0.407 mm(2) size. The BP-NGD PS POC exhibits constant phase shift notable value of about phi(0) = -90 degrees +/-0.4 degrees under S-21(f(0)) = -6+/-1 dB transmission coefficient with good flatness and reflection coefficients (S-21(f(0)) and S-21(f(0))) widely better than - dB. The design robustness is confirmed by 1000-trial Monte Carlo uncertainty analyses with PLS results. Because of the potential integration in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the BP-NGD PS under study is a promising candidate for the improvement of the future 5G and 6G transceiver design.Web of Science10931039308

I am the chosen one: Narcissism in the backdrop of self-determination theory

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Objective: This theoretical article discusses the relevance of self-determination theory (SDT) for narcissism, a classic topic in self-theory. Method and Results: The trait of narcissism reflects a self-aggrandizing, dominant, and manipulative interpersonal orientation that feeds on exaggerated perceptions of agency, but not communion. The article embeds narcissism in the five mini-theories of SDT (organismic integration, causality orientations, basic needs, cognitive evaluation, and goal contents) and considers research directions that can explore synergies between key constructs from SDT and narcissism. Conclusions: SDT can serve as a foundation for a deeper understanding of narcissism. From the other end, narcissism can enrich SDT by explaining variations in motivational processes

Bacteria isolated from lung modulate asthma susceptibility in mice

Asthma is a chronic, non-curable, multifactorial disease with increasing incidence in industrial countries. This study evaluates the direct contribution of lung microbial components in allergic asthma in mice. Germ-Free and Specific-Pathogen-Free mice display similar susceptibilities to House Dust Mice-induced allergic asthma, indicating that the absence of bacteria confers no protection or increased risk to aeroallergens. In early life, allergic asthma changes the pattern of lung microbiota, and lung bacteria reciprocally modulate aeroallergen responsiveness. Primo-colonizing cultivable strains were screened for their immunoregulatory properties following their isolation from neonatal lungs. Intranasal inoculation of lung bacteria influenced the outcome of allergic asthma development: the strain CNCM I 4970 exacerbated some asthma features whereas the pro-Th1 strain CNCM I 4969 had protective effects. Thus, we confirm that appropriate bacterial lung stimuli during early life are critical for susceptibility to allergic asthma in young adults

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements