Sustained Negative BOLD Response in Human fMRI Finger Tapping Task

In this work, we investigated the sustained negative blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response (sNBR) using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a finger tapping task. We observed that the sNBR for this task was more extensive than has previously been reported. The cortical regions involved in sNBR are divided into the following three groups: frontal, somatosensory and occipital. By investigating the spatial structure, area, amplitude, and dynamics of the sNBR in comparison with those of its positive BOLD response (PBR) counterpart, we made the following observations. First, among the three groups, the somatosensory group contained the greatest number of activated voxels and the fewest deactivated voxels. In addition, the amplitude of the sNBR in this group was the smallest among the three groups. Second, the onset and peak time of the sNBR are both larger than those of the PBR, whereas the falling edge time of the sNBR is less than that of the PBR. Third, the long distance between most sNBR foci and their corresponding PBR foci makes it unlikely that they share the same blood supply artery. Fourth, the couplings between the sNBR and its PBR counterpart are distinct among different regions and thus should be investigated separately. These findings imply that the origin of most sNBR foci in the finger-tapping task is much more likely to be neuronal activity suppression rather than “blood steal.

Improving Crowded Object Detection via Copy-Paste

Crowdedness caused by overlapping among similar objects is a ubiquitous challenge in the field of 2D visual object detection. In this paper, we first underline two main effects of the crowdedness issue: 1) IoU-confidence correlation disturbances (ICD) and 2) confused de-duplication (CDD). Then we explore a pathway of cracking these nuts from the perspective of data augmentation. Primarily, a particular copy-paste scheme is proposed towards making crowded scenes. Based on this operation, we first design a "consensus learning" method to further resist the ICD problem and then find out the pasting process naturally reveals a pseudo "depth" of object in the scene, which can be potentially used for alleviating CDD dilemma. Both methods are derived from magical using of the copy-pasting without extra cost for hand-labeling. Experiments show that our approach can easily improve the state-of-the-art detector in typical crowded detection task by more than 2% without any bells and whistles. Moreover, this work can outperform existing data augmentation strategies in crowded scenario.Comment: Accepted by AAAI202

POWER SAVING METHOD FOR PLUGGABLE OPTICAL TRANSCEIVERS

Today, when optical transceivers are plugged into ports of network equipment and a user administratively shuts down a specific port, the network equipment does not remove the power from the optical transceivers and, instead, only the laser is shut down. When the user shuts the individual port with optical transceiver, the power consumption of the optical transceiver will be marginally reduced, however significant power is still consumed. Techniques described herein provide for switching products that are always ready, not always on. Techniques described herein provide for ports that are always ready to be powered up but are powered down when not in use to save power

Polymerization induced self-assembly : tuning of morphology using ionic strength and pH

Investigations of RAFT dispersion polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) in water/methanol at 60 °C using a cationically charged macroRAFT agent as the stabilizer block, namely P(N,N-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-stat-poly((ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PDEAEMA-stat-PEGMA), have been conducted with a view to tune particle morphologies by manipulation of the pH and the ionic strength. Above the LCST (45 °C) of (PDEAEMA-stat-PEGMA), the system can only be conducted as a dispersion polymerization at sufficiently low pH such that the stabilizer block is sufficiently protonated to ensure solubility in the continuous phase. It is demonstrated (reported in the form of an extensive morphology diagram) that a range of morphologies including spherical particles, rods and vesicles can be accessed by adjustment of the pH (via addition of HCl) and the ionic strength (via the concentration of NaCl). A decrease in the charge density of the coronal stabilizer layer via an increase in the pH (less protonation) shifts the system towards higher order morphologies. At a given pH, an increase in ionic strength leads to more extensive charge screening, thus allowing formation of higher order morphologies

Exploitation of compartmentalization in RAFT miniemulsion polymerization to increase the degree of livingness

It is demonstrated that the degree of livingness (chain-end fidelity) in RAFT polymerization for a given degree of polymerization can be markedly increased in miniemulsion polymerization relative to the corresponding homogeneous bulk system. Polymerization of styrene was conducted using a poly(methyl methacrylate) benzodithioate as macroRAFT agent in both miniemulsion and bulk. The substantially higher polymerization rate in miniemulsion, which is attributed to the segregation effect (compartmentalization) causing a reduction in the rate of bimolecular termination, makes it possible to reach a given degree of polymerization in a significantly shorter time than in the corresponding bulk system. As a consequence, fewer initiating radicals are required throughout the polymerization, leading to higher livingness in the more rapid miniemulsion system. It is demonstrated how this approach facilitates synthesis of high molecular weight block copolymers comprising slowly propagating monomers such as styrene and methacrylates

The Potential of Using Brain Images for Authentication

Biometric recognition (also known as biometrics) refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their biological or behavioral traits. Examples of biometric traits include fingerprint, palmprint, iris, and face. The brain is the most important and complex organ in the human body. Can it be used as a biometric trait? In this study, we analyze the uniqueness of the brain and try to use the brain for identity authentication. The proposed brain-based verification system operates in two stages: gray matter extraction and gray matter matching. A modified brain segmentation algorithm is implemented for extracting gray matter from an input brain image. Then, an alignment-based matching algorithm is developed for brain matching. Experimental results on two data sets show that the proposed brain recognition system meets the high accuracy requirement of identity authentication. Though currently the acquisition of the brain is still time consuming and expensive, brain images are highly unique and have the potential possibility for authentication in view of pattern recognition

Two-phase exhumation along major shear zones in the SE Tibetan Plateau in the late Cenozoic

Three continent-scale shear zones are arguably the most outstanding structural features in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, and therefore, their tectonic and landscape evolution have significant implications for understanding the history and mechanisms of intracontinental mountain building and plateau growth. This study presents low-temperature thermochronology from the Gaoligong and Chongshan shear zones (GLSZ and CSSZ) and quantitative analyses of fluvial longitudinal profiles of tributaries in the Salween drainage, which lies between the shear zones. Apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He data reveal a two-stage exhumation history for both shear zones: rapid and prominent cooling in the middle Miocene followed by a second, lower magnitude cooling event in the late Miocene to early Pliocene. Ductile transpressional shearing is inferred to have caused the first cooling, continuing until ~11\ua0Ma. The northward migration of the tectonic events along the Mogok metamorphic belt and GLSZ and synchronous dextral displacement along the Jiali fault indicate the dominant role of the north advancing eastern Himalayan syntaxis on the surrounding structures. Increased river incision is identified in the middle Salween drainage, leading to two-segment river profiles and further exhumation along the GLSZ and CSSZ. The tributary transient response could result from temporal changes in uplift or adjustments of the trunk channel to climatic change. Furthermore, glaciers play an important role in shaping the landscape of the upper reaches of catchments in the northern segment of the shear zones. Different drivers for the two exhumation events may reflect distinct stages of plateau growth characterized by different crustal deformation patterns