2,175 research outputs found
PU-Ray: Point Cloud Upsampling via Ray Marching on Implicit Surface
While the recent advancements in deep-learning-based point cloud upsampling
methods improve the input to autonomous driving systems, they still suffer from
the uncertainty of denser point generation resulting from end-to-end learning.
For example, due to the vague training objectives of the models, their
performance depends on the point distributions of the input and the ground
truth. This causes problems of domain dependency between synthetic and
real-scanned point clouds and issues with substantial model sizes and dataset
requirements. Additionally, many existing methods upsample point clouds with a
fixed scaling rate, making them inflexible and computationally redundant. This
paper addresses the above problems by proposing a ray-based upsampling approach
with an arbitrary rate, where a depth prediction is made for each query ray.
The method simulates the ray marching algorithm to achieve more precise and
stable ray-depth predictions through implicit surface learning. The rule-based
mid-point query sampling method enables a uniform output point distribution
without requiring model training using the Chamfer distance loss function,
which can exhibit bias towards the training dataset. Self-supervised learning
becomes possible with accurate ground truths within the input point cloud. The
results demonstrate the method's versatility across different domains and
training scenarios with limited computational resources and training data. This
allows the upsampling task to transition from academic research to real-world
applications.Comment: 13 pages (10 main + 3 supplement), 19 figures (10 main + 9
supplement), 6 table
Prognostic models for predicting recurrence and survival in women with endometrial cancer
This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (prognosis). The objectives are as follows: To review all prognostic models that combine two or more clinical, histological or molecular variables, or a combination of these variables, to provide an individualised assessment of risk of recurrence or death from disease and evaluate their performance to predict these outcomes in people undergoing curative treatment for endometrial cancer
Synthesis and evaluation of novel bioactive composite starch/bioactive glass microparticles
The aim of the development of composite materials is to combine the most desired properties of two or more materials. In this work, the biodegradable character, good controlled-release properties, and natural origin of starch-based biomaterials are combined with the bioactive and bone-bonding properties of bioactive glass (BG). Novel, bioactive composite starch-BG microparticles were synthesized starting from a blend of starch and polylactic acid (50%/50% wt) with BG 45S5 powder using a simple emulsion method. Morphological and chemical characterization showed that these particles exhibited a spherical morphology with sizes up to 350 m and that BG 45S5 was incorporated successfully into the composite particles. Upon immersion in a solution simulating body fluids, for periods up to 3 weeks, their bioactive nature was confirmed, as a calcium-phosphate layer resembling biological apatite was formed onto their surface. The short-term cytotoxicity of these materials was also tested by placing 24-h leachables of the materials extracted in culture medium in contact with a fibroblastic cell line (L929) up to 72 h. At this time period, two biochemical tests - MTT and total protein quantification - were performed. The results showed that these materials are not cytotoxic. These results constitute the basis of future encapsulation studies using bone-acting therapeutic agents such as bone morphogenetic proteins or other bone-relevant factors. The particles developed here may be very useful for applications in which controlled release, degradability, and bone-bonding ability are the main requirements.FCT Foundation for Science and Technology, through funds from the POCTI and/or FEDER programmes
Exceptionally Slow Rise in Differential Reflectivity Spectra of Excitons in GaN: Effect of Excitation-induced Dephasing
Femtosecond pump-probe (PP) differential reflectivity spectroscopy (DRS) and
four-wave mixing (FWM) experiments were performed simultaneously to study the
initial temporal dynamics of the exciton line-shapes in GaN epilayers. Beats
between the A-B excitons were found \textit{only for positive time delay} in
both PP and FWM experiments. The rise time at negative time delay for the
differential reflection spectra was much slower than the FWM signal or PP
differential transmission spectroscopy (DTS) at the exciton resonance. A
numerical solution of a six band semiconductor Bloch equation model including
nonlinearities at the Hartree-Fock level shows that this slow rise in the DRS
results from excitation induced dephasing (EID), that is, the strong density
dependence of the dephasing time which changes with the laser excitation
energy.Comment: 8 figure
Mapk-activated protein kinase 2 contributes to Clostridium difficile-associated inflammation
