ELODI: Ensemble Logit Difference Inhibition for Positive-Congruent Training

Negative flips are errors introduced in a classification system when a legacy model is replaced with a new one. Existing methods to reduce the negative flip rate (NFR) either do so at the expense of overall accuracy using model distillation, or use ensembles, which multiply inference cost prohibitively. We present a method to train a classification system that achieves paragon performance in both error rate and NFR, at the inference cost of a single model. Our method introduces a generalized distillation objective, Logit Difference Inhibition (LDI), that penalizes changes in the logits between the new and old model, without forcing them to coincide as in ordinary distillation. LDI affords the model flexibility to reduce error rate along with NFR. The method uses a homogeneous ensemble as the reference model for LDI, hence the name Ensemble LDI, or ELODI. The reference model can then be substituted with a single model at inference time. The method leverages the observation that negative flips are typically not close to the decision boundary, but often exhibit large deviations in the distance among their logits, which are reduced by ELODI.Comment: Tech repor

Action Recognition with Actons

With the improved accessibility to an exploding amoun-t of video data and growing demands in a wide range of video analysis applications, video-based action recogni-tion/classification becomes an increasingly important task in computer vision. In this paper, we propose a two-layer structure for action recognition to automatically exploit a mid-level “acton ” representation. The weakly-supervised actons are learned via a new max-margin multi-channel multiple instance learning framework, which can capture multiple mid-level action concepts simultaneously. The learned actons (with no requirement for detailed manual annotations) observe the properties of being compact, infor-mative, discriminative, and easy to scale. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of applying the learned actons in our two-layer structure, and show the state-of-the-art recognition performance on two challenging action datasets, i.e., Youtube and HMDB51. 1

Current situation, bottlenecks, and path options for the development of capital flows and integration in the Yangtze River Delta region

IntroductionCapital plays a crucial role in the development of regional economies, especially in low-income regions where it acts as a primary driver of economic growth. Efficient capital flow is essential for optimizing resource allocation and facilitating the development of integrated capital markets. This passage introduces the topic of capital, capital flow, and capital market integration and highlights their significance in regional development.MethodsTo gain a comprehensive understanding of capital flow and integration in the Yangtze River Delta region, the researchers conducted a connotative analysis. They constructed indicators from various aspects, including social fixed asset investment, bank capital flow, government transfer payments, social financing structure, and foreign direct investment. By utilizing these indicators, the researchers aimed to assess the current situation and identify bottlenecks related to capital flow and integration. Additionally, they drew on experiences from foreign capital flow and integration development to enrich their analysis.ResultsThe analysis revealed several primary bottlenecks affecting capital flow and integration in the Yangtze River Delta region. These bottlenecks include an unsound banking management system, the presence of government competition and administrative barriers, and shortcomings within listed companies. The results highlight the specific challenges that hinder the smooth functioning and integration of capital in the region.DiscussionTo promote the development of capital flows and integration in the Yangtze River Delta region, the researchers propose various recommendations. These suggestions include promoting the development of listed companies, establishing a robust banking management model, improving relevant government policies, and optimizing the investment environment. These recommendations serve as important guidelines for policymakers to enhance capital flow and integration in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster. Furthermore, they emphasize the need to strengthen financial supervision and improve institutional mechanisms within the three provinces and one city comprising the region

Evaluate how steaming and sulfur fumigation change the microstructure, physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of Gastrodia elata Bl. starch

The sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) generated by sulfur burning can improve the appearance quality of food and enhance the storage time. However, excessive sulfur dioxide will pollute the environment and cause deterioration of food quality, and even the high residual levels can increase the risk of cancer. As Gastrodia elata Blume is prone to corruption during processing, sulfur fumigation is often used for preservation. In this study, spectral analysis and Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) were used to investigate the effects of traditional sulfur fumigation processing on the morphology quality, edible quality and structural characteristics of G. elata. The results showed that compared with direct drying, the pH decreased by 0.399 of the sulfur fumigated after steamed treatment G. elata, and the morphology quality, pasting ability and gel edible quality of the starch were significantly improved. In addition, it was suggested that sulfur fumigation after steaming could promote the release of molecular chains from starch granules and thus enhance the cross-linking between molecules, which explained the reason for the improve of starch edible quality. This study can provide technical and theoretical support for improving the quality of starch rich foods, replacing sulfur fumigation and reducing potential environmental hazards

Herb Polysaccharide-Based Drug Delivery System: Fabrication, Properties, and Applications for Immunotherapy

Herb polysaccharides (HPS) have been studied extensively for their healthcare applications. Though the toxicity was not fully clarified, HPS were widely accepted for their biodegradability and biocompatibility. In addition, as carbohydrate polymers with a unique chemical composition, molecular weight, and functional group profile, HPS can be conjugated, cross-linked, and functionally modified. Thus, they are great candidates for the fabrication of drug delivery systems (DDS). HPS-based DDS (HPS-DDS) can bypass phagocytosis by the reticuloendothelial system, prevent the degradation of biomolecules, and increase the bioavailability of small molecules, thus exerting therapeutic effects. In this review, we focus on the application of HPS as components of immunoregulatory DDS. We summarize the principles governing the fabrication of HPS-DDS, including nanoparticles, micelles, liposomes, microemulsions, hydrogels, and microneedles. In addition, we discuss the role of HPS in DDS for immunotherapy. This comprehensive review provides valuable insights that could guide the design of effective HPS-DDS

Long-Term Analysis of Aerosol Optical Depth over the Huaihai Economic Region (HER): Possible Causes and Implications

The quality of air is increasingly affecting regional climate and human activity. Collection 6 aerosol products retrieved from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra satellite were validated based on CE-318 sun photometric data to analyze their applicability in the Huaihai economic region (HER) at the Xuzhou and Shouxian sites. The spatio-temporal variations of aerosol optical depth (AOD) were also analyzed over HER from 2000 to 2016, with analyses of the correlation with potential driving factors, including meteorology, vegetation and human factors. HER is an economic cooperation organization with multiple industrial structures, containing coal resource-based cities, a national transportation hub and agricultural and high-altitude areas, which shows regional differences in AOD. The results suggest that MODIS Terra AOD products show good agreement with ground observations, with correlation coefficients of above 0.84 in HER, and the main pollutants for high AOD values are fine particles (the mean Ångström exponent was 1.16). The average annual change in AOD varied with a weak growth trend over the past 17 years, while a transition in 2012 made the tendency change from upward to downward due to the extensive cooperation of cities in the joint prevention and control of the deterioration of the ecological environment. The largest monthly mean AOD value appeared in June, which resulted from significant agricultural residue burning. The spatial distribution of multi-year average AOD occurred with a banded high-value center, extending from the north-west to the south-east. The high aerosol loadings were located in resource-based cities, and industrially developed and south-eastern coastal areas, whereas the regions with relatively low AOD in HER were distributed in the southern agricultural and northern high-altitude areas. The AOD value in the western, northern, and eastern coastal areas of HER showed a significant increasing trend, while no area exhibited a decreasing trend. The average wind speed has the largest negative correlation with the AOD value in terms of the natural driving factors, and GDP (gross domestic product) was more positively correlated with AOD with respect to the human factors, in comparison with population density