Synthesizing Coherent Story with Auto-Regressive Latent Diffusion Models

Conditioned diffusion models have demonstrated state-of-the-art text-to-image synthesis capacity. Recently, most works focus on synthesizing independent images; While for real-world applications, it is common and necessary to generate a series of coherent images for story-stelling. In this work, we mainly focus on story visualization and continuation tasks and propose AR-LDM, a latent diffusion model auto-regressively conditioned on history captions and generated images. Moreover, AR-LDM can generalize to new characters through adaptation. To our best knowledge, this is the first work successfully leveraging diffusion models for coherent visual story synthesizing. Quantitative results show that AR-LDM achieves SoTA FID scores on PororoSV, FlintstonesSV, and the newly introduced challenging dataset VIST containing natural images. Large-scale human evaluations show that AR-LDM has superior performance in terms of quality, relevance, and consistency.Comment: Technical Repor

Sequential method for rapid early diagnosis of white spot syndrome virus in crayfish

We developed a practical method to rapidly detect and diagnose latent white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in infected crayfish that were non-symptomatic for WSSV. This method included a simplified extraction of DNA template, optimized loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and final visualization of the product by means of staining with SYBR green I. Using this method, WSSV was detected in crayfish that had been artificially infected in two ways: at 5 h after injection, and 24 h after feeding with tissue from WSSV-infected crayfish (at a stage when such infected crayfish were non-symptomatic), and a thousand times or more dilution can omit fluorescent background when SYBR green I was used. Results indicate that this was a rapid, convenient, and highly sensitive method for the early diagnosis and detection of WSSV. The whole detection procedure took less than one hour to complete.Key words: White spot syndrome virus, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, SYBR green I, Procambarus clarkii, early diagnosis

Analysis of phosphorus forms in sediment cores from ephemeral ponds on Ardley Island, West Antarctica

The guano of penguins, other seabirds, and pinnipeds is an important source of phosphorus in the ecosystems of Antarctica. To study the vertical distribution of phosphorus in sediments influenced by penguins, we measured phosphorus forms in two sediment cores (G1 and Q2) from ephemeral ponds on Ardley Island. We also investigated the correlations between these phosphorus forms and physicochemical characteristics. Inorganic phosphorus was the main form of phosphorus in both cores. The vertical distribution patterns of phosphorus forms in G1 and Q2 differed, indicating different sedimentary sources. The G1 sediment profile was more influenced by penguin guano than the Q2 profile, and as a result sediments in the G1 core had higher total phosphorus, non-apatite inorganic phosphorus, and apatite phosphorus content. The findings from two ephemeral ponds on Ardley Island indicate that the contribution of penguin guano to organic matter in G1 core has increased in recent times, while Q2 showed a relatively larger contribution from mosses in ancient times, evident from the lithology and the vertical trend in organic matter

Morphological Redescription and Morphogenesis of Urosoma macrostyla (Wrześniowski, 1866) Berger, 1999 (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida)

The morphology and morphogenesis of the hypotrich ciliate Urosoma macrostyla (Wrześniowski, 1866) Berger, 1999, collected from a puddle in Harbin, China, were investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. Based on previous and present studies, an improved diagnosis of U. macrostyla is supplied. It differs from its congeners mainly by the body shape, no cortical granules and number of macronuclear nodules. The ontogenesis of U. macrostyla is typical for species with such a somatic ciliary pattern: the oral primordium develops hypoapokinetally and FVT-anlagen develop in 5-streaks and primary mode. However, a unique characteristic in morphogenetic process is reported: anlagen for both the left and right marginal cirri occur de novo to the right of the parental structure which has never been seen in other oxytrichids. This characteristic was considered an apomorphy (Berger 1999). This indicates that U. macrostyla possibly has a high phylogenetic position within the genus Urosoma, or perhaps it represents a distinct subgenus

Voxel-Mirrored Homotopic Connectivity of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Blepharospasm

Objective: Several networks in human brain are involved in the development of blepharospasm. However, the underlying mechanisms for this disease are poorly understood. A voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method was used to quantify the changes in functional connectivity between two hemispheres of the brain in patients with blepharospasm.Methods: Twenty-four patients with blepharospasm and 24 healthy controls matched by age, sex, and education were recruited. The VMHC method was employed to analyze the fMRI data. The support vector machine (SVM) method was utilized to examine whether these abnormalities could be applied to distinguish the patients from the controls.Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with blepharospasm showed significantly high VMHC in the inferior temporal gyrus, interior frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and postcentral gyrus. No significant correlation was found between abnormal VMHC values and clinical variables. SVM analysis showed a combination of increased VMHC values in two brain areas with high sensitivities and specificities (83.33 and 91.67% in the combined inferior frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex; and 83.33 and 87.50% in the combined inferior temporal gyrus and postcentral gyrus).Conclusion: Enhanced homotopic coordination in the brain regions associated with sensory integration networks and default-mode network may be underlying the pathophysiology of blepharospasm. This phenomenon may serve as potential image markers to distinguish patients with blepharospasm from healthy controls

Effect of Cl/S and Na interaction on ash deposition mechanism at the inlet of Shell gasifier syngas cooler

