CoDeF: Content Deformation Fields for Temporally Consistent Video Processing

We present the content deformation field CoDeF as a new type of video representation, which consists of a canonical content field aggregating the static contents in the entire video and a temporal deformation field recording the transformations from the canonical image (i.e., rendered from the canonical content field) to each individual frame along the time axis.Given a target video, these two fields are jointly optimized to reconstruct it through a carefully tailored rendering pipeline.We advisedly introduce some regularizations into the optimization process, urging the canonical content field to inherit semantics (e.g., the object shape) from the video.With such a design, CoDeF naturally supports lifting image algorithms for video processing, in the sense that one can apply an image algorithm to the canonical image and effortlessly propagate the outcomes to the entire video with the aid of the temporal deformation field.We experimentally show that CoDeF is able to lift image-to-image translation to video-to-video translation and lift keypoint detection to keypoint tracking without any training.More importantly, thanks to our lifting strategy that deploys the algorithms on only one image, we achieve superior cross-frame consistency in processed videos compared to existing video-to-video translation approaches, and even manage to track non-rigid objects like water and smog.Project page can be found at https://qiuyu96.github.io/CoDeF/.Comment: Project Webpage: https://qiuyu96.github.io/CoDeF/, Code: https://github.com/qiuyu96/CoDe

Precursor Information Recognition of Rockburst in the Coal-Rock Mass of Meizoseismal Area Based on Multiplex Microseismic Information Fusion and Its Application: A Case Study of Wudong Coal Mine

AbstractIn recent years, the rockburst induced by steeply inclined coal seam mining in the Urumqi mining area has become serious. In this paper, the evolution law of multiplex microseismic information before and after the rockburst is obtained through in-depth mining of the field microseismic data. In addition, the evolution characteristics of microseismic activities before and after the rockburst of steeply inclined coal-rock mass in the meizoseismal area are revealed from three important scales: time, space, and strength. The results show the following: (1) The microseismic activity of the Wudong Coal Mine is mainly of stress migration type. The sandwiched rock pillar is the primary inducement of rockburst, and the b value decreases greatly with the mining progresses (by 23.9%). It indicates that the risk of rockburst induced by the local failure of rock mass in this area is increasing. (2) From the time scale and strength index, the precursory indexes of rockburst are put forward, respectively: ① the daily total energy and the frequency of microseisms suddenly rise and fall rapidly at the same time in the shock start-up period (5 days before rockburst), and the daily total energy of microseisms decreases to the abnormal valley value within 30 days. ② The abnormal growth rate of microseismic events exceeded 60% in a certain stage, and “induced shock events” appeared. (3) The shock risk is positively correlated with the decline rate of energy index, the growth rate of cumulative apparent volume, and Schmidt. It is determined that the rockburst will occur within 19 days after entering the shock early warning period. The results of prediction examples show that this method has a good prediction effect on rockburst in strong meizoseismal areas, which can provide a reference for rockburst prevention in the mining process in strong meizoseismal areas

An Application Of Services Based Modelling Paradigm To The Hydrologic Domain Using Ewater Source

The traditional paradigm for the deployment of hydrological models involves the capturing and testing of model concepts and numerical consistency for robustness and accuracy, which is then distributed as binary files with or without source code. The model software is then populated with data and parameters and run locally within the modeller’s organisation, often on their own desktop. This modelling workflow is used by many organisations; however, there are several limitations and potential issues. Once the software is outside the developer’s organisation they rely on the modeller to apply updates and bug fixes in a timely manner, and to correctly describe the model version used for reporting. The developer also loses control of the quality and suitability of the input data for a particular application of the model. With more prevalent access to high bandwidth internet and flexible computing infrastructure there is an increased opportunity to better control model access through the exposure of modelling functionality through web services. As well as giving the developer tighter control over model versioning and IP, it also allows closer coupling of the model to both data sources and computational resources, which is especially beneficial to multi-run use cases such as uncertainty analysis and calibration, where the ability to easily scale to many model instances is of most value. The eWater Source modelling system is an important use case for Australia’s hydrologic community, and provides a rich array of functionality. Source is especially suited to the services modelling paradigm as it has project load times much greater than simulation runtimes, the services based approach allows the hiding of these load times by keeping the project in memory for each instance of a Source Server. This paper investigates the use of a Source service interface for providing hydrological modelling web services

Is re-Rex shunt a better choice for patients with failed Rex shunt?

