2,120 research outputs found
Poly[bis[μ2-2-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)acetato]zinc(II)]
In the title compound, [Zn(C4H4N3O2)2]n, the ZnII atom is coordinated by two O atoms [Zn—O = 1.969 (2) and 1.997 (2) Å] and two N atoms [Zn—N = 2.046 (2) and 2.001 (2) Å] in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Non-classical intermolecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the complex into a three-dimensional supramolecular framework
CVTHead: One-shot Controllable Head Avatar with Vertex-feature Transformer
Reconstructing personalized animatable head avatars has significant
implications in the fields of AR/VR. Existing methods for achieving explicit
face control of 3D Morphable Models (3DMM) typically rely on multi-view images
or videos of a single subject, making the reconstruction process complex.
Additionally, the traditional rendering pipeline is time-consuming, limiting
real-time animation possibilities. In this paper, we introduce CVTHead, a novel
approach that generates controllable neural head avatars from a single
reference image using point-based neural rendering. CVTHead considers the
sparse vertices of mesh as the point set and employs the proposed
Vertex-feature Transformer to learn local feature descriptors for each vertex.
This enables the modeling of long-range dependencies among all the vertices.
Experimental results on the VoxCeleb dataset demonstrate that CVTHead achieves
comparable performance to state-of-the-art graphics-based methods. Moreover, it
enables efficient rendering of novel human heads with various expressions, head
poses, and camera views. These attributes can be explicitly controlled using
the coefficients of 3DMMs, facilitating versatile and realistic animation in
real-time scenarios.Comment: WACV202
Peripheral anti-inflammatory effects explain the ginsenosides paradox between poor brain distribution and anti-depression efficacy
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effectiveness of ginseng in preventing and treating various central nervous system (CNS) diseases has been widely confirmed. However, ginsenosides, the principal components of ginseng, are characterized by poor accessibility to the brain, and this pharmacokinetic-pharmacological paradox remains poorly explained. Anti-inflammatory approaches are becoming promising therapeutic strategies for depression and other CNS diseases; however, previous studies have focused largely on anti-inflammatory therapies directed at the central nervous system. It is thus of interest to determine whether ginsenosides, characterized by poor brain distribution, are also effective in treating lipopolysaccharide- (LPS) induced depression-like behavior and neuroinflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In an LPS-induced depression-like behavior model, the antidepressant effects of ginseng total saponins (GTS) were assessed using a forced swimming test, a tail suspension test, and a sucrose preference test. The anti-inflammatory efficacies of GTS in brain, plasma, and LPS-challenged RAW264.7 cells were validated using ELISA and quantitative real-time PCR. Moreover, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity in the periphery and brain were also determined by measuring levels of kynurenine/tryptophan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>GTS significantly attenuated LPS-induced depression-like behavior. Moreover, LPS-induced increases in 5-HT and tryptophane turnover in the brain were significantly reduced by GTS. IDO activities in brain and periphery were also suppressed after pretreatment with GTS. Furthermore, GTS-associated recovery from LPS-induced depression-like behavior was paralleled with reduced mRNA levels for IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IDO in hippocampus. Poor brain distribution of ginsenosides was confirmed in LPS-challenged mice. GTS treatment significantly decreased production of various proinflammatory cytokines in both LPS-challenged mice and RAW264.7 cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that the anti-depression efficacy of GTS may be largely attributable to its peripheral anti-inflammatory activity. Our study also strengthens an important notion that peripheral anti-inflammation strategies may be useful in the therapy of inflammation-related depression and possibly other CNS diseases.</p
Multiple genetic analyses to investigate the polymorphisms of Chinese Mongolian population with an efficient short tandem repeat panel
Aim To determine allele frequencies and forensic statistics
of 22 autosomal short tandem repeat loci in Chinese Mongolian
population.
Methods Blood specimens were collected from 134 unrelated
healthy Mongolian individuals, and 22 short tandem
repeat loci were co-amplified and genotyped. Allele
frequencies and forensic parameters were calculated,
and population genetic differences were analyzed among
Mongolian population and other eight Chinese populations:
Northern Han, Guangdong Han, Chengdu Han, Xinjiang
Hui, Xinjiang Uygur, Hainan Li, Qinghai Tibetan, and
Hainan Han. Results All the loci were in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium,
and after Bonferroni correction there was no linkage
disequilibrium between them. The allele frequencies of
these 22 loci were between 0.0037 and 0.3657. This panel
had high discriminating power and genetic polymorphism
in the Mongolian population, with combined power of discrimination
of 0.999999999999999999999999998399 and
combined probability of exclusion of 0.9999999999566925.
Structure analysis showed no evidence that these nine Chinese
populations had different component distribution.
