Multiple Vehicles Semi-Self-driving System Using GNSS Coordinate Tracking under Relative Position with Correction Algorithm

This paper describes a simple and low-cost semi-self-driving system which is constructed without cameras or image processing. In addition, a position correction method is presented by using a vehicle dynamics. Conventionally, self-driving vehicle is operated by various expensive environmental recognition sensors. It results in rise in prices of the vehicle, and also the complicated system with various sensors tends to be a high possibility of malfunction. Therefore, we propose the semi-self-driving system with a single type of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a digital compass, which is based on a concept of a preceding vehicle controlled by a human manually and following vehicles which track to the preceding vehicle automatically. Each vehicle corrects coordinate using current velocity and heading angle from sensors. Several experimental and simulation results using our developed small-scale vehicles demonstrate the validity of the proposed system and correction method

Photoinduced luminescence quenching and insolubilization of star-like branched organosilicon compounds

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Tooru Sonoda, Hidayat Rahmat, Masanori Ozaki, Katsumi Yoshino, Wolfgang Schneider, Kyung Koo Lee, Akinobu Naka, and Mitsuo Ishikawa, Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 2193 (1999) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.124961

Direct momentum imaging of charge transfer following site-selective ionization

We study ultrafast charge rearrangement in dissociating 2-iodopropane (2−C3H7I) using site-selective core ionization at the iodine atom. Clear signatures of electron transfer between the neutral propyl fragment and multiply charged iodine ions are observed in the recorded delay-dependent ion momentum distributions. The detected charge-transfer pathway is only favorable within a small (few angstroms), charge-state-dependent spatial window located at C-I distances longer than that of the neutral ground-state molecule. These results offer insights into the physics underpinning charge transfer in isolated molecules and pave the way for a different class of time-resolved studies

Open-source Software for Developing Anthropomorphic Spoken Dialog Agents

An architecture for highly-interactive human-like spoken-dialog agent is discussed in this paper. In order to easily integrate the modules of different characteristics including speech recognizer, speech synthesizer, facial-image synthesizer and dialog controller, each module is modeled as a virtual machine that has a simple common interface and is connected to each other through a broker (communication manager). The agent system under development is supported by the IPA and it will be publicly available as a software toolkit this year

Twist expression promotes migration and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Twist, a transcription factor of the basic helix-loop-helix class, is reported to regulate cancer metastasis. It is known to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In this study, we evaluated the expression of twist and its effect on cell migration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We examined twist expression using immunohistochemistry in 20 tissue samples of hepatocellular carcinoma, and assessed twist expression in HCC cell lines by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Ectopic twist expression was created by introducing a twist construct in the twist-negative HCC cell lines. Endogenous twist expression was blocked by twist siRNA in the twist-positive HCC cell lines. We studied EMT related markers, E-cadherin, Vimentin, and N-cadherin by Western blot analysis. Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay, and cell migration was measured by in vitro wound healing assay. We used immunofluorescent vinculin staining to visualize focal adhesion. Results: We detected strong and intermediate twist expression in 7 of 20 tumor samples, and no significant twist expression was found in the tumor-free resection margins. In addition, we detected twist expression in HLE, HLF, and SK-Hep1 cells, but not in PLC/RPF/5, HepG2, and Huh7 cells. Ectopic twist-expressing cells demonstrated enhanced cell motility, but twist expression did not affect cell proliferation. Twist expression induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition together with related morphologic changes. Focal adhesion contact was reduced significantly in ectopic twist-expressing cells. Twist-siRNA-treated HLE, HLF, and SK-Hep1 cells demonstrated a reduction in cell migration by 50, 40 and 18%, respectively. Conclusion: Twist induces migratory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma by causing epithelial-mesenchymal transition