The L3Pilot Common Data Format - Enabling Efficient Automated Driving Data Analysis

Analyzing road-test data is important for developing automated vehicles. L3Pilot is a European pilot project on level 3 automation, including 34 partners among manufacturers, suppliers and research institutions. Targeting around 100 cars and 1000 test subjects, the project will generate large amounts of data. We present a data format, allowing efficient data collection, handling and analysis by multiple organizations. A project of the scope of L3Pilot involves various challenges. Data come from a multitude of heterogeneous sources and are processed by a variety of tools. Recorded data span all data types generated in various vehicular sensors/systems and are enriched with external data sources. Videos supplement time-series data as external files. Derived measures and performance indicators \u2013 required to answer research questions about effectiveness of automated driving \u2013 are processed by analysis partners and included for each test session. As a file format, we chose HDF5, which offers a data model and software libraries for storing and managing data. HDF5 is designed for flexible and efficient I/O and for high volume and complex data. The usage of different computing environments for specific tasks is facilitated by the portability that comes with the format. Portability is also important for exploiting the rising potential within artificial intelligence (e.g. automatic scene detection and video annotation). Based on lessons learned from past field tests, we defined a general frame for the common data format that is aligned with the data processing steps of FESTA \u201cV\u201d evaluation methodology. The definitions include representation of the source signals and a hierarchical structure for including multiple datasets that are gradually supplemented (post-processed or annotated) during the various analysis steps. By using the HDF5 format, analysis partners have the freedom to exploit their familiar tools: MATLAB, Java, Python, R, etc. First comparisons between time-series data in previous projects (e.g. AdaptIVe) and the proposed data format show a reduction in storage size of around 80 %, without losses in performance. Much of that is due to efficient internal compression and structuring of data. Considering the amount of objective data involved in automated driving, this leads to a great benefit, in terms of usability. This paper presents a compact, portable, and extensible format aimed at handling extremely large amounts of field test data collected in automated driving pilots. As a harmonized format between tens of organizations performing tests in the L3Pilot project, the proposed format has the potential to promote data sharing as well as development of common tools and gain popularity for use in other projects. The format is designed to allow efficient storing of data and its iterative processing with analysis and evaluation tools. The format also considers the requirements of AI tools supporting neural network training and use

Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Bench Test Setup

The purpose of this research was to develop testing methods that can be used to determine the forces, moments, and deflections involved in flapping wing aerodynamics. To pursue the research, a flapping wing mechanism and wings with spans ranging from 9.1 inches to 12.1 inches were built. A variety of mechanisms, capable of, alternatively, purely flapping, flapping with pitch, and flapping with pitch and out-of-plane motion were conceptualized and drawn using solid modeling software. Two of the simpler designs, a single degree-of-freedom flapping mechanism and the two-degree of freedom flapping mechanism were fabricated using a rapid prototype 3-D printer, and sustained operation was demonstrated. A thrust stand and a six-component force balance were used to gather force data from the flapping-only mechanism, combined with a variety of wing shapes. Four high-speed cameras were used to capture the motion of the wings. To minimize intrusiveness an array of laser dots was projected onto the wing during flapping and photogrammetry software was used to analyze the images and determine a shape profile of the wing composed of a frame and membrane during flapping. While the focus of this research was on the bench test setup development, some insight into the influence of wing design on the forces acting on the mechanism was gained

Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of maize embryos exposed to camptothecin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Camptothecin is a plant alkaloid that specifically binds topoisomerase I, inhibiting its activity and inducing double stranded breaks in DNA, activating the cell responses to DNA damage and, in response to severe treatments, triggering cell death.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Comparative transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of maize embryos that had been exposed to camptothecin were conducted. Under the conditions used in this study, camptothecin did not induce extensive degradation in the genomic DNA but induced the transcription of genes involved in DNA repair and repressed genes involved in cell division. Camptothecin also affected the accumulation of several proteins involved in the stress response and induced the activity of certain calcium-dependent nucleases. We also detected changes in the expression and accumulation of different genes and proteins involved in post-translational regulatory processes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study identified several genes and proteins that participate in DNA damage responses in plants. Some of them may be involved in general responses to stress, but others are candidate genes for specific involvement in DNA repair. Our results open a number of new avenues for researching and improving plant resistance to DNA injury.</p

Enhanced He-alpha emission from "smoked" Ti targets irradiated with 400nm, 45 fs laser pulses

We present a study of He-like 1s(2)-1s2p line emission from solid and low-density Ti targets under similar or equal to 45 fs laser pulse irradiation with a frequency doubled Ti: Sapphire laser. By varying the beam spot, the intensity on target was varied from 10(15) W/cm(2) to 10(19) W/cm(2). At best focus, low density "smoked" Ti targets yield similar to 20 times more He-alpha than the foil targets when irradiated at an angle of 45 degrees with s-polarized pulses. The duration of He-alpha emission from smoked targets, measured with a fast streak camera, was similar to that from Ti foils

