An optimization approach for localization refinement of candidate traffic signs

We propose a localisation refinement approach for candidate traffic signs. Previous traffic sign localisation approaches which place a bounding rectangle around the sign do not always give a compact bounding box, making the subsequent classification task more difficult. We formulate localisation as a segmentation problem, and incorporate prior knowledge concerning color and shape of traffic signs. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we use it as an intermediate step between a standard traffic sign localizer and a classifier. Our experiments use the well-known GTSDB benchmark as well as our new CTSDB (Chinese Traffic Sign Detection Benchmark). This newly created benchmark is publicly available, and goes beyond previous benchmark datasets: it has over 5,000 highresolution images containing more than 14,000 traffic signs taken in realistic driving conditions. Experimental results show that our localization approach significantly improves bounding boxes when compared to a standard localizer, thereby allowing a standard traffic sign classifier to generate more accurate classification results

Vertical Segregation and Phylogenetic Characterization of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in the Sediment of a Freshwater Aquaculture Pond

Pond aquaculture is the major freshwater aquaculture method in China. Ammonia-oxidizing communities inhabiting pond sediments play an important role in controlling culture water quality. However, the distribution and activities of ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities along sediment profiles are poorly understood in this specific environment. Vertical variations in the abundance, transcription, potential ammonia oxidizing rate, and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in sediment samples (0–50 cm depth) collected from a freshwater aquaculture pond were investigated. The concentrations of the AOA amoA gene were higher than those of the AOB by an order of magnitude, which suggested that AOA, as opposed to AOB, were the numerically predominant ammonia-oxidizing organisms in the surface sediment. This could be attributed to the fact that AOA are more resistant to low levels of dissolved oxygen. However, the concentrations of the AOB amoA mRNA were higher than those of the AOA by 2.5- to 39.9-fold in surface sediments (0–10 cm depth), which suggests that the oxidation of ammonia was mainly performed by AOB in the surface sediments, and by AOA in the deeper sediments, where only AOA could be detected. Clone libraries of AOA and AOB amoA sequences indicated that the diversity of AOA and AOB decreased with increasing depth. The AOB community consisted of two groups: the Nitrosospira and Nitrosomonas clusters, and Nitrosomonas were predominant in the freshwater pond sediment. All AOA amoA gene sequences in the 0–2 cm deep sediment were grouped into the Nitrososphaera cluster, while other AOA sequences in deeper sediments (10–15 and 20–25 cm depths) were grouped into the Nitrosopumilus cluster

t(1;3)(p36;p21) as the Sole Clonal Abnormality in Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous group of diseases with a multitude of molecular genetic aberrations and variable clinical outcome. Clonal chromosomal abnormalities have been identified in over 50% of AML cases, and have been regarded as one of the most important prognostic markers. We present a case of a 56-year-old Hispanic man with AML with minimal differentiation. Morphologically, the bone marrow was hypercellular with trilineage hypoplasia and 80% blasts. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the blasts were of myeloid immunophenotype. Conventional cytogenetic analysis showed t(1;3)(p36;p21) as the sole cytogenetic abnormality in 5 of 20 metaphases analyzed. The patient received daunorubicin and cytarabine, and achieved first remission. He relapsed 4 months later, and was treated with fludarabine, cytarabine, idarubicin, and G-CSF, and consolidated with high-dose cytarabine. He then received matched related stem cell transplantation. However, the disease relapsed again, and the patient died 11 months after initial diagnosis. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of t(1;3)(p36;p21) as the sole cytogenetic abnormality.

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of St Andrew′s Nutrition Screening Instrument

