79,856 research outputs found
A note on the depth-from-defocus mechanism of jumping spiders
Jumping spiders are capable of estimating the distance to their prey relying only on the information from one of their main eyes. Recently, it has been shown that jumping spiders perform this estimation based on image defocus cues. In order to gain insight into the mechanisms involved in this blur-to-distance mapping as performed by the spider and to judge whether inspirations can be drawn from spider vision for depth-from-defocus computer vision algorithms, we constructed a three-dimensional (3D) model of the anterior median eye of the Metaphidippus aeneolus, a well studied species of jumping spider. We were able to study images of the environment as the spider would see them and to measure the performances of a well known depth-from-defocus algorithm on this dataset. We found that the algorithm performs best when using images that are averaged over the considerable thickness of the spider's receptor layers, thus pointing towards a possible functional role of the receptor thickness for the spider's depth estimation capabilities
Information management in an integrated space telerobot
The in-orbit operations, like space structures inspection, servicing and repairing, is expected to be one of the most significant technological area for application and development of Robotics and Automation in Space Station environment. The Italian National Space Plan (PSN) has started up its strategic programme SPIDER (Space Inspection Device for Extravehicular Repairs), which is scheduled in three phases, with the final goal of performing docking and precision repairing in the Space Station environment. SPIDER system is an autonomous integrated space robot, using mature Artificial Intelligence tools and technics for its operational control. The preliminary results of a study on the information architecture of the spacecraft are described
Multimodality of rich clusters from the SDSS DR8 within the supercluster-void network
We study the relations between the multimodality of galaxy clusters drawn
from the SDSS DR8 and the environment where they reside. As cluster environment
we consider the global luminosity density field, supercluster membership, and
supercluster morphology. We use 3D normal mixture modelling, the
Dressler-Shectman test, and the peculiar velocity of cluster main galaxies as
signatures of multimodality of clusters. We calculate the luminosity density
field to study the environmental densities around clusters, and to find
superclusters where clusters reside. We determine the morphology of
superclusters with the Minkowski functionals and compare the properties of
clusters in superclusters of different morphology. We apply principal component
analysis to study the relations between the multimodality parametres of
clusters and their environment simultaneously. We find that multimodal clusters
reside in higher density environment than unimodal clusters. Clusters in
superclusters have higher probability to have substructure than isolated
clusters. The superclusters can be divided into two main morphological types,
spiders and filaments. Clusters in superclusters of spider morphology have
higher probabilities to have substructure and larger peculiar velocities of
their main galaxies than clusters in superclusters of filament morphology. The
most luminous clusters are located in the high-density cores of rich
superclusters. Five of seven most luminous clusters, and five of seven most
multimodal clusters reside in spider-type superclusters; four of seven most
unimodal clusters reside in filament-type superclusters. Our study shows the
importance of the role of superclusters as high density environment which
affects the properties of galaxy systems in them.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 2 online tables, accepted for publication in
Astronomy and Astrophysic
Microbiome Heritability and Its Role in Adaptation of Hosts to Novel Resources
Microbiomes are involved in most vital processes, such as immune response, detoxification, and digestion and are thereby elementary to organismal functioning and ultimately the host’s fitness. In turn, the microbiome may be influenced by the host and by the host’s environment. To understand microbiome dynamics during the process of adaptation to new resources, we performed an evolutionary experiment with the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae. We generated genetically depleted strains of the two-spotted spider mite and reared them on their ancestral host plant and two novel host plants for approximately 12 generations. The use of genetically depleted strains reduced the magnitude of genetic adaptation of the spider mite host to the new resource and, hence, allowed for better detection of signals of adaptation via the microbiome. During the course of adaptation, we tested spider mite performance (number of eggs laid and longevity) and characterized the bacterial component of its microbiome (16S rRNA gene sequencing) to determine: (1) whether the bacterial communities were shaped by mite ancestry or plant environment and (2) whether the spider mites’ performance and microbiome composition were related. We found that spider mite performance on the novel host plants was clearly correlated with microbiome composition. Because our results show that only little of the total variation in the microbiome can be explained by the properties of the host (spider mite) and the environment (plant species) we studied, we argue that the bacterial community within hosts could be valuable for understanding a species’ performance on multiple resources
SDSS superclusters: morphology and galaxy content
We compare the galaxy populations in superclusters of different morphology in
the nearby Universe (180 < d < 270 Mpc) to see whether the inner structure and
overall morphology of superclusters are important in shaping galaxy properties
in superclusters. Supercluster morphology has been found with Minkowski
functionals. We analyse the probability density distributions of colours,
morphological types, stellar masses, star formation rates (SFR) of galaxies,
and the peculiar velocities of the main galaxies in groups in superclusters of
filament and spider types, and in the field. We show that the fraction of red,
early-type, low SFR galaxies in filament-type superclusters is higher than in
spider-type superclusters; in low-density global environments their fraction is
lower than in superclusters. In all environments the fraction of red, high
stellar mass, and low SFR galaxies in rich groups is higher than in poor
groups. In superclusters of spider morphology red, high SFR galaxies have
higher stellar masses than in filament-type superclusters. Groups of equal
richness host galaxies with larger stellar masses, a larger fraction of
early-type and red galaxies, and a higher fraction of low SFR galaxies, if they
are located in superclusters of filament morphology. The peculiar velocities of
the main galaxies in groups from superclusters of filament morphology are
higher than in those of spider morphology. Groups with higher peculiar
velocities of their main galaxies in filament-type superclusters are located in
higher density environment than those with low peculiar velocities. There are
significant differences between galaxy populations of the individual richest
superclusters. Therefore both local (group) and global (supercluster)
environments and even supercluster morphology play an important role in the
formation and evolution of galaxies.Comment: Comments: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy
and Astrophysic
Modeling the Searching Behavior of Social Monkeys
We discuss various features of the trajectories of spider monkeys looking for
food in a tropical forest, as observed recently in an extensive {\it in situ}
study. Some of the features observed can be interpreted as the result of social
interactions. In addition, a simple model of deterministic walk in a random
environment reproduces the observed angular correlations between successive
steps, and in some cases, the emergence of L\'evy distributions for the length
of the steps.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
An open interface for parallelization of traffic simulation
In this paper, we present the implementation of a parallel road traffic simulation using the concept of Lane Cut Points (LCPs) in the Spider programming environment. LCPs are storage buffers inserted into lane data structures at the road network partition edges. Vehicles enter a partition at the edges from an LCP and exit a partition edge into an LCP at the end of every simulation step. Spider, a parallel programming environment, which runs on PVM, coordinates the execution of the parallel traffic simulation
SPIDER: CMB Polarimetry from the Edge of Space
Spider is a balloon-borne instrument designed to map the polarization of the millimeter-wave sky at large angular scales. Spider targets the B-mode signature of primordial gravitational waves in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), with a focus on mapping a large sky area with high fidelity at multiple frequencies. Spider ’s first long-duration balloon (LDB) flight in January 2015 deployed a total of 2400 antenna-coupled transition-edge sensors (TESs) at 90 GHz and 150 GHz. In this work we review the design and in-flight performance of the Spider instrument, with a particular focus on the measured performance of the detectors and instrument in a space-like loading and radiation environment. Spider ’s second flight in December 2018 will incorporate payload upgrades and new receivers to map the sky at 285 GHz, providing valuable information for cleaning polarized dust emission from CMB maps
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