The improvisation of structured keyboard accompaniments for the ballet class

This dissertation explores the question of how a pianist can learn to improvise accompaniments for a ballet class. It aims to examine the background knowledge required in order to embark upon such a task and to provide a theoretical tool kit for pianists to use in improvising. Additionally, this dissertation makes a detailed case study of notated improvisations by Michael Brett, an expert exponent of this genre. A thematic catalogue is provided of Brett’s improvisations for a forthcoming publication, examining accompaniment figurations and rhythmic structures. A more detailed harmonic and phrase analysis is then made of three complete pieces, examining the cadential and melodic structures that underpin these works. Similar to the Baroque partimento tradition, these phrase‐level analyses can be used as templates, providing the middle ground scaffolding for the improvising pianist to embellish. They can also be treated as exemplars as to how a pianist may structure their own improvisations to suit any particular ballet exercise

ART-SLAM: Accurate Real-Time 6DoF LiDAR SLAM

Real-time six degrees-of-freedom pose estimation with ground vehicles represents a relevant and well-studied topic in robotics due to its many applications such as autonomous driving and 3D mapping. Although some systems already exist, they are either not accurate or they struggle in real-time settings. In this letter, we propose a fast, accurate and modular LiDAR SLAM system for both batch and online estimation. We first apply downsampling and outlier removal, to filter out noise and reduce the size of the input point clouds. Filtered clouds are then used for pose tracking, possibly aided by a pre-tracking module, and floor detection, to ground optimize the estimated trajectory. Efficient multi-steps loop closure and pose optimization, achieved through a g2o pose graph, are the last steps of the proposed SLAM pipeline. We compare the performance of our system with state-of-the-art point cloud-based methods, LOAM, LeGO-LOAM, A-LOAM, LeGO-LOAM-BOR, LIO-SAM and HDL, and show that the proposed system achieves equal or better accuracy and can easily handle even cases without loops. The comparison is done evaluating the estimated trajectory displacement using the KITTI (urban driving) and Chilean (underground mine) datasets

Control of chromosome interactions by condensin complexes

Although condensin protein complexes have long been known for their central role during the formation of mitotic chromosomes, new evidence suggests they also act as global regulators of genome topology during all phases of the cell cycle. By controlling intra-chromosomal and inter-chromosomal DNA interactions, condensins function in various contexts of chromosome biology, from the regulation of transcription to the unpairing of homologous chromosomes. This review highlights recent advances in understanding how these global functions might be intimately linked to the molecular architecture of condensins and their extraordinary mode of binding to DNA

Advancements in Radar Odometry

Radar odometry estimation has emerged as a critical technique in the field of autonomous navigation, providing robust and reliable motion estimation under various environmental conditions. Despite its potential, the complex nature of radar signals and the inherent challenges associated with processing these signals have limited the widespread adoption of this technology. This paper aims to address these challenges by proposing novel improvements to an existing method for radar odometry estimation, designed to enhance accuracy and reliability in diverse scenarios. Our pipeline consists of filtering, motion compensation, oriented surface points computation, smoothing, one-to-many radar scan registration, and pose refinement. The developed method enforces local understanding of the scene, by adding additional information through smoothing techniques, and alignment of consecutive scans, as a refinement posterior to the one-to-many registration. We present an in-depth investigation of the contribution of each improvement to the localization accuracy, and we benchmark our system on the sequences of the main datasets for radar understanding, i.e., the Oxford Radar RobotCar, MulRan, and Boreas datasets. The proposed pipeline is able to achieve superior results, on all scenarios considered and under harsh environmental constraints

On the precision of 6 DoF IMU-LiDAR based localization in GNSS-denied scenarios

Positioning and navigation represent relevant topics in the field of robotics, due to their multiple applications in real-world scenarios, ranging from autonomous driving to harsh environment exploration. Despite localization in outdoor environments is generally achieved using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, global navigation satellite system-denied environments are typical of many situations, especially in indoor settings. Autonomous robots are commonly equipped with multiple sensors, including laser rangefinders, IMUs, and odometers, which can be used for mapping and localization, overcoming the need for global navigation satellite system data. In literature, almost no information can be found on the positioning accuracy and precision of 6 Degrees of Freedom Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) localization systems, especially for real-world scenarios. In this paper, we present a short review of state-of-the-art light detection and ranging localization methods in global navigation satellite system-denied environments, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Then, we evaluate two state-of-the-art Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) systems able to also perform localization, one of which implemented by us. We benchmark these two algorithms on manually collected dataset, with the goal of providing an insight into their attainable precision in real-world scenarios. In particular, we present two experimental campaigns, one indoor and one outdoor, to measure the precision of these algorithms. After creating a map for each of the two environments, using the simultaneous localization and mapping part of the systems, we compute a custom localization error for multiple, different trajectories. Results show that the two algorithms are comparable in terms of precision, having a similar mean translation and rotation errors of about 0.01 m and 0.6 degrees, respectively. Nevertheless, the system implemented by us has the advantage of being modular, customizable and able to achieve real-time performance

Simulazione mediante modelli fem di saldature TIG e laser di piastre in lega Inconel 625

L’obiettivo del presente studio è realizzare modelli numerici che siano di supporto per l’analisi dei fenomeni termici e strutturali relativi alla progettazione e alla realizzazione delle saldature: tale attività si suddivide a sua volta nello studio del numero e della velocità delle passate, delle potenze termiche messe in gioco, della corretta rappresentazione del comportamento del materiale, della scelta e posizionamento dei vincoli, della valutazione delle distorsioni e tensioni finali della giunzione ecc. Questa attività di studio si è avvalsa del codice agli elementi finiti ANSYS Release 11 rivelatosi idoneo a rappresentare la saldatura TIG e laser. I risultati delle elaborazioni numeriche sono stati confrontati con i dati sperimentali registrati nei laboratori ENEA. Tali prove sperimentali di saldatura testa a testa tra due piastre in INCONEL 625 sono quelle previste nell’ambito della progettazione del tokamak IGNITOR, una macchina per lo studio della fusione nucleare. In via preliminare sono state effettuate alcune considerazioni di carattere generale relative agli aspetti fisici del fenomeno, alla sua classificazione ed alla normativa corrispondente.The aim of the current study is to carry out numerical models that can support the analysis of thermal and structural phenomenon related to the design and realization of welding: this activity is divided in turn in the study of the number and the speed of passes, the thermal powers involved, the correct representation of the material behaviour, the choice of the restraints’ placement, the evaluation of the final strains and stresses in the joint and so on. This study activity has made use of Ansys Release 11 finite element code that has been revealed suitable to represent TIG and laser welding. The results of numerical calculations have been compared with the experimental data recorded in the ENEA laboratories. These butt-welding experimental tests between two plates of INCONEL 625 are the ones planned in the field of the design of IGNITOR tokamak, a machine for the nuclear fusion study. In a preliminary way some general considerations have been developed relative to the physical aspects of the phenomenon, its classification and the corresponding rules

Cluster of hepatitis C in a family: a twenty-year follow-up

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