Diffusion360: Seamless 360 Degree Panoramic Image Generation based on Diffusion Models

This is a technical report on the 360-degree panoramic image generation task based on diffusion models. Unlike ordinary 2D images, 360-degree panoramic images capture the entire $360^\circ\times 180^\circ$ field of view. So the rightmost and the leftmost sides of the 360 panoramic image should be continued, which is the main challenge in this field. However, the current diffusion pipeline is not appropriate for generating such a seamless 360-degree panoramic image. To this end, we propose a circular blending strategy on both the denoising and VAE decoding stages to maintain the geometry continuity. Based on this, we present two models for \textbf{Text-to-360-panoramas} and \textbf{Single-Image-to-360-panoramas} tasks. The code has been released as an open-source project at \href{https://github.com/ArcherFMY/SD-T2I-360PanoImage}{https://github.com/ArcherFMY/SD-T2I-360PanoImage} and \href{https://www.modelscope.cn/models/damo/cv_diffusion_text-to-360panorama-image_generation/summary}{ModelScope}Comment: 2 pages, 8 figures, Tech. Repor

A Hierarchical Representation Network for Accurate and Detailed Face Reconstruction from In-The-Wild Images

Limited by the nature of the low-dimensional representational capacity of 3DMM, most of the 3DMM-based face reconstruction (FR) methods fail to recover high-frequency facial details, such as wrinkles, dimples, etc. Some attempt to solve the problem by introducing detail maps or non-linear operations, however, the results are still not vivid. To this end, we in this paper present a novel hierarchical representation network (HRN) to achieve accurate and detailed face reconstruction from a single image. Specifically, we implement the geometry disentanglement and introduce the hierarchical representation to fulfill detailed face modeling. Meanwhile, 3D priors of facial details are incorporated to enhance the accuracy and authenticity of the reconstruction results. We also propose a de-retouching module to achieve better decoupling of the geometry and appearance. It is noteworthy that our framework can be extended to a multi-view fashion by considering detail consistency of different views. Extensive experiments on two single-view and two multi-view FR benchmarks demonstrate that our method outperforms the existing methods in both reconstruction accuracy and visual effects. Finally, we introduce a high-quality 3D face dataset FaceHD-100 to boost the research of high-fidelity face reconstruction. The project homepage is at https://younglbw.github.io/HRN-homepage/.Comment: Accepted by CVPR202

Chronic disease knowledge and its determinants among chronically ill adults in rural areas of Shanxi Province in China: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic disease knowledge is an important prerequisite for an individual to implement behavioural changes towards the prevention and control of chronic diseases (CDs). Limited information is available about the relationship between different levels of health services and CD knowledge among rural residents with CDs. This research explores the distribution characteristics of CD knowledge and its determinants among chronically ill adults in rural China according to the aspects of patients and health service providers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was undertaken to estimate distribution characteristics of CD knowledge and collect data of socio-demographic characteristics, healthcare institutions attendances, duration of illness, and family history of CDs. Participants were 1060 rural adults with hypertension or type II diabetes. Correct responses to 12 questions were summed into a total knowledge score, and participants were divided into an adequate health knowledge group (score ≥ 6) or an inadequate health knowledge group (score < 5). Logistic regression was used determine the predictors of adequate CD health knowledge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of participants was 61.34 years (SD = 10 years). Out of a possible 12, the median score on the CD knowledge questionnaire was 3.0. About 25% of participants were classified as having adequate CD knowledge. Those who had a family history and/or long duration of CDs were more likely to have adequate health knowledge. Participants who received CD health information and self-care instructions from their physicians had 2.67 and 13.34 times greater odds of possessing adequate health knowledge than those who received no information, respectively. Adequate CD knowledge was strongly associated with regular check-ups, especially for those who attended township hospitals (OR = 40.17).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Having regular check-ups at a fixed healthcare institution and receiving health information from physicians are important measures for increasing CD knowledge among rural adults with CDs. Township hospitals are the most effective settings for health education. It is important to develop an effective community-based prevention and control mechanism for CDs. This requires township hospitals to take a leading role in improving CD knowledge among chronically ill patients, and enhancing implementation of health education in rural China.</p

