Integrity-Based Path Planning Strategy for Urban Autonomous Vehicular Navigation Using GPS and Cellular Signals

An integrity-based path planning strategy for autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) navigation in urban environments is developed. The vehicle is assumed to navigate by utilizing cellular long-term evolution (LTE) signals in addition to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. Given a desired destination, an optimal path is calculated, which minimizes a cost function that considers both the horizontal protection level (HPL) and travel distance. The constraints are that (i) the ratio of nodes with faulty signals to the total nodes be lower than a maximum allowable ratio and (ii) the HPLs along each candidate path be lower than the horizontal alert limit (HAL). To predict the faults and HPL before the vehicle is driven, GPS and LTE pseudoranges along the candidate paths are generated utilizing a commercial ray-tracing software and three-dimensional (3D) terrain and building maps. Simulated pseudoranges inform the path planning algorithm about potential biases due to reflections from buildings in urban environments. Simulation results are presented showing that the optimal path produced by the proposed path planning strategy has the minimum average HPL among the candidate paths.Comment: Submitted to ION GNSS+ 202

Contextual quantum metrology

Quantum metrology promises higher precision measurements than classical methods. Entanglement has been identified as one of quantum resources to enhance metrological precision. However, generating entangled states with high fidelity presents considerable challenges, and thus attaining metrological enhancement through entanglement is generally difficult. Here, we show that contextuality of measurement selection can enhance metrological precision, and this enhancement is attainable with a simple linear optical experiment. We call our methodology "contextual quantum metrology" (coQM). Contextuality is a nonclassical property known as a resource for various quantum information processing tasks. Until now, it has remained an open question whether contextuality can be a resource for quantum metrology. We answer this question in the affirmative by showing that the coQM can elevate precision of an optical polarimetry by a factor of 1.4 to 6.0, much higher than the one by quantum Fisher information, known as the limit of conventional quantum metrology. We achieve the contextuality-enabled enhancement with two polarization measurements which are mutually complementary, whereas, in the conventional method, some optimal measurements to achieve the precision limit are either theoretically difficult to find or experimentally infeasible. These results highlight that the contextuality of measurement selection is applicable in practice for quantum metrology.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, companion paper: arXiv:2311.1178

Metrological power of incompatible measurements

We show that measurement incompatibility is a necessary resource to enhance the precision of quantum metrology. To utilize incompatible measurements, we propose a probabilistic method of operational quasiprobability (OQ) consisting of the measuring averages. OQ becomes positive semidefinite for some quantum states. We prove that Fisher information (FI), based on positive OQ, can be larger than the conventional quantum FI. Applying the proof, we show that FI of OQ can be extremely larger than quantum FI, when estimating a parameter encoded onto a qubit state with two mutually unbiased measurements. By adopting maximum likelihood estimator and linear error propagation methods, we illustrate that they achieve the high precision that our model predicts. This approach is expected to be applicable to improve quantum sensors

Adaptation of the Child - Parent Relationship Therapy Model for Use With Senior Citizen Volunteers in School Settings: A Pilot Study

This study provides a proposal for crucial volunteer services to fill the gap for overburdened school counselors when parents are unable to engage in Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), a highly effective intervention for childhood problems. CPRT has been successfully adapted for use with individuals other than the child’s parents. The researcher in this pilot study adapted CPRT for use with senior citizen volunteers who often possess untapped abilities and talents. Seniors received several weeks of training, and then met with children for 1/2 hour supervised, video-taped play sessions for several weeks. Childhood adjustment problems were assessed before and after the intervention using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF). Seniors’ responses were measured before and after with the Older Adult Self-Report and qualitative interviews. Although no significant differences were noted on pre versus posttest measures for the children (CBCL and TRF), anecdotal reports suggest potential effectiveness of this volunteer intervention for school counselors to utilize. In addition, senior citizens reported their own benefits from working with the children. Suggestions for future research in this area are offered

Glomerular Diseases Across Lifespan:Key Differences in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches

Glomerular diseases are common causes of chronic kidney disease in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The epidemiology of glomerular diseases differs between different age groups, with minimal change disease being the leading cause of nephrotic syndrome in childhood, while membranous nephropathy and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis are more common in adulthood. IgA vasculitis is also more common in childhood. Moreover, there is a difference in disease severity with more children presenting with a relapsing form of nephrotic syndrome and a more acute presentation of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis and concomitant glomerulonephritis, as highlighted by the higher percentage of cellular crescents on kidney biopsy specimens in comparison with older patients. There is also a female preponderance in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis and more children present with tracheobroncholaryngeal disease. This article aims to summarize differences in the presentation of different glomerular diseases that are encountered commonly by pediatric and adult nephrologists and potential differences in the management.</p