Objective·To translate St Andrew′s Nutrition Screening Instrument (SANSI), and test its reliability and validity.Methods·With the consent of the authors, the SANSI was translated into Chinese in accordance with the "Brislin translation-back translation method" and the Chinese version underwent cross-cultural debugging. Five clinical medical staff were selected to a pre-survey on 10 patients, and the expression and structure of the scale items were fine-tuned according to the feedback. A total of 221 inpatients with mental disorders were selected by convenient sampling method in Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine as research objects from January to February 2022, and the general clinical data of these patients were collected. The correlation between the items in Part Ⅲ and the identified risks in that part was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis, and some items were deleted according to the results. Eight experts in mental disorders or nutrition were selected to evaluate the items of Chinese version of SANSI, and then the content validation indexes (CVIs) were calculated. With the standard of Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002), Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the calibration validity of Chinese version of SANSI. Cronbach′s α coefficient, split half reliability and inter-rater reliability (κ consistency coefficient) were used to evaluate the reliability of the Part Ⅲ of the scale.Results·Through literal translation, back translation, cross-cultural debugging and pre-investigation, Chinese version of SANSI was formed. Among the 221 patients with mental disorders, 174 (78.73%) were males, the mean age was (64.12±13.87) years, and the duration of diseases was (26.06±17.65) years. There were 128 cases of schizophrenia (57.92%), 75 cases of organic mental disorders (33.94%), 10 cases of mood disorders (4.52%) and 8 cases of other mental disorders (3.62%). According to the results of correlation analysis in Part Ⅲ, the original items 1, 3, and 10 were deleted. The correlation coefficients between the remaining 7 items and the risk degree in this part were 0.391－0.734 (all P0.05).Conclusion·Chinese version of SANSI has good reliability and validity for hospitalized patients with mental disorders

Cognitive and Action Sequence Prediction using Deductive Reasoning

Early in the process of the development of an aircraft cockpit, although the designers always introduce a set of operational procedures with the expectation that all pilots would follow, it is very difficult to guarantee that the flight crew will do exactly they are expected to do. The deviation of the pilots’ operation from the intended procedures may lead to an unsafe situation, and could also be an indication to the inherent reason for the biases in the pilots’ cognitive process. It became very obvious that a tool that could help to predict a comprehensive set of possible operations that the pilots would operate the aircraft will be very useful both in the flight deck design process and pilot training practices. This paper presents the development of the researches in the “Cognitive and Action Sequence Prediction using Deductive Creation Theory (CASEPREDICT)”. Unlike any human-made system which the response of the system can be predicted to certain degree of accuracy, a human-in-theloop system is always associated with a great deal of uncertainty issues which comes from the cognitive process of human operators

Perpendicular in-plane negative magnetoresistance in ZrTe5

The unique band structure in topological materials frequently results in unusual magneto-transport phenomena, one of which is in-plane longitudinal negative magnetoresistance (NMR) with the magnetic field aligned parallel to the electrical current direction. This NMR is widely considered as a hallmark of chiral anomaly in topological materials. Here we report the observation of in-plane NMR in the topological material ZrTe5 when the in-plane magnetic field is both parallel and perpendicular to the current direction, revealing an unusual case of quantum transport beyond the chiral anomaly. We find that a general theoretical model, which considers the combined effect of Berry curvature and orbital moment, can quantitatively explain this in-plane NMR. Our results provide new insights into the understanding of in-plane NMR in topological materials

Effects of various land utilization types on groundwater at different temporal scales: a case study of Huocheng plain, Xinjiang, China

Different land utilization types have unignorable impacts on adjacent aquifers, so studying the effects of varying land utilization types on groundwater balance and groundwater table in arid and semi-arid areas is crucial to facilitate the rational development of territorial space and groundwater resource management. This study investigated the relationship between land utilization type variations and groundwater dynamics from spatial and temporal scales in Huocheng plain, Xinjiang, China, via taking advantage of different land utilization maps provided by remote sensing techniques in 1990, 2000, and 2015. Based on the analysis of results, the findings can be summarized as follows. First, the cultivated and construction land has expanded significantly in the past 25 years. The migration of the regional center of cultivated land was insignificant, as it is still located almost in the center of the entire study area. However, the transfer span of the location center of construction land was more prominent, and its moving direction was mainly from south to northeast, directly affecting the groundwater balance state and groundwater table. Second, the total amount of groundwater storage exhibited a remarkable reduction, from a recharge in 1990 to a continuous discharge in 2000–2015, during which the total recharge and discharge had both continuously declined. Meanwhile, recharging and discharging elements were also changed profoundly as less groundwater recharges from ambient aqueous environments and more groundwater extraction. Thus, human activities were the fundamental driving terms causing the changes in groundwater sources. Third, the groundwater table gradually and continuously dropped from south to northeast in the study area over time. The drawdown of spatially averaged groundwater tables was positively correlated with construction and cultivated area extension. In addition, compared to the former literature, this study offers an alternative approach for groundwater protection and optimization of territorial space development and utilization in arid and semi-arid areas