Principles and Guidelines for Evaluating Social Robot Navigation Algorithms

A major challenge to deploying robots widely is navigation in human-populated environments, commonly referred to as social robot navigation. While the field of social navigation has advanced tremendously in recent years, the fair evaluation of algorithms that tackle social navigation remains hard because it involves not just robotic agents moving in static environments but also dynamic human agents and their perceptions of the appropriateness of robot behavior. In contrast, clear, repeatable, and accessible benchmarks have accelerated progress in fields like computer vision, natural language processing and traditional robot navigation by enabling researchers to fairly compare algorithms, revealing limitations of existing solutions and illuminating promising new directions. We believe the same approach can benefit social navigation. In this paper, we pave the road towards common, widely accessible, and repeatable benchmarking criteria to evaluate social robot navigation. Our contributions include (a) a definition of a socially navigating robot as one that respects the principles of safety, comfort, legibility, politeness, social competency, agent understanding, proactivity, and responsiveness to context, (b) guidelines for the use of metrics, development of scenarios, benchmarks, datasets, and simulators to evaluate social navigation, and (c) a design of a social navigation metrics framework to make it easier to compare results from different simulators, robots and datasets.Comment: 43 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

Association of maternal Vitamin D status with glucose tolerance and caesarean section in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: the growing up in Singapore towards healthy outcomes study

10.1371/journal.pone.0142239PLoS ONE10111-16GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Down-Regulation of Glucose-Regulated Protein (GRP) 78 Potentiates Cytotoxic Effect of Celecoxib in Human Urothelial Carcinoma Cells

Celecoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor that has been reported to elicit anti-proliferative response in various tumors. In this study, we aim to investigate the antitumor effect of celecoxib on urothelial carcinoma (UC) cells and the role endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays in celecoxib-induced cytotoxicity. The cytotoxic effects were measured by MTT assay and flow cytometry. The cell cycle progression and ER stress-associated molecules were examined by Western blot and flow cytometry. Moreover, the cytotoxic effects of celecoxib combined with glucose-regulated protein (GRP) 78 knockdown (siRNA), (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) or MG132 were assessed. We demonstrated that celecoxib markedly reduces the cell viability and causes apoptosis in human UC cells through cell cycle G1 arrest. Celecoxib possessed the ability to activate ER stress-related chaperones (IRE-1α and GRP78), caspase-4, and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), which were involved in UC cell apoptosis. Down-regulation of GRP78 by siRNA, co-treatment with EGCG (a GRP78 inhibitor) or with MG132 (a proteasome inhibitor) could enhance celecoxib-induced apoptosis. We concluded that celecoxib induces cell cycle G1 arrest, ER stress, and eventually apoptosis in human UC cells. The down-regulation of ER chaperone GRP78 by siRNA, EGCG, or proteosome inhibitor potentiated the cytotoxicity of celecoxib in UC cells. These findings provide a new treatment strategy against UC

Innocence for sale.

Innocence for Sale brings the viewer into the world of child sex tourism victims in Batam – a business fuelled by Singaporean demand.Bachelor of Communication Studie

Predictive Factors for Ureteral Double-J-Stent-Related Symptoms: A Prospective, Multivariate Analysis

Whether the length of stent affects stent-related symptoms after urological procedures remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate the predictive factors for stent-related urinary tract symptoms after uncomplicated ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URSL). Methods: We prospectively recruited a total of 59 patients who underwent URSL and 6-Fr double-J ureteral stent placement. The demographic and perioperative data and stent characteristics, including the length (22, 24 or 26 cm), position of proximal end (upper calyx or pelvis), position of distal end (crossing midline or not), and configurations of both ends (complete or incomplete curl) were recorded. All patients completed a self-administered questionnaire to evaluate the stent-related urinary symptoms, bladder pain, flank pain and hematuria 1 week after the procedure. All variables were analyzed by a proportional odds logistic regression model. Results: Twenty-two male (37.3%) and 37 (62.7%) female patients were enrolled in this study. Their mean age was 53.7 ± 12.9 years. The mean body height was 161.9 ± 7.9 cm (range, 145.9–178 cm). In multivariate analysis, the 26-cm stent was independently associated with the severity of frequency, urgency, and nocturia symptoms. Crossing the midline of the distal end was significantly associated with urge incontinence. The 24-cm and 26-cm stents were both very strongly associated with the severity of hematuria. Crossing the midline of the distal end was significantly associated with bladder pain. Conclusion: The length of stent and crossing the midline of the distal end were significantly associated with stent-related symptoms after URSL. Selection of the proper length of double-J stent is the most important factor in minimizing stent-related symptoms

The application of p2PSA% and prostate health index in prostate cancer detection: A prospective cohort in a Tertiary Medical Center

Background/Purpose: Prostate specific antigen (PSA) with low specificity that causes unnecessary prostate biopsies increases clinical morbidities, psychological stress, and medical expenses. We aimed to test the accuracy and cutoff value of Prostate Health Index (PHI) in men for prostate cancer detection. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 213 men who underwent prostate biopsy with PSA≦10 ng/ml or abnormal findings on digital rectal examination. Total PSA (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA) and p2PSA levels were measured by serum samples before prostate biopsy. PHI was calculated as (p2PSA/fPSA) × √tPSA. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to predict the risk of cancer and detect clinically significant prostate cancer. Results: 33 (27.0%) patients were confirmed with the diagnoses of prostate cancer by prostate biopsy. The levels of p2PSA, %p2PSA, and PHI showed statistically significant differences between prostate cancer patients and non-cancer patients. %p2PSA and PHI had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.723 and 0.772 (both p < 0.001), respectively, predicting cancer detection at biopsy than other predictors (tPSA, fPSA, %fPSA, and PSA density (AUC: 0.544, 0.538, 0.593, and 0.664, respectively). In multivariable logistic regression, %p2PSA had a statistical significant odds ratio 8.51 (p = 0.003) and PHI had an odds ratio with marginal significance 4.18 (p = 0.06). Conclusion: %p2PSA and PHI increased the diagnostic accuracy with significantly greater sensitivity and specificity than tPSA. We determined an optimal cut-off value of PHI among Taiwanese population. These findings support the usefulness in the decisional process of prostate biopsy. Keywords: Asian continental ancestry group, Biomarkers, Prostatic neoplasms, Prostate specific antige