Multi-layered reasoning by means of conceptual fuzzy sets

The real world consists of a very large number of instances of events and continuous numeric values. On the other hand, people represent and process their knowledge in terms of abstracted concepts derived from generalization of these instances and numeric values. Logic based paradigms for knowledge representation use symbolic processing both for concept representation and inference. Their underlying assumption is that a concept can be defined precisely. However, as this assumption hardly holds for natural concepts, it follows that symbolic processing cannot deal with such concepts. Thus symbolic processing has essential problems from a practical point of view of applications in the real world. In contrast, fuzzy set theory can be viewed as a stronger and more practical notation than formal, logic based theories because it supports both symbolic processing and numeric processing, connecting the logic based world and the real world. In this paper, we propose multi-layered reasoning by using conceptual fuzzy sets (CFS). The general characteristics of CFS are discussed along with upper layer supervision and context dependent processing

Facing the partner influences exchanges in force

Takagi A, Bagnato C, Burdet E. Facing the partner influences exchanges in force. Scientific Reports. 2016;6(1): 35397

Coupled pairs do not necessarily interact

Previous studies that examined paired sensorimotor interaction suggested that rigidly coupled partners negotiate roles through the coupling force [1-3]. As a result, several human-robot interaction strategies have been developed with such explicit role distribution [4-6]. However, the evidence for role formation in human pairs is missing; to understand how rigidly coupled pairs negotiate roles through the coupling, we systematically examined rigidly coupled pairs who made point-to-point reaching movements. Our results reveal the consistency of the coupling force during the movement, from the very beginning of interaction. Do partners somehow negotiate the roles prior to interaction? A more likely explanation is that the coupling force is a by-product of two people who independently planned their reaching movements. We developed a computational model of two independent motion planners, which explains inter-pair coupling force variability. We demonstrate that the coupling force alone is an unreliable measure of interaction, and that coupled reaching is not a suitable task to examine sensorimotor interaction between humans. [1] Reed KB, Peshkin M (2008), IEEE Trans Haptics 1: 108-20. [2] Stefanov N, Peer A, Buss M (2009), Proc Worldhaptics 51-6. [3] van der Wel RPRD, Knoblich G & Sebanz N (2011), J Exp Psychol 37: 1420-31. [4] Evrard P, Kheddar A (2009), Proc Worldhaptics 45-50. [5] Oguz S, Kucukyilmaz A, Sezgin T, Basdogan C (2010), Proc Worldhaptics 371-8. [6] Mörtl A, Lawitzky M, Kucukyilmaz A, Sezgin M, Basdogan C, Kirche S (2012), Int J of Robotics Research 31(13): 1656-74

Great Role in Gynecological Cancer Prophylaxis of a Unique Health Check-Up Institute, Ningen Dock in Japan (Review)

In Japan, there are unique facilities (namely Ningen Dock) for health check-up that provide asymptomatic participants with a health examination, including cancer screening activities, at their own expense. The most advanced examination equipment and examinations do not only provide high accuracy, but they also reduce stress on the body of the client. Usage of the medical equipment and diagnostic techniques allows us for successful detection of many diseases in their early stages of development. This early detection leads to quicker response for the disease. On the other hand, gynecological cancer screening is a relatively simple, low cost, and noninvasive method. In this chapter, we introduce a major role of Ningen Dock in gynecological malignancy prophylaxis. Ningen Dock attendances are associated with extremely low positive gynecology cancer screening incidence (0.03%). The level of knowledge and attitude toward screening may be related to multiple factors such as ethnicity, place of residence, income, and social-economic status. Not paying attention to cancer screening may be the risk factors for non-attendance to health check-up. These findings are of importance for improving the gynecological cancer screening practices of the lower screening attendance in Japan

Key Interactions in Integrin Ectodomain Responsible for Global Conformational Change Detected by Elastic Network Normal-Mode Analysis

AbstractIntegrin, a membrane protein with a huge extracellular domain, participates in cell-cell and cell-extracellular-matrix interactions for metazoan. A group of integrins is known to perform a large-scale structural change when the protein is activated, but the activation mechanism and generality of the conformational change remain to be elucidated. We performed normal-mode analysis of the elastic network model on integrin αVβ3 ectodomain in the bent form and identified key residues that influenced molecular motions. Iterative normal-mode calculations demonstrated that the specific nonbonded interactions involving the key residues work as a snap to keep integrin in the bent form. The importance of the key residues for the conformational change was further verified by mutation experiments, in which integrin αIIbβ3 was used. The conservation pattern of amino acid residues among the integrin family showed that the characteristic pattern of residues seen around these key residues is found in the limited groups of integrin β-chains. This conservation pattern suggests that the molecular mechanism of the conformational change relying on the interactions found in integrin αVβ3 is unique to the limited types of integrins

Is the equivalence for the response of static scalar sources in the Schwarzschild and Rindler spacetimes valid only in four dimensions?

It was shown recently that in four dimensions scalar sources with fixed proper acceleration minimally coupled to a massless Klein-Gordon field lead to the same responses when they are (i) uniformly accelerated in Minkowski spacetime (in the inertial vacuum) and (ii) static in the Schwarzschild spacetime (in the Unruh vacuum). Here we show that this equivalence is broken if the spacetime dimension is more than four.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Flexible assimilation of human's target for versatile human-robot physical interaction

Recent studies on the physical interaction between humans have revealed their ability to read the partner's motion plan and use it to improve one's own control. Inspired by these results, we develop an intention assimilation controller (IAC) that enables a contact robot to estimate the human's virtual target from the interaction force, and combine it with its own target to plan motion. While the virtual target depends on the control gains assumed for the human, we show that this does not affect the stability of the human-robot system, and our novel scheme covers a continuum of interaction behaviours from assistance to competition. Simulations and experiments illustrate how the IAC can assist the human or compete with them to prevent collisions. We demonstrate the IAC's advantages over related methods, such as faster convergence to a target, guidance with less force, safer obstacle avoidance and a wider range of interaction behaviours