Computing camera viewpoints in a robot work-cell

Automatically planning a camera viewpoint for tasks such as inspection in an active robot work-cell is a difficult problem. This paper discusses new methods for computing viewpoints which meet the feature detectability constraints of focus, field-of-view, visibility, and resolution. A theoretical outline of the method is presented, followed by experimental results and a discussion of future work

Low zinc status and absorption exist in infants with jejunostomies or ileostomies which persists after intestinal repair.

There is very little data regarding trace mineral nutrition in infants with small intestinal ostomies. Here we evaluated 14 infants with jejunal or ileal ostomies to measure their zinc absorption and retention and biochemical zinc and copper status. Zinc absorption was measured using a dual-tracer stable isotope technique at two different time points when possible. The first study was conducted when the subject was receiving maximal tolerated feeds enterally while the ostomy remained in place. A second study was performed as soon as feasible after full feeds were achieved after intestinal repair. We found biochemical evidence of deficiencies of both zinc and copper in infants with small intestinal ostomies at both time points. Fractional zinc absorption with an ostomy in place was 10.9% ± 5.3%. After reanastamosis, fractional zinc absorption was 9.4% ± 5.7%. Net zinc balance was negative prior to reanastamosis. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that infants with a jejunostomy or ileostomy are at high risk for zinc and copper deficiency before and after intestinal reanastamosis. Additional supplementation, especially of zinc, should be considered during this time period

Swept volumes and their use in viewpoint computation in robot work-cells

This paper discusses the automatic computation of viewpoints for monitoring objects and features in an active robot work-cell. An important step in the authors' algorithm for finding viewpoints is the computation of the volumes swept by polyhedral objects moving through space. A method for approximating these volumes for arbitrarily moving polyhedra is presented. Some swept volume results are presented and methods for integrating these results into the authors' automated machine vision planning (MVP) system are discussed

CAD model acquisition using BSP trees

This paper discusses an approach to automating CAD model acquisition by creating binary space partitioning (BSP) trees from laser range data. Distinct views of the object, each represented by a BSP tree, are then merged using set operations. BSP trees have proven their utility in 3D modeling, graphics and image processing, and their tree structure allows efficient algorithms to be developed that are compact and numerically robust. These properties are of primary importance when considering an intermediate representation between raw sensor data and existing CAD models

Perturbations in neuroinflammatory pathways are associated with paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer survivors.

Paclitaxel is a common chemotherapy drug associated with the development of chronic paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). PIPN is associated with neuroinflammatory mechanisms in pre-clinical studies. Here, we evaluated for differential gene expression (DGE) in peripheral blood between breast cancer survivors with and without PIPN and for neuroinflammatory (NI) related signaling pathways and whole-transcriptome profiles from other experiments. Pathway impact analysis identified 8 perturbed NI related pathways. Expression profile analysis found 15 experiments having similar whole-transcriptome profiles of DGE related to neuroinflammation and PIPN. These findings suggest that perturbations in pathways associated with neuroinflammation are found in cancer survivors with PIPN

Chimera States for Coupled Oscillators

Arrays of identical oscillators can display a remarkable spatiotemporal pattern in which phase-locked oscillators coexist with drifting ones. Discovered two years ago, such "chimera states" are believed to be impossible for locally or globally coupled systems; they are peculiar to the intermediate case of nonlocal coupling. Here we present an exact solution for this state, for a ring of phase oscillators coupled by a cosine kernel. We show that the stable chimera state bifurcates from a spatially modulated drift state, and dies in a saddle-node bifurcation with an unstable chimera.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Can You Feel It?: Evaluation of Affective Expression in Music Generated by MetaCompose

This paper describes an evaluation conducted on the MetaCompose music generator, which is based on evolutionary computation and uses a hybrid evolutionary technique that combines FI-2POP and multi-objective optimization. The main objective of MetaCompose is to create music in real-time that can express different mood-states. The experiment presented here aims to evaluate: (i) if the perceived mood experienced by the participants of a music score matches intended mood the system is trying to express and (ii) if participants can identify transitions in the mood expression that occur mid-piece. Music clips including transitions and with static affective states were produced by MetaCompose and a quantitative user study was performed. Participants were tasked with annotating the perceived mood and moreover were asked to annotate in real-time changes in valence. The data collected confirms the hypothesis that people can recognize changes in music mood and that MetaCompose can express perceptibly different levels of arousal. In regards to valence we observe that, while it is mainly perceived as expected, changes in arousal seems to also influence perceived valence, suggesting that one or more of the music features MetaCompose associates with arousal has some effect on valence as well

Una emulsión lipídica basada exclusivamente en aceite de pescado revierte la colestasis

Prolonged parenteral nutrition (PN) leads to liver damage. Recent interest has focused on the lipid component of PN. A lipid emulsion based on w-3 fatty acids decrease conjugated bilirubin. A mixed lipid emulsion derived from soybean, coconut, olive, and fish oils reverses jaundice. Here we report the reversal of cholestasis and the improvement of enteral feeding tolerance in 1 infant with intestinal failure-associated liver disease. Treatment involved the substitution of a mixed lipid emulsion with one containing primarily omega-3 fatty acids during 37 days. Growth and biochemical tests of liver function improved significantly. This suggests that fat emulsions made from fish oils may be more effective means of treating this condition compared with an intravenous lipid emulsion containing soybean oil, medium -chain triglycerides, olive oil, and fish oilLa nutrición parenteral prolongada produce daño hepático. Recientemente se ha comunicado el efecto de las emulsiones lipídicas intravenosas basadas exclusivamente en ácidos grasos omega-3 en la resolución de la colestasis. Lo mismo se ha observado con el uso de emulsiones lipídicas mixta derivadas del aceite de soja, coco, oliva y pescado. Comunicamos la desaparición de colestasis y mejoría de la tolerancia enteral en un niño con enfermedad hepática asociada a nutrición parenteral. El tratamiento consistió en sustituir una emulsión lipídica mixta por otra que contenía de forma exclusiva aceite de pescado durante 37 días. El crecimiento y los datos bioquímicos de función hepática mejoraron de forma significativa. Este caso sugiere que emulsiones lipídicas intravenosas a partir de aceite de pescado pueden ser mas eficaces para tratar la colestasis si se comparan con emulsiones mixta