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Controllable video generation has attracted significant attention, largely due to advances in video diffusion models. In domains such as autonomous driving, it is essential to develop highly accurate predictions for object motions. This paper tackles a crucial challenge of how to exert precise control over object motion for realistic video synthesis. To accomplish this, we 1) control object movements using bounding boxes and extend this control to the renderings of 2D or 3D boxes in pixel space, 2) employ a distinct, specialized model to forecast the trajectories of object bounding boxes based on their previous and, if desired, future positions, and 3) adapt and enhance a separate video diffusion network to create video content based on these high quality trajectory forecasts. Our method, Ctrl-V, leverages modified and fine-tuned Stable Video Diffusion (SVD) models to solve both trajectory and video generation. Extensive experiments conducted on the KITTI, Virtual-KITTI 2, BDD100k, and nuScenes datasets validate the effectiveness of our approach in producing realistic and controllable video generation.

Evaluating autonomous vehicle stacks (AVs) in simulation typically involves replaying driving logs from real-world recorded traffic. However, agents replayed from offline data are not reactive and hard to intuitively control. Existing approaches address these challenges by proposing methods that rely on heuristics or generative models of real-world data but these approaches either lack realism or necessitate costly iterative sampling procedures to control the generated behaviours. In this work, we take an alternative approach and propose CtRL-Sim, a method that leverages return-conditioned offline reinforcement learning (RL) to efficiently generate reactive and controllable traffic agents. Specifically, we process real-world driving data through a physics-enhanced Nocturne simulator to generate a diverse offline RL dataset, annotated with various rewards. With this dataset, we train a return-conditioned multi-agent behaviour model that allows for fine-grained manipulation of agent behaviours by modifying the desired returns for the various reward components. This capability enables the generation of a wide range of driving behaviours beyond the scope of the initial dataset, including adversarial behaviours. We show that CtRL-Sim can generate realistic safety-critical scenarios while providing fine-grained control over agent behaviours.

This paper presents a complete hardware and software pipeline for real-time speech enhancement in noisy and reverberant conditions. The device consists of a microphone array and a camera mounted on eyeglasses, connected to an embedded system that enhances speech and plays back the audio in headphones, with a latency of maximum 120 msec. The proposed approach relies on face detection, tracking and verification to enhance the speech of a target speaker using a beamformer and a postfiltering neural network. Results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, and opens the door to the exploration and validation of a wide range of beamformer and speech enhancement methods for real-time speech enhancement.

The hybrid adhesive and sealant market is projected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2016 to over $7.5 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.6%. Silane-modified polymers (SMPs) are the resins of choice for this market, as they provide excellent adhesion and elasticity. SMP-based formulations find applications in construction, automotive, industrial assembly, DIY, and other market sectors. In SMP-based formulations, amino-functional silanes are typically added as adhesion promoters that also promote crosslinking of the SMP as it cures upon exposure to moisture. In addition, fillers such as fumed silica are used for rheology and mechanical reinforcement, especially when optical clarity is desirable. Both the amino-functional silane and the fumed silica are necessary to achieve the desired appearance and performance of these formulations. Achieving a colorless, optically clear SMP-based adhesive formulation requires judicious choice of the SMP base resin, the fumed silica filler, and the amino-functional silane adhesion promoter.

Emergence of polyphagous herbivorous insects entails significant adaptation to recognize, detoxify and digest a variety of host-plants. Despite of its biological and practical importance - since insects eat 20% of crops - no exhaustive analysis of gene repertoires required for adaptations in generalist insect herbivores has previously been performed. The noctuid moth Spodoptera frugiperda ranks as one of the world’s worst agricultural pests. This insect is polyphagous while the majority of other lepidopteran herbivores are specialist. It consists of two morphologically indistinguishable strains (“C” and “R”) that have different host plant ranges. To describe the evolutionary mechanisms that both enable the emergence of polyphagous herbivory and lead to the shift in the host preference, we analyzed whole genome sequences from laboratory and natural populations of both strains. We observed huge expansions of genes associated with chemosensation and detoxification compared with specialist Lepidoptera. These expansions are largely due to tandem duplication, a possible adaptation mechanism enabling polyphagy. Individuals from natural C and R populations show significant genomic differentiation. We found signatures of positive selection in genes involved in chemoreception, detoxification and digestion, and copy number variation in the two latter gene families, suggesting an adaptive role for structural variation.

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Each interdisciplinary group of students is afforded the opportunity to use and combine their respective skills in order to engage in collective research project development. BILL is an innovative teaching project dedicated to bioinformatics based on active learning and simulation of a research laboratory for students from the University of Montpellier in France. In the present article, after explaining the motivations behind the BILL project, we present the elements needed to set up such an innovative teaching project: the location, the teaching approach, the research project, and the short- and long-term organization and valorization. Exchange of skills and knowledge between students working together on a joint scientific and teaching project The main objective of the BILL project is to equip bioinformatics and biology students with critical skills in scientific research: effective communication across disciplines. The format of the event is a one-day conference with guest speakers, followed by another day of student-led training courses in omics data analysis.

[Romney] adviser Charles Manning quipped, \"Is it really such a surprise when people who have lived off taxpayer dollars funneled to them by Kennedy Incorporated endorse Ted Kennedy? On the other hand, Republican Gov. Weld looked enviously at Kennedy's clout during a September groundbreaking for Northeastern's new federally-funded science and engineering center. He reportedly leaned over to Kennedy and said, \"This isn't pork; it's sirloin.\" As a state employee, [Aaron Lazare] technically works for Weld, a Republican. Asked whether his decision to back Kennedy could cause political trouble, he said \"I'm a great supporter of Gov. Weld's. I'm a great supporter of Sen. Kennedy. What can I say? I just hope they understand.\"

The sparks started only moments after the opening of the Faneuil Hall face-off when [Romney] struck back at [Edward M. Kennedy]'s charges that some companies in which the Republican venture capitalist has invested don't provide part-time employees with health insurance by declaring that the Kennedy family's Chicago-based Merchandise Mart doesn't either. Rhetoric: Romney slammed Kennedy for his opposition to the death penalty, mandatory minimum sentences -- including for those who use guns to commit crimes or sell drugs to minors -- and Kennedy's vote in this year's crime bill deliberations against the mandatory prosecution as adults of 13-year-old violent offenders. Reality: Romney has, in fact, been a moving target on abortion. In May he said he opposed the codification of Roe v. Wade into federal law, through the Freedom of Choice Act. Later that month, he said it was \"possible\" that he would support that. But in his September debate with GOP primary challenger John Lakian, Romney said he opposed the House version of the Freedom of Choice Act.

In a television appearance just before the election, [Robert Reich] suggested that [Bill Clinton] may have to spur the economy with tax cuts or spending hikes if it did not improve by January. His comments, which Clinton campaign officials said were misinterpreted, caused interest rates to jump briefly. Friends said that the incident has made Reich newly cautious about what he says in public. If Reich ultimately comes to Washington with Clinton, it will not be his first time in the city. Before Harvard, he was an official with the Carter-era Federal Trade Commission, and a lawyer in the Solicitor General's office under conservative Robert Bork. Reich is married to Clare Dalton, the feminist legal scholar and Northeastern University law professor. The couple have two sons and live in Cambridge. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he is a trustee, and Yale University Law School. Reich said yesterday that he will take a leave of absence from the Kennedy School and said he planned to leave for Little Rock today. Reich said he \"adored teaching\" and only reluctantly left his classes, which will be taught by Jack Donahue, an associate professor of public policy.