Scan matching by cross-correlation and differential evolution

Scan matching is an important task, solved in the context of many high-level problems including pose estimation, indoor localization, simultaneous localization and mapping and others. Methods that are accurate and adaptive and at the same time computationally efficient are required to enable location-based services in autonomous mobile devices. Such devices usually have a wide range of high-resolution sensors but only a limited processing power and constrained energy supply. This work introduces a novel high-level scan matching strategy that uses a combination of two advanced algorithms recently used in this field: cross-correlation and differential evolution. The cross-correlation between two laser range scans is used as an efficient measure of scan alignment and the differential evolution algorithm is used to search for the parameters of a transformation that aligns the scans. The proposed method was experimentally validated and showed good ability to match laser range scans taken shortly after each other and an excellent ability to match laser range scans taken with longer time intervals between them.Web of Science88art. no. 85

Harvesting-aware energy management for environmental monitoring WSN

Wireless sensor networks can be used to collect data in remote locations, especially when energy harvesting is used to extend the lifetime of individual nodes. However, in order to use the collected energy most effectively, its consumption must be managed. In this work, forecasts of diurnal solar energies were made based on measurements of atmospheric pressure. These forecasts were used as part of an adaptive duty cycling scheme for node level energy management. This management was realized with a fuzzy logic controller that has been tuned using differential evolution. Controllers were created using one and two days of energy forecasts, then simulated in software. These controllers outperformed a human-created reference controller by taking more measurements while using less reserve energy during the simulated period. The energy forecasts were comparable to other available methods, while the method of tuning the fuzzy controller improved overall node performance. The combination of the two is a promising method of energy management.Web of Science105art. no. 60

Economic optimization of component sizing for residential battery storage systems

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) coupled with rooftop-mounted residential photovoltaic (PV) generation, designated as PV-BESS, draw increasing attention and market penetration as more and more such systems become available. The manifold BESS deployed to date rely on a variety of different battery technologies, show a great variation of battery size, and power electronics dimensioning. However, given today's high investment costs of BESS, a well-matched design and adequate sizing of the storage systems are prerequisites to allow profitability for the end-user. The economic viability of a PV-BESS depends also on the battery operation, storage technology, and aging of the system. In this paper, a general method for comprehensive PV-BESS techno-economic analysis and optimization is presented and applied to the state-of-art PV-BESS to determine its optimal parameters. Using a linear optimization method, a cost-optimal sizing of the battery and power electronics is derived based on solar energy availability and local demand. At the same time, the power flow optimization reveals the best storage operation patterns considering a trade-off between energy purchase, feed-in remuneration, and battery aging. Using up to date technology-specific aging information and the investment cost of battery and inverter systems, three mature battery chemistries are compared; a lead-acid (PbA) system and two lithium-ion systems, one with lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) and another with lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode. The results show that different storage technology and component sizing provide the best economic performances, depending on the scenario of load demand and PV generation.Web of Science107art. no. 83

On the interference of 210Pb in the determination of 90Sr using a strontium specific resin

We investigated the interference of radiolead in the isolation of radiostrontium using a strontium-specific resin by means of 85Sr and 212Pb radiotracers. The resin was found to be almost equally specific for lead ions as well. Elution of Pb2+, however, was found to occur at very low acid concentrations (£0.02 M HNO3) of the elutant. Even with pure distilled water as the elutant, elution of lead cannot compete with strontium, due to the delayed elution dynamics caused by residual acid in the column. In contrast to strontium, which is eluted quickly from the column and almost quantitatively after 4 mL elutant (practically independently of the acid concentration of the elutant), lead is eluted with much delay and not completely after the 10 mL elution. The Eichrom method for the determination of radiostrontium in water proposes elution with 0.05 M HNO3, which was found extremely useful, because at such an acid concentration, no radiolead is eluted from the column and allows the production of a pure radiostrontium fraction which can be measured by liquid scintillation counting

Forecasting severe ice storms using numerical weather prediction: the March 2010 Newfoundland event

The northeast coast of North America is frequently hit by severe ice storms. These freezing rain events can produce large ice accretions that damage structures, frequently power transmission and distribution infrastructure. For this reason, it is highly desirable to model and forecast such icing events, so that the consequent damages can be prevented or mitigated. The case study presented in this paper focuses on the March 2010 ice storm event that took place in eastern Newfoundland. We apply a combination of a numerical weather prediction model and an ice accretion algorithm to simulate a forecast of this event. <br><br> The main goals of this study are to compare the simulated meteorological variables to observations, and to assess the ability of the model to accurately predict the ice accretion load for different forecast horizons. The duration and timing of the freezing rain event that occurred between the night of 4 March and the morning of 6 March was simulated well in all model runs. The total precipitation amounts in the model, however, differed by up to a factor of two from the observations. The accuracy of the model air temperature strongly depended on the forecast horizon, but it was acceptable for all simulation runs. The simulated accretion loads were also compared to the design values for power delivery structures in the region. The results indicated that the simulated values exceeded design criteria in the areas of reported damage and power outages