PurposeTo review our single-center surgical outcomes of redo operations after failed Rex shunt procedures.MethodsFrom September 2017 to October 2021, a total of 20 patients (11 males, 9 females; median age: 8.6 years) with Rex shunt occlusions were admitted to our hospital. Two of these patients were previously operated on in our hospital, and the remaining 18 were from other centers. All patients underwent repeat operations after detailed preoperative evaluations.ResultsPreoperative wedged hepatic vein portography (WHVP) was conducted for 18 patients. Thirteen patients exhibited well-developed Rex recessus and intrahepatic portal vein during WHPV examination, consistent with the intraoperative exploration results. Fifteen patients (75%, 15/20) underwent redo-Rex shunt, four underwent Warren shunt and one underwent devascularization surgery. During the redo-Rex shunt operations, the left internal jugular veins (IJV) were used as bypass grafts in 11 patients; the intra-abdominal veins were used in 4 patients. The patients were followed up for 12–59 months (mean, 24.8 months). After redo Rex shunts, the grafts were patent in 14 patients (93.3%, 14/15), but 1 graft had thrombosis (6.7%, 1/15). Three patients suffered from postoperative anastomotic stenosis, and all of the stenosis was relieved with balloon dilatations. After re-Rex shunts, esophageal varices and spleen size were substantially reduced, and the platelet count significantly increased. Postoperative graft thrombosis was found in 1 patient after Warren shunt (1/4, 25%), and there was no graft stenosis. Compared with Warren surgery, patients who underwent re-Rex shunt had a significantly higher rate of platelet increase.ConclusionsRedo-rex shunts can be finished in most patients with failed Rex shunts. Re-Rex shunt is a preferred surgical choice after a failed Rex shunt when a good bypass graft is available, and the surgical success rate can reach more than 90%. A suitable bypass graft is essential for a successful redo Rex shunt. Preoperative WHVP is recommended for the design of a redo surgical plan preoperatively

Modeling a New Water Channel That Allows SET9 to Dimethylate p53

SET9, a protein lysine methyltransferase, has been thought to be capable of transferring only one methyl group to target lysine residues. However, some reports have pointed out that SET9 can dimethylate Lys372 of p53 (p53-K372) and Lys4 of histone H3 (H3-K4). In order to understand how p53 can be dimethylated by SET9, we measured the radius of the channel that surrounds p53-K372, first on the basis of the crystal structure of SET9, and we show that the channel is not suitable for water movement. Second, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were carried out for 204 ns on the crystal structure of SET9. The results show that water leaves the active site of SET9 through a new channel, which is made of G292, A295, Y305 and Y335. In addition, the results of molecular docking and MD simulations indicate that the new water channel continues to remain open when S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) or S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) is bound to SET9. The changes in the radii of these two channels were measured in the equilibrium phase at the constant temperature of 300 K. The results indicate that the first channel still does not allow water to get into or out of the active site, but the new channel is large enough to allow this water to circulate. Our results indicate that water can be removed from the active site, an essential process for allowing the dimethylation reaction to occur

