Interactively Picking Real-World Objects with Unconstrained Spoken Language Instructions

Comprehension of spoken natural language is an essential component for robots to communicate with human effectively. However, handling unconstrained spoken instructions is challenging due to (1) complex structures including a wide variety of expressions used in spoken language and (2) inherent ambiguity in interpretation of human instructions. In this paper, we propose the first comprehensive system that can handle unconstrained spoken language and is able to effectively resolve ambiguity in spoken instructions. Specifically, we integrate deep-learning-based object detection together with natural language processing technologies to handle unconstrained spoken instructions, and propose a method for robots to resolve instruction ambiguity through dialogue. Through our experiments on both a simulated environment as well as a physical industrial robot arm, we demonstrate the ability of our system to understand natural instructions from human operators effectively, and how higher success rates of the object picking task can be achieved through an interactive clarification process.Comment: 9 pages. International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018. Accompanying videos are available at the following links: https://youtu.be/_Uyv1XIUqhk (the system submitted to ICRA-2018) and http://youtu.be/DGJazkyw0Ws (with improvements after ICRA-2018 submission

Role of SDF1/CXCR4 Interaction in Experimental Hemiplegic Models with Neural Cell Transplantation

Much attention has been focused on neural cell transplantation because of its promising clinical applications. We have reported that embryonic stem (ES) cell derived neural stem/progenitor cell transplantation significantly improved motor functions in a hemiplegic mouse model. It is important to understand the molecular mechanisms governing neural regeneration of the damaged motor cortex after the transplantation. Recent investigations disclosed that chemokines participated in the regulation of migration and maturation of neural cell grafts. In this review, we summarize the involvement of inflammatory chemokines including stromal cell derived factor 1 (SDF1) in neural regeneration after ES cell derived neural stem/progenitor cell transplantation in mouse stroke models

Malignant Lymphoma in the Psoas Major Muscle

An 84-year-old Japanese man taking warfarin to prevent cerebral infarction secondary to atrial fibrillation was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of a painless right back mass. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an oval-shaped mass in the right psoas major muscle. The mass showed high intensity on T1-, T2-, and diffusion-weighted imaging and mimicked an acute-phase hematoma. However, it showed no chronological changes typical of a hematoma, and MRI revealed enlargement of the mass 1 week after admission. Histopathological examination of a biopsy specimen revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Although skeletal muscle lymphoma is rare, physicians should be familiar with its MRI characteristics. In addition, determination of the lymphoma subtype has important implications for the treatment of skeletal muscle lymphoma because DLCBL may have an especially poor prognosis

Frame-Insensitive Expression Cloning of Fluorescent Protein from Scolionema suvaense

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In Vivo and In Vitro Imaging of I2 Imidazoline Receptors in the Monkey brain.

I2 imidazoline receptors (I2Rs) are associated with depression, Alzheimer\u27s disease, and Huntington\u27s disease. However, in vivo imaging of I2Rs in the monkey brain has not been reported until now. We performed in vitro and in vivo imaging of (I2Rs) in the monkey brain using 11C-labeled 2-(3-fluoro-4-tolyl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole ([11C]FTIMD) which has high and selective affinity of I2Rs. In an auto-radiography (ARG) study, the distribution pattern of [11C]FTIMD in the monkey brain was similar to that of [3H]idazoxan binging to I2Rs in the human brain, which was previously described. The specific binding of [11C]FTIMD accounted for >97% of total binding in brain regions existing I2Rs. In positron emission tomography (PET) studies, the radioactivity was accumulated in brain regions existing I2Rs ligand BU224, the accumulated radioactivity was decreased to approximately 66%–75% of the baseline measurement at 15–45 min after injection of [11C]FTIMD. These results suggest that [11C]FTIMD shows the specific-binging to I2Rs in the monkey brain as depicted by PET and ARG. We performed the first in vivo imaging of I2Rs using [11C]FTIMD in the monkey brain. Synapse, 2011. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

PET brain kinetics studies of (11)C-ITMM and (11)C-ITDM,radioprobes for metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1, in a nonhuman primate.

The metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 (mGluR1) is a novel target protein for the development of new drugs against central nervous system disorders. Recently, we have developed (11)C-labeled PET probes (11)C-ITMM and (11)C-ITDM, which demonstrate similar profiles, for imaging of mGluR1. In the present study, we compared (11)C-ITMM and (11)C-ITDM PET imaging and quantitative analysis in the monkey brain. Respective PET images showed similar distribution of uptake in the cerebellum, thalamus, and cingulate cortex. Slightly higher uptake was detected with (11)C-ITDM than with (11)C-ITMM. For the kinetic analysis using the two-tissue compartment model (2-TCM), the distribution volume (VT) in the cerebellum, an mGluR1-rich region in the brain, was 2.5 mL∙cm(-3) for (11)C-ITMM and 3.6 mL∙cm(-3) for (11)C-ITDM. By contrast, the VT in the pons, a region with negligible mGluR1 expression, was similarly low for both radiopharmaceuticals. Based on these results, we performed noninvasive PET quantitative analysis with general reference tissue models using the time-activity curve of the pons as a reference region. We confirmed the relationship and differences between the reference tissue models and 2-TCM using correlational scatter plots and Bland-Altman plots analyses. Although the scattergrams of both radiopharmaceuticals showed over- or underestimations of reference tissue model-based the binding potentials against 2-TCM, there were no significant differences between the two kinetic analysis models. In conclusion, we first demonstrated the potentials of (11)C-ITMM and (11)C-ITDM for noninvasive PET quantitative analysis using reference tissue models. In addition, our findings suggest that (11)C-ITDM may be superior to (11)C-ITMM as a PET probe for imaging of mGluR1, because regional VT values in PET with (11)C-ITDM were higher than those of (11)C-ITMM. Clinical studies of (11)C-ITDM in humans will be necessary in the future