Winning the 3rd Japan Automotive AI Challenge -- Autonomous Racing with the Autoware.Auto Open Source Software Stack

The 3rd Japan Automotive AI Challenge was an international online autonomous racing challenge where 164 teams competed in December 2021. This paper outlines the winning strategy to this competition, and the advantages and challenges of using the Autoware.Auto open source autonomous driving platform for multi-agent racing. Our winning approach includes a lane-switching opponent overtaking strategy, a global raceline optimization, and the integration of various tools from Autoware.Auto including a Model-Predictive Controller. We describe the use of perception, planning and control modules for high-speed racing applications and provide experience-based insights on working with Autoware.Auto. While our approach is a rule-based strategy that is suitable for non-interactive opponents, it provides a good reference and benchmark for learning-enabled approaches.Comment: Accepted at Autoware Workshop at IV 202

أساليب الاستعارة ومعانيها فى سورة آل عمران (دراسة تحليلية بيانية)

هذه الرسالة تختص بالحديث عن أساليب الاستعارة ومعانيها فى سورة آل عمران لأن القرآن معجزة من حيث فصاحته وبلاغته ونظمه وأساليبه. وأما المسألة التى جعلها الباحث موضوعا لهذه الرسالة فهي كيف كانت أساليب الاستعارة الواردة فى سورة آل عمران، وكيف كانت معانيها فى سورة آل عمران. وتانك المشكلاتين اللتىين جعلهما الباحث موضوعا لهذه الرسالة وقد استخدم مناهج البحث بمرحلتين وهما: مرحلة جمع المواد ومرحلة تنظيم المواد وتحليلها،ففى مرحلة جمع المواد، استعان الباحث بالطريقة المكتبية وهي الإطلاع على ما كان من المصادر والمراجع والاقتباس منها حرفيا ومعنويا. وأما مرحلة تنطيم المواد وتحليلها فاستعان فيها الباحث بثلاث طرق، وهي الطريقة الإستقرائية والطريقة القياسية والطريقة التحليلية. وبهذه المناهج سيقدم الباحث آيات الاستعارة الواردة فى سورة آل عمران ثم يشرح ما فيها من أساليب الاستعارة ومعانيها. وبعد الفحص والاستنباط عن الاستعارة، يتّضح أن الاستعارة هي اللفظ المستعمل فى غير ما وضع له لعلاقة المشابهة بين المعنى المنقول عنه (المعنى الحقيقي) والمعنى المستعمل فيه (المعنى المجازي) مع قرينة صارفة عن إرادة المعنى الأصلي. ولابد للاستعارة من أن تكون لها ثلاثة اركان وهي: المستعار وهو اللفظ المنقول، والمستعار منه او المشبه به، والمستعار له او المشبه. فعناصر الاستعارة فى هذه الرسالة تتكون من أساليبها ومعانيها فى سورة آل عمران، وجاءت فى خمس عشرة أية وكل آية من الآيات المذكورة تتجه إلى تأدية المعنى خير أداء، والتأثير فى نفس السامع أو القارئ

The development of early pioneer neurons in the annelid Malacoceros fuliginosus

Background Nervous system development is an interplay of many processes: the formation of individual neurons, which depends on whole-body and local patterning processes, and the coordinated growth of neurites and synapse formation. While knowledge of neural patterning in several animal groups is increasing, data on pioneer neurons that create the early axonal scaffold are scarce. Here we studied the first steps of nervous system development in the annelid Malacoceros fuliginosus. Results We performed a dense expression profiling of a broad set of neural genes. We found that SoxB expression begins at 4 h postfertilization, and shortly later, the neuronal progenitors can be identified at the anterior and the posterior pole by the transient and dynamic expression of proneural genes. At 9 hpf, the first neuronal cells start differentiating, and we provide a detailed description of axonal outgrowth of the pioneer neurons that create the primary neuronal scaffold. Tracing back the clonal origin of the ventral nerve cord pioneer neuron revealed that it is a descendant of the blastomere 2d (2d221), which after 7 cleavages starts expressing Neurogenin, Acheate-Scute and NeuroD. Conclusions We propose that an anterior and posterior origin of the nervous system is ancestral in annelids. We suggest that closer examination of the first pioneer neurons will be valuable in better understanding of nervous system development in spirally cleaving animals, to determine the potential role of cell-intrinsic properties in neuronal specification and to resolve the evolution of nervous systems.publishedVersio

Integration of Caribbean minority in Great Britain - The Legacy of Windrush Generation

