Performance evaluation of a distributed integrative architecture for robotics

The eld of robotics employs a vast amount of coupled sub-systems. These need to interact cooperatively and concurrently in order to yield the desired results. Some hybrid algorithms also require intensive cooperative interactions internally. The architecture proposed lends it- self amenable to problem domains that require rigorous calculations that are usually impeded by the capacity of a single machine, and incompatibility issues between software computing elements. Implementations are abstracted away from the physical hardware for ease of de- velopment and competition in simulation leagues. Monolithic developments are complex, and the desire for decoupled architectures arises. Decoupling also lowers the threshold for using distributed and parallel resources. The ability to re-use and re-combine components on de- mand, therefore is essential, while maintaining the necessary degree of interaction. For this reason we propose to build software components on top of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using Web Services. An additional bene t is platform independence regarding both the operating system and the implementation language. The robot soccer platform as well as the associated simulation leagues are the target domain for the development. Furthermore are machine vision and remote process control related portions of the architecture currently in development and testing for industrial environments. We provide numerical data based on the Python frameworks ZSI and SOAPpy undermining the suitability of this approach for the eld of robotics. Response times of signi cantly less than 50 ms even for fully interpreted, dynamic languages provides hard information showing the feasibility of Web Services based SOAs even in time critical robotic applications

Colour constancy using von Kries transformations: colour constancy "goes to the Lab"

Colour constancy algorithms aim at correcting colour towards a correct perception within scenes. To achieve this goal they estimate a white point (the illuminant's colour), and correct the scene for its in uence. In contrast, colour management performs on input images colour transformations according to a pre-established input pro le (ICC pro le) for the given con- stellation of input device (camera) and conditions (illumination situation). The latter case presents a much more analytic approach (it is not based on an estimation), and is based on solid colour science and current industry best practises, but it is rather in exible towards cases with altered conditions or capturing devices. The idea as outlined in this paper is to take up the idea of working on visually linearised and device independent CIE colour spaces as used in colour management, and to try to apply them in the eld of colour constancy. For this purpose two of the most well known colour constancy algorithms White Patch Retinex and Grey World Assumption have been ported to also work on colours in the CIE LAB colour space. Barnard's popular benchmarking set of imagery was corrected with the original imple- mentations as a reference and the modi ed algorithms. The results appeared to be promising, but they also revealed strengths and weaknesses

Source code: automatic C library wrapping - Ctypes from the trenches

At some point of time many Python developers at least in computational science will face the situation that they want to interface some natively compiled library from Python. For binding native code to Python by now a larger variety of tools and technologies are available. This paper focuses on wrapping shared C libraries, using Python's default Ctypes, with the help of the matching source code generator from CtypesLib

Automatic C library wrapping Ctypes from the trenches

At some point of time many Python developers at least in computational science will face the situation that they want to interface some natively compiled library from Python. For binding native code to Python by now a larger variety of tools and technologies are available. This paper focuses on wrapping shared C libraries, using Python's default Ctypes. Particularly tools to ease the process (by using code generation) and some best practises will be stressed. The paper will try to tell a step by step story of the wrapping and development process, that should be transferable to similar problems

Using Provenance to support Good Laboratory Practice in Grid Environments

Conducting experiments and documenting results is daily business of scientists. Good and traceable documentation enables other scientists to confirm procedures and results for increased credibility. Documentation and scientific conduct are regulated and termed as "good laboratory practice." Laboratory notebooks are used to record each step in conducting an experiment and processing data. Originally, these notebooks were paper based. Due to computerised research systems, acquired data became more elaborate, thus increasing the need for electronic notebooks with data storage, computational features and reliable electronic documentation. As a new approach to this, a scientific data management system (DataFinder) is enhanced with features for traceable documentation. Provenance recording is used to meet requirements of traceability, and this information can later be queried for further analysis. DataFinder has further important features for scientific documentation: It employs a heterogeneous and distributed data storage concept. This enables access to different types of data storage systems (e. g. Grid data infrastructure, file servers). In this chapter we describe a number of building blocks that are available or close to finished development. These components are intended for assembling an electronic laboratory notebook for use in Grid environments, while retaining maximal flexibility on usage scenarios as well as maximal compatibility overlap towards each other. Through the usage of such a system, provenance can successfully be used to trace the scientific workflow of preparation, execution, evaluation, interpretation and archiving of research data. The reliability of research results increases and the research process remains transparent to remote research partners.Comment: Book Chapter for "Data Provenance and Data Management for eScience," of Studies in Computational Intelligence series, Springer. 25 pages, 8 figure

