Mitigating Shadows in Lidar Scan Matching using Spherical Voxels

In this paper we propose an approach to mitigate shadowing errors in Lidar scan matching, by introducing a preprocessing step based on spherical gridding. Because the grid aligns with the Lidar beam, it is relatively easy to eliminate shadow edges which cause systematic errors in Lidar scan matching. As we show through simulation, our proposed algorithm provides better results than ground-plane removal, the most common existing strategy for shadow mitigation. Unlike ground plane removal, our method applies to arbitrary terrains (e.g. shadows on urban walls, shadows in hilly terrain) while retaining key Lidar points on the ground that are critical for estimating changes in height, pitch, and roll. Our preprocessing algorithm can be used with a range of scan-matching methods; however, for voxel-based scan matching methods, it provides additional benefits by reducing computation costs and more evenly distributing Lidar points among voxels

Hexagonal Organization of Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus Capsid Proteins

AbstractTo help elucidate the mechanisms by which retrovirus structural proteins associate to form virus particles, we have examined membrane-bound assemblies of Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) capsid (CA) proteins. Electron microscopy and image reconstruction techniques showed that CA dimers appear to function as organizational subunits of the cage-like, membrane-bound protein arrays. However, new three-dimensional (3D) data also were consistent with hexagonal (p6) assembly models. The p6 3D reconstructions of membrane-bound M-MuLV CA proteins gave unit cells of a = b = 80.3 Å, c = 110 Å, γ = 120°, in which six dimer units formed a cage lattice. Neighbor cage hole-to-hole distances were 45 Å, while distances between hexagonal cage holes corresponded to unit cell lengths (80.3 Å). The hexagonal model predicts two types of cage holes (trimer and hexamer holes), uses symmetric head-to-head dimer building blocks, and permits the introduction of lattice curvature by conversion of hexamer to pentamer units. The M-MuLV CA lattice is similar to those formed in helical tubes by HIV CA in that hexamer units surround cage holes of 25–30 Å, but differs in that M-MuLV hexamer units appear to be CA dimers, whereas HIV CA units appear to be monomers. These results suggest that while general assembly principles apply to different retroviruses, clear assembly distinctions exist between these virus types

A Qualitative Study: Military Veterans and Franchise Ownership

This study focuses on the military experience and motivation to become a franchise business owner. Previous research indicated franchisees who were military veterans had a significantly higher level of job satisfaction in owning and operating a franchise compared to franchisees with no military background.This study attempts to provide answers to important research questions like how and why military experience influences satisfaction in owning a franchise.Seven franchise business owners who served in the military participated in this qualitative study using a process of surveying, coding, and thematizing to answer this research inquiry. The findings of this follow-on study indicated veterans had strong negative sentiment towards bureaucracy, however did value the positive aspects of systems within the franchise construct. In addition, the veterans valued their prior learning related to military experience and leadership and perceived it as a key strength towards successful franchise leadership and business ownership. One of the main aspects of business ownership and leadership that veterans valued more than other concepts was control, which connects to the traditional aspects of control within the business profession

Transcriptional Analysis of the Unicellular, Diazotrophic Cyanobacterium Cyanothece ATCC 51142 Grown Under Short Day/Night Cycles.

Cyanothece sp. strain ATCC 51142 is a unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacterium that demonstrates extensive metabolic periodicities of photosynthesis, respiration, and nitrogen fixation when grown under N2-fixing conditions. We have performed a global transcription analysis of this organism using 6 h light:dark (L:D) cycles in order to determine the response of the cell to these conditions and to differentiate between diurnal and circadian-regulated genes. In addition, we used a context-likelihood of relatedness (CLR) analysis with these data and those from 2 d L:D and L:D plus continuous light experiments to better differentiate between diurnal and circadian-regulated genes. Cyanothece sp. acclimated in several ways to growth under short L:D conditions. Nitrogen was fixed in every second dark period and only once in each 24 h period. Nitrogen fixation was strongly correlated to the energy status of the cells and glycogen breakdown, and high respiration rates were necessary to provide appropriate energy and anoxic conditions for this process. We conclude that glycogen breakdown is a key regulatory step within these complex processes. Our results demonstrated that the main metabolic genes involved in photosynthesis, respiration, nitrogen fixation, and central carbohydrate metabolism have strong (or total) circadian-regulated components. The short L:D cycles enable us to identify transcriptional differences among the family of psbA genes, as well as the differing patterns of the hup genes, which follow the same pattern as nitrogenase genes, relative to the hoxgenes, which displayed a diurnal, dark-dependent gene expression

BIOVERSE: enhancements to the framework for structural, functional and contextual modeling of proteins and proteomes

We have made a number of enhancements to the previously described Bioverse web server and computational biology framework (). In this update, we provide an overview of the new features available that include: (i) expansion of the number of organisms represented in the Bioverse and addition of new data sources and novel prediction techniques not available elsewhere, including network-based annotation; (ii) reengineering the database backend and supporting code resulting in significant speed, search and ease-of use improvements; and (iii) creation of a stateful and dynamic web application frontend to improve interface speed and usability. Integrated Java-based applications also allow dynamic visualization of real and predicted protein interaction networks