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá přistěhovalectvím do Velké Británie v 19. a 20. století. Jejím cílem je analýza vývoje imigrace skrz historii ve Velké Británii, její dopad na tuto zemi a poukázat na důsledky, kterým čelí generace karibských přistěhovalců. Hlavní důraz klade na imigranty pocházející ze zemí Commonwealthu, kteří přijeli do Británie v roce 1948 na lodi Empire Windrush a jsou nazýváni Windrush Generation. Zabývá se hlavními důvody imigrace v letech 1948 až 1971. Práce se zaměřuje na začlenění a negativní přijetí přistěhovalců britskými občany do společnosti. Nepřátelské vztahy následně eskalovaly a vedly k rasovým nepokojům na přelomu srpna a září roku 1958. Analyzuje příčiny vzniku, průběh a důsledek těchto nepokojů, které otřásly Británii a zároveň posílily vztahy mezi karibskými přistěhovalci. Závěrečná část práce zmiňuje kroky, které britská vláda podnikla, aby omezila počet imigrantů v zemi. Zmiňuje důsledky rasových nepokojů, jejich dopad na karibskou komunitu a Windrush scandal, který začal v roce 2018. Veškeré analýzy vedly k závěru, že karibští přistěhovalci byli využíváni britskou vládou už od prvního vstupu do země. Poté co už vláda nepotřebovala jejich služby, se jim nejprve snažila omezit přístup do země. Pokusila se je zadržet a deportovat. Když neuspěla, ministerstvo vnitra vydalo politiku nepřátelského prostředí, který měl imigranty donutit k tomu, aby zemi opustili dobrovolně.ObhájenoThis bachelor thesis deals with immigration to Great Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its goal is to analyze the development of immigration through history in Great Britain, its impact on this country, and to point out the consequences faced by generations of Caribbean immigrants. The main emphasis is on immigrants from Commonwealth countries who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the ship Empire Windrush and are called the Windrush Generation. It deals with the main reasons for immigration between 1948 and 1971. The thesis focuses on the integration and negative acceptance of immigrants by British citizens into society. The hostile relations subsequently escalated and led to the race riots in late August and early September 1958. It analyses the causes, course, and consequence of these unrests, which shook Britain, and at the same time, strengthened relations between Caribbean immigrants. The final part of the thesis focuses on the steps the British government has taken over the course of years to reduce the number of immigrants in the country. It mentions the consequences of the race riots, their impact on the Caribbean community, and the Windrush scandal, which began in 2018. The analyses led to the conclusion that Caribbean immigrants have been exploited by the British government from the day they entered the country. After the government no longer needed their services, at first tried to restrict them the access to the country. Then tried to detain and deport them. After failing, Home Office issued a hostile environment policy to force immigrants to leave the country voluntarily

The visual pigment xenopsin is widespread in protostome eyes and impacts the view on eye evolution

Photoreceptor cells in the eyes of Bilateria are often classified into microvillar cells with rhabdomeric opsin and ciliary cells with ciliary opsin, each type having specialized molecular components and physiology. First data on the recently discovered xenopsin point towards a more complex situation in protostomes. In this study, we provide clear evidence that xenopsin enters cilia in the eye of the larval bryozoan Tricellaria inopinata and triggers phototaxis. As reported from a mollusc, we find xenopsin coexpressed with rhabdomeric-opsin in eye photoreceptor cells bearing both microvilli and cilia in larva of the annelid Malacoceros fuliginosus. This is the first organism known to have both xenopsin and ciliary opsin, showing that these opsins are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Compiling existing data, we propose that xenopsin may play an important role in many protostome eyes and provides new insights into the function, evolution, and possible plasticity of animal eye photoreceptor cells.publishedVersio

Prehistoric stone artefacts from Enga and the implication of links between the highlands, lowlands and islands for early agriculture in Papua New Guinea

Two of the unanswered questions of Papua New Guinea prehistory are: (1) whether agriculture was present in the mid-Holocene not only in the highlands but also in the lowlands and Bismarck Archipelago and (2) whether the presence of agriculture might have been influenced by interaction between these regions. This paper addresses these questions through an analysis of prehistoric stone mortars, pestles and figures, which hold information on both style and function.Cet article traite deux des questions sans réponse de la préhistoire de la Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée : (1) l'agriculture était-elle présente dans le mi-Holocène non seulement dans les hautes terres mais également dans les basses terres et l'archipel Bismarck et (2) la présence de l'agriculture pourrait-elle avoir été influencée par l’existence de relations entre ces deux régions. Cet article aborde ces questions en analysant des mortiers, des pilons et des figures en pierre préhistoriques, qui livrent des informations sur leur style et leur fonction

