Collaborative virtual environment for human-robot interaction and navigation

Abstract. In this work, we present a data-gathering tool for virtual reality human-robot interaction focusing on the trajectories of the participants. Unity, Robot Operating System, Photon PUN, and Oculus were utilized to create a lightweight multiplayer environment for various studies. The system supports various amounts of humans and autonomous as well as teleoperated robots. The data from these interactions can be collected and further analysed to find possible differences in human behavior. Positional and orientional data proved to be accurate. Measured latency of 200ms was found to be sufficient for the trajectory collection. Human-robot interaction studies are often restricted because of the challenges regarding large datasets, time, and financial matters. With the implementation of virtual reality, many of these challenges can be addressed. Virtual reality offers safe and easier ways to research situations that could be dangerous or impossible to produce in real life.Interaktiivinen virtuaaliympäristö ihmisten ja robottien välisen vuorovaikutuksen tutkimiseen. Tiivistelmä. Tässä työssä esittelemme tiedonkeruutyökalun ihmisten ja robottien välisen vuorovaikutuksen tutkimiseen virtuaalisessa todellisuudessa. Työkalu on kevyt moninpeli alusta, joka hyödyntää Unity-, Robot Operating System-, Photon PUN-, sekä Oculus-teknologioita. Järjestelmä tukee yhtä aikaisesti useita osallistujia, ihmisiä sekä teleoperoituja tai autonomisia robotteja. Ihmisten ja robottien välisistä kanssakäymisistä saatua dataa voidaan analysoida ja pyrkiä selvittämään mahdollisia muutoksia ihmisen käyttäytymisessä erilaisissa tilanteissa. Sijainti- ja orientaatiodata osoittautui tarkaksi. Mitattu 200ms viive on riittävä liikeratojen seuraamiseen. Ihmisten ja robottien vuorovaikutusta tutkivia tutkimuksia kuitenkin usein rajoittaa useat tekijät, kuten suuret tietoaineistot, pitkät tutkimusten kestot ja suuret kulut. Virtuaalisen todellisuuden hyödyntäminen tutkimuksissa voi auttaa näiden ongelmien ratkaisemisessa. Se tarjoaa myös turvallisempia ja helpompia vaihtoehtoja mahdollisesti vaarallisten tai muuten mahdottomien oikean elämän tilanteiden toistamiseen

Measuring spirituality in South Africa: Validation of instruments developed in the USA

Published ArticleSpirituality is receiving increased attention in the context of the workplace. Research consistently shows that spirituality is signifi cantly correlated with mental health and well-being. Most of the research on spirituality, particularly in the context of the workplace, is conducted with instruments developed in the USA. However, the inter-cultural measurement of constructs remains a concern, because instruments developed in one culture are not necessarily transferable to another culture. In the current study, the transferability of two spiritual measures developed in the USA, namely the Human Spirituality Scale (HSS) and the Organizational Spirituality Values Scale (OSVS) are considered for a sample from South Africa. The results confi rm the construct validity of the HSS and the OSVS, but indicate that the factor structures of the HSS and the OSVS should be analysed and reconfi rmed when used, particularly in a South African sample. The study provides evidence that the HSS and the OSVS cannot be transferred indiscriminately to a South African sample. This insight contributes to the quality of future research studies in South Africa, not only on the important aspect of spirituality, but also when applying instruments developed elsewhere in the world

Workplace spirituality and job satisfaction

Published ArticleIn order to obtain an improved understanding of behaviour at work, employees should be studied from physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. Although the physical and psychological dimensions of individuals at work have been studied extensively, the spiritual dimension has been neglected for many years. The objective of the current research was to determine the relationship between workplace spirituality and a positive attitude related to work, that is, job satisfaction. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 600 white-collar workers, chosen from two organizations in different industries in South Africa. The research results indicate that there is a positive relationship between workplace spirituality and job satisfaction. These fi ndings deepen the understanding of personal spirituality, organizational spirituality, and job satisfaction. They bring new insights into the signifi cant role which spirituality plays in the context of the workplace. To survive in the 21st century, organizations need to be spiritually based. This, in turn, will lead to workers being satisfi ed with their entire work experience

The Experience of Spirituality in a Multicultural and Diverse Work Environment

Published ArticleWorldwide, the study of spirituality is receiving increased attention, but very little is known about spirituality and its manifestation in African organizations. The aim of this research was to explore the experience of spirituality in a multicultural and diverse working environment, in order to enhance understanding of the functioning of spirituality in relation to diversity in the workplace. In particular, the study explores workplace spirituality from an individual and an organizational perspective within diverse organizations operating within a multicultural society. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 600 white collar workers from two organizations in different industries in South Africa. The research findings indicate that there is an inverse relationship between workplace spirituality and individual spirituality. Furthermore, the study confirmed that the experience of both personal and organizational spirituality is impacted by several diversity characteristics within a multicultural environment. In order to improve understanding of the experience of spirituality in multicultural societies and organizations, further empirical research is recommended. Globally, organizations need to realize the importance of embracing spirituality, in order to function effectively in a multicultural environment

How to Trust Your Diffusion Model: A Convex Optimization Approach to Conformal Risk Control

Score-based generative modeling, informally referred to as diffusion models, continue to grow in popularity across several important domains and tasks. While they provide high-quality and diverse samples from empirical distributions, important questions remain on the reliability and trustworthiness of these sampling procedures for their responsible use in critical scenarios. Conformal prediction is a modern tool to construct finite-sample, distribution-free uncertainty guarantees for any black-box predictor. In this work, we focus on image-to-image regression tasks and we present a generalization of the Risk-Controlling Prediction Sets (RCPS) procedure, that we term $K$-RCPS, which allows to $(i)$ provide entrywise calibrated intervals for future samples of any diffusion model, and $(ii)$ control a certain notion of risk with respect to a ground truth image with minimal mean interval length. Differently from existing conformal risk control procedures, ours relies on a novel convex optimization approach that allows for multidimensional risk control while provably minimizing the mean interval length. We illustrate our approach on two real-world image denoising problems: on natural images of faces as well as on computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen, demonstrating state of the art performance

Induction of heat shock protein expression in cervical epithelial cells by human semen.

