Moving Object Detection and Tracking in Open-Air Test Bed

In mobile and ubiquitous computing environments, acquisition of contextual information about a user situation is necessary to provide useful services. Although the definition of user context may change according to the situation or the service used, contextual information about who, where, and when are considered to be essential. We have built a test bed with multiple sensors: floor pressure sensors, RFID (radio frequency identification) tag systems, and cameras, to carry out experiments to detect the positions of users and track their movement. The conventional background subtraction method by using cameras was used for moving object detection and tracking. In this paper, we propose knowledge application and parameter adaptation in the background subtraction method. The results are presented to show that the proposed method decreases the detection errors

Panoramic-Environmental Description as Robots\u27 Visual Short-Term Memory

Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Leuven, Belgium, May 199

ISAI: Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57

The existence of the axion is a unique solution for the strong CP problem, and the axion is one of the most promising candidates of the dark matter. Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57 (ISAI) is being prepared as a complemented table-top experiment to confirm the solar axion scenario. Probing an X-ray emission from the nuclear transitions associated with the axion-nucleon coupling is a leading approach. ISAI searches for the monochromatic 14.4 keV X-ray from the first excited state of 57Fe using a state-of-the-art pixelized silicon detector, dubbed XRPIX, under an extremely low-background environment. We highlight scientific objectives, experimental design and the latest status of ISAI

Allometric Relationships and Carbon and Nitrogen Contents for Three Major Tree Species (Quercus crispula, Betula ermanii, and Abies sachalinensis) in Northern Hokkaido, Japan

To evaluate the biomass of conifer-broadleaf mixed forests in northern Hokkaido, Japan, the relationships between tree dry masses (including belowground roots) and diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height (H) for major three tree species (Quercus crispula Blume, Betula ermanii Cham., and Abies sachalinensis (F. Schmidt) Mast.) were calculated. In addition, carbon and nitrogen contents of each tree organ were measured for an accurate estimation of the carbon and nitrogen stocks in the trees. For all three species, one allometric equation explained the relationship between DBH (or DBH2 × H) and the dry masses of whole tree, aboveground total, trunk, branch, and coarse root. Leaf dry mass of Abies, a coniferous species, was higher than that of the two deciduous species at the same DBH. The allometric equations, except that for coniferous leaf, were comparable to previous studies in Hokkaido. The difference in the stand density is a likely reason for the large difference in the coniferous leaf dry mass between studies. Carbon and nitrogen contents for Abies were higher and lower, respectively, than the other two species for all organs (leaf, branch, trunk, and coarse root). Nearly all the measured carbon contents were less than but close to 0.5, and use of the constant value 0.5 caused 1-7% error in the carbon stock estimate of a tree

Deepest and hottest hydrothermal activity in the Okinawa trough: The Yokosuka site at Yaeyama Knoll

Since the initial discovery of hydrothermal vents in 1977, these ‘extreme’ chemosynthetic systems have been a focus of interdisciplinary research. The Okinawa Trough (OT), located in the semi-enclosed East China Sea between the Eurasian continent and the Ryukyu arc, hosts more than 20 known vent sites but all within a relatively narrow depth range (600–1880 m). Depth is a significant factor in determining fluid temperature and chemistry, as well as biological composition. However, due to the narrow depth range of known sites, the actual influence of depth here has been poorly resolved. Here, the Yokosuka site (2190 m), the first OT vent exceeding 2000 m depth is reported. A highly active hydrothermal vent site centred around four active vent chimneys reaching 364°C in temperature, it is the hottest in the OT. Notable Cl depletion (130 mM) and both high H2 and CH4 concentrations (approx. 10 mM) probably result from subcritical phase separation and thermal decomposition of sedimentary organic matter. Microbiota and fauna were generally similar to other sites in the OT, although with some different characteristics. In terms of microbiota, the H2-rich vent fluids in Neuschwanstein chimney resulted in the dominance of hydrogenotrophic chemolithoautotrophs such as Thioreductor and Desulfobacterium. For fauna, the dominance of the deep-sea mussel Bathymodiolus aduloides is surprising given other nearby vent sites are usually dominated by B. platifrons and/or B. japonicus, and a sponge field in the periphery dominated by Poecilosclerida is unusual for OT vents. Our insights from the Yokosuka site implies that although the distribution of animal species may be linked to depth, the constraint is perhaps not water pressure and resulting chemical properties of the vent fluid but instead physical properties of the surrounding seawater. The potential significance of these preliminary results and prospect for future research on this unique site are discussed.ISSN:2054-570

Periportal macrophages protect against commensal-driven liver inflammation

Miyamoto Y., Kikuta J., Matsui T., et al. Periportal macrophages protect against commensal-driven liver inflammation. Nature 629, 901 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07372-6.The liver is the main gateway from the gut, and the unidirectional sinusoidal flow from portal to central veins constitutes heterogenous zones, including the periportal vein (PV) and the pericentral vein zones1–5. However, functional differences in the immune system in each zone remain poorly understood. Here intravital imaging revealed that inflammatory responses are suppressed in PV zones. Zone-specific single-cell transcriptomics detected a subset of immunosuppressive macrophages enriched in PV zones that express high levels of interleukin-10 and Marco, a scavenger receptor that sequesters pro-inflammatory pathogen-associated molecular patterns and damage-associated molecular patterns, and consequently suppress immune responses. Induction of Marco⁺ immunosuppressive macrophages depended on gut microbiota. In particular, a specific bacterial family, Odoribacteraceae, was identified to induce this macrophage subset through its postbiotic isoallolithocholic acid. Intestinal barrier leakage resulted in inflammation in PV zones, which was markedly augmented in Marco-deficient conditions. Chronic liver inflammatory diseases such as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) showed decreased numbers of Marco⁺ macrophages. Functional ablation of Marco⁺ macrophages led to PSC-like inflammatory phenotypes related to colitis and exacerbated steatosis in NASH in animal experimental models. Collectively, commensal bacteria induce Marco⁺ immunosuppressive macrophages, which consequently limit excessive inflammation at the gateway of the liver. Failure of this self-limiting system promotes hepatic inflammatory disorders such as PSC and NASH

ISAI: Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57

The existence of the axion is a unique solution for the strong CP problem, and the axion is one of the most promising candidates of the dark matter. Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57 (ISAI) is being prepared as a complemented table-top experiment to confirm the solar axion scenario. Probing an X-ray emission from the nuclear transitions associated with the axion-nucleon coupling is a leading approach. ISAI searches for the monochromatic 14.4 keV X-ray from the first excited state of ^{57}Fe using a state-of-the-art pixelized silicon detector, dubbed XRPIX, under an extremely low-background environment. We highlight scientific objectives, experimental design and the latest status of ISAI.14th International Conference on Identification of Dark Matter (IDM2022

L'Auto-vélo : automobilisme, cyclisme, athlétisme, yachting, aérostation, escrime, hippisme / dir. Henri Desgranges

27 mars 19301930/03/27 (A31,N10694)