Fine-grained acceleration control for autonomous intersection management using deep reinforcement learning

Recent advances in combining deep learning and Reinforcement Learning have shown a promising path for designing new control agents that can learn optimal policies for challenging control tasks. These new methods address the main limitations of conventional Reinforcement Learning methods such as customized feature engineering and small action/state space dimension requirements. In this paper, we leverage one of the state-of-the-art Reinforcement Learning methods, known as Trust Region Policy Optimization, to tackle intersection management for autonomous vehicles. We show that using this method, we can perform fine-grained acceleration control of autonomous vehicles in a grid street plan to achieve a global design objective.Comment: Accepted in IEEE Smart World Congress 201

OPEB: Open Physical Environment Benchmark for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence methods to solve continuous- control tasks have made significant progress in recent years. However, these algorithms have important limitations and still need significant improvement to be used in industry and real- world applications. This means that this area is still in an active research phase. To involve a large number of research groups, standard benchmarks are needed to evaluate and compare proposed algorithms. In this paper, we propose a physical environment benchmark framework to facilitate collaborative research in this area by enabling different research groups to integrate their designed benchmarks in a unified cloud-based repository and also share their actual implemented benchmarks via the cloud. We demonstrate the proposed framework using an actual implementation of the classical mountain-car example and present the results obtained using a Reinforcement Learning algorithm.Comment: Accepted in 3rd IEEE International Forum on Research and Technologies for Society and Industry 201

Gaussian-Metamer-Based Prediction of Colour Stimulus Change under Illuminant Change

Predicting how the LMS cone response to light reflected from a surface changes with changing lighting conditions is a long-standing and important problem. It arises in white balancing digital imagery, and when re-rendering printed material for viewing under a second illuminant (e.g., changing from D65 to F11). Von Kries scaling is perhaps the most common approach to predicting what LMS cone response will arise under a second illuminant given the LMS under a first illuminant. We approach this prediction problem, instead, from the perspective of Logvinenko’s new colour atlas, and obtain better results than with von Kries scaling

Iran's Uprisings: A Feminist Foreign Policy Approach

The current uprisings in Iran following the death in police custody of Mahsa Jhina Amini, a young Kurdish woman, carry strong implications for states that have adopted a "feminist foreign policy" (FFP). The ongoing protests there allow such states as Germany to showcase the potential of their FFP by responding to the violation of women’s and other marginalised groups' rights happening right now. The intersectional and inclusive viewpoint within the feminist scholarship must be indivisible from feminist foreign policy-making. Those states who have adopted an FFP must establish clear-cut and practical measures to distinguish it from current foreign policy approaches. Iranian women are at the epicentre of the current uprisings in Iran. However, the protests are intersectional and have mobilised a wide spectrum of marginalised groups. An FFP should showcase the voices of the latter and propose sound measures to defend their rights. In this vein, the political agency and demands of women and other marginalised groups in Iran must be clearly acknowledged and prioritised. The standpoint of Iranians and women should be inseparable from all measures taken against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, modes of engagement with the latter should not be restricted to the country's nuclear programme if "security" is conceived of from a feminist viewpoint. Any compromise over the nuclear negotiations with Iran that has as its trade-off the continuation of human rights' violations shall not be made under a sound FFP. Alternative measures should be taken in response to the brutal crackdown on the Iranian people by their government. Intersectional media outreach, sanctions targeting the political establishment, forming a diverse advisory team, and including gender in the collection as well as analysis of information are among such desirable measures. Supporting Iranian protesters and feminist networks on the ground and incorporating their standpoint should be the primary mode of engagement used

Different Aspect of Transperitoneal Laparoscopic Pyelolithotomy for Management of Pelvic Stones Larger than 20 mm: a Cuasi-Experimental Study in Male Patients

Background: We study different aspect of laparoscopic pyelolithotomy (LP) in patients with large renal pelvis stone regarding success rate, complications as well as the recurrence free status. Material and methods: From July 2015 to January 2019, 32 patients underwent LP for single large renal pelvis stone ($\ge$2 cm). Patient characteristics, preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin, creatinine as well as possible complications based on Clavien classification were recorded. Stone free status was evaluated using computed tomography scan one month after the surgery. Any particle bigger than 4 mm was considered as significant residual stone. During the next one years after the operation, renal ultrasonography was performed for all patients every six month to find any stone recurrence. Results: Mean operation time was 134.55$\pm$31.41 minutes. Patients were hospitalized 3.36$\pm$1.13 days in the LP group. Patients showed hemoglobin decrease of 1.50$\pm$1.05 (P=0.2). Stone free rate was 93.75\% and Mean overall stone free status estimated to be 32 months. Conclusion: PCNL has been the treatment of choice for large renal pelvis stones; however, in expert hands, LP is an appropriate substitute with superior stone free rate, less bleeding and remarkably less stone recurrence