Dexterity Based Viscous Resistance Optimization of a Deep-Sea Manipulator

With persistent ocean exploration, the complexity of deep-sea intervention is gradually increasing. The deep-sea manipulator is the primary tool to complete complex intervention. The manipulator dexterity determines the complexity of the task it can perform. First, a dynamic dexterity evaluation method is proposed based on the kinematics and dynamics characteristics of the deep-sea manipulator. This method takes into account the dynamic torque boundary and Jacobian mapping constraint, which are different from terrestrial manipulators. The concepts of the dynamic dexterity ellipsoid and dynamic dexterity measure are defined. Second, the effect of viscosity resistance on dexterity is analyzed. The viscosity resistance is optimized by selecting the most suitable compensation oil. Finally, the methods of dynamic dexterity evaluation and viscosity resistance optimization are verified by a simulated deep-sea experiment. The method proposed in this paper effectively improves the dynamic dexterity of the deep-sea manipulator by optimizing the viscosity resistance. The proposed method can also be used to evaluate and improve the dexterity of other underwater manipulators

Modeling and Optimization of Compensating Oil Viscous Power for a Deep-Sea Electric Manipulator

The dynamic performance and load capacity of a deep-sea electric manipulator are obviously affected by the viscous resistance of compensating oil. However, the complex geometric clearance of the oil-filled joint of the manipulator makes it difficult for existing theoretical models to accurately model this problem. Based on the existing theoretical models, a viscous power model considering the influence of the surface grooves of the rotor and stator is proposed. To reduce the viscous power loss, an optimization method for the clearance geometry is proposed. This optimization method is carried out by filling the surface grooves of the motor rotor and stator with epoxy resin. This method makes the clearance geometry of the compensated oil more regular. The modified model and optimization method are validated by designing an experimental installation and method. The experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the modified theoretical model and optimization method

Selective Extraction of Collagen Peptides with High Purity from Cod Skins by Deep Eutectic Solvents

This paper reports an efficient and eco-friendly extraction and separation method of collagen peptides from cod skins based on a nascent class of green and sustainable deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Six kinds of DESs were designed and synthesized. On the basis of the principle of high extraction efficiency and high purity, choline chloride–oxalic acid was selected as the optimal extraction solvent. In the process of collagen peptides purification, ethanol was the optimal precipitation reagent due to the low toxicity. Afterward, single factor experiments proved that the extraction efficiency and purity of collagen peptides were influenced by the molar ratios of choline chloride–oxalic acid, extraction temperature, reaction time and solvent-to-solid ratio. Under the optimal conditions, higher and lower molecular weight collagen peptides were obtained. The values of their respective extraction efficiencies were up to 91.57% and 96.01% and the corresponding purity was up to 93.14% and 100%, respectively. Finally, UV–vis and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry were utilized to study the extraction mechanism. The results from this study demonstrate that choline chloride–oxalic acid is a green, efficient and promising solvent for extracting collagen peptides from cod skins

Search for β2 adrenergic receptor ligands by virtual screening via grid computing and investigation of binding modes by docking and molecular dynamics simulations.

We designed a program called MolGridCal that can be used to screen small molecule database in grid computing on basis of JPPF grid environment. Based on MolGridCal program, we proposed an integrated strategy for virtual screening and binding mode investigation by combining molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and free energy calculations. To test the effectiveness of MolGridCal, we screened potential ligands for β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) from a database containing 50,000 small molecules. MolGridCal can not only send tasks to the grid server automatically, but also can distribute tasks using the screensaver function. As for the results of virtual screening, the known agonist BI-167107 of β2AR is ranked among the top 2% of the screened candidates, indicating MolGridCal program can give reasonable results. To further study the binding mode and refine the results of MolGridCal, more accurate docking and scoring methods are used to estimate the binding affinity for the top three molecules (agonist BI-167107, neutral antagonist alprenolol and inverse agonist ICI 118,551). The results indicate agonist BI-167107 has the best binding affinity. MD simulation and free energy calculation are employed to investigate the dynamic interaction mechanism between the ligands and β2AR. The results show that the agonist BI-167107 also has the lowest binding free energy. This study can provide a new way to perform virtual screening effectively through integrating molecular docking based on grid computing, MD simulations and free energy calculations. The source codes of MolGridCal are freely available at http://molgridcal.codeplex.com