Learning Vehicle Dynamics from Cropped Image Patches for Robot Navigation in Unpaved Outdoor Terrains

In the realm of autonomous mobile robots, safe navigation through unpaved outdoor environments remains a challenging task. Due to the high-dimensional nature of sensor data, extracting relevant information becomes a complex problem, which hinders adequate perception and path planning. Previous works have shown promising performances in extracting global features from full-sized images. However, they often face challenges in capturing essential local information. In this paper, we propose Crop-LSTM, which iteratively takes cropped image patches around the current robot's position and predicts the future position, orientation, and bumpiness. Our method performs local feature extraction by paying attention to corresponding image patches along the predicted robot trajectory in the 2D image plane. This enables more accurate predictions of the robot's future trajectory. With our wheeled mobile robot platform Raicart, we demonstrated the effectiveness of Crop-LSTM for point-goal navigation in an unpaved outdoor environment. Our method enabled safe and robust navigation using RGBD images in challenging unpaved outdoor terrains. The summary video is available at https://youtu.be/iIGNZ8ignk0.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Analyses bactériologiques et cellulaires des échantillons de lait chez des chèvres après sélection divergente sur la résistance aux mammites

La concentration des cellules somatiques (CCS) est un critère très utilisé pour évaluer le statut infectieux de la mamelle chez la chèvre. Grace à l’analyse en cytométrie en flux, celle-ci a été décomposée en concentrations de neutrophiles (vivants et morts), lymphocytes, macrophages dans le but d’étudier la réponse inflammatoire locale chez deux lignées de chèvres génétiquement divergentes sur le critère de la CCS. L’objectif de cette étude était de décrire l’évolution au cours de la lactation de la CCS en fonction du statut bactériologique. Les infections mammaires chez les chèvres de la lignée résistante sont moins fréquentes et avec des titres bactériens plus faibles d’après les données acquises par les méthodes conventionnelle et moléculaire. De plus, leurs réponses inflammatoire et immunitaire locales semblent plus efficaces lors d’infection

Performance Improvement of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Operating in Low Humidity Conditions Using Modified Membranes

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; Perovskite; Multi-metal oxide; Radical scavenger; low relative humidityⅠ. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background of the emergence of fuel cells 1 1.2 Overview of Fuel Cells 2 1.2.2 Energy Conversion Principle 2 1.2.2 Various types of fuel cells 3 1.3 Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) 5 1.3.1 Operating principles and components of PEMFC 5 1.3.2 Advantages and Challenges of PEMFCs 7 1.4 Perfluorinated membranes 8 1.4.1 PESA membranes 8 1.4.2 Proton transfer pathway in PEM 10 1.4.3 Chemical degradation mechanism of PEM 11 1.5 Objectives and Approach of the research 12 Ⅱ. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 15 PART Ⅰ 15 2.1 Synthesis of Ce0.667Zr0.05Ti0.95O3 metal oxides 15 2.2 Materials characterization 15 2.3 Production of Nafion-Ce0.667Zr0.05Ti0.95O3 composite membrane 16 2.4 Characterization of Nafion-CZTO composite membrane 17 2.4.1 Water Uptake Analysis 17 2.4.2 Analysis of Ion Exchange Capacity (IEC) 18 2.4.3 Oxidative Stability Analysis 18 2.4.4 Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) 19 2.4.5 Thermal Mechanical Analysis (TMA) 19 2.4.6 Tensile Strength Test 19 2.5 Electrochemical characterization 20 2.6 MEA preparation and a Fuel cell test 20 2.6.1. Modify Ce0.667Zr0.05Ti0.95O3 to the cathode catalyst layer 21 PART Ⅱ 23 2.1 Synthesis of Ti3C2Tx 23 2.1.1 Attachment process of a hydroxyl group of Ti3C2Tx 23 2.2 Materials characterization 23 2.3 Production of Nafion- Ti3C2Tx composite membrane 24 2.4 Characterization of Nafion- Ti3C2Tx composite membrane 25 2.4.1 Water Uptake Analysis 25 2.4.2 Analysis of Ion Exchange Capacity (IEC) 25 2.5 Tensile Strength Test 26 2.6 MEA preparation and a Fuel cell test 26 Ⅲ. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28 PART Ⅰ 28 3.1 Characterization of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles 28 3.2 Characterization of Nafion-CZTO NPs composite membrane 34 3.2.1 The existence of CZTO NPs in the composite membrane 34 3.2.2 Water retention capability of the composite membrane 36 3.2.3 Thermal, mechanical stability 38 3.2.4 Proton conductivity and Arrhenius plots 42 3.3 Electrochemical characterization 45 3.4 Fuel Cell performance test 48 3.5 Electrochemical Impedance analysis 55 3.6 The durability assessment of Membrane Electrode Assembly 61 PART Ⅱ 66 3.1 Characterization of Ti3C2Tx 66 3.2 Formation of functional groups on Ti3C2Tx 69 3.3 Characterization of Nafion-Ti3C2Tx composite membrane 70 3.3.1 Water retention capacity of the composite membrane 70 3.3.2 Proton conductivity measurement 72 3.4 Tensile strength test 74 3.5 Fuel Cell performance test 75 Ⅳ. CONCLUSIONS 78 Ⅴ. REFERENCES 80 Ⅵ. 요약문 84MasterdCollectio

