Fan-Shaped Model for Generating the Anisotropic Catchment Area of Subway Stations based on Feeder Taxi Trips

The catchment areas of subway stations have always been considered as a circular shape in previous research. Although some studies show the catchment area may be affected by road conditions, public transportation, land use, and other factors, few studies have discussed the shape of the catchment area. This study focuses on analyzing the anisotropy of catchment areas and developing a sound methodology to generate them. Based on taxi global positioning system (GPS) data, this paper first proposes a data mining method to identify feeder taxi trips around subway stations. Then, a fan-shaped model is proposed and applied to Xi\u27an Metro Line 1 to generate catchment areas. The number and angle of fan areas are determined according to the spatial distribution characteristics of GPS points. Results show that the acceptable distance of the catchment area has significant differences in different directions. The average maximum acceptable distance of one station is 2.31 times the minimum. Furthermore, for feeder taxis, the overlap ratio of the catchment area is very high. Travelers in several places could choose several different stations during the travel. A multiple linear regression model was introduced to find the influencing factors, and the result shows the anisotropy of the catchment area is affected not only by neighboring subway stations, but also by the road network, distance from the city center, and so on

DreamTalk: When Expressive Talking Head Generation Meets Diffusion Probabilistic Models

Diffusion models have shown remarkable success in a variety of downstream generative tasks, yet remain under-explored in the important and challenging expressive talking head generation. In this work, we propose a DreamTalk framework to fulfill this gap, which employs meticulous design to unlock the potential of diffusion models in generating expressive talking heads. Specifically, DreamTalk consists of three crucial components: a denoising network, a style-aware lip expert, and a style predictor. The diffusion-based denoising network is able to consistently synthesize high-quality audio-driven face motions across diverse expressions. To enhance the expressiveness and accuracy of lip motions, we introduce a style-aware lip expert that can guide lip-sync while being mindful of the speaking styles. To eliminate the need for expression reference video or text, an extra diffusion-based style predictor is utilized to predict the target expression directly from the audio. By this means, DreamTalk can harness powerful diffusion models to generate expressive faces effectively and reduce the reliance on expensive style references. Experimental results demonstrate that DreamTalk is capable of generating photo-realistic talking faces with diverse speaking styles and achieving accurate lip motions, surpassing existing state-of-the-art counterparts.Comment: Project Page: https://dreamtalk-project.github.i

Determination of berberine and berberrubine in rabbit plasma by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection and its application to pharmacokinetic study

A simple and selective method based on capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection has been developed for the separation and determination of berberine (BB) and berberrubine (BBR) in rabbit plasma. The working electrode was a 150 μm diameter platinum microelectrode at a detection potential of +1.1 V (versus Ag/AgCl). The analytes could be well separated within 6 min in a 50 cm length fused-silica capillary at a separation voltage of 15 kV in a 50 mmol/L phosphate buffer (pH 6.0). Calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.002-20 μg/mL. The detection limits (S/N = 3) were 1.0 and 0.8 ng/mL for BB and BBR, respectively. Relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of not more than 6.0 % were obtained for both migration times and electrophoretic peak area. The proposed method was successfully used to analyze the drugs in samples of rabbit plasma for pharmacokinetic study.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Coalbed Methane Production System Simulation and Deliverability Forecasting: Coupled Surface Network/Wellbore/Reservoir Calculation

As an unconventional energy, coalbed methane (CBM) mainly exists in coal bed with adsorption, whose productivity is different from conventional gas reservoir. This paper explains the wellbore pressure drop, surface pipeline network simulation, and reservoir calculation model of CBM. A coupled surface/wellbore/reservoir calculation architecture was presented, to coordinate the gas production in each calculation period until the balance of surface/wellbore/reservoir. This coupled calculation method was applied to a CBM field for predicting production. The daily gas production increased year by year at the first time and then decreased gradually after several years, while the daily water production was reduced all the time with the successive decline of the formation pressure. The production of gas and water in each well is almost the same when the structure is a star. When system structure is a dendritic surface system, the daily gas production ranked highest at the well which is the nearest to the surface system collection point and lowest at the well which is the farthest to the surface system collection point. This coupled calculation method could be used to predict the water production, gas production, and formation pressure of a CBM field during a period of time

Effects of dietary guar gum with different viscosity on growth performance and intestinal health in pearl gentian grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀ × E. lanceolatus♂)

The study aimed to evaluate the impact of guar gum (GG) with different viscosity on growth rate and gut health of pearl gentian grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀ × E. lanceolatus♂). Juvenile groupers (6.66 ± 0.08 g) were reared for 10 weeks and fed four different diets: three containing 8% GG with low, medium, and high viscosity (designated as GGL, GGM, and GGH, respectively), and a control diet, in which 8% GG was replaced with 8% cellulose. The results indicated that at an 8% inclusion level, all three viscosities of GG significantly reduced both growth rate and feed utilization, with the lowest values observed in the GGH group. Similarly, dietary inclusion of GG with various viscosity decreased the intestinal activities of lipase, alkaline phosphatase and lysozyme as well as the content of immunoglobulin M, increased the plasma diamine oxidase activity and endothelin-1 level. Additionally, dietary GG inclusion regardless of viscosity up-regulated the relative expressions of intestinal proinflammatory cytokines, while down-regulated the relative expressions of intestinal anti-inflammatory cytokines and tight junction proteins. Notably, dietary inclusion of 8% GGH decreased intestinal villus length and total antioxidant capacity but increased intestinal malondialdehyde and secretory immunoglobulin T contents. Dietary GG supplementation reduced the α-diversity of the intestinal microbiota and decreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, while increasing the relative abundance of Fusobacteriota, particularly Cetobacterium. This shift in microbial composition was associated with decreased levels of acetic and valeric acids but increased levels of caproic and isovaleric acids. These findings indicated that when using GG as a feed binder, it is important to consider its viscosity, as excessively high viscosity may negatively impact growth rate and intestinal health