Can LLMs Generate Human-Like Wayfinding Instructions? Towards Platform-Agnostic Embodied Instruction Synthesis

We present a novel approach to automatically synthesize "wayfinding instructions" for an embodied robot agent. In contrast to prior approaches that are heavily reliant on human-annotated datasets designed exclusively for specific simulation platforms, our algorithm uses in-context learning to condition an LLM to generate instructions using just a few references. Using an LLM-based Visual Question Answering strategy, we gather detailed information about the environment which is used by the LLM for instruction synthesis. We implement our approach on multiple simulation platforms including Matterport3D, AI Habitat and ThreeDWorld, thereby demonstrating its platform-agnostic nature. We subjectively evaluate our approach via a user study and observe that 83.3% of users find the synthesized instructions accurately capture the details of the environment and show characteristics similar to those of human-generated instructions. Further, we conduct zero-shot navigation with multiple approaches on the REVERIE dataset using the generated instructions, and observe very close correlation with the baseline on standard success metrics (< 1% change in SR), quantifying the viability of generated instructions in replacing human-annotated data. We finally discuss the applicability of our approach in enabling a generalizable evaluation of embodied navigation policies. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first LLM-driven approach capable of generating "human-like" instructions in a platform-agnostic manner, without training.Comment: 14 Page

Can an Embodied Agent Find Your "Cat-shaped Mug"? LLM-Guided Exploration for Zero-Shot Object Navigation

We present LGX (Language-guided Exploration), a novel algorithm for Language-Driven Zero-Shot Object Goal Navigation (L-ZSON), where an embodied agent navigates to a uniquely described target object in a previously unseen environment. Our approach makes use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for this task by leveraging the LLM's commonsense reasoning capabilities for making sequential navigational decisions. Simultaneously, we perform generalized target object detection using a pre-trained Vision-Language grounding model. We achieve state-of-the-art zero-shot object navigation results on RoboTHOR with a success rate (SR) improvement of over 27% over the current baseline of the OWL-ViT CLIP on Wheels (OWL CoW). Furthermore, we study the usage of LLMs for robot navigation and present an analysis of various prompting strategies affecting the model output. Finally, we showcase the benefits of our approach via \textit{real-world} experiments that indicate the superior performance of LGX in detecting and navigating to visually unique objects.Comment: 10 page

Circulating neutrophil-related proteins associate with incident heart failure and cardiac dysfunction: The ARIC study.

AIMS: Neutrophil activity contributes to adverse cardiac remodelling in experimental acute cardiac injury and is modifiable with pharmacologic agents like colchicine. METHODS AND RESULTS: Neutrophil activity-related plasma proteins known to be affected by colchicine treatment were measured at Visit 3 (1993-1995) and Visit 5 (2011-2013) of the ARIC cohort study. A protein-based neutrophil activity score was derived from 10 candidate proteins using LASSO Cox regression. Associations with incident heart failure (HF) and with cardiac function using Cox proportional hazards regression and linear regression models, respectively. The mean ages at Visits 3 and 5 were 60 ± 6 and 75 ± 5 years, respectively, and 54% and 57% were women, respectively. Each 1-standard deviation increase in the neutrophil activity score was associated with a higher risk of incident HF in mid-life (hazard ratio [HR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-1.37) and late-life (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.14-1.34), with a higher HR for HF with preserved than reduced ejection fraction (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.16-1.47 vs. HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.98-1.30). Higher neutrophil activity was associated with greater left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, mass index and diastolic and systolic dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma proteins related to neutrophil function associate with incident HF in mid- and late-life and with adverse cardiac remodelling. Therapies that modify these proteins, such as colchicine, may represent promising targets for the prevention or treatment of HF

Measures of cardiac function in Theraphosidae spiders using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging

We report the first in vivo cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of Theraphosidae spiders. MRI scanning is performed on six spiders under isoflurane‐induced anaesthesia. Retrospective self‐gating cine‐cardiac MRI (RG‐CINE‐MRI) is used to overcome the difficulties of prospective cardiac gating in this species. The resulting RG‐CINE‐MRI images are successfully analyzed to obtain functional cardiac parameters from live spiders at rest. Cardiac ejection fraction is found to increase with animal mass (Pearson correlation 0.849, P = 0.03) at a faster rate than myocardial tissue volume, whereas heart rate remains constant across animals. This suggests the spider heart undergoes additional biomechanical loading with age. The results of the present study demonstrate the potential for retrospective gating with respect to evaluating aspects of cardiac function in a wide range of previously inaccessible species

Age Dependency of Cardiovascular Outcomes With the Amyloidogenic pV142I Transthyretin Variant Among Black Individuals in the US

