Cycle Encoding of a StyleGAN Encoder for Improved Reconstruction and Editability

GAN inversion aims to invert an input image into the latent space of a pre-trained GAN. Despite the recent advances in GAN inversion, there remain challenges to mitigate the tradeoff between distortion and editability, i.e. reconstructing the input image accurately and editing the inverted image with a small visual quality drop. The recently proposed pivotal tuning model makes significant progress towards reconstruction and editability, by using a two-step approach that first inverts the input image into a latent code, called pivot code, and then alters the generator so that the input image can be accurately mapped into the pivot code. Here, we show that both reconstruction and editability can be improved by a proper design of the pivot code. We present a simple yet effective method, named cycle encoding, for a high-quality pivot code. The key idea of our method is to progressively train an encoder in varying spaces according to a cycle scheme: W->W+->W. This training methodology preserves the properties of both W and W+ spaces, i.e. high editability of W and low distortion of W+. To further decrease the distortion, we also propose to refine the pivot code with an optimization-based method, where a regularization term is introduced to reduce the degradation in editability. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons to several state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the superiority of our approach

The Relationship Between Big Five Personality Traits and Psychotic Experience in a Large Non-clinical Youth Sample: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation

Objective: Despite a long history of interest in personality traits and psychosis, the association between personality traits and psychotic experiences in the general population is not yet well understood. One possible factor that could influence the degree of distress from psychotic experiences is emotion regulation. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the association between personality and psychotic symptoms is already apparent in non-clinical youth as well as the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies between personality traits and psychotic experiences.Methods: Three thousand one hundred and forty seven college students were surveyed via self-report questionnaires measuring the Five-Factor model of personality, emotion regulation strategies, and psychotic experiences.Results: Neuroticism was found to be significantly positively correlated with psychotic experiences, while Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were found to be significantly negatively correlated. Both the suppression and reappraisal strategies mediated the relationship between personality traits and psychotic experiences.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that youth with certain personality traits are more likely to have psychotic experiences. The reappraisal emotion regulation strategy could serve as a protective factor against the distress of psychotic experiences

An quantificational method for 51 pesticide residues determination in Pu'er tea by LC-MS/MS

Pesticide residues in tea is a major issue due to their widely used in tea cultivation. Thus, to protect consumers, an appropriate method for determination of their residues in tea should be done. In this study, a method for the simultaneous determination of 51 pesticides in tea was developed and validated. The tea sample was extracted by acetonitrile and purified SPE clearnet TPT column followed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) with multi-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The method was validated according to the linearity, limit of detention, precision, the percentage of recovery at three different spike levels. The linear concentration range used was 10-100ng/ mL, the square of Correlation coefficient r2 was more than >0.995. Recoveries were adequate being in the acceptable range of 72-89% and RSD of <19 % for all the analytes at three level of 0.01,0.05 and 0.11mg/kg, the LOD of all chemicals from 0.001 mg/kg to 0.01 mg/kg .The method was applied for the determination for 400 tea samples collected from Pu'er which contain green tea and black tea. Among the analyzed samples , 36 % samples had Imidacloprid and 25% sample contain Acetamiprid, which were at a level below the European Union maximum residue levels (EU-MRLs). The information would be beneficial for Pu'er tea exporters

Urinary microbiota signatures associated with different types of urinary diversion: a comparative study

BackgroundRadical cystectomy and urinary diversion (UD) are gold standards for non-metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Orthotopic neobladder (or Studer), ileal conduit (or Bricker) and cutaneous ureterostomy (CU) are mainstream UD types. Little is known about urinary microbiological changes after UD. MethodsIn this study, urine samples were collected from healthy volunteers and patients with bladder cancer who had received aforementioned UD procedures. Microbiomes of samples were analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, and microbial diversities, distributions and functions were investigated and compared across groups. ResultsHighest urine microbial richness and diversity were observed in healthy controls, followed by Studer patients, especially those without hydronephrosis or residual urine, α-diversity indices of whom were remarkably higher than those of Bricker and CU groups. Studer UD type was the only independent factor favoring urine microbial diversity. The urine microflora structure of the Studer group was most similar to that of the healthy individuals while that of the CU group was least similar. Studer patients and healthy volunteers shared many similar urine microbial functions, while Bricker and CU groups exhibited opposite characteristics. ConclusionOur study first presented urinary microbial landscapes of UD patients and demonstrated the microbiological advantage of orthotopic neobladder. Microbiota might be a potential tool for optimization of UD management

Determination of heavy metals in soil by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with internal standard method

Soil ,the carrier of agricultural production and important part of the ecological environment, is heavily contaminated with hazards heavy metals. Therefore, it is oblige to research analytical techniques that could efficiently determine the total content of heavy metals in soil. The determination of heavy metals in soil was disturbed by matrix elements or spectral interferences . In this study , this problem was solved by internal standard method . GBW07402、GBW07448、GBW07423、GBW07428、GBW074079 soil sample were chosen to be the Certified Reference Materials, soils was prepared by microwave digestion with mixed acid following analyzed for determination the content（Cr,Cu, Pb,Ba,Ni,Mn ） by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric in 50ug/L internal standard concentration, the method was validated by compared with certified values 、method contrast(standard addition method versus internal standard method scan the same prepared solution ) and recovery check. The results of internal standard method are in excellent agreement with the indicative values and the date obtained from standard addition method, respectively. Recoveries were adequate being in the acceptable range of 90-99% and RSD of <6.7 % for all the elements at three level of 5,20 and 50mg/kg with quantified by standard addition method and internal standard method .Finally, The graphy of quality control(n=100)were obtained to guide internal quality control in laborator