Effects of probiotic (live and inactive Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on meat and intestinal microbial properties of Japanese quails

The present work evaluated the effect of probiotic (live and inactive Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on meat and intestinal microbial properties of Japanese quails. Twenty-four (24) 1-day-old Japanese quails were obtained from a commercial hatchery. The birds were randomly divided into 2 groups. The dietary treatments were: 1) basal diet (control), 2) basal diet plus 0.1% live S. cerevisiae and 0.05% inactive S. cerevisiae. The Japanese quails were fed with the diets from day 1 to day 72. At the end of the experiment, 12 Japanese quails per experimental group were slaughtered, and meat and intestinal samples were taken. Collected meat and intestinal samples were transported at 4°C to the laboratory of food hygiene in Islamic Azad University, Tabriz branch. In this study, each sample of 25 g was prepared according to the standard methods of Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran; No: 356, 1810, 2197, 2946, 1194 and 437 for preparation, culture and detection of bacterial total count, Lactobacilli bacteria, Coliforms bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus sp. According to the results of effects of probiotic (active and inactive S. cerevisiae) on intestinal and meat microbial properties of Japanese quails, in the probiotic cases, a significant reduction in the properties of total bacterial count (p = 0.007), Streptococcus sp. (p = 0.046), Coliform (p = 0.041) and Lactobacillus (p = 0.032) in intestinal microbial properties and only significant reduction on properties of total bacterial count was observed (p = 0.01). Probiotics may help in reducing the microbial properties of meat and intestine, and the present study had provided evidences that supplementation of probiotics in the diet of Japanese quails had a significant effect on microbial properties reduction, especially on intestinal microbial flora.Keywords: Probiotic, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, microbial properties, Japanese quail

Crosstalk between autophagy and metabolic regulation of (CAR) T cells: therapeutic implications

Despite chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy’s extraordinary success in subsets of B-cell lymphoma and leukemia, various barriers restrict its application in solid tumors. This has prompted investigating new approaches for producing CAR T cells with superior therapeutic potential. Emerging insights into the barriers to CAR T cell clinical success indicate that autophagy shapes the immune response via reprogramming cellular metabolism and vice versa. Autophagy, a self-cannibalization process that includes destroying and recycling intracellular components in the lysosome, influences T cell biology, including development, survival, memory formation, and cellular metabolism. In this review, we will emphasize the critical role of autophagy in regulating and rewiring metabolic circuits in CAR T cells, as well as how the metabolic status of CAR T cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) alter autophagy regulation in CAR T cells to restore functional competence in CAR Ts traversing solid TMEs

Renal Function following Fluorescein Angiography in Diabetic Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of fluorescein dye usage on renal function in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Diabetic patients with retinopathy who were candidate for fundus fluorescein angiography (FA) were evaluated for serum creatinine and urea levels within five days prior to performing the FA. Serum creatinine levels of 1.5 mg/dl or more in males and 1.4 mg/dl or more in females were both identified as CKD and were included in the study. An increase of 0.5 mg/dl or 25% in creatinine after FA was considered as contrast-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was also calculated for all patients using a CKD-Epi formula. CKD grading was determined based on eGFR values. Results: Forty-two patients agreed to participate, of which 23 (54.8%) were male. Seventeen patients were identified with grade 3a or lower CKD, 12 with grade 3b, 11 with grade 4, and two with grade 5 CKD. Considering all grades of CKD, the mean blood urea before and after angiography was 58.48 ± 26.7 and 57 ± 27.81 mg/dl, respectively (P = 0.475). The mean serum creatinine before and after the test was 1.89 ± 1.04 and 1.87±0.99 mg/dl, respectively (P = 0.993). The mean eGFR before and after the test was 44.024 ± 23.5447 and 43.850 ± 21.8581 mL/min/1.73 m2 (P = 0.875). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, FA does not seem to further deteriorate kidney function in patients with diabetic associated CKD