IMPORTANCE: Hereditary transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis is an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure (HF) with distinct treatment. The amyloidogenic pV142I (V122I) variant is present in 3% to 4% of Black individuals in the US and increases the risk for atrial fibrillation (AF), HF, and mortality. Since hereditary transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis demonstrates age-dependent anatomic penetrance, evaluation later in life may identify survivors at particularly high risk. OBJECTIVE: To estimate age-dependent risks for cardiovascular events with the variant. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study analyzed Black participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study attending visit 1 (1987-1989) (followed up until 2019; median follow-up, 27.6 years). Data analyses were completed from June 2022 to April 2023. EXPOSURE: pV142I carrier status. MAIN OUTCOMES: The association between the variant and AF, HF hospitalization, mortality, and a composite of HF hospitalization or mortality was modeled by generating 10-year absolute risk differences for each year between ages 53 (the median age at visit 1) and 80 years, adjusting for the first 5 principal components of ancestry and sex. As an example, 5- and 10-year risk differences were specifically estimated for the composite outcome among participants surviving to age 80 years. RESULTS: Among 3856 Black participants (including 124 carriers) at visit 1, 2403 (62%) were women, 2140 (56%) had hypertension, and 740 (20%) had diabetes, with no differences between groups. The 10-year absolute risk difference between ages 53 and 80 years increased over time for each outcome. Statistical significance for increased 10-year risk difference emerged near ages 65 years for AF, 70 years for HF hospitalization, and 75 years for mortality. Among participants surviving to age 80 years, carriers had a 20% (95% CI, 2%-37%) and 24% (95% CI, 1%-47%) absolute increased risk for HF hospitalization or death at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Thus, at age 80 years, only 4 carriers would need to be identified to attribute 1 HF hospitalization or death over the following decade to the variant. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, age-specific risks were provided for relevant outcomes with the pV142I variant. Despite a relatively benign course during earlier years, Black individuals who carry the pV142I variant surviving into later life may be particularly vulnerable. These data may inform timing for screening, risk counseling to patients, and potential strategies for early targeted therapy

MMP-2 Associates With Incident Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation: The ARIC Study

BACKGROUND: MMP (matrix metalloproteinase)-2 participates in extracellular matrix regulation and may be involved in heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), and coronary heart disease. METHODS: Among the 4693 ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) participants (mean age, 75±5 years; 42% women) without prevalent HF, multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate associations of plasma MMP-2 levels with incident HF, HF with preserved ejection fraction (≥50%), HF with reduced ejection fraction ( RESULTS: Compared with the 3 lower quartiles, the highest MMP-2 quartile associated with greater risk of incident HF overall (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.21-1.81]), incident HF with preserved ejection fraction (1.44 [95% CI, 1.07-1.94]), incident heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (1.48 [95% CI, 1.08-2.02]), and incident AF (1.44 [95% CI, 1.18-1.77]) but not incident coronary heart disease (0.97 [95% CI, 0.71-1.34]). Censoring AF attenuated the MMP-2 association with HF with preserved ejection fraction. Higher plasma MMP-2 levels were associated with larger left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, greater left ventricular mass index, higher E/e\u27 ratio, larger left atrial volume index, and worse left atrial reservoir and contractile strains (all CONCLUSIONS: Higher plasma MMP-2 levels associate with diastolic dysfunction, left atrial dysfunction, and a higher risk of incident HF and AF. AF is a mediator of MMP-2-associated HF with preserved ejection fraction risk

Plasma Ferritin Levels, Incident Heart Failure, and Cardiac Structure and Function: The ARIC Study

BACKGROUND: Whether iron deficiency contributes to incident heart failure (HF) and cardiac dysfunction has important implications given the prevalence of iron deficiency and the availability of several therapeutics for iron repletion. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate the associations of plasma ferritin level with incident HF overall, HF phenotypes, and cardiac structure and function measures in older adults. METHODS: Participants in the ongoing, longitudinal ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) study who were free of prevalent HF and anemia were studied. The associations of plasma ferritin levels with incident HF overall and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Linear regression models estimated the cross-sectional associations of plasma ferritin with echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function. RESULTS: The cohort included 3,472 individuals with a mean age of 75 ± 5 years (56% women, 14% Black individuals). In fully adjusted models, lower ferritin was associated with higher risk for incident HF overall (HR: 1.20 [95% CI: 1.08-1.34] per 50% lower ferritin level) and higher risk for incident HFpEF (HR: 1.28 [95% CI: 1.09-1.50]). Associations with incident HFrEF were not statistically significant. Lower ferritin levels were associated with higher E/e\u27 ratio and higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure after adjustment for demographics and HF risk factors but not with measures of left ventricular structure or systolic function. CONCLUSIONS: Among older adults without prevalent HF or anemia, lower plasma ferritin level is associated with a higher risk for incident HF, HFpEF, and higher measures of left ventricular filling pressure