Publisher Correction: An engineered human Fc domain that behaves like a pH-toggle switch for ultra-long circulation persistence.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Effects of Relaxation and Deep-Breathing on High School Students: ACT Prep

The purpose of this study was to relieve test anxiety in high school juniors preparing to take the ACT: a high-stakes, college admissions, standardized test. Participants included 81 eleventh grade students (25 males, 56 females) from a Midwestern public high school. Results demonstrated that relaxation training in the experimental group significantly lowered student’s perceptions of test anxiety from pre-test to post-test. Further research regarding systematic deep breathing and relaxation techniques is needed

Effects of Relaxation and Deep-Breathing on High School Students: ACT Prep

The purpose of this study was to relieve test anxiety in high school juniors preparing to take the ACT: a high-stakes, college admissions, standardized test. Participants included 81 eleventh grade students (25 males, 56 females) from a Midwestern public high school. Results demonstrated that relaxation training in the experimental group significantly lowered student’s perceptions of test anxiety from pre-test to post-test. Further research regarding systematic deep breathing and relaxation techniques is needed

Longitudinal landscapes of serum antibody repertoires after influenza infection and vaccination

Vaccination is the most effective means of infectious disease prevention. Despite its success, however, we still lack a clear understanding of vaccine responses in humans. For example, influenza vaccines still leave a large fraction of population vulnerable. Over the past decade, single B-cell analysis and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have become invaluable tools for studying the antibody repertoire to influenza. Such studies have led to discoveries of broadly-neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs), which can neutralize across multiple strains of influenza virus, promoting the notion of designing a universal vaccine that will elicit such antibodies. One of such isolated bNAbs, called FI6, showed remarkable ability to neutralize all of the influenza A virus strains through targeting the conserved epitope in the stem of hemagglutinin (HA). However, it remains unclear whether such bNAbs actually play a role in conferring protection against influenza since antibody proteins (not B-cells) need to circulate at physiologically relevant concentrations in serum to have implications in protection. Using high-resolution proteomics coupled with NGS, we quantitatively determined the serological antibody repertoire to CA09 HA (H1) at the individual clonotype-level in a donor (whom FI6 was isolated from) following influenza infection (in 2010 with pandemic CA09) and vaccination across five years (2010-2014 with seasonal flu vaccine). We analyzed the temporal changes of head-targeting and stem-binding antibodies, illustrating the gradual increase of stem-targeting antibodies following repeated exposures to CA09 HA. Following vaccination in 2014, \u3e60% of the repertoire consisted of one single clonotype of stem-binding antibody that was present at very low abundance in 2010. Our data demonstrate that the repetitive exposure to influenza skews the serological repertoire toward antibodies that target conserved epitopes, and these antibodies continue to be boosted every time the same epitopes are encountered. Once elicited, stem-binding antibodies displayed a tendency to persist in serum across multiple years while head-specific antibodies decayed quicker. The differential longevity of stem-binding and head-specific antibodies presented here has direct implications for the design of the future universal vaccine

Diseño e implementación de un sistema RFID para seguimiento de personas dependientes en el hogar

Este Trabajo Final de Grado se basa en el estudio, diseño, montaje y evaluación de un sistema RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) para el posicionamiento de personas dependientes dentro de edificios, a fin de proporcionar un servicio a sus habitantes. El primer paso es entender lo que son los sistemas RFID y estudiar casos de uso existentes. Después, se estudia el funcionamiento de los lectores RFID disponibles y las etiquetas (Tags) a rastrear; seguidamente se aprende a configurarlos y se diseña e implementa un programa que pueda establecer una comunicación con los equipos y gestionar los cálculos necesarios lo suficientemente rápido como para realizar un rastreo en tiempo real. Una vez conseguido esto, se busca el método de cálculo de distancias y de coordenadas lo más exacto posible y se corrigen los errores alcanzando la precisión necesaria. Para ello, se realizan continuamente pruebas de rastreo y posicionamiento tanto estáticos como en movimiento.In this final project a RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) system is studied, designed, implemented and evaluated. The system aims to track and position dependent people in buildings, in order to provide different services to its inhabitants. Firstly, it is needed to understand what RFID systems are, and study real-life use cases. Later, the operation and configuration of the available RFID readers and tags is studied. Once this is accomplished, a computer program is designed and implemented. This computer program must communicate with the RFID equipment and perform the calculations fast enough so that it is possible to track items in real time. Afterwards, errors are corrected and the best formulas for calculating distances and coordinates are found, in order to facilitate the required results and precision. Throughout the process, the system is continuously tested with static and moving tracking and positioning.Catalá Adrama, L. (2015). Diseño e implementación de un sistema RFID para seguimiento de personas dependientes en el hogar. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/55170TFG