Virtual flows of aquatic heavy metal emissions and associated risk in China

Heavy metal pollution is posing a serious threat to ecosystem and human health in China. In addition to being emitted into the atmosphere, heavy metals generated by industrial processes are also emitted into water bodies. However, there is a lack of research exploring trade-induced aquatic heavy metals (AHM) emissions hidden in cross-regional supply chain networks. Such information can provide both consumer and producer perspectives on stakeholders' responsibility and involve them in pollution control along the entire supply chain including influencing consumption choices. Using a bottom-up AHM emission inventory (including mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb)) in 2010, we firstly accounted for production- and consumption-based AHM emissions and their virtual flows between China's 30 provinces. Additionally, we developed an integrated index, i.e. Equal Risk Pollution Load, to measure the risk associated with five AHM based on the corresponding reference dose. We found that richer provinces Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang through their consumption of metal products caused aquatic Hg, Cd, As and Pb pollution in provinces with nonferrous-metallic mineral resources such as Hunan, Yunnan, and Inner Mongolia. However, virtual aquatic Cr emissions were incurred in richer coastal regions (e.g. Guangdong, Zhejiang) for producing and exporting high value added products (electroplated products, printed circuit board and leather products) to less developed inland provinces. Finally, we propose measures from a supply chain perspective to mitigate aquatic pollution

SIRT1 Activation by Resveratrol Alleviates Cardiac Dysfunction via Mitochondrial Regulation in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy Mice

Background. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major threat for diabetic patients. Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) has a regulatory effect on mitochondrial dynamics, which is associated with DCM pathological changes. Our study aims to investigate whether resveratrol, a SRIT1 activator, could exert a protective effect against DCM. Methods and Results. Cardiac-specific SIRT1 knockout (SIRT1KO) mice were generated using Cre-loxP system. SIRT1KO mice displayed symptoms of DCM, including cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction, insulin resistance, and abnormal glucose metabolism. DCM and SIRT1KO hearts showed impaired mitochondrial biogenesis and function, while SIRT1 activation by resveratrol reversed this in DCM mice. High glucose caused increased apoptosis, impaired mitochondrial biogenesis, and function in cardiomyocytes, which was alleviated by resveratrol. SIRT1 deletion by both SIRT1KO and shRNA abolished the beneficial effects of resveratrol. Furthermore, the function of SIRT1 is mediated via the deacetylation effect on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), thus inducing increased expression of nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1), NRF-2, estrogen-related receptor-α (ERR-α), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM). Conclusions. Cardiac deletion of SIRT1 caused phenotypes resembling DCM. Activation of SIRT1 by resveratrol ameliorated cardiac injuries in DCM through PGC-1α-mediated mitochondrial regulation. Collectively, SIRT1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for DCM

A Regulatory Module Controlling Homeostasis of a Plant Immune Kinase

Plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) perceive microbial and endogenous molecular patterns to activate immune signaling. The cytoplasmic kinase BIK1 acts downstream of multiple PRRs as a rate-limiting component, whose phosphorylation and accumulation are central to immune signal propagation. Previous work identified the calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK28 and heterotrimeric G proteins as negative and positive regulators of BIK1 accumulation, respectively. However, mechanisms underlying this regulation remain unknown. Here we show that the plant U-box proteins PUB25 and PUB26 are homologous E3 ligases that mark BIK1 for degradation to negatively regulate immunity. We demonstrate that the heterotrimeric G proteins inhibit PUB25/26 activity to stabilize BIK1, whereas CPK28 specifically phosphorylates conserved residues in PUB25/26 to enhance their activity and promote BIK1 degradation. Interestingly, PUB25/26 specifically target non-activated BIK1, suggesting that activated BIK1 is maintained for immune signaling. Our findings reveal a multi-protein regulatory module that enables robust yet tightly regulated immune responses

How Well Does the ERA5 Reanalysis Capture the Extreme Climate Events Over China? Part II: Extreme Temperature

