Building a dense surface map incrementally from semi-dense point cloud and RGBimages

© 2015, Journal of Zhejiang University Science Editorial Office and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Building and using maps is a fundamental issue for bionic robots in field applications. A dense surface map, which offers rich visual and geometric information, is an ideal representation of the environment for indoor/outdoor localization, navigation, and recognition tasks of these robots. Since most bionic robots can use only small light-weight laser scanners and cameras to acquire semi-dense point cloud and RGB images, we propose a method to generate a consistent and dense surface map from this kind of semi-dense point cloud and RGB images. The method contains two main steps: (1) generate a dense surface for every single scan of point cloud and its corresponding image(s) and (2) incrementally fuse the dense surface of a new scan into the whole map. In step (1) edge-aware resampling is realized by segmenting the scan of a point cloud in advance and resampling each sub-cloud separately. Noise within the scan is reduced and a dense surface is generated. In step (2) the average surface is estimated probabilistically and the non-coincidence of different scans is eliminated. Experiments demonstrate that our method works well in both indoor and outdoor semi-structured environments where there are regularly shaped objects

Emodin Suppresses Migration and Invasion through the Modulation of CXCR4 Expression in an Orthotopic Model of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

10.1371/journal.pone.0057015PLoS ONE83

Pressure-induced amorphous-to-amorphous configuration change in Ca-Al metallic glasses

Pressure-induced amorphous-to-amorphous configuration changes in Ca-Al metallic glasses (MGs) were studied by performing in-situ room-temperature high-pressure x-ray diffraction up to about 40 GPa. Changes in compressibility at about 18 GPa, 15.5 GPa and 7.5 GPa during compression are detected in Ca80Al20, Ca72.7Al27.3, and Ca66.4Al33.6 MGs, respectively, whereas no clear change has been detected in the Ca50Al50 MG. The transfer of s electrons into d orbitals under pressure, reported for the pressure-induced phase transformations in pure polycrystalline Ca, is suggested to explain the observation of an amorphous-to-amorphous configuration change in this Ca-Al MG system. Results presented here show that the pressure induced amorphous-to-amorphous configuration is not limited to f electron-containing MGs

Two Birds with One Stone? Possible Dual-Targeting H1N1 Inhibitors from Traditional Chinese Medicine

The H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009 has claimed over 18,000 lives. During this pandemic, development of drug resistance further complicated efforts to control and treat the widespread illness. This research utilizes traditional Chinese medicine Database@Taiwan (TCM Database@Taiwan) to screen for compounds that simultaneously target H1 and N1 to overcome current difficulties with virus mutations. The top three candidates were de novo derivatives of xylopine and rosmaricine. Bioactivity of the de novo derivatives against N1 were validated by multiple machine learning prediction models. Ability of the de novo compounds to maintain CoMFA/CoMSIA contour and form key interactions implied bioactivity within H1 as well. Addition of a pyridinium fragment was critical to form stable interactions in H1 and N1 as supported by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Results from MD, hydrophobic interactions, and torsion angles are consistent and support the findings of docking. Multiple anchors and lack of binding to residues prone to mutation suggest that the TCM de novo derivatives may be resistant to drug resistance and are advantageous over conventional H1N1 treatments such as oseltamivir. These results suggest that the TCM de novo derivatives may be suitable candidates of dual-targeting drugs for influenza.National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC 99-2221-E-039-013-)Committee on Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy (CCMP100-RD-030)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU98-TCM)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-TCM)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-S-02)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-ASIA-25)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-ASIA-26)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-ASIA-27)China Medical University and Asia University (CMU99-ASIA-28)Taiwan Department of Health. Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence (DOH100-TD-B-111-004)Taiwan Department of Health. Cancer Research Center of Excellence (DOH100-TD-C-111-005

Low driving voltage band-filling-based III-V-on-silicon electroabsorption modulator

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An Adaptive MDS-coded OFDM Waveform for Low-Altitude ISAC: Design and Optimization

The low-altitude economy (LAE), an emerging economic paradigm encompassing various flight activities in low-altitude airspace, has attracted widespread attention from academia and industry due to its appealing economic and social benefits. In this paper, we investigate the design of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) waveforms for LAE applications. Specifically, we propose an adaptive ISAC waveform, which integrates the maximum distance separable (MDS) code and index modulation (IM) into the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, namely A-MDS-OFDM-IM. This design combines the hybrid benefits of MDS code, IM, and OFDM techniques, i.e., the error detection capability of MDS code, the high spectral efficiency (SE) of IM, and the high sensing resolution of OFDM, thereby enabling robust communication and sensing. A comprehensive performance analysis of A-MDSOFDM- IM is provided, including its bit error rate (BER), peak-to- sidelobe level (PSL), and peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Moreover, to address the high PAPR issue of A-MDS-OFDMIM, we develop an adaptive design criterion based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), which is capable of jointly optimizing the communication, sensing, and PAPR performance of the proposed system. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed waveform achieves better BER performance than conventional OFDM-based waveforms under a non-ideal high power amplifier (HPA), owing to its low-PAPR characteristic. Additionally, the proposed waveform ensures robust sensing with satisfactory PSL performance, making it a promising ISAC waveform for LAE applications

Capture barrier of Sn-related DX centers in AlGaAs epilayers

Thermal capture and emission processes of Sn-related DX centers in AlxGa1-xAs (x = 0.26) were measured by a constant capacitance (CC) voltage transient in various temperatures, By employing a Laplace defect spectroscopic (LDS) method, the non-exponential transients were decomposed into several discrete exponential components. The results shown that more exponential components appeared in the small emission rate region as capture period increased. This indicates that electrons preferentially fill shallow energy levels due to their lower capture barriers. Discrete exponential components of the capture process were identified and four of their barriers were preliminarily measured to be about 0.14, 0.15, 0.16, and 0.17 eV, respectively

Spatial and temporal transmission dynamics of respiratory syncytial virus in New Zealand before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of acute respiratory infection. In 2020, RSV was effectively eliminated from the community in New Zealand due to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) used to control the spread of COVID-19. However, in April 2021, following a brief quarantine-free travel agreement with Australia, there was a large-scale nationwide outbreak of RSV that led to reported cases more than five times higher, and hospitalisations more than three times higher, than the typical seasonal pattern. In this study, we generated 1,471 viral genomes of both RSV-A and RSV-B sampled between 2015 and 2022 from across New Zealand. Using a phylodynamics approach, we used these data to better understand RSV transmission patterns in New Zealand prior to 2020, and how RSV became re-established in the community following the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. We found that in 2021, there was a large epidemic of RSV in New Zealand that affected a broader age group range compared to the usual pattern of RSV infections. This epidemic was due to an increase in RSV importations, leading to several large genomic clusters of both RSV-A ON1 and RSV-B BA9 genotypes in New Zealand. However, while a number of importations were detected, there was also a major reduction in RSV genetic diversity compared to pre-pandemic seasonal outbreaks. These genomic clusters were temporally associated with the increase of migration in 2021 due to quarantine-free travel from Australia at the time. The closest genetic relatives to the New Zealand RSV genomes, when sampled, were viral genomes sampled in Australia during a large, off-season summer outbreak several months prior, rather than cryptic lineages that were sustained but not detected in New Zealand. These data reveal the impact of NPI used during the COVID-19 pandemic on other respiratory infections and highlight the important insights that can be gained from viral genomes.fals