AUGMENTED INSTANT MESSAGING COLLABORATION TOOL ASSISTANT

Collaboration applications, such as messaging applications, are broadly used among enterprises to provide employees with the ability to communicate, share ideas, etc. While useful in many enterprise environments, such messaging applications can be a distraction and may also lead to an inefficient use of time by enterprise employs. In order to address such issues, an instant-messaging collaboration tool assistant system is proposed herein that can be powered by an Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) system, in which the collaboration tool assistant system can provide a personalized collaborative environment for business users by expanding instant messaging collaboration tool capabilities. Through various techniques proposed herein, a personalized, context-based instant-message display can be provided for an enterprise user through which notification recommendations can be provided for the user based on various factors, such as user interest and/or business priorities

Feasibility of Dose Reduction to the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery without Compromising Target Volume Coverage Using Tomotherapy Techniques

Background: Radiotherapy is associated with a high risk of heart disease in patients with left-sided breast cancer. Previously, the entire heart was considered an organ at risk (OAR) during planning. Studies have shown that the effect of radiation therapy depends on the dose to specific heart substructures. However, the tolerance dose of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), an important cardiac substructure, is yet to be determined. This study aims to verify the feasibility of reducing the LAD dose with appropriate dose-volume constraints for patients undergoing left whole-breast radiotherapy, without compromising the target dose coverage, using tomotherapy techniques.Method: This retrospective study generated tomohelical and tomodirect plans initially without considering the LAD as OAR in the treatment planning. To reduce the LAD dose, plans were regenerated by including the LAD as an OAR with appropriate dose constraints. The dose-volume histogram parameters of these plans were compared with those of the initial plans of the respective types.Results: Tomohelical plans showed a 4.4% reduction in maximum dose and a 3.8% reduction in V15 for LAD, while tomodirect plans registered a 3% reduction in V15, with the conformity index remaining constant. Based on the LAD dosimetric results, considering the LAD as an OAR is associated with lower LAD doses without compromising the target volume coverage.Conclusion: It is feasible to reduce the LAD dose without compromising target volume coverage or affecting other OAR doses in patients with left breast cancer, using tomotherapy techniques

The gene-specific codon counting database: a genome-based catalog of one-, two-, three-, four- and five-codon combinations present in Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes

A codon consists of three nucleotides and functions during translation to dictate the insertion of a specific amino acid in a growing peptide or, in the case of stop codons, to specify the completion of protein synthesis. There are 64 possible single codons and there are 4096 double, 262 144 triple, 16 777 216 quadruple and 1 073 741 824 quintuple codon combinations available for use by specific genes and genomes. In order to evaluate the use of specific single, double, triple, quadruple and quintuple codon combinations in genes and gene networks, we have developed a codon counting tool and employed it to analyze 5780 Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes. We have also developed visualization approaches, including codon painting, combination and bar graphs, and have used them to identify distinct codon usage patterns in specific genes and groups of genes. Using our developed Gene-Specific Codon Counting Database, we have identified extreme codon runs in specific genes. We have also demonstrated that specific codon combinations or usage patterns are over-represented in genes whose corresponding proteins belong to ribosome or translation-associated biological processes. Our resulting database provides a mineable list of multi-codon data and can be used to identify unique sequence runs and codon usage patterns in individual and functionally linked groups of genes

Chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% as a treatment for recalcitrant fungal keratitis in Uganda: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Fungal keratitis is a major ophthalmic public health problem, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. The options for treating fungal keratitis are limited. Our study aimed to describe the outcomes of using chlorhexidine 0.2% eye-drops as additional treatment in the management of patients with recalcitrant fungal keratitis. METHODS: This study was nested within a large cohort study of people presenting with microbial keratitis in Uganda. We enrolled patients with recalcitrant fungal keratitis not improving with topical natamycin 5% and commenced chlorhexidine 0.2%. Follow-up was scheduled for 3 months and 1 year. The main outcome measures were healing, visual acuity and scar size at final follow-up. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were followed in this substudy. The patients were aged 27-73 years (median 43 years). Filamentous fungi were identified by microscopy of corneal scrape samples in all cases. Isolated organisms included Aspergillus spp, Fusarium spp, Candida spp, Bipolaris spp and Acremoninum spp. At the final follow-up, nine patients (75%) had healed; three had vision of better than 6/18. Three patients lost their eyes due to infection. In the remaining nine cases, corneal scarring was variable ranging from 4.6 to 9.4 mm (median 6.6 mm, IQR 5.9-8.0 mm); of these five had dense scars, three had moderate scars and one had a mild scar. None of the patients demonstrated signs of chlorhexidine toxicity during the follow-up. CONCLUSION: Chlorhexidine 0.2% was found to be a useful sequential adjunctive topical antifungal in cases of fungal keratitis not responding to natamycin 5%, which warrants further evaluation