6,6′-Dimeth­oxy-2,2′-[pyridine-2,3-diylbis(nitrilo­methyl­idyne)]diphenol

In the title compound, C21H19N3O4, two intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate two six-membered rings. The dihedral angles between the central heterocyclic ring and the two pendant rings are 61.5 (2) and 63.5 (1)°

CLIP Guided Image-perceptive Prompt Learning for Image Enhancement

Image enhancement is a significant research area in the fields of computer vision and image processing. In recent years, many learning-based methods for image enhancement have been developed, where the Look-up-table (LUT) has proven to be an effective tool. In this paper, we delve into the potential of Contrastive Language-Image Pre-Training (CLIP) Guided Prompt Learning, proposing a simple structure called CLIP-LUT for image enhancement. We found that the prior knowledge of CLIP can effectively discern the quality of degraded images, which can provide reliable guidance. To be specific, We initially learn image-perceptive prompts to distinguish between original and target images using CLIP model, in the meanwhile, we introduce a very simple network by incorporating a simple baseline to predict the weights of three different LUT as enhancement network. The obtained prompts are used to steer the enhancement network like a loss function and improve the performance of model. We demonstrate that by simply combining a straightforward method with CLIP, we can obtain satisfactory results.Comment: A trial work to the image enhancemen

The Tractor and Semitrailer Routing Considering Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The incorporation of the minimization of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the VRP is important to logistics companies. The paper deals with the tractor and semitrailer routing problem with full truckload between any two depots of the network; an integer programming model with the objective of minimizing CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer is proposed. A two-stage approach with the same core steps of the simulated annealing (SA) in both stages is designed. The number of tractors is provided in the first stage and the CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer are then optimized in the second stage. Computational experiments on small-scale randomly generated instances supported the feasibility and validity of the heuristic algorithm. To a practical-scale problem, the SA algorithm can provide advice on the number of tractors, the routes, and the location of the central depot to realize CO2 emissions decrease

Iterative Geometry-Aware Cross Guidance Network for Stereo Image Inpainting

Currently, single image inpainting has achieved promising results based on deep convolutional neural networks. However, inpainting on stereo images with missing regions has not been explored thoroughly, which is also a significant but different problem. One crucial requirement for stereo image inpainting is stereo consistency. To achieve it, we propose an Iterative Geometry-Aware Cross Guidance Network (IGGNet). The IGGNet contains two key ingredients, i.e., a Geometry-Aware Attention (GAA) module and an Iterative Cross Guidance (ICG) strategy. The GAA module relies on the epipolar geometry cues and learns the geometry-aware guidance from one view to another, which is beneficial to make the corresponding regions in two views consistent. However, learning guidance from co-existing missing regions is challenging. To address this issue, the ICG strategy is proposed, which can alternately narrow down the missing regions of the two views in an iterative manner. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed network outperforms the latest stereo image inpainting model and state-of-the-art single image inpainting models.Comment: Accepted by IJCAI 202

Winter chill protection of grapevines by burial: Evaluation of the crawled cordon training system

The objective of this work was to select a training system suitable for grapevines grown in areas where vine burial is practiced for protection against winter chill (especially as it is practised in the arid/semiarid areas of northern China). We evaluate the influence of a new training system crawled cordon training (CCT) and compare it with a traditional training system independent long-stem pruning (ILSP). The study considers fruit quality, sensory evaluation of wines and an analysis of labour practices at Rongchen Chateau in China during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. During the first three years under CCT, average yield was 39.69 % lower than under ILSP but CCT showed higher yield stability. The ripeness of grapes under CCT was higher than under ILSP, so sensory evaluation of CCT wines was also higher. Moreover, CCT also reduced the labour involved for winter pruning, summer pruning and harvesting by 24.4 %, 25.0 % and 37.5 %, respectively. This study shows that under CCT grape quality, yield stability and wine quality were significantly higher than under ILSP, while labour inputs (costs) were significantly lower

Obesity and Fertility: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background and Hypothesis: Previous studies have linked body mass index (BMI) with time to pregnancy. The objective of this analysis was to determine if obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) is associated with reduced fertility in a cohort of women who discontinued contraceptive method to attempt conception. We hypothesized that BMI is associated with time to conception after controlling for potential confounding variables. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the FACT (Fertility After Contraceptive Termination) study. We included 432 women, aged 18-35 years old, who discontinued contraception in an effort to conceive, were sexually active with a male partner, had the ability to consent, and had a minimum of 12 months of follow-up data. Participants were excluded who were already pregnant, had a history of infertility or medically induced sterility or, used depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) in the past 5 months. We collected participant data on demographic, reproductive, medical characteristics, and sexual history, as well as date of contraceptive termination. We used Cox proportional hazard models to assess associations between BMI and time to conception while controlling for race, socioeconomic status, and prior contraceptive method. Results: A BMI of 30 or greater was associated with reduced fertility compared to participants with a BMI of less than 25 after controlling for race, low SES, and prior contraceptive method (HRadj=0.72; 95% CI 0.53, 0.97; p=0.03). We also noted that obese women with regular menses had reduced fertility compared to normal weight participants with regular cycles (HRadj 0.58; 95% CI 0.39, 0.86, p=0.007). For participants with irregular menstrual cycles, BMI was not associated with time to conception. Conclusion & Potential Impact: Our study supports the association of obesity with reduced fertility and increased time to conception. Future studies of weight loss should be considered as a method to improve conception rates

Hexakis(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)cobalt(III) trinitrate

The metal atom of the title salt, [Co(C2H6OS)6](NO3)3, is coordinated by six dimethyl sulfoxide mol­ecules in an octa­hedral geometry. The metal atom lies on a special position of site symmetry. One of the nitrate ions lies on a special position of 3 site symmetry and the other independent ion is disordered about a special position of site symmetry

Urea Facilitates the Translocation of Single-Stranded DNA and RNA Through the α-Hemolysin Nanopore

AbstractThe staphylococcal α-hemolysin (αHL) protein nanopore is under investigation as a fast, cheap detector for nucleic acid analysis and sequencing. Although discrimination of all four bases of DNA by the αHL pore has been demonstrated, analysis of single-stranded DNAs and RNAs containing secondary structure mediated by basepairing is prevented because these nucleic acids cannot be translocated through the pore. Here, we show that a structured 95-nucleotide single-stranded DNA and its RNA equivalent are translocated through the αHL pore in the presence of 4 M urea, a concentration that denatures the secondary structure of the polynucleotides. The αHL pore is functional even in 7 M urea, and therefore it is easily stable enough for analyses of challenging DNA and RNA species