InFusionSurf: Refining Neural RGB-D Surface Reconstruction Using Per-Frame Intrinsic Refinement and TSDF Fusion Prior Learning

We introduce InFusionSurf, a novel approach to enhance the fidelity of neural radiance field (NeRF) frameworks for 3D surface reconstruction using RGB-D video frames. Building upon previous methods that have employed feature encoding to improve optimization speed, we further improve the reconstruction quality with minimal impact on optimization time by refining depth information. Our per-frame intrinsic refinement scheme addresses frame-specific blurs caused by camera motion in each depth frame. Furthermore, InFusionSurf utilizes a classical real-time 3D surface reconstruction method, the truncated signed distance field (TSDF) Fusion, as prior knowledge to pretrain the feature grid to support reconstruction details while accelerating the training. The quantitative and qualitative experiments comparing the performances of InFusionSurf against prior work indicate that our method is capable of accurately reconstructing a scene without sacrificing optimization speed. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of our per-frame intrinsic refinement and TSDF Fusion prior learning techniques via an ablation study

Multiculturalism in Current and Future Mathematics Teacher Education in South Korea

The recent increase of culturally and linguistically diverse student population in South Korea requires a fundamental change in the teacher education and curriculum. This chapter first describes why multiculturalism education became important and necessary in teacher education in South Korea that was once known as a monolithic society, and how the teacher education research has evolved with respect to multiculturalism education. We then synthesize research studies conducted to promote pre-service and in-service teachers’ knowledge and skills related to teaching multicultural students and emergent bilingual students. We explore and analyse relevant research studies in teacher education that suggested theoretical models for multicultural education for pre-service or in-service teachers and that investigated teacher beliefs on culturally and linguistically diverse students. In doing so, we first synthesize research studies on general teacher education and then further explore research studies on mathematics teacher education with the lenses of liberal and critical multicultural education. Lastly, we suggest future directions of multicultural education within Korean teacher education.This accepted book chapter is published as I, JY., Son, JW., Chang, H. (2022). Multiculturalism in Current and Future Mathematics Teacher Education in South Korea. In: Khine, M.S., Liu, Y. (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9785-2_27. Posted with permission

Decursinol chloroacrylates useful as fungicides

Natural products decursin and decursinol angelate were recently reported as benign fungicides for controlling rice blast. Inspired by the structural similarity of the cumarin compounds and gained hint from the skeletal motifs, we designed and prepared synthetic compounds to increase the natural product efficacy and evaluated their antifungal activities against various plant disease pathogens in vitro. Synthetically prepared compound 4 and 5 indeed suppressed the mycelial growth of B. cinerea, F. oxysporum, P. italicum, and R. quercus-mongolicae. Additionally, compound 5 effectively prevents the growth of C. coccodes and C. parasitica. Furthermore, both 4 and 5 possess better inhibitory activities on spore germination of F. oxysporum and M. oryzae than the natural product decursin and commercial pesticide Iprodione. These results suggest that the effect of the lead compound for plant disease protection can be improved by tuning the structure of the original natural product and decursinol chloroacrylates 4 and 5 are candidates for the control of F. oxysporum and M. oryzae.This work was supported by Research Resettlement Fund for the new faculty of Seoul National University (to Y. Kwon). Also, Rural Development Administration Republic of Korea supported this research (Project No. PJ016243022021 to H. Son)

Clinical Significance of Age at the Time of Diagnosis among Young Breast Cancer Patients

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to investigate outcomes corresponding to age at diagnosis as categorized into 5-year intervals and to explore whether endocrine-responsive tumors display clinical benefits from endocrine therapy after chemotherapy among young breast cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 1,171 patients who were under 40 years old at diagnosis between 1985 and 2007 were divided into 3 subgroups: ≤30 years (Group I, 13.3%), 31-35 years (Group II, 30.5%), and 36-40 years (Control group, 56.2%). Clinicopathological factors and outcomes were compared using a chi-square test, the Kaplan-Meier method, and Cox's hazards models. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the characteristics and treatment patterns between the 3 groups, except for the grade, hormone receptors expression, and use of endocrine therap. Group I showed the worst survival and subsequently Group II presented worse outcomes than the Control group, mainly among hormone receptors-positive patients. Groups I and II showed increased risks of recurrence and death in multivariate analyses. Among 529 hormone receptors-positive patients who received chemotherapy, favorable outcomes for patients who were treated with endocrine agents were demonstrated, mainly in patients aged 35 years or less. However, interaction tests between the use of endocrine therapy and age at diagnosis were not significant. CONCLUSION: Age at diagnosis is an independent prognostic factor and the age of 35 years is a rational cut-off among young patients. Our subgroup analysis suggests that endocrine therapy may provide additional benefits even in young breast cancers. Therefore, further researches should be directed towards improving outcomes for this population.ope