The fifth-generation atmospheric reanalysis of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA5) is the latest reanalysis product. However, the reliability of ERA5 to capture extreme temperatures is still unclear over China. Hence, based on conventional meteorological station data, a new criterion (DISO) was used to validate the ERA5 capturing extreme temperature indices derived from the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) across the six subregions of China on different timescales. The conclusions are as follows: the original daily temperatures (mean temperature, maximum temperature, and minimum temperature) can be well reproduced by ERA5 reanalysis over China. ERA5 tends to exhibit more misdetection for the duration of extreme temperature events than extreme temperature intensity and frequency. In addition, ERA5 performed best in the summer and worst in the winter, respectively. The trend of absolute indices (e.g., TXx and TNx), percentile-based indices (e.g., TX90p, TX10p, TN90p, and TN10p), and duration indices (e.g., WSDI, CSDI, and GSL) can be captured by ERA5, but ERA5 failed to capture the tendency of the diurnal temperature range (DTR) over China. Spatially, ERA5 performs well in southeastern China. However, it remains challenging to accurately recreate the extreme temperature events in the Tibetan Plateau. The elevation difference between the station and ERA5 grid point contributes to the main bias of reanalysis temperatures. The accuracy of ERA5 decreases with the increase in elevation discrepancy

How Well Does the ERA5 Reanalysis Capture the Extreme Climate Events Over China? Part I: Extreme Precipitation

ERA5 is the fifth-generation atmospheric reanalysis of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, with high spatiotemporal resolution and global coverage. However, the reliability of ERA5 for simulating extreme precipitation events is still unclear over China. In this study, 12 extreme precipitation indices and a comprehensive quantitative distance between indices of simulation and observation were used to evaluate ERA5 precipitation from three fundamental aspects: intensity, frequency, and duration. The geomorphological regionalization method was used to divide the subregions of China. The results showed that the ability of ERA5 to simulate annual total precipitation was better than that of daily precipitation. For the intensity indices, ERA5 performs well for simulating the PRCPTOT (annual total wet days precipitation) over China. ERA5 performs better on RX5day (max 5-days precipitation amount) and R95p (very wet days), especially in eastern China, than on RX1day (max 1-day precipitation amount) and R99p (extremely wet days). For the frequency indices, the ability of the ERA5 simulation increased as the amount of precipitation increased, except for northwestern China. However, the ability of ERA5 to simulate R50 mm (number of extreme heavy precipitation days) decreased. For the duration indices, ERA5 was better at simulating drought events than wet events in eastern China. Our results highlight the need for ERA5 to enhance the simulation of trend changes in extreme precipitation events

The Cassiopeia Filament: A Blown Spur of the Local Arm

We present wide-field and high-sensitivity CO(1-0) molecular line observations toward the Cassiopeia region, using the 13.7m millimeter telescope of the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO). The CO observations reveal a large-scale highly filamentary molecular cloud within the Galactic region of 132\fdg0\,$\geq$\,$l$\,$\geq$\,122\fdg0 and -1\fdg0\,$\leq$\,$b$\,$\leq$\,3\fdg0 and the velocity range from approximately +1 to +4 km/s. The measured length of the large-scale filament, referred to as the Cassiopeia Filament, is about 390 pc. The observed properties of the Cassiopeia Filament, such as length, column density, and velocity gradient, are consistent with those synthetic large-scale filaments in the inter-arm regions. Based on its observed properties and location on the Galactic plane, we suggest that the Cassiopeia Filament is a spur of the Local arm, which is formed due to the galactic shear. The western end of the Cassiopeia Filament shows a giant arc-like molecular gas shell, which is extending in the velocity range from roughly -1 to +7 km/s. Finger-like structures, with systematic velocity gradients, are detected in the shell. The CO kinematics suggest that the large shell is expanding at a velocity of ~6.5 km/s. Both the shell and finger-like structures outline a giant bubble with a radius of ~16 pc, which is likely produced by stellar wind from the progenitor star of a supernova remnant. The observed spectral linewidths suggest that the whole Cassiopeia Filament was quiescent initially until its west part was blown by stellar wind and became supersonically turbulent.Comment: 46 pages, 19 figures, to be published by the A