Fine-grained Domain Adaptive Crowd Counting via Point-derived Segmentation

Due to domain shift, a large performance drop is usually observed when a trained crowd counting model is deployed in the wild. While existing domain-adaptive crowd counting methods achieve promising results, they typically regard each crowd image as a whole and reduce domain discrepancies in a holistic manner, thus limiting further improvement of domain adaptation performance. To this end, we propose to untangle \emph{domain-invariant} crowd and \emph{domain-specific} background from crowd images and design a fine-grained domain adaption method for crowd counting. Specifically, to disentangle crowd from background, we propose to learn crowd segmentation from point-level crowd counting annotations in a weakly-supervised manner. Based on the derived segmentation, we design a crowd-aware domain adaptation mechanism consisting of two crowd-aware adaptation modules, i.e., Crowd Region Transfer (CRT) and Crowd Density Alignment (CDA). The CRT module is designed to guide crowd features transfer across domains beyond background distractions. The CDA module dedicates to regularising target-domain crowd density generation by its own crowd density distribution. Our method outperforms previous approaches consistently in the widely-used adaptation scenarios.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, and 9 table

Blockchain for Finance: A Survey

As an innovative technology for enhancing authenticity, security, and risk management, blockchain is being widely adopted in trade and finance systems. The unique capabilities of blockchain, such as immutability and transparency, enable new business models of distributed data storage, point-to-point transactions, and decentralized autonomous organizations. In this paper, we focus on blockchain-based securities trading, in which blockchain technology plays a vital role in financial services as it ultimately lifts trust and frees the need for third-party verification by using consensus-based verification. We investigate the 12 most popular blockchain platforms and elaborate on 6 platforms that are related to finance, seeking to provide a panorama of securities trading practices. Meanwhile, this survey provides a comprehensive summary of blockchain-based securities trading applications. We gather numerous practical applications of blockchain-based securities trading and categorize them into four distinct categories. For each category, we introduce a typical example and explain how blockchain contributes to solving the key problems faced by FinTech companies and researchers. Finally, we provide interesting observations ranging from mainstream blockchain-based financial institutions to security issues of decentralized finance applications, aiming to picture the current blockchain ecosystem in finance

Optimization Of Compound Regularization Parameters Based On Stein'S Unbiased Risk Estimate

Recently, the type of compound regularizers has become a popular choice for signal reconstruction. The estimation quality is generally sensitive to the values of multiple regularization parameters. In this work, based on BDF algorithm, we develop a data-driven optimization scheme based on minimization of Stein's unbiased risk estimate (SURE) statistically equivalent to mean squared error (MSE). We propose a recursive evaluation of SURE to monitor the MSE during BDF iteration; the optimal values of the multiple parameters are then identified by the minimum SURE. Monte-Carlo simulation is applied to compute SURE for large-scale data. We exemplify the proposed method with image deconvolution. Numerical experiments show that the proposed method leads to highly accurate estimates of regularization parameters and nearly optimal restoration performance

Internet addiction, loneliness, and academic burnout among Chinese college students: a mediation model

BackgroundThe dynamics of education and student life have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our society, especially the education system, has become largely dependent on the Internet. This paradigm shifts largely took place in the last few decades. As such, there are various ways in which we cannot comprehend the impact that the Internet can have on student psychology, and how multiple other factors could influence that. Internet addiction and its relationship with academic burnout, along with the impact of loneliness, are all essential factors that must be discussed candidly in the post-COVID-19 era. Hence, the objective of this study was, therefore, to explore the relationship between Internet addiction, loneliness, and academic burnout among Chinese college students as well as the mediating role of loneliness.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey at a Chinese university from October to November 2022. In total, 810 valid respondents were selected via random cluster sampling using the well-established Internet Addiction, Loneliness, and Academic Burnout Scale. The primary approach of mediation analysis and structural equation modeling testing examined the relationships among the three components.ResultsInternet addiction could be responsible for academic burnout among college students. Loneliness partially mediates the relationship between Internet addiction and academic burnout. In a mediated way, different types of loneliness contribute to different types of academic burnout.ConclusionPsychological interventions for loneliness, especially emotional loneliness prevention, are the critical aspects of the problem of Internet addiction accompanied with academic burnout. The causal relationship between Internet addiction and academic burnout, possibly of a two-way nature, needs to be further explored in the next future

Superconductivity in trilayer nickelate La4Ni3O10 under pressure

Nickelates gained a great deal of attention due to their similar crystal and electronic structures of cuprates over the past few decades. Recently, superconductivity with transition temperature exceeding liquid-nitrogen temperature is discovered in La3Ni2O7, which belong to the Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) phases Lan+1NinO3n+1 with n = 2. In this work, we go further and find pressure-induced superconductivity in another RP phase La4Ni3O10 (n = 3) single crystals. Our angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiment suggest that the electronic structure of La4Ni3O10 is very similar to that of La3Ni2O7. We find that the density-wave like anomaly in resistivity is progressively suppressed with increasing pressure. A typical phase diagram is obtained with the maximum Tc of 21 Kelvin. Our study sheds light on the exploration of unconventional superconductivity in nickelates.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Comparison of variations detection between whole-genome amplification methods used in single-cell resequencing