INTEGRATOR: interactive graphical search of large protein interactomes over the Web

BACKGROUND: The rapid growth of protein interactome data has elevated the necessity and importance of network analysis tools. However, unlike pure text data, network search spaces are of exponential complexity. This poses special challenges for storing, searching, and navigating this data efficiently. Moreover, development of effective web interfaces has been difficult. RESULTS: We present Integrator, a web-integrated graphical search tool for protein-protein interaction networks across 50+ genomes. CONCLUSION: Integrator provides single and multiple protein searches of the Bioverse database containing experimentally-derived and predicted protein-protein interactions. The interface provides animated local network views, rapid subgraph manipulation, and cross-referencing of functional annotations. Integrator is available at

Maintaining Privacy and Security in Cyberspace: What Everyone Needs to Know

The growth of technology will always outpace legal and ethical understanding concerning maintaining privacy and security in cyberspace. Remote network security breaches are a common method for taking sensitive information from companies, K-12 school districts, institutions of higher learning, and from social media accounts. Parents, university/college personnel, teachers and other adults working in the K-12 systems are held accountable to higher standards when determining levels of technology infusion especially with distance education

Plans, Takes, and Mis-takes

This paper analyzes what may have been a mistake bypianist Thelonious Monk playing a jazz solo in 1958.Even in a Monk composition designed for patternedmayhem, a note can sound out of pattern. We reframethe question of whether the note was a mistake and askinstead about how Monk handles the problem. Amazingly,he replays the note into a new pattern that resituatesits jarring effect in retrospect. The mistake, orbetter, the mis-take, was “saved” by subsequent notes.Our analysis, supported by reflections from jazz musiciansand the philosopher John Dewey, encourages areformulation of plans, takes, and mis-takes as categoriesfor the interpretation of contingency, surprise, andrepair in all human activities. A final section suggeststhat mistakes are essential to the practical plying andplaying of knowledge into performances, particularlythose that highlight learning

A Rapid Scoping Review on Academic Integrity and Algorithmic Writing Technologies

This presentation provides insight into the development and findings of a rapid scoping review centred on the intersections of academic integrity and artificial intelligence, with particular attention to algorithmic writing technologies (e.g., ChatGPT) involving faculty, students, teaching assistants, academic student support staff, and educational developers in higher education contexts. This rapid scoping review was developed by a transdisciplinary team including Communication studies, Education, Engineering, and English, and followed Joanna Brigg Institute’s (JBI) updated manual for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) reporting standards. JBI provides a high-quality, trusted framework for conducting these kinds of studies. This inquiry’s study design includes qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, theoretical and opinion studies; additionally, this inquiry did not restrict studies by geographic location and focused on sources written in English. This review’s studies involved faculty, students, teaching assistants, academic support staff, and educational developers in higher education. It also included studies about artificial intelligence in the context of academic integrity, focusing on artificial intelligence tools that assist text generation and writing developed in Tertiary type A and B postsecondary education. Studies excluded from this review were related to primary and secondary education contexts, did not address the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and focused on text plagiarism software. The protocol of this rapid review was published in the Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity Journal. Its implementation helped this team identify various ethical implications signalled by scholars between 2007 and 2022. Considering the expansive emergence of these technologies and the multiple positionings derived from these new and unprecedented encounters with such technology, we believe that the implications identified in this rapid scoping review are particularly relevant to inform academic staff, administration, students, and academic integrity researchers’ ethical decision-making and practices when teaching, learning, designing, and implementing assessments, and doing research. The findings of this rapid scoping review encompass nuanced perspectives concerning the ethical and unethical uses of these emerging technologies and insights into equity, diversity, and inclusion issues

Systems analysis of multiple regulator perturbations allows discovery of virulence factors in Salmonella

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Systemic bacterial infections are highly regulated and complex processes that are orchestrated by numerous virulence factors. Genes that are coordinately controlled by the set of regulators required for systemic infection are potentially required for pathogenicity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study we present a systems biology approach in which sample-matched multi-omic measurements of fourteen virulence-essential regulator mutants were coupled with computational network analysis to efficiently identify <it>Salmonella </it>virulence factors. Immunoblot experiments verified network-predicted virulence factors and a subset was determined to be secreted into the host cytoplasm, suggesting that they are virulence factors directly interacting with host cellular components. Two of these, SrfN and PagK2, were required for full mouse virulence and were shown to be translocated independent of either of the type III secretion systems in <it>Salmonella </it>or the type III injectisome-related flagellar mechanism.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Integrating multi-omic datasets from <it>Salmonella </it>mutants lacking virulence regulators not only identified novel virulence factors but also defined a new class of translocated effectors involved in pathogenesis. The success of this strategy at discovery of known and novel virulence factors suggests that the approach may have applicability for other bacterial pathogens.</p