Thermalization of magnons in yttrium-iron garnet: nonequilibrium functional renormalization group approach

Using a nonequilibrium functional renormalization group (FRG) approach we calculate the time evolution of the momentum distribution of a magnon gas in contact with a thermal phonon bath. As a cutoff for the FRG procedure we use a hybridization parameter {\Lambda} giving rise to an artificial damping of the phonons. Within our truncation of the FRG flow equations the time evolution of the magnon distribution is obtained from a rate equation involving cutoff-dependent nonequilibrium self-energies, which in turn satisfy FRG flow equations depending on cutoff-dependent transition rates. Our approach goes beyond the Born collision approximation and takes the feedback of the magnons on the phonons into account. We use our method to calculate the thermalization of a quasi two-dimensional magnon gas in the magnetic insulator yttrium-iron garnet after a highly excited initial state has been generated by an external microwave field. We obtain good agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, final versio

Continuous Multidisciplinary Care for Patients With Orofacial Clefts—Should the Follow-up Interval Depend on the Cleft Entity?

Objective: The multidisciplinary follow-up of patients with cleft lip with or without palate (CL/P) is organized differently in specialized centers worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the different treatment needs of patients with different manifestations of CL/P and to potentially adapt the frequency and timing of checkup examinations accordingly. Design:We retrospectively analyzed the data of all patients attending the CL/P consultation hour at a tertiary care center between June 2005 and August 2020 (n=1126). We defined 3 groups of cleft entities: (1) isolated clefts of lip or lip and alveolus (CL/A), (2) isolated clefts of the hard and/or soft palate, and (3) complete clefts of lip, alveolus and palate (CLP). Timing and type of therapy recommendations given by the specialists of different disciplines were analyzed for statistical differences. Results: Patients with CLP made up the largest group (n=537), followed by patients with cleft of the soft palate (n=371) and CL ±A (n=218). There were significant differences between the groups with regard to type and frequency of treatment recommendations. A therapy was recommended in a high proportion of examinations in all groups at all ages. Conclusion: Although there are differences between cleft entities, the treatment need of patients with orofacial clefts is generally high during the growth period. Patients with CL/A showed a similarly high treatment demand and should be monitored closely. A close follow-up for patients with diagnosis of CL/P is crucial and measures should be taken to increase participation in followup appointments

Clinical Follow-Up in Orofacial Clefts—Why Multidisciplinary Care Is the Key

(1) Background: Although most clinicians involved in the treatment of cleft patients agree upon the major importance of interdisciplinary cooperation and many protocols and concepts have been discussed in the literature, there is little evidence of the relevance of continuous interdisciplinary care. We aimed to objectify the type and number of therapeutic decisions resulting from an annual multidisciplinary follow-up. (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of all 1126 patients followed up in the weekly consultation hours for cleft patients at university clinics in Leipzig for the years 2005–2020. We assessed the clinical data of every patient and specifically evaluated the treatment decisions taken at different points in time by the participating experts of different specialties. (3) Results: In total, 3470 consultations were included in the evaluation, and in 70% of those, a therapeutic recommendation was given. Each specialty showed certain time frames with intense treatment demand, which partially overlapped. Nearly all therapy recommendations were statistically attached to a certain age (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: There is an exceptionally high need for the interdisciplinary assessment of patients with cleft formation. Some developmental phases are of particular importance with regard to regular follow-up and initiation of different treatment protocols. The therapy and checkup of cleft patients should be concentrated in specialized centers