Multi-Modal Face Stylization with a Generative Prior

In this work, we introduce a new approach for artistic face stylization. Despite existing methods achieving impressive results in this task, there is still room for improvement in generating high-quality stylized faces with diverse styles and accurate facial reconstruction. Our proposed framework, MMFS, supports multi-modal face stylization by leveraging the strengths of StyleGAN and integrates it into an encoder-decoder architecture. Specifically, we use the mid-resolution and high-resolution layers of StyleGAN as the decoder to generate high-quality faces, while aligning its low-resolution layer with the encoder to extract and preserve input facial details. We also introduce a two-stage training strategy, where we train the encoder in the first stage to align the feature maps with StyleGAN and enable a faithful reconstruction of input faces. In the second stage, the entire network is fine-tuned with artistic data for stylized face generation. To enable the fine-tuned model to be applied in zero-shot and one-shot stylization tasks, we train an additional mapping network from the large-scale Contrastive-Language-Image-Pre-training (CLIP) space to a latent $w+$ space of fine-tuned StyleGAN. Qualitative and quantitative experiments show that our framework achieves superior face stylization performance in both one-shot and zero-shot stylization tasks, outperforming state-of-the-art methods by a large margin

Evaluating physical functioning in critical care: considerations for clinical practice and research

Abstract The evaluation of physical functioning is valuable in the intensive care unit (ICU) to help inform patient recovery after critical illness, to identify patients who may require rehabilitation interventions, and to monitor responsiveness to such interventions. This viewpoint article discusses: (1) the concept of physical functioning with reference to the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; (2) the importance of measuring physical functioning in the ICU; and (3) methods for evaluating physical functioning in the ICU. Recommendations for clinical practice and research are made, along with discussion of future directions

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Evaluating physical functioning in critical care: considerations for clinical practice and research

Detailed summary of measurement properties for the ICU setting. (DOCX 60 kb

Effect of Water Vapor on the Microstructure of Al₂O₃ on the Free-Standing MCrAlY Alloy at 1100 °C

The oxidation resistance of the MCrAlY binding coat is due to the formation of protective Al2O3 oxide scale at high temperature. The oxidation behavior of NiCrAlYHf alloy in 1100 °C air and air-water vapor atmosphere was studied. The effect of water vapor on the microstructure and distribution of reactive elements was discussed. The results showed that the oxide scale in air has a double layer structure composed of columnar and equiaxed crystals, while the oxide scale in water vapor contains fine alumina grains, which provides more channels for the diffusion of reactive elements. In addition, The Cr element in the oxide scale is mainly concentrated in the outer equiaxed crystal zone, and the Hf oxide is mainly concentrated in the columnar crystal boundary. In air-water vapor atmosphere, the Cr element is uniformly distributed in the oxide scale

H1N1 Influenza A Virus Protein NS2 Inhibits Innate Immune Response by Targeting IRF7

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a globally distributed zoonotic pathogen and causes a highly infectious respiratory disease with high morbidity and mortality in humans and animals. IAV has evolved various strategies to counteract the innate immune response, using different viral proteins. However, the mechanisms are not fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that the nonstructural protein 2 (NS2) of H1N1 IAV negatively regulate the induction of type-I interferon. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that NS2 specifically interacts with interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7). NS2 blocks the nuclear translocation of IRF7 by inhibiting the formation of IRF7 dimers, thereby prevents the activation of IRF7 and inhibits the production of interferon-beta. Taken together, these findings revealed a novel mechanism by which the NS2 of H1N1 IAV inhibits IRF7-mediated type-I interferon production

Association between varying cut-points of intermediate hyperglycemia and risk of mortality, cardiovascular events and chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the updated evidence regarding prediabetes for predicting mortality, macrovascular and microvascular outcomes.Research design and methods We identified English language studies from MEDLINE, PubMed, OVID and Cochrane database indexed from inception to January 31, 2020. Paired reviewers independently identified 106 prospective studies, comprising nearly 1.85 million people, from 27 countries. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality (ACM), cardiovascular mortality (CVDM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Secondary outcomes were heart failure, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and retinopathy.Results Impaired glucose tolerance was associated with ACM; HR 1.19, 95% CI (1.15 to 1.24), CVDM; HR 1.21, 95% CI (1.10 to 1.32), CVD; HR 1.18, 95% CI (1.11 to 1.26), CHD; HR; 1.13, 95% CI (1.05 to 1.21) and stroke; HR 1.24, 95% CI (1.06 to 1.45). Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) 110–125 mg/dL was associated with ACM; HR 1.17, 95% CI (1.13 to 1.22), CVDM; HR 1.20, 95% CI (1.09 to 1.33), CVD; HR 1.21, 95% CI (1.09 to 1.33), CHD; HR; 1.14, 95% CI (1.06 to 1.22) and stroke; HR 1.22, 95% CI (1.07 to 1.40). IFG 100–125 mg/dL was associated with ACM; HR 1.11, 95% CI (1.04 to 1.19), CVDM; HR 1.14, 95% CI (1.03 to 1.25), CVD; HR 1.15, 95% CI (1.05 to 1.25), CHD HR; 1.10, 95% CI (1.02 to 1.19) and CKD; HR; 1.09, 95% CI (1.01 to 1.18). Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 6.0%–6.4% was associated with ACM; HR 1.30, 95% CI (1.03 to 1.66), CVD; HR 1.32, 95% CI (1.00 to 1.73) and CKD; HR 1.50, 95% CI (1.32 to 1.70). HbA1c 5.7%–6.4% was associated with CVD HR 1.15, 95% CI (1.02 to 1.30), CHD; HR 1.28, 95% CI (1.13 to 1.46), stroke; HR 1.23, 95% CI (1.04 to 1.46) and CKD; HR 1.32, 95% CI (1.16 to 1.50).Conclusion Prediabetes is an elevated risk state for macrovascular and microvascular outcomes. The prevention and management of prediabetes should be considered