Wide-area egomotion from omnidirectional video and coarse 3D structure

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-89).This thesis describes a method for real-time vision-based localization in human-made environments. Given a coarse model of the structure (walls, floors, ceilings, doors and windows) and a video sequence, the system computes the camera pose (translation and rotation) in model coordinates with an accuracy of a few centimeters in translation and a few degrees in rotation. The system has several novel aspects: it performs 6-DOF localization; it handles visually cluttered and dynamic environments; it scales well over regions extending through several buildings; and it runs over several hours without losing lock. We demonstrate that the localization problem can be split into two distinct problems: an initialization phase and a maintenance phase. In the initialization phase, the system determines the camera pose with no other information than a search region provided by the user (building, floor, area, room). This step is computationally intensive and is run only once, at startup. We present a probabilistic method to address the initialization problem using a RANSAC framework. In the maintenance phase, the system keeps track of the camera pose from frame to frame without any user interaction.(cont.) This phase is computationally light-weight to allow a high processing frame rate and is coupled with a feedback loop that helps reacquire "lock" when lock has been lost. We demonstrate a simple, robust geometric tracking algorithm based on correspondences between 3D model lines and 2D image edges. We present navigation results on several real datasets across the MIT campus with cluttered, dynamic environments. The first dataset consists of a five-minute robotic exploration across the Robotics, Vision and Sensor Network Lab. The second dataset consists of a two-minute hand-held, 3D motion in the same lab space. The third dataset consists of a 26-minute exploration across MIT buildings 26 and 36.by Olivier Koch.S.M

Body-relative navigation guidance using uncalibrated cameras

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-97) and index.The ability to navigate through the world is an essential capability to humans. In a variety of situations, people do not have the time, the opportunity or the capability to learn the layout of the environment before visiting an area. Examples include soldiers in the field entering an unknown building, firefighters responding to an emergency, or a visually impaired person walking through the city. In absence of external source of localization (such as GPS), the system must rely on internal sensing to provide navigation guidance to the user. In order to address real-world situations, the method must provide spatially extended, temporally consistent navigation guidance, through cluttered and dynamic environments. While recent research has largely focused on metric methods based on calibrated cameras, the work presented in this thesis demonstrates a novel approach to navigation using uncalibrated cameras. During the first visit of the environment, the method builds a topological representation of the user's exploration path, which we refer to as the place graph. The method then provides navigation guidance from any place to any other in the explored environment. On one hand, a localization algorithm determines the location of the user in the graph. On the other hand, a rotation guidance algorithm provides a directional cue towards the next graph node in the user's body frame. Our method makes little assumption about the environment except that it contains descriptive visual features. It requires no intrinsic or extrinsic camera calibration, and relies instead on a method that learns the correlation between user rotation and feature correspondence across cameras. We validate our approach using several ground truth datasets. In addition, we show that our approach is capable of guiding a robot equipped with a local obstacle avoidance capability through real, cluttered environments. Finally, we validate our system with nine untrained users through several kilometers of indoor environments.by Olivier Koch.Ph.D

Les médias dans les « transitions démocratiques » : état des lieux et prospective

Les transitions démocratiques sont des périodes de crise dans lesquelles les médias sont appelés à remplir des fonctions de premier ordre. Ces fonctions, et la participation des médias au processus transitionnel, ont fait l’objet d’une littérature abondante peu connue en France. En établissant un état de l’art critique de cette littérature, l’article identifie certaines tendances téléologiques et ethnocentristes récurrentes qui affaiblissent ce type d’approche. Prenant acte des singularités de l’évolution d’un régime autocratique vers un État de droit, il vise à poser les jalons d’un découpage analytique et d’une méthodologie adaptés à l’étude des médias en contexte transitionnel.Democratic transitions are characterised by a state of crisis. During such periods media are expected to fulfil major functions. These functions and media contribution to the transition process have been analysed by academic studies little-known in France. This paper constitutes a critical review of these studies, it underlines their recurrent ethnocentric and teleological bias. Considering specifics characteristics of the evolution from an autocratic regime towards a state of law, it aims to provide basis to design a specific analytic framework and a methodology for media studies applied to transitional contexts

Systematic Functional Analysis of BicD Serine Phosphorylation and Intragenic Suppression of a Female Sterile Allele of BicD

Protein phosphorylation is involved in posttranslational control of essentially all biological processes. Using mass spectrometry, recent analyses of whole phosphoproteomes led to the identification of numerous new phosphorylation sites. However, the function of most of these sites remained unknown. We chose the Drosophila Bicaudal-D protein to estimate the importance of individual phosphorylation events. Being involved in different cellular processes, BicD is required for oocyte determination, for RNA transport during oogenesis and embryogenesis, and for photoreceptor nuclei migration in the developing eye. The numerous roles of BicD and the available evidence for functional importance of BicD phosphorylation led us to identify eight phosphorylation sites of BicD, and we tested a total of 14 identified and suspected phosphoserine residues for their functional importance in vivo in flies. Surprisingly, all these serines turned out to be dispensable for providing sufficient basal BicD activity for normal growth and development. However, in a genetically sensitized background where the BicD(A40V) protein variant provides only partial activity, serine 103 substitutions are not neutral anymore, but show surprising differences. The S103D substitution completely inactivates the protein, whereas S103A behaves neutral, and the S103F substitution, isolated in a genetic screen, restores BicD(A40V) function. Our results suggest that many BicD phosphorylation events may either be fortuitous or play a modulating function as shown for Ser(103). Remarkably, amongst the Drosophila serines we found phosphorylated, Ser(103) is the only one that is fully conserved in mammalian BicD