Background: Single-cell resequencing (SCRS) provides many biomedical advances in variations detection at the single-cell level, but it currently relies on whole genome amplification (WGA). Three methods are commonly used for WGA: multiple displacement amplification (MDA), degenerate-oligonucleotide-primed PCR (DOP-PCR) and multiple annealing and looping-based amplification cycles (MALBAC). However, a comprehensive comparison of variations detection performance between these WGA methods has not yet been performed. Results: We systematically compared the advantages and disadvantages of different WGA methods, focusing particularly on variations detection. Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing revealed that DOP-PCR had the highest duplication ratio, but an even read distribution and the best reproducibility and accuracy for detection of copy-number variations (CNVs). However, MDA had significantly higher genome recovery sensitivity (~84 %) than DOP-PCR (~6 %) and MALBAC (~52 %) at high sequencing depth. MALBAC and MDA had comparable single-nucleotide variations detection efficiency, false-positive ratio, and allele drop-out ratio. We further demonstrated that SCRS data amplified by either MDA or MALBAC from a gastric cancer cell line could accurately detect gastric cancer CNVs with comparable sensitivity and specificity, including amplifications of 12p11.22 (KRAS) and 9p24.1 (JAK2, CD274, and PDCD1LG2). Conclusions: Our findings provide a comprehensive comparison of variations detection performance using SCRS amplified by different WGA methods. It will guide researchers to determine which WGA method is best suited to individual experimental needs at single-cell level

Особенности вазомоторной функции эндотелия у больных стабильной стенокардией с факторами риска (артериальной гипертензией, гиперхолестеринемией, курением)

ВАЗОМОТОРНАЯ СИСТЕМАЭНДОТЕЛИЙ /ФИЗИОЛЭПИТЕЛИЙСТЕНОКАРДИЯКОРОНАРНАЯ БОЛЕЗНЬГРУДНАЯ КЛЕТКА, БОЛИФАКТОРЫ РИСКАГИПЕРТЕНЗИЯКРОВЕНОСНЫХ СОСУДОВ БОЛЕЗНИГИПЕРХОЛЕСТЕРИНЕМИЯГИПЕРЛИПИДЕМИЯКУРЕНИЕ /ВРЕД ВОЗДТАБАКА УПОТРЕБЛЕНИЕ, РАССТРОЙСТВА ЗДОРОВЬ

Wafer-Scale Synthesis of WS2 Films with In Situ Controllable p-Type Doping by Atomic Layer Deposition

Wafer-scale synthesis of p-type TMD films is critical for its commercialization in next-generation electro/optoelectronics. In this work, wafer-scale intrinsic n-type WS2 films and in situ Nb-doped p-type WS2 films were synthesized through atomic layer deposition (ALD) on 8-inch α-Al2O3/Si wafers, 2-inch sapphire, and 1 cm2 GaN substrate pieces. The Nb doping concentration was precisely controlled by altering cycle number of Nb precursor and activated by postannealing. WS2 n-FETs and Nb-doped p-FETs with different Nb concentrations have been fabricated using CMOS-compatible processes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Hall measurements confirmed the effective substitutional doping with Nb. The on/off ratio and electron mobility of WS2 n-FET are as high as 105 and 6.85 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively. In WS2 p-FET with 15-cycle Nb doping, the on/off ratio and hole mobility are 10 and 0.016 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively. The p-n structure based on n- and p- type WS2 films was proved with a 104 rectifying ratio. The realization of controllable in situ Nb-doped WS2 films paved a way for fabricating wafer-scale complementary WS2 FETs.This work is partially supported by the NSFC (62004044 and 61904033) and by State Key Laboratory of ASIC & System (2021MS004). This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation through the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials: an NSF MRSEC under Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1720595. Li Ji acknowl- edges the support of starting research fund from Fudan Uni- versity and the Young Scientist Project of MOE Innovation platform. Deji Akinwande acknowledges the support of ARO via a PECASE award.Center for Dynamics and Control of Material

Consumers’ Attitudes Towards GM Food in China

A Master's Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Osaka Jogakuin University Graduate School of International Collaboration and Coexistence in the 21st Century, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts.Advisor: Professor Omi HatashinJanuary 31, 2024Over 25 years of research and development on genetically modified food, consumers’attitudes have been changing. This paper builds on the previous field surveys on consumer attitudes and behaviors towards GM food in China. It analyzes not only people’s attitudes towards food containing GMOs but also their attitudes towards the labeling regulation of GM food. 24.9% of respondents know GM food well, 64.6% just know a little, and 10.4% don’t know something about GM food. 0.0% of respondents think that GM food is safe, 18.8% think that GM food may be safe, 50.4% think that it may not be safe, 20.4% think that it is not safe, and 10.4% don’t know whether GM food is safe or not. 0.0% of respondents strongly support GM food entering the market, 6.9% support it, 41.0% are neutral, 46.6% against, and 5.6% strongly against. 0.3% of respondents know the labeling regulations of GM food well, 19.8% just know a little of them, 53.7% are not quite clear about the regulations of GM food, and 26.2% do not know anything about them. Finally, the limitation of this study is discussed