Novel point-to-point scan matching algorithm based on cross-correlation

The localization of mobile robots in outdoor and indoor environments is a complex issue. Many sophisticated approaches, based on various types of sensory inputs and different computational concepts, are used to accomplish this task. However, many of the most efficient methods for mobile robot localization suffer from high computational costs and/or the need for high resolution sensory inputs. Scan cross-correlation is a traditional approach that can be, in special cases, used to match temporally aligned scans of robot environment. This work proposes a set of novel modifications to the cross-correlation method that extend its capability beyond these special cases to general scan matching and mitigate its computational costs so that it is usable in practical settings. The properties and validity of the proposed approach are in this study illustrated on a number of computational experiments.Web of Scienceart. ID 646394

Pencerakinan kajian istilah dan terjemahan BERNAMA Arab ke bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris

Artikel ini membincangkan aspek kajian istilah dan terjemahan yang dilakukan pada BERNAMA Arab ke bahasa Melayu dan juga Inggeris sebagai medan pembelajaran bagi pelajar bidang pengkhususan bahasa dan kesusasteraan Arab masa kini. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk meneliti ketepatan penggunaan istilah dari BERNAMA Arab ke bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris, di samping menterjemahkan teks BERNAMA Arab dalam semua aspek ke bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris. Artikel ini juga bertujuan untuk memaparkan padanan istilah dari BERNAMA Arab ke istilah bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris. Keseluruhan kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kualitatif dengan mengaplikasi analisis kandungan seperti rujukan bahan ilmiah utama berdasarkan buku, kamus dan jurnal, di samping bahan utama daripada internet melalui tapak web BERNAMA.com dan tapak web lain yang berkaitan dengannya. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan padanan istilah dipadankan mengikut kesesuaian makna dan secara langsung turut memaparkan istilah yang dapat membantu khalayak pembaca memahami istilah yang sering diguna pakai. Selain itu, hasil kajian menunjukkan terdapat perkataan yang mempunyai istilah yang sama dan makna yang sama, gaya bahasa yang membawa maksud yang berlainan serta kata nama khas. Hasil kajian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan impak yang positif dan menyumbang kepada pemugaran pembelajaran bahasa Arab secara maya dengan lebih efektif

Making Life Work: Work and Life in Coliving

This thesis explores how life is made to work. This means, firstly, understanding how life enters the relations of production and how it is made to expend energy and produce value. Secondly, this means understanding the arrangements and practices that make life work in the sense of reproducing it, maintaining it and preventing it from falling apart. This theme was explored through an ethnographic study of coliving - a purpose-built accommodation for professionals and entrepreneurs - which strives to create conditions most conducive to professional success. The thesis analysed the ways in which personal and domestic life is redesigned and rearranged in relation to the ideals of productivity and how new ways of living can simultaneously offer mutual support and assistance among workers while also normalising practices of overworking, precarity and (self)exploitation. This research is pertinent to debates about the impact of work and economic practices on contemporary life and argues that academic and political debates must go beyond the focus on work-life balance and address the multiple pressures on personal and domestic life both within and outside of the workplace. The thesis develops a series of wider theoretical arguments and recommendations for future research. Firstly, it is argued that to understand the preference for modifying personal and domestic life, social analysis must go beyond ideological and discursive factors. It should consider the combination of discourse, attributes of the job situation, and characteristics of social reproduction that together produce a particularly intense commitment to work. Secondly, the thesis argues that in addition to focusing on how life is balanced with or colonised by work, the social analysis should focus on the social and material arrangements that maintain working lives. Thirdly, it argues for the importance of studying reflective and evaluative operations undertaken by social actors that question but ultimately reproduce intensive work-lives

6-benzothiazolyl ureas, thioureas and guanidines are potent inhibitors of ABAD/17β-HSD10 and potential drugs for Alzheimer's disease treatment : design, synthesis and in vitro evaluation

Background : The mitochondrial enzyme amyloid beta-binding alcohol dehydrogenase (ABAD) also known as 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 (17β-HSD10) has been connected with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). ABAD/ 17β-HSD10 is a binding site for the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) inside the mitochondrial matrix where it exacerbates Aβ toxicity. Interaction between these two proteins triggers a series of events leading to mitochondrial dysfunction as seen in AD. Methods : As ABAD’s enzymatic activity is required for mediating Aβ toxicity, its inhibition presents a promising strategy for AD treatment. In this study, a series of new benzothiazolylurea analogues have been prepared and evaluated in vitro for their potency to inhibit ABAD/ 17β-HSD10 enzymatic activity. The most potent compounds have also been tested for their cytotoxic properties and their ability to permeate through blood-brain barrier has been predicted. To explain the structure-activity relationship QSAR and pharmacophore studies have been performed. Results and Conclusions : Compound 12 was identified being the most promising hit compound with good inhibitory activity (IC50 = 3.06 ± 0.40µM) and acceptable cytotoxicity profile comparable to the parent compound of frentizole. The satisfactory physical-chemical properties suggesting its capability to permeate through BBB make compound 12 a novel lead structure for further development and biological assessment.PostprintPeer reviewe