A perception and manipulation system for collecting rock samples

An important part of a planetary exploration mission is to collect and analyze surface samples. As part of the Carnegie Mellon University Ambler Project, researchers are investigating techniques for collecting samples using a robot arm and a range sensor. The aim of this work is to make the sample collection operation fully autonomous. Described here are the components of the experimental system, including a perception module that extracts objects of interest from range images and produces models of their shapes, and a manipulation module that enables the system to pick up the objects identified by the perception module. The system was tested on a small testbed using natural terrain

Obesity: A Biobehavioral Point of View

Excerpt: If you ask an overweight person, “Why are you fat?’, you will, almost invariably, get the answer, “Because 1 eat too much.” You will get this answer in spite of the fact that of thirteen studies, six find no significant differences in the caloric intake of obese versus nonobese subjects, five report that the obese eat significantly less than the nonobese, and only two report that they eat significantly more

Association between erythrocyte Na+K+-ATPase activity and some blood lipids in type 1 diabetic patients from Lagos, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Altered levels of erythrocyte Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, atherogenic and anti-atherogenic lipid metabolites have been implicated in diabetic complications but their pattern of interactions remains poorly understood.</p> <p>This study evaluated this relationship in Nigerian patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 34 consented Type 1 diabetic patients and age -matched 27 non-diabetic controls were enrolled. Fasting plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol were determined spectrophotometrically and LDL-cholesterol estimated using Friedewald formula. Total protein content and Na+K+-ATPase activity were also determined spectrophotometrically from ghost erythrocyte membrane prepared by osmotic lysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results indicate significant (P < 0.05) reduction in Na⁺K⁺-ATPase activity in the Type 1 diabetic patients (0.38 ± 0.08 vs. 0.59 ± 0.07 uM Pi/mgprotein/h) compared to the control but with greater reduction in the diabetic subgroup with poor glycemic control (n = 20) and in whom cases of hypercholesterolemia (8.8%), hypertriglyceridemia (2.9%) and elevated LDL-cholesterol (5.9% each) were found. Correlation analyses further revealed significant (P < 0.05) inverse correlations [r = -(0.708-0.797] between all the atherogenic lipid metabolites measured and Na⁺K⁺-ATPase in this subgroup contrary to group with good glycemic control or non-diabetic subjects in which significant (P < 0.05) Na⁺K⁺-ATPase and HDL-C association were found (r = 0.427 - 0.489). The Na⁺K⁺-ATPase from the diabetic patients also exhibited increased sensitivity to digoxin and alterations in kinetic constants Vmax and Km determined by glycemic status of the patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It can be concluded that poor glycemic control evokes greater reduction in erythrocyte Na⁺K⁺-ATPase activity and promote enzyme-blood atherogenic lipid relationships in Type 1 diabetic Nigerian patients.</p

Mission work, Conversion and the Italian Immigrant in Turn-of-the-Century New York City: the Story of the Anson Phelps Stokes Italian Free Library

“Out of abundance, give to the poor.” Such was the Gospel precept of Italian Methodist minister, Rev. Antonio Arrighi in establishing the Anson Phelps Stokes Italian Free Library in 1894 in NYC. My talk will demonstrate the connection that existed between his Protestant missionary work and this immigrant library collection. The library opened in July 1894 in a stately building on Mulberry Street. Housing more than 3,000 books and newspapers in both Italian and English, it was funded entirely by the wealthy donor’s wife, Helen Louisa Stokes. Both she and Arrighi desired to see such a library serving the Italian immigrant population of New York City at this important time in immigration history. Capitalizing on the steady stream of over 200 daily visitors to a facility that provided both a social and educational function, the opportunities were many for acts of religious conversion and Americanization. I have been researching this immigrant library since 2010 after discovering the 1896 catalog to its collection on microfilm at NYPL and the first to connect it to this location. I welcome comments and suggestions from fellow colleagues on ways to continue my research

Toward a Gateway Pedagogy in the Two-Year College: Rhetorical Flexibility in First-Year Writing

The first-year writing (FYW) course is located at a crucial moment in a student’s educational pursuits: it is one of the few required courses that nearly all students must take, and success in this course is often an early indicator of whether a student is likely to graduate. This dissertation examines how writing assessment and FYW have been used as a gatekeeper to higher education, keeping historically marginalized or nontraditional students out of four-year institutions. Open-access institutions such as community colleges are one answer to these gatekeepers; however, community college students are, on average, most vulnerable to gatekeeping pedagogies and policies. In order for our FYW courses to be fully equitable, therefore, we must lean into a gateway pedagogy – a pedagogy which values students’ prior experiences and unique contributions to the classroom, highlights the importance of teaching rhetorical flexibility in FYW, and examines the ways cultural context influences learning and written communication. To support implementation of this pedagogy, we must infuse gateway beliefs in future faculty preparation, professional development opportunities, and WAC initiatives; in so doing, we are better equipped to open gateways between academia and students’ lived experiences, thus leading to better student outcomes