The Shell dry pulverized coal pressurized gasification is one of the important technologies for the clean and efficient utilization of coal. Ash deposition at the inlet of the syngas cooler caused by alkali metal compounds is the main reason for the unscheduled shutdown of the gasifier. The effect of Cl/S and Na interaction on ash deposition is studied by adding different contents of Na, Cl and S to the raw fly ash. The ash deposition experiment is conducted by using the deposition probe in the self-built high temperature vertical furnace. The ash deposition behavior is studied by separating it into inner layer and the outer layer. The mass changes of the inner and outer ash deposits are discussed. The physicochemical properties of the inner and outer ash deposits are compared and analyzed by means of ICP-MS, IC, SEM-EDS and XRD. The influence of the interaction among elements such as Cl, S and Fe on the ash deposition behavior is obtained. The results show that the mass of inner ash deposits increases with time. The addition of compounds containing S reduces the mass of both the inner and outer ash deposits. And the mass of outer ash deposits decreases with time. The Na in the form of aluminosilicate promotes the growth of ash deposit in the outer layer. The Cl is enriched in the initial viscous layer in the form of alkali metal chloride. The existence of S slows down the pipeline dust deposition. In the presence of Cl and S, the Fe reacts with Si, Al and Na and generates a variety of low temperature eutectic, promoting the melting of inner and outer ash deposition. The formation mechanism of ash deposit at the inlet of the Shell gasifier syngas cooler is as follows: firstly, under the interaction among the Na, Cl, Si and Al, the alkali metal chloride and aluminosilicate deposit in the inner layer. At the same time, the existence of Cl and S combine with Fe and Na to form Fe-O-Si, Fe-O-S and Fe-Na-O-Al-S eutectic. Then, the melting of aluminosilicate and various low temperature eutectic increase the size of ash particles and promote the further growth of ash deposition

An n-of-1 Trial Service in Clinical Practice: Testing the Effectiveness of Liuwei Dihuang Decoction for Kidney-Yin Deficiency Syndrome

Objective. To describe the clinical use of n-of-1 RCTs for kidney-Yin deficiency syndrome that is a traditional Chinese medicine syndrome in publicly clinical practice in China. Methods. Our study included patients with kidney-Yin deficiency syndrome, using a within-patient, randomized, double-blind, crossover comparison of Liuwei Dihuang decoction versus placebo. Outcome Measures. Primary outcome measures included number of individual completion rates, response rate, and post-n-of-1 RCTs decisions. Secondary measures were the whole group score of individual Likert scale, SF-36 questionnaire. Results. Fifty patients were recruited and 3 were not completed. Forty-seven patients completed 3 pairs of periods, 3 (6.38%) were responders, 28 (59.57%) were nonresponders, and 16 (34.05%) were possible responders. Doctors and patients used the trial results to making decision. Three responders stayed on the medication management, 28 nonresponders ceased the LDD, 7 patients of the 16 possible responders could not give clear decision, and the others kept the same medication station. Among the whole group, neither the individual Likert score nor the SF-36 showed any statistical differences between LDD and placebo. Discussion. More attention should be paid to choose experienced TCM doctor as investigator and keep the simulant same with test medication in n-of-1 RCTs of TCM and sufficiently biological half-life period of Chinese medicine compound

Exploiting tertiary lymphoid structures gene signature to evaluate tumor microenvironment infiltration and immunotherapy response in colorectal cancer

BackgroundTertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) is a particular component of tumor microenvironment (TME). However, its biological mechanisms in colorectal cancer (CRC) have not yet been understood. We desired to reveal the TLS gene signature in CRC and evaluate its role in prognosis and immunotherapy response.MethodsThe data was sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Based on TLS-related genes (TRGs), the TLS related subclusters were identified through unsupervised clustering. The TME between subclusters were evaluated by CIBERSORT and xCell. Subsequently, developing a risk model and conducting external validation. Integrating risk score and clinical characteristics to create a comprehensive nomogram. Further analyses were conducted to screen TLS-related hub genes and explore the relationship between hub genes, TME, and biological processes, using random forest analysis, enrichment and variation analysis, and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analysis. Multiple immunofluorescence (mIF) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were employed to characterize the existence of TLS and the expression of hub gene.ResultsTwo subclusters that enriched or depleted in TLS were identified. The two subclusters had distinct prognoses, clinical characteristics, and tumor immune infiltration. We established a TLS-related prognostic risk model including 14 genes and validated its predictive power in two external datasets. The model’s AUC values for 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) were 0.704, 0.737, and 0.746. The low-risk group had a superior survival rate, more abundant infiltration of immune cells, lower tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score, and exhibited better immunotherapy efficacy. In addition, we selected the top important features within the model: VSIG4, SELL and PRRX1. Enrichment analysis showed that the hub genes significantly affected signaling pathways related to TLS and tumor progression. The ceRNA network: PRRX1-miRNA (hsa-miR-20a-5p, hsa-miR-485–5p) -lncRNA has been discovered. Finally, IHC and mIF results confirmed that the expression level of PRRX1 was markedly elevated in the TLS- CRC group.ConclusionWe conducted a study to thoroughly describe TLS gene signature in CRC. The TLS-related risk model was applicable for prognostic prediction and assessment of immunotherapy efficacy. The TLS-hub gene PRRX1, which had the potential to function as an immunomodulatory factor of TLS, could be a therapeutic target for CRC