Graph-based Trajectory Prediction with Cooperative Information

For automated driving, predicting the future trajectories of other road users in complex traffic situations is a hard problem. Modern neural networks use the past trajectories of traffic participants as well as map data to gather hints about the possible driver intention and likely maneuvers. With increasing connectivity between cars and other traffic actors, cooperative information is another source of data that can be used as inputs for trajectory prediction algorithms. Connected actors might transmit their intended path or even complete planned trajectories to other actors, which simplifies the prediction problem due to the imposed constraints. In this work, we outline the benefits of using this source of data for trajectory prediction and propose a graph-based neural network architecture that can leverage this additional data. We show that the network performance increases substantially if cooperative data is present. Also, our proposed training scheme improves the network's performance even for cases where no cooperative information is available. We also show that the network can deal with inaccurate cooperative data, which allows it to be used in real automated driving environments.Comment: Accepted for publication at the 26th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems 202

A Framework for Simulation Models of Service-Oriented Architectures

Abstract Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) are one of the main paradigms for future software systems. Since these software systems are composed of a large number of different components it is non trivial to assure an adequate Quality of Service (QoS) of the overall system and performance analysis becomes an important issue. To consider performance issues early in the development process, a model based approach becomes necessary which has to be embedded into the development process of SOA to avoid overhead and assure consistency. In particular the specification of the software system should be used as a base for the resulting performance model. However, since common specification techniques for SOA are very high level, many details have to be added to come to an executable simulation model which is often needed for a detailed analysis of performance or dependability. This paper presents an approach which combines an extended version of process chains to describe the SOA components and some quantitative specifications at the higher levels. For the modelling of the detailed architecture and protocols the simulation tool OMNeT++ is used. Both modelling levels are combined resulting in an executable simulation model for the whole architecture

Proteome analysis of vaccinia virus IHD-W-infected HEK 293 cells with 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-PSD-TOF MS of on solid phase support N-terminally sulfonated peptides

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the successful eradication of smallpox by the WHO-led vaccination programme, pox virus infections remain a considerable health threat. The possible use of smallpox as a bioterrorism agent as well as the continuous occurrence of zoonotic pox virus infections document the relevance to deepen the understanding for virus host interactions. Since the permissiveness of pox infections is independent of hosts surface receptors, but correlates with the ability of the virus to infiltrate the antiviral host response, it directly depends on the hosts proteome set. In this report the proteome of HEK293 cells infected with Vaccinia Virus strain IHD-W was analyzed by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-PSD-TOF MS in a bottom-up approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cellular and viral proteomes of VACV IHD-W infected HEK293 cells, UV-inactivated VACV IHD-W-treated as well as non-infected cells were compared. Derivatization of peptides with 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) carried out on ZipTipμ-C18 columns enabled protein identification via the peptides' primary sequence, providing improved s/n ratios as well as signal intensities of the PSD spectra. The expression of more than 24 human proteins was modulated by the viral infection. Effects of UV-inactivated and infectious viruses on the hosts' proteome concerning energy metabolism and proteins associated with gene expression and protein-biosynthesis were quite similar. These effects might therefore be attributed to virus entry and virion proteins. However, the modulation of proteins involved in apoptosis was clearly correlated to infectious viruses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The proteome analysis of infected cells provides insight into apoptosis modulation, regulation of cellular gene expression and the regulation of energy metabolism. The confidence of protein identifications was clearly improved by the peptides' derivatization with SPITC on a solid phase support. Some of the identified proteins have not been described in the context of poxvirus infections before and need to be further characterised to identify their meaning for apoptosis modulation and pathogenesis.</p

The Coronary Microcirculation in Hamster-to-Rat Cardiac Xenografts

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to establish a new experimental model to directly analyse the coronary microcirculation in cardiac xenografts. METHODS Intravital fluorescence microscopy (IVM) of the subepicardial microcirculation in heterotopically transplanted hamster-to-rat cardiac xenografts was performed at 30 and 90 min of reperfusion. We quantitatively assessed the microcirculatory perfusion characteristics as well as the interactions of leukocytes and platelets with the endothelium of postcapillary coronary venules in non-sensitised as well as sensitised recipients. RESULTS In this first experimental IVM study of cardiac xenografts, we successfully visualised the subepicardial microcirculation, i.e. feeding arterioles, nutritive capillaries and draining postcapillary venules, during reperfusion. Leukocyte-endothelial and platelet-endothelial cell interactions could be quantified. In the non-sensitised group, the myocardial microcirculation remained stable during the observation period of 90 min, whereas in the sensitised group, xenografts were rejected immediately. CONCLUSIONS We established a model for the assessment of the microcirculatory dysfunction and inflammation during ischaemia/reperfusion injury in hamster-to-rat cardiac xenografts

Quercetin Protects Primary Human Osteoblasts Exposed to Cigarette Smoke through Activation of the Antioxidative Enzymes HO-1 and SOD-1

Smokers frequently suffer from impaired fracture healing often due to poor bone quality and stability. Cigarette smoking harms bone cells and their homeostasis by increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The aim of this study was to investigate whether Quercetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant, can protect osteoblasts from the toxic effects of smoking. Human osteoblasts exposed to cigarette smoke medium (CSM) rapidly produced ROS and their viability decreased concentration- and time-dependently. Co-, pre- and postincubation with Quercetin dose-dependently improved their viability. Quercetin increased the expression of the anti-oxidative enzymes heme-oxygenase- (HO-) 1 and superoxide-dismutase- (SOD-) 1. Inhibiting HO-1 activity abolished the protective effect of Quercetin. Our results demonstrate that CSM damages human osteoblasts by accumulation of ROS. Quercetin can diminish this damage by scavenging the radicals and by upregulating the expression of HO-1 and SOD-1. Thus, a dietary supplementation with Quercetin could improve bone matter, stability and even fracture healing in smokers

Flavour Physics in the Soft Wall Model

We extend the description of flavour that exists in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model to the soft wall (SW) model in which the IR brane is removed and the Higgs is free to propagate in the bulk. It is demonstrated that, like the RS model, one can generate the hierarchy of fermion masses by localising the fermions at different locations throughout the space. However, there are two significant differences. Firstly the possible fermion masses scale down, from the electroweak scale, less steeply than in the RS model and secondly there now exists a minimum fermion mass for fermions sitting towards the UV brane. With a quadratic Higgs VEV, this minimum mass is about fifteen orders of magnitude lower than the electroweak scale. We derive the gauge propagator and despite the KK masses scaling as $m_n^2\sim n$, it is demonstrated that the coefficients of four fermion operators are not divergent at tree level. FCNC's amongst kaons and leptons are considered and compared to calculations in the RS model, with a brane localised Higgs and equivalent levels of tuning. It is found that since the gauge fermion couplings are slightly more universal and the SM fermions typically sit slightly further towards the UV brane, the contributions to observables such as $\epsilon_K$ and $\Delta m_K$, from the exchange of KK gauge fields, are significantly reduced.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables; v2: references added; v3: modifications to figures 4,5 and 6. version to appear in JHE

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file