The Greedy Dirichlet Process Filter - An Online Clustering Multi-Target Tracker

Reliable collision avoidance is one of the main requirements for autonomous driving. Hence, it is important to correctly estimate the states of an unknown number of static and dynamic objects in real-time. Here, data association is a major challenge for every multi-target tracker. We propose a novel multi-target tracker called Greedy Dirichlet Process Filter (GDPF) based on the non-parametric Bayesian model called Dirichlet Processes and the fast posterior computation algorithm Sequential Updating and Greedy Search (SUGS). By adding a temporal dependence we get a real-time capable tracking framework without the need of a previous clustering or data association step. Real-world tests show that GDPF outperforms other multi-target tracker in terms of accuracy and stability

Integrated Groundwater/Surface Water Model to Evaluate Water Level of Wetland Hydroperiods and Water Depths at the Tiger Bay/Bennett Swamp Area

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Fast 3D Extended Target Tracking using NURBS Surfaces

This paper proposes fast and novel methods to jointly estimate the target's unknown 3D shape and dynamics. Measurements are noisy and sparsely distributed 3D points from a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor. The methods utilize non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) surfaces to approximate the target's shape. One method estimates Cartesian scaling parameters of a NURBS surface, whereas the second method estimates the corresponding NURBS weights, too. Major advantages are the capability of estimating a fully 3D shape as well as the fast processing time. Real-world evaluations with a static and dynamic vehicle show promising results compared to state-of-the-art 3D extended target tracking algorithms.Comment: In Proceedings of IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC), 201

Understanding the Telematic Apparatus

Under the conditions of its geographic distribution, the “telematic performance” can be regarded as a remediation of traditional concert, theater or dance formats. Conversely, and as this paper argues, the telematic performance can also be understood as an artistic format of its own right, one which then can serve as a trope for social interaction under the conditions of critical posthumanism. To gain a wider perspective, this paper analyzes Alan Turing’s “Imitation Game” from his seminal article Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 1950, proposing it as an early conceptualization of a telematic performance. This against-the-grain reading of Turing’s text reveals certain attributes that are distinctive to this type of performance. Following a descriptive and analytic critique of the “Turing Test,” Vilém Flusser’s theoretical considerations of digitization and technical apparatuses comes into play. In the second and main part of the paper, these findings are applied to a series of artistic practices with telematic performances developed by a research team at Zurich University of the Arts. The section details the construction of telematic apparatuses and demonstrates the multilayered interaction between human and nonhuman agents

Comparison of electromagnetic field solvers for the 3D analysis of plasmonic nano antennas

Plasmonic nano antennas are highly attractive at optical frequencies due to their strong resonances - even when their size is smaller than the wavelength - and because of their potential of extreme field enhancement. Such antennas may be applied for sensing of biological nano particles as well as for single molecule detection. Because of considerable material losses and strong dispersion of metals at optical frequencies, the numerical analysis of plasmonic antennas is very demanding. An additional difficulty is caused when very narrow gaps between nano particles are utilized for increasing the field enhancement. In this paper we discuss the main difficulties of time domain solvers, namely FDTD and FVTD and we compare various frequency domain solvers, namely the commercial FEM packages JCMsuite, Comsol, HFSS,and Microwave Studio with the semi-analytic MMP code that may be used as a reference due to its fast convergence and high accuracy.Comment: 12 pages, SPIE conference, Errata added on last pag

Quorum Sensing in \u3ci\u3eCandida albicans\u3c/i\u3e: Probing Farnesol’s Mode of Action with 40 Natural and Synthetic Farnesol Analogs