The landscape of a Swedish boat-grave cemetery

This is the published PDF version of an article published in Landscapes© 2010. The definitive version is available at http://www.maneyonline.com/toc/lan/11/1The paper integrates topographical and experiential approaches to the mortuary landscape of a Viking period inhumation-grave excavated in 2005 within the cemetery at Skamby, Kuddy parish, Östergötland province, Sweden. We argue that the landscape context was integral to the performance of the funerary ceremonies and the subsequent monumental presence of the dead in the landscape. We offer a way to move beyond monocausal explanations for burial location based on single-scale analyses. Instead, we suggest that boat-inhumation at Skamby was a commemorative strategy that operated on multiple scales and drew its significance from multiple landscape attributes.British Academ

Theory and applications of atomic and ionic polarizabilities

Atomic polarization phenomena impinge upon a number of areas and processes in physics. The dielectric constant and refractive index of any gas are examples of macroscopic properties that are largely determined by the dipole polarizability. When it comes to microscopic phenomena, the existence of alkaline-earth anions and the recently discovered ability of positrons to bind to many atoms are predominantly due to the polarization interaction. An imperfect knowledge of atomic polarizabilities is presently looming as the largest source of uncertainty in the new generation of optical frequency standards. Accurate polarizabilities for the group I and II atoms and ions of the periodic table have recently become available by a variety of techniques. These include refined many-body perturbation theory and coupled-cluster calculations sometimes combined with precise experimental data for selected transitions, microwave spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms and ions, refractive index measurements in microwave cavities, ab initio calculations of atomic structures using explicitly correlated wave functions, interferometry with atom beams, and velocity changes of laser cooled atoms induced by an electric field. This review examines existing theoretical methods of determining atomic and ionic polarizabilities, and discusses their relevance to various applications with particular emphasis on cold-atom physics and the metrology of atomic frequency standards.Comment: Review paper, 44 page

A longitudinal study of risk factors for the occurrence, duration and severity of menstrual cramps in a cohort of college women

To describe how menstrual cramps vary from cycle to cycle within a woman over time. To examine the influence of weight and lifestyle factors on occurrence, duration, and severity of menstrual pain. Design A one-year prospective menstrual diary study. Participants One hundred and sixty-five women aged 17 to 19 years entering a local university in 1985. Main outcome measures The occurrence, length, and maximum severity of pain during a menstrual period. Results Menstrual pain occurred during 71.6% of observed menstrual bleeds, most commonly beginning the first day of menses. The median duration was two days. Sixty percent of women reported at least one episode of severe pain, while 13% reported severe pain more than half the time. Earlier age at menarche and long menstrual periods increased the occurrence, duration and severity of pain. In smokers, cramps tended to last longer. Being overweight was an important risk factor for menstrual cramps and doubled the odds of having a long pain episode. Frequent alcohol consumption decreased the probability of having menstrual cramps, but in women who had pain it increased duration and severity. Physical activity was not associated with any pain parameter. Conclusions Women who have pain lasting three days are an important target group for prophylactic therapy. The occurrence and severity of menstrual cramps is influenced by potentially modifiable characteristics including weight, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Doctors may wish to counsel women presenting with dysmenorrhoea about the importance of healthy lifestyles and about the inefficacy of alcohol consumption as a treatment for dysmenorrhoea.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73220/1/j.1471-0528.1996.tb09597.x.pd

The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making

This study investigates the association of a broad set of variables with the ethical decision making of management accountants in Libya. Adopting a cross-sectional methodology, a questionnaire including four different ethical scenarios was used to gather data from 229 participants. For each scenario, ethical decision making was examined in terms of the recognition, judgment and intention stages of Rest’s model. A significant relationship was found between ethical recognition and ethical judgment and also between ethical judgment and ethical intention, but ethical recognition did not significantly predict ethical intention—thus providing support for Rest’s model. Organizational variables, age and educational level yielded few significant results. The lack of significance for codes of ethics might reflect their relative lack of development in Libya, in which case Libyan companies should pay attention to their content and how they are supported, especially in the light of the under-development of the accounting profession in Libya. Few significant results were also found for gender, but where they were found, males showed more ethical characteristics than females. This unusual result reinforces the dangers of gender stereotyping in business. Personal moral philosophy and moral intensity dimensions were generally found to be significant predictors of the three stages of ethical decision making studied. One implication of this is to give more attention to ethics in accounting education, making the connections between accounting practice and (in Libya) Islam. Overall, this study not only adds to the available empirical evidence on factors affecting ethical decision making, notably examining three stages of Rest’s model, but also offers rare insights into the ethical views of practising management accountants and provides a benchmark for future studies of ethical decision making in Muslim majority countries and other parts of the developing world