OBJECTIVE: The 70kD heat shock protein (Hsp70), induced when cells are subjected to environmental stress, prevents the denaturation and incorrect folding of polypeptides and may expedite replication and transmission of DNA and RNA viruses. We analyzed whether messenger RNA (mRNA) for Hsp70 was expressed following exposure of a cultured human cervical cell line (HeLa cells) to human semen or in cervical cells from sexually active women. STUDY DESIGN: HeLa cells were co-cultured with a 1:50 dilution of semen from four men or with purified spermatozoa or cell-free seminal fluid. Endocervical swabs were acquired at mid-cycle from 53 women. Heat shock protein 70 mRNA was detected by a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction utilizing specific primer pairs and analysis on agarose gels. In cervical cells Hsp70 mRNA was measured identically followed by hybridization with an Hsp70-specific internal probe and detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cervical immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to the human Hsp70 were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: HeLa cell-semen co-culture resulted in the induction of Hsp70 mRNA. In addition, cell-free seminal plasma and motile sperm incubated individually with HeLa cells also induced this mRNA. Heat shock protein 70 mRNA was detected in 28 (52.8%) of 53 endocervical samples obtained from women at various time points following intercourse. The percentage of samples expressing this mRNA was 37.5% at less than 10 hours, 64.3% at 10 hours, 70% at 11 hours, and between 36% and 50% at later times after semen exposure. The detection of cervical IgA antibodies to the Hsp70 was highly associated with Hsp70 gene transcription. CONCLUSION: Human semen induces transcription of Hsp70 in cervical epithelial cells

Effects of Fishmeal or Urea Supplementation on Ruminal Fibre Digestion and Passage Kinetics in Bali Cows

Five non-pregnant Bali cows were used in a 5x5 latin square experimental design with the objective to study the effects of supplementation of graded levels of urea or fishmeal on fibre intake and digestion kinetics in Bali cows consuming low quality tropical grass hay. The animals were given ad libitum access to grass hay or supplemented daily with two levels of urea, i.e. 38 and 74 g, or two levels of fishmeal, i.e. 156 and 312 g. The measured parameters included were intake and apparent digestibility of DM and NDF, in sacco ruminal fibre degradation, and in vivo ruminal NDF digestion and passage kinetics. Intakes of DM and NDF were significantly improved by supplementation of both urea and fishmeal with fishmeal exerted a better effect at low level of supplementation. The increase of intake was mainly associated with the significant increase of rumen in sacco degradation of NDF. However, in vivo rumen digestions of NDF and DNDF were not significantly improved by supplementation due to the increased rumen pool of NDF after protein supplementation. As a result, rumen passage and digestion rates were not affected by supplementation. The effective level of fishmeal and urea supplementation to improve the intake of low quality fibrous tropical grass hay in Bali cows were 152 g/d and 74 g/d, respectively. (Animal Production 12(2): 74-81 (2010)Key Words: Bali cows, digestion kinetics, fishmeal, ure

Struktur Komunitas Karang Dan Biota Asosiasi Pada Kawasan Terumbu Karang Di Perairan Desa Minanga Kecamatan Malalayang II Dan Desa Mokupa Kecamatan Tombariri

Tujuan studi yaitu untuk mengetahui struktur komunitas biota karang dan biota asosiasi di kawasan terumbu karang. Data tutupan karang diperoleh dengan menggunakan metode LIT (Line Intercept Transect) sedangkan untuk biota asosiasi diperoleh dengan menggunakan kuadran. Penelitian dilakukan pada dua lokasi yaitu di Desa Minanga Kecamatan Malalayang II dan Desa Mokupa Kecamatan Tombariri Provinsi Sulawesi Utara. Hasil yang diperoleh pada dua lokasi menunjukkan persentase tutupan karang yang sangat rendah. Biota pada Desa Minanga dan Desa Mokupa memiliki keanekaragaman sedang. Untuk kesamaan komunitas Ascidian dan Alga ditemukan sama, sedangkan Spons, Ekinodermata, Moluska serta Ikan berbeda pada kedua lokasi. Nilai Frekuensi biota pada Desa Minanga memiliki nilai tertinggi yaitu Ascidian yang terendah yaitu Krustasea dan Alga sedangkan nilai frekuensi pada Desa Mokupa memiliki nilai tertinggi yaitu Ascidian dan yang terendah yaitu Polikaeta dan Alga. Kepadatan Ascidian, Spons dan Moluska memiliki nilai tertinggi, sedangkan nilai terendah yaitu Ekinodermata, Krustasea dan Alga di Desa Minanga, sedangkan kepadatan Moluska memiliki nilai tertinggi sedangkan Ascidian, Spons, Alga dan Polikaeta memiliki nilai terendah di Desa Mokupa