Increased peri- and post-elective cesarean section morbidity in women infected with human immunodeficiency virus-1: a case-controlled multicenter study

Objective: Although elective cesarean section (ECS) is the currently recommended modality for delivering women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), historical evidence suggests that they are at higher risk of postoperative complications than noninfected women. Those risks have to be carefully balanced against the presumed minimal benefit of ECS, especially in the case of low viral load and high CD4 counts. We therefore compared the incidence and type of post-ECS complications in HIV-infected women, most with low viral loads and high CD4 cell counts, with those in matched noninfected women treated by the same surgical teams. Study design: A Swiss 8-center, prospective, matched case-control study compared minor and major post-ECS complication prevalence, hospital stay and confounding factors (surgeon experience) between HIV-infected and noninfected women. Results: Minor complications in the 53 matched pairs were eightfold more frequent overall in infected women. More frequent specific minor complications were anemia, blood loss and urinary tract infection. Yet the surgeons performing ECS in infected women were more experienced. Complications prolonged hospital stay in infected women. Major complication rates did not significantly differ between the groups. Conclusion: HIV-positive women have a higher risk of post-ECS morbidity, even with high CD4 counts and low viral load. Therefore, the blanket recommendation of ECS in HIV-infected women requires a revie

Karakteristik Nanoemulsi Minyak Sawit Merah Yang Diperkaya Beta Karoten

Red palm oil (RPO) and β-carotene are insoluble in water. It makescan be used to improve RPO and βThis research is aimed to produce stable RPO nanoemulsion enriched withβ-carotene. The research was conducted in the SEAFAST CENTERLaboratory, Bogor Agriculture University from January to Septemberfollowing steps, i.e. enrichment of RPO with βusing a high pressure homogenizer at a pressure of 34.5 MPa in 10 cycles.The ratio of RPO and water in the mixture were 5 : 95; 7.5 : 92.5; and 10 :10% (w/w) of the total emulsions. In the second stage, nanoemulsionswere prepared on various RPO percentage of 2, 4, and 6% (w/w) andhad a droplet size from 115.1 to 145.2 nm and stable. Nanoemulsions wereresulting from the second stage had droplet size from 94.9 to 125.5 nm,and β-carotene content were 47.6 to 130.9 mg/l. Droplet size ofnanoemulsions is less than 125 nm. It can be produced with RPO an

Pembuatan Ethanol Dari Jerami Padi Dengan Proses Hidrolisis Dan Fermentasi

Jerami Padi banyak mengandung Pati, Selulosa dan Glukosa yang cukup tinggi. Alkohol dapat dihasilkan dari tanaman yang banyak mengandung senyawa selulosa dengan menggunakan bantuan aktivitas mikroba salah satu jenis tanamannya adalah jerami padi Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu untuk mendapatkan kadar ethanol yang terbaik pada jerami padi dengan menggunakan proses hidrolisis dan fermentasi. Kondisi yang ditetapkan larutan Hidrolisis sebanyak 2500 ml, pH hidrolisis 3, waktu hidrolisis 2 hari, dan pH fermentasi sebesar 4,5, sedangkan peubah yang dijalankan adalah waktu fermentasi (2,3,4,5,6,7 (hari)), berat jerami padi (40,50,60 (gram)), dan volume stater yang ditambahkan (8%, 10%, 12%, kali volume cairan fermentasi). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kondisi terbaik pada berat jerami 50 gram dengan volume stater yang ditambahkan sebanyak 12% volume cairan fermentasi yang difermentasi selama 7 hari yang menghasilkan kadar ethanol sebesar 12,89%. Jerami padi dapat digunakan sebagai bahan baku alternatif pembuatan bioethanol

Report on Innovative Financial Instruments for the Implementation of the SET Plan, First-Of-A-Kind projects

This report responds to the request of Commissioner Oettinger and the Cabinet of Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn end of 2012, for an expert assessment and recommendations regarding the financing of first-of-a-kind commercial demonstration projects as prioritised in the roadmaps of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan. The expert group comprised representatives of financial organisations, i.e. the European Investment Bank, the European Venture Capital Association, the European Insurance and Re-insurance federation, the World Bank, and the Climate Change Capital. Six hearings with key stakeholders representing the SET Plan European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs), as well as the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking were held. These hearings provided information regarding their main barriers for implementation and the gaps as regards access to finance. Existing EU financial were evaluated too. The report concludes that a new financial instrument at EU level is not needed since existing financial instruments already provide equity, loans, or guarantees. However, until now, those instruments have not provided the financing required. As a response to this problem a set of changes to existing financial instruments and their utilisation were recommended.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio