Special Behaviors in One Pedestrian Flow Experiment

We organize one pedestrian flow experiment with 278 participants, and the maximum density reaches 9 ped/(m^2). The experiment is filmed by one UAV, and in the experimental video, we find some interesting behaviors. Five types of these behaviors are classified and introduced: 1) oppression near the boundaries; 2) impact on the boundaries; 3) special moves; 4) absentmindedness; 5) other events. The numbers of Type 1 and 2 behaviors can be counted, while the frequencies of Type 3 and 4 behaviors can be roughly estimated. At one critical density, the results of Type 1, 2, 3, 4 behaviors qualitatively change. This value is about 7~8 ped/(m^2), which indicates the possible existence of critical phenomena in pedestrian flow

A Generative Deep Learning Approach for Crash Severity Modeling with Imbalanced Data

Crash data is often greatly imbalanced, with the majority of crashes being non-fatal crashes, and only a small number being fatal crashes due to their rarity. Such data imbalance issue poses a challenge for crash severity modeling since it struggles to fit and interpret fatal crash outcomes with very limited samples. Usually, such data imbalance issues are addressed by data resampling methods, such as under-sampling and over-sampling techniques. However, most traditional and deep learning-based data resampling methods, such as synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) and generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) are designed dedicated to processing continuous variables. Though some resampling methods have improved to handle both continuous and discrete variables, they may have difficulties in dealing with the collapse issue associated with sparse discrete risk factors. Moreover, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that compare the performance of various resampling methods in crash severity modeling. To address the aforementioned issues, the current study proposes a crash data generation method based on the Conditional Tabular GAN. After data balancing, a crash severity model is employed to estimate the performance of classification and interpretation. A comparative study is conducted to assess classification accuracy and distribution consistency of the proposed generation method using a 4-year imbalanced crash dataset collected in Washington State, U.S. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulation is employed to estimate the performance of parameter and probability estimation in both two- and three-class imbalance scenarios. The results indicate that using synthetic data generated by CTGAN-RU for crash severity modeling outperforms using original data or synthetic data generated by other resampling methods

Plugin Speech Enhancement: A Universal Speech Enhancement Framework Inspired by Dynamic Neural Network

The expectation to deploy a universal neural network for speech enhancement, with the aim of improving noise robustness across diverse speech processing tasks, faces challenges due to the existing lack of awareness within static speech enhancement frameworks regarding the expected speech in downstream modules. These limitations impede the effectiveness of static speech enhancement approaches in achieving optimal performance for a range of speech processing tasks, thereby challenging the notion of universal applicability. The fundamental issue in achieving universal speech enhancement lies in effectively informing the speech enhancement module about the features of downstream modules. In this study, we present a novel weighting prediction approach, which explicitly learns the task relationships from downstream training information to address the core challenge of universal speech enhancement. We found the role of deciding whether to employ data augmentation techniques as crucial downstream training information. This decision significantly impacts the expected speech and the performance of the speech enhancement module. Moreover, we introduce a novel speech enhancement network, the Plugin Speech Enhancement (Plugin-SE). The Plugin-SE is a dynamic neural network that includes the speech enhancement module, gate module, and weight prediction module. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed Plugin-SE approach is competitive or superior to other joint training methods across various downstream tasks

How Do Neighbourhood and Working Environment Affect Green Commuting in China? A Resident Health Perspective

Commuting contributes to high levels of greenhouse gases and air pollution. The recently advocated ‘green commuting’, i.e. active and public modes of transport, will be conducive to low-carbon and environmentally friendly transport. A baseline goal of urban planning is to promote health; however, few studies have explored the health-related impacts of environments at both ends of the commute on residents’ commuting mode choices. To fill the gap, this study proposes to consider the impact of the neighbourhood and working environment on green commuting from a health perspective. Using a sample of 15,886 people from 368 communities in China, three generalised multilevel linear regression models were estimated. Physical and psychological health were combined to further analyse health-related environmental attributes on the commuting choices of residents with different health levels. The results indicate that the working environment exerts more substantial effects on ‘green commuting’ than the neighbourhood environment, especially for workplace satisfaction. Moreover, we found that a good working environment and relationships will significantly encourage the sub-healthy group to choose active commuting. These findings are beneficial for policymakers to consider focusing on reconciling neighbourhood and working environments and meeting the commuting requirements of the less healthy group

Depth Map Denoising Network and Lightweight Fusion Network for Enhanced 3D Face Recognition

With the increasing availability of consumer depth sensors, 3D face recognition (FR) has attracted more and more attention. However, the data acquired by these sensors are often coarse and noisy, making them impractical to use directly. In this paper, we introduce an innovative Depth map denoising network (DMDNet) based on the Denoising Implicit Image Function (DIIF) to reduce noise and enhance the quality of facial depth images for low-quality 3D FR. After generating clean depth faces using DMDNet, we further design a powerful recognition network called Lightweight Depth and Normal Fusion network (LDNFNet), which incorporates a multi-branch fusion block to learn unique and complementary features between different modalities such as depth and normal images. Comprehensive experiments conducted on four distinct low-quality databases demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed methods. Furthermore, when combining DMDNet and LDNFNet, we achieve state-of-the-art results on the Lock3DFace database.Comment: Accepted by Pattern Recognitio

The optimisation of rapeseed yield and growth duration through adaptive crop management in climate change: evidence from China

Crop yield is influenced by plant growth and development; both are affected by climatic variables and crop management practices. Therefore, understanding the effects of climate variables and management practices on rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) yield and growth duration (GD) is essential for developing strategies for agricultural systems based on changing climatic conditions. Thus, we quantified the respective contributions of climate change and crop management to rapeseed yield and GD between 2008 and 2019 in China using a first-difference multivariate regression model. Our results showed that: i) based on observed rapeseed yield and phenological data, the average planting date was delayed by –1.1 to 9.5 days decade–1, the average maturity date was advanced by 4.4 to 9.9 days decade–1, the average GD was shortened by 6.0 to 19.6 days decade–1 and the average yield increased by 12.82 to 61.5 kg ha–1 year–1; ii) the relative contributions of climate change and crop management to winter rapeseed yield were changed from –20% to +39% and from +61% to +80%, respectively, and the relative contributions to GD were changed from –10% to +15% and from –85% to +97%, respectively; iii) among the three climatic factors considered in this study, the climatic factor that caused the most remarkable change in winter rapeseed yield and GD was different in different regions. Overall, compared with cumulative temperature, cumulative sunshine hours may be the most critical climate factor limiting rapeseed yield in the Yangtze River Basin, especially in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Our results suggest that stakeholders select highyielding cultivars to optimise crop management and adaptation strategies in different agroecological zones. Highlights - The growth duration of winter rapeseed was shortened, and the yield increased in most stations. - Crop management to changes in GD and yield of winter rapeseed was greater than the impact of climate change. - Cumulative sunshine hours may be the most critical climate factor limiting rapeseed yield in the Yangtze River Basin