Facial-sketch Synthesis: A New Challenge

Machine Intelligence Research - This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive study on facial-sketch synthesis (FSS). However, due to the high cost of obtaining hand-drawn sketch datasets, there is a...     

The effectiveness of adaptive versus non-adaptive learning with digital educational games

For the training of academic skills, digital educational games with integrated adaptivity are promising. Adaptive games are considered superior to non-adaptive games, because they constantly assess children's performance, and accordingly adapt the difficulty of the tasks corresponding to the children's individual level. However, empirical evidence with regard to the effectivity of adaptive compared to non-adaptive games is limited. A study was conducted with 191 children from the third year of Kinder garten who were enrolled in one of three conditions, that is, playing an adaptive version of the reading game (RG), a non-adaptive version of the RG or training with pen-and-paper exercises. In all three conditions, children trained emergent reading (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) once a week for 30 min over a period of 5 weeks. Children's performance on cognitive (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, reading fluency) and non-cognitive (motivation, self-concept) factors was assessed. Results revealed a significant improvement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge in all conditions. However, no differences between the conditions were observed with respect to children's improvement on phonological awareness and letter knowledge or on their post-test scores for reading fluency. With regard to motivation and self-concept, again, no differences in these non-cognitive factors were observed across conditions.     

Teff (Eragrostis tef) processing,utilization and future opportunities: a review

The demand for food production has been constantly increasing due to rising population. In developed countries, for example, the emergence of regional production of old grains that are rarely utilized, along with the production of commonly consumed grains, has gained importance in recent years. These grains, known collectively as ancient or heirloom grains, have offered both farmers and consumers novel ways of cultivation and products with interesting taste, characteristics and nutritional value. Among the 30 000 plant species known, only five cereals currently provide more than 50% of the world's energy intake – bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), millets (Panicum sp.) and maize (Zea mays). The excessive utilization of these selected species has a great potential to cause genetic losses and difficulty in bridging future agricultural demands. Teff (Eragrostis tef), an ancient grain extensively cultivated in countries like Eritrea and Ethiopia, provides promising alternatives for new food uses since its nutritional value is significantly higher than most others cereal grains. The absence of gluten allows flexibility in food utilization since it can be directly substituted to gluten-containing products. The grain also offers an excellent balance of essential amino acids and minerals, which can fulfil the recommended daily intake and eliminates the need for fortification and enrichment. This review provides a general overview of the physical properties and nutritional composition of teff grains related to processing and applications in the food and feed industries. The current status of teff utilization, as well as the challenges in production and commercialization, and future opportunities is presented and discussed.     

Controlling thickness to tune performance of high-mobility transparent conducting films deposited from Ga-doped ZnO ceramic target

Structure modification has been found to tune significantly the transparent-conducting performance, especially mobility and conductivity of hydrogenated Ga-doped ZnO (HGZO) films. The strong correlation between film thickness and mobility of the films is revealed. The mobility increases quickly with increasing the thickness from 350 to 900 nm, and then tends to be saturated at further thicknesses. A higher mobility than 50 cm²/Vs can be achieved, which is an extra-high value for polycrystalline ZnO films deposited by using the sputtering technique. The thickness-dependent mobility originates from scatterings on grain boundaries and dislocation-induced defects controlled by thin-film growth. Based on the Volmer-Weber model, an expansion model is built up to describe the thickness-dependent crystal growth of the HGZO films, especially at the thick films. As a result, the 800 nm-thick HGZO film obtains the highest performance with high mobility of 51.5 cm²/Vs, low resistivity of 5.3 × 10^?4 Ωcm, and good transmittance of 83.3 %.     

Perception‐aware autonomous mast motion planning for planetary exploration rovers

Highly accurate real‐time localization is of fundamental importance for the safety and efficiency of planetary rovers exploring the surface of Mars. Mars rover operations rely on vision‐based systems to avoid hazards as well as plan safe routes. However, vision‐based systems operate on the assumption that sufficient visual texture is visible in the scene. This poses a challenge for vision‐based navigation on Mars where regions lacking visual texture are prevalent. To overcome this, we make use of the ability of the rover to actively steer the visual sensor to improve fault tolerance and maximize the perception performance. This paper answers the question of where and when to look by presenting a method for predicting the sensor trajectory that maximizes the localization performance of the rover. This is accomplished by an online assessment of possible trajectories using synthetic, future camera views created from previous observations of the scene. The proposed trajectories are quantified and chosen based on the expected localization performance. In this study, we validate the proposed method in field experiments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Mars Yard. Furthermore, multiple performance metrics are identified and evaluated for reducing the overall runtime of the algorithm. We show how actively steering the perception system increases the localization accuracy compared with traditional fixed‐sensor configurations.     

Discovery of Affinity-Based Probes for Btk Occupancy Assays

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is an attractive target for the treatment of a wide array of B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Small-molecule covalent irreversible Btk inhibitors targeting Cys481 have been developed for the treatment of such diseases. In clinical trials, probe molecules are required in occupancy studies to measure the level of engagement of the protein by these covalent irreversible inhibitors. The result of this pharmacodynamic (PD) activity provides guidance for appropriate dosage selection to optimize inhibition of the drug target and correlation of target inhibition with disease treatment efficacy. This information is crucial for successful evaluation of drug candidates in clinical trials. Based on the pyridine carboxamide scaffold of a novel solvent-accessible pocket (SAP) series of covalent irreversible Btk inhibitors, we successfully developed a potent and selective affinity-based biotinylated probe 12 (2-[(4-{4-[5-(1-{5-[(3aS,4S,6aR)-2-oxo-hexahydro-1H-thieno[3,4-d]imidazol-4-yl]pentanamido}-3,6,9,12-tetraoxapentadecan-15-amido)pentanoyl]piperazine-1-carbonyl}phenyl)amino]-6-[1-(prop-2-enoyl)piperidin-4-yl]pyridine-3-carboxamide). Compound 12 has been used in Btk occupancy assays for preclinical studies to determine the therapeutic efficacy of Btk inhibition in two mouse lupus models driven by TLR7 activation and type I interferon.     

Advanced Surface of Fibrous Activated Carbon Immobilized with FeO/TiO2 for Photocatalytic Evolution of Hydrogen under Visible Light

FeO-doped TiO₂ nanoparticle photocatalysts were immobilized onto the surface of fibrous activated carbon (ACF) via a sol-gel process. As an adsorbent and photocatalyst, FeO-TiO₂ on immobilized ACFs (FeO-TiO₂/ACF) greatly improved the photocatalysis rate of hydrogen production as compared with pure TiO₂ and ACF-TiO₂ under UV irradiation and visible light. The addition of ACFs surface significantly reduced the photogenerated pairs of electrons-hole recombination, thereby promoting the photocatalysis action of doped photo-metal oxides of FeO-TiO₂. Co-doping of FeO onto the lattice of the TiO₂ approach can improve the absorption activity of visible light through photo-metal oxide of TiO₂ and further enhance hydrogen production under visible light. The photocatalytic fabrics (FeO-TiO₂/ACF) were effortlessly split out from the experimental solution for re-utilization and exhibited high stability even after five complete regeneration cycles.