Robotics Education and Research at Scale: A Remotely Accessible Robotics Development Platform

This paper introduces the KUKA Robot Learning Lab at KIT - a remotely accessible robotics testbed. The motivation behind the laboratory is to make state-of-the-art industrial lightweight robots more accessible for education and research. Such expensive hardware is usually not available to students or less privileged researchers to conduct experiments. This paper describes the design and operation of the Robot Learning Lab and discusses the challenges that one faces when making experimental robot cells remotely accessible. Especially safety and security must be ensured, while giving users as much freedom as possible when developing programs to control the robots. A fully automated and efficient processing pipeline for experiments makes the lab suitable for a large amount of users and allows a high usage rate of the robots

Charakterisierung der Submicron-Partikel in einem umweltrelevanten Wasser: Stauwasser in einer Kommunalmülldeponie über einem Schlammteich (Tailing) der Uranerzaufbereitung in Freital/Sachsen

Characterization of Submicron Particles in an Environmentally-Relevant Water: Backwater From a Sanitary Landfill on a Uranium Mine Tailing at Freital, Saxony. A strategy for characterizing submicron particles in environmental waters based on filtration, centrifugation and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) is proposed. Filtration and centrifugation are not used here as methods for particle characterization but serve merely as techniques of a rough separation of the sample. They are applied as cautiously and non-invasively as possible and are only aimed at separating the sample sufficiently for measurements by primarily PCS. The separation should unmask small particles that scatter little light and divide the sample into populations of particles that have monomodal or bimodal size distributions. In this way, the strategy optimizes subsequent particle-size determinations by PCS and minimizes the influence of sample preparation on the samples. A further essential feature of this strategy is the parallel application of complementary methods for both sample preparation and particle characterization (filtration/centrifugation, PCS/SEM, gravimetry/ICP-MS etc.). This facilitates the validation of results and increases the probability for recognizing artifacts. Based on our experimental experience, a guideline for PCS measurements on low-concentration colloids with the BI 90/Correlator BI 9000 AT system from Brookhaven Instruments Corp. was developed. This guideline is aimed at obtaining autocorrelation functions of sufficiently good photon counting statistics which is crucial in PCS on colloidal solutions poor in particles. A measuring campaign on an environmentally-relevant water (backwater from a sanitary landfill on a uranium mine tailing at Freital, Saxony) showed the presence of about 1 to 2 mg/l of submicron particles having a particle size of 30 to 300 nm and of about 5 mg/l of suspended matter (>1000 nm)

Uncovering relationships between view direction patterns and glare perception in a daylit workspace

This paper presents the results of an experimental study that aims to provide objective insights as to how luminance distribution in an office setting modulates our view direction (VD) in a daylit workspace while performing office tasks. Using the office-like test facility at Fraunhofer ISE (Freiburg, Germany) to create a range of controlled daylighting conditions, and a wearable mobile eye-tracker to measure eye and head orientation, we assessed VD distributions for subjects performing a standardized sequence of typical office tasks relative to two different daylight conditions: low contrast condition with no direct sunlight as compared to high contrast condition with direct sunlight coming into the room. Our results show that while the participants look more outside the window during a non-cognitive and non-visual office task, this effect is lower under the high contrast lighting conditions. Moreover, the focus of the VDs is on the task area when the participants are performing a task involving visual and cognitive activities

Investigation of gaze patterns in daylit workplaces: using eye-tracking methods to objectify view direction as a function of lighting conditions

Despite numerous efforts in developing glare indices through human assessment studies, predicting visual comfort in indoor environments still poses important challenges in design. A major limitation in discomfort glare indices is that they all ignore its dependencies on view direction. In this study we adopted eye-tracking methods in a series of human assessment experiments in order to record actual visual response when experiencing discomfort glare. We set up an experiment where the view directions distributions were monitored as the participants were working in a side-lit office with three different task-supports - monitor, paper and phone - on a standardized office task sequence. The participants were allocated randomly to two groups where they were exposed to two different views from the window. The results show that the “view outside the window” is the main determinant of view direction bias whenever the participant is not focused on any cognitive or visual office task procedure

