CD2^2: Fine-grained 3D Mesh Reconstruction with Twice Chamfer Distance

Monocular 3D reconstruction is to reconstruct the shape of object and its other information from a single RGB image. In 3D reconstruction, polygon mesh, with detailed surface information and low computational cost, is the most prevalent expression form obtained from deep learning models. However, the state-of-the-art schemes fail to directly generate well-structured meshes, and most of meshes have two severe problems Vertices Clustering (VC) and Illegal Twist (IT). By diving into the mesh deformation process, we pinpoint that the inappropriate usage of Chamfer Distance (CD) loss is the root causes of VC and IT problems in the training of deep learning model. In this paper, we initially demonstrate these two problems induced by CD loss with visual examples and quantitative analyses. Then, we propose a fine-grained reconstruction method CD$^2$ by employing Chamfer distance twice to perform a plausible and adaptive deformation. Extensive experiments on two 3D datasets and comparisons with five latest schemes demonstrate that our CD$^2$ directly generates well-structured meshes and outperforms others by alleviating VC and IT problems.Comment: under major review in TOM

Single-molecule interfacial electron transfer dynamics manipulated by external electric current

Interfacial electron transfer (IET) dynamics in 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3, 3, 3', 3'-tetramethylindodicarbocyanine (DiD) dye molecules / indium tin oxide (ITO) film system have been probed at the ensemble and single-molecule level by recording the change of fluorescence emission intensity. By comparing the difference of the external electric current (EEC) dependence of lifetime and intensity for enambles and single molecules, it is shown that the single-molecule probe can effcienly demonstrate the IET dynamics. The backward electron transfer and electron transfer of ground state induce the single molecules fluorescence quenching when an EEC is applied to ITO film.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Detection of New Quorum Sensing N-Acyl Homoserine Lactones From Aeromonas veronii

Sturgeon is an important fresh water-culture fish in China. A problem with sturgeon is its high susceptibility to spoilage. Food spoilage is reported to be regulated by quorum sensing (QS). To identify the QS signals acetylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) in sturgeon and test whether QS plays a role in the spoilage of sturgeon, we investigated the specific spoilage organisms (SSOs) in vacuum packaged sturgeon stored at 4°C and the production of AHLs by sturgeon SSOs. 16S rDNA sequencing and spoilage capabilities analysis revealed that Aeromonas veronii LP-11, Citrobacter freundii LPJ-2, and Raoultella ornithinolytica LPC-3 were the SSOs in sturgeon. Among the three SSOs, only A. veronii LP-11 induced the QS biosensors Agrobacterium tumefaciens KYC55 and Chromobacterium violaceum CV026, suggesting that it produced AHLs. Analysis by thin layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry, and high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC/qTOF-MS) identified that the AHLs produced by A. veronii were C6-SHL, C8-HSL, 3-oxo-C8-HSL, and 3-OH-C8-HSL. Our study revealed that QS system was probably involved in the regulation of sturgeon spoilage and for the first time reported the production of C8-HSL and 3-OH-C8-HSL by genus Aeromonas. As only HPLC/qTOF-MS effectively and accurately identified all the four AHLs produced by A. veronii LP-11, this study also showed that HPLC/qTOF-MS was the most efficient method for rapid analysis of AHLs in complex microbial sample. The study provides new insight into the microbiology of sturgeon spoilage which may be helpful for better sturgeon preservation

Live poultry trading drives China's H7N9 viral evolution and geographical network propagation

The on-going reassortment, human-adapted mutations, and spillover events of novel A(H7N9) avian influenza viruses pose a significant challenge to public health in China and globally. However, our understanding of the factors that disseminate the viruses and drive their geographic distributions is limited. We applied phylogenic analysis to examine the inter-subtype interactions between H7N9 viruses and the closest H9N2 lineages in China during 2010–2014. We reconstructed and compared the inter-provincial live poultry trading and viral propagation network via phylogeographic approach and network similarity technique. The substitution rates of the isolated viruses in live poultry markets and the characteristics of localized viral evolution were also evaluated. We discovered that viral propagation was geographically-structured and followed the live poultry trading network in China, with distinct north-to-east paths of spread and circular transmission between eastern and southern regions. The epicenter of H7N9 has moved from the Shanghai–Zhejiang region to Guangdong Province was also identified. Besides, higher substitution rate was observed among isolates sampled from live poultry markets, especially for those H7N9 viruses. Live poultry trading in China may have driven the network-structured expansion of the novel H7N9 viruses. From this perspective, long-distance geographic expansion of H7N9 were dominated by live poultry movements, while at local scales, diffusion was facilitated by live poultry markets with highly-evolved viruses

Optical ridge waveguides in Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass produced by ion irradiation combined with femtosecond laser ablation for guided-wave green and red upconversion emissions

This work reports on the fabrication of ridge waveguides in Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass by the combination of femtosecond laser ablation and following swift carbon ion irradiation. The guiding properties of waveguides have been investigated at 633 and 1064 nm through end face coupling arrangement. The refractive index profile on the cross section of the waveguide has been constructed. The propagation losses can be reduced considerably after annealing treatment. Under the optical pump laser at 980 nm, the upconversion emission of both green and red fluorescence has been realized through the ridge waveguide structures.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11305094). S.Z. acknowledges the funding by the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF-VH-NG-713). J.R. Vázquez de Aldana thanks the support from Junta de Castilla y León (Project SA086A12-2)

A HISTORY OF THE STEREOLOGY IN CHINA

This review article introduces the formation and development of stereology in China under the background of the development of international stereology. In the early 1970s, some stereological monographs and collections were introduced into China, and Chinese scholars began to understand, study and promote stereology knowledge. Meanwhile, the widespread use of image analysis systems has contributed to the spread of stereology in China. On the other hand, academic exchanges and personnel training have played a catalytic role in the formation of stereology in China. According to China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) statistics, the number and impact of Chinese papers in stereology continues to grow during the past 30 years. After in-depth discussion, Chinese scholars have adopted a broader definition of stereology. With economic development and technological progress, China has great potential to develop, promote and apply the stereological methods and the related technologies

Genetic evidence for a western Chinese origin of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum).

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a key domesticated cereal that has been associated with the north China centre of agricultural origins. Early archaeobotanical evidence for this crop has generated two major debates. First, its contested presence in pre-7000 cal. BP sites in eastern Europe has admitted the possibility of a western origin. Second, its occurrence in the 7th and 8th millennia cal. BP in diverse regions of northern China is consistent with several possible origin foci, associated with different Neolithic cultures. We used microsatellite and granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) genotype data from 341 landrace samples across Eurasia, including 195 newly genotyped samples from China, to address these questions. A spatially explicit discriminative modelling approach favours an eastern Eurasian origin for the expansion of broomcorn millet. This is consistent with recent archaeobotanical and chronological re-evaluations, and stable isotopic data. The same approach, together with the distribution of GBSSI alleles, is also suggestive that the origin of broomcorn millet expansion was in western China. This second unexpected finding stimulates new questions regarding the ecology of wild millet and vegetation dynamics in China prior to the mid-Holocene domestication of millet. The chronological relationship between population expansion and domestication is unclear, but our analyses are consistent with the western Loess Plateau being at least one region of primary domestication of broomcorn millet. Patterns of genetic variation indicate that this region was the source of populations to the west in Eurasia, which broomcorn probably reached via the Inner Asia Mountain Corridor from the 3rd millennium BC. A secondary westward expansion along the steppe may have taken place from the 2nd millennium BC.European Research Council Advanced Investigator award (GA249642, ‘Food Globalization in Prehistory) Marie Curie Initial Training Network (BEAN—Bridging the European and Anatolian Neolithic, GA no. 289966) Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (Grant: 100719/Z/12/Z). Gerka-Henkel Stiftung (AZ 05/ZA/12), and NSFC (41672171) National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271791) Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (2016-066) China Agriculture Research System (CARS-06-13.5-A16

Supply chains create global benefits from improved vaccine accessibility

Ensuring a more equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide is an effective strategy to control global pandemics and support economic recovery. We analyze the socioeconomic effects - defined as health gains, lockdown-easing effect, and supply-chain rebuilding benefit - of a set of idealized COVID-19 vaccine distribution scenarios. We find that an equitable vaccine distribution across the world would increase global economic benefits by 11.7% ($950 billion per year), compared to a scenario focusing on vaccinating the entire population within vaccine-producing countries first and then distributing vaccines to non-vaccine-producing countries. With limited doses among low-income countries, prioritizing the elderly who are at high risk of dying, together with the key front-line workforce who are at high risk of exposure is projected to be economically beneficial (e.g., 0.9%~3.4% annual GDP in India). Our results reveal how equitable distributions would cascade more protection of vaccines to people and ways to improve vaccine equity and accessibility globally through international collaboration

Cooperative Stabilization of the [Pyridinium-CO2-Co] Adduct on a Metal-Organic Layer Enhances Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Pyridinium has been shown to be a cocatalyst for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 on metal and semiconductor electrodes, but its exact role has been difficult to elucidate. In this work, we create cooperative cobalt-protoporphyrin (CoPP) and pyridine/pyridinium (py/pyH+) catalytic sites on metal-organic layers (MOLs) for an electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Constructed from [Hf6(μ3-O)4(μ3-OH)4(HCO2)6] secondary building units (SBUs) and terpyridine-based tricarboxylate ligands, the MOL was postsynthetically functionalized with CoPP via carboxylate exchange with formate capping groups. The CoPP group and the pyridinium (pyH+) moiety on the MOL coactivate CO2 by forming the [pyH+--O2C-CoPP] adduct, which enhances the CO2RR and suppresses hydrogen evolution to afford a high CO/H2 selectivity of 11.8. Cooperative stabilization of the [pyH+--O2C-CoPP] intermediate led to a catalytic current density of 1314 mA/mgCo for CO production at -0.86 VRHE, which corresponds to a turnover frequency of 0.4 s-1