The dimorphic fungus Candida albicans produces extracellular farnesol (3,7, 11-trimethyl-2,6,10-dodecatriene- 1-ol) which acts as a quorum-sensing molecule (QSM) to suppress filamentation. Of four possible geometric isomers of farnesol, only the E,E isomer possesses QSM activity. We tested 40 natural and synthetic analogs of farnesol for their activity in an N-acetylglucosamine-induced differentiation assay for germ tube formation (GTF). Modified structural features include the head group, chain length, presence or absence of the three double bonds, substitution of a backbone carbon by S, O, N, and Se heteroatoms, presence or absence of a 3-methyl branch, and the bulkiness of the hydrophobic tail. Of the 40 compounds, 22 showed QSM activity by their ability to reduce GTF by 50%. However, even the most active of the analogs tested had only 7.3% of the activity of E,E-farnesol. Structure-activity relationships were examined in terms of the likely presence in C. albicans of a farnesol binding receptor protein. Includes supplemental material

Assessment of myocardial perfusion by dynamic O-15-labeled water PET imaging: Validation of a new fast factor analysis

Background: Factor analysis (FA) is an established method for separating myocardium from blood pool by use of oxygen 15-labeled water and positron emission tomography for analyzing myocardial blood flow (MBF). Conventional FA methods generating images from sinograms (sinoFA) are time-consuming, whereas FA can be performed on the reconstructed images (reconFA) in a fraction of time. We validated the MBF values obtained by reconFA versus sinoFA. Methods and Results: In 23 volunteers (mean age, 26.6±3.4 years) MBF was calculated from sinoFA and reconFA and blindly reanalyzed 1 month later by the same observer. Intraobserver agreement and reconFA-versus-sinoFA agreement were assessed according to Bland and Altman (BA). Reproducibility proved excellent for global sinoFA (r=0.968; P<.001; BA limits, −0.617 to 0.676 mL·min−1·g−1) and slightly superior for reconFA (r=0.979; P<.001; BA limits, −0.538 to 0.558 mL·min−1·g−1), with wider limits of agreement for segmental MBF from sinoFA (r=0.777; P<.001; BA limits, −1.676 to 1.656 mL·min−1·g−1) and reconFA (r=0.844; P<.001; BA limits, −1.999 to 1.992 mL·min−1·g−1). In addition, sinoFA and reconFA showed excellent correlation (r=0.975, P<.001) and agreement (BA limits, −0.528 to 0.648 mL·min−1·g−1) for global and segmental values (r=0.955; P<.001; BA limits, −1.371 to 1.491 mL·min−1·g−1). Conclusions: Use of reconFA allows rapid and reliable quantitative MBF assessment with O-15-labeled wate

Overview on Hydrate Coring, Handling and Analysis

Gas hydrates are crystalline, ice-like compounds of gas and water molecules that are formed under certain thermodynamic conditions. Hydrate deposits occur naturally within ocean sediments just below the sea floor at temperatures and pressures existing below about 500 meters water depth. Gas hydrate is also stable in conjunction with the permafrost in the Arctic. Most marine gas hydrate is formed of microbially generated gas. It binds huge amounts of methane into the sediments. Worldwide, gas hydrate is estimated to hold about 1016 kg of organic carbon in the form of methane (Kvenvolden et al., 1993). Gas hydrate is one of the fossil fuel resources that is yet untapped, but may play a major role in meeting the energy challenge of this century. In June 2002, Westport Technology Center was requested by the Department of Energy (DOE) to prepare a ''Best Practices Manual on Gas Hydrate Coring, Handling and Analysis'' under Award No. DE-FC26-02NT41327. The scope of the task was specifically targeted for coring sediments with hydrates in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and from the present Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) drillship. The specific subjects under this scope were defined in 3 stages as follows: Stage 1: Collect information on coring sediments with hydrates, core handling, core preservation, sample transportation, analysis of the core, and long term preservation. Stage 2: Provide copies of the first draft to a list of experts and stakeholders designated by DOE. Stage 3: Produce a second draft of the manual with benefit of input from external review for delivery. The manual provides an overview of existing information available in the published literature and reports on coring, analysis, preservation and transport of gas hydrates for laboratory analysis as of June 2003. The manual was delivered as draft version 3 to the DOE Project Manager for distribution in July 2003. This Final Report is provided for records purposes