However, genetic distance analysis showed significant differences
among them (P < 0.05). Conclusion The combined application of these 22 loci
could be useful for forensic purposes in the Mongolian
population. Mongolian population had smaller genetic
distances from the populations in northern China (Northern
Han, Xinjiang Uygur, and Xinjiang Hui) than from the
populations in Hainan province (Hainan Han and Hainan
Li populations)
Energy System Digitization in the Era of AI: A Three-Layered Approach towards Carbon Neutrality
The transition towards carbon-neutral electricity is one of the biggest game
changers in addressing climate change since it addresses the dual challenges of
removing carbon emissions from the two largest sectors of emitters: electricity
and transportation. The transition to a carbon-neutral electric grid poses
significant challenges to conventional paradigms of modern grid planning and
operation. Much of the challenge arises from the scale of the decision making
and the uncertainty associated with the energy supply and demand. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) could potentially have a transformative impact on
accelerating the speed and scale of carbon-neutral transition, as many decision
making processes in the power grid can be cast as classic, though challenging,
machine learning tasks. We point out that to amplify AI's impact on
carbon-neutral transition of the electric energy systems, the AI algorithms
originally developed for other applications should be tailored in three layers
of technology, markets, and policy.Comment: To be published in Patterns (Cell Press
Parathyroid hormone-related protein serves as a prognostic indicator in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Dydrogesterone has no effect on uterine fibroids when used to prevent miscarriage in pregnant women with uterine fibroids
Objectives: To analyse the effect of dydrogesterone use during pregnancy on uterine fibroids, pregnancy complications, and pregnancy outcome.
Material and methods: In all, 372 pregnant women with uterine fibroids who were treated at the Affiliated Provincial Hospital of Shandong University were included in this study. Thirty-three of these women received dydrogesterone and constituted the treatment group, and the 27 women who were found to have uterine fibroids during the first trimester but did not receive intervention to prevent miscarriage composed the control group. The changes in uterine fibroids before and after pregnancy and the pregnancy complications were recorded; immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and proliferation- and apoptosis-related proteins in the uterine fibroid tissue.
Results: No significant difference was observed in the change in uterine fibroid volume during pregnancy between the treatment group and the control group (p > 0.05). The percentage of uterine fibroids with red degeneration was lower in the treatment group than in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant. No significant difference was observed in newborn weight, height, Apgar score, threatened miscarriage, or premature birth, among other characteristics, between the two groups (p > 0.05). Immunohistochemistry showed no significant difference in the expression of PR, cyclinD1, insulin-like growth factor (IGF1), or B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) between the two groups.
Conclusions: The use of dydrogesterone during pregnancy has no significant effect on uterine fibroids, pregnancy progression, or pregnancy outcomes in pregnant patients with uterine fibroids
Alcohol Consumption and Ankle-to-Brachial Index: Results from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey
BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY: A low ankle-to-brachial index (ABI) is a strong correlate of cardiovascular disease and subsequent mortality. The relationship between ABI and alcohol consumption remains unclear. Data are from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey (CRS), a multiple-ethnic, community-based, cross-sectional study of 14,618 Chinese people (5757 Hans, 4767 Uygurs, and 4094 Kazakhs) aged 35 years and over at baseline from Oct. 2007 to March 2010. The relationship between alcohol intake and ABI was determined by use of analysis of covariance and multivariable regressions. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In men, alcohol consumption was significantly associated with ABI (P<0.001). After adjusted for the confounding factors, such as age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index, smoking, work stress, diabetes, and fasting blood glucose, the difference remained significant (P<0.001); either the unadjusted or multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for peripheral artery disease (PAD) was significantly higher in men who consumed >60.0 g/d [OR = 3.857, (95% CI: 2.555-5.824); OR = 2.797, (95% CI: 1.106-3.129); OR = 2.878, (95% CI: 1.215-4.018); respectively] and was significantly lower in men who consumed 20.1-40.0 g/d [OR= 0.330, (95% CI: 0.181-0.599); OR = 0.484, (95% CI: 0.065-0.894); OR = 0.478, (95% CI: 0.243-1.534); respectively] and 40.1-60.0 g/d [OR= 0.306, (95% CI: 0.096-0.969); OR = 0.267, (95% CI: 0.087-0.886); OR = 0.203, (95% CI: 0.113-0.754); respectively] compared with never drinking, respectively (all P<0.01). Neither in unadjusted nor in multivariate-adjusted model was the association between ABI and alcohol consumption significant (all P>0.05) in women. Similarly, PAD was not correlated with alcohol intake in women (all P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicated that in Chinese men, alcohol consumption was associated with peripheral artery disease, and consumption of less than 60 g/d had an inverse association with peripheral atherosclerosis whereas consumption of 60 g/d or more had a positive association
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