Combining wearable eye-tracking with 4π light-field measurements: towards controlling all bottom-up and top-down factors driving overt attention during real-world tasks

For improvement of office space design, we intend to capture the full (4π) light-field of an office space, while measuring gaze, head direction, body position, blink rate, and pupil size along with task performance and subjective well-being during a variety of office tasks. Besides the immediate application aspects this will allow for the first time to have full control over task and visual input in a fully unconstrained real-world setting. In the study reported here, 52 participants performed office tasks that varied in the tools used (phone, computer, paper ) as well as in their mental load – input, output, reflection and interaction – and were recorded under various experimentally controlled lighting conditions and outside views. We analyze gaze allocation during these tasks, with a particular emphasis on the distinct roles of eye and head, as well as on the effects of discomfort glare

Rapid detection of 2-hydroxyglutarate in frozen sections of IDH mutant tumors by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

All isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutant solid neoplasms exhibit highly elevated levels of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG). Detection of 2HG in tumor tissues currently is performed by gas or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC- or LC-MS) or biochemical detection. While these methods are highly accurate, a considerable amount of time for tissue preparation and a relatively high amount of tissue is required for testing. We here present a rapid approach to detect 2HG in brain tumor tissue based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization - time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). We analyzed 26 brain tumor samples with known IDH1 or IDH2 mutation and compared readouts to those from 28 brain tumor samples of wildtype IDH status. IDH mutant samples exhibited a clear positive signal for 2HG which was not observed in any of the IDH wildtype tumors. Our analytical pipeline allowed for 2HG detection in less than 5 min. Data were validated by determining 2HG levels in all tissues with a biochemical assay. In conclusion, we developed a protocol for rapid detection of 2HG levels and illustrate the possibility to use MALDI-TOF for the detection of metabolites on frozen tissue sections in a diagnostic setting

Tumor heterogeneity and tumor-microglia interactions in primary and recurrent IDH1-mutant gliomas

The isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene is recurrently mutated in adult diffuse gliomas. IDH-mutant gliomas are categorized into oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas, each with unique pathological features. Here, we use single-nucleus RNA and ATAC sequencing to compare the molecular heterogeneity of these glioma subtypes. In addition to astrocyte-like, oligodendrocyte progenitor-like, and cycling tumor subpopulations, a tumor population enriched for ribosomal genes and translation elongation factors is primarily present in oligodendrogliomas. Longitudinal analysis of astrocytomas indicates that the proportion of tumor subpopulations remains stable in recurrent tumors. Analysis of tumor-associated microglia/macrophages (TAMs) reveals significant differences between oligodendrogliomas, with astrocytomas harboring inflammatory TAMs expressing phosphorylated STAT1, as confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, inferred receptor-ligand interactions between tumor subpopulations and TAMs may contribute to TAM state diversity. Overall, our study sheds light on distinct tumor populations, TAM heterogeneity, TAM-tumor interactions in IDH-mutant glioma subtypes, and the relative stability of tumor subpopulations in recurrent astrocytomas

Correlated MRI and Ultramicroscopy (MR-UM) of Brain Tumors Reveals Vast Heterogeneity of Tumor Infiltration and Neoangiogenesis in Preclinical Models and Human Disease

Diffuse tumor infiltration into the adjacent parenchyma is an effective dissemination mechanism of brain tumors. We have previously developed correlated high field magnetic resonance imaging and ultramicroscopy (MR-UM) to study neonangiogenesis in a glioma model. In the present study we used MR-UM to investigate tumor infiltration and neoangiogenesis in a translational approach. We compare infiltration and neoangiogenesis patterns in four brain tumor models and the human disease: whereas the U87MG glioma model resembles brain metastases with an encapsulated growth and extensive neoangiogenesis, S24 experimental gliomas mimic IDH1 wildtype glioblastomas, exhibiting infiltration into the adjacent parenchyma and along white matter tracts to the contralateral hemisphere. MR-UM resolves tumor infiltration and neoangiogenesis longitudinally based on the expression of fluorescent proteins, intravital dyes or endogenous contrasts. Our study demonstrates the huge morphological diversity of brain tumor models regarding their infiltrative and neoangiogenic capacities and further establishes MR-UM as a platform for translational neuroimaging