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) results in toxin-induced epithelial injury and marked intestinal inflammation. Fecal markers of intestinal inflammation correlate with CDI disease severity, but regulation of the inflammatory response is poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrated that C. difficile toxin TcdA activates p38 kinase in tissue culture cells and mouse ilium, resulting in interleukin-8 (IL-8) release. Here, we investigated the role of phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated protein kinase (MK2 kinase, pMK2), a key mediator of p38-dependent inflammation, in CDI. Exposure of cultured intestinal epithelial cells to the C. difficile toxins TcdA and TcdB resulted in p38-dependent MK2 activation. Toxin-induced IL-8 and GROα release required MK2 activity. We found that p38 and MK2 are activated in response to other actin-disrupting agents, suggesting that toxin-induced cytoskeleton disruption is the trigger for kinase-dependent cytokine response. Phosphorylated MK2 was detected in the intestines of C. difficile-infected hamsters and mice, demonstrating for the first time that the pathway is activated in infected animals. Furthermore, we found that elevated pMK2 correlated with the presence of toxigenic C. difficile among 100 patient stool samples submitted for C. difficile testing. In conclusion, we find that MK2 kinase is activated by TcdA and TcdB and regulates the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Activation of p38-MK2 in infected animals and humans suggests that this pathway is a key driver of intestinal inflammation in patients with CDI
On the fourth-order accurate compact ADI scheme for solving the unsteady Nonlinear Coupled Burgers' Equations
The two-dimensional unsteady coupled Burgers' equations with moderate to
severe gradients, are solved numerically using higher-order accurate finite
difference schemes; namely the fourth-order accurate compact ADI scheme, and
the fourth-order accurate Du Fort Frankel scheme. The question of numerical
stability and convergence are presented. Comparisons are made between the
present schemes in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency for solving
problems with severe internal and boundary gradients. The present study shows
that the fourth-order compact ADI scheme is stable and efficient
Analyzing Player Networks in Destiny
Destiny is a hybrid online shooter sharing features with Massively Multi-Player Online Games and first-person shooters and is the to date the most expensive digital game produced. It has attracted millions of players to compete or collaborate within a persistent online environment. In multiplayer online games, the interaction between the players and the social community that forms in persistent games forms a crucial element in retaining and entertaining players. Social networks in games have thus been a focus of research, but the relationships between player behavior, performance, engagement and the networks forming as a result of interactions, are not well understood. In this paper, a large-scale study of social networks in hybrid online games/shooters is presented. In a network of over 3 million players, the connections formed via direct competitive play are explored and analyzed to answer five main research question focusing on the patterns of players who play with the same people and those who play with random groups, and how differences in this behavior influence performance and engagement metrics. Results show that players with stronger social relationships have a higher performance based on win/loss ratio and kill/death ratio, as well as a tendency to play more and longer
Boundary Conditions and Unitarity: the Maxwell-Chern-Simons System in AdS_3/CFT_2
We consider the holography of the Abelian Maxwell-Chern-Simons (MCS) system
in Lorentzian three-dimensional asymptotically-AdS spacetimes, and discuss a
broad class of boundary conditions consistent with conservation of the
symplectic structure. As is well-known, the MCS theory contains a massive
sector dual to a vector operator in the boundary theory, and a topological
sector consisting of flat connections dual to U(1) chiral currents; the
boundary conditions we examine include double-trace deformations in these two
sectors, as well as a class of boundary conditions that mix the vector
operators with the chiral currents. We carefully study the symplectic product
of bulk modes and show that almost all such boundary conditions induce
instabilities and/or ghost excitations, consistent with violations of unitarity
bounds in the dual theory.Comment: 50+1 pages, 6 figures, PDFLaTeX; v2: added references, corrected
typo
Experimental Tuberculosis in the Wistar Rat: A Model for Protective Immunity and Control of Infection
BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of many animal models for tuberculosis (TB) research, there still exists a need for better understanding of the quiescent stage of disease observed in many humans. Here, we explored the use of the Wistar rat model for the study of protective immunity and control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The kinetics of bacillary growth, evaluated by the colony stimulating assay (CFU) and the extent of lung pathology in Mtb infected Wistar rats were dependent on the virulence of the strains and the size of the infecting inoculums. Bacillary growth control was associated with induction of T helper type 1 (Th1) activation, the magnitude of which was also Mtb strain and dose dependent. Histopathology analysis of the infected lungs demonstrated the formation of well organized granulomas comprising epithelioid cells, multinucleated giant cells and foamy macrophages surrounded by large numbers of lymphocytes. The late stage subclinical form of disease was reactivated by immunosuppression leading to increased lung CFU. CONCLUSION: The Wistar rat is a valuable model for better understanding host-pathogen interactions that result in control of Mtb infection and potentially establishment of latent TB. These properties together with the ease of manipulation, relatively low cost and well established use of rats in toxicology and pharmacokinetic analyses make the rat a good animal model for TB drug discovery
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