Building a dense surface map incrementally from semi-dense point cloud and RGBimages

© 2015, Journal of Zhejiang University Science Editorial Office and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Building and using maps is a fundamental issue for bionic robots in field applications. A dense surface map, which offers rich visual and geometric information, is an ideal representation of the environment for indoor/outdoor localization, navigation, and recognition tasks of these robots. Since most bionic robots can use only small light-weight laser scanners and cameras to acquire semi-dense point cloud and RGB images, we propose a method to generate a consistent and dense surface map from this kind of semi-dense point cloud and RGB images. The method contains two main steps: (1) generate a dense surface for every single scan of point cloud and its corresponding image(s) and (2) incrementally fuse the dense surface of a new scan into the whole map. In step (1) edge-aware resampling is realized by segmenting the scan of a point cloud in advance and resampling each sub-cloud separately. Noise within the scan is reduced and a dense surface is generated. In step (2) the average surface is estimated probabilistically and the non-coincidence of different scans is eliminated. Experiments demonstrate that our method works well in both indoor and outdoor semi-structured environments where there are regularly shaped objects

Sequence-structure relations of pseudoknot RNA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The analysis of sequence-structure relations of RNA is based on a specific notion and folding of RNA structure. The notion of coarse grained structure employed here is that of canonical RNA pseudoknot contact-structures with at most two mutually crossing bonds (3-noncrossing). These structures are folded by a novel, <it>ab initio </it>prediction algorithm, cross, capable of searching all 3-noncrossing RNA structures. The algorithm outputs the minimum free energy structure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After giving some background on RNA pseudoknot structures and providing an outline of the folding algorithm being employed, we present in this paper various, statistical results on the mapping from RNA sequences into 3-noncrossing RNA pseudoknot structures. We study properties, like the fraction of pseudoknot structures, the dominant pseudoknot-shapes, neutral walks, neutral neighbors and local connectivity. We then put our results into context of molecular evolution of RNA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results imply that, in analogy to RNA secondary structures, 3-noncrossing pseudoknot RNA represents a molecular phenotype that is well suited for molecular and in particular neutral evolution. We can conclude that extended, percolating neutral networks of pseudoknot RNA exist.</p

Provision of reinforcement in concrete solids using the generalized genetic algorithm

A generalized genetic algorithm has been developed to find the global optimal reinforcement contents for a concrete solid structure subjected to a general three-dimensional (3D) stress field. Feasible solutions were examined based on the genetic algorithm, and the heterogeneous strategy used ensures that all of the local optimal regions are searched and the most optimal reinforcement content found. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been validated by comparing the steel contents evaluated using the present method with those obtained from other available methods. A more economic design is achieved by the proposed algorithm. The method developed provides the designer with a valuable tool for the determination of reinforcements in complicated solid concrete structures. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.postprin

Carbon emissions intensity reduction target for China's power industry: An efficiency and productivity perspective

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd This paper proposes a scenario analysis to address whether the national and provincial CO2 emissions intensity reduction target during 2016–2020 would be achievable for China's power industry with the identification of change on carbon productivity. This productivity indicator is further decomposed to investigate contributions of different sources to productivity growth when there exists technological heterogeneity. Evaluation results show that even if all electricity-generating units in each region were able to adopt the best practice, the nationwide 18% intensity reduction target is not feasible through improving technical efficiency or upgrading technology on electricity generation and carbon abatement in a short or medium term. The existence of regional technological heterogeneity in power generation and associated CO2 emissions reduction processes implies the necessity of more differentiated regulations and policies for emission reduction across China's regions and inter-regional technology transfer. The emerging national emission trading scheme could easy some challenges in formulating emission policy for heterogeneous regions

PIKfyve, a class III lipid kinase, is required for TLR-induced type I IFN production via modulation of ATF3

Type I IFN plays a key role in antiviral responses. It also has been shown that deregulation of type I IFN expression following abnormal activation of TLRs contributes to the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. In this study, we find that PIKfyve, a class III lipid kinase, is required for endolysosomal TLR-induced expression of type I IFN in mouse and human cells. PIKfyve binds to phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate and synthesizes phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate, and plays a critical role in endolysosomal trafficking. However, PIKfyve modulates type I IFN production via mechanisms independent of receptor and ligand trafficking in endolysosomes. Instead, pharmacological or genetic inactivation of PIKfyve rapidly induces expression of the transcription repressor ATF3, which is necessary and sufficient for suppression of type I IFN expression by bin&apos;ding to its promoter and blocking its transcription. Thus, we have uncovered a novel phosphoinositide-mediated regulatory mechanism that controls TLR-mediated induction of type I IFN, which may provide a new therapeutic indication for the PIKfyve inhibitor.X111313Ysciescopu

