A Real-Time and Long-Term Face Tracking Method Using Convolutional Neural Network and Optical Flow in IoT-Based Multimedia Communication Systems

The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) stimulates many research works related to Multimedia Communication Systems (MCS), such as human face detection and tracking. This trend drives numerous progressive methods. Among these methods, the deep learning-based methods can spot face patch in an image effectively and accurately. Many people consider face tracking as face detection, but they are two different techniques. Face detection focuses on a single image, whose shortcoming is obvious, such as unstable and unsmooth face position when adopted on a sequence of continuous images; computing is expensive due to its heavy reliance on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and limited detection performance on the edge device. To overcome these defects, this paper proposes a novel face tracking strategy by combining CNN and optical flow, namely, C-OF, which achieves an extremely fast, stable, and long-term face tracking system. Two key things for commercial applications are the stability and smoothness of face positions in a sequence of image frames, which can provide more probability for face biological signal extraction, silent face antispoofing, and facial expression analysis in the fields of IoT-based MCS. Our method captures face patterns in every two consequent frames via optical flow to get rid of the unstable and unsmooth problems. Moreover, an innovative metric for measuring the stability and smoothness of face motion is designed and adopted in our experiments. The experimental results illustrate that our proposed C-OF outperforms both face detection and object tracking methods

Low-Cost ZnO:YAG-Based Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor White Light-Emitting Diodes with Various Insulators

ZnO:YAG-based metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diodes with various insulators were synthesized on an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. SiO2 and MnZnO (MZO) were separately used as insulators. X-ray diffraction revealed the crystalline structure of the ZnO:YAG film. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of the ZnO:YAG film were studied and the color of photoluminescence was found to be almost white. The electrical properties of the diodes with different insulators and thicknesses were compared. The diode with the SiO2 insulator had a lower threshold voltage, smaller leakage current, and a higher series resistance than that with the MZO insulator layer

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Sino-Sri Lanka Bilateral Maritime Cooperation

张仁平，教授，中国大连海事大学国际海事公约研究中心主任。 姜州阳，助理，中国大连海事大学国际海事公约研究中心。 任袖语，助理，中国大连海事大学国际海事公约研究中心。 杨迎，助理，中国大连海事大学国际海事公约研究中心。【中文摘要】丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路是促进中国与古丝路沿线各国相互投资与合作的战略构想。2013年10月，中国国家主席习近平在出访东南亚国家期间，提出共建海上丝绸之路的重大倡议，他回顾了中国古代海上丝绸之路的历史，并勾勒出一条新的海上丝绸之路。中国重振海上丝绸之路，就是要弘扬古丝路和平、友好与合作的精神，与沿线各国实现共同发展，打造命运共同体，助推海上安全建设。本文将从3方面论述海上丝绸之路的建设：亚洲基础设施投资银行、基础设施建设和自由贸易区。最后，本文提出从政策、能力建设和培训等方面增强中斯双边海上合作。斯里兰卡是第一个正式支持中国“一带一路”战略的国家。中斯均希望两国的双边合作会成为新时期海上合作的样板，同时也让斯里兰卡成为镶嵌在21世纪海上丝绸之路上的一颗璀璨明珠。 【Abstract】 The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are Chinese strategic initiatives to increase investments and foster collaboration along the historic Silk Road. Chinese President Xi Jinping first raised the Maritime Silk Road initiative when he visited Southeast Asia in October 2013.During his visit, he memorialized the ancient Maritime Silk Road and outlined a new Maritime Silk Road, in order to revive the Maritime Silk Road to carry forward the spirit of peace, friendship, and cooperation of the ancient Silk Road.China hopes to realize common development with all countries along the road to improve maritime security, and develop a community of common destiny. This paper examines the building of the new Maritime Silk Road from three aspects: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, infrastructure construction, and free trade areas. Finally, this paper proposes to better bilateral cooperation between China and Sri Lanka in the areas of policy, capacity building and training. Sri Lanka is the first country to officially support China’s initiatives and both countries hope that their bilateral collaboration will become a model for maritime cooperation in the new era, resulting in Sri Lanka becoming a dazzling pearl along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