Cerium-Based Perovskite Mixed Metal Oxide as the Radical Scavenger for PEM Fuel Cells Operating under Low Humidity Conditions

When the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is operated under low humidity, the proton conductivity decreases due to membrane dehydration, causing adverse effects on fuel cell performance. Introducing appropriate additives to the membrane and catalyst layer to prevent membrane degradation at low humidity brings significant performance improvements to proton exchange membrane fuel cells. We developed a perovskite-structured multi-metal oxide Ce0.667Zr0.05Ti0.95O3-δ (CZTO) with high radical scavenging properties and good structural stability. The nanostructured ceramic CZTO is introduced into the membrane and cathode catalyst layer to improve the durability of the membrane electrode assembly. The Nafion-CZTO membrane exhibited maximum power densities of 1298 and 519 mW cm-2 at 100 and 20% relative humidity, respectively. The improved performance of Nafion-CZTO membranes over commercial Nafion membranes is due to the high proton conductivity and better radical scavenging properties of the CZTO additive. In addition, the expected positive effects of applying CZTO additives to the catalyst layer are verified by low charge transfer resistance and high electrochemical surface activity of the CZTO catalyst through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and electrochemical surface area analyses. © 2023 American Chemical Society.FALS

An inducible system for in vitro and in vivo Fas activation using FKBP-FRB-rapamycin complex

© 2019 Elsevier Inc.The inducible activation system is valuable for investigating spatiotemporal roles of molecules. A chemically inducible activation system for Fas (CD95/APO-1), which works efficiently to induce apoptosis and leads non-apoptotic pathways, has not yet been developed. Here, we engineered a rapamycin-induced dimerization system of Fas consisting of FKBP and FRB proteins. Treatment of rapamycin specifically induces cellular apoptosis. In neurons and cells with high c-FLIP expression, rapamycin-induced Fas activation triggered the activation of the non-apoptotic pathway components instead of cell death. Intracranial delivery of the system could be utilized to induce apoptosis of tumor cells upon rapamycin treatment. Our results demonstrate a novel inducible Fas activation system which operates with high efficiency and temporal precision in vitro and in vivo promising a potential therapeutic strategy11Nsciescopu

Electrochemical Investigations of Double Perovskite M₂NiMnO₆ (Where M = Eu, Gd, Tb) for High-Performance Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Double perovskites are known for their special structures which can be utilized as catalyst electrode materials for electrochemical water splitting to generate carbon-neutral hydrogen energy. In this work, we prepared lanthanide series metal-doped double perovskites at the M site such as M2NiMnO6 (where M = Eu, Gd, Tb) using the solid-state reaction method, and they were investigated for an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) study in an alkaline medium. It is revealed that the catalyst with a configuration of Tb2NiMnO6 has outstanding OER properties such as a low overpotential of 288 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mAcm−2, a lower Tafel slope of 38.76 mVdec−1, and a long cycling stability over 100 h of continuous operation. A-site doping causes an alteration in the oxidation or valence states of the NiMn cations, their porosity, and the oxygen vacancies. This is evidenced in terms of the Mn4+/Mn3+ ratio modifying electronic properties and the surface which facilitates the OER properties of the catalyst. This is discussed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of the catalysts. The proposed work is promising for the synthesis and utilization of future catalyst electrodes for high-performance electrochemical water splitting

Clinical features of the case and control women.

<p>Clinical features of the case and control women.</p

The distribution of CT findings between the case (n = 43) and control (n = 43) group.

<p>The distribution of CT findings between the case (n = 43) and control (n = 43) group.</p