Synthesis of inorganic-organic two-dimensional CdSe slab-diamine quantum nets

Porous semiconductors attract great interest due to their unique structural characteristics of high surface area as well as their intrinsic optical and electronic properties. In this study, synthesis of inorganic-organic 2D CdSe slabs‐diaminooctane (DAO) porous quantum net structures is demonstrated. It is found that the hybrid 2D CdSe‐DAO lamellar structures are disintegrated into porous net structures, maintaining an ultrathin thickness of ≈1 nm in CdSe slabs. Furthermore, the CdSe slabs in quantum nets show the highly shifted excitonic transition in the absorption spectrum, demonstrating their strongly confined electronic structures. The possible formation mechanism of this porous structure is investigated with the control experiments of the synthesis using n‐alkyldiamines with various hydrocarbon chain lengths and ligand exchange of DAO with oleylamine. It is suggested that a strong van der Waals interaction among long chain DAO may exert strong tensile stress on the CdSe slabs, eventually disintegrating slabs. The thermal decomposition of CdSe‐DAO quantum nets is further studied to form well‐defined CdSe nanorods. It is believed that the current CdSe‐DAO quantum nets will offer a new type of porous semiconductors nanostructures under a strong quantum‐confinement regime, which can be applied to various technological areas of catalysts, electronics, and optoelectronics

Infrared Probing of Equilibrium and Dynamics of Metal–Selenocyanate Ion Pairs in <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-Dimethylformamide Solutions

Spectroscopic properties (i.e., peak positions and widths) of vibrational probes are sensitively dependent on their local environments in liquids. Such spectroscopic sensitivities can be utilized for studying the structures and dynamics of a variety of molecular systems. Here, we have studied the ion pairing equilibrium and dynamics of SeCN^– ion pairs with Li⁺ and Mg²⁺ cations in <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylformamide (DMF). SeCN^– ion is an excellent vibrational probe for studying ion dynamics in electrolyte solutions, not only because the vibrational lifetime of the CN stretch is substantially long but also because the CN stretch frequency is very sensitive to its local environment. When SeCN^– ion forms contact ion pairs (CIPs) with Li⁺ (Mg²⁺) ion in DMF solutions, the CN stretch frequency is found to be significantly blue-shifted such that free SeCN^– ion is spectrally well distinguished from Li-SeCN CIP and Mg-SeCN⁺ CIP. This fact allows us to study the ion pairing equilibrium between SeCN^– ion and metal ions as well as the dynamics of metal–SeCN^– ion pairs. Ion pairing equilibrium between SeCN^– ion and Li⁺ (or Mg²⁺) was studied by temperature-dependent Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The formation of CIPs in DMF was found to be entropically favored. Time-resolved IR pump–probe spectroscopy was used to study the vibrational population relaxation and orientational relaxation dynamics. Vibrational lifetimes of free SeCN^– ion, Li-SeCN CIP, and Mg-SeCN⁺ CIP were determined to be 83.6, 72.3, and 55.6 ps, respectively. Orientational relaxation dynamics were found to get slower in the order free SeCN^– ion, Li-SeCN CIP, and Mg-SeCN⁺ CIP. The orientational anisotropy decays of the CIPs, which were well fit by a biexponential function, were explained by two orientational relaxation processes, that is, a restricted (tethered) orientational relaxation of SeCN^– within the CIPs followed by the overall orientational diffusion of the whole CIPs. The orientational relaxation time constants of Li-SeCN CIP and Mg-SeCN⁺ CIP in DMF were twice different but the orientational diffusion radii calculated by the Debye–Stokes–Einstein equation were found to be almost identical within experimental error. The biexponential decay of the orientational anisotropy was analyzed by the wobbling-in-a-cone model. As a vibrational probe, SeCN^– ion and SeCN group can be potentially used for measuring the molecular dynamics on a relatively long time scale because of their long lifetimes

Bulk Concentration Dependence of Electrolyte Resistance Within Mesopores of Carbon Electrodes in Electric Double-Layer Capacitors

Hexagonally ordered mesoporous carbon materials were prepared and used as electrode materials in an electric double-layer capacitor. Using this electrode, the change of electrolyte resistance within the mesopores was investigated according to the bulk electrolyte concentration. Using three different electrochemical transient experiments—imaginary capacitance analysis, chronoamperometry, and chronopotentiometry—the time constant associated with electrolyte transport was determined, which was then used to obtain the electrolyte resistance within the mesopores. With decreasing electrolyte concentration, the increase in electrolyte resistance was smaller than the increase in the resistivity of the bulk electrolyte, which is indicative of a different environment for ionic transport within the mesopores. On using the confinement effect within the mesopores, the predicted higher concentration within mesopore probably results in lower electrolyte resistance, especially under low bulk concentrations.1111Nsciescopuskc

Molybdenum and Tungsten Sulfide Ligands for Versatile Functionalization of All-Inorganic Nanocrystals

We report a strategy toward the synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals capped with inorganic molybdenum and tungsten sulfide ligands. MoS4 2- and WS4 2- thiometalates were utilized to replace organic ligands capping a wide range of nanocrystals such as metals, semiconductors, and well-conserved primary properties of nanocrystals in polar media. Especially, MoS4 2-- and WS4 2--capped CdSe nanocryatals showed the dramatic enhancement of photoluminescence properties by the photo-oxidation treatment, which originated from the preferential formation of MoSxOy layers on the CdSe surface. The highest quantum yield reached up to 51%. Furthermore, we studied the charge-transport properties of MoS4 2--capped PbS nanocryatals by the fabrication of a field-effect transistor and photodetectors. Finally, MoS4 2-- and WS4 2--capped nanocrystals were used for the production of two-dimensional MoS2 and WS2 thin layers on nanostructures by heat treatment. Such versatility of these thiometalate ligands offers an additional degree of control over the functionality of nanocrystals for optoelectronic and catalytic applications.clos

Advanced microplastic monitoring using Raman spectroscopy with a combination of nanostructure-based substrates

© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Islamic Azad University.Micro(nano)plastic (MNP) pollutants have not only impacted human health directly, but are also associated with numerous chemical contaminants that increase toxicity in the natural environment. Most recent research about increasing plastic pollutants in natural environments have focused on the toxic effects of MNPs in water, the atmosphere, and soil. The methodologies of MNP identification have been extensively developed for actual applications, but they still require further study, including on-site detection. This review article provides a comprehensive update on the facile detection of MNPs by Raman spectroscopy, which aims at early diagnosis of potential risks and human health impacts. In particular, Raman imaging and nanostructure-enhanced Raman scattering have emerged as effective analytical technologies for identifying MNPs in an environment. Here, the authors give an update on the latest advances in plasmonic nanostructured materials-assisted SERS substrates utilized for the detection of MNP particles present in environmental samples. Moreover, this work describes different plasmonic materials—including pure noble metal nanostructured materials and hybrid nanomaterials—that have been used to fabricate and develop SERS platforms to obtain the identifying MNP particles at low concentrations. Plasmonic nanostructure-enhanced materials consisting of pure noble metals and hybrid nanomaterials can significantly enhance the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra signals of pollutant analytes due to their localized hot spots. This concise topical review also provides updates on recent developments and trends in MNP detection by means of SERS using a variety of unique materials, along with three-dimensional (3D) SERS substrates, nanopipettes, and microfluidic chips. A novel material-assisted spectral Raman technique and its effective application are also introduced for selective monitoring and trace detection of MNPs in indoor and outdoor environments. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].Y