Boundary vibration control of a floating wind turbine system with mooring lines

In this paper, we investigate dynamic modeling, active boundary control design, and stability analysis for a coupled floating wind turbine (FWT) system, which is connected with two flexible mooring lines. It is a coupled beam-strings structure, and we design two boundary controllers to restrain the vibrations of this flexible system caused by external disturbances based on the coupled partial differential equations and ordinary differential equations (PDEs–ODEs) model. Meanwhile, significant performance of designed boundary controllers and system’s stability are theoretically analyzed, and a set of simulation results are provided to show efficacy of the proposed approach

Analysis of the Role of PET/CT SUVmax in Prognosis and Its Correlation with Clinicopathological Characteristics in Resectable Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background and objective Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the world, more than one-half of cases are diagnosed at a advanced stage, and the overall 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is 18%. Lung cancer is divided into non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Approximately 80%-85% of cases are NSCLC which includes three main types: adenocarcinoma (40%), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (20%-30%), and large cell carcinoma (10%). Although therapies that target driver mutations in adenocarcinomas are showing some promise, they are proving ineffective in smoking-related SCC. We need pay more attention to the diagnosis and treatment of SCC. 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) has emerged as an accurate staging modality in lung cancer diagnosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on PET-CT in prognosis and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics in resectable SCC. Methods One hundred and eighty-two resectable SCC patients who underwent PET/CT imaging between May 2005 and October 2014 were enrolled into this retrospectively study. All the enrolled patients had underwent pulmonary resection with mediastinal lymph node dissection without preoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Survival outcomes were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Correlation between SUVmax and clinicopathological factors was analysed using Pearson correlation analysis and Spearman rank correlation analysis. Results The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of SUVmax 13.0 as cutoff value, and patients with SUVmax more than 13.0 had shorter median overall survival than patients less than 13.0 in univariate analysis (56 months vs 87 months; P=0.022). There was remarkable correlation between SUVmax and gender, tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, neutrophil, NLR, hemoglobin (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that SUVmax (HR=1.714, 95%CI: 1.021-2.876, P=0.042), TNM stage (HR=1.677, 95%CI: 1.231-2.284, P=0.001) were independent predictors for survival. Furthermore, univariate survival analysis showed significant difference by SUVmax in patients of stage I (P=0.045). Conclusion SUVmax may be of importance prognostic factor independent of TNM stage, which was considerable for risk stratification in patients with TNM stage. Besides, there was correlation between SUVmax of primary tumor and clinicopathological characteristics

Facile Synthesis of Zinc‐Containing Mesoporous Silicate from Iron Tailings and Enhanced Fire Retardancy of Rigid Polyurethane Foam

Abstract Iron tailings (ITS), as solid decay absolved afterward beneficiation, are adverse to the environment. ITS to prepare zinc‐containing mesoporous silicate (MAO‐Zn) by a calcination‐crystallization method are used. An admixture of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and MAO‐Zn can solve the problem of poor flame retardancy in rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF), giving them higher thermal stability and lower heat release. The total heat release rate and smoke factor values exhibited by RPUF‐3 are 24.52 MJ m−2 and 234.29 MW m−2 respectively, a decrease of 38.45% and 29.60% respectively compared to pure RPUF. Lower combustible and toxic gas release intensities are in RPUF‐3. Meanwhile, RPUF‐3 possesses enhanced compactness char residue with higher graphitization degree, endowing RPUF‐3 with excellent fire observed performance. This work demonstrates the potential of ITS in the fire retardancy field

Aging in soil increases the disturbance of microplastics to the gut microbiota of soil fauna

Microplastics (MPs) in the soil environment inevitably experience aging processes. However, how aging in soil affects MP toxicity to soil fauna remains poorly understood. In this study, two types of widely distributed MPs (polypropylene and tire wear particles) were aged in different soils, and their surface properties, morphology, leaching features of additives, biofilm colonization and toxicity to the typical soil fauna Enchytraeus crypticus were investigated. Results showed that aging in soil slightly changed the surface properties and morphology for both types of MPs, but significantly affected the release of additives, especially for those MPs aged in soil amended with manure. Moreover, a distinct and less diverse microbial community than the surrounding soils was formed on the surface of MPs, and MP type was a determinant of the biofilm microbial community. Exposure experiments indicated that aged MPs, especially those aged in soil with manure significantly affected the reproduction of soil worms with a more obvious disturbance to their gut microbiota, and biofilm features and changes in the leaching properties of MPs during aging were the main factors for these shifts. This study is the first attempt to reveal the role of aging in soil in MP toxicity to soil fauna