First two cases of living related liver transplantation with complicated anatomy of blood vessels in Beijing

Aim: Living related liver transplantation (LRLT) has been developed in response to the paediatric organ donor shortage. Though it has been succeeded in many centers worldwide, the safety of the donor is still a major concern, especially in donors with anatomy variation. We succeeded in performing the first two cases of living related liver transplantation with complicated anatomy of blood vessels as a way to overcome cadaveric organ shortage in Beijing. Methods: Two patients, with congenital liver fibrosis and congenital biliary atresia were performed with living donor liver transplantation in our hospital and then followed up from November 12 to December 13, 2001. The two living donors, mother and father, were healthy aged 34 and 35 years. One right lobe (segment V, VI, VII, VIII) and one left lateral lobe (segment II and III) were used. The grafts weighed 394 g and 300 g. The ratio of graff weight to the standard liver volume (SLV) of donors was 68% and 27%. The graft weight to recipient body weight ratio was 3.2% and 4.4%. The graft weight to recipient estimated standard liver mass (ESLM) ratio was 63% and 85%. The two donors had complicated blood vessel variation. Results: Two patients undergone living donor liver transplantation had good results. Abnormal liver function with high bilirubin level appeared in a few days after operation, bur liver function returned to normal one month after operation with bilirubin level almost decreased to near normal. No bleeding, thrombosis, infection and bile leakage occurred. One had an acure rejection and recovered. The two donors recovered in two weeks. One had slight fever because of a little collection in abdomen and recovered after paracentesis and drainage. Conclusion: Living donor liver transplantation has been proved to be a good way that offers a unique opportunity of getting a timely liver graft as a response to shortage of pediatric donors, though it could be a technically difficult operation if there is anatomical variation. Copyright © 2004 by The WJG Press.published_or_final_versio

Improved blog clustering through automated weighting of text blocks

In this paper, a new clustering algorithm is proposed for blog data clustering. Considering the structure information of text blocks in blog data, we group the features of blog data into three groups and extend the k-means clustering algorithm to automatically calculate a weight for each feature group in the clustering process. We introduce a new objective function with group weight variables and present the Lagrangian method to derive the formula to calculate the group weights. This formula is added as a new step in the standard k-means iterative clustering process to automatically compute the group weights according to the distribution of features. This new process guarantees the convergency of the clustering process to a local optimal solution. The experimental results have shown that this new algorithm performed better than k-means without group feature weighting on different blog data sets.published_or_final_versio

Comparative Analysis of Oncologic Outcomes in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix with High-Risk Features for Para-Aortic Recurrence: Prophylactic Extended-Field versus Pelvic Chemoradiotherapy

Chung-Shih Chen,1 Yu-Ming Wang,1– 3 Eng-Yen Huang1– 3 1Department of Radiation Oncology & Proton and Radiation Therapy Center, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung City, 833, Taiwan; 2School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung City, 804, TaiwanCorrespondence: Eng-Yen Huang, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70, Lienhai Rd, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan, Email [email protected]: To compare the oncologic outcomes of prophylactic extended-field radiation therapy (EFRT) and whole pelvic radiation therapy (WPRT) in cervical patients at high risk of para-aortic lymph node (PALN) recurrence.Patients and Methods: From July 1999 to May 2022, a total of 115 patients with cervical cancer and high-risk features of PALN recurrence based on tumor markers, positive LNs and extensive parametrial invasion were retrospectively analyzed. All patients had received EFRT or WPRT at a dose of 39.6– 45 Gy and concurrent chemotherapy. In EFRT, coverage was extended to include the para-aortic region below the level of the left renal vein or T12.Results: Twenty-eight and 87 patients underwent EFRT and WPRT, respectively. For patients who survived, the median follow-up time was 60.8 months (range 9.2– 131.6 months) in the EFRT group and 115.9 months (range 16.9– 212.1 months) in the WPRT group. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and pelvic, extrapelvic and PALN recurrence rates were 87.7% vs 60.8% (p=0.019), 10.9% vs 25.3% (p=0.119), 18.1% vs 45.8% (p=0.011), and 0% vs 30.4% (p=0.005), respectively, between the EFRT and WPRT groups. Multivariate analysis revealed that EFRT and 2018 FIGO stage IV disease status were significant predictors of OS and extrapelvic recurrence.Conclusion: Compared to WPRT, EFRT significantly improved OS and reduced extrapelvic and PALN recurrence in patients with cervical cancer with high-risk recurrence features.Keywords: extended-field radiation therapy, cervical cancer, para-aortic recurrence, pelvic chemoradiotherap

Detecting emotion cause with sequence labeling model

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Construction of Chinese sentiment lexicon using